Kent McQuaid
Sin City author Frank Miller's sweeping take on the historic Battle of Thermopylae comes to the screen courtesy of Dawn of the Dead director Zack Snyder. Gerard Butler stars as Spartan King Leonidas and Lena Headey plays Queen Gorgo. The massive army of the Persian Empire is sweeping across the globe, crushing every force that dares stand in its path. When a Persian envoy arrives in Sparta offering King Leonidas power over all of Greece if he will only bow to the will of the all powerful Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the strong-willed leader assembles a small army comprised of his empire's best fighters and marches off to battle. Though they have virtually no hope of defeating Xerxes' intimidating battalion, Leonidas' men soldier on, intent on letting it be known they will bow to no man but their king. Meanwhile, back in Sparta, the loyal Queen Gorgo attempts to convince both the skeptical council and the devious Theron (Dominic West) to send more troops despite the fact that many view Leonidas' unsanctioned war march as a serious transgression. As Xerxes' fearsome "immortals" draw near, a few noble Greeks vow to assist the Spartans on the battlefield. When King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors fell to the overwhelming Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, the fearless actions of the noble fighters inspired all of Greece to stand up against their Persian enemy and wage the battle that would ultimately give birth to the modern concept of democracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, (more)
- 2004
When ad exec Anne-Marie (Anne-Marie Cadieux) takes a sabbatical, she finds herself compelled to use her time away to search for the meaning of happiness. Filmed as a quasi-documentary, Happiness Is a Sad Song finds Cadieux on the streets of Montreal with a video camera, asking passers by about their most basic life philosophies. Along with many strangers who are too fatigued by the summer heat to offer much more than sarcasm are a kind-hearted African musician and a confused drug addict. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne-Marie Cadieux, Doug Miro, (more)
A boy learning the lessons of the Torah wonders if they can be used to avenge an attack on his best friend in this drama based on the novel by Pete Hamill. Michael (Peter Tambakis) is an 11-year-old boy growing up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1947. While looking for a place to get out of the weather in the midst of a freak snowstorm, Michael meets Judah Hirsch (Stephen Rea), a rabbi from Czechoslovakia, and the two become unlikely friends. Judah fascinates Michael with tales from Jewish folklore, and Michael gives Judah a crash course in the finer points of baseball. But not everyone in Michael's neighborhood is as open-minded as he is, and Judah is attacked by a gang of anti-Semitic toughs. As Judah's life lies in the balance, Michael wonders if Judah's tales of magic and mysticism might hold a key to getting justice for his friend. Snow in August also features Lolita Davidovich as Michael's mother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Rea, Lolita Davidovich, (more)
A man who fails to respect the dead pays a high price for his arrogance in this horrifying thriller. For decades, the city of New York has buried the bodies of the unknown and the destitute on Hart Island, a tiny slip of land near the Big Apple's harbor, with inmates from a nearby prison on hand to do the labor. Now, multi-millionaire land developer Mr. King (Malcolm McDowell) has decided to buy the island and build a resort. King scoffs when he's told it's bad luck to disturb the resting place of the dead, but he soon learns there's a kernel of truth in their warnings -- Hart Island is also home to huge swarms of disease-carrying flies, and when King, his associates, and a crew of prisoners are trapped on the island, there's no telling if they'll make it out alive as the insects try to claim the humans as their prey. Island of the Dead also stars Bruce Ramsay, Talisa Soto, and hip-hop artist Mos Def. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Talisa Soto, Bruce Ramsay, (more)
- 1995
Actor Bob Hoskins directs this children's fantasy. When Mike (Willy Lavendal) actually finds the end of a rainbow, his friends don't believe it until he shows it to them. After that, they figure out how to find the next time and place for a rainbow-landing, and together they go to it. When they bicycle onto it, they find themselves transported more than a thousand miles away, to Kansas. There, they run afoul of the local Sheriff (Dan Aykroyd) and only make it back to the rainbow and then to their homes in New Jersey in the nick of time. When they tell their parents where they have been, they are quite naturally accused of making it all up. However, strange phenomena begin to occur and color begins to disappear from the world. One of them has taken some golden nuggets from the rainbow, and the nuggets must be returned if the world is to survive. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
