James N. Kirk
A simple case of assumed identity snowballs into a romantic mix-up of epic proportions in director Andy Fickman's contemporary teen take on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) has good reason for wanting to conceal her identity upon arriving at Illyria Prep school, and with her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) skirting school in an attempt to break into the London music scene, Viola sees her sibling's well-timed absence as the perfect opportunity to assume his identity. When Viola is assigned a shared dorm room with campus cool guy Duke (Channing Tatum), her façade slowly begins to crumble as she begins harboring a deep-rooted crush on her unsuspecting new roommate. The situation begins to take a turn for the worse, however, when Duke reveals his affection towards campus knockout Olivia (Laura Ramsey), who in turn seems increasingly drawn toward the sensitive imposter known as Sebastian. The problem is, the real Sebastian has decided to cut his London trip short, and upon arriving on campus two days earlier than expected, Viola's elaborately executed ruse hits an unexpected hitch that sends the entire situation spiraling into chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, (more)
D.J. Caruso's Two for the Money stars Matthew McConaughey as Brandon Lang, a former college quarterback whose life plans changed when he suffered a career-ending injury. Brandon turns out to have remarkable skill at picking winning football bets. Eventually, he comes to the attention of Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), a very successful business tycoon who runs a giant gambling operation. Walter brings Brandon to New York and introduces him to a glitzy, fast-paced, money-drenched lifestyle that Brandon eagerly soaks up. When Brandon's magic touch begins to falter, Walter starts to turn on his protégé. Soon the two men are attempting to outwit each other, with Walter's wife (Rene Russo) caught in the middle. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, (more)
Thirty-three-year-old ad executive Eve Simon (Elisa Donovan) is, to all outward appearances, a success, and a fabulously wealthy one in the bargain. Even so, as she sits alone nursing an expensive drink in an upscale Manhattan watering hole on Christmas Eve, our heroine wonders if it's all been worth it -- and, more to the point, how would her life have turned out had she made different choices. "Wish upon the Christmas star!" advises a philosophical derelict named Brother James (Peter Williams). Eve does just that -- and she awakens, it is 12 years earlier, she's an unemployed 21-year-old living with her parents (Cheryl Ladd, James Kirk), and she's still engaged to Scott (Sebastian Spence), the hometown boy whom she would ultimately dump in her pursuit of a career in the Big Apple. So, will she make the same choices again, or will she follow her heart instead of her head the second time around? Made for the Lifetime cable channel, Eve's Christmas premiered December 6, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisa Donovan, Cheryl Ladd, (more)
Death lurks, and two teenage girls try to figure out where he's heading, in this sequel to the unexpected teen horror hit Final Destination. As Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the only surviving passenger of the ill-fated Flight 180, waits in a mental institution, certain Death will claim her, Kim (A.J. Cook), who has begun to display precognitive powers, is driving along the highway when she sees a terrible accident in which several cars crash into a logging truck. Moments later, the horrible vision is gone, but Kim is certain she saw an accident that was supposed to happen but didn't...and now Death will track down the souls he meant to take that day who slipped through his fingers. A police officer, Thomas Burke (Michael Landes), believes there's a germ of truth in Kim's story, and teams her up with Clear in hopes that together they can help prevent Death from snuffing out any more of the people involves in the accident that wasn't. Tony Todd also returns from the first film as Mr. Bludworth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, (more)
When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) try and locate the assassin, Cyclops (James Marsden) and Xavier (also known as 'Professor X') seek answers from their old foe Magneto (Ian McKellan) in his glass cell...Little do they know they're walking into a trap set by the villainous William Stryker (Brian Cox), a mysterious governmental figure that figures into Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) secretive past, along with information about the X-Men's operation, supplied by Magneto through a mind-controlling agent. Meanwhile Wolverine, just home from a failed mission to regain his memory, is in charge of the students when a crack-commando team led by Stryker infiltrates the school by order of the President. With a mansion full of young, powerful mutants and the ferocious Wolverine in babysitter mode, can he defend the school against the one man who can answer his questions? What roles do the sinister Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) have in all of this? Why does Stryker want Professor X and his Cerebro machine? With the war between humanity and mutants escalating to extremes, can the rest of the X-Men trust their old foes to help them? Director Bryan Singer returns and raises the stakes in this sequel to the highly lauded 2000 adaptation of Marvel Comics' X-Men. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, (more)
Executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, the ten-episode, 20-hour miniseries Taken was one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by cable TV's Sci-Fi Network, ultimately costing 40 million dollars -- a price that proved well worth it, inasmuch as the series posted the network's highest-ever ratings. Covering a period from 1947 to the present, the story focused on three different families, each of whom was profoundly affected by extraterrestrial visitation. The Keys family was headed by WWII bomber pilot Russell Keys (Steve Burton), who spent virtually his entire adult life haunted by his "close encounter" with aliens. The Clarkes were originally represented by lonely Texas waitress Sally Clarke (Catherine Dent), who was impregnated by a charming stranger (Eric Close) who turned out to be an alien survivor of the Roswell crash. And the lives of the Crawfords were dictated by ruthless Army officer Owen Crawford (Joel Gretsch), who was determined to prove that the government had covered up the truth about Roswell by dedicating his life to tracking down all space aliens and their half-human descendants. The story was narrated by Allie Keys (Dakota Fanning), a "hybrid" child of the present day, whose story determined the outcome of the final episodes. Boasting impressive computer-generated special effects and eye-popping facial makeup, Taken was seen over a two-week period, beginning December 2, 2002, and ending on December 13. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dakota Fanning, Alonso Oyarzun, (more)
- 2001
A serial killer with an odd signature (surgically removing the victim's teeth, leaving behind a medallion of the Madonna) may be back in action again. In the past, the investigation of the killer's activities have always been shut down on the orders of Lydecker (John Savage), and Max (Jessica Alba) and Logan (Michael Weatherly) want to find out why -- though, truth be told, Max already has a disturbingly good idea about Lydecker's motives. Nana Visitor makes her first appearance as Lydecker's sinister boss, Manticore director Elizabeth Renfro (aka "The Dragon Lady"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
