C. Ernst Harth Movies

A pack of inquisitive golden retrievers take a trip to the moon, only to realize that there's truly no place like home in this installment of Disney's popular talking dog series. The Buddies are back, and this time they're joined by four-legged friends Spudnick and Gravity. Their mission: Launch plans for a moon landing, then make their way back to planet Earth. Blasting through space and dodging asteroids left and right, this furry team of astronauts realize that the only way to accomplish their mission is through friendship and teamwork. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The creation of one of the most memorable books of the 1960s -- and the impact the writing and research would have on its author -- is explored in this drama based on a true story. In 1959, Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote also co-stars Bruce Greenwood as Capote's longtime companion Jack Dunphy, and Amy Ryan as Mary Dewey, Alvin's wife who became a confidante of Capote's. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An advertising executive at risk of losing his job finds that inspiration can sometimes come from the least likely of places in a brotherly comedy about getting laid and getting the job done from director Pat Holden. Adman Ed Waxman (Brendan Fehr) has just been informed by the higher-ups that if he doesn't come up with a killer campaign in the next 48 hours, he can kiss his high-paying job goodbye. Though work is all Ed can think about as the weekend approaches and inspiration seems to take a vacation, the arrival of Ed's womanizing brother, Cooper (Chris Klein), finds the pair setting out on an altogether different mission: to find the overworked and undersexed Ed some fitting female companionship. Just as a series of disastrous encounters with everyone from single mothers to sultry strippers begins to convince Ed that his love life is in as much trouble as his professional life, the appearance of a woman who could quite possibly be Ed's soul mate provides a glimmer of hope that the situation may not be as dire as he previously thought. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When a group of friends wins a seemingly idyllic tropical vacation, they expect a week of sunbathing and leisure. Instead, they find themselves trapped on an island in the Bermuda Triangle defending themselves from monster insects. With an accompanying MTV camera crew as their only protection, the group races to rescue Carmen Electra from the bloodthirsty mutants and to escape from Monster Island. ~ Sarah Block, All Movie Guide

Mike Southon's Air Bud Spikes Back brings the gifted athlete and golden retriever Buddy back for more action. Buddy excels at the sport of beach volleyball. But in between his domination of the court, Buddy must help solve a series of crimes that evidence suggests he himself has committed. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This haunted house chiller is the second feature from Dark Castle Entertainment, the mid-budget outfit put together in 1999 to remake the cheesy horror genre pictures of William Castle by his daughter, Terry Castle, and producers Gilbert Adler, Robert Zemeckis, and Joel Silver. Financially ravaged and widowed by a fire that is consuming him with guilt, Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub) is left to raise two kids on his own: beautiful teenager Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth) and grade school student Bobby (Alec Roberts). Good news suddenly drops into their lives when a lawyer visits and reveals that they have inherited a lavish home from a late uncle, Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham), an eccentric ghost hunter. The Kriticos family moves into the remote house only to discover its odd secret: the dwelling contains a state-of-the-art, elaborate system of moving glass walls that trap spirits inside. Soon the ghosts, which can only be seen through the use of special high-tech spectacles, are loose in the elaborate contraption and are none too thrilled about their predicament. With the exits sealed, the family members try to learn the secret of Uncle Cyrus' bizarre mansion and survive supernatural assaults with the help of sassy housekeeper Maggie (Rah Digga), neurotic psychic Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), and Kalina (Embeth Davidtz), an activist championing the civil rights of ghosts. The eyeglasses through which the spirits can be viewed in Thirteen Ghosts (2001) were part of a ballyhoo gimmick involving pairs of spectacles handed out to audiences for screenings of the 1960 original, which was presented in "Illusion-O." ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The political thriller B-movie Ignition was released straight to video in the U.S. Bull Pullman stars as Conor Gallagher, a former military helicopter pilot who was discharged due to his violent rage. He is assigned to protect Federal Judge Faith Mattis (Lena Olin) after a mail bomb goes off in her office. Meanwhile, the U.S. is about to put a man on the moon and corrupt military officials plan to assassinate the President. Colm Feore plays the corrupt bad guy, General Joel MacAteer, and Peter Kent plays his henchman Brunson. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Bobby Farrelly and brother Peter Farrelly continue exploring outrageous premises with this comedy directed by their first assistant director J.B. Rogers. In this wacky spin on the boy-meets-girl tale, Gilly Noble (Chris Klein) enters a sexually charged, passionate love affair with girl of his dreams Jo Wingfield (Heather Graham). After a happy time together, they soon realize that they are brother and sister and quickly break it off. Jo begins a new life elsewhere and Gilly is left heartbroken -- until he learns that Jo is not actually his sister; the incest suggestion was in fact a lie begun by a meddlesome third party. As Gilly travels to meet up with his beloved, he finds out that Jo is engaged to be married to another man; he must put a stop to it, even while everyone still believes he is Jo's sibling and is committing an unnatural act. Say It Isn't So also features Sally Field, Orlando Jones, and Farrelly stalwarts Richard Jenkins and Lin Shaye. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

The annual North American UFO Convention degenerates into a series of heated arguments between various factions of "true believers." One of the donnybrooks is instigated by Max Buford (Don Thompson), who claims he has come into possession of a fragment from an alien spaceship. This sparks a power struggle between mild-mannered Boo Weston (Mackenzie Phillips) and the imperious Gunther Van Owen (Jerry Wasserman) -- which may be part of a master plan by the Government to discredit the entire convention. "Down to Earth" first aired on April 21, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A veteran detective and his novice assistant find some very unexpected mysteries in this offbeat comedy. Jack Potter (Leslie Nielsen) is a hard-boiled but absent-minded private detective who thinks it might be a good idea to retire soon. Potter is approached by Marty MacKenzie (Lochlyn Munro), a small-time actor wanting to research a role as a detective (while making some much-needed pocket money at the same time). Potter hires MacKenzie as a leg man and has him stake out a beautiful woman from Beaver Ridge, OR, whose husband is convinced she's cheating on him. Things quickly get far more complicated than Potter expected, and he has to rescue MacKenzie from Beaver Ridge, which is populated by freaks, lunatics, and two-headed livestock; it doesn't help that MacKenzie has also fallen in love with Cindy Davies (Vanessa Angel), the woman he was supposed to be watching. Camouflage also stars William Forsythe and Patrick Warburton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After giving George of the Jungle human form, Brendan Fraser returns to cartoon-land with another live-action update of an animated TV classic. Set in the peaceful village of Semi-Happy Valley high in the Canadian Rockies, our story focuses on Dudley Do-Right (Fraser), a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who never lets his lack of intelligence get in the way of his dedication and determination to get his man. Dudley's superior, Inspector Fenwick (Robert Prosky), displays a bemused tolerance towards Dudley's enthusiastic ineptitude, and Dudley is beguiled by the Inspector's daughter, Nell (Sarah Jessica Parker), who has made a home in Seattle after traveling the world, but is now paying her father an extended visit. Before Dudley can make much of a (positive) impression on Nell, the evil Snidely Whiplash (Alfred Molina) enters the picture. Determined to take Semi-Happy Valley for everything it's worth, Snidely sends Dudley in search of vampires hiding in the woods, and, while he's away, plants gold nuggets in a nearby stream. When a prospector (Eric Idle) happens upon them, word gets out that Semi-Happy Valley is gold country. Quickly opening a string of businesses to cater to the flood of would-be gold miners, Snidely becomes the town's richest citizen, and Semi-Happy Valley is even renamed Whiplash City. Snidely's fame and wealth gain Nell's attention, while Dudley's search for vampires causes the Inspector to fire him. However, in time, Dudley realizes that something is afoot, and he is determined to expose Snidely Whiplash and bring him to justice. Director Hugh Wilson wrote and directed the first film in the Police Academy series; Dudley Do-Right was his second directorial credit of 1999 with Brendan Fraser, after they worked together on Blast From the Past. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide