If “The Passion of the Christ” didn’t have the backing of a Hollywood player such as Mel Gibson, it’s extremely likely this movie would have been shown in a handful of art house theaters or gone straight to video. With someone as powerful and connected as Gibson behind it, “The Passion of The Christ” is finding wide release throughout the United States, with some theaters showing the film on multiple screens, and many showings bought out well in advance.

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AXIS, a gigantic coiling plant, stretches high above the clouds… At its center is a village whose people are in mortal danger because Axis is withering… it’s sap is drying up. The people beg their gods for help… but to no avail. Compelled by a mysterious force, Kaena, a rebellious, high-spirited teenage girl will defy the High Priest and her people’s ancestral beliefs to take the perilous journey through the Axis and discover what dark secrets lie beyond the clouds… A dying world, an evil force, a terrible secret… Written by Aline

Contact, based on the novel of the same name by Carl Sagan, is the story of a free thinking radio astronomer (Jodie Foster) who discovers an intelligent signal broadcast from deep space. She and her fellow scientists are able to decipher the Message and discover detailed instructions for building a mysterious Machine. Will the Machine spell the end of our world, or the end of our superstitions? Will we take our place among the races of the Galaxy, or are we just an upstart species with a long way to go? Written by Ed Howell {eon@combase.com}

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Based on a book by Andrew Neiderman, the film centers on a young lawyer who joins a New York firm only to discover that his boss has an increasingly bizarre personality. Written by Erik Schuit {beschuit@xs4all.nl}

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During the year 1999, a man named Thomas Anderson lives an ordinary life. He makes a living illegally mostly by computer hacking. Then one day he meets another man by the man of Morpheus. After their friendship develops Morpheus shows him that world Thomas is living is make-believe. At first Thomas does not believe him, but then is shown evidence and also meets with a like-minded woman named Trinity. He is slowly updated from the time the world was disintegrated and wasted, devoid of all natural resources. Then in this wasteland, came android-like humans, machine-made, who enslaved the remainder of the humans. In order to create the perfect world, a fake world is created to fool the humans into believing that everything is alright in their world. Now Thomas, Trinity, and Morpheus must lead the humans to freedom, but will the android-like beings let them? Written by Sumitra (corrected by Sonia)

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Det. John Hobbes is convinced that when killer Edgar Reese is executed, all of his troubles are over. But when people he knows and people on the street start to sing the same tune that Reese sang in the gas chamber, and those same people taunt him, he is told that maybe the cursed fallen angel Azazel is behind it all. Azazel is cursed to roam the Earth without a form, and he can switch bodies by any contact, making him hard to track. When Hobbes is forced to kill a man possessed by Azazel, he must clear his name while protecting his family and others from the evil, vengeful Azazel. Written by Ben Borg {benborg@mediaone.net}

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Moisés Kaufman and members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepherd’s visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of “Angels in America” a year after Shephard’s death. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he dies, his wife, Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven. Written by Scott Huntsman {guru@movieguru.com}

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Inspired by the modern classic, Wings of Desire, City involves an angel (Cage) who is spotted by a doctor in an operating room. Franz plays Cage’s buddy who somehow knows a lot about angels. Written by Mr_bogart {rscott@jinx.sckans.edu}

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