Hyena Road

Hyena Road

Hyena Road

Cast: Rossif Sutherland, Paul Gross, Christine Horne, Allan Hawco, Clark Johnson

Paul Gross (Passchendaele) directs and co-stars in this taut war drama about Canadian troops in Afghanistan weathering Taliban attacks while struggling to complete construction on a crucial highway link.



Writer-director-star Paul Gross' new film portrays the heroic duties undertaken by Canadian armed forces in Afghanistan with the same gut-wrenching immediacy that Gross brought to the blood-soaked Belgian battlefields of World War I in his epic Passchendaele. Hyena Road is a masterful examination of modern warfare that drops viewers straight into the belly of the beast.

Depicting an embattled Canadian- American initiative to increase safe transport across Afghanistan, Hyena Road is a group portrait of men and women at work in a dangerous and often confounding conflict zone. We meet a sniper (Rossif Sutherland, also appearing at the Festival in Hellions and River) who becomes precariously implicated in the life of one of his targets — as well as the life of an alluring colleague (Christine Horne). There's an intelligence officer (Gross, also appearing at the Festival in Deepa Mehta's Beeba Boys) whose customary world-weary wisecracks — "Even the dirt is hostile" — veil a fundamental belief in the ethics of war. And the film introduces us to a legendary former mujahid known as The Ghost (Neamat Arghandabi) who, for mysterious reasons, is lured back into the battle zone to assist the Canadian forces.

All these characters' trajectories collide in ways that illustrate the triumphs and frustrations that occur amid the moral uncertainty of war. Alternating between relatively tranquil scenes of life at the base and adrenalized sequences that thrust us into the heat of battle, Gross orchestrates a cinematic symphony of soldiering: the highs and lows, the brotherhood and barbarity. Hyena Road does what great war movies can do: it carefully examines the plight of a few so as to speak to the experience of many.

The Lone Ranger

Armie Hammer as John Reid

Johnny Depp as Tonto

Helena Bonham Carter as Red Harrington

Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole

Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid

William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish

The Lone Ranger

Cast: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Tom Wilkinson, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale, Ruth Wilson, Helena Bonham Carter

From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, the filmmaking team behind the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, comes Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "The Lone Ranger," a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice--taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.




Related Pages: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Helena Bonham Carter

The Call

Halle Berry as Jordan Turner

The Call

Cast: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli

When veteran 911 operator, Jordan (Halle Berry), takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl (Abigail Breslin) who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.




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Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who preys on men

Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress: Under the Skin

Under the Skin

The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien seductress who preys on men in Scotland.

In Scotland, an alien takes the body of an attractive young woman and travels the country in a van picking up men. As she lures her victims into a trap with the promise of sex, the men are immersed in liquid and their flesh is harvested. She is monitored by another alien, who has the body of a male motorcyclist.

When she attempts to seduce a man on a beach, she witnesses the accidental drowning of a man and woman. She watches dispassionately, then kills the first man after he tries to save them. She takes his body with her, leaving the couple's toddler behind.

When she seduces a lonely and sexually inexperienced man who has facial neurofibromatosis disfigurement, she takes pity on him and allows him to escape. The man is tracked and killed by the motorcyclist, who then sets out in pursuit of the alien woman across Scotland.

Troubled by the encounter with the man with neurofibromatosis, the alien begins to feel more conscious of her human body. She attempts unsuccessfully to eat human food. She is helped by a man who takes her to his home, cooks for her, and gives her a room. She trusts him and they attempt unsuccessfully to have sex.

Confused, the alien flees into a deep forest and shelters in a remote cabin. She is woken by a commercial logger who tries to rape her and in the process tears her skin, revealing her alien body. After she extricates herself from her human skin, the logger douses her in petrol and burns her alive. The smoke from her burnt body coils into the sky.




Related Pages: Scarlett Johansson

Cinderella

Cinderella - The story largely follows Disney's 1950 animated adaptation

Cinderella

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Derek Jacobi, Helena Bonham-Carter

The story of "Cinderella" follows the fortunes of young Ella (Lily James) whose merchant father remarries following the death of her mother. Eager to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and her daughters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) into the family home. But, when Ella's father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully renamed Cinderella, Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honor her mother's dying words and to "have courage and be kind." She will not give in to despair nor despise those who mistreat her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an apprentice at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul. It appears her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella's hopes of once again encountering the charming Kit (Richard Madden). Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and callously rips apart her dress. But, as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand, and a kindly beggar woman (Helena Bonham-Carter) steps forward and -- armed with a pumpkin and a few mice -- changes Cinderella's life forever.




Related Pages: Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham-Carter

The Core

Hilary Swank as Major Rebecca Childs / Beck ...USAF, an astronaut who distinguished herself during an emergency crash landing of the Space Shuttle Endeavour in Los Angeles, California.

The Core

Cast: Hilary Swank, Aaron Eckhart, Bruce Greenwood, Delroy Lindo, DJ Qualls, Stanley Tucci

Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) discovers that an unknown force has caused the earth's inner core to stop rotating. With the planet's magnetic field rapidly deteriorating, our atmosphere literally starts to come apart at the seams with catastrophic consequences. To resolve the crisis, Keyes, along with a team of the world's most gifted scientists, travel into the earth's core in a subterranean craft piloted by "terranauts," Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs (Hilary Swank) and Colonel Robert Iverson (Bruce Greenwood). Their mission: detonate a device that will reactivate the core.

Earth's inner core

The Earth's inner core is the Earth's innermost part and according to seismological studies, it is a primarily solid ball with a radius of about 1220 kilometers, or 760 miles. It is believed to consist primarily of an iron–nickel alloy and to be approximately the same temperature as the surface of the Sun: approximately 5700 K (5400 °C). Based on the relative prevalence of various chemical elements in our solar system, the theory of planetary formation, and constraints imposed or implied by the chemistry of the rest of the Earth's volume, the inner core is believed to consist primarily of a nickel-iron alloy known as NiFe: 'Ni' for nickel, and 'Fe' for ferrum or iron. The fact that precious metals and other heavy elements are so much more abundant in the Earth's inner core than in its crust is explained by the theory of the so-called iron catastrophe, an event that occurred before the first eon during the accretion phase of the early Earth.
Because the inner core is not rigidly connected to the Earth's solid mantle, the possibility that it rotates slightly faster or slower than the rest of Earth has long been entertained. In the 1990s, seismologists made various claims about detecting this kind of super-rotation by observing changes in the characteristics of seismic waves passing through the inner core over several decades, using the aforementioned property that it transmits waves faster in some directions. Estimates of this super-rotation are around one degree of extra rotation per year....


Related Pages: Aaron Eckhart

Eye in the Sky

Eye in the Sky

Eye in the Sky

Cast: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman, Barkhad Abdi, Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen

The carefully planned mission suddenly escalates from a "capture" to a "kill” operation when Madden realizes that the terrorists are about to embark on a deadly suicide mission, which would result in the catastrophic deaths of many innocent civilians. Meanwhile American drone pilot Steve Watts (Paul) is poised to destroy the safe-house when a nine year old girl enters the kill zone just outside the walls of the targeted house. With unforeseen collateral damage now entering the equation and with the volatility of the situation increasing with every second that passes, Madden must now pass the mission’s authority up the "kill chain" to politicians and lawyers, including British Foreign secretary James Willett, who must weigh both the legality and morality of action and inaction.

• Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a military intelligence officer 
• Aaron Paul as Steve Watts, an American drone pilot lan 
• Rickman as Lieutenant General Frank Benson Barkhad 
• Abdi as Jama Farahf

Spy - Espionage

Espionage is often part of an institutional effort by a government or commercial concern. However, the term is generally associated with state spying on potential or actual enemies primarily for military purposes. Spying involving corporations is known as industrial espionage.

One of the most effective ways to gather data and information about the enemy (or potential enemy) is by infiltrating the enemy's ranks. This is the job of the spy (espionage agent). Spies can bring back all sorts of information concerning the size and strength of enemy forces. They can also find dissidents within the enemy's forces and influence them to defect. In times of crisis, spies can also be used to steal technology and to sabotage the enemy in various ways. Counterintelligence operatives can feed false information to enemy spies, protecting important domestic secrets, and preventing attempts at subversion. Nearly every country has very strict laws concerning espionage, and the penalty for being caught is often severe. However, the benefits that can be gained through espionage are generally great enough that most governments and many large corporations make use of it to varying degrees.

Mortdecai

Mortdecai

Mortdecai

Cast: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum, Paul Bettany

Juggling some angry Russians, the British MI5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist, debonair art dealer and part time rogue Charlie Mortdecai must traverse the globe armed only with his good looks and special charm in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.




Related Pages: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow

Coyote Ugly: hot, sexy women dancing on a bar in a wet T-shirt contest

Coyote Ugly

Coyote Ugly

It's one wild adventure for a small-town girl chasing her dream in the big city.

• Piper Perabo as Violet Sanford
• Adam Garcia as Kevin O'Donnell
• John Goodman as William Sanford
• Maria Bello as Lil
• Izabella Miko as Cammie
• Tyra Banks as Zoe
• Bridget Moynahan as Rachel
• Melanie Lynskey as Gloria
• Del Pentecost as Lou
• Michael Weston as Danny
• Melody Perkins as New Coyote
• Johnny Knoxville as College Guy

An aspiring musician becomes one of the most famous bartenders in New York in this high-spirited comedy-drama. Small-town girl Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo) dreams of making a name for herself as a singer and songwriter, so she moves to New York City in hopes of landing her big break. Needing to support herself until stardom rolls around, she takes a job as a barmaid at a new nightspot called Coyote Ugly, where the owner Lil (Maria Bello) and the staff of attractive young women dance on the bar, flirt with the mostly male clientele, sing along with the jukebox, and goad the customers into matching them shot for shot. Soon, local media pick up on the bar's success, turning the staff into unexpected celebrities, a situation that presents its own set of problems. Coyote Ugly also stars John Goodman as Violet's straight-laced father, Adam Garcia as a customer Violet becomes involved with, and Tyra Banks, Melanie Lynskey, Bridget Moynahan, and Izabella Miko as the barmaids; action-film titan Jerry Bruckheimer produced.

The hottest nightclub in town

...dance throughout the film wearing low-cut pants, many fans embraced the fashion trend...

Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell: Basic Instinct

Basic Instinct

Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell

Sharon Stone first achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct by Paul Verhoeven. Even before its release, Basic Instinct generated heated controversy due to its overt sexuality and graphic depiction of violence. It was strongly opposed by gay rights activists, who criticized the film's depiction of homosexual relationships and the portrayal of a bisexual woman as a murderous narcissistic psychopath. ...playing Catherine Tramell, a brilliant, bisexual, alleged serial killer, in Basic Instinct (1992) Several actresses at the time turned down the role, mostly because of the nudity required.

In the film's most notorious scene, Tramell is being questioned by the police, and she crosses and uncrosses her legs, exposing her genitalia, which are not covered by underwear.

"I knew that we were going to do this leg-crossing thing and I knew that we were going to allude to the concept that I was nude, but I did not think that you would see my vagina in the scene. Later, when I saw it in the screening I was shocked. I think seeing it in a room full of strangers was so disrespectful and so shocking, so I went into the booth and slapped him and left."

Basic Instinct

Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Bruce A. Young, Chelcie Ross, Dorothy Malone, Wayne Knight

Basic Instinct is a 1992 thriller film, directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. It features Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, Jeanne Tripplehorn and George Dzundza. The original draft titles included Ice Cold and Love Hurts. The film centers on detective Nick Curran (played by Douglas) investigating the extremely wealthy, manipulative novelist Catherine Tramell (played by Stone) on suspicion of murder after her boyfriend is brutally killed while having sex with a blonde wielding an icepick. A torrid affair ensues between Nick and Catherine.