John August Movies

Director/cinematographer Doug Liman's third feature links together three edgy stories, all beginning in the same Los Angeles supermarket with an interconnected group of characters. Ronna (Sarah Polley) is a down-on-her-luck checkout girl who is sweet talked into taking an extra shift from her friend Simon (Desmond Askew) so he can go to Las Vegas. Ronna is then approached by two good-looking actors, Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr), who want to buy drugs. Ronna, who needs money, plans to act as a go-between between the actors and a dealer friend of Simon's, Todd (Timothy Olyphant), until a cop named Burke (William Fichtner) enters the picture. Meanwhile, Simon is living it up in Vegas; in the course of a very wild night on the town, he manages to bed two women, accidentally steal a car with his good friend Marcus (Taye Diggs), and get thrown out of the best strip club in town, with more than a few people after him, especially when he leaves behind a credit card he borrowed from Todd. Once again back at the supermarket, Adam and Zack turn out to not be quite what they seemed, and their relationship with Burke and his wife Irene (Jane Krakowski) takes an unexpected turn as their evening becomes very, very complicated. Go, Liman's long-awaited follow-up to his indie hit Swingers, received its World Premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Titan A.E. combines cel and CG imagery in this science fiction saga. In 3028, after the Earth is destroyed by an invading alien race, a tiny number of surviving humans roam the universe in ragtag spaceships, trying to find each other and maintain some sense of community. Shortly before the final destruction of the planet, Cale (voice of Matt Damon) was given a map that would guide him to a space station called Titan, secretly constructed as a last hope in the event of alien Armageddon. Cale sets out in search of Titan and the fabled Ice Planet with the help of his friend Korso (voice of Bill Pullman), the beautiful Akima (voice of Drew Barrymore), and a crew of friendly aliens. Titan A.E. was directed by noted animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman and scripted by Ben Edlund, creator of the comic book series The Tick. Other members of the voice cast include Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo, John Leguizamo, and Tone Loc. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Tim Burton directs the fantasy drama Big Fish, based on the book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Southern writer/illustrator Daniel Wallace. Billy Crudup plays William Bloom, a young man who never really knew his dying father, Edward (Albert Finney) outside of the tall tales he told about growing up, making his way, and meeting his mother (played as a young woman by Alison Lohman and in older age by Jessica Lange). During Edward's last days, William and his wife Josephine (Marion Cotillard) hold bedside vigil as the old man recollects elaborate memories of his youth (in which he is played by Ewan McGregor). Still doubting the the legends and folklore, William makes a journey to meet a mysterious woman (Helena Bonham Carter) from whom Edward had bought property. Steve Buscemi and Danny De Vito also star. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Director Tim Burton brings his unique vision and sensibility to Roald Dahl's classic children's story in this lavish screen interpretation. Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) is the secretive and wildly imaginative man behind the world's most celebrated candy company, and while the Wonka factory is famously closed to visitors, the reclusive candy man decides to give five lucky children a chance to see the inside of his operation by placing "golden tickets" in five randomly selected chocolate bars. Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), whose poor but loving family lives literally in the shadow of the Wonka factory, is lucky enough to obtain one of the tickets, and Charlie, escorted by his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), is in for the ride of a lifetime as he tours the strange and remarkable world of Wonka with fellow winners, media-obsessed Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), harsh and greedy Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), and ultra-competitive Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb). Over the course of the day, some of the children will learn difficult lessons about themselves, and one will go on to become Wonka's new right hand. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also stars Christopher Lee, James Fox, and Noah Taylor; the book was famously adapted to the screen before in 1971 under the title Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Gene Wilder as the eccentric candy tycoon. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer/director John August ponders the metaphysical aspects of life and art in an episodic allegory that follows three artists as they embark on a soul searching journey of fate versus free will. When a troubled actor is placed under house arrest in "The Prisoner," his imagination begins to run wild due to the fact that his spirited publicist and cynical neighbor provide his only link to the outside world. Later, after the planes of reality fold in on themselves during the production of a Project Greenlight-style show which documents the filming of a popular sitcom in "Reality Television," "Knowing" follows a successful video game designer and his family as they become stranded in the middle of nowhere due to automotive issues. Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, and Melissa McCarthy star in a drama that peels back the layers of reality to ask whether or not mankind really has any control over his ultimate fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Transformed into a vampire and entombed for 200 years after betraying vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), 18th century fishing magnate Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) returns to Collinwood Manor in 1972, only to find his once proud estate in ruins and his family plagued by macabre secrets. It was the year 1752 when Barnabas' parents came to America to expand their business empire. But after establishing the thriving New England fishing town of Collinsport, the family experienced a series of misfortunes when Barnabas fell for the gorgeous Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcoate) and cast aside beautiful witch Angelique, who cursed him with eternal life and buried him deep in the earth. Returning home to Collinwood Manor after being dug up by a construction crew in 1972, Barnabas learns that Angelique has nearly driven his family out of business, and turned the townspeople against them. Determined matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) employs live-in psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) and enchanting governess Victoria Winters (Heathcoate) to try and help young David Collins (Gully McGrath) get over the mysterious death of his beloved mother, but as Barnabas gets acquainted with his distant ancestors -- including Elizabeth's black-sheep brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) and headstrong teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz) -- their suffering weighs heavily on his shoulders. Later, when Angelique learns that Barnabas has returned on a mission to restore his family to its former glory and fallen for the radiant Victoria (who is actually Josette reincarnate), she vows to make his suffering unimaginable if he should dare refuse her once again. Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, and Gulliver McGrath co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Garth Ennis' popular Preacher comic heads to the big screen with this Columbia Pictures production. The Vertigo series, published from 1995-2000, revolves around a possessed preacher who leads a revolt against God in a violent trip across America after the deity steps down from his place in Heaven. Big Fish's John August provides the scripted adaptation, with I Am Number Four's D.J. Caruso taking on directing duties. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi