
The Crew, Gladiator, Bless the Child, Chicken Run, Hollow Man.



by
George Shaw
The Crew
There's no place like home-even when it's the ratty Raj Mahal senior citizen residence hotel in yuppie-haven South Beach, Miami. While sexy models cavort on the white sands posing for haute couture fashion magazine covers, four fossilizes former wiseguys: Bobby Bartellemeo, Joey "Bats" Pistella, Mike " The Brick" Donatelli, and Tony "Mouth" Donato, face eviction from the semi-squalor of the Raj on this otherwise posh strip of shore. Management's plans for renovations of the building, to force higher rents and attract a classier clientele, are squeezing the geezers out. Although in the sunset of their years, it's not exactly sundown, and they hatch a seemingly simple scheme to save their retirement residence. Comedy and chaos collide when the elderly GoodFellas' caper goes awry and inadvertently entangles a paranoid drug lord who is convinced he's about to be rubbed out by a mysterious gangland rival.
Starring Burt Reynolds, Richard Dreyfuss, Seymour Cassel, Carrie-Anne Moss, Dan Hedaya. Directed Michael Dinner.
Gladiator
In the final days of Marcus Aurelius' reign, the aging emperor arouses his son Commodus' anger when he makes known his wish that Maximus be his successor. Power-hungry Commodus kills his father and orders the death of Maximus. But the latter flees and hides his identity by becoming slave and a gladiator. Eventually, Maximus journeys back to Rome to confront his archrival.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Russell Crowe, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou. Directed Ridley Scott.
Bless the Child
A woman who has been guardian of her niece ever since the woman's drug addict younger sister abandoned the child is faced with the horror of defending her ward when the sister and her wealthy husband, both evil occult practitioners, return for the little girl, now possessed with extraordinary and unspeakable powers.
Starring Kim Basinger, Angela Bettis, Jimmy Smits, Rufus Sewell, Christina Ricci. Directed Chuck Russell.
Chicken Run
A comedy drama set on a Yorkshire chicken farm in 1950s England, the story follows the turbulent romance between Rocky the Rooster and Ginger the chicken, both of whom yearn for freedom and are planning a daring "prisoner of war" style escape. Both chickens are tired of being repressed and know they face an eventual certain death, so in planning their escape, they rally with their fellow chickens.
Starring Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth, Phil Daniels. Directed Peter Lord, Nick Park.
Hollow Man
At a top secret military lab, a group of brilliant young scientists have just unlocked the secret of invisibility. The team's arrogant leader, Sebastian Caine, ingores the risks and decides to test the dangerous procedure on himself- only to discover his fellow scientists are unable to reverse the effect. Working around the clock, Caine's colleagues struggle to devise an antidote. But Sebastian's intoxication with his new-found power is growing, and he's come to believe his colleagues may be a threat to his very existence.
Starring Elisabeth Shue, Kim Dickens, Kevin Bacon, Greg Grunberg, Josh Brolin. Directed Paul Verhoeven.