Movie Review

Sherlock Holmes

2009-12-27T02:31:00.000-08:00

Sherlock Holmes
(warner bros.)

Release Date: December 25, 2009

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Michael Johnson, Anthony Peckham, Guy Ritchie
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, Eddie Marsan
Plot: Detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his stalwart partner Watson (Law) engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

The Brawling Supersleuth of 221B Baker Street Socks It to ’Em

By A. O. SCOTT
Published: December 25, 2009

Early in “Sherlock Holmes” — and also again, later on — the famous sleuth demonstrates his ratiocinative powers in a way undreamed of by his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle. Observing a thug standing guard over a horrible crime in a dimly lighted church, Holmes calculates just how to surprise the man, disarm him and beat him senseless. The audience follows his thought process through slow-motion pre-enactment, observing how the laws of anatomy and physics will be used to snap bones, gouge organs and turn flesh into pulp. Then, having seen it diagramed once on screen, we see it all again, with more noise, in real time. Elementary!

Doyle’s Holmes, who arrived in Victorian pop culture in 1887 (with the publication of “A Study in Scarlet”), has adapted since then to changes in taste and entertainment technology. He was a proto-superhero, amenable to all kinds of elaboration and variation, and even a measure of mockery, as long as the basics of the brand were respected. For most of his existence he has lived at 221B Baker Street, smoking a pipe, playing the violin and sticking faithfully to bachelorhood and his belief in the functional elegance of the deerstalker hat.

But Holmes has never been much for physical violence, and the chief innovation of this new, franchise-ready incarnation, directed by Guy Ritchie and played by Robert Downey Jr., is that he is, in addition to everything else, a brawling, head-butting, fist-in-the-gut, knee-in-the-groin action hero.

A smart one, for sure, and as played by Mr. Downey, with his characteristic twitchy wit and haggard insouciance, he has more intelligence than the movie knows what to do with. (His Holmes has also lost the deerstalker, favoring battered porkpie- or bowlerlike headwear, perhaps in homage to Charlie Chaplin, another character Mr. Downey has played.)

Of course intelligence has never ranked high among either Mr. Ritchie’s interests or his attributes as a filmmaker. His primary desire, most successfully realized early in his directing career, in “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch,” has always been to be cool: to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff. Yes, “Sherlock Holmes” is kind of cool. But that’s not really a compliment.

Still, it’s Christmas, and the teenage boys in the house have fructose in their bloodstreams and time on their hands, so let’s call it half a compliment. There are worse things than loutish, laddish cool, and as a series of poses and stunts, “Sherlock Holmes” is intermittently diverting.

The visual style — a smoky, greasy, steam-punk rendering of Victorian London, full of soot and guts and bad teeth and period clothes — shows some undeniable flair. And so do the kinetic chases and scrapes that lead us through the city, as Holmes and his pal Watson (Jude Law) scramble to unravel a conspiracy so diabolical that it fails to be interesting. Best of all is the banter between Mr. Downey and Mr. Law, who is looser and more mischievous than he’s allowed himself to be in quite some time. The mustache suits him.

Speaking of which: the beard is Rachel McAdams. She is inserted into the picture in a pretty, flouncy red dress to add a splash of color and dispel a few hints of homoerotic subtext. Holmes and Watson are longtime roommates, with an Oscar-and-Felix routine of quarrelsome affection. Watson’s engagement to a page of half-written dialogue named Mary (Kelly Reilly) sends Holmes into a snit of jealousy, which loses some of its interesting implications when Ms. McAdams shows up as a luscious thief named Irene Adler. I wonder: is she an ancestor of Jake and Jane Adler, the main characters of “It’s Complicated,” which also opens on Friday? Or does a movie opening on Christmas need to have a character named Adler in it for some reason?

Ms. McAdams, in any case, is a perfectly charming actress and performs gamely as the third wheel of this action-bromance tricycle. But Irene, though she figures in a few of Conan Doyle’s stories, feels in this movie more like a somewhat cynical commercial contrivance. She offers a little something for the ladies — who, according to airtight Hollywood corporate logic, are more likely to see a movie like this one if there’s a feisty woman in it — and also something for the lads, who, much as they may dig fights and explosions and guns and chases, also like girls.

Just like Holmes and Watson! They really do, in spite of the barely sublimated physical passion they manifest for each other in nearly every scene. I’m sure Warner Brothers would like me to change the subject and tell you about the amazing diabolical conspiracy that tests Holmes’s ingenuity, along with his faith in the supremacy of reason.

It seems that an evil aristocrat (Mark Strong), executed for a series of murders, returns from the dead to mobilize an ancient secret society that he may have time-traveled into a Dan Brown novel to learn about. Doesn’t that sound fascinating? I thought not. But there will be a sequel, for which this frantic, harmless movie serves as an extended teaser, and it looks as if it might feature Holmes’s literary archnemesis, Professor Moriarty. No doubt Holmes will break a chair over Moriarty’s head, kidney-punch him and kick him in the face. Wittily, though, like the great detective he is.

“Sherlock Holmes” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). A lot of fighting and not too much girl stuff.

Avatar (Fox) (2009)

2009-12-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

With “Avatar” James Cameron has turned one man’s dream of the movies into a trippy joy ride about the end of life — our moviegoing life included — as we know it. Several decades in the dreaming and more than four years in the actual making, the movie is a song to the natural world that was largely produced with software, an Emersonian exploration of the invisible world of the spirit filled with Cameronian rock ’em, sock ’em pulpy action. Created to conquer hearts, minds, history books and box-office records, the movie — one of the most expensive in history, the jungle drums thump — is glorious and goofy and blissfully deranged.

The story behind the story, including a production budget estimated to top $230 million, and Mr. Cameron’s future-shock ambitions for the medium have already begun to settle into myth (a process partly driven by the publicity, certainly). Every filmmaker is something of a visionary, just by virtue of the medium. But Mr. Cameron, who directed the megamelodrama “Titanic” and, more notably, several of the most influential science-fiction films of the past few decades (“The Terminator,” “Aliens” and “The Abyss”), is a filmmaker whose ambitions transcend a single movie or mere stories to embrace cinema as an art, as a social experience and a shamanistic ritual, one still capable of producing the big WOW.

The scale of his new movie, which brings you into a meticulous and brilliantly colored alien world for a fast 2 hours 46 minutes, factors into that wow. Its scope is evident in an early scene on a spaceship (the year is 2154), where the passengers, including a paraplegic ex-Marine, Jake (Sam Worthington, a gruffly sensitive heartthrob), are being roused from a yearslong sleep before landing on a distant inhabited moon, Pandora. Jake is woken by an attendant floating in zero gravity, one of many such aides. As Jake himself glides through the bright cavernous space, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore, as someone soon quips (a nod to “The Wizard of Oz,” Mr. Cameron’s favorite film). You also know you’re not in the gloom of “The Matrix.”

Though it’s easy to pigeonhole Mr. Cameron as a gear head who’s more interested in cool tools (which here include 3-D), he is, with “Avatar,” also making a credible attempt to create a paradigm shift in science-fiction cinema. Since it was first released in 1999, “The Matrix,” which owes a large debt to Mr. Cameron’s own science-fiction films as well as the literary subgenre of cyberpunk, has hung heavily over both SF and action filmmaking. Most films that crib from “The Matrix” tend to borrow only its slo-mo death waltzes and leather fetishism, keeping its nihilism while ditching the intellectual inquiries. Although “Avatar” delivers a late kick to the gut that might be seen as nihilistic (and how!), it is strangely utopian.

It doesn’t take Jake long to feel the good vibes. Like Neo, the savior-hero of the “Matrix” series played by Keanu Reeves, Jake is himself an avatar because he’s both a special being and an embodiment of an idea, namely that of the hero’s journey. What initially makes Jake unusual is that he has been tapped to inhabit a part-alien, part-human body that he controls, like a puppeteer, from its head to its prehensile tail. Like the rest of the human visitors who’ve made camp on Pandora, he has signed on with a corporation that’s intent on extracting a valuable if mysterious substance from the moon called unobtainium, a great whatsit that is an emblem of humanity’s greed and folly. With his avatar, Jake will look just like one of the natives, the Na’vi, a new identity that gives the movie its plot turns and politics.

The first part of Jake’s voyage — for this is, above all, a boy’s rocking adventure, if one populated by the usual tough Cameron chicks — takes him from a wheelchair into a 10-foot, blue-skinned Na’vi body. At once familiar and pleasingly exotic, the humanoid Na’vi come with supermodel dimensions (slender hips, a miniature-apple rear); long articulated digits, the better to grip with; and the slanted eyes and twitchy ears of a cat. (The gently curved stripes that line their blue skin, the color of twilight, bring to mind the markings on mackerel tabby cats.) For Jake his avatar, which he hooks into through sensors while lying in a remote pod in a semiconscious state, is at first a giddy novelty and then a means to liberation.

Plugging into the avatar gives Jake an instant high, allowing him to run, leap and sift dirt through his toes, and freeing him from the constraints of his body. Although physically emancipated, he remains bound, contractually and existentially, to the base camp, where he works for the corporation’s top scientist, Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, amused and amusing), even while taking orders from its head of security, Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), a military man turned warrior for hire. A cartoon of masculinity, Quaritch strides around barking orders like some intransigent representation of American military might (or a bossy movie director). It’s a favorite Cameron type, and Mr. Lang, who until this year had long been grievously underemployed, tears into the role like a starved man gorging on steak.

Mr. Cameron lays out the fundamentals of the narrative efficiently, grabbing you at once with one eye-popping detail after another and on occasion almost losing you with some of the comically broad dialogue. He’s a masterly storyteller if a rather less nimble prose writer. (He has sole script credit: this is personal filmmaking on an industrial scale.) Some of the clunkier lines (“Yeah, who’s bad,” Jake taunts a rhinolike creature he encounters) seem to have been written to placate those members of the Michael Bay demographic who might find themselves squirming at the story’s touchier, feelier elements, its ardent environmentalism and sincere love story, all of which kick in once Jake meets Neytiri, a female Na’vi (Zoë Saldana, seen only in slinky Na’vi form).

Mr. Cameron has said that he started thinking about the alien universe that became Pandora and its galactic environs in “Avatar” back in the 1970s. He wrote a treatment in 1996, but the technologies he needed to turn his ideas into images didn’t exist until recently. New digital technologies gave him the necessary tools, including performance capture, which translates an actor’s physical movements into a computer-generated image (CGI). Until now, by far the most plausible character created in this manner has been slithery Gollum from Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” cycle. The exotic creatures in “Avatar,” which include an astonishment of undulating, flying, twitching and galloping organisms, don’t just crawl through the underbrush; they thunder and shriek, yip and hiss, pointy teeth gleaming.

The most important of these are the Na’vi, and while their movements can bring to mind old-fashioned stop-motion animation, their faces are a triumph of tech innovation, with tremors and twitches that make them immediately appealing and empathetic. By the time Neytiri ushers Jake into her world of wonders — a lush dreamscape filled with kaleidoscopic and bioluminescent flora and fauna, with pink jellyfishlike creatures that hang in the air and pleated orange flowers that snap shut like parasols — you are deep in the Na’vi-land. It’s a world that looks as if it had been created by someone who’s watched a lot of Jacques Cousteau television or, like Mr. Cameron, done a lot of diving. It’s also familiar because, like John Smith in “The New World,” Terrence Malick’s retelling of the Pocahontas story, Jake has discovered Eden.

An Eden in three dimensions, that is. In keeping with his maximalist tendencies, Mr. Cameron has shot “Avatar” in 3-D (because many theaters are not equipped to show 3-D, the movie will also be shown in the usual 2), an experiment that serves his material beautifully. This isn’t the 3-D of the 1950s or even contemporary films, those flicks that try to give you a virtual poke in the eye with flying spears. Rather Mr. Cameron uses 3-D to amplify the immersive experience of spectacle cinema. Instead of bringing you into the movie with the customary tricks, with a widescreen or even Imax image filled with sweeping landscapes and big action, he uses 3-D seemingly to close the space between the audience and the screen. He brings the movie to you.

After a few minutes the novelty of people and objects hovering above the row in front of you wears off, and you tend not to notice the 3-D, which speaks to the subtlety of its use and potential future applications. Mr. Cameron might like to play with high-tech gadgets, but he’s an old-fashioned filmmaker at heart, and he wants us to get as lost in his fictional paradise as Jake eventually does. On the face of it there might seem something absurd about a movie that asks you to thrill to a natural world made almost entirely out of zeroes and ones (and that feeds you an anticorporate line in a corporately financed entertainment). But one of the pleasures of the movies is that they transport us, as Neytiri does with Jake, into imaginary realms, into Eden and over the rainbow to Oz.

If the story of a paradise found and potentially lost feels resonant, it’s because “Avatar” is as much about our Earth as the universe that Mr. Cameron has invented. But the movie’s truer meaning is in the audacity of its filmmaking.

Few films return us to the lost world of our first cinematic experiences, to that magical moment when movies really were bigger than life (instead of iPhone size), if only because we were children. Movies rarely carry us away, few even try. They entertain and instruct and sometimes enlighten. Some attempt to overwhelm us, but their efforts are usually a matter of volume. What’s often missing is awe, something Mr. Cameron has, after an absence from Hollywood, returned to the screen with a vengeance. He hasn’t changed cinema, but with blue people and pink blooms he has confirmed its wonder.

“Avatar” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Gun and explosive violence, death and despair.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2009-08-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and the concluding film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy following The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Two Towers (2002).

As Sauron launches the final stages of his conquest of Middle-earth, Gandalf the Wizard, and Théoden King of Rohan rally their forces to help defend Gondor's capital Minas Tirith from the looming threat. Aragorn finally claims the throne of Gondor and summons an army of ghosts to help him defeat Sauron. Ultimately, even with full strength of arms, they realize they cannot win; so it comes down to the Hobbits, Frodo and Sam, who face the burden of the Ring and the treachery of Gollum, and finally arrive at Mordor, seeking to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom.

Released on 17 December 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King became one of the greatest box-office successes of all time. It won all eleven Academy Awards for which it was nominated, which ties it with only Titanic and Ben-Hur for most Academy Awards ever won. It also won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the only time in history a fantasy film has done so. It is the second highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, behind Titanic and it is the twenty-first most successful in North America once adjusted for inflation. The Special Extended Edition, containing an additional 52 minutes of footage, was released on DVD on 14 December 2004.

Plot

In the opening scene, Sméagol and his friend Déagol are fishing near the Gladden Fields in the North of Middle Earth. Déagol is dragged into the river by a powerful catch and discovers the One Ring glinting in the river bed. He collects it and climbs out of the river. Sméagol sees him fondling it and as they both succumb to the Ring's power they begin to quarrel. Sméagol demands it saying that it's his birthday and it should be his present. The squabble turns into a fight and Sméagol strangles his friend with his bare hands to finally prise the Ring from his clenched fist. We are then shown how Sméagol was ostracised from his community and driven away. Suffering terribly from his loneliness and shame, Sméagol takes solice in his love for the Ring as it slowly tortures his mind. His hardships in the Mountains twist his shape into that of Gollum.

As the flashback ends, we are taken back to the present where, on the outskirts of Mordor, Frodo and Sam are resting in an alcove. Sam awakes and sees that his master has not slept, the days are also growing darker the closer they get to Minas Morgul and Mordor. Gollum arrives and urges them to move on. Away in the west, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Théoden and Éomer are riding through Fangorn to Isengard, where they meet Merry and Pippin feasting among the wreckage of Isengard. They then go and see Treebeard at the Orthanc where Saruman has been trapped. Gandalf opposes Gimli's call to kill Saruman, saying that the wizard has no power any more and will pose no further threat. As they are talking, Pippin sees the palantír amongst the flotsam and is enamoured by it, but Gandalf quickly asks it from him and hides in under his cloak.

The group then rides to Edoras, where King Théoden has prepared a feast to 'hail the victorious dead' of the Battle of the Hornburg. There Éowyn shows affection for Aragorn which Théoden notices, he tells her that he his happy for her, Aragorn being an honourable man and the architect of the victory at Helm's Deep. Gandalf also expresses to Aragorn his concerns over the quest, Aragorn tells him to trust in what his heart tells him, that Frodo is still alive.

Gollum awakes in the night as Frodo and Sam are sleeping and goes off to one side to murmur to himself. His evil half senses some doubt in Sméagol and insists that if he can murder once (referring to Déagol) he can do it again. Gollum then begins leading Sméagol through their plan, to deliver the hobbits into the clutches of Shelob in Cirith Ungol, after which the Ring can be reclaimed. Sam hears this and proceeds to beat Gollum for his treachery, Frodo intervenes, saying that as their guide Gollum is necessary for their quest. Sam obliges as Gollum flashes him an evil smile while Frodo's back is turned.

That same night back in Edoras, Pippin's curiosity gets the better of him; relieving Gandalf of the palantir, he looks into it. Pippin sees a vision of a white tree in a stone courtyard set ablaze, but in doing so he is caught by Sauron and submitted to mental torture and questioning. Aragorn tries to rescue him and thus briefly exposes himself to Sauron. Pippin recovers from his ordeal and it is discovered that he did not tell Sauron anything of the Ring's whereabouts. From Pippin's vision of the White Tree, Gandalf deduces that Sauron is now moving to attack Minas Tirith and he rides off to send warning, taking Pippin with him, lest his urge to look upon the palantir (left now in Aragorn's keeping) return again.

Leaving Rivendell on her way to the Undying Lands, Arwen has a vision of her son by Aragorn, she realises that her father lied to her about there being no chance of a future with him whom she loves. She returns to Rivendell and convinces Elrond that she, having foresaken the life of the Eldar, cannot leave Aragorn now. She tells her father that as was declared in lore, the time to reforge Narsil has come, Narsil being the sword of Elendil that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger long ago at the end of the Second Age.

Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, City of Kings, that was built out of the rock of Mindolluin. There Pippin recognises the White Tree as they go to find the Steward Denethor. They approach him mourning over Boromir, his son. Pippin swears loyalty to him in recompense for Boromir's sacrifice. Denethor seems to be caught up in his grief and has not taken measures to fortify the city against the threat of Sauron. Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam and Gollum arrive at Minas Morgul. Wary of the enemy, they locate the Winding Stair (leading to the pass of Cirith Ungol) that lies hidden in the cliffs surrounding the accursed city. Just at that moment, the doors of the city open and the Witch-king of Angmar, leader of the Nazgûl, dispatches his immense Orc army from his lair, heralding the start of the war. This is witnessed by Gandalf and Pippin as a flash of lightning shoots up at the opening of the doors. At the urging of Gandalf, Pippin lights the first of the beacon signals to Edoras, alerting Théoden, Aragorn and the rest of the Rohirrim to ride to the weapon-take at Dunharrow and thence to Minas Tirith. As they leave Edoras, Aragorn notices that Éowyn saddles up with them and that she is girt with a sword, but she insists that she rides only to see them off and that the men have found their captain in Aragorn.

The Morgul army crosses Anduin at Osgiliath in makeshift boats and engages the Gondorian contingent (led by Faramir) in battle. The orcs prove too strong and drive the Gondorians out of Osgiliath, Faramir and his few surviving men retreat to Minas Tirith, pursued by the Nazgûl. Gandalf, riding out to meet the retreating men, wards them off, saving Faramir. Upon his arrival, Faramir tells Gandalf of the dangerous route Gollum is taking Frodo and Sam on, convincing Gandalf of Gollum's treachery. The hobbits, lead by Gollum, are struggling to climb the extremely steep stairs, Gollum reaches out and empathises with Frodo, saying that he understands his pain, and also poisoning him against Sam, saying that he will try and take the Ring from Frodo.

In the captured Osgiliath, the Witch-king orders his captain to "send forth all legions" and annihilate the population of Minas Tirith, saying that he himself will "break" the wizard Gandalf. Denethor, ill-pleased by Faramir's defence of Osgiliath, manipulates him into taking a doomed ride to reclaim the city. Gollum continues to play the hobbits against each other, this time by blaming Sam for eating their food provisions. Frodo, in his deluded state, is suspicious of Sam and orders him back home when Sam, trying to be helpful, offers to carry the Ring, thereby fulfilling Gollum's cunning prediction. Faramir rides head-long into the arrows of the encamped orcs as Pippin sings for Denethor who unconcernedly eats his noon-meal. The attack is destroyed and Faramir is dragged back by his horse in a death-like coma. At the weapon-take of Dunharrow, a hooded figure slowly rides on a white horse along the winding road to the encampment in the hills. The figure reveals himself to Aragorn as Elrond. He presents Aragorn with his birthright - the newly forged Anduril, Flame of the West. He urges Aragorn to use this sword, forged from the shards of Narsil, to recall the Dead Men of Dunharrow and use their allegiance to the heir of Isildur (i.e. Aragorn) to stop the attack of the Corsairs ships from the south. Aragorn accepts this counsel and rides off that very night into the Dimholt, along with Legolas and Gimli. As he is preparing too go, a tearful Éowyn comes to Aragorn and begs him not to go, declaring her love for him, but Aragorn, knowing now that Arwen has refused promise of Valinor, likewise refuses Éowyn's love. The next morning, Théoden rides off to war with six thousand riders, unaware that Éowyn and Merry, who were both told to remain behind by the King, are also part of his army.

The Morgul forces, composed mostly of Orcs, begin the siege of Minas Tirith using the heads of caputured prisoners as catapult projectiles. Denethor sees his son and believes him to be dead, he also beholds the might of the forces marshalled against him and at this he loses control and hope, ordering the Gondorians to abandon their positions. Gandalf however, steps in and incapacitates Denethor, and then proceeds to assume control of the defence. A skirmish between Gondorian trebuchets and Mordor catapults ensues until the Witch-king and the other Ringwraiths on their Fell Beasts attack, destroying the catapults and sowing terror among the defenders. Away in Cirith Ungol, Gollum betrays Frodo to the spider-creature Shelob, but Sam returns to fight her off. Sam believes Frodo is dead, but when Orcs from the Tower of Cirith Ungol come and investigate, Sam overhears that Frodo has only been paralysed by Shelob's stinger. In Minas Tirith, Denethor, stricken mad over his grief at having spent both his sons, prepares a funeral pyre for himself and the unconscious Faramir, unaware that the pyre will burn him alive. Gandalf and Pippin arrive in the Hallows and manage to save Faramir, but Denethor is thrown onto the pyre and as he burns to his death, he turns and sees his son stirring awake from his injuries and exhaustion. Down in the city, the battle goes ill with the Gondorians, as Grond shatters through the gates of the city and trolls pour in. The defenders retreat to the upper levels of the city, the orcs crawl all over the streets, looting, burning and massacering the men of Gondor. But suddenly in the midst of the chaos a lone horn penetrates the air and all turn to the west and see the army of Rohan arrive at last, to the rising of the sun. The Rohirrim charge into the Orcs with great effect. However their joy is cut short by the arrival of the forces of Harad and the immense Mûmakil. The Witch-king descends on Théoden, killing Snowmane his horse and fatally wounding the King. Seemingly in the nick of time, the Corsairs ships arrive to help the stranded Orcs, but it is Aragorn who jumps off the ship followed by the Undead Army and they completely destroy the Orcs and Mûmakil, while Éowyn and Merry kill the Witch-king. Théoden dies of his wounds and Aragorn holds the Dead Army's oath fulfilled, releasing them from their curse so that they may rest in peace.

Sam rescues Frodo from Cirith Ungol, which is mostly empty following a fight between the two factions of the Tower's Orc garrison over Frodo's mithril shirt, and they begin the long trek across Mordor to Mount Doom. Gandalf realizes that ten thousand Orcs stand between Cirith Ungol and Mount Doom, which will prevent Frodo from reaching his destination. Aragorn proposes they lead the remaining soldiers to the Black Gate to draw the Orcs away from Frodo's path, as well as distract the Eye of Sauron. Sam carries Frodo up to Mount Doom, but Gollum arrives and attacks them, just as the Battle of the Morannon begins. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo, instead of dropping the ring into the Fire, succumbs to its power and puts it on, disappearing from sight (the act alerts Sauron, and sends the Ringwraiths racing towards Mount Doom). Gollum renders Sam unconscious then attacks Frodo, seizing his ring finger and biting it off. As Gollum rejoices at finally havng reclaimed his Precious, Frodo, still under the sway of the Ring's attraction, charges at Gollum. After a brief struggle, they both fall over the edge of the precipice. Gollum falls into the lava with the Ring, while Frodo barely hangs on with his strength failing. Sam rescues Frodo as the Ring finally sinks into the lava and is destroyed. The Tower of Barad-dûr collapses, Sauron's essence fades and then explodes, forever banishing his power. The Orcs, Ringwraiths and the remaining forces of Sauron are consumed in the ensuing shockwave as the earth collapses under their feet. Frodo and Sam are stranded as Mount Doom erupts. They voice their regrets at not being able to see the Shire again amidst the torrents of lava and the destruction of Barad-dur. With the destruction of the Nazgul, Gandalf is able to call upon the Eagles to carry the hobbits to safety, they awake in Minas Tirith, reuniting with the other members of the fellowship, all of them having survived the War of the Ring.

Aragorn is crowned King of the West, heralding the new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen. The hobbits return to the Shire, where Sam marries Rosie Cotton. Frodo, having finished writing his entry in the Red Book of Westmarch, is still suffering from the effects of the ring, having possessed it for so long. He realises that he will never have peace in Middle-earth. So he decides to go with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond and Galadriel to the Grey Havens. There he passes the Red Book onto Sam to record the years of his life to come, and thence the last ship to leave Middle-earth sets off, pulling slowly away from the shore and passing along the Straight Road into the Uttermost West. Pippin and Merry take their leave and Sam is left staring into the golden sunset. In the last scene, Sam is shown walking back up the lane to Bag End, where he is greeted by Rosie his wife and his children, surrounded by his family and with the rest of his life ahead of him, Sam sighs and says "Well, I'm back", then he goes inside and shuts the door as the screen fades to black.

Cast

Like the preceding films in the trilogy, The Return of the King has an ensemble cast[2], and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

* Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: The Hobbit who continues his quest to destroy the Ring, which continues to torture him.
* Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Better known as Sam, he is Frodo's loyal Hobbit companion.
* Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: He must finally face his destiny as King of Gondor.
* Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: The Wizard who travels to aid the Men of Gondor.
* Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: Better known as Merry, the Hobbit who becomes an esquire of Rohan.
* Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: Better known as Pippin, a Hobbit who looks into the palantír and becomes an esquire of Gondor.
* Orlando Bloom as Legolas: An Elven prince and skilled archer; one of Aragorn's best friends.
* John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: The warrior Dwarf who continues his friendly rivalry over Orc kills with Legolas. Rhys-Davies also voices Treebeard the Ent leader.
* Andy Serkis voices and provides motion capture for Sméagol/Gollum: The treacherous Hobbit who guides Frodo and Sam into Mordor. His life as Sméagol is glimpsed in the beginning of the film, and how he murdered his cousin Déagol for the Ring before an eternity of loneliness. Serkis also plays Sméagol, and voices the Witch-king of Angmar.
* Thomas Robins as Déagol, Sméagol's cousin.
* Bernard Hill as Théoden: King of Rohan. He is preparing his troops for the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.
* Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who wishes to prove herself in battle. She also starts to fall in love with Aragorn who does not return her love. In the extended version, she then falls for Faramir.
* Karl Urban as Éomer: Éowyn's brother, and Chief Marshal of the Riders of Rohan.
* Hugo Weaving as Elrond: The Elven lord of Rivendell who must convince Aragorn to take up the throne.
* Liv Tyler as Arwen, daughter of Elrond, Aragorn's lover. She becomes sick with grief.
* David Wenham as Faramir: The head of the Gondorian Rangers defending Osgiliath.
* John Noble as Denethor: Steward of Gondor and Faramir's father. He has fallen into madness as he lost hope.
* Bruce Hopkins as Gamling: Right hand man of Théoden and a skilled member of the Royal Guard of Rohan.
* Paul Norell as The King of the Dead: The cursed leader of the Dead Men at Dunharrow, from whom Aragorn must seek help.
* Lawrence Makoare plays the Witch-king of Angmar, the Lord of the Nazgûl, he leads Mordor's assault on Minas Tirith. He also plays Gothmog, an Orc commander who is voiced by Craig Parker.[3]
* Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo's elderly uncle.
* Marton Csokas as Lord Celeborn: Elven lord of Lórien.
* Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: Elven lady of Lórien. She is aware the time of the Elves is at an end.
* Sarah McLeod as Rosie Cotton: The girl of Sam's dreams.
* Sean Bean as Boromir: Faramir's brother, in a flashback to his death at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and in the extended cut when Denethor has a hallucination.

The following only appear in the Extended Edition

* Christopher Lee as Saruman: The former head wizard now trapped by Treebeard.
* Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: Saruman's sycophantic, treacherous servant.
* Bruce Spence as The Mouth of Sauron: Sauron's emissary at the Black Gate.

There are also cameos from Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Gino Acevedo, Rick Porras and Andrew Lesnie on the Corsair ship, although all of them but Jackson only appear in the Extended Edition. Jackson also has another unofficial cameo, as Sam's hand stepping into view when he confronts Shelob.[4] Sean Astin's daughter played Sam's daughter Elanor in the last scene of the movie. Jackson's children also cameo as Gondorian extras, whilst Christian Rivers played a Gondorian soldier guarding the Beacon Pippin lights, and is later seen wounded. Royd Tolkien cameos as a Ranger in Osgiliath,[5] whilst in the Extended Edition Howard Shore appears as a celebrating soldier at Edoras. Additionally, four of the designers of The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are featured as Rohirrim at the Pelennor. At the end of the film, each cast member gets a sketched portrait by Alan Lee, an idea suggested by Ian McKellen.

Chicago

2002-12-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

Chicago is a 2002 musical film adaptation of the satirical stage musical Chicago, the film explores the themes of celebrity and scandal in Jazz age Chicago. Directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, and adapted for film by screenwriter Bill Condon, Chicago won six Academy Awards in 2003, including Best Picture. The film was the first musical film to win the Best Picture Oscar since Oliver! in 1968.

Chicago centers on Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, two murderesses who find themselves on death row together in 1920s Chicago. Velma, a professional vaudevillian, and Roxie, a housewife with aspirations of being a star, fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows. The film stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, and Richard Gere, also featuring Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, and Mýa Harrison.

Plot

The film takes place in Chicago, circa 1924. Naive Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) visits a nightclub where star Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) performs ("And All That Jazz"). Hart is having an affair with Fred Casely (Dominic West) in hopes that he will get her a gig as a vaudeville star. Velma is arrested after the show for murdering her adulterous husband and sister Veronica after finding them in bed together. After Roxie realizes that Fred will not help her break into show business, she kills him in a fit of rage and tries to make her simple-minded husband Amos (John C. Reilly) take the fall ("Funny Honey"). However, the police and Amos (realizing she has been unfaithful to him) see through her ruse and Roxie is arrested and sent to the Cook County Jail.

Once Roxie arrives and is booked, she is sent to Murderess' Row to await trial, under the care of the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah), who supplies her girls with cigarettes and other materials if she is paid well enough ("When You're Good to Mama"). Roxie meets Velma in jail as the woman in charge, and learns the stories behind the other women in Murderess' Row ("Cell Block Tango"). Roxie decides that she wants Velma's lawyer Billy Flynn (Richard Gere) to get her off ("All I Care About"), and convinces her husband to talk to him. Billy decides to take Roxie's case and get her off by making her a star.

Flynn and Roxie manipulate the press at a press conference, reinventing Roxie's identity to make Chicago fall in love with her ("We Both Reached for the Gun"). Roxie becomes the new infamous celebrity of the Cook County Jail, much to Velma's disgust and Mama's delight ("Roxie"). Velma, desperate to get back into the limelight, tries to talk Roxie into opening a vaudeville act with her once they get out of jail ("I Can't Do It Alone"). Roxie haughtily refuses and mocks Velma, since Velma mocked Roxie earlier. Roxie and Velma become locked in a rivalry to outdo each other in stardom. The tables are turned on both women, however, when a new killer named Kitty (Lucy Liu) – a wealthy woman who killed her husband and both of his mistresses – enters the scene.

Roxie manages to steal back attention by claiming to be pregnant, which is falsely confirmed by a doctor (whom she seduced), much to Amos' delight; however, nobody notices that he even exists ("Mister Cellophane"). A Hungarian inmate, who is innocent of the murder of which she was convicted, is considered guilty and hanged after losing her final appeal, which fuels Roxie's desire to be free. Roxie's trial date approaches, and she and Billy begin to plan their strategy to find her innocent of murder using her star power and sympathy vote ("Razzle Dazzle"). Her trial proceeds and becomes a media spectacle, fed off the sensationalist reports of radio personality Mary Sunshine (Christine Baranski). The trial goes Roxie's way, until Velma shows up with Roxie's diary and, in exchange for amnesty, reads incriminating entries that Roxie claims to never have written. Using some quick talking, Billy manages to get Roxie off the hook and she is proclaimed innocent. However, Roxie's publicity is short lived: as soon as the trial concludes, the public's attention turns quickly to a new murderess. Roxie leaves the courthouse after discovering that Billy wrote the false diary entries, and sent the journal to Velma to get Miss Kelly off death row. Roxie reveals to Amos she faked her pregnancy for the fame and he finally leaves her.

With nothing left, Roxie once more sets off to find a stage career, with little success ("Nowadays"). However, she is soon approached by Velma, who is willing to revive a two-person act with Roxie. Roxie refuses at first, because of the hatred that they share for each other, but relents. The two murderesses, no longer facing jail time, finally become the enormous successes they have been longing to be ("Nowadays"/"Hot Honey Rag").

Cast

* Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart
* Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly
* Richard Gere as Billy Flynn
* John C. Reilly as Amos Hart
* Christine Baranski as Mary Sunshine
* Queen Latifah as Matron "Mama" Morton
* Taye Diggs as Bandleader
* Dominic West as Fred Casely
* Jayne Eastwood as Mrs. Borusewicz
* Colm Feore as Harrison
* Lucy Liu as Kitty Baxter
* Chita Rivera (cameo) as Nicky (original Velma on Broadway 1975)

Awards and Nominations

Academy Awards record
1. Best Supporting Actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones
2. Best Art Direction, John Myhre, Gordon Sim
3. Best Costume Design, Colleen Atwood
4. Best Editing, Martin Walsh
5. Best Picture, Martin Richards
6. Best Sound, Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, David Lee
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Musical/Comedy Picture
2. Best Musical/Comedy Actor, Richard Gere
3. Best Musical/Comedy Actress, Renée Zellweger
BAFTA Awards record
1. Best Supporting Actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones
2. Best Sound, Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, David Lee, Maurice Schell

Nominations

In addition to winning six Academy Awards, Chicago was nominated for seven others:

* Best Director (Rob Marshall)
* Best Actress (Renée Zellweger)
* Best Supporting Actor (John C. Reilly)
* Best Supporting Actress (Queen Latifah)
* Best in Cinematography (Dion Beebe)
* Best Original Song ("I Move On" by John Kander and Fred Ebb)
* Best Adapted Screenplay (Bill Condon).

It was also nominated for five additional Golden Globe Awards:

* Best Director (Rob Marshall)
* Best Actress in Musical or Comedy (Catherine Zeta-Jones)
* Best Supporting Actor (John C. Reilly)
* Best Supporting Actress (Queen Latifah)
* Best Screenplay (Bill Condon)

American Film Institute recognition

* 2004 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs:
o "All That Jazz" #98
* 2005 AFI's 100 Years of Musicals #12

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2002-12-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It is the second film in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy that was preceded by The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and concluded with The Return of the King (2003).

Continuing the plot of The Fellowship of the Ring, it intercuts three storylines, as Frodo and Sam continue their quest to destroy the One Ring in Mordor and meet Gollum, its former owner. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli come across the war torn nation of Rohan as well as the resurrected Gandalf, before fighting at the Battle of Helm's Deep, whilst Merry and Pippin escape capture and meet Treebeard, the Ent.

The movie was critically acclaimed, although the adaptation was more controversial than the first film. It was an enormous box-office success, earning over $900 million worldwide, outgrossing its predecessor, and is currently the 8th highest-grossing film of all time (inflation-adjusted, it is the 14th most successful film in North America). The Special Extended DVD Edition was released on November 19, 2003.

Plot

The film begins with a flashback set to the first film, with Gandalf battling the Balrog on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, but this time continues from Gandalf's perspective, with the scene continuing to follow both as they hurtle down below, fighting while in free-fall. Frodo awakens from his dream and continues his journey with his trusted and loyal friend, Sam. They are then attacked by the ring-possessed Gollum wishing to retrieve "his precious" from the ones he thinks stole it from him. The Hobbits subdue and bind him with Sam's Elven rope given to him by the Elven elder Galadriel in Lórien. Sam distrusts Gollum and wishes to abandon him, but Frodo understands the burden of the creature and takes pity on him. Realizing they are lost in the Emyn Muil and in need of a guide, Frodo persuades Gollum to lead them to the Black Gate of Mordor.

In Rohan, the pack of Uruk-hai run across the grassy landscape with their captives Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are in pursuit, following three days of running, Legolas surmises the Hobbits are being taken to Isengard, where Saruman is marshalling his Uruk-hai forces to do the bidding of Sauron. In the kingdom of Rohan, home of the horse lords, King Théoden is mentally and physically weak due to the enchantments of his steward, Gríma Wormtongue, who is secretly in the service of Saruman. Orcs and Wild Men of Dunland incited by Saruman freely roam the land and kill the people including the king's only son Théodred. Théoden's nephew Éomer interrogates Gríma, angrily realizing he has lustful eyes for Éomer's sister Éowyn and that he is now an agent of Saruman. Gríma banishes Éomer for undermining his authority and Éomer sets forth to gather the remaining loyal men of the Rohirrim throughout the land.

Frodo and Sam traverse the Dead Marshes, passing the undead fallen warriors of the Second Age who haunt the marshes and evading a newly seated Ringwraith on his flying fell beast. Later they reach the Black Gate, finding it to be heavily guarded, (they observe a contingent of Easterlings from Rhûn arrive to reinforce the garrison) only to have Gollum reveal to them a less risky path: Sam remains distrustful, but Frodo gives him the benefit of the doubt. Meanwhile, Éomer and his Rohirrim ambush and kill all of the Orcs and Uruk-hai holding the two Hobbits captive at nightfall. During the battle, Merry and Pippin narrowly escape their captors by fleeing into the trees where they are aided by Treebeard the oldest of the Ents.

Éomer later encounters Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and in turn tells Aragorn there were no survivors of the Orc/Uruk-hai slaughter. Upon arriving at the battle site, Aragorn uses his tracking skills and finds hobbit tracks that lead into nearby Fangorn forest. The three discover a wizard who is ultimately Gandalf reborn, now known as Gandalf the White. The quartet proceed to travel to Edoras, where they exorcise Saruman's hold on King Théoden and banish Wormtongue. Théoden is confronted with his dead son and rather than risk open war, decides to flee to a large fortress called Helm's Deep which in times of trouble has saved the people of Rohan. Gandalf leaves to find Éomer and his Rohirrim, promising to return within five days, as a strong attraction draws Éowyn to Aragorn during the journey to Helm's Deep. Wormtongue flees to Orthanc and tells Saruman of Rohan breaking from their grip; Saruman then decides to destroy Rohan.

In Ithilien, Gollum battles his split personality in an attempt to befriend Frodo and Sam and ultimately banishes his "evil" half. The two hobbits are witness to an ambush of Southrons but are taken captive by soldiers of Gondor. Meanwhile, along the journey to Helm's Deep, the travelers are attacked by Saruman's Wargs and their Orc riders. During the battle, Aragorn is dragged by a Warg and falls off a cliff into a raging river as the grief-stricken survivors reluctantly move on to Helm's Deep. In Rivendell, Elrond knows that the age of Elves is ending and convinces Arwen that it is hopeless to stay and should leave for the Grey Havens. Elrond shows her images that if she waits for Aragorn, even if he succeeds in destroying Sauron and becoming King of Gondor, he will still succumb to mortality: Arwen will suffer grievously once he is dead and she is left to wither away- she reluctantly agrees to leave. Elsewhere, Frodo and Sam are taken to Henneth Annûn and brought before Faramir, the younger brother of Boromir. Gollum eluded capture and in order to save his life, is lured into a trap unknowingly by Frodo. Faramir learns of the One Ring and, seeking to prove his worth to his father, decides the Ring shall go to Gondor. In Rohan, Aragorn washes up on the river's edge and is nudged back to consciousness by his horse, Brego. Battered but undaunted, he rides to Helm's Deep, passing Saruman's army of Uruk-hai, which numbers at least 10,000 strong. His arrival is met with relief but is short lived with the news of only 300 men in the stronghold. In the midst of despair, a battalion of Elves from Lórien, led by the Elf Haldir, arrives to assist in the ensuing battle. At Fangorn forest, Merry, Pippin, Treebeard and other Ents hold a Council to decide on the roles of the Ents in the war with Saruman.

In the pouring rain, the battle of Helm's Deep begins with a flurry of arrows from both human and Elven archers cutting down dozens of Uruk-hai. Scaling ladders are placed upon the Deeping Wall, and the Uruks swarm up to engage the defenders. The defenses are slowly being breached and the enemy manages to destroy the wall through its sewer drain, using a rudimentary explosive device created by Saruman. Despite Aragorn and Gimli's best efforts, the Uruk-hai manage to penetrate the main door and soon the stronghold is overrun. In the midst of battle, Haldir is slain and the few remaining Elves fall back into the Keep. In the Hornburg, however, the Uruks have also scaled the walls, and have breached the gate, forcing the defenders to retreat into the Keep. In Fangorn, Treebeard and the other Ents have decided to not have any involvement in the war. Frustrated, Pippin cleverly takes him to the section of Fangorn Forest Saruman has decimated near Isengard. Treebeard is filled with rage at Saruman's betrayal and commands all other Ents to seek vengeance. The Ents gather and embark upon 'the Last March of the Ents'.

Meanwhile, as the Keep is now under attack and realizing Gandalf's words before he departed, Aragorn and the rest make one last gallant ride on horseback to attack the Uruk-hai army, in a desperate bid to allow the Rohirrim's women and children to escape. As the riders are surrounded and all seems lost, Gandalf, Éomer, and two thousand Riders of the Rohirrim arrive to push back the Uruk-hai into Fangorn Forest, where the Ents and their Huorn allies are waiting to deal out death and destruction in revenge. Elsewhere, the Ents also attack Isengard, tossing stone and rock while collapsing a dam to flood its surroundings.

At the ruins of Osgiliath, Faramir and the Hobbits are confronted by a Ringwraith and its fell beast. With the help of Sam, Frodo narrowly escapes the Ringwraith's efforts to capture him. Sam narrates how the story must go on and how they should keep pressing forward as Faramir decides to free them to finish their quest. Gandalf and the others now know a full war is inevitable (as Sauron will surely seek retribution for the defeat of Saruman) and hope rests with Frodo and Sam, who have resumed their journey to Mordor with Gollum. Accompanying them once again and having felt betrayed after his subsequent mistreatment by Faramir's men, Gollum's darker nature returns and decides to reclaim the ring by leading Frodo and Sam to "her."

Cast

From left to right: Éomer, Théoden, Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn following the Battle of Helm's Deep. According to director Jackson The Two Towers is centred around the character of Aragorn.

Like the other films in the trilogy, The Two Towers has an ensemble cast, and the cast and their respective characters include:

* Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: the Hobbit who must destroy the One Ring, the burden of which is becoming heavier.
* Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee: Frodo's loyal Hobbit companion, better known as Sam.
* Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: the heir-in-exile to the throne of Gondor who has come to the defence of Rohan.
* Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White: the Wizard who fell fighting the Balrog, who has now returned, more powerful than ever, to finish his task.
* Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc Brandybuck: the Hobbit captured by the Uruk-hai, Pippin's best friend, better known as Merry.
* Billy Boyd as Peregrin Took: the Hobbit captured by the Uruk-hai, Merry's best friend, better known as Pippin.
* Orlando Bloom as Legolas: the Elven archer and one of Aragorn's companions.
* John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: the Dwarf warrior and one of Aragorn's companions.
o Also voices Treebeard: the leader of the Ents, who is roused to anger against Saruman.
* Andy Serkis as Sméagol/Gollum: the devious Hobbit-like creature, owner of the Ring for centuries, who guides Frodo on his quest; voice and motion capture.
* Christopher Lee as Saruman: the Wizard waging war upon Rohan and devastating Fangorn Forest, who allies himself with Sauron.
* Bernard Hill as Théoden: King of Rohan, who is healed by Gandalf to lead his people once more.
* Miranda Otto as Éowyn: Théoden's niece, who is in love with Aragorn.
* Karl Urban as Éomer: Théoden's nephew and previously Chief Marshal of the Riddermark, exiled by Gríma.
* Brad Dourif as Gríma Wormtongue: Saruman's agent at Edoras, who renders Théoden incapable of decisions, and desires Éowyn.
* Hugo Weaving as Elrond: the Elven lord of Rivendell who expresses doubt over his daughter's love for Aragorn.
* Liv Tyler as Arwen: Elrond's daughter and Elven princess, who loves Aragorn.
* David Wenham as Faramir: the captain of the Ithilien Rangers, who captures Frodo, Sam and Gollum.
* Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: the Elven queen of Lórien, who discusses the future of Middle-earth with Elrond.
* Craig Parker as Haldir of Lórien: the leader of the Lórien Elves sent by Elrond and Galadriel to defend Helm's Deep.
* John Leigh as Háma: the loyal doorwarden of the Golden Hall and a majordomo of Théoden.
* Bruce Hopkins as Gamling: the right hand man to Théoden and a skilled member of the Royal Guard of Rohan.
* John Bach as Madril: the right hand man to Faramir, who informs him of battle preparations.

The following only appear in the Extended Edition

* Sean Bean as Boromir: the former member of the Fellowship, brother of Faramir (flashback).
* John Noble as Denethor: Steward of Gondor and Boromir and Faramir's father.

In the Battle of Helm's Deep, Peter Jackson has a cameo appearance as one of the men on top of the Gate, throwing a spear at the attacking Uruk-hai. His children and Elijah Wood's sister also cameo as young refugees in the caves behind the Hornburg, and Alan Lee and Dan Hennah also cameo as soldiers preparing for the battle. Viggo Mortensen's son Henry appears as a reluctant young Rohirrim warrior. Daniel Falconer has a cameo as an Elvish archer at the battle.

Spider-Man

2002-05-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film is the first in the Spider-Man film series. The film was directed by Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe. The script was credited to David Koepp.

The film begins with Peter Parker, a high school student, being bitten by a genetically altered spider. After misusing his newly-given abilities, which indirectly caused the death of his Uncle Ben, he becomes the heroic Spider-Man. Peter hopes to win the heart of Mary Jane Watson, the girl he has loved since he was a boy, and battles the villainous Green Goblin, who is the father of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn.

After being stuck in development hell for nearly 25 years, the film was released on May 3, 2002 by Columbia Pictures. The film received multiple good reviews, went on to break box office records, and become the third highest grossing film of 2002 worldwide, making $822 million worldwide. Spider-Man is the 2nd most successful film based on a comic book (after The Dark Knight) and the 18th most successful film of all time. The success of the film led to two sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.

Plot

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), his best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco), and Peter's secret crush Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) visit a genetics laboratory at Columbia University with their high school class. While taking photos in the laboratory, Peter is bitten on the hand by a genetically engineered "super spider". Feeling unwell, he passes out shortly after arriving home. Meanwhile, scientist and owner of Oscorp Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), Harry's father, is attempting to preserve his company's military contract, knowing that its loss will mean the end of his business. He experiments on himself with his company's new, but unstable, performance-enhancing chemical vapor which increases his speed, strength, and stamina. However, it also causes him to become insane and he kills his assistant, Mendel Stromm (Ron Perkins). The next morning, Peter wakes to find that his previously impaired vision has improved and that his body has metamorphosized into a more muscular physique. At school, he finds himself producing webbing and having the quick reflexes to avoid being injured in a fight with bully Flash Thompson (Joe Manganiello). Peter escapes from the school and realizes that he has acquired spider-like abilities from the spider bite. He quickly learns to scale walls, long jump across building rooftops and swing via webs from his wrists.

Lying to his aunt and uncle about where he is going, Peter decides to enter a wrestling tournament to get money to buy a car and impress Mary Jane. During an argument, Uncle Ben advises Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." Peter lashes out at his uncle and leaves for the tournament. Peter wins, but is cheated out of the contest money. In retaliation he allows a thief to escape with the promoter's gate money. Afterward, Peter finds his uncle has been carjacked and killed. Peter tracks down the carjacker only to find out it was the same thief he allowed to escape earlier. After Peter disarms him, the carjacker tries to get away but falls out of a window and is killed.

Upon graduating school, Peter decides to use his abilities to fight injustice, and dons a new costume and the persona of Spider-Man. Peter is hired as a freelance photographer when he arrives in newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson's (J.K. Simmons) office with the only clear images of Spider-Man.

Norman, upon finding out that Oscorp's board members plan to sell the company, attacks them at the World Unity Fair. Although he successfully murders them, Spider-Man arrives and drives him off. Jameson quickly dubs Norman the "Green Goblin". The Goblin offers Spider-Man a place at his side, but Spider-Man refuses, knowing that it is the right thing to do. At the Osborn and Parkers' Thanksgiving dinner, Norman, unknown to Peter, figures out Spider-Man's true identity; the Green Goblin subsequently attacks Aunt May. While Aunt May recovers in the hospital, Mary Jane admits she has a crush on Spider-Man, who rescued her on numerous occasions, and asks Peter whether he ever asked about her. Peter reflects on his own feelings, during which Harry enters. Feeling betrayed by his girlfriend and his best friend, Harry tells his father whom Peter loves the most, unintentionally revealing Spider-Man's biggest weakness.

The Goblin holds Mary Jane and a tram car full of children hostage on top the Queensboro Bridge where Spider-Man arrives. The Goblin forces Spider-Man to choose who he wants to save, and drops Mary Jane and the children. Spider-Man manages to save both Mary Jane and the tram car, while the Goblin is pelted by civilians showing loyalty to Spider-Man. The Goblin then grabs Spider-Man and throws him into an abandoned building where he begins to beat him. The tables turn as the Goblin boasts of how he will later kill Mary Jane, and an enraged Spider-Man dominates over him, forcing the Goblin into being unmasked. Norman begs for forgiveness, but his Goblin persona attempts to remote-control his glider to impale Spider-Man. The superhero avoids the attack, causing the glider to impale Norman instead, and he dies asking Peter not to tell Harry about the Green Goblin. At Norman’s funeral, Harry swears vengeance toward Spider-Man, who he believes is responsible for killing his father, and asserts that Peter is all he has left. Mary Jane confesses to Peter that she’s in love with him, but Peter, feeling that he must protect her from the unwanted attentions of Spider-Man's enemies, hides his true feelings. As Peter leaves the funeral, he recalls Uncle Ben's words about responsibility, and accepts his new life as Spider-Man.

Cast and characters

* Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: An academic but socially inept student who is bitten by a genetically modified spider and gains spider-like abilities. Maguire was cast as Peter in July 2000, having been Sam Raimi's primary choice for the role after he saw The Cider House Rules. The studio was initially hesitant to cast someone who did not seem to fit the ranks of "adrenaline-pumping, tail-kicking titans", but Maguire managed to impress studio executives with his audition. The actor was signed for a deal in the range of $3 to $4 million with higher salary options for two sequels. To prepare, Maguire was trained by a physical trainer, a yoga instructor, a martial arts expert and a climbing expert, taking several months to improve his physique. Maguire studied spiders and worked with a wire man to simulate the arachnidlike motion, and had a special diet.
The studio had expressed interest in actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Freddie Prinze, Jr, Chris Klein, Wes Bentley and Heath Ledger. DiCaprio had been considered by James Cameron for the role in 1995, while Raimi joked of Prinze that "[he] won't even be allowed to buy a ticket to see this film." In addition, actors Scott Speedman, Jay Rodan, and James Franco were involved in screen tests for the lead role.

* Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn / Green Goblin: CEO of Oscorp who tests an unstable strength enhancer on himself and becomes the insane and powerful Green Goblin. Unaware of Spider-Man's true identity, he also sees himself as a father figure for Peter, ignoring his own son, Harry. Dafoe was cast as Osborn in November 2000. Nicolas Cage turned down the role due to his commitment on Adaptation, while John Malkovich also rejected the role because of scheduling difficulties and a disinterest in the genre. Dafoe insisted on wearing the uncomfortable costume as he felt that a stuntman would not convey the character's necessary body language. The 580-piece suit took half an hour to put on.

* Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson: The girl whom Peter Parker has developed a crush since he was six years old. Mary Jane has an abusive father, and aspires to become an actress, but becomes a waitress at a run down diner, a fact she hides from her boyfriend Harry. Before Raimi cast Dunst, he had expressed his interest in casting Alicia Witt. Dunst decided to audition after learning Maguire had been cast, feeling the film would have a more independent feel. Dunst earned the role a month before shooting in an audition in Berlin.

* James Franco as Harry Osborn: Before being cast as Peter's best friend and flatmate, Franco had screen tested for Spider-Man himself.

* Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker: The husband to May Parker and uncle of Peter Parker, a fired electrician who is trying to find a new job. He is killed by a carjacker whom Peter failed to stop, and leaves Peter with the message, "With great power comes great responsibility."

* Rosemary Harris as May Parker: The wife to Ben Parker and the aunt of Peter Parker. May is a devout Christian who is highly aware of Peter's love for Mary Jane.

* J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson: The grouchy chief editor of the Daily Bugle who considers Spider-Man a criminal. Nonetheless he has a good side and pays Peter for photos of Spider-Man, and refuses to tell the Green Goblin the identity of the photographer.

* Joe Manganiello as Flash Thompson: A repugnant high school student who bullies Peter, and is defeated in a fight after Peter inherits his spider-like powers.

* Michael Papajohn as The Carjacker: The criminal who robs the wrestling manager who stiffs Peter Parker for his ring performance and murders Ben Parker (although the murderer was retconned as Flint Marko (Sandman) in Spider-Man 3). He was killed from falling from a window when confronted by Peter.

* Bill Nunn as Joseph "Robbie" Robertson: The editor at the Daily Bugle, who on occasion helps Peter.

* Elizabeth Banks as Betty Brant: As seen in past Spider Man comics, Betty Brant is the woman who gives Peter Parker money following his photography sessions with "Spider Man"

Bruce Campbell, a long-time colleague of director Sam Raimi, cameoed as the announcer at the wrestling ring Peter takes part in. Raimi himself appeared off-screen, throwing popcorn at Peter as he enters the arena to wrestle Bonesaw McGraw (played by former professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage).[17] Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee also had a cameo, in which he asks Peter, "Hey kid, would you like a pair of these glasses? They're the kind they wore in X-Men." The scene was cut, and Lee only briefly appears in the film to grab a young girl from falling debris during the battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin in Times Square.

A Beautiful Mind

2001-12-21T04:55:00.000-08:00

A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American film based on the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. It was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar. The film stars Russell Crowe, along with Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris and Paul Bettany.

The story begins in the early years of Nash's life at Princeton University as he develops his "original idea" that will revolutionize the world of mathematics. Early in the movie, Nash begins developing paranoid schizophrenia and endures delusional episodes while painfully watching the loss and burden his condition brings on his wife and friends.

The film opened in US cinemas on December 21, 2001. It was well-received by critics, grossed over $300 million worldwide, and went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. It was also nominated for Best Leading Actor, Best Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Score. The film has been criticized for its inaccurate portrayal of some aspects of Nash's life. The film fictionally portrayed his hallucinations as visual and auditory, yet factually they were exclusively auditory. Too, Nasar concluded Nash's refusal to take drugs "may have been fortunate," since their side effects "would have made his gentle re-entry into the world of mathematics a near impossibility"; in the screenplay, however, just before he receives the Nobel Prize, Nash speaks of taking "newer medications."

Plot

John Nash (Russell Crowe) arrives at Princeton University as a new graduate student. He is a recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Prize for mathematics; although he was promised a single room, his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany), a literature student, greets him as he moves in and soon becomes his best friend. Nash also meets a group of other promising math and science graduate students, Martin Hansen (Josh Lucas), Sol (Adam Goldberg), Ainsley, and Bender (Anthony Rapp), with whom he strikes up an awkward friendship. Nash admits to Charles that he is better with numbers than people, which comes as no surprise to them after watching his largely unsuccessful attempts at conversation with the women at the local bar.

The headmaster of Princeton informs Nash, who has missed many of his classes, that he cannot begin work until he finishes a thesis paper, prompting him to seek a truly original idea for the paper. A woman at the bar is what ultimately inspires his fruitful work in the concept of governing dynamics, a theory in mathematical economics.

After the conclusion of Nash's studies as a student at Princeton, he accepts a prestigious appointment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), along with his friends Sol and Bender.

Five years later, while teaching a class on calculus at MIT, he places a particularly interesting problem on the chalkboard that he dares his students to solve. When his student Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly) comes to his office to discuss the problem, the two fall in love and eventually marry.

On a return visit to Princeton, Nash runs into his former roommate Charles and meets Charles' young niece Marcee (Vivien Cardone), whom he adores. Nash is invited to a secret Department of Defense facility in the Pentagon to crack a complex encryption of an enemy telecommunication. Nash is able to decipher the code mentally, to the astonishment of other codebreakers. Here, he encounters the mysterious William Parcher (Ed Harris), who belongs to the United States Department of Defense.

Parcher observes Nash's performance from above, while partially concealed behind a screen. Parcher gives Nash a new assignment to look for patterns in magazines and newspapers, ostensibly to thwart a Soviet plot. He must write a report of his findings and place them in a specified mailbox. After being chased by Russian agents and an exchange of gunfire, Nash becomes increasingly paranoid and begins to behave erratically.

After observing this erratic behavior, Alicia informs a psychiatric hospital. Later, while delivering a guest lecture at Princeton University, Nash realizes that he is being watched by a hostile group of people; although, he attempts to flee, he is forcibly sedated and sent to a psychiatric facility. Nash's internment seemingly confirms his belief that the Soviets are trying to extract information from him. He views the officials of the psychiatric facility as Soviet kidnappers. At one point, he insanely tries to dig out of his arm an implant he received at The Pentagon, causing much bleeding.

Alicia, desperate to help her husband, visits the mailbox and retrieves the never-opened "top secret" documents that Nash had delivered there. When confronted with this evidence, Nash is finally convinced that he has been hallucinating. The Department of Defense agent William Parcher and Nash's secret assignment to decode Soviet messages was in fact all a delusion. Even more surprisingly, Nash's friend Charles and his niece Marcee are also only products of Nash's mind.

After a series of insulin shock therapy sessions, Nash is released on the condition that he agrees to take antipsychotic medication; however, the drugs create negative side-effects that affect his sexual and emotional relationship with his wife and, most dramatically, his intellectual capacity. Frustrated, Nash secretly stops taking his medication and hoards his pills, triggering a relapse of his psychosis.

While bathing his infant son, Nash becomes distracted and wanders off. Alicia is hanging laundry in the backyard and observes that the back gate is open. She discovers that Nash has turned an abandoned shed in a nearby grove of trees into an office for his work for Parcher. Upon realizing what has happened, Alicia runs into the house to confront Nash and barely saves their child from drowning in the bathtub. When she confronts him, Nash claims that his friend Charles was watching their son. Alicia runs to the phone to call the psychiatric hospital for emergency assistance. Nash suddenly sees Parcher who urges him to kill his wife, but Nash angrily refuses to do such a thing. After Parcher points a gun at her, Nash lunges for him, accidentally knocking Alicia to the ground. Alicia flees the house in fear with their child, but Nash steps in front of her car to prevent her from leaving. After a moment, Nash realizes that Marcee is a hallucination, because although years have passed since their first encounter, Marcee has remained exactly the same age and is still a little girl. Realizing the implications of this fact, he tells Alicia, "She never gets old." Only then does he accept that although all three people seem completely real, they are in fact part of his hallucinations.

Caught between the intellectual paralysis of the antipsychotic drugs and his delusions, Nash and Alicia decide to try to live with his abnormal condition. Nash consciously says goodbye to the three of them forever in his attempts to ignore his hallucinations and not feed "his demons"; however, he thanks Charles for being his best friend over the years, and says a tearful goodbye to Marcee, stroking her hair and calling her "baby girl", telling them both he would not speak to them anymore. They still continue to haunt him, with Charles mocking him for cutting off their friendship, but Nash learns to ignore them.

Nash grows older and approaches his old friend and intellectual rival Martin Hansen, now head of the Princeton mathematics department, who grants him permission to work out of the library and audit classes. Even though Nash still suffers from hallucinations and mentions taking newer medications, he is ultimately able to live with and largely ignore his psychotic episodes. He takes his situation in stride and humorously checks to ensure that any new acquaintances are in fact real people, not hallucinations.

Nash eventually earns the privilege of teaching again. He is honored by his fellow professors for his achievement in mathematics, and goes on to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his revolutionary work on game theory. Nash and Alicia are about to leave the auditorium in Stockholm, when Nash sees Charles, Marcee and Parcher standing and watching him with blank expressions on their faces. Alicia asks Nash, "What's wrong?" Nash replies, "Nothing. Nothing at all." With that, they both leave the auditorium.

Cast

* Russell Crowe as John Forbes Nash. A mathematical genius who is obsessed with finding an original idea to ensure his legacy. There was difficulty when casting Crowe, who was well-liked by the producers, when he went to film Gladiator in a different time-zone and was difficult to reach for an extended period of time to attach him to the project.
* Jennifer Connelly as Alicia Nash. A later student of Nash who catches his interest. Connelly was cast after Ron Howard drew comparisons to her and Alicia Nash, both academically and in facial features.
* Paul Bettany as Charles Herman. Nash's cheerful, supportive roommate and best friend throughout graduate college. The character of Charles was not written to be British; however, director Brian Helgeland provided a tape of Bettany from A Knight's Tale. The filmmakers agreed that the character could be British, based on Bettany's performance in the film.
* Ed Harris as William Parcher. A highly dedicated and forceful government agent for the Department of Defense. He recruits Nash to help fight Soviet spies.
* Josh Lucas as Martin Hansen. Nash's friendly rival from his graduate school years at Princeton. In the end, Hansen tells Nash that nobody wins, and they are at that point consider each other as equals.
* Adam Goldberg as Sol. A friend of Nash's from Princeton University who is chosen, along with Bender, to work with him at MIT.
* Anthony Rapp as Bender. A friend of Nash's from Princeton University who is chosen, along with Sol, to work with him at MIT.
* Vivien Cardone as Marcee. Charles' young niece.
* Christopher Plummer as Dr. Rosen. Nash's doctor at a psychiatric hospital.
* Judd Hirsch as Helinger. The head of the Princeton mathematics department.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2001-12-19T04:22:00.000-08:00

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson based on the similarly titled first volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Set in Middle-earth, the story tells of the Dark Lord Sauron (Sala Baker), who is seeking the One Ring (Alan Howard voice). The Ring has found its way to the young hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). The fate of Middle-earth hangs in the balance as Frodo and eight companions form the Fellowship of the Ring, and journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor: the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.

Released on December 19, 2001, the film was highly acclaimed by critics and fans alike, especially as many of the latter judged it to be sufficiently faithful to the original story. It was a box office success, earning over $870 million worldwide, and the second highest grossing film of 2001 in the U.S. and worldwide (behind Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) which made it the 5th highest grossing film ever at the time. Today it is the 15th highest-grossing worldwide film of all time. It won four Academy Awards and five BAFTAs, including Best Film and Best Director. The Special Extended DVD Edition was released on November 12, 2002. In 2007, The Fellowship of the Ring was voted number 50 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest American films. The AFI also voted it the second greatest fantasy film of all time during their AFI's 10 Top 10 special.

Plot

The foreword, spoken by Galadriel, shows the Dark Lord Sauron forging the One Ring in order to conquer the lands of Middle-earth. A Last Alliance of Elves and Men is formed to counter Sauron's forces at the foot of Mount Doom, but Sauron kills Elendil, the High King of Men. His son, Prince Isildur grabs Elendil's broken sword Narsil, and slashes at Sauron's hand, separating him from the Ring and vanquishing his army. However, because Sauron's "life force" is bound to the Ring, he is not completely defeated until the Ring itself is destroyed. Isildur takes the Ring and succumbs to its temptation, refusing to destroy it. He is later ambushed and killed by orcs, and the Ring is lost in a river. The Ring is found by the creature Gollum thousands of years later, who takes it underground for five centuries, giving him "unnaturally long life." Since the Ring is bound to Sauron, it has a will of its own and wants to be found. Therefore, the Ring consciously leaves Gollum in its quest to be reunited with Sauron. However, it is instead found by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, much to the despair of Gollum. Bilbo returns to his home in the Shire with the Ring, and the story jumps forward in time sixty years.

At his 111th ("eleventy-first") birthday, Bilbo leaves the Ring to his nephew and adopted heir Frodo Baggins. The Wizard Gandalf soon learns it is the One Ring, and that Sauron seeks to retake it. Taking no chances, Gandalf tells Frodo to leave the Shire with the Ring and sends him to Bree with his friend and gardener,Sam, with plans to meet him there after Gandalf goes to Isengard to meet the head of his order, Saruman. Saruman reveals that the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, have left Mordor to capture the Ring and kill whoever carries it; having already been corrupted to Sauron's cause, he then imprisons Gandalf atop Orthanc. Gandalf is then forced to watch as Saruman orders his orcs to destroy the forests surrounding Isengard to build weapons of war and create an elite Orc army called the Uruk-hai.

While travelling to Bree, Frodo and Sam are soon joined by fellow hobbits Merry and Pippin. After encountering a Ringwraith on the road, they manage to reach Bree, and there they meet a Man called Strider, who agrees to lead them to Rivendell. They agree only because Strider already knows about the Nazgûl and that Gandalf isn't there to guide them. After some travelling, they spend the night on the hill of Weathertop, where they are attacked by the Nazgûl at night. Strider fights off the Ringwraiths, but Frodo is grievously wounded with a morgul blade, and they must quickly get him to Rivendell for healing. While chased by the Nazgûl, Frodo is taken by the elf Arwen to the Elven haven of Rivendell, and healed by her father, Elrond.

In Rivendell Frodo meets Gandalf, who explains why he didn't meet them at Bree as planned (he had escaped Orthanc and Saruman's clutches with the help of an eagle). In the meantime, there are many meetings between various peoples, and Elrond calls a council to decide what should be done with the Ring. The Ring can only be destroyed by throwing it into the fires (that is, lava) of Mount Doom, where it was forged. Mount Doom is located in Mordor, near Sauron's fortress of Barad-dûr, and will be an incredibly dangerous journey. Frodo volunteers to take the Ring to Mount Doom as all the others argue about who should or shouldn't take it. He is accompanied by his hobbit friends and Gandalf, as well as Strider, who is revealed to be Aragorn, the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor. Also travelling with them are the Elf Legolas, the Dwarf Gimli and Boromir, the son of the Steward of Gondor. Together they comprise the Fellowship of the Ring. The Fellowship set out and try to pass the mountain Caradhras, but they are stopped by Saruman's wizardry. At Gimli's insistence, they decide to seek safety and travel under the mountain through the Mines of Moria. They discover that an attempt by Gimli's cousin Balin to colonize it has failed. They are attacked by Orcs and a Cave Troll, and encounter a Balrog, an ancient demon of fire and shadow, at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Gandalf confronts the Balrog on the bridge, allowing the others to escape the subterranean realm, while he falls with the creature into the abyss below.

The group flees to the Elven realm of Lothlórien, where they are sheltered by its rulers, Galadriel and her husband Celeborn. While resting, Boromir tells Aragorn about the troubles afflicting the land of Gondor and the people's desire to see a strong King rescue it from destruction. Frodo meets Galadriel, who tells him that it's his destiny to handle the Ring and ultimately destroy it. Before they leave, Galadriel gives Frodo the Phial of Galadriel, and the other members also receive gifts from them. Taking the straight path to Mordor, they travel on the River Anduin towards Parth Galen.

After landing at Parth Galen, Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, believing that it is the only way to save his realm. Frodo manages to escape by putting the Ring on his finger and vanishing. Aragorn encounters Frodo, but unlike Boromir, Aragorn chooses not to take the Ring. Knowing that the Ring's temptation will be too strong for the Fellowship, Frodo decides to leave them and go to Mordor alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship are attacked by Uruk-hai, who Saruman had ordered to hunt down the Fellowship and take back the Ring. Merry and Pippin, realizing that Frodo is leaving, distract the orcs allowing Frodo to escape. Boromir rushes to the aid of the two hobbits but is mortally wounded by the orc commander Lurtz. Before he can finish Boromir, however, Aragorn arrives and slays Lurtz after a brief fight. Boromir regrets having attempted to steal the Ring, but is forgiven by Aragorn, who promises him that he will not allow Gondor to fall into ruin. Heartened by Aragorn's words, Boromir accepts Aragorn as his king before he dies. Merry and Pippin are captured prompting Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to begin their pursuit of the orcs with the intent of rescuing the hobbits, leaving Frodo to his fate. Before Frodo departs, Sam decides to join him and together they head off to Mordor.

Cast

Before filming began on October 11, 1999, the principal actors trained for six weeks in sword fighting (with Bob Anderson), riding and boating. Jackson hoped such activities would allow the cast to bond so chemistry would be evident on screen as well as getting them used to life in Wellington.] They were also trained to pronounce Tolkien's verses properly. After the shoot, the nine cast members playing the Fellowship got a tattoo, the Elvish symbol for the number nine.[4] The film is noted for having an ensemble cast, and some of the cast and their respective characters include:

* Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins: A hobbit who inherits the One Ring from his uncle, Bilbo Baggins. He is mostly accompanied by his best friend and fellow hobbit, Samwise Gamgee. Elijah Wood was the first actor to be cast on July 7, 1999.[6] Wood was a fan of the book, and he sent in an audition dressed as Frodo, reading lines from the novel. Wood was selected from one-hundred-and-fifty actors who auditioned.
* Sean Astin as Samwise "Sam" Gamgee: A Hobbit gardener and friend of Frodo. When caught eavesdropping, Sam is made to become Frodo's companion and from then on becomes very loyal. Astin, then a father of one, bonded with the eighteen-year old Wood in a protective manner similar to Sam and Frodo.
* Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn: Dubbed Strider, he is a Dúnadain Ranger and the heir to the throne of Gondor. He travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor. He is unsure of whether to become King following the failure of his ancestor, Isildur, to destroy the Ring. Nicolas Cage turned down the role because of "family obligations", whilst Vin Diesel, a fan of the book, auditioned for Aragorn, before Stuart Townsend was cast in the role, before being replaced during filming when Jackson realized he was too young. Russell Crowe was considered as a replacement, but he turned it down after a similar role in Gladiator. Producer Mark Odesky saw Mortensen in a play and it was Mortensen's son, a fan of the book, who convinced him to take the role. Mortensen read the book on the plane, received a crash course lesson in fencing from Bob Anderson and began filming the scenes on Weathertop. Mortensen became a hit with the crew, method acting by patching up his costume and carrying his "hero" sword around with him offscreen.

The principal cast members of The Fellowship of the Ring. All of the cast members had a tattoo of the Elvish symbol for '9' except for John Rhys-Davies after they bonded during the fifteen month shoot.
Left to right: (Top row) Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Boromir, (Bottom row) Sam, Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Gimli.

* Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey: A wizard and mentor to Frodo Baggins, who helps him decide what to do with the Ring. He becomes the leader of the Fellowship after it is decided to take the Ring to Mount Doom and destroy it. Sean Connery was approached for the role, but didn't understand the plot, while Patrick Stewart turned it down as he disliked the script. Before being cast, McKellen had to sort his schedule with 20th Century Fox as there was a two-month overlap with X-Men. He enjoyed playing Gandalf the Grey more than his transformed state in the next two films,[4] and based his accent on Tolkien. Unlike his on-screen character, McKellen did not spend much time with the actors playing the Hobbits, instead working with their scale doubles.
* Dominic Monaghan as Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck: A Hobbit and a friend of Frodo. He helps him find a ferry to escape the Nazgûl, travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor, along with his best friend Pippin. Monaghan was cast as Merry after auditioning for Frodo. Together with Peregrin Took (see below), he serves as a comic relief in the trilogy.
* Billy Boyd as Peregrin "Pippin" Took: A Hobbit who travels with the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor, along with his best friend Merry. He is loyal but a prankster, often being a nuisance for Gandalf. Together with Meriadoc Brandybuck (see above), he serves as a comic relief in the trilogy.
* Sean Bean as Boromir: A prince of the Stewards of Gondor, he journeys with the Fellowship towards Mordor, although he is tempted by the power of the Ring. He feels Gondor needs no King, but becomes a friend of Aragorn. Bruce Willis, a fan of the book, expressed interest in the role, while Liam Neeson was sent the script, but passed.
* Orlando Bloom as Legolas: Prince of the Elves' Woodland Realm and a skilled archer who accompanies the Fellowship on their journey to Mordor. Bloom initially auditioned for Faramir, who appears in the second film, a role which went to David Wenham.
* John Rhys-Davies as Gimli: A Dwarf who accompanies the Fellowship to Mordor after they set out from Rivendell. He is initially xenophobic towards Elves, but changes his attitude in the course of the story, particularly after meeting Lady Galadriel. Billy Connolly was considered for the part of Gimli. Rhys-Davies wore heavy prosthetics to play Gimli, which limited his vision, and eventually he developed eczema around his eyes.
* Christopher Lee as Saruman the White: The fallen head of the Istari Order, who succumbed to Sauron's will via his use of the palantír. After capturing Gandalf, he creates an army of Uruk-hai to find and capture the Ring from the Fellowship. Lee is a major fan of the book, and reads it once a year. He has also met J. R. R. Tolkien. He originally auditioned for Gandalf, but was too old.
* Sala Baker portrays Sauron: The main antagonist and title character of the story, who created the One Ring to conquer Middle-earth. He lost the Ring to Isildur, and now seeks it in order to initiate his reign over Middle-earth. He cannot yet take physical form, and is spiritually incarnate as an Eye.
* Hugo Weaving as Elrond: The Elven master of Rivendell, who leads the Council of Elrond which ultimately decides to destroy the One Ring. He lost faith in the strength of Men after witnessing Isildur's failure 3,000 years before. David Bowie expressed interest in the role, but Jackson stated, "To have a famous, beloved character and a famous star colliding is slightly uncomfortable."
* Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: Galadriel is the co-ruler of Lothlórien and a mighty Elf, along with her husband Lord Celeborn. She shows Frodo a possible outcome of events in her mirror and gives him the Light of Eärendil.
* Liv Tyler as Arwen: An elf, Arwen escorts Frodo to Rivendell after he is stabbed by the Witch-king. She is the daughter of Elrond and lover of Aragorn, to whom she gives the Evenstar necklace. The filmmakers approached Tyler after seeing her performance in Plunkett & Macleane, and New Line Cinema leaped at the opportunity of having one Hollywood star in the film. Tyler came to shoot on short occasions, and bonded most with Bloom.
* Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins: Frodo's uncle who gives him the Ring after he decides to retire to Rivendell. At Rivendell, he gives Frodo a mithril mail-shirt and his own sword, Sting, which can detect the presence of nearby orcs by emitting a bluish glow. Holm previously played Frodo in a 1981 radio adaption of The Lord of the Rings, and was cast as Bilbo after Jackson remembered his performance. Sylvester McCoy was contacted about playing the role, and was kept in place as a potential Bilbo for six months before Jackson went with Holm.
* Lawrence Makoare as Lurtz: The commander of Saruman's orc forces who leads the hunt for the Fellowship as they head to Mordor.

Awards

In 2002 the movie won four Academy Awards out of thirteen nominations. The winning categories were for Best Cinematography, Best Effects (Visual Effects), Best Makeup, and Best Music (Original Score). Despite its praise by fans, the other nominated categories of Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ian McKellen), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Music (Best Song) (Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan for "May It Be"), Best Picture, Best Sound, Costume Design and Best Writing (Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published) were not won.

As of February 2009, it is the 15th highest grossing films worldwide, with takings of US$870,761,744 from world-wide theatrical box office receipts.

The movie won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It also won Empire readers' Best Film award, as well as five BAFTAs, including Best Film, the David Lean Award for Direction, the Audience Award (voted for by the public), Best Special Effects, and Best Make-up.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was acknowledged as the second best film in the fantasy genre.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

2001-11-04T04:26:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) is a 2001 fantasy/adventure film based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Chris Columbus, it is the first in the popular Harry Potter films series. The story follows Harry Potter, a boy who discovers on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard, and is sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his magical education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The adult cast features Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Ian Hart.

Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999. Production began in 2000, with Columbus being chosen from a short list of directors to create the film. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British, in keeping with the cultural integrity of the book and the film. Rowling also approved the screenplay, written by Steve Kloves. The film shot primarily at Leavesden Film Studios, as well as historic buildings around the country, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States in November 2001. Along with mostly positive critical reception, it made in excess of $976 million at the worldwide box office and received three Academy Award nominations. The second, third, fourth, and fifth books have also been adapted into successful films, with the sixth and seventh confirmed.

Plot
Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary eleven-year-old boy, living with his negligent relatives, the Dursleys. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a mysterious stranger, Hagrid, that he is actually a wizard, famous in the wizarding world for surviving an attack by the evil dark Lord Voldemort, when Harry was only a year old. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his attack on Harry failed, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead. Harry is invited to begin attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry defies his aunt and uncle, and attends Hogwarts where he begins to learn magic and make new friends, as well as enemies, among the Hogwarts students and staff. Voldemort has been near death, and in hiding, since the attack on Harry ten years earlier, but a plot is brewing for the dark lord to regain his power and strength through the acquisition of a philosopher's stone, which grants immortality to its owner. Harry and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, discover the plot and seek to prevent the theft of the stone, which is hidden in a protected chamber at Hogwarts.

Cast
Rowling personally insisted that the cast be kept British. Susie Figgis was appointed as casting director, working with both Columbus and Rowling in auditioning the lead roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Open casting calls were held for the main three roles, with only British children being considered. The principal auditions took place in three parts, with those auditioning having to read a page from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, then if called back, they had to improvise a scene of the students' arrival at Hogwarts, they were then given several pages from the script to read in front of Columbus. Scenes from Columbus' script for the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes were also used in auditions. On 11 July 2000 Figgis left production, complaining that Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned "worthy".[36] On 8 August 2000, the virtually unknown Daniel Radcliffe and the newcomers Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were selected from thousands of auditioning children to play the roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, respectively.

* Daniel Radcliffe stars as Harry Potter, a seemingly normal child with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead and an ability to make strange things happen. His aunt and uncle, following the death of his parents, about whom he knows very little, raised him from the age of one. On his eleventh birthday, Harry discovers that he is a wizard and attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Columbus had wanted Radcliffe for the role since he saw him in the BBC's production of David Copperfield, before the open casting sessions had taken place, but had been told by Figgis that Radcliffe's protective parents would not allow their son to take the part. Columbus explained that his persistence in giving Radcliffe the role was responsible for Figgis' resignation. Radcliffe was asked to audition in 2000, when Heyman and Kloves met him and his parents at a production of Stones in His Pockets in London. Heyman and Columbus successfully managed to convince Radcliffe's parents that their son would be protected from media intrusion, and they agreed to let him play Harry.[1] Rowling approved of Radcliffe's casting, stating that "having seen [his] screen test I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry." Radcliffe was reportedly paid £1 million for the film, although he felt the fee was not "that important". William Moseley, who was later cast as Peter Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia series, also auditioned for the role.

* Rupert Grint plays Ron Weasley, a red-haired wizarding boy, the youngest boy of seven children from a disadvantaged family, who develops a long standing friendship with Harry. At thirteen years old, Grint was the oldest actor of the trio. He decided he would be perfect for the part "because [he has got] ginger hair," and was a fan of the series. Having seen a Newsround report about the open casting he sent in a video of himself rapping about how he wished to receive the part. His attempt was successful as the casting team asked for a meeting with him.

* Emma Watson plays Hermione Granger, an extremely intelligent witch who was "Muggle-born" who, despite initially irritating them, becomes friends with Harry and Ron after the pair save her from a troll. Impressed with her school play performances, Watson's Oxford theatre teacher passed her name on to the casting agents. Watson took her audition seriously, but "never really thought [she] had any chance of getting the role." The producers were impressed by Watson's self-confidence and she outperformed the thousands of other girls who had applied. Rowling was supportive of Watson from her first screen test.

* Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore: The Headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the most famous and powerful wizards of all time. He decides that Harry should stay at his aunt and uncle following the death of his parents at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Harris initially rejected the role of Dumbledore, only to reverse his decision after his granddaughter stated she would never speak to him again if he did not take it.

* Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid: A half-giant and the Groundskeeper at Hogwarts. He takes Harry to Privet Drive on a flying motorcycle, and then takes him from his aunt and uncle on his eleventh birthday, after which the two develop a strong bond. He has a fondness for magical creatures, in particular dragons. Coltrane was Rowling's first choice for the part. Coltrane, who was already a fan of the books, prepared for the role by talking with Rowling about Hagrid's past and future.

* Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The Potions Master and head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. He dislikes Harry due to a grudge he held with Harry's father. He was formerly a Death Eater but is trusted by Dumbledore. Tim Roth was interested in the role because his children were fans of the books, but ultimately a busy schedule meant he chose to film Planet of the Apes instead.

* Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: The Deputy Headmistress, head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. She accompanies Dumbledore to Number 4 Privet Drive when Harry is taken to his aunt and uncle and has the ability to transform into a tabby cat. Smith was Rowling's personal choice for the part.

* Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy: A wizard from a rich background. After Harry rejects his initial offer of "friendship", Draco develops an ever-lasting hatred of Harry and his friends. Along with Radcliffe, Felton was the only one of the main group of child actors to have previous on-screen acting experience.

* Ian Hart as Professor Quirrell: The slightly nervous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. He wears a turban, which harbours the near dead form of Lord Voldemort underneath. David Thewlis auditioned for the part; he would later be cast as Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

* Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley: Harry's uncle who treats him poorly, only caring for his son Dudley. He does not wish Harry to find out about his identity, and burns every letter Hogwarts sends.

* Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley: Harry's aunt, who, like Vernon, treats him poorly.

* Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley: Harry's over-weight, bullying, and spoiled cousin.

* John Hurt as Mr Ollivander: The owner of Ollivander's, the finest wand producers in the wizarding world. Ollivander possesses the ability to find the perfect wand for any person who needs one, and claims to remember every wand that he has ever sold. He tells Harry that he received his scar from Lord Voldemort.

* Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom: A timid student who is a friend of Harry, Ron and Hermione. He is the frequent target of Malfoy and his gang.

* Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick: A small wizard who is the Charms teacher and head of Ravenclaw at Hogwarts.

* John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick: The ghost of Gryffindor house, his head is partially severed following a botched execution.

* Julie Walters as Molly Weasley: Ron's caring mother. She shows Harry how to get to Platform 9¾. Before Walters was cast, American actress Rosie O'Donnell held talks with Columbus about playing Mrs. Weasley.

* Richard Bremmer as Lord Voldemort: The darkest wizard of the age. He was defeated and nearly destroyed, when the killing curse he attempted to use on Harry rebounded and hit him. He was reduced to existing only as part of a host body and searches for the Philosopher's stone and a chance for immortality. Bremmer only plays Voldemort in the flashback scene. During the film's conclusion when he is revealed to Harry, Voldemort's voice and motion capture is provided by Ian Hart.

Rik Mayall was cast in the role of Peeves, having to shout his lines off camera during takes, but the scene ended up being cut from the film.

Shrek

2001-04-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

Shrek is a 2001 computer-animated American comedy film, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!, the film was produced by DreamWorks Animation. Shrek was the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a category introduced in 2001. It was released on DVD and VHS on September 4, 2001.

The film stars Mike Myers as a large, strong, solitude-loving, intimidating ogre named Shrek (from the German word "Schreck" meaning "terror" or Yiddish word שרעק, meaning "fear"), Cameron Diaz as the beautiful but very down-to-earth and feisty Princess Fiona, Eddie Murphy as a talkative donkey named Donkey, and Lithgow as the villainous Lord Farquaad.

It was critically acclaimed as an animated film worthy of adult interest, with many adult-oriented jokes and themes but a simple enough plot and humor to appeal to children. It made notable use of pop music—the soundtrack includes music by Smash Mouth, Eels, Joan Jett, The Proclaimers, Jason Wade, The Baha Men, and Rufus Wainwright.

The film was extremely successful on release in 2001 and it helped establish DreamWorks as a prime competitor to Walt Disney Pictures in the field of feature film animation, particularly in computer animation. Furthermore, Shrek was made the mascot for the company's animation productions.

Shrek was ranked second in a Channel 4 poll of the 100 greatest family films, losing out on the top spot to E.T..

In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"— the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Shrek was acknowledged as the 8th best film in the animated genre, and the only non-Disney-Pixar film on the top 10.

Plot
Shrek, an ogre that has always enjoyed living in peaceful solitude in his swamp, finds his life disrupted when numerous fairy tale beings, including the talkative Donkey, are forced into the swamp by order of Lord Farquaad. Shrek decides to travel the country to see Farquaad to try to regain his privacy, with Donkey tagging along. The two make it to Farquaad's palace in DuLoc and come across a knight tournament to decide who will rescue Princess Fiona from a castle surrounded by lava and protected by a fire-breathing dragon, so that Farquaad may marry her. Shrek and Donkey easily best the other knights, and Farquaad agrees to nullify his order if Shrek goes on to rescue Fiona, a deal that Shrek agrees to.

Shrek and Donkey travel to the castle and split up to find Fiona. Donkey manages to encounter the dragon, sweet-talking the beast to save himself when he finds out the dragon is female, and she takes a liking to Donkey, taking him back to her chambers. When Shrek finds Fiona, she is appalled at his lack of romanticism. As they are leaving, Shrek manages to save Donkey, caught in the dragon's tender love, and causing the dragon to become irate, chasing Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey out of the castle but unable to follow. At first, Fiona is thrilled to be rescued but quickly becomes disgusted to find out that Shrek is an ogre. The three make their return journey to Farquaad's palace, with Shrek and Fiona finding they have more in common with each other along the way, and falling in love. However, at night, Fiona refuses to camp with them, taking shelter in a nearby cave until morning.

The next night, Fiona takes shelter in a nearby windmill. When Donkey hears strange noises coming from the windmill, he finds that Fiona has turned into an ogre. Fiona explains that she was cursed as a child and turns into an ogre every night, which is why she was locked away in the castle, and that only a kiss from her true love will return her to her proper form. Shrek overhears them talking, and thinking they are talking about him being ugly, walks off, believing she cannot accept his appearance. Fiona promises Donkey to not tell Shrek, vowing to do it herself, but when the next morning comes, Lord Farquaad has arrived, led by Shrek, and he returns with her to the castle, while Shrek returns to the now-vacated swamp.

Shrek finds that despite his privacy he is miserable, and misses Fiona. Donkey shows up to tell him that Fiona will be getting married shortly, urging Shrek into action to gain Fiona's true love. They are able to travel to the fortress quickly thanks to Dragon, who escaped her confines and followed Donkey. They interrupt the wedding before Farquaad can kiss Fiona, but not before the sun sets, causing Fiona to turn into an ogre in front of everyone (this causes Shrek to realise the mistake he made earlier). Farquaad, furious and disgusted over the change, orders Shrek and Fiona killed, but Dragon bursts in and gobbles up Farquaad whole, causing the other knights to flee. Shrek and Fiona admit their love for each other and share a kiss; Fiona is bathed in light as her curse is broken, but leaving her as an ogre, a form she was not expecting but that Shrek finds beautiful. The two get married and depart on their honeymoon, while Donkey and Dragon continue their relationship.

Cast

* Mike Myers - Shrek
* Eddie Murphy - Donkey
* Cameron Diaz - Princess Fiona
* John Lithgow - Lord Farquaad
* Conrad Vernon - Gingerbread Man
* Chris Miller - Geppetto / Magic Mirror
* Cody Cameron - Pinocchio / Three Little Pigs
* Michael Galasso - Peter Pan
* Christopher Knights - Blind Mouse / Thelonius
* Simon J. Smith - Blind Mouse
* Aron Warner - Big Bad Wolf
* Jim Cummings - Captain of the Guards
* Jerome De Guzman - Blind Mice
* Vincent Cassel - Monsieur Hood (a French rendition of Robin Hood)
* Kathleen Freeman - Old Woman, Donkey's ex-owner

X-Men (The Movie)

2000-07-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane. It introduces Wolverine and Rogue into the conflict between Professor Xavier's X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto. Magneto intends to mutate world leaders at a United Nations summit with a machine he has built to bring about acceptance of mutantkind, but Xavier realizes this forced mutation will only result in their deaths.

Development for X-Men began as far back as 1989 with James Cameron and Carolco Pictures. The film rights went to 20th Century Fox in 1994. Scripts and film treatments were commissioned from Andrew Kevin Walker, John Logan, Joss Whedon and Michael Chabon. Singer signed to direct in 1996, with further rewrites by Ed Solomon, Singer, Tom DeSanto, Christopher McQuarrie and David Hayter. Start dates kept getting pushed back, while Fox decided to move X-Men's release date from December to July 2000. Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March 3, 2000, primarily in Toronto. X-Men was released to positive reviews and was a financial success, spawning the X-Men film series and a reemergence of superhero films.

Plot
In Congress, Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act", which would force mutants to publicly reveal their identities and abilities. Magneto begins his plans to level the playing field between mutants and humans. Meanwhile, a girl named Rogue runs away from her home in Meridian, Mississippi. She meets Wolverine in Canada. Suddenly, both of them are attacked by Sabretooth, a mutant and associate of Magneto. Cyclops and Storm arrive and save Wolverine and Rogue and bring them to the X-Mansion. Professor Charles Xavier runs the facility, and leader of a group of mutants who are trying to seek peace with the human race, educate young mutants in the responsible use of their powers, and stop Magneto from starting a war with humanity.

Senator Kelly is abducted by Mystique and Toad, and brought to Magneto, who tests a machine on Kelly that artificially induces mutation. Kelly manages to escape imprisonment with his new abilities. After an accident causes Rogue to use her powers on Wolverine, she is convinced by Mystique (disguised as Bobby Drake, a boy who Rogue begins to romance) that Xavier is angry with her and that she should leave the school. Xavier uses Cerebro to locate Rogue at a train station. Mystique infiltrates Cerebro and sabotages the machine. Wolverine convinces Rogue to stay with Xavier. A fight ensues with Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm against Magneto, Toad and Sabretooth. Rogue is taken by Magneto. Senator Kelly arrives at Xavier's school, but dissolves into a puddle of water when his mutation becomes unstable.

Magneto intends to use Rogue's ability to absorb other mutant's abilities on himself so that Rogue can power his machine. Xavier attempts to use Cerebro to locate Rogue, but Mystique's sabotage makes him fall into a coma. Jean fixes then uses Cerebro to find Magneto's machine on Liberty Island; Magneto intends to mutate the world leaders who are meeting for a summit on nearby Ellis Island. A climax takes place at the Statue of Liberty. Just as the group arrives at the top of the statue, Magneto and Sabretooth incapacitate the group and continue with their plans. Magneto transfers his powers to Rogue who is forced to use them to start the machine. Wolverine breaks free and initiates a fight with Sabretooth; however, Wolverine is thrown over the side of the statue and Sabretooth redirects himself to the group to finish them off.

Wolverine returns, and Cyclops, with Jean's help, blasts Sabretooth out of the statue. With Jean stabilizing him, Storm uses her abilities to send Wolverine to the top of Magneto's machine. With time running out, Wolverine attempts to stop the machine and save Rogue, but Magneto, now having regained some of his strength, halts Wolverine's claws. Cyclops manages to find a clean shot, wounding Magneto and allowing Wolverine to destroy the machine. Placing his hand to her face, Wolverine succeeds in transferring his regenerative abilities to a dying Rogue. Professor Xavier recovers from his coma, and the group learns that Mystique is still alive when they see her impersonating Senator Kelly on a news broadcast. Xavier visits Magneto in his plastic prison cell, and the two play chess. Magneto warns his friend that he will continue his fight, to which Xavier promises that he (and the X-Men) will always be there to stop him.

Cast
* Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine: A tough, rugged, belligerent loner who makes a living in cage fights. He has lived for fifteen years without memory of who he is, apart from his dog tags marked "Wolverine" and an adamantium skeleton (which includes claws installed in his arms). He has the ability to heal rapidly from numerous injuries, including the surgery that bonded the metal to his skeleton, which makes his age impossible to determine.

* Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier: Founder of the X-Men and the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Xavier hopes for peaceful coexistence between mutantkind and mankind and is regarded as an authority on genetic mutation. Although he is restricted to a wheelchair, he is a powerful mutant with vast telepathic abilities. Along with Magneto, he is the inventor of the Cerebro supercomputer, which further amplifies his abilities.

* Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto: A Holocaust survivor, he and Xavier were once allies, and they built Cerebro together. However, his belief that humans and mutants could never co-exist lead to their separation. He has powerful magnetic abilities and a sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation, which he uses to plan a mutation of the world leaders to allow mutant prosperity.

* Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue: A seventeen-year-old girl, forced to leave her family in Mississippi after putting her boyfriend in a coma by kissing him. If she touches anyone, she absorbs their strength, memories and abilities, potentially killing them. During her travels, she meets Wolverine, who becomes fatherly to her. She begins to have a romance with Bobby Drake.

* Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey: She is in a relationship with Cyclops and works as the doctor of the X-Mansion. She has the powers of telekinesis and telepathy.

* Bruce Davison as Senator Robert Kelly: An anti-mutant politician that supports a Mutant Registration Act and wishes to ban mutant children from schools. He is kidnapped by Magneto in a test of his mutation machine, which causes his body to turn into a liquid-like substance.

* James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops: He rescues Wolverine and Rogue from a truck explosion, taking them to safety to the X-Mansion where they live. He is the second leader of the X-Men behind Xavier, and is the team's field leader when they are out on missions as well as an instructor at the Institute. He is in love with Jean Grey and has a relationship with her. He produces a strong red beam of force from his eyes, which is only held in check by specialized ruby-quartz goggles and sunglasses.

* Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm: She works as a teacher at the X-Mansion and has the ability to manipulate the weather. Ororo has become bitter with other people's hatred for mutants, and while comforting a dying Senator Kelly says that she sometimes hates humans.

* Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Mystique: Magneto's loyal second-in-command, her mutant ability to alter her shape and mimic any human being is almost secondary to her role as "the perfect soldier". She is an agile fighter, expert martial artist, and seems completely facile with modern technology. It is unknown whether her blue, scaly skin is her normal physical expression or if it is a choice which sets herself apart from "normal" humans.

* Ray Park as Toad: A very agile fighter with a menacing streak and a long, prehensile tongue, who can also spit a slimy substance onto others.

* Tyler Mane as Sabretooth: A ferocious, Feline-like fighter who attacks Wolverine and Rogue in Canada before being stopped by Storm and Cyclops. He is a brutal and sadistic henchman of Magneto, and wields claws extending past each finger.

* Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman: A student at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters who takes a liking to Rogue. He can change temperatures to subzero degrees and use the moisture in the air to create ice.

David Hayter, Stan Lee and Tom DeSanto cameoed in the film. George Buza, the voice of Beast in X-Men: The Animated Series, appeared as the truck driver who drops Rogue off at the bar Wolverine works at.[2] Gambit was considered for one of the students at the X-Mansion. Singer remembered, "We thought about Gambit as the young boy on the basketball field, but the feeling was that if he has the basketball and then releases it and it exploded, people would be like 'What's wrong with those basketballs?'"A young Colossus appears sketching a picture in one scene.

Awards

The film was nominated the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but lost to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.X-Men was successful at the Saturn Awards. It won categories for Best Science Fiction Film, direction (Singer), writing, costume design, Best Actor (Hugh Jackman) and Supporting Actress (Rebecca Romijn). Nominations included Performance by a Younger Actor (Anna Paquin), Supporting Actor (Patrick Stewart), Special Effects and Make-up. Empire readers voted Singer Best Director.

Gladiator

2000-05-05T03:33:00.000-07:00

Gladiator is a 2000 epic film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays General Maximus Decimus Meridius, favorite of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius who is betrayed and murdered by his ambitious son, Commodus (Phoenix). Captured and enslaved along the outer fringes of the Roman empire, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his Emperor.

The film won five Academy Awards in the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, including Best Picture. Released in the United States on May 5, 2000, it received generally good reviews with 77% of reviews positive and an average normalized score of 64%, according to the review aggregator websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively.

Plot

General Maximus Decimus Meridius leads the Roman Army to victory against Germanic barbarians in the year A.D. 180, ending a prolonged war and earning the esteem of elderly Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Although the dying Aurelius has a son, Commodus, he decides to appoint temporary leadership to the morally-upstanding Maximus, with a desire to eventually return power to the Roman Senate. Aurelius informs Maximus and offers him time to consider before informing Commodus, who, in a bout of jealousy, murders his father. Declaring himself the emperor, Commodus asks Maximus for his loyalty, which Maximus, realizing Commodus' involvement in the Emperor's death, refuses. Commodus orders Maximus' execution and dispatches Praetorian Guards to murder his wife and son. Maximus narrowly escapes his execution, but is injured in the process. He races home only to discover his family's charred and crucified bodies in the smoldering ruins of his villa. After burying his wife and son, a grieving Maximus succumbs to exhaustion and blood loss as a result of his injuries and collapses on their graves.

Slave traders find Maximus and take him to Zucchabar, a rugged province in North Africa, where he is purchased by Proximo, the head of a local gladiator school (and a freed gladiator himself). Distraught and nihilistic over the death of his family and betrayal by his empire, Maximus initially refuses to fight, but as he defends himself in the arena his formidable combat skills lead to a rise in popularity with the audience. As he trains and fights further, Maximus befriends Hagen, a Germanic barbarian, and Juba, a Numidian hunter, the latter becoming a close friend and confidant to the grieving Maximus, the two speaking frequently of the afterlife and Maximus' eventual reunification with his family.

In Rome, Commodus reopens the gladiatorial games to pay tribute to his father and gain the goodwill of the people, and Proximo's company of gladiators are hired to participate. During a reenactment of the Battle of Zama from the Second Punic War, Maximus leads Proximo's gladiators, in the guise of Hannibal's forces, to a decisive victory against a more powerful force. This happens much to the amazement of the crowd, who expected a historically accurate depiction of Rome's triumph over Carthage. Commodus descends into the arena to meet the victors and instructs "The Spaniard" to remove his helmet and tell him his name. An angry Maximus reluctantly shows his face and says, "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies in the North, General of the Felix Legions, Loyal Servant to the true Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, Husband to a murdered wife; and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." The Emperor, unable to kill Maximus because of the crowd's roaring approval for him, sulks out of the arena. As the games continue, Commodus pits Maximus against Tigris of Gaul, Rome's only undefeated gladiator, in an arena surrounded by chained tigers with handlers instructed to target Maximus. Following an intense battle, Maximus narrowly defeats Tigris and awaits Commodus' decision to kill or spare Tigris. As the audience urges for death, Commodus signals to Maximus to kill Tigris. However, Maximus spares Tigris, deliberately insulting the Emperor. Instead of booing him, the crowd cheers Maximus, bestowing him the title "Merciful". His bitter enemy now known as "Maximus the Merciful", Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus, let alone stop his ascending popularity while his own shrinks.

Following the fight, Maximus meets his former servant Cicero, who reveals that Maximus's army remains loyal to him. Maximus forms a plot with Lucilla, Commodus' sister, and Senator Gracchus to reunite Maximus with his army and overthrow Commodus. Suspecting his sister's betrayal, Commodus threatens her young son and forces her to reveal the plot. Praetorian guards immediately storm Proximo's gladiator barracks, battling the gladiators while Maximus escapes. Hagen and Proximo are killed in the siege while Juba and the survivors are imprisoned. Maximus escapes to the city walls only to witness Cicero's death and be ambushed by a legion of Praetorian guards.

Concluding that legends born in the Colosseum must die there, Commodus challenges Maximus to a duel in front of a roaring audience. Acknowledging that Maximus' skill exceeds his own, Commodus deliberately stabs Maximus with a stiletto, puncturing his lung, and has the wound concealed beneath the gladiator's armor. In the arena, the two exchange blows before Maximus rips the sword from Commodus's hands. Commodus requests a sword from his guards, but they betray him and refuse to lend him their weapons. Maximus drops his own sword, but Commodus pulls a hidden stiletto and renews his attack. Maximus then beats Commodus into submission and kills him with his own stilletto. As Commodus collapses in the now-silent Colosseum, a dying Maximus begins seeing his wife and son in the afterlife. He reaches for them, but is pulled back to reality by the Praetorian prefect Quintus, who asks for instructions. Maximus orders the release of Proximo's gladiators and Senator Gracchus, whom he reinstates and instructs to return Rome to a Senate-based government. Maximus collapses, and Lucilla rushes to his aid. After being reassured that her son is safe and Commodus is dead, Maximus dies and wanders into the afterlife to his family in the distance. Senator Gracchus, Quintus, and Proximo's gladiators carry his body out of the Colosseum. That night, a newly freed Juba buries Maximus' two small statues of his wife and son in the Colosseum, and says that he too will eventually join them, but not yet.

Cast

* Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius: A Hispano-Roman general in Germania, turned slave who seeks revenge against Commodus. He had been under the favour of Marcus Aurelius, and the admiration of Lucilla prior to the events of the film. His home is near Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain.

* Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus: An ambitious, insecure and ruthless young man, Commodus murders his father and also desires his own sister, Lucilla. He becomes the emperor of Rome upon his father's death.

* Connie Nielsen as Lucilla: The older child of Marcus Aurelius, Lucilla has been recently widowed. She seems to have had a flirtation with Maximus in the past, but now tries to resist the incestuous lust of her brother while protecting her son, Lucius.

* Djimon Hounsou as Juba: A Numidian tribesman who is taken from his home and family by slave traders. He becomes Maximus' close ally during their shared hardships.

* Oliver Reed as Proximo: An old and gruff trader who buys Maximus in North Africa. A former gladiator himself, he was freed by Marcus Aurelius, and gives Maximus his own armor and eventually a chance at freedom.

* Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus: One of the senators who opposed Commodus' leadership, who eventually agrees to aid Maximus in his overthrow of the Emperor.

* Ralf Moeller as Hagen: A Germanian and Proximo's chief gladiator. Later befriends Maximus and Juba during their battles in Rome.

* Spencer Treat Clark as Lucius Verus: Son of Lucilla. He admires Maximus and incurs the wrath of his uncle, Commodus, by impersonating the gladiator. Lucius is a free-spirit and seems to like his uncle at first until Commodus's true sinister nature comes to the fore.

* Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius: An emperor of Rome who desires a return to Republican government but is murdered by his son Commodus before his wish is fulfilled.

* Tommy Flanagan as Cicero: A Roman soldier and Maximus' loyal servant who provides him with information while Maximus is enslaved.

* Tomas Arana as General Quintus: Another Roman General and former friend to Maximus. Made commander of the praetorian guards by Commodus, earning his loyalty until Commodus orders the execution of his men, and denies the emperor a sword during the final battle.

* John Shrapnel as Gaius: Another senator who is in close correspondence to Gracchus.

* David Schofield as Senator Falco: A Patrician, a senator opposed to Gracchus. Helps Commodus consolidate his power.

* Sven-Ole Thorsen as Tigris of Gaul: An undefeated gladiator who is called out of retirement to duel Maximus.

* David Hemmings as Cassius: Runs the gladiatorial games in the Colosseum.

Screenplay

Gladiator was based on an original pitch by David Franzoni, who went on to write all of the early drafts. Franzoni was given a three-picture deal with DreamWorks as writer and co-producer on the strength of his previous work, Steven Spielberg's Amistad, which helped establish the reputation of DreamWorks SKG. Franzoni was not a classical scholar but had been inspired by Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 novel Those About to Die and decided to choose Commodus as his historical focus after reading the Augustan History. In Franzoni's first draft, dated April 4, 1998, he named his protagonist Narcissus, after the praenomen of the wrestler who strangled Emperor Commodus to death, whose name is not contained in the biography of Commodus by Aelius Lampridius in the Augustan History. The name Narcissus is only provided by Herodian and Cassius Dio, so a variety of ancient sources were used in developing the first draft.
Pollice Verso ("Thumbs Down") by Jean-Léon Gérôme—the 19th century painting that inspired Ridley Scott to tackle the project.

Ridley Scott was approached by producers Walter Parkes and David Wick. They showed him a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme's 1872 painting entitled Pollice Verso ("Thumbs Down"). Scott was enticed by filming the world of Ancient Rome. However, Scott felt Franzoni's dialogue was too "on the nose" and hired John Logan to rewrite the script to his liking. Logan rewrote much of the first act, and made the decision to kill off Maximus' family to increase the character's motivation.

With two weeks to go before filming, the actors still complained of problems with the script. William Nicholson was brought to Shepperton Studios to make Maximus a more sensitive character, reworking his friendship with Juba and developed the afterlife thread in the film, saying "he did not want to see a film about a man who wanted to kill somebody." David Franzoni was later brought back to revise the rewrites of Logan and Nicholson, and in the process gained a producer's credit. When Nicholson was brought in, he started going back to Franzoni's original scripts and readding certain scenes. Franzoni helped creatively-manage the rewrites and in the role of producer he defended his original script, and nagged to stay true to the original vision. Franzoni later shared the Best Picture Oscar with producers Douglas Wick and Branko Lustig.

The screenplay faced the brunt of many rewrites and revisions due to Russell Crowe's script suggestions. Crowe questioned every aspect of the evolving script and strode off the set when he did not get answers. According to a DreamWorks executive, "(Russell Crowe) tried to rewrite the entire script on the spot. You know the big line in the trailer, 'In this life or the next, I will have my vengeance'? At first he absolutely refused to say it." Nicholson, the third and final screenwriter, says Crowe told him, "Your lines are garbage but I’m the greatest actor in the world, and I can make even garbage sound good." Nicholson goes on to say that "...probably my lines were garbage, so he was just talking straight."

Soundtracks
The Oscar-nominated score was composed by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, and conducted by Gavin Greenaway. Lisa Gerrard's vocals are similar to her own work on The Insider score. The music for many of the battle scenes has been noted as similar to Gustav Holst's "Mars: The Bringer of War", and in June 2006, the Holst Foundation sued Hans Zimmer for allegedly copying the late Gustav Holst's work. Another close musical resemblance occurs in the scene of Commodus's triumphal entry into Rome, accompanied by music clearly evocative of two sections—the Prelude to Das Rheingold and Siegfried's Funeral March from Götterdämmerung—from Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs. On February 27, 2001, nearly a year after the first soundtrack's release, Decca produced Gladiator: More Music From the Motion Picture. Then, on September 5, 2005, Decca produced Gladiator: Special Anniversary Edition, a two-CD pack containing both the above mentioned releases. Some of the music from the film was featured in the NFL playoffs in January 2003 before commercial breaks and before and after half-time. In 2003, Luciano Pavarotti released a recording of himself singing a song from the film and said he regretted turning down an offer to perform on the soundtrack.

Awards

Gladiator was nominated in 36 individual ceremonies, including the 73rd Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards, and the Golden Globe Awards. Of 119 award nominations, the film won 48 prizes.

The film won five Academy Awards and was nominated for an additional seven, including Best Supporting Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Director for Ridley Scott. There was controversy over the film's nomination for Best Original Music Score. The award was officially nominated only to Hans Zimmer, and not to Lisa Gerrard due to Academy rules. However, the pair did win the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score as co-composers.

* 73rd Academy Awards
o Best Picture
o Best Actor (Russell Crowe)
o Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Joaquin Phoenix)
o Best Visual Effects
o Best Costume Design
o Best Sound
* 2001 American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards
o Best Edited Feature Film — Dramatic
* 5th Art Directors Guild Awards
o Excellence in Production Design Award, Feature Film — Period or Fantasy Films
* BAFTA Awards
o Best Cinematography
o Best Editing
o Best Film
o Best Production Design
* 58th Golden Globe Awards
o Best Motion Picture — Drama
o Best Original Score — Motion Picture
* 4th Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
o Best Costume Design
o Best DVD
o Best Editing
o Best Score
o Best Visual Effects
* London Film Critics Circle
o Actor of the Year (Russell Crowe)
* AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
o 50th best Hero character (General Maximus Decimus Meredius)