Movies @ Passando Mal

Jamal Wallace is an inner-city kid from the Bronx who has an aptness at basketball and a genius at writing. While always a C student, Jamal comes to the attention of a prestigious New York prep school when he scores highly on his standardized tests. While Jamal is given a heavy load at his new school, both he and the school know that the real reason they took him on is for his prowess on the court. Befriended by fellow student Claire and helped along by Pulitzer-prize winning author and recluse William Forrester, Jamal pursues his dreams both on and off the court while overcoming obstacles placed by his bitter literature teacher. As Jamal is shaped by Forrester, he finds that he is changing the old writer as well, forcing him to confront his past…and his future.

Jack Carter, a mob enforcer living in Las Vegas, travels back to his hometown of Seattle for his brother’s funeral. During this visit, Carter realizes that the death of his brother was not accidental, but a murder. With this knowledge, Carter sets out to kill all those responsible.

The nature of temptation. Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He’s in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks’s slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI’s close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he’ll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks’s tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise…

A modern day look at America’s war on drugs told through four separate stories that are connected in one way or another. A conservative politician who’s just been appointed as the US drug czar learns that his daughter is a drug addict. A trophy wife struggles to save her husband’s drug business, while two DEA agents protect a witness with inside knowledge of the spouse’s business. In Mexico, a corrupt, yet dedicated cop struggles with his conscience when he learns that his new boss may not be the anti-drug official he made himself out to be.

The movie takes place in South Carolina in 1776. Benjamin Martin, a French-Indian war hero who is haunted by his past, is a patriot who wants no part in a war with Britian. Meanwhile, his two eldest sons, Gabriel and Thomas, can’t wait to go out and kill some Redcoats. When South Carolina decides to go to war with Britain, Gabriel immediatly signs up to fight…without his father’s permission. But soon, Colonel Tavington, British solder infamous for his brutal tactiks, captures Gabriel and sentences him to be hanged. As Gabriel is taken away, Thomas tries to free him, only to be killed by Tavington, in front of Benjamin. Now, seeking revenge for his son’s death, Benjamin leaves behind his 5 other children to bring independence to the 13 colonies.

A comedy-drama about best friends - one a straight woman, Abbie (Madonna), the other a gay man, Robert (Rupert Everett) - who decide to have a child together. Five years later, Abbie falls in love with a straight man and wants to move away with her and Robert’s little boy Sam, and a nasty custody battle ensues.

Long before humans appeared on the planet, dinosaurs ruled the earth. On a little off-coast island, a clan of lemurs finds a dinosaur egg, hatching. Since there are no parents, the lemurs take care of the newborn, Aladar. Years later, a medium meteor goes down close to the island and the shockwave forces its inhabitants to flee to the continent. There, Aladar and his family meet other dinosaurs for the first time as well as real dangers. The destruction caused by the meteor here has also forced a herd of different herbivores to move to a remote valley that can provide food and protection against the carnivorous predators following after. Since Aladar grew up with a different understanding of the ways of the world, his way of helping others first isn’t accepted within the herd, but soon it is proven that reason may be better than panic.

High school student Hitomi Kanzaki, depressed and despondent, wishes to disappear from her world. Her wishes are heard in the alternate world of Gaea where a battle for absolute control is raging! Magically, Hitomi is suddenly transported to this other world and is bestowed with the power to decide its ultimate fate!

The second theatrical film from the popular television show is better than the original surprise hit. Instead of delving into their rich fantasy life, the Rugrats gang goes on a real adventure when their families visit Paris together. Mr. Pickles is brought over to fix his giant Reptar robot, the centerpiece of EuroReptarland (a biting version of the trouble-plagued EuroDisney). The underlying story has Chuckie (the one with the square glasses) looking for a new mommy, as his dad (who has a square personality) starts to fall for a villainous executive (voiced by Susan Sarandon). Soon Paris takes it on the chin as the diaper gang tries to save Chuckie’s dad from the altar. The success of the Rugrats is in the writing, where much thought goes into finding comic gems for the adults (there are wonderful parodies of The Godfather and King Kong that will sail over kids’ heads). The garble-mouthed youngsters keep up their joyful ways in this 78-minute feature that feels no different from their Nickelodeon series except in length, some 3-D animation sequences, and an eclectic song score (with Cyndi Lauper’s “I Want a Mom That Will Last Forever” the real catch). (Ages 6 and older)

It is a distant galaxy in the far future. Arrakis is a desert planet and is the only source of Melange, a vital drug used by the Guild Navigators for space travel from star system to star system. The corrupt Emperor Padishah Shaddam IV sends the Atreides family to Arrakis to take charge of the mining operations of Melange, once controlled by the Atreide’s rival family, The Harkonnens. Duke Leto Atreide’s son Paul becomes fascinated by the native Freman’s culture and learns he has a special powers and he can see images of the future. But the Emperor is in league with the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the Baron and his loyal army attacks, taking control of the mining operation on Arrakis and Duke Leto is assassinated. Paul and his mother Lady Jessica flee in the desert, where they are befriend by the Fremen. Adopting his Fremen name “Maud’Dib”, Paul vows vengeance on Baron Harkonnen and the Emperor and he unites the Fremen and forms a army of warriors and leads into battle, as he sets out to defeat the Harkonnen family and put a stop to the Melange mining operation, as Paul sets out to fulfill his destiny, as he becomes the prophesied all-powerful Kwisatz Haderach.

Li Mu Bai, a great warrior decides to turn in his sword, the Green Destiny to a treasured friend. When the sword is then stolen, it is up to him to retrieve it. At the same time he is trying to avenge his master’s death by the evil Jade Fox. He is joined in his quest by Shu Lien, the un-conceded love of his life. During all of this, they are introduced to Jiao Long Yu, the mysterious and beautiful daughter of a well known family. She is the mysterious link to all these tales. But through all the many subplots, this is in essence, a love story.

Morgana, sister of Ursula, almost steals the baby Melody from her parents, Ariel and Eric. To protect Melody, she’s told never to enter the ocean, but by her 12th birthday, she’s been swimming there for years. She discovers the magic locket that was to be her christening gift, which makes her visible to Morgana. Morgana tempts her by offering her fondest wish, to turn her into a mermaid; however, to remain a mermaid, she’ll have to steal the magic trident from King Triton (who, unknown to her, is her grandfather). Meanwhile, all the sea creatures are searching for her. Along the way, she joins up with comic relief sidekicks Tip (a penguin) and Dash (a walrus). When she returns with the trident, Morgana’s evil nature is revealed, and there is a massive battle of good and evil.

Kuki, a divorced Italian socialite, changes her life after a serious car crash. She accepts a marriage proposal from Paolo Gallmann, a man she doesn’t know well, and she moves to Kenya with him and her young son to start a cattle ranch. Challenges beset her, not the least of which is Paulo’s love of danger and his leaving for days on end to hunt and fish with pals. She must face fierce storms, roving lions, venomous snakes, and murderous poachers, and she must find accommodation with a neighboring tribe. Her mother entreats her to return home. Can Kuki live her dream, tame Paolo, guide her son safely past the perils and errors of youth, and serve Africa?

Believed to be cured, Cruella de Vil is released from prison and sets out to make a new start in life. Things are going well for Cruella who is busy helping homeless dogs off the street. When the clock strikes on Big Ben, things turn bad. The hypnotic cure is reversed and Cruella is back, and this time she is determined to make that spotted coat she always wanted.

Ginger is one of the chicken at the Tweety Egg Farm, who is capable of escaping (and desperately wants to) but is constantly being held back by her incompetent partners. One night, feeling failed and depressed after a chicken is axed, she wanders out to the gate, where she sees a rooster triumphantly flying through the air. After crashing and injuring his wing, Ginger takes him in and learns he’s Rocky Rhodes, a cocky American who enjoys freedom - in fact, he escaped from a circus when she found him. In exchange for protecting him when the circus arrives asking for him, Ginger makes a deal with Rocky that he will teach them to fly so they can escape. Taking advantage of the situation, Rocky woos the chicken, irritating Ginger “Doll-Face” and organizer Officer Fowler, formerly of the Royal Air Force, in the process. Meanwhile, the Tweetys have purchased a machine to make chicken pies out of, intending to cook every last one of them.