The first romantic comedy of the year (Catch and Release) hit too many bad notes. The second one (Because I Said So) was so painful to watch that listening to a full concert by William Hung would have been a better way to spend an evening. And now, a mere seven weeks into 2007, Warner Bros Pictures tests the semi-crowded romantic comedy waters with Music and Lyrics. After two stinkeroos, fans of the much-maligned genre finally have reason to stand up and sing.

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When fiftysomething Suzette loses her job as a bartender she decides to make a road trip to visit her old friend Vinnie who she hasn’t seen since their days as groupies back in the day. On the way she meets Harry, a nervous writer who says he is going home to confront his father, then shows her his gun. Once they reach their destination Suzette finds that Vinnie is now Lavinia, a conservative housewife who is reluctant to reexperience the flower power of her youth, and Harry finds confrontation with himself rather than with his father. Written by Peter Brandt Nielsen

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Rich bitch Joanna hires country carpenter Dean to build a closet on her yacht. When the two don’t see eye-to-eye, Dean is left unpaid while Joanna sets sail. The following day, Joanna is fished out of the sea, after falling overboard, suffering from amnesia. Dean sees a neat way to regain the money she owes him… he tells her she’s his wife; that way Dean gets a free housekeeper and mother for his four kids. Written by Rob Hartill

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Jerry Maguire used to be a typical sports agent: willing to do just about anything he could to get the biggest possible contracts for his clients, plus a nice commission for himself. Then, one day, he suddenly has second thoughts about what he’s really doing. When he voices these doubts, he ends up losing his job and all of his clients, save Rod Tidwell, an egomaniacal football player. Can Jerry resurrect his career while still staying true to himself? Written by Jean-Marc Rocher {rocher@fiberbit.net}

In the not-so-far future the polar ice caps have melted and the resulting raise of the ocean waters has drowned all the coastal cities of the world. Withdrawn to the interior of the continents, the human race keeps advancing, reaching to the point of creating realistic robots (called mechas) to serve him. One of the mecha-producing companies builds David, an artificial kid which is the first to have real feelings, especially a never-ending love for his “mother”, Monica. Monica is the woman who adopted him as a substitute for her real son, who remains in cryo-stasis, stricken by an incurable disease. David is living happily with Monica and her husband, but when their real son returns home after a cure is discovered, his life changes dramatically. A futuristic adaptation of the tale of Pinocchio, with David being the “fake” boy who desperately wants to become “real”. Written by Chris Makrozahopoulos {makzax@hotmail.com}

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Man on the Moon is a biographical movie on the late comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman, along with his role on “Taxi,” was famous for being the self-declared Intergender Wrestling Champion of the world. After beating women time and time again, Jerry Lawler (who plays himself in the movie), a professional wrestler, got tired of seeing all of this and decided to challenge Kaufman to a match. In most of the matches the two had, Lawler prevailed with the piledriver, which is a move by spiking a guy head-first into the mat. In one of the most famous moments in this feud was in the early 80s when Kaufman threw coffee on Lawler on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” got into fisticuffs with Lawler, and proceeded to sue NBC. Written by Eli Boorstein {uahp@rocketmail.com}

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After twelve years in prison, Walter arrives in an unnamed city, moves into a small apartment across the street from an elementary school, gets a job at a lumberyard, and mostly keeps to himself. A quiet, guarded man, Walter finds unexpected solace from Vickie, a tough-talking woman who promises not to judge him for his history. But Walter cannot escape his past. A convicted sex offender, Walter is warily eyed by his brother-in-law, shunned by his sister, lives in fear of being discovered at work, and is hounded by a suspicious local police officer, Detective Lucas. After befriending a young girl in a neighborhood park, Walter must also grapple with the terrible prospect of his own reawakened demons. Written by Sujit R. Varma

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Malcom Crowe is a child psychologist who receives an award on the same night that he is visited by a very unhappy ex-patient. After this encounter, Crowe takes on the task of curing a young boy with the same ills as the ex-patient. This boy “sees dead people”. Crowe spends a lot of time with the boy (Cole) much to the dismay of his wife. Cole’s mom is at her wit’s end with what to do about her son’s increasing problems. Crowe is the boy’s only hope. Written by Jeff Mellinger {jmell@uclink4.berkeley.edu}

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