Popular high-school Hockey player Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is driving with his girlfriend and his friends when he performs a reckless stunt that ends in tragedy. Four years later, Chris is barely a shadow of his former self, the accident having inflicted upon him a moderately severe brain injury. As a result, Chris has occasional problems manipulating his left hand, is unable to perform skills he used to be adept at and has an inability to retain short-term memories. Exacerbating his injury-induced personality change is the enormous burden of guilt he bears, as the accident killed two of his friends and crippled his now-ex-girlfriend. Chris has been, fittingly, paired with the blind Lewis (Jeff Daniels) by his rehabilitation center and the two solidly support each other in their daily travails. But Chris’ daily frustrations are beginning to weigh down on him ...

  Four medical students (Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt), led by the brooding and manipulative Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland), attempt to learn what, if anything lies beyond death. The group uses drug-induced heart cessation and body-temperature reduction to bring a person to the point of clinical brain (and body) death. They then wait, 30 seconds or more, then violently bring the subject back to life, employing heart paddles to jump-start the failed heart, injections of drugs and by rapidly raising the body temperature. What each of them experiences during their post-death periods are unique and personal to each, but the bottom-line discovery is that something beyond death awaits them. In the real world, Nelson finds himself pursued and attacked by a little boy in a red hooded pullover; David (Bacon) keeps seeing the little girl he picked on when he was a child; Rachel (Roberts) keeps having flashes of her father, ...

  “Cruel Intentions” is new look at an old story. Based on the often-filmed novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” by Choderlos de Laclos, Roger Kumble’s direction and scriptwriting lean heavily on similar the period-piece movies of the past. The final delivery in this movie is a strange and twisted mix of the old and the new. What Kumble ends up with is a modern-looking teen angst/vengeance story that feels a lot like a war of social manners. Stylistically, the movie looks great. The high-definition treatment of the Blu-ray disc brings that look forward into sharp focus. The metropolitan look of the streets and buildings carries a lot of weight throughout the story, just as the manor houses with acres of landscaping do outside the city. The viewer never forgets where he is or what’s at stake. The soundtrack is in uncompressed format and comes through a surround sound system with amazing clarity and a lot of ...

  “The Queen,” or more aptly titled, “How Tony Blair saved the Royal Family’s reputation,” is a subtle yet engaging examination of the events following the tragic death of Princess Diana. Focusing on the reactions of Queen Elizabeth II and then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan tell a story of how class, politics and even celebrity dictated the course of events following Diana’s death. Employing a sort of docu-drama approach, the filmmakers use archival news footage in conjunction with the story to achieve a behind-the-scenes feel. While the footage of Diana is very personal and emotional at times, the filmmakers always stay on the side of good taste, never once succumbing to the temptations of tabloid-style trash. Throw in an assortment of phenomenal performances by Michael Sheen, James Cromwell and Oscar winner Helen Mirren, and “The Queen” is easily one of the best pictures of 2006. The film opens with ...

  “Pursuit of Happyness” is based on the real-life story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith), a one-time employee of Dean Witter, the stock brokerage firm. The real story, and the film, touch the heart. Parents and kids alike will find something in this movie that they can relate to. Parents who have worked extra hours and extra days just to make ends meet know exactly what Gardner had to do to succeed. Kids who grew up like young Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith), who watched their parents spend endless hours in almost hopeless frustration, know what the boy went through and how he felt. Every viewer will find someone here to identify with. There are those who will even identify with Linda (Thandie Newton), Gardner’s wife and young Christopher’s mother when she became so hopeless that she had to leave. Even though the movie only covers the “condensed” six months of struggle that Gardner ...