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. Written by TexGuy {madonnafan@webtv.net}

Even before seeing “Garfield” I couldn’t help but wonder what demographic the studio was hoping to reach. After watching the film, I was still left wondering who the target audience for this movie really is. Do kids know much about the lasagna-loving feline or would this movie have been more likely to have found its audience had it been released 10 years ago as opposed to today? Garfield was extremely popular a decade ago, but I can’t recall the last time I heard someone mention the comic strip in the past few years. There must be an audience for the wisecracking cat as the strip is still carried in 2,600 newspapers around the world, yet I can’t help but feel it’s long past its prime as far as attracting an audience willing to fork over $10 to catch it on the big screen.

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Recently widowed well-to-do Laura Henderson is at a bit of a loose end in inter-war London. On a whim she buys the derelict Windmill theatre in the West End and persuades impresario Vivian Van Damm to run it, despite the fact the two don’t seem to get on at all. Although their idea of a non-stop revue is at first a success, other theatres copy it and disaster looms. Laura suggests they put nudes in the show, but Van Damm points out that the Lord Chamberlain, who licenses live shows in Britain, is likely to have something to say about this. Luckily Mrs Henderson is friends with him. Written by Jeremy Perkins {jwp@aber.ac.uk}

I bet the filmmakers would love to have a dollar for every time someone compares this movie to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Their coffers would be greatly enriched, as comparisons to Nia Vardalos‘ “Greek Wedding” are inevitable. As I left the screening, the majority of the audience rumblings had to do with renaming the film. I heard “My Big Fat Indian Wedding” and “My Big Fat Soccer Movie” kicked around the most frequently, proving that comparisons to last year’s indie-film-that-could will undoubtedly be made.

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Heavy sigh as I ponder where to start. Okay, this is it: taken separately, Chris Rock and Bernie Mac are two terrifically funny actors. But put them together and there’s not much funny going on. They seem to have stepped through some comedy-sucking portal, leaving the resulting product of their collaboration - “Head of State” - empty, lifeless and flat.

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A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People’s Republic. Written by Martin H. Booda {booda@datasync.com}

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Don’t let the trailers and video clips fool you. “Robots” isn’t just a goofy kids movie. The trailers don’t begin to do justice to this deliciously entertaining, wildly energetic animated film. Even without the many recognizable names in the voice cast (Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, and Halle Berry are just a sampling of the stars who contribute their voices), “Robots” would be a must-see for those who are looking for a little escapism via the movies.

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Romantic comedy set in London in the late 16th century: Young playwright William Shakespeare struggles with his latest work “Romeo and Ethel the Pirate’s Daughter”. A great fan of Shakespeare’s plays is young, wealthy Viola who is about to be married to the cold-hearted Lord Wessex, but constantly dreams of becoming an actress. Women were not allowed to act on stage at that time (female roles were played by men, too), but dressed up as a boy, Viola successfully auditions for the part of Romeo. Soon she and William are caught in a forbidden romance that provides rich inspiration for his play. Written by Armin Ortmann {armin@sfb288.math.tu-berlin.de}

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Daphne, a seventeen-year-old girl from New York goes to England in search of her father, who does not know he had a child with an American girlfriend he met while working in Morocco, and whose aristocratic family did not approve of the woman. Written by Anonymous

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The wide generation gap between Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her teenage daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) is more than evident. They simply cannot understand each other’s preferences. On a Thursday night they have a big argument in a Chinese restaurant. Both receive a fortune cookie each from the restaurant owner’s mother which causes them to switch bodies next day. As they adjust with their new personalities, they begin to understand each other more and eventually it’s the mutual self-respect that sorts the things out. Written by Soumitra

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