Scott Rudin Movies

Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon's novel of a murder mystery shadowed against the forced misplacement of Jewish settlers is brought to the screen in this Columbia Pictures' production adapted by the writing/directing team of Joel and Ethan Coen. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Akira Kurosawa's High and Low is set for the remake game with this Mike Nichols-directed production for Miramax Films. David Mamet provides the screenplay for the modern noir about a business executive's crisis of conscious after putting up a ransom for a kidnapped boy he thought was his son, but turns out to be his driver's. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Jack Black returns to the classroom with School of Rock 2: America Rocks, which follows his character Dewey Finn as he takes his summer-school students on a road trip in order to learn the country's musical roots. Richard Linklater returns to direct, with Mike White once again stepping into the writer's seat for the Paramount Pictures production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney Pictures presents a new spin on a time-honored fairy tale with Snow and the Seven, a Francis Lawrence (Constantine) film that follows a 19th century British girl who's trained by seven monks to be the savior in a cataclysmic fight between good and evil. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

According to the NBC publicity packet, the made-for-TV Revenge of the Stepford Wives was "based on characters created by Ira Levin" -- specifically, those characters created by Levin for his fantasy-suspense novel The Stepford Wives, which was transformed into a theatrical film in 1975. On this occasion, plucky TV journalist Kay Foster (Sharon Gless) is stranded in the "idyllic" New England community of Stepford, populated exclusively by chauvinistic males and their eerily submissive and subservient wives. With the help of Megan Brady (Julie Kavner), a new arrival to the community who hasn't yet been "conditioned," Kay tries to learn the terrible secret behind the robotic Stepford wives -- and to foment a rebellion against the wicked menfolk. Revenge of the Stepford Wives first aired on October 12, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An aged, divorced mother becomes "the other woman" in her ex-husband's life when the pair enters into an unexpected affair during an out-of-town trip. Jane (Meryl Streep) has been divorced from Jake (Alec Baldwin) for a decade. The mother of three grown children, she owns a successful Santa Barbara bakery/restaurant and maintains a friendly relationship with Jake, who has since been remarried to the much younger Agness (Lake Bell). Jane and Jake are attending their son's college graduation when they agree to an innocent meal together. Before long a simple dinner date has erupted into an all-out affair, and when architect Adam (Steve Martin) falls for Jane, he realizes he's been drawn into a most peculiar love triangle. Is love sweeter the second time around, or should Jane and Jake just be happy with what they had, and finally move on with their lives? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Titanic shipmates Kathy Bates, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kate Winslet step onboard for director Sam Mendes' tale of suburban malaise in 1950s-era Connecticut. Adapted from the classic 1961 novel by author Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road tells the tale of a young Connecticut couple whose once-idealistic relationship steadily deteriorates into a ceaseless cycle of petty jealousy and bickering as they strive to retain their independence in the conformity-obsessed world of picket fences and perfectly manicured lawns. Ever since they first met, Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) saw themselves as special and different. They strive to form their relationship around higher ideals, though upon moving into their new home on Revolutionary Road, the defiant couple pledges never to be confined by the social conventions of the era. As time passes, however, Frank and April gradually become the very thing that they both feared most -- a typical suburban family complete with abandoned dreams and faded hopes. Frank loses his nerve after taking a comfortable job with a reliable salary, and April morphs into an unsatisfied homemaker desperate for passion and excitement. But April's independent spirit hasn't been suffocated just yet, and when she hatches a plan to head for Paris, her need to escape at all costs stands in direct contrast to Frank's desire to hold on to what they already have. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn. It then moves back in time to 1950s Berlin, where ailing teenager Michael (now played by David Kross) has fallen ill with fever, and is discovered in the street by Hanna, a woman in her thirties. After Michael recovers, the two immediately lapse into a torrid affair and Michael falls prey to the confusion of his own burgeoning sexuality. Their liaisons are often marked by Hanna's request that Michael read to her (hence the title). Later, when Michael returns to Hanna's flat and finds it deserted, her absence becomes an emotional blow for which he is completely unprepared, and indeed, scarred for life. The film then moves forward in time by eight years. Michael -- now a law student -- walks into a courtroom and comes across Hanna, one of a series of Nazi prison guards being tried for murderous war crimes during World War II. As he watches her on the witness stand, memories of their past experiences together bring him to the point of realization concerning a startling, long-buried truth about Hanna -- and Michael knows that if he divulges this information, it could modify the prison sentence handed out and dramatically alter her fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Margot at the Wedding, writer/director Noah Baumbach's follow-up to his Oscar-nominated The Squid and the Whale, stars Nicole Kidman as Margot, a woman who travels with her son to the wedding of her sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The relationship between the two siblings has never been harmonious, a situation that is exacerbated when Margot discovers she cares very little for her sister's fiancé (Jack Black). Soon the high-strung Margot escalates a feud between her sister and the neighbors, and family secrets come to light, forcing everyone to rethink their various feelings toward each other. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Six Feet Under creator and American Beauty screenwriter Alan Ball makes his feature directorial debut with this screen adaptation of author Alicia Erian's controversial novel Towelhead. Jasira (Summer Bishil) is a 13-year-old Arab-American who's contending with the pains of adolescence when her life takes a sudden and unexpected turn. Sent to live with her stern Lebanese father, Rifat (Peter Macdissi), by her self-absorbed mother (Maria Bello), Jasira finds herself struggling to adjust to life in the suburbs while contending with racism and hypocrisy at every turn. Rifat lives in a modest, suburban Houston home next to racist reservist Mr. Vuoso (Aaron Eckhart) and meddling expectant mother Melina (Toni Collette). Adjusting to life in the suburbs isn't easy for young Jasira, though she tries her hardest to adapt to the unfamiliar environment by striking up casual conversations with her curious new neighbors. In the process, Jasira finds herself increasingly attracted to hormone-driven African-American teen Thomas (Eugene Jones). When Rifat finds out that his daughter's new boyfriend is black, he vehemently condemns the relationship. As America launches its initial invasion of Iraq, Jasira finds herself caught up in a potentially explosive situation that is only compounded by her raging hormones and the snooping of her pregnant, busybody neighbor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An aging pair of veteran English actors whose success never quite took hold finds their quiet existence suddenly interrupted by the arrival of one of the men's precocious grandnieces in director Roger Michell's affectionate comedy drama. Maurice (Peter O'Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) may still land the occasional paying gig -- Maurice has recently been cast as a corpse in a popular television drama -- but for the most part, their days are spent cataloging their ailments over meals at their favorite café. Though the arrival of Ian's grandniece Jessie doesn't immediately set so well with her curmudgeonly great uncle, Maurice takes an immediate liking to the girl, and makes it a mission to expose the youngster to some of the bustling capitol's best-known sights. As the newly invigorated septuagenarian does his best to teach the wide-eyed youngster a thing or two about life, he soon comes to realize just how little he truly knows about the subject at such a late point in life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Joe Roth directs his adaptation of Richard Price's novel Freedomland from a script by the author. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a police detective who must investigate a distraught woman (Julianne Moore) who claims that her child was kidnapped by a black man. The accusation stirs up much racial animosity in the town. Edie Falco co-stars. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide