Thom Noble Movies

A Chicago librarian suffers from a rare genetic disorder that sends him hurtling through time whenever he is under extreme duress; despite the fact that he vanishes at inordinately frequent and lengthy intervals, he attempts to build a stable future with the beautiful young heiress he loves. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star in this dramatic fantasy, which is directed by Robert Schwentke and based on the best-selling book by author Audrey Niffenegger. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A henpecked husband locked in a dead-end job attempts to reclaim his life with a little help from a self-assured teen and a pretty lingerie sales girl in this bittersweet romantic comedy starring Aaron Eckhart, Elizabeth Banks, and Jessica Alba. Bill (Eckhart) is a walking doormat; his in-laws look down their noses at him, his wife, Jess (Banks), neglects him, and his love for chocolate is beginning to affect his waistline. When Bill discovers that Jess has recently struck up a "friendship" with hotshot local reporter Chip Johnson (Timothy Olyphant) that she can't quite explain, his fears that his wife may have strayed are quickly confirmed. One day, a group of kids from the mentor program show up at the bank Bill works at, and one particularly insightful boy (Logan Lerman) recognizes that all is not well with the hapless husband and banker. Convinced that all Bill needs to win his wife back and reclaim his life is a healthy shot of self-esteem, the quick-thinking teen teams with a perky lingerie sales girl named Lucy (Alba) to confront Bill's problems with humor and energy. In the process, Bill not only begins to break free from the inhibitions that have prevented him from achieving success in both his personal and professional lives, but also begins to realize his dreams of being financially independent and self-confident. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A woman is forced to prove her own sanity to save the life of her daughter in this taut thriller. Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is a successful aircraft designer who has recently been dealing with the traumatic death of her husband. After traveling to Berlin on business with her six-year-old daughter, Julia (Marlene Lawston), Kyle falls asleep on their flight back to New York, only to discover that her daughter has gone missing. While not knowing where Julia has gone is troubling enough, even more disturbing is the insistence by sky marshal Gene Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) and Captain Rich (Sean Bean) that no records indicate that the child ever boarded the jet. As Kyle becomes increasingly desperate to find her daughter, she must prove to the men in charge that her daughter did in fact board the plane with her, and that this turn of events is not a product of her imagination. But if Julia has gone missing, who has taken her and why? Also starring Erika Christensen and Kate Beahan, Flightplan was the first English-language feature from German director Robert Schwentke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Family differences and personal grudges add drama to an already tense situation as the lives of a team of mountain climbers hang in the balance in this action drama. Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell) and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney) are the children of Royce Garrett (Stuart Wilson), an avid outdoorsman and climbing enthusiast who died when an accident left all three hanging from a single rope; Royce ordered Peter to cut him loose to save the lives of his kids, even though he knew it would mean his death. Years later, Peter has given up climbing and become a respected nature photographer, while Annie, who holds Peter responsible for her father's death, is a famous world-class mountain climber who is hired by Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton), a self-made billionaire, to help him scale K2, a mountain in the Himalayas that's the second-highest peak in the world. In the midst of the climb, dangerous weather strikes, and Elliot, Annie, and their crew find themselves trapped in a cavern that's been sealed tight by an avalanche. Peter, who is near K2 working on an assignment, quickly organizes a crew of expert climbers to save Annie and the other mountaineers, who must work under a tight deadline before the trapped climbers run out of air. Peter's partners in the rescue include beautiful medic Monique (Izabella Scorupco), radical climbers Cyril (Steve Le Marquand) and Malcolm (Ben Mendelsohn), disciplined Pakistani crewman Kareem (Alexander Siddig), and Montgomery (Scott Glenn), an eccentric outdoorsman who has a score to settle with Elliot. While backgrounds were shot on location in Pakistan, most of the climbing sequences in Vertical Limit were actually filmed on mountain ranges in New Zealand. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Martin Campbell, well-known to the action arena after 1995's GoldenEye, teams up with executive producer Steven Spielberg to bring the first Hollywood production of creator Johnston McCulley's Zorro in over four decades to the big screen. With scenic 18th century Mexico as a backdrop, Anthony Hopkins plays the original Zorro, a.k.a. Don Diego de la Vega, intent on revenge after rival enemy Don Raphael Montero (Stuart Wilson) murdered his wife and took his daughter, Elena. After being imprisoned for 20 years, the fabled hero removes his mask and takes on a tarnished young apprentice, Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas), to infiltrate Montero's plan to take control of California from Santa Anna. A boisterous outlaw with his own desire for revenge, Murieta works with Diego to avenge his brother's death by the sword of Montero's right-hand man, Captain Harrison Love (Matt Letscher, in his big screen debut). After Diego's extensive training in swordfighting, discipline and manners, a new Zorro appears wreaking vengeance and stealing the heart of a now-grown Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). A sizable summer hit, the film served as Zeta-Jones' stepping stone to leading lady status as the high-spirited heroine. ~ Rachel Koetje, All Movie Guide

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen concocted this stylish screwball comedic amalgam of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Tim Robbins stars as Norville Barnes, a dull-wit from Muncie, Indiana who wrangles a job with the big Hudsucker Industries. He has a singular idea for a new children's toy that he wants to present to corporate executive Sidney J. Mussberger (Paul Newman). As he makes his way up to Mussberger's office, the company president Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) is on his way down -- through the window of the forty-fourth floor boardroom! Hudsucker's death sets off a panic that Mussberger sees as an opportunity for taking over the company -- by installing a total incompetent in Hudsucker's place and devaluing the stock. When Barnes stumbles into Mussberger's office, Mussberger sees his pigeon and appoints Barnes as the new company president. The only problem is that the new product Barnes proposes for the company, the Hula Hoop, turns out to be a tremendous success, and Mussberger has difficulty manipulating his new corporate president. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Small town bureaucracy in a small Indian town provides the focus of this film. Upon receiving his education Agastya Sen, a Bengali, joins the public service where he is assigned to work in a tiny village as an assistant to the collector. He does not speak the local language. Sen is set up in a dreadfully primitive little place where his only company is a small frog. He misses his friends in the city. He has trouble adjusting to the quaint village and it's eccentric, provincial ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In Final Analysis, Richard Gere stars as Isaac Barr, a San Francisco psychiatrist whose alluring patient Diana Baylor (Uma Thurman) is being treated for traumatic memories. In order to find out more about her trauma, Diana suggests that Isaac speak to her sister and question her about what went on between them in the past. But when Isaac sets eyes on Diana's sister Heather (Kim Basinger), they become involved in a torrid and steamy sex affair. Unfortunately, Heather is married to psychotic sadist Jimmy Evans (Eric Roberts). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Director Bob Rafelson fulfilled a lifelong dream when he finally received backing to complete Mountains of the Moon. The film recreates the exploratory adventures of 19th century visionaries Sir Richard Burton (Patrick Bergin) and John Henning Speke (Iain Glen). The heart of the film is the effort by Burton and Speke to discover the true source of the Nile river. This occurs well into the film, after several torturous scenes involving the injuries sustained by the protagonists during other expeditions and their growing friendship (which, the film intimates, goes far beyond friendship). Rafaelson's fascination with this story, and his insistence upon painstaking historical accuracy, unfortunately compromises his ability to make an interesting film. There are so many starts and stops during the first half that we sincerely hope Burton and Speke will chuck it all and set up a pub in Bristol or something. What saves Mountains of the Moon is the rapport between its stars and the brilliant, epic-like cinematography of Roger Deakins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1920s-era play The Front Page was about a Chicago reporter who wants to retire and get married but is tricked by his editor into doing one last story -- which proves to be complicated. It was made into a classic film in 1931 and inspired the 1940 hit movie His Girl Friday, in which the reporter was changed into a woman. Billy Wilder also remade the original film in 1974. Switching Channels is a 1988 remake of His Girl Friday, with Kathleen Turner in the starring role, which has now morphed into that of a cable television network news anchor, Christy Colleran. She wants to marry a rich and handsome sporting goods manufacturer, Blaine Bingham (Christopher Reeve) and move out of town. But her ex-husband, John L. Sullivan IV (Burt Reynolds), who is also her producer and boss, gives her one final assignment to try to keep her around. Her reporting leads her into an investigation of a jail escape that follows a botched-up execution. Writer Jonathan Reynolds updated the original material. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

One of the more effectively spooky and financially successful horror films of the '80s got an inevitable sequel with this effects-heavy installment. The Freeling family is trying to grapple with the devastation wrought by the ghosts and ghouls that destroyed their lives. The insurance company doesn't believe their story about what happened to their house, so Steve (Craig T. Nelson), Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their kids, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) and Robbie (Oliver Robins), have been reduced to living in the home of Diane's mother, Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Unfortunately for the Freelings, however, their new residence, just like their last, is situated on a haunted patch of unholy ground. A century before, the mad cult leader Kane (Julian Beck) slaughtered his followers nearby, and his evil spirit has returned in an effort to kidnap Carol Anne. When the Freelings realize what's happening, they call upon the psychic medium Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) to help them again, and they also receive aid from a kindly Native American spiritualist, Taylor (Will Sampson). Noticeably absent from the sequel was older daughter Dana, who had been played by actress Dominique Dunne; Dunne was killed in 1982 by her obsessed boyfriend. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Set at an indeterminate point in the future, this drama with an overt anti-communist message begins as an ostensible war movie: Russian and Cuban forces have invaded the U.S. and are viciously eliminating the inhabitants of a small town, when a group of teens escapes and plans a counterattack. Jed (Patrick Swayze), Robert (C. Thomas Howell), and six of their friends watch in amazement as soldiers parachute into their town and start shooting. The teens grab a pickup truck, stock up on supplies at the local store, and head for the hills. Meanwhile, the men in the town -- after a minimal resistance -- are rounded up and held at a drive-in theater converted into a concentration camp. The sadistic Soviet military then make them watch acclaimed Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 classic Alexander Nevsky, as their punishing rehabilitation begins. Meanwhile, after minimal resistance from the adults, a Cuban, Bella (Ron O'Neal), is put in charge and is not certain how he can really defeat the teen army. The Soviets and Cubans have so far defeated the American Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, but these teens are really something else. After a successful ambush, the teen guerrillas gear up for future forays, when they are suddenly betrayed by one of their number and by doubts about the morality of what they are doing. Red Dawn is noteworthy for being the first movie released with the PG-13 rating, created by the MPAA after public outcry over violent content in the PG-rated Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Gremlins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Bruce Dern stars in this disturbing shocker about a mentally unbalanced tattoo artist named Karl Kinski, who is hired to put a series of fake tattoos on fashion model Maddy (Maud Adams) as part of an advertising campaign. But Kinski becomes obsessed with Maddy and decides to kidnap her. Keeping her a captive, he uses her body as a living canvas for his tattoo designs. During its initial release, the film raised the ire of feminist groups because of the ad campaign that featured a naked woman bound at the ankles. The film was scripted by Joyce Bunuel, (Luis Bunuel's daughter-in-law). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide