Michael Rose Movies

The third film to feature the claymation adventures of Wallace and Gromit, A Close Shave finds the inventor and his dog with a new business, new friends, and a new adversary. As the story begins, the team has decided to open a window-washing service, with Wallace providing clever gadgets while Gromit does the real work. Yet Wallace continues inventing in his spare time and has recently built a new device, the Knit-O-Matic, to clean and shear sheep -- which comes in quite handy when a lost lamb takes refuge in their home. Wallace and Gromit soon discover that this lamb has escaped from a pair of evil sheep rustlers who want him back. The mastermind of the rustling scheme turns out to be Preston, a dog belonging to local wool-shop proprietor Wendolene Ramsbottom; complicating things further is the fact Wendolene is also the object of Wallace's romantic affections. When Preston frames Gromit as the rustler and plots to steal the Knit-O-Matic, the pair must find a way to save the sheep and themselves. Director Nick Park once again mixes inventive animation with deviously clever plotting and whimsical humor, a combination that won him his third "Best Animated Short" Oscar. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

A love affair between two musicians spans six decades and numerous countries and political regimes in this animated romantic drama. In 1948, Chico (voice of Eman Xor Ona) is a hotshot jazz pianist living in Havana, where his reputation as a ladies' man nearly outshines his talent at the keyboard. One night, Chico sees Rita (voice of Limara Meneses) singing "Love for Sale" at a nightclub, and it's love at first sight, though Rita is put off by the fact Chico already has a steady girl. However, when Chico backs Rita during a talent competition held at a Havana radio station, she realizes they're musically simpatico, and her heart soon follows her creative instincts. But after a quarrel with Chico, Rita is approach by Ron, an American talent scout who says he can make her a star, and she takes him up on the offer, traveling with him to New York. Not wanting to lose Rita, Chico and his best friend Ramon head to New York City, but as Rita achieves fame and fortune in the United States, Chico finds the limelight is keeping them apart, and after returning to Cuba, the island's unstable political climate proves even better than Ron at keeping him away from Rita. Chico y Rita (aka Chico and Rita) was a collaboration between filmmaker and music producer Fernando Trueba, artist and designer Javier Mariscal, and animator and director Tono Errando, and features cartoon "cameo appearances" from a number of legendary jazz artists, including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Chano Pozo. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Academy Award nominees Stockard Channing and Bob Hoskins co-headline the British romantic comedy Sparkle, the third outing by the critically-praised writing and directing team of Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger (Lawless Heart, Boyfriends). Neophyte Shaun Evans plays Sam Sparks, a young man who migrates from Liverpool to London proper with his single mother, Jill (Lesley Manville) - a chanteuse in local pubs. In need of a job, Sam makes the cut at a public relations boutique by sleeping with the sixty-something head of the agency, Sheila (Channing), then (in a Graduate-like twist) falls for a girl closer to his own age, Kate (Amanda Ryan) - only to discover with horror that she's Sheila's daughter. As the expected complications ensue, Vince (Hoskins), the sexagenarian who arranged Sam and Jill's apartment in London, nurtures a deep-seated passion for Jill and decides to make his feelings fully known to her. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The routines of popular Danish comic Anders Matthesen provided the characters and inspiration for this computer animated feature, which tells humorous tales from the life of one put-upon 11 year old. Terkel's life is complicated enough as he has to deal with his chain-smoking mom, his chronically depressed dad, and annoying little sister, but things really start hitting the skids for him at school as he becomes the target of squirt-gun wielding bullies, mistakenly tattles on his best friend, and accidentally causes the suicide of an obese girl with a crush on him. Anders Matthesen provides the voice of Terkel for Terkel i Knibe, as well as nearly all of the other major characters. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Eccentric inventor Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis) and his faithful if often perplexed dog Gromit are back in their first feature-length adventure from animator Nick Park. Wallace and Gromit have launched a new business venture just in time for a major gardening competition in their neighborhood of West Wallaby. "Anti-Pesto" is a humane pest-relocation service in which Wallace and Gromit capture rabbits and other critters who have been eating the produce from local gardens and give them new homes somewhere else. Business has been going well, and when the woman hosting the garden show, Lady Tottington (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), discovers a massive tribe of rabbits has been making a mess of her garden, she calls in Wallace and Gromit to move the bunnies elsewhere. Wallace is quite taken with Lady Tottington, but he's not the only one -- Victor Quartermaine (voice of Ralph Fiennes) is a slick but arrogant upper-class type who wants to win Lady Tottington's hand (and fortune) and is convinced he can do a better job capturing the rabbits than Wallace. However, Wallace's attempts to brainwash the rabbits away from veggies using his latest invention has disastrous results, and soon Wallace has to deal with a beastly bunny as well as a heavily-armed Quartermaine. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit followed Park's previous film with the duo, A Close Shave, by ten years, and was produced after Park broke through to mainstream success with the feature Chicken Run. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi