A morally decent college dropout finds himself at conflict with his harsh federal judge father. He gets a job as a stock broker and gets on the fast track to success. Only things take a turn for the worst when he learns that his job isn’t what’s it cracked up to be. Written by Mystic80

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The futuristic tale unfolds in a Great Britain that’s a fascist state. A freedom fighter known as V (Weaving) uses terrorist tactics to fight the oppressive society. He rescues a young woman (Portman) from the secret police, and she becomes his unlikely ally. Written by Siriuslydead

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Follows the cross-country adventures of the pot-smoking duo as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam.

Sam Lowry is a harried technocrat in a futuristic society that is needlessly convoluted and inefficient. He dreams of a life where he can fly away from technology and overpowering bureaucracy, and spend eternity with the woman of his dreams. While trying to rectify the wrongful arrest of one Harry Buttle, Lowry meets the woman he is always chasing in his dreams, Jill Layton. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy has fingered him responsible for a rash of terrorist bombings, and both Sam and Jill’s lives are put in danger. Written by Philip Brubaker {coda@nando.net}

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A man in a suit at a Manhattan firm leaves work on Friday; he looks unhappy. He stops at a fortune teller’s for a Tarot reading: “You are not where you belong,” she tells him. That evening he quits his marriage and walks the streets of New York, passing from a classy bar to a gentleman’s club, then to a high-class bordello, a mugging, a pawnshop, and a diner where someone does listen. He shares his insights with her and later with others. Violence, disappointment, and musings entwine as Edmond loses his moorings while believing he’s found them. Where does he belong? Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

A megalomaniac C.E.O. sends his son into the dangerous African Congo on a quest for a source of diamonds large enough and pure enough to function as powerful laser communications transmitters (or is it laser weapons?). When contact is lost with his son and the team, his sometime daughter- in-law is sent after them. She is a former CIA operative and, accompanied by gee-whiz gadgetry and a few eccentric characters (including a mercenary, a researcher with a talking gorilla, and a a nutty Indiana-Jones-type looking for King Solomon’s Mines), sets out to rescue her former fiancé. What they all discover is that often what we most want turns out to be the source of our downfall. Written by Tad Dibbern {DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu}

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The town of Big Whisky is full of normal people trying to lead quiet lives. Cowboys try to make a living. Sheriff ‘Little Bill’ tries to build a house and keep a heavy-handed order. The town whores just try to get by.Then a couple of cowboys cut up a whore. Unsatisfied with Bill’s justice, the prostitutes put a bounty on the cowboys. The bounty attracts a young gun billing himself as ‘The Schofield Kid’, and aging killer William Munny. Munny reformed for his young wife, and has been raising crops and two children in peace. But his wife is gone. Farm life is hard. And Munny is no good at it. So he calls his old partner Ned, saddles his ornery nag, and rides off to kill one more time, blurring the lines between heroism and villainy, man and myth. Written by Charlie Ness

“The deeper you look…the more you will find.”

I was fooled - I’ll admit that upfront. I believed the advance hype I read about the film and thought there was a supernatural element involved. Half an hour into the film I realized my mistake. There wasn’t anything supernatural about “Angel Eyes,” clearly it was more of a science fiction story. Jim Caviezel’s character, Catch, was obviously sent to Earth from a distant planet. He was a pod person, here to infiltrate the Chicago Police Department by corrupting the intelligent, independent Sergeant Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez aka J-Lo). What other explanation could there be for an otherwise responsible, logical person to fall in love so quickly with a man who wouldn’t disclose his name, his past, or why he chooses to always dress in a trench coat and t-shirts? Why would a perfectly normal, healthy woman - who also happens to be a cop - throw caution to the wind and overlook even the basic disclosure of a real name? It had to be some form of mind-control practiced by aliens bent on mating with earthlings. Or, as it turns out, it had to be love. A concept that upon listening to these two, seems as strange as alien possession.

Sgt. Sharon Pogue is a tough beat cop. We learn early on that her family life is nothing to smile about. Seems the men in her family like to abuse their women, a trait that has created an estrangement between Sharon and her dad, and eventually from her only brother. Her co-workers treat her like one of the guys and she seems content with that. She’s lacking a personal life, though not from trying. She hates having to answer all the standard date questions about her work. Her dates never ask her what it’s like to help someone in need; all they ever want to know about is whether she’s had to use her gun. She’d much rather be on the job than making small talk.

Through flashbacks, and a series of shots of Catch helping people throughout the city, we’re told that Catch is a strange dude who walks the city alone, keeping an eye on Sharon and doing good deeds for complete strangers. We also learn that Sharon has vivid memories of helping a car accident victim. How the two go together isn’t explained at first, but you just know from the importance placed on the flashbacks that there is some significant connection.

While catching a quick bite at a local eatery, Sharon and a group of her fellow officers are targets of a driveby shooting. Officers are wounded and it’s up to Sharon and her partner, Robby (Terrence Howard), to bring down the perps. No slouch in the fighting and chasing department, Sharon pursues one of the assailants as her partner stops to handcuff the other. Taking off without her partner isn’t a wise move. She’s left to pursue the armed suspect into an area with lots of hiding spaces. Sharon chases him down but ends up on the losing end of a physical altercation, shot twice in the chest but saved by her bulletproof vest. Pinned to the ground, looking into the barrel of a gun, Sharon is all but dead until Catch appears out of nowhere. He attacks the gunmen, knocking the gun away, and holding him down until Sharon’s partner is able to take over.

Catch is dark, mysterious, and apparently, Sharon’s guardian angel. How else to explain his appearance at that exact moment, at that location? As a thank you, Sharon invites Catch to meet her for a drink after work. He shows up, quiet, somber and with a smile that could melt the coldest heart. Sharon can’t get much info from him other than the name Catch, and that he helped her because he appreciates officers and their work at making the streets safe. Catch’s first conversations with Sharon come off as strained, awkward, and reserved. He doesn’t want to disclose anything personal, preferring to start from scratch - as though he had no life up until the moment they met. Catch acts almost as though he’s never spoken to another human being, or had much personal contact with members of the opposite sex (their conversations are so surface level and stilted that the assumption that he’s an alien isn’t really that bizarre). The two have an instant connection, an almost tangible bond that takes Sharon by surprise. Catch has saved her life, and beyond being grateful, she’s attracted both emotionally and physically to her savior.

Too much more info and I’d be giving away the entire story. Suffice it to say that Catch and Sharon are two lonely, complicated people in need of what the other has to offer. “Angel Eyes” turned out to be different than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. The love story is central to the entire movie without being too cloying or sappy. Two different actors may have taken this movie to other levels, but I felt Jennifer Lopez has never been better cast in a film. Jim Caviezel’s performance is understated, perfectly capturing Catch’s obvious pain and longing. Lopez and Caviezel have a wonderful on-screen chemistry that was surprising in its intensity. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is a must-see for romance fans, however it never disappointed me and it kept my interest for the entire film.

About The Production

After a year in development, screenwriter Gerald DiPego (30 films including “Message in a Bottle,” “Phenomenon,” “Instinct,” “Sharkey’s Machine”), director Luis Mandoki (”White Palace,” “Born Yesterday,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Message in a Bottle“), and producer Mark Canton learned that none other than Jennifer Lopez was interested in the film. Chairman and CEO of Franchise Pictures, Elie Samaha, entered the picture and gave the go-ahead to make the film. Recalls Samaha, “When Mark told me of Jennifer Lopez’s commitment to this film and her passion for the story, my response was, ‘Let’s do it’.”

The idea behind the film was to explore a reality-based story of ordinary human beings who personify qualities that might be considered angelic. Producer Mark Canton recalls, “We considered a number of ideas but this is the one I was most excited about. It was very original from the inception. I especially liked the inner-city police beat as our setting and the way the two leading characters were developed as brave but damaged souls.”

Director Luis Mandoki credits his stars for conveying the depth of emotion in their characters with the right subtlety. “Both Jennifer and Jim understood immediately…Their chemistry is phenomenal.” It was Lopez herself who suggested Jim Caviezel for the role of Catch. She was impressed with his ability to convey emotions through his intense gaze and expressive eyes. Caviezel was about to start another film but met with Mandoki and there was no question that he wanted to do “Angel Eyes.” “Angel Eyes” is Caviezel’s first love story. Caviezel states, “Truth is, I just look for great material and this was great material. There’s a wonderful mood to this film that’s very unusual. It’s kind of an old-fashioned story in a contemporary setting.”

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn’t ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant, the murderers, are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

Set in 1963, a spirited woman turns her world upside down search for her husband who disappeared from his Beirut home. But when she discovers he’s a Russian spy, her love will be put to tests no one should have to face.