James D. Stern

Tobey Maguire stars in this Endgame Entertainment thriller based on a script by Robert Tannen. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

When the younger of two notorious sibling con artists announces a plan to go legit, his brother implores him to carry out one last swindle in the eagerly anticipated sophomore feature from Brick writer/director Rian Johnson. Tired of a life on the run, a confidence man who has dedicated his life to the art of the grift decides to call it quits. Despite his plans to leave his criminal past behind, however, the reluctant scammer finds that his brother has masterminded one last scheme to claim the wealth of an eccentric millionaire (Rachel Weisz). With the opportunity to make enough money so that he would be able to live comfortably even if his legitimate endeavors fail, the heretofore unrepentant con man finds it increasingly difficult to refuse his sibling's potentially profitable endeavor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Todd Haynes' unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the actors playing the singer are Cate Blanchett, who portrays the man during his Don't Look Back era incarnation; Heath Ledger, as an actor playing one of the fictional Dylans in a movie within the movie; Christian Bale, as the Dylan beginning to chafe at being associated so strongly with political causes; Richard Gere, portraying the post-motorcycle accident period; and Marcus Carl Franklin as the young Dylan who passed himself off as the second coming of Woody Guthrie. Each section of the film not only has a different lead actor, but offers different looks that reflect various aspects of popular culture at the time. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A group of teens discover that the next generation of survival horror games are more realistic than they thought when they begin dying in the same manner as their pixilated counterparts in director William Brent Bell's bloody tale of video games gone bad. In the days following the mysterious death of an old friend, a young group of gaming enthusiasts comes into possession of a chillingly realistic game based on the exploits of a 17th century noblewoman who earned the name "The Blood Countess" for her murderous exploits. Their curiosity piqued by the fact that they were obviously not supposed to come into possession of the grisly game, the teens soon give in to temptation and begin doing battle for high score. When the chilling events of the game begin to bleed over into the real world and the real-life deaths of the players begin to mirror the deaths of their in-game characters, the race is on to defeat the murderous Blood Countess and ensure that other curious gamers don't fall into the same deadly trap that they did. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Bruce McCulloch's buddy comedy Comeback Season stars Ray Liotta and Shaun Sipos as a pair of unlikely friends. Liotta plays Walter Pearce, a man who ends up without a place to stay after a fight with his wife of 24 years. Walter ends up in jail after an incident with another man, and in the cell meets up with Skylar Eckerman (Sipos), a promising football player who has landed in the clink after a drinking binge. Eckerman worries for his future as he has recently suffered a severe injury. Although Eckerman and Pearce share an uncomfortable history, the two bury the hatchet and soon are able to depend on each other. Comeback Season had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

One of the oldest epic poems in the English language gets a robust visual interpretation in this historical epic shot on location in Iceland. Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård) is a Danish king who murders a troll that has been terrorizing his countryside. But Hrothgar spares the life of the troll's strange young son, who with the passage of years grows to become Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson), a fearsome warrior intent upon avenging his father's death. As Grendel begins his slaughter of the king's closest confidants, Hrothgar realizes his life is in danger, and he calls upon the brave and fearless Beowulf (Gerard Butler) to track down and kill Grendel. As Beowulf and his band of warriors search for the vicious and elusive Grendel, he crosses paths with Selma (Sarah Polley), a beautiful and sensuous witch whose alliances are divided between Beowulf and his archenemy. Produced by Canadian, British, and Icelandic concerns, Beowulf & Grendel was a major box-office success in Canada before crossing south to American theaters in the summer of 2006. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A woman who has come to a strange land is torn between the life she knows and the new life around her in this epic-scale historical drama. In 1854, New Zealand's indigenous Maori tribes were engaged in an ongoing battle to drive away European settlers eager to establish colonies in the nation's wilderness, which the Maori saw as a threat to their way of life. However, some outsiders had made a home in New Zealand with the cooperation of the Maori, and an Irish settlement had been established, with Francis (Stephen Rea), the colony's doctor, bringing his daughter Sarah (Samantha Morton) with him to this new land. Sarah becomes acquainted with the son of one of the Maori leaders, and in time their friendship grows into something deeper. When Sarah discovers she's pregnant with the chief's son's child, the father has been called off to fight against the Europeans, and by the time her son is born, his father is dead. Sarah raises her child, whom she simply calls "Boy," but when Boy reaches the age of six, he's abducted by his father's family, who believes he should grow up among the Maori. Fearing further reprisals, Francis returns to Ireland, but Sarah stays behind to care for the sick and look for her son. Years later, while in search of Boy, Sarah encounters Wiremu (Cliff Curtis), a Maori warrior whose father Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison) is ill. When Wiremu learns that Sarah is well versed in medicine, he makes an offer -- if she will treat Te Kai Po and return him to health, he will find Boy. Sarah is able to cure Te Kai Po's ailment, and Wiremu returns the now-teenaged Boy (David Rawiri Pene) to his mother. Boy is not eager to leave behind the Maori people who have become his family, and he and Sarah stay with Te Kai Po's tribe for a while, but in time she is drawn back to the Irish colony, where she finds herself torn between Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland), the soldier who loves her and wishes to protect her, and Wiremu, who she has grown to love. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While the traditional American stereotype of people from China portrays them as short, studious, and not especially athletic, Yao Ming turned that image on his head -- standing seven foot six, Yao became the most talked about player in professional basketball when he signed to play with the Houston Rockets in 2002, the first Chinese émigré to play in the NBA. Yao was largely unknown when he first suited up with the Rockets, and many were skeptical about his abilities, especially when he displayed an unsure command of the American style of basketball in his early games. But Yao soldiered on, and by the end of the season he was proving his detractors wrong, among them player-turned-sportscaster Charles Barkley, who once on air promised to kiss the rear end of one of his fellow television commentators if Yao ever scored 19 points in a game -- and had to make good on the pledge when Yao managed the feat. The Year of the Yao is a documentary (produced in part by the NBA) which looks at Yao Ming's first season with the Rockets, how he adapted to American basketball, his relationship with his family and teammates, and what his success means to fans in the United States and China. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Five brothers and sisters find their uncle has a big surprise hidden in his estate in this comic fantasy for the whole family. Not long after World War I breaks out, five children -- Cyril (Jonathan Bailey), Robert (Freddie Highmore), Anthea (Jessica Claridge), Jane (Poppy Rogers), and Lamb -- find themselves in dangerous circumstances when their father is sent off to fight, and their mother volunteers to be a field nurse. Unable to care for themselves, the children are sent to the country, where they stay with their eccentric uncle Albert (Kenneth Branagh) and his ill-tempered son, Horace (Alexander Pownall), in Albert's ramshackle home. Uncle Albert has more than a few rules about what the children can and cannot do, but his strictest edict is that the children must never go into his greenhouse. Of course, the children's curiosity gets the better of them, and they sneak in to discover their uncle's big secret -- the building is home to Psammead (voice of Eddie Izzard), an ugly and often bad-mannered "sand fairy" who has the ability to grant wishes. However, the kids discover that Psammead's wishes only last for 24 hours, and that they have a strange habit of backfiring on their beneficiaries. 5 Children & It was based on the classic book for children by E. Nesbit; Psammead was realized onscreen with a puppet created by Jim Henson's celebrated Creature Shop. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Catch the most original rhymes and beats on the underground hip hop scene as adventurous filmmakers travel coast to coast to seek out the next generation of freestyle superstars and showcase the hottest streetballers on the concrete court. When the stars are at the top of the game, there's always someone waiting to be next in line for the spotlight, and with this release the fans can find out just who the giants of tomorrow will be before they hit the mainstream. Includes appearances by mixtape legends Tru Mac, Jae Millz, Scram Jones, and more. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director James D. Stern debuts with this darkly comedic, archly ironic look at America's obsession with guns. The film opens with Helen and Warren Harding (Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels) awaking one night to the sounds of their suburban trophy getting broken into. Warren grabs his trusty handgun and blows away the intruder, only to complain about the blood spots on his newly purchased bathrobe from Sundance. The unlucky guy turns out to be Warren's business partner, and it does not take long for him to wonder out loud if his wife and the dead man were having an affair. Meanwhile, Warren's lawyer Tim (Andre Braugher), whose civil-rights leading father was gunned down when he was a boy, receives a handsome gun from his film fanatic boyfriend Chris (David Schwimmer). Others involved include the young nymphet Annabel Lee (Anna Paquin) and her thuggishly violent brother Sidney (Giovanni Ribisi); Mr. Morgan (Gary Sinise), an eccentric and extremely paranoid Internet tycoon; and Tennel (Josh Brolin), a video store manager turned poet. All of these characters have their own personal axes to grind and all have easy access to guns. The result is as violent as it is senseless. All the Rage was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide