Stephen Margolis Movies

An American astronaut believing himself to be the first person ever to set foot on Planet 51 gets the shock of his life in this animated adventure comedy featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, John Cleese, and Gary Oldman. Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker (voice of Johnson) was on a mission to boldly go where no man had gone before, a remote celestial body dubbed Planet 51. The scientific community had surmised that Planet 51 was uninhabited, so when Captain Baker steps out of his spacecraft to discover a race of tiny green people living in quaint communities reminiscent of 1950s America, he can't quite believe his eyes. Unfortunately, the tiny extraterrestrials suffer from a universal fear that their utopian community will one day be overrun by alien invaders...just like the extra-large astronaut who now stands before them. As General Grawl (voice of Gary Oldman) and Professor Kipple (voice of John Cleese) attempt to capture the peaceful visitor so they can dissect him and learn more about his anatomy, Captain Baker must count on his robot companion, "Rover," and his new friend, Lem, in order to navigate this strange new world and find a way back home before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, and Samuel L. Jackson headline actor-turned-director Giancarlo Esposito's ensemble drama about a small southern town still haunted by a racially motivated murder that occurred there thirty years prior. Civil rights activist Peter Malcolm (Jackson) was at the peak of his popularity when he was ruthlessly gunned down in the streets of Gospel Hill. Thirty years later, no one has ever been accused of the crime, and Peter's brother John (Glover) has withdrawn from the community to ponder the full weight of his brother's unfulfilled mission in solitude. As John sinks ever deeper into a bottomless sea of despair, his wife Sarah (Bassett), an outspoken community activist, campaigns tirelessly against a ruthless band of developers seeking to transform Gospel Hill into a golfer's paradise. Realizing the futility of convincing her listless husband to help fight such an arduous battle, Sarah instead turns to newly arrived Gospel Hill schoolteacher Rosie (Stiles) for support. Later, as Rosie's budding romance with the son of Gospel Hill's notoriously bigoted sheriff thrusts her right into the middle of the town's long-running dispute, the developer's plan to pave over the past forces the locals to finally confront the ghosts that have haunted them for the past three decades. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A group of returning vacationers boards a late-night shuttle bound for home, but soon finds their journey taking a dark turn in this tale of terror from writer/director Edward Anderson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When an American couple (Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer) traveling from China to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway meets an outwardly friendly couple (Eduardo Noriega and Kate Mara) traveling the same route, deception soon gives way to murder in The Machinist director Brad Anderson's tense tale of international intrigue. Ben Kingsley and Thomas Kretschmann co-star as a pair of Russian police officers striving to solve the case and stop the rising body count. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Bille August's inspirational docudrama Goodbye Bafana begins in 1968, with South Africa buried neck-deep in the horrors of apartheid and Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) -- then an underground leader of the African National Congress -- imprisoned on Robben Island for sedition. As the story opens, the native African population of the country -- 25,000,000 in number -- buckles beneath the crippling weight of the racist white minority, who control the Nationalist Party Government. The film follows the spiritual and psychological journey of James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), a Caucasian Afrikaner who came of age on a farm in the Transkei and initially views all blacks as subhuman. Gregory also speaks Mandela's native language of Xhosa with perfect fluency, which makes him an ideal candidate to serve as warden of the Robben Island Prison and eavesdrop on Mandela and his inmates. What he fails to anticipate is the most unlikely and special of friendships (one of history's greatest) that burgeons between himself and Mandela -- and helps him evolve from a narrow-minded bigot with limited self-awareness to a sensitive, humane critic of social injustice with a heightened awareness of mankind's ill treatment of one another and a genuine level of love for his fellow man. As the friendship between Gregory and Mandela grows and matures, it symbolizes Africa's transition from the oppressiveness of Apartheid to the freedom of multi-racial democracy. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A man with the power to glimpse the future in dreams seeks the aid of an amateur sleuth in discovering the secret of his power and preventing an approaching tragedy in this quirky romantic comedy starring Dexter Fletcher and Linda Hamilton. When Albert Ross (Fletcher) lies down to dream, the future appears before his eyes. If Dexter's visions are correct, a sexy bombshell will soon appear to liberate him from his boring life while fulfilling his every sexual fantasy. But recently, Dexter has been dreaming of death, and in order to keep that vision from becoming a reality the sleepy clairvoyant seeks out the help of an investigator (Hamilton) who may have the power to change the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An adopted girl returns to her homeland of Russia to explore the dilapidated mountain farm she has recently inherited, only to discover that it harbors a deadly secret in the feature debut from Aftermath director Nacho Cerdà. Shortly after the mysterious death of her birth mother, young Marie was adopted and brought to live in the United States. When Marie receives word that she has inherited an isolated farm in her native Russia, she soon sets out to explore the vast estate and peel away the thick gauze obscuring her secret-shrouded past. Confounded by the local's refusal to show her to the "damned" locale and determined not to give up after coming this far, Marie convinces a man to take her there only to discover that he has inexplicably vanished shortly after arrival. As Marie sets out to explore the ominous and expansive property alone, a surprise encounter with a man named Boris, who claims to have been lured to the house under similar circumstances, sets into motion a chilling series of events in which the ghosts of the past -- as well as deceased doppelgangers of both Marie and Boris -- prevent the frightened pair from leaving. In the terrifying hours that follow, both of these tormented lost souls will find that sometimes the past is best left forgotten. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

With his English-language political thriller The Feast of the Goat, action helmer Luis Llosa cinematizes Mario Vargas Llosa's sweeping, epic novel about the myriad of events leading up to the assassination of a real-life tyrannical despot. The story opens in 1992, when a Dominican émigré attorney, Urania Cabral (Isabella Rossellini) leaves her new home in the U.S. and heads back to her native country, for the first occasion in decades. She intends to confront her father, 80-year-old Augustin (Tomas Milian), about his former employment in the government of the supremely corrupt dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (Tomas Milian). The film then flashes back to the events surrounding the assassination of Trujillo on a highway in late May of 1961, by delving into the lives and motives of each of the participants - from Amadito (Juan Diego Botto), whom Trujillo forced to execute his future brother-in-law, to that victim's father (Murphy Guyer), to Antonio (David Zayas), the brother of an incriminating witness whom Trujillo's men executed. One by one, as their stories are disinterred, the assassins gather on a nighttime road, brandishing guns, and prepare to shoot Trujillo and throw his body into the trunk of a car. Paul Freeman, Stephanie Leonidas and Richard Bekins co-star; Llosa co-authored the script with Augusto Cabada and Zachary Sklar. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Four Jewish women juggle love, sex, new relationships, work and parenthood in this romantic comedy from France. Isa (Michele Laroque) has split with her husband, and is busy looking after their three children while running her business, a beauty salon. While Isa has precious little spare time, she's trying to make room in her life for a British businessman who has struck her fancy. Alice (Valerie Benguigui) is Isa's sister, and has come to envy her sister's single status after a few years with her husband Gilles (Alexandre Astier), who appears to hate personal grooming as much as he loves golf. Alice's misgivings about her marriage grow stronger when she becomes friends with a handsome and charming divorced dad. Lea (Aure Atika) has recently parted ways with her husband, and devotes her days to pampering herself when she isn't taking care of her child. And Nina (Geraldine Nakache) has never been married and is looking for a man to settle down with, but she lacks confidence about her appearance even though she's young and pretty. Comme T'y es Belle (aka Hey Good Looking) was the second feature from director Lisa Azuelos, and was a major box office success in France. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

U.K. filmmaker John Deery makes his writing and directing feature debut with the religious drama Conspiracy of Silence, dealing with the controversial topic of reforming the Catholic Church. At an Irish seminary school, student Daniel McLaughlin (Jonathan Forbes) is caught in a compromising position with fellow male student Noel (Owen McDonnell). He is subsequently kicked out of school and considers marrying his ex-girlfriend Sinead (Catherine Walker). Meanwhile, reporter David Foley (Jason Barry) investigates the suicide of HIV-positive priest Father Sweeney (Patrick Casey). Foley learns that Sweeney was romantically involved with former priest Matthew Francis (John Lynch), but Monsignor Thomas (Fintan McKeown) resorts to unjust tactics in order to cover up the story. Brenda Fricker also appears as Daniel's mother. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Just as the charming British film The Full Monty told the story of simple men willing to shed their clothes for money, Waking Ned Devine is the story of older Irish men who pursue money and take off their clothes. Commercial director Kirk Jones makes his feature directing debut with a story about a small town in Ireland called Tulaigh More, where one of their 52 inhabitants wins the lotto jackpot of nearly seven million pounds. When nobody claims it, the town goes on a search to find out why. They find the winner, old Ned Devine, dead -- a smile on his face, clutching the winning ticket. Well, in Ireland, the lottery winnings must be claimed by the purchaser, which puts the town in a spot -- if the lottery officials discover Devine dead, he forfeits his money. What ensues is a community coming together in hopes of getting his money to split 51 ways. What they learn is the importance of friendship and the true value of money. To reveal any more would spoil some major surprises, but suffice it to say, it involves aging actors David Kelly, 69, and Ian Bannen, 70, naked. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide