New Releases Movies

Original Bangkok Dangerous directors Danny and Oxide Pang return to familiar territory with this remake of their own popular 1999 thriller about a ruthless hitman (Nicolas Cage) who travels to Bangkok in order to carry out four crucial jobs. During the course of his missions, the triggerman falls in love with a pretty local girl while also forming a friendly bond with his young errand boy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The ten-episode second season (2008) of Showtime's hit series The Tudors picks up the tale with King Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) making his break from the Roman Catholic Church and establishing the Church of England, with himself as its head. Central plot points include Henry's dismissal of Katherine of Aragon (Maria Doyle Kennedy) as his queen; his marriage to Anne Boleyn (Natalie Dormer), who gives birth to Elizabeth; and his confrontations with Sir Thomas More (Jeremy Northam) and Bishop Fisher (Bosco Hogan), who are charged with treason for questioning Henry's rejection of papal authority.

In her TV-movie acting debut, singer Amy Grant is cast as Maryann Lowery, a blind music teacher. When her conservatory classroom is presumptively taken over by arrogant New Age pianist Gregory Pavan (D.W. Moffett), Maryann, unimpressed by the man's celebrity, is outraged -- until Pavan enthusiastically declares that Maryann has what it takes to become a world-renowned concert cellist. As the two temperamental musicians become romantically involved, Maryann's sensitive widowed neighbor Oliver Comstock (Keith Carradine), who has always worshipped her from afar, quietly despairs. It will take a sight-restoring operation before Maryann's eyes are (literally) opened to her true and lasting love. Also known as Music From the Heart, A Song From the Heart premiered September 26, 1999 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A murdered fashion mogul's widow (Erika Eleniak) finds that her grief compounded by terror after checking into a clinic and making a horrifying discovery. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Although Taxi had earned scores of industry awards and the unflagging loyalty of its fans during its four-year lifespan on ABC, the series had never posted the sort of ratings that would qualify it as a hit. Thus, ABC dropped the show at the end of season four -- but the song wasn't quite over yet. Responding to overwhelming public demand, rival network NBC picked up Taxi for its fifth season, retaining the same Thursday-night time slot the series had occupied the previous year -- or, as the trade ads put it, "Same time, better network." The first NBC episode was "The Shloogel Show," in which all the cabbies embarked upon a "group blind date" that would have long-ranging ramifications. The relationships inaugurated on this episode would be explored and occasionally resolved on three later fifth-season installments, "Louie and the Blind Girl," "Arnie Meets the Kids," and "Tony's Baby." In another development, Carol Kane graduated from recurring to regular status in her Emmy-winning role as Simka, the wife of the Sunshine Cab Company's sweet-tempered immigrant mechanic Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman); the Latka-Simka marriage and its attendant old-world traditions (many of them bizarre in the extreme) would provide fodder for the two-part episode "Scenskees From a Marriage" and the season finale "Simka's Monthlies." Also providing material for several episodes was a huge inheritance bestowed upon "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), the cab company's resident burned-out hippie; in fact, the last episode to be filmed, "A Grand Gesture," was entirely motivated by Jim's unexpected financial windfall. Additionally, we continued to learn more about the past lives of the various cabbies, notably the fact that Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) suffered from an addiction to gambling, and that the father of Tony Banta (Tony Danza) had run off to sea years earlier. Had the fans of the series and the stars had their way, Taxi would have run indefinitely on NBC. Alas, the ratings were no better than they'd been on ABC (though, ironically, the show managed to pick up three more Emmy Awards!) compelling the network to cancel the series -- permanently this time -- after its 114th episode. Happily, the series has since prospered in rerun syndication not only in local markets but also on basic cable. ~ All Movie Guide

The third and final season of Star Trek is frequently written off as the series' nadir, if only because creator Gene Roddenberryhad relinquished a great deal of his creative control to the NBC executives and to new producer Fred Freiberger). Another reason given for the series' decline was the decision to cut the budgets to the bone, and to depend more on "house" writers than established science- fiction specialists. Also, there was a heavier reliance upon gimmickry and gadgetry than in previous years, upsetting those purists who preferred strong characterizations and story values to the standard sci-fi/fantasy cliches. But while Season Three was overall the weakest, especially in terms of ratings, several of the individual episodes are among the finest that Star Trek has to offer. We get off to a good start with the opener, "Spock's Brain", in which the titular organ is "kidnapped" from its owner Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Attorney Melvin Belli makes his acting debut as a sinister, corruptive life force (not a lawyer, but close!) in "And the Children Shall Lead". The crew of the Starship Enterprise is forced to sacrifice themselves during the Gunfight at the OK Corral in "Spectre of the Gun". "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is an allegorical drama in which the fate of a civilization is determined by a duel to the death between its two last survivors (Frank Gorshin, Lou Antonio), whose faces are half-black and half-white. And in the series finale "Turnabout Intruder", the mind of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is exchanged with that of his embittered ex-lover (Sandra Smith)--and vice versa. The season's most controversial episode was "Plato's Stepchildren", originally telecast November 22, 1968, in which Kirk and officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) share the first interracial kiss ever seen on network television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama set and filmed in Australia, Jack McLeod (Jack Thompson) runs a successful sheep ranching operation in the outback, Dover's Run. After Jack's unexpected death, the day-to-day operations of the ranch fall to his housekeeper, Meg (Sonia Todd). However, it turns out to be more work than one woman can handle, and Meg calls upon Jack's daughters, Claire (Lisa Chappell) and Tess (Bridie Carter), to help her. However, Claire and Tess have not gotten along for some time -- Tess left Dover's Run with her mother when her parents divorced, while Claire stayed behind to live with her dad at the ranch -- and it turns out to be no small accomplishment to bring them together for the sake of the family's legacy. Produced for Australian TV, McLeod's Daughters was a great success in the ratings, and later spawned a popular television series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A pair of deadly super-storms is set to collide over a Rutland, MO, and the only hope for the people of the small town is the trust a father places in his son in this elemental thriller that's sure to make Twister look like a dust devil. No one believes 14-year-old amateur meteorologist Eric Dobbs (Jesse Eisenberg) when he tries to convince them that their town is set to be leveled by the colliding storm systems, not even the National Weather Service. With time running short and winds picking up, Eric's father, Tom (John Schneider), takes his son's warning to heart when a series of supercharged electrical bursts plunge the town into darkness. As the sky darkens and the storm clouds roll in, it's up to Eric and his father to save the citizens of Rutland it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this installment in the All You Need Is Love documentary series, filmmakers examine the confluence of musical changes that took place during the 1960's, with psychedelic and self-indulgent overtones. Artists featured in concert footage and interviews include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and more. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

In this installment in the All You Need Is Love documentary series, filmmakers examine the role of spirituality and religion in modern musical culture, with popular artists both embracing and resisting religious affiliation. Artists featured in concert footage and interviews include Electric Light Orchestra, Manfred Mann, Mike Oldfield, and more. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

The Mavericks perform over a dozen songs on this concert release. The setlist includes "I Should Have Been True," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," "Someone Should Tell Her," and "A Man Without Love." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Absolutely nobody is who he or she seems in this stylish thriller about a guy who wants to get out of his fly-speck hometown, the girlfriend who wants to help him, and the successful friend who just might make it possible. When Bryce (Josh Brolin) returns to his tiny hometown of Tropico, NV, he finds pal Nick (Alessandro Nivola) still living there unhappily. One night the pair meets a beautiful blonde at the bar and eventually Bryce takes her back to the house where he's staying. When the girl, Lissa (Reese Witherspoon), reveals that she's under age and threatens to turn Bryce in for statutory rape, he panics, ties her up in the basement, and puts in an anguished call to Nick. Little does Bryce realize, however, that Lissa is actually Nick's very grown-up girlfriend, and that the two lovers have decided Bryce and the ritzy house where he's staying will play a major role in their bid to leave behind dead-end Tropico forever. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This concert film captures the classic line-up of the prog-rock band Yes performing together again in 1996. The band presents a dozen songs including "I've Seen All Good People," &Close to the Edge," "Roundabout," and "Turn of the Century." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide