Dancer in the Dark, Girl on the Bridge, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Alien Adventure, Urbania.
by
George Shaw
Dancer in the Dark
Set in rural America in 1964, an immigrant and single mother who works at a factory takes refuge from her hardships by imagining herself and her co-workers in Hollywood musicals.
Starring Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Marc Barr, David Morse, Stellan Skarsgard. Directed Lars Von Trier.
Girl on the Bridge
Adele, a 22-year-old with a history of bad luck and abusive relationships with men, is contemplating suicide on the edge of a bridge when she encounters Gabor, a professional knife thrower who just happens to be "hiring." He senses that she would make a wonderful new target and offers her the job. She rejects the offer and jumps. He jumps after her and soon the pair are off to Monaco where she suddenly her luck changes dramatically -- not only does she remain unscathed as the target of his now famous "blindfolded throws" but her bets at the roulette table wins her a small fortune. But how long will their luck hold?
Starring Daniel Auteuil, Vanessa Paradis, Nicola Donato, Bertie Cortez, Frederic Pfluger. Directed Patrice Leconte.
Thomas and the Magic Railroad
The movie chronicles the adventures of a young girl called Lily, who sets off to visit her lonely Grandpa, but finds herself on a great adventure that leads to a meeting with the world's favorite steam engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and the magical Mr. Conductor. The trio become involved in a classic good versus evil story that takes place in Mr. Conductor's special universe. At one end is the Island of Sodor, and at the other Shining Time, nestled deep in the Indian Valley. Linking these two worlds is The Magic Railroad. This harmonious world of magic and innocence is put in danger by greed and cynicism. However, Lily and Thomas, with the help of a special dog called Mutt, a young boy named Patch, Mr. Conductor Junior and a host of other colorful characters triumph, bringing the story to its happy end.
Starring Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Means. Directed Britt Allcroft.
Alien Adventure
For hundreds of years, the Glagoliths, a small tribe of wayward space gypsies, have roamed the Universe in search of a new home, their previous planet having been obliterated through operator error. In time, they came upon an unknown planet tucked away in a rather uninteresting part of the galaxy. At long last, the travel-weary aliens believed they had found a suitable new home. And so a brief, but inconsequential chapter in Glagolith history began. Before establishing a permanent base on the newfound planet, Cyrillus, the supreme leader of the Glagoliths, deemed it wise to launch manned probes to evaluate the world below. A good idea, except they landed not in the center of a modern metropolis as anticipated, but instead in the middle of "Adventure Planet", a new hi-tech amusement park not yet open to the public. High above the planet's surface, Cyrillus and the crew of the Glagolithian mothership monitor the adventures of their brave comrades on the surface as they explore the unique areas of "Adventure Planet". Despite a few minor incidents (resulting in aliens being frozen and the after-effects of Glagolith motion sickness - not pretty), it quickly becomes obvious that the Glagolith explorers on the planet surface have not had this much fun in a long,long time. Fearing that too much fun could destroy the fabric of the Glagolith civilization, Cyrillus orders all the space probes back to the mothership before things get too far out of hand. Thus it came to pass, the aliens' visit to "Adventure Planet" became a mere speedbump in Glagolith history. Their high commander and spiritual leader declared this "civilized " planet incompatible to intelligent life. The search for a new home continues.
Starring Phil "Bouli" Lanners, Pierre "Lele" Lebecque. Directed Ben Stassen.
Urbania
Charlie is a man deeply wounded by a traumatic event. Long suppressed, his memories fester to the surface one day, sending him to the brink of his own destruction. Sadness is an emotion generally linked to stillness, but Urbania is anything but serene. Instead, anger and lust for revenge catalyze Charlie into action.
Starring Dan Futterman, Samuel Ball, Matt Keeslar, Lothaire Bluteau, Alan Cumming. Directed Jon Shear.
Jennifer Lopez has made history, claiming the number one spot with her new album "J.Lo" and her new feature film "The Wedding Planner", in the same week.
