Nicholas Hope Movies

A renegade recruit to the Norwegian narcotics unit (also known as the URO) orchestrates a clandestine sting operation that spirals rapidly out of control in director/co-writer (along with Harald Roselow Eeg) Stefan Faldbakken's gritty police detective film. Oslo narcotics cop Hans Petter (Nicolai Cleve Broch) is a loose cannon, and his boss Makker (Ingar Helge Gimle) is determined to prevent the volatile young law enforcer from taking the law into his own hands. When Hans runs into old school friend Mette (Ane Dahl Torp), he determines to go undercover in his old pal's nightclub in order to get a better feel for the local drug trade. Upon learning that Matte's boyfriend Marco (Ahmed Zeyan) is a local drug transporter and her father Frank (Bjorn Floberg) is pulling the strings from behind the scenes, dogged cop Hans determines to single-handedly bring the operation crumbling down. A professional job soon turns personal, however, when Hans discovers that his own father also had powerful ties to the sadistic Frank. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After having spent quite a bit of time feeling like little more than a corporate slave, Mark (Damon Gameau) is slightly excited after finding out that his horoscope predicts a new opportunity would present itself to him after passing a series of tests. Sure enough, Mark is called to attend a board meeting on the seldom seen 13th floor, where he's greeted by a man known simply as Sir (Shaun Micallef) and 12 other employees. After informing Mark and the rest of the contenders that they were destined for greater things, Sir assigns them a several tasks that, if completed successfully, would assure one of them a seat at the board room table. Although Mark was eager to accept the challenge, he quickly realizes he may be in over his head -- his tasks include firing one of his friends and delivering a package he expects contains a ticking time bomb -- and his newly complicated existence becomes even more so after beginning an affair with Minerva (Rebecca Havey), the 13th floor's mysterious receptionist. The 13th House was directed by Shane McNeil. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The long-running cartoon from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera that began life in 1969 as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? becomes this live-action, tongue-in-cheek comedy-adventure featuring a computer-generated version of the easily frightened, mush-mouthed Great Dane. Freddie Prinze Jr. stars as Fred, the blonde, confident, ascot-sporting leader of Mystery Inc., a ghost-busting service that exposes phony supernatural phenomena as the work of shysters. Working with Fred are: his rich, beautiful girlfriend, Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who has a bad habit of getting kidnapped by villains; Velma (Linda Cardellini), the real brains of the group who pines secretly for Fred; cowardly slacker and dog's best friend Shaggy (Matthew Lillard); and the snack-gobbling pet pooch Scooby. However, after solving its latest case involving a beleaguered toy company owner (Pamela Anderson), the group fractures over Fred's habit of grabbing credit for everyone's hard work, despite the pleas of Shaggy and Scooby. Two years later, they are reunited at Spooky Island, a theme park and teen spring break destination that owner Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson) claims is plagued with ghosts. Suspicious as usual of any claims involving the paranormal, the Mystery Inc. clan is soon probing a scheme involving ancient rites, summoned spirits, and brainwashed college students, forcing the group members to resolve their differences and uncover the truth. Directed by Chris Columbus protégé Raja Gosnell, Scooby-Doo features the voice of Scott Innes as the title character. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Two young people with little in common are thrown together under unusual circumstances in this offbeat drama directed by Clara Law, who made a number of well-received films in Hong Kong before emigrating to Australia. Yoshiyashi (Rikiya Kurokawa) is an expert computer hacker and snake enthusiast who travels to Australia from his home in Tokyo to buy the car of his dreams -- a perfectly restored 1967 Citroen DS. However, when Yoshiyashi arrives at the home of the man selling the car, he makes a shocking discovery -- the owner has killed his wife and turned the gun on himself, leaving behind Deidre (Rose Byrne), the man's niece, who is both blind and emotionally unstable. As it turns out, the Citroen is still for sale, but now Yoshiyashi must make his deal with one of the man's relatives, who lives a five-day drive away. Yoshiyashi brings Deidre along for the ride, who in the course of the trip learns a lot about Yoshiyashi's studied cool, while he gets clearer perspective on the troubled past behind her impulsive eccentricity. The Goddess of 1967 was shown in competition at the 2000 Venice and Toronto film festivals. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Written and co-directed by the writer of The Full Monty, this is a story about Catherine, the slightly wild ten-year-old daughter of a farmer family. Her younger brother, Matthew, is seriously ill. Catherine's irrepressible lust for life is a source of joy for her parents, Sue and Tom. When Catherine witnesses a strange phenomenon in the hills, she is convinced that it is a sign that Matthew will get better. But as the news of her vision spreads around town, Catherine finds that she not holds the key to the uncertainties of both her family and the whole community. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) is a garbageman, and his life is about as unpleasant and uneventful as you'd expect given his profession; he doesn't much care for his work, he's treated with violence or contempt by most of the people in his neighborhood, and he shares a house with Mary (Maria Porter), his cranky, pill-head mother, and Fay (Parker Posey), his morally suggestible sister. One day, Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan) appears; he claims to be a writer in the midst of a major project, entitled "Confessions," and needs a place to stay. Henry ends up moving in with Simon and his family, where he wastes no time in bedding both Mary and Fay, and encourages Simon to write in a journal. Simon begins to write in long torrents of words that surprisingly fall together into iambic pentameter; Henry tells Simon that what he's writing is poetry, and he's truly gifted. Simon seems dubious at first, but when several of Simon's pieces are posted on the Internet, he developes a huge and rabid following and is acclaimed as one of the great authors of our time. Henry, however, isn't able to get anywhere with his own book or his own life; as Simon's star slowly rises, Henry's orbit slowly sinks past the horizon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide