Ten years ago, Jake Hopper was a CIA agent who was stationed in Thailand. Then one day, things went sour, and his partner, Sunti barely escaped with his life…after accidentally killing a woman. Jake called it quits and returned to the United States when his wife died, and Sunti became a Buddhist monk to atone for his sins. For the past 10 years, Jake has run a successful private security business, and has been raising his daughter Jessica, who is now an adult. While hiking in Thailand, Jessica and her friend Sarah Winthorpe are kidnapped. A group of Islamic fundamentalists known as the Abu Karaf claims responsibility. Sarah is the daughter of United States senator John Winthorpe. For ransom, the Abu Karaf demand the release of 20 prisoners from American custody. The US Secretary of State urges restraint — he won’t negotiate. Tom Collins, an ex-colleague of Jake’s, recognizes Jessica on the ransom tape and tips Jake off. Jake knows that he must rescue the girls himself. An old CIA buddy puts Jake in contact with Leon Washington, an active CIA agent who is working in Thailand. Jake goes to Bangkok, and escapes an assassination attempt. Leon arranges a meeting for himself with with Soku — the internal security chief for General Jantapan. Jantapan is a rebel military general who is making a play to be one of the most powerful men in Thailand. Secretly, Jantapan is messing with some dangerous spiritual forces. Soku provides Jake with a cover story, but the CIA wants Jake out of it — they are planning to take out the Abu Karaf with the aid of the Thai army, and they don’t want a civilian in the middle. Jake is a spiritual man, so he contacts his spiritual master Paijan Paitoon. As Jake is in trouble, Paitoon offers to arrange a divination from the oracle of the order. Jake enlists the help of Sunti. Jake gets Lulu, the girlfriend of arms dealer Fitch McQuoid, to steal information leading to the Abu Karaf. Jake and Sunti follow the leads to a warehouse where they discover evidence of highly sophisticated weaponry. With their enemies now after Lulu, Jake takes Lulu under his wing. Jake shares some of his info with Leon. Can he trust Leon? Another attempt is made on Jake’s life — and this time, Jake is sure that Leon was involved. Finally, the Abu Karaf contact Jake to arrange a meeting — the pieces are coming together, and Jake figures out that it was not the Abu Karaf who kidnapped Jessica and Sarah. Jantapan tries to send the spirit of an ancient warrior demon to kill Jake, but the ceremony goes wrong and the spirit enters Jantapan himself, giving Jantapan amazing physical and spiritual powers. Jake and Sunti go to meet Mongkol, the leader of the Abu Karaf. Mongkol confirms that ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Jantapan has worked to corner the narcotics and arms markets. It was Jantapan who kidnapped the girls, blaming the Abu Karaf so the army would wipe out his competition. Mongkol knows where the girls are, and he gives Jake plans and intelligence. They both need the girls alive. Jake must engage in a battle that will put both his physical and spiritual powers to the ultimate test. Written by Todd Baldridge

The purpose of the program set up by the Pentagon, called the “Human Hibernation Project,” is designed so that the military can save their best men for when they’re needed most. According to the officers heading the project, too many times the talents and expensive training of the best pilots and soldiers go to waste during times of peace. So they enlist Bauers (Wilson), the most under-achieving average guy they’ve got, to be the test subject for the initial hibernation experiment. Also participating in the top-secret program is Rita (Rudolph), a prostitute who agreed to take part in exchange for dropping some criminal charges against her, among other things. Of course, the experiment, which was to last only a year, goes under due to the arrest of Officer Collins, who is busted for heading a prostitution ring. Seeing as though he was in charge of the experiment, one of the only ones who knew of its existence, and “due to a lot of top-secret red tape… and the massive scandals and base closure that followed, Joe and Rita were forgotten about. Written by Slider

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Two twelve year old girls are in love with a dilapidated beach club near their home. After a huge storm, they discover Aquamarine, a mermaid, in the pool of the club. Aquamarine then falls in love with the cute, young lifeguard who and begs the girls to help her set up a date with him. Written by Justin Tyler, int0xicat3xm3@aol.com

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Intrepid British archaeologist Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) has made perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in history: an orb that leads to the mythical Pandora’s Box. Unfortunately, the orb falls into the hands of Jonathan Reiss (Ciarán Hinds), an evil scientist who deals in killer viruses and hopes to sell the secrets of the box as the ultimate weapon. Recruited by British Intelligence to get the orb back from Reiss, Lara recruits Terry Sheridan (Gerard Butler), a British marine turned mercenary (and her former love interest) to help. The two embark on an adventure that spans continents in an attempt to regain the orb… Written by Gavin Nelson

Jackie Chan’s bread and butter has always been his otherworldly ability to take any prop, use it as a fighting weapon, and make the subsequent action sequence look like poetry in motion. Chan strays from that tried and true formula in “The Medallion,” a mish-mash of styles and genres that never feels comfortable with itself for more than a scene or two.

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Hype machines be damned. Forget the rumors of derision behind the scenes, forget the cost over-runs and lack of onscreen chemistry between two of the leading actors. Forget that Miramax and Harvey Weinstein had anything whatsoever to do with cutting, budgeting or otherwise exercising creative control over the finished product. “Gangs of New York” is pure Scorsese through-and-through and for that audiences should be eternally grateful. We’re not force-fed a toned down, been-there-done-that formula film. Instead Scorsese delivers an epic motion picture showcasing a critical time in our nation’s history.

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Taken just at face value, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” has a lot going against it. First, it’s loosely based on a popular Disney theme park ride - and tagging “The Curse of the Black Pearl” after the title doesn’t soften the initial blow. Secondly, it’s a pirate movie and that particular genre hasn’t done very well in the past 10 or so years. And finally, it’s hitting theaters at the same time as every other big effects/action drama seems to have chosen to set upon audiences.

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