Romance

An average middle-aged guy finds himself in an extraordinarily weird situation in this off-beat romantic adventure that begins when 53-year-old car salesman Al goes to a local coffee shop with his friends and ends up escorting voluptuous oversexed jailbait Ellie back to the desert trailer she shares with her mom Julie and her brutal psycho boyfriend Boyd. While Boyd and Ellie take off for a while, Al ends up dancing in the moonlight with sweetly seductive Julie. The moon that night is extraordinarily large and the two end up falling asleep. Eventually Al awakens and tries to go home, but unfortunately, his car will not start. Julie then informs him that most cars have trouble starting there. Still he manages to leave. Stopping at a filling station, he is appalled to discover that someone has stuffed a corpse in his trunk. That turns out to be only the least of his troubles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Razzle-dazzle showman Michael Todd hocked everything he had to make this spectacular presentation of Jules Verne's 1872 novel Around the World in 80 Days, the second film to be lensed in the wide-screen Todd-AO production. Nearly as fascinating as the finished product are the many in-production anecdotes concerning Todd's efforts to pull the wool over the eyes of local authorities in order to cadge the film's round-the-world location shots--not to mention the wheeling and dealing to convince over forty top celebrities to appear in cameo roles. David Niven heads the huge cast as ultra-precise, supremely punctual Phileas Fogg, who places a 20,000-pound wager with several fellow members of London Reform Club, insisting that he can go around the world in eighty days (this, remember, is 1872). Together with his resourceful valet Passepartout (Cantinflas), Fogg sets out on his world-girdling journey from Paris via balloon. Meanwhile, suspicion grows that Fogg has stolen his 20,000 pounds from Bank of England. Diligent Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) is sent out by the bank's president (Robert Morley) to bring Fogg to justice. Hopscotching around the globe, Fogg pauses in Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight (a specialty of Cantinflas). In India, Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine, in her third film) from being forced into committing suicide so that she may join her late husband. The threesome visit Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, and the Wild West. Only hours short of winning his wager, Fogg is arrested by the diligent Inspector Fixx. Though exonerated of the bank robbery charges, he has lost everything--except the love of the winsome Aouda. But salvation is at hand when Passepartout discovers that, by crossing the International Date Line, there's still time to reach the Reform Club. Will they make it? See for yourself. Among the film's 46 guest stars, the most memorable include Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Jose Greco, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, John Mills, and Beatrice Lillie. All were paid in barter--Ronald Colman did his brief bit for a new car. Newscaster Edward R. Murrow provides opening narration, and there's a tantalizing clip from Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902). Offering a little something for everyone, Around the World in 80 Days is nothing less than an extravaganza, and it won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

My Big Fat Greek Wedding co-stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett re-team for this romantic comedy about a carefree florist who falls for a charming restaurateur. Genevieve (Vardalos) loves romance, though she lives by a strict "five dates" rule. At the end of the fifth date, Genevieve typically calls the relationship off. So far, this method has worked like a charm, but when Genevieve meets Greg (Corbett) everything changes. At the end of their fifth date, Genevieve wants more. If she could only break from tradition long enough to realize she's fallen in love, perhaps she'll find out that some guys are worth keeping around. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide