Orlando Seale Movies

Santa's black-sheep brother gets a much-needed shot at redemption in this holiday comedy reuniting actor Vince Vaughn and director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Wedding Crashers). It's not easy being the brother of a benevolent and beloved saint, and no one knows that better than Fred Claus (Vaughn). After struggling for years to live up to the example set by his younger sibling Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), Fred has finally given up. These days Fred is working as a repo man taken to stealing the items he repossesses, and his shady tactics have just landed him in jail. While Mrs. Claus vehemently insists that Fred fend for himself, Nicholas refuses to sit idly by as his brother rots in jail and agrees to set bail if Fred will repay the debt by coming to the North Pole and help make toys for the upcoming Christmas season. But Fred isn't nearly as productive as your average elf, and he's got quite an attitude to boot. With Christmas fast approaching and Fred threatening to sideline Nicholas' entire finely tuned operation, the brother that always struggled to get out from under his sibling's substantial shadow finds out just how far the patience of a saint can be pushed before jolly old Santa reaches his breaking point. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Twenty-two people become unwitting participants in a tragic and defining moment of the 1960's in this period drama from actor and director Emilio Estevez. It's early June in 1968, and the California presidential primary elections are occupying the minds of many in the Golden State, with Robert F. Kennedy in a close race against Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. The Kennedy campaign staff has set up camp at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, while the staff and guests become observers as the brother of fallen president John F. Kennedy sets out to pick up where his sibling left off. Paul (William H. Macy) is the manager of the Ambassador, and his wife Miriam (Sharon Stone) is a hairdresser who runs's the hotel's beauty salon. Angela (Heather Graham) is a receptionist working the hotel's switchboard who has been sleeping with Paul behind Miriam's back. Timmons (Christian Slater) is in charge of the hotel's restaurant and catering department, and makes no secret of his dislike of the African-Americans and Latinos under his employ. Miguel (Jacob Vargas) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez) are two young Chicanos on the kitchen staff who have it in for Timmons, while Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) is an older black man who counsels them on dealing with their rage. Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) sings in the hotel's cocktail lounge and has a serious problem with alcohol; her husband Tim (Emilio Estevez) is a Kennedy supporter and also her manager, and he's nearing the end of his rope in dealing with her problem. William (Elijah Wood) is a young man desperate to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam; Diane (Lindsay Lohan) is a pretty young woman dating William's brother who agrees to marry him so William can avoid being drafted, though William is clearly infatuated with her while she considers this a marriage in name only. John Casey (Anthony Hopkins) is one of the owners of the Ambassador, and Nelson (Harry Belafonte) is an old friend who works at the hotel. And Jack (Martin Sheen) is a wealthy Kennedy campaign financier who is married to Samantha (Helen Hunt), an attractive but much younger woman. Bobby also features Joshua Jackson, Nick Cannon and Shia LaBeouf as young Kennedy campaign volunteers, while Ashton Kutcher, Joy Bryant, Kip Pardue and Mary Elizabeth Winstead also highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A cozy coffeehouse serves as the setting for director John Cosgrove's over-caffeinated tale of sexual peccadilloes and complicated relationships starring Mena Suvari, Katherine Heigl, and Breckin Meyer. It's a typical lunch hour in London, and The Black Cat Café is fast filling up with patrons whose sexual lives have become a tangled web of infidelity, kinky idiosyncrasies, and betrayal. Stoned on some of the most potent weed in jolly old England, a neurotic young commitment-phobe attempts to keep his cool when he has an unexpected run-in with his bitter ex-girlfriend. But he's not the only one whose secrets are about to come out today, because after a shy young lady is forced to fend off a boorish blind date whose preconception of her couldn't be more wrong, a possessive boyfriend discovers that his current girlfriend was once a well-known adult film star. Later, after a fragile old lady mistakes a patron for the ex-husband she once found in a compromising position with a kinky prostitute and a high-powered attorney discovers that her husband-to-be likes to dress in ladies' clothes, the manager's boyfriend claims that a recent ménage à trois is perfectly forgivable since it was conducted with a pair of identical twins. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

While trying to retrieve a stolen newspaper, paperboy Nestor Alverez (Enrique Almeida) is killed on Monk's doorstep. In his efforts to determine the motive behind the killing, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) manages to solve two unrelated murders--but still can't find out why anyone would want to bump off a nice kid like Nestor. It takes an additional murder, coupled with the keen analytical eye of Monk's nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram), to finally crack the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this tribute to the man considered by many to be the father of the science fiction genre, a reporter interviewing author H.G. Wells makes a startling revelation that could forever change mankind's relationship with the universe. Upon arriving at Wells' London home on a fog enshrouded evening in 1946, newspaper reporter Ellen McGillivray is regaled with tales of time travel dating back to Wells' days at London's Imperial College of Science. It seems that Wells and colleague Jane Robbins stumbled across a previously undiscovered rift in time during a series of midnight experiments, and though the pair swore to keep the discovery a secret, the experience forever bonded the adventurous scientists. When Ellen accepts Wells' outlandish tales at face value, his shock at her lack of disbelief is countered by the revelation that she is an underground government agent posing as a reporter in hopes of discovering the secrets of a crystal orb rumored to hold the secrets of the entire universe. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Washington Irving's tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman gets a few new twists in a screen adaptation directed by Tim Burton. In this version, Ichabod (Johnny Depp) is a New York City detective whose unorthodox techniques and penchant for gadgets make him unpopular with is colleagues. He is sent to the remote town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of bizarre murders, in which a number of people have been found dead in the woods, with their heads cut off. Local legend has it that a Hessian ghost rides through the woods on horseback, lopping off the heads of the unsuspecting and unbelieving. Ichabod refuses to believe in this legend, convinced that there must be a logical explanation for the murders. In time, Ichabod becomes smitten with a local lass, Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci), who is the sweetheart of the burly Brom Bones (Casper Van Dien), and he becomes determined to capture the murderer to prove his bravery and win her heart. Christopher Walken, Jeffrey Jones, and Christopher Lee highlight the supporting cast; Lee's appearance is particularly apt, since Burton has cited the Hammer films of the 1960s as a major influence in making this film. Andrew Kevin Walker and Tom Stoppard contributed to the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide