John Bloomfield Movies

A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point in this thriller starring Piece Brosnan, Gerard Butler, and Maria Bello. Life has been good to happily married Chicago couple Neil (Butler) and Abby (Bello); their flames in their relationship are still burning bright, Neil has a great job, and with the birth of their beautiful daughter Sophie the loving couple has grown into a budding family. So much can change in an instant though, and the moment that sadistic kidnapper Ryan (Brosnan) appears the fibers of this happy family are torn violently apart. Ryan knows everything there is to know about Neil, Abby, and Sophie, and now he's ready to use that information to put the two parents through the most excruciating experience of their entire lives. Should Neil and Abby not comply with Ryan's every demand over the course of the next twenty-four hours, he will kill young Sophie without a second thought. While at first the demands seem typical of your average kidnapper, they gradually begin to grow increasingly outlandish until it becomes obvious that Ryan doesn't want money, but simply enjoys the power that comes along with systematically dismantling their idyllic lives until there's nothing left for Neil and Abby to live for. Now left with nothing to lose, the monstrous Ryan finds out just how far a parent is willing to go in order to save their child when he commands Neil to commit one final act of annihilation that goes against everything the loving father and husband stands for. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An outwardly ordinary teenager finds himself suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances upon discovering that his entire youth was part of an elaborate plan to create the perfect super spy in director Geoffrey Sax's action-packed adaptation of author Anthony Horowitz's best-selling series of novels featuring an adolescent secret agent. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) always though that his kindly uncle Ian (Ewan McGregor) was your average, everyday nondescript bank manager, but when Ian was murdered by notorious assassin Yassen Gregorovich (Damian Lewis), everything young Alex thought he knew would be forever changed by one simple bullet. A deadly martial artist, skilled linguist, steady-handed mountaineer, and deadeye marksman, Alex realizes that his uncle has been secretly training him in the art of espionage when he is recruited by MI6 Special Operations agents Mr. Blunt (Bill Nighy) and Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo). It seems that billionaire Darius Sayle (Mickey Rourke) has generously offered to donate a complimentary Stormbreaker supercomputer to every school in Britain, but while his philanthropic offer is welcomed with open arms by the struggling school system, MI6 fears that something nefarious is afoot. Assigned the task of infiltrating Sayle's impenetrable lair by posing as the winner of a computer magazine contest, Alex makes the acquaintance of shady Sayle sidekicks Mr. Grin (Andy Serkis) and Nadia Vole (Missi Pyle) before getting a special sneak preview of the remarkable Stormbreaker's true powers. His cover subsequently blown, Alex is given a key piece of information regarding the remarkable computer before being thrown to a giant jellyfish by Sayle and his henchmen and left to die just as the prime minister is about to push the button that will activate Stormbreaker computers all across Britain. With no time to spare and the fate of a nation hanging in the balance, Alex must now enlist the help of his trusted housekeeper Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone) and faithful classmate Sabina Pleasure (Sarah Bolger) in ensuring that the Stormbreaker system is not activated and revealing Sayle for the true villain that he is before the young super spy's breathless first mission becomes his fatal last. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A woman scorned unleashes her fury in this droll comedy based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is a famous and well-respected actress, but though her life in the limelight seems glamorous, things are not going well for her off-stage. Julia's husband is unfaithful to her (and not especially discreet about it), her son is angry with her, and she's afraid she's losing her looks and allure as she advances further into middle age. In the midst of this, Julia meets a handsome and dashing young American named {%Tom.. Tom makes no secret of his attraction to Julia, and the feeling is mutual, leading the two into a torrid affair. But, while Julia at first dives into this adulterous romance with little care for how it could affect her reputation, she becomes livid with rage when she learns that Tom is also involved with a younger actress, and is only using Julia to advance himself. Julia then plots an elaborate revenge against Tom in a scheme that will help her win back the pride and confidence life has recently stripped from her. Being Julia also stars Jeremy Irons, Michael Gambon, Bruce Greenwood, and Shaun Evans. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kevin Costner stars in and directs the Western Open Range. Robert Duvall stars as Boss Spearman, a rugged old-timer who free-grazes cattle. He and Charley Waite (Costner) have been partners for ten years. As the film opens in the 1880s, the pair and their employees -- the beefy, rugged, likable Mose (Abraham Benrubi) and the impetuous Mexican teenager Buttons (Diego Luna) -- are driving cattle across the West. Mose is attacked and thrown in jail during a visit to a town. The local cattle rancher Baxter (Michael Gambon) wants the free grazers off his land and warns Charley and Boss when they retrieve Mose that they have until the next day to be out of the area. Boss decides to fight back, especially after Baxter's men do harm to the foursome. Charley confesses his past as a killer during the Civil War and strikes up a tentative romance with Sue Barlow -- the sister of the town doctor. The film's centerpiece is an extended gunfight between the duo (with some assistance from sympathetic townsfolk) and Baxter's hired gunmen. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This big-budget sequel from writer/director Stephen Sommers navigates much of the same cliffhanger territory as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones franchise. It is 1933, eight years after the events of The Mummy (1999). Legionnaire Rick O'Connell Brendan Fraser has married his Egyptologist girlfriend Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) and the couple has settled in London, where they're raising their young son Alex (Freddie Boath). The family's domestic tranquility is shattered when the 3,000-year-old mummified corpse of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), which has been shipped to the British Museum, is resurrected once again to resume his evil quest for immortality. In the meantime, another ancient threat emerges in the form of the Scorpion King (professional wrestler Dwayne Johnson, aka. the Rock), a mighty warrior frozen in time with his supernatural army. In order to save his family, Rick is forced to seek a mythical pyramid of gold, facing marauding bands of pygmy skeletons, among other hazards. The Mummy Returns co-stars John Hannah, Oded Fehr, and Patricia Velasquez. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Former National Lampoon editor Ted Mann, who scripted this $27 million science-fiction comedy, calls it "the first outer-space road movie." According to Mann, the film has "no scientists, no techies, none of the usual polished, sanitary environments we're used to in our space films. Space is like anywhere else -- the people who are there are underpaid and poorly regarded." In the year 2196, freight pilot John Canyon (Dennis Hopper), one of the last of the independent truckers competing against the huge mega-corporations, is hassled by high-tech interference plus corrupt bosses. After Canyon delivers a cargo of pigs, genetically engineered to be square and stackable for more efficient shipping, he finds his profits siphoned off by a crooked labor boss (George Wendt). When Canyon heads for Earth with a secret cargo, he's accompanied by young apprentice trucker Mike Pucci (Stephen Dorff) and waitress Cindy (Debi Mazar), who plans to marry Canyon if he gets her safely to Earth. The trio goes through the asteroid belt and are captured by pirates, led by engineering wiz Captain Macanudo (Charles Dance), who discovers the secret cargo of the army androids stolen from him by capitalist corp chief E.J. Saggs (Shane Rimmer) -- who's plotting an android takeover of Earth. Filmed at Ireland's Ardmore Studios, Space Truckers was shown at several 1997 film festivals (Sundance, Sitges, Vancouver). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Widely considered to be an expensive failure, Waterworld was an epic vehicle for Kevin Costner, who starred in and co-produced the film, with his friend Kevin Reynolds as director. It was based on a 1986 screenplay by Peter Rader and cost an estimated $235 million, more than any film in history up to that time. Costner eventually fired Reynolds and directed the last few scenes himself. The story was filmed in Hawaii, using several artificial islands, and is set in an apocalyptic future, after global warming has melted the polar ice caps and flooded civilization. The Mariner (Costner) is one of the human beings who has adapted by growing gills. The survivalist lives on a boat on which he is growing a precious tomato plant. He tries to sell the plant and its dirt to the residents of an artificial island built of industrial waste. They imprison him when they discover that he's a mutant with gills. But the island is attacked by the Smokers, a group of oil-guzzling raiders on jet skis headed by the Deacon (Dennis Hopper). The Mariner escapes with Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and her daughter Enola (Tina Majorino). Back at sea, the Smokers repeatedly attack, using planes and boats, until they kidnap Enola. Enola's back is tattooed with a map showing how to get to Dryland, the last unflooded area on Earth. But Deacon, who needs to get to Dryland to replenish the Smokers' oil supply, can't immediately decipher it. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

John Glen directed this throwback to the costume dramas of the 1930s and 1940s, but without a smidgen of their energy and verve. George Corraface plays Christopher Columbus as a dynamic and muscular comic-book hero. He has a dream to set sail to find a new passageway to India, but he needs the backing of the Spanish government to do it. First, he must undergo a grilling by Tomas de Torquemada (Marlon Brando in, hands down, his worst performance). After passing muster with Torquemada, he gets the blessing of Queen Isabella (Rachel Ward) and King Ferdinand (Tom Selleck). Columbus then sets sail in a series of picture-postcard travelogue shots as he sails the ocean blue and discovers a new world of wonders -- particularly the Indian chief's well-endowed daughter. As a sop to revisionists, a rat is seen scampering down the plank as Columbus' vessel lands on "undiscovered" turf. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A hectic caper flick with farcical overtones, Bullseye! doesn't quite hit the....oh, you know. Government scientist Michael Caine and his titled pal Roger Moore plan to auction off a cold fusion formula to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, a pair of con artists-also played by Caine and Moore-impersonate the scientist and his friends in hopes of getting a piece of the action. This leads to an unending supply of comic complications, deadly encounters, wacky recurring characters and Sennett-style chases. Is louder and faster really funnier? You be the judge (but you'll have to catch the film on home video, since it never received a US theatrical release). Roger Moore's real-life daughter Deborah Barrymore shows up as a CIA agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film adaptation of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's musical play The Threepenny Opera portrays the engagement of a gangster (Raul Julia) to an innocent girl (Rachel Robertson) in Victorian-era London. The girl's family attempts to thwart the marriage by catching the thief in the act. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Superman (Christopher Reeve) tries to save the world from nuclear destruction at the hands of Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) in this action film featuring the man of steel. In a speech to the United Nations, Superman declares he will rid the world of all nuclear weapons. Arch-villain Luthor emerges from prison obsessed with killing Superman and creates an adversary known as Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The two engage in a fight to the finish in various landmarks on Earth before taking their battle into outer space. When Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) invites both Superman and Clark Kent to a double-date dinner, Superman's powers are tested so that both men can be present. Jackie Cooper plays the gruff veteran newspaper editor Perry White, with Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen. Sam Wanamaker plays tabloid tycoon David Warfield, the millionaire who buys the Daily Planet. Mariel Hemmingway is Warfield's daughter Lacy, Clark Kent's date at Lois' luxury apartment. This is the least interesting of the four Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Gene Wilder directed and wrote (along with Terence Marsh) this mild farce which is a pale reminder of Wilder's glory days in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Wilder plays ham radio actor Larry Abbot, who takes his fiancee Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) out to meet his relations on a gloomy country estate before they are married. The creepy clan is lorded over by the bizarre Aunt Kate (Dom DeLuise), who keeps babbling about a local rampaging werewolf. As Larry and Vickie try to spend a quiet weekend in the mansion, they are assaulted with all manners of spooky goings-on -- the kind of routines that were already growing whiskers when Abbott and Costello first dusted them off over fifty years ago. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, this fast-paced, occasionally humorous sequel to Conan the Barbarian features the hero (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as he is commissioned by the evil queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) to safely escort a teen princess (Olivia D'Abo) and her powerful bodyguard (Wilt Chamberlain) to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagon. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen's plans fail to take into consideration Conan's strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro (Mako), the wild woman Zula (Grace Jones), and the inept Malak (Tracey Walter). Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide