Mark Williams

A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win the heart of his true love in this fantasy adventure starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais, and Sienna Miller. For hundreds of years the massive cobblestone barrier that surrounds the sleepy English hamlet of Wall has kept the citizens of the village safe and secure from the malevolent supernatural forces that stir just outside its perimeter. When dashing Tristan Thorne (Cox) promises the fairest girl in the village, Victoria (Miller), that he will prove his love by bestowing her with a genuine falling star, his daring mission sends him on an adventure far outside the comfortable confines of Wall. In order to find the fallen star, Tristan will have to ascend the wall and venture deep into the forbidden heart of the fantastical realm known as Stormhold. Upon discovering that the meteorite he sought was in fact a beautiful girl named Yvaine (Danes), who has stumbled though space and is now being pursued by the King of Stormhold's (Peter O'Toole) sons (who long to use her cosmic powers to lay claim to the throne), Tristan vows to protect the otherworldly visitor at all costs. But the king's sons aren't the only ones in search of the luminous Yvaine; fearsome witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) has become convinced that the young girl's power can help her to achieve eternal youth and beauty. As Tristan makes his way through Stormhold on a mission to bring the star back to Wall, he will encounter a series of spectacular characters and creatures that will lead him to a fate he never imagined. Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn serves as director and co-screenwriter for this tale of witches and pirates adapted from the novel by fantasy icon Neil Gaiman, who also produces. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Directed by Mike Newell, the fourth installment to the Harry Potter series finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) wondering why his legendary scar -- the famous result of a death curse gone wrong -- is aching in pain, and perhaps even causing mysterious visions. Before he can think too much about it, however, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will attend his fourth year of magical education. Shortly after his reunion with his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), Harry is introduced to yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: the grizzled Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a former dark wizard catcher who agreed to take on the infamous "DADA" professorship as a personal favor to Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Of course, Harry's wishes for an uneventful school year are almost immediately shattered when he is unexpectedly chosen, along with fellow student Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), as Hogwarts' representative in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which awards whoever completes three magical tasks the most skillfully with a thousand-galleon purse and the admiration of the international wizard community. As difficult as it is to deal with his schoolwork, friendships, and the tournament at the same time (not to mention his feelings toward the ever unfathomable Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Harry doesn't realize that the most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, is anticipating the tournament, as well. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Directed by Metin Huseyin, Anita & Me follows the development of a cross-cultural friendship between 12-year-old Indian immigrant Meena (Chandeep Uppal) and her 14-year-old British neighbor, Anita (Anna Brewster). An aspiring writer, Meena (Uppal) writes down all the challenges of her new life in great detail, from her parents insistence that she focus solely on her studies, to the vast cultural differences between Britain and India. The most notable subject, however, is the comfort she finds from her unlikely friendship with Anita. Anita & Me is based on a novel by Meera Syal, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

In this broad comedy from sometime comic actor Mel Smith (The Tall Guy), two women find themselves fleeing criminals. Minnie Driver stars as Shannon, a London nurse who finds her boyfriend Ray (Darren Boyd), a "sound sculptor," becoming increasingly dull and inattentive. When he forgets her birthday, she decides to hit the town with best pal Frances (Mary McCormack), an American actress wasting her time in a terrible small-theater production. Returning to Shannon's apartment, the girls overhear a cell phone conversation on Ray's scanner chronicling the ten million dollars stolen from a safe-deposit box. When police are uninterested in their information, the girls get an idea to blackmail the robbers to get a share. The criminals, led by the hard-as-nails Mason (Kevin McNally), counteract with their own scheme, and the caper begins to go wildly out of control. Similarly plotted to the 2001 release Beautiful Creatures, but much lighter in tone than that dark suspense thriller, the film co-stars Michael Gambon, Danny Dyer, and Mark Williams.
~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

Peter Hewitt (Tom and Huck) directed this $30-million family film, an adaptation of Mary Norton's classic children's novels about a miniature family of wee folk, four inches high, living beneath the floorboards of an English cottage. The Borrowers family, so labeled because they "borrow" from the house's kitchen, consist of Pod Clock (Jim Broadbent), mother Homily (Celia Imre), and children Arrietty (13-year-old Flora Newbigin) and Peagreen (Tom Felton). Their adventure begins when they're almost caught in the kitchen by the Lenders, the tenants of the house, so they run for cover. When lawyer-Realtor Ocious P. Potter (John Goodman) discovers the owner of the house has died, he makes plans to evict the Lenders and demolish the building -- a situation where one would want to "neither a Borrower nor a Lender be." Fortunately, young Pete Lender (Bradley Pierce) has become friends with Arrietty -- an alliance leading toward a method of thwarting Potter. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Tae Kwondo expert Bobby Kim stars as Joe Lee, a street fighter seeking revenge on the criminals who framed him and then killed his brother's family, in this kung fu film from Richard H. Kim. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Described by one critic as "a post-Bruce Weber Rebel Without a Cause, Writer/director Everett Lewis' Natural History of Parking Lots can also be labelled--as a coming-of-age film. Charlie Bean plays the alienated teenage son of an affluent black Beverly Hills family. Upon learning that Charlie gets his kicks by hot-wiring expensive cars, his father orders the boy's older brother B. Wyatt to keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to dad, Wyatt is heavily involved in a gun-running operation. Rated R for sex, violence and profanity, Natural History of Parking Lots wound up on several reviewers' "ten best" lists, thought it has yet to receive a widespread national distribution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this amusing comedy, Sharon (Sharon Fryer) is upset when her unemployed boyfriend Anthony (Gary Webster) announces his intention to join the police force. She ends up insulting the chief of police at a local dinner, following him into the men's room to finish her train of thought. When her friend Billy (Pete Lee-Wilson) lands in jail for using the phone at work to make a request to a disc jockey, she decides to help him get out. Cameos from popular British television stars are added effectively throughout the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This British drama is thought to be the first student feature film made at Oxford University. It is also notable for marking the film debut of actors Hugh Grant, Imogen Stubbs, and James Wilby. The story is focused on a group of undergraduates, one of whom considers himself a fine actor. During a production of The Duchess of Malfi, he attempts to seduce the leading lady, but she rejects him. To console himself, he begins going after the wife of his well-born friend. When his friend catches the aspiring actor messing with his wife, he challenges him to a duel. Ever the gentleman, the nobleman opts to kill himself during the duel rather than take the life of the actor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide