Flightplan

The Jodie Foster thriller
'Flightplan' has blasted off at box
office, taking in $24.6 million in
its debut weekend. Jodie Foster
teamed up with Academy Award-
winning producer Brian Grazer (A
Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, Ransom)
to bring this original tale of high-
flying suspense to life. The film is
directed by Robert Schwentke.

On a plane at 40,000 feet, Kyle
Pratt (Foster) faces every
mother's worst nightmare when
her 6-year-old daughter, Julia,
vanishes without a trace in mid-
flight. Kyle desperately struggles
to prove her sanity to the
disbelieving flight crew and passengers while facing the very real
possibility that she may be losing her mind, as all evidence indicates that
her daughter was never on board. Kyle can only rely on her own wits to
solve the mystery and save her daughter.

The film is rated PG-13. Here is the official site: Flightplan.movies.com

Coppola Returns!

Coppola sometime in 1980s

FRANCIS Ford Coppola, the
celebrated director of Godfather, is
to return to film-making after an 8-
year break - with a low-budget film
starring the British actor Tim Roth
(whose credits include Reservoir
Dogs and Pulp Fiction). Coppola will
direct an adaptation of Youth
without Youth, a novel by the
Romanian author Mircea Eliade.
Coppola will finance the production
and has written the screenplay. It will be the first film made by the
director since The Rainmaker in 1997.

The story is about a professor whose life is altered after an "extraordinary
change" late in his life and before the world war II, which leads to Nazi
interest in studying him. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-
flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India.

Coppola has won 5 Oscars, the first of which was for his screenplay for
Patton in 1971, starring George C Scott. He won the best director Oscar in
1975 for the Godfather: Part II, which also took the best picture award.
He has received best director Academy Award nominations a further 3
times and been nominated for the best picture award on 4 other occasions.

Proof

It seems all the good movies
were waiting to get released
in this fall. Here is another
movie with strong
performances: 'Proof' based
on the Pulitzer Prize-winning
play by David Auburn is
poised to win the heart of all
serious movie-goers.

The storyine of 'Proof' follows
a devoted daughter (Gwyneth
Paltrow) who comes to terms
with the death of her father
(Anthony Hopkins) - a brilliant
mathematician whose genius
was crippled by mental instanity
- and is forced to face her own
long-harbored fears and emotions. She adjusts to his death with the help
of one of her father's former mathematical students (Jake Gyllenhaal)
who searches through her father's notebooks in the hope of discovering
a bit of his old brilliance. While coming to terms with the possibility that
his genius, which she was inherited, may come at a painful price, her
estranged sister (Hope Davis) arrives to help settle their father's affairs.

It is a compelling story of an enigmatic young woman haunted by her
father’s past and the shadow of her own future, exploring the links
between genius and madness, the tender relationships between fathers
and daughters and the nature of truth and family. As Catherine confronts
Hal’s affections and Claire’s overbearing plans for her life, she struggles
to solve the most perplexing problem of all: How much of her father’s
madness – or genius – will she inherit?

The film is directed by John Madden, the celebrated director of another
great movie: 'Shakespeare in Love'. The screenplay was written by David
Auburn and Rebecca Miller. The movie is rated PG-13.
Here is its official site: www.proof-movie.com

An Unfinished life

Here is a movie with 3 Oscar-nomination potential in acting category and
much of the credit goes to the director Lasse Hallstrom who enchanted us
before with movies like Chocolat (2000), The Cider House Rules (1999).
The 3-dimensional rendering of the main 3 characters (portrayed by
Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez) is a treat to watch.
Some critics may call it boring in a movie-year that saw hi-action and
special-effect bonanzas like Star Wars III and War of the World but we
watched with amazement throughout the film how subtle crests and
troughs in relationships among characters and their past lives and future
expectations have been woven with great care and intricacy by an able
director.

Set against the rugged ranchlands of Wyoming, the story is of a modern
-day Western family, as stoic as they are divided, learning the true
meaning of forgiveness. Robert Redford stars as Einar Gilkyson, a tough
-skinned, retired rancher who long ago turned his back on memories. Still
in shock from his only son’s death 10 years ago, Einar has let his ranch fall
into ruin along with his marriage. Now, Einar spends his days caring only
for his hired hand, and last trusted friend, Mitch (Morgan Freeman), who
was gravely injured in an encounter with a grizzly bear. Einar intends to
live out his days in this heartbroken solitude . . . until the very person he
blames for his son’s accident comes to town: his daughter-in-law Jean
(Jennifer Lopez).

Jean shows up broke, on the run and with a girl named Griff (newcomer
Becca Gardner), who she swears is the granddaughter Einar never knew
he had. Suddenly, Einar’s quiet life is turned upside down as anger and
accusations resurface. But slowly, miraculously, 11 year-old Griff’s
curiosity about Western life, and her longing for family and a father
figure, begin to chip away at the stone that has become Einar’s heart --
opening up the way for a true reunion with lots of possibilities
expectations stored in future.

The film is rated PG-13 and here is the homepage of the movie:
http://www.miramax.com/anunfinishedlife/

The Constant Gardener

"The news hit the British High
Commission in Nairobi at nine-
thirty on a Monday morning.
Sandy Woodraw took it like a
bullet, jaw rigid, chest out, smack
through his divided English heart.
He was standing. That much he
afterwards remembered. He was
standing and the internal phone
was piping. He was reaching for
something, he heard the piping
so he checked himself in order to
stretch down and fish the receiver
off the desk and say, "Woodraw."
Or maybe,"Woodraw here". ... "

Thus begins John le Carre's
exquisitely calibrated novel "The
Constant Gardener". Now it's a movie. Now it's a movie by the Academy
Award-nominated director of "City of God" -- Fernando Meirelles . And we
have to say ... it is going to be one of the best films of 2005.

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz)
is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a doctor, appears to have
fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of
the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their
mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes
did excellent job in the movie), will leave the matter to them. They could
not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late
wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal
odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged
access to diplomatic secrets, he risks his own life, stopping at nothing to
uncover and expose the truth -- a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly
than Quayle could ever have imagined.

The film is rated R and to know more visit the film's official website:
theconstantgardener.com