Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are terrific in the family-friendly comedy/drama, “Secondhand Lions.” These two venerable actors with over 11 decades of work between them are fresh and fun to watch as two crotchety old men who, on first glance, seem to live by the old adage, “Shoot first, ask questions later.”

“Secondhand Lions” follows the story of Hub (Duvall) and Garth McCaan (Caine), elderly brothers spending their retirement years in solitude on a farm in Texas. The only significant intrusions on their peace are the traveling salesmen who show up uninvited and leave hastily when shotgun rounds answer their requests for money.

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While Skrat the Saber Toothed Squirrel is still ineffectually trying to regain his precious acorn, the misfit trio of Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth and Diego the Sabretooth Tiger have settled down in an isolated valley with numerous other animals. However, the trio discover that the ice wall surrounding the valley is barely holding back a massive body of water behind it and it’s melting state threatens to break and flood the valley. With their one chance of survival being a boat at the other end of the valley, the trio follow the desperate exodus there. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a female mammoth who is convinced she’s a opossum like her brothers. While the strange group continues the trek, they must learn to get along even as Manny struggles to find some connection to this strange female who may be the only other one of his kind. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

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Swackhammer, owner of the amusement park planet Moron Mountain is desperate get new attractions and he decides that the Looney Tune characters would be perfect. He sends his diminutive underlings to get them to him, whether Bugs Bunny & Co. want to go or not. Well armed for their size, Bugs Bunny is forced to trick them into agreeing to a competition to determine their freedom. Taking advantage of their puny and stubby legged foes, the gang selects basketball for the surest chance of winning. However, the Nerdlucks turn the tables and steal the talents of leading professional basketball stars to become massive basketball bruisers known as the Monstars. In desperation, Bugs Bunny calls on the aid of Micheal Jordan, the Babe Ruth of Basketball, to help them have a chance at winning their freedom. Written by Kenneth Chisholm {kchishol@execulink.com}

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A gangster movie where all the gangsters are children. Instead of real bullets they use “splurge guns” that cover the victim in cream. The story tells of the rise of “Bugsy Malone” and the battle for power between “Fat Sam” and “Dandy Dan”. Written by Steve Crook {steve@brainstorm.co.uk}

It was with a great deal of trepidation that I found myself at a recent preview screening of “Finding Nemo.” First off, I don’t usually like ‘kids’ movies. Secondly, I’m not a big fan of animated films in general. “Finding Nemo” combines the two, making it the sort of film I dread seeing the most.

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This is the story of a ten-year-old boy named Lucas Nickle, who has just moved to a new neighborhood, has no friends, and is the target for the local bully and his gang. His parents are leaving for a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, so they are too busy to attend to his problems. His sister is distracted by her cellular phone, and the grandmother is obsessed with UFOs and aliens. Lucas is constantly being beat up by the obese yet intimidating neighborhood bully. Because he cannot fight back, he takes out his anger on an anthill in his front yard; He kicks it, stomps it, squirts it with his water gun, and floods it with a hose. This terrifies the ants, who call Lucas the Destroyer. One wizard ant, known as Zoc being a hopeful and adventurous type, is trying to solve this dilemma. He tries to devise a magic potion that he believes will solve all their problems. As the plan to shrink Lucas down to their size with a magic potion and forcing him to live like an ant within the colony–an astonishing new world opens up to him. Lucas learns, first-hand, the value of friendship and teamwork, ultimately leading the ants in an effort to save their colony from annihilation. And in the process, Lucas obtains the things he wants most: friends, companionship, acceptance and the courage to stand up for himself. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

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Retelling of the Robin Hood legend with animals for the characters. Robin Hood is an outlaw who starts to form a gang in Sherwood Forest to fight the injustices of the Sheriff of Nottingham, who levies unpayable taxes upon the people. Written by Tim Pickett {quetzal@yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au}

After a long prison sentence Smiler Grogan is heading at high speed to a California park where he hid $350,000 from a job 15 years previously. He accidentally careers over a cliff in view of four cars whose occupants go down to help. The dying Grogan gives details of where the money is buried and when the witnesses fail to agree on sharing the cash, a crazy chase develops across the state. Written by Col Needham {col@imdb.com}

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A socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl being raised by a single mom discovers that she is the princess of a small European country because of the recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to her, was the crown prince of Genovia. She must make a choice between continuing the life of a San Francisco teen or stepping up to the throne. While Mia makes up her mind, she’s pressed into taking princess lessons from her grandmother. Written by Anonymous

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An obese boy named Fat Albert and his friends Rudy, Mushmouth, Bill, Dumb Donald, Russell, and Weird Harold, pulls into trouble when they “fall” out of their TV world into the real world, where Fat Albert tries to help a young girl, Doris, make friends. However, the simple life of the group is interrupted when Fat Albert falls for Doris’ older sister, Lauri, sparking his friends to worry that their leader may never want to return to his cartoon world again. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

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