September 6, 2005

"Crash"
Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Sandra Bullock are among the actors in this drama centering around the theme of racism. A black police detective (Cheadle) and his Latina girlfriend (Jennifer Esposito) have a car accident. A racist white cop (Dillon) gets into a hassle with an African-American HMO administrator. The D.A.'s wife (Bullock) has her S.U.V. stolen at gunpoint by black thugs (one of whom is played by Ludacris). These and other interconnected incidents are used to explore racial prejudice.

September 13, 2005

"Fever Pitch"
Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon are paired in this romantic comedy directed by the Farrelly brothers and based on a book by Nick Hornby. Lindsey (Barrymore) is a high-powered businesswoman who enters into a relationship with Ben (Fallon), a Boston high school teacher. Things go well between them at first, but then baseball season rolls around. That's when Ben, a longtime Red Sox fanatic, becomes obsessed with his team during their championship season of 2004.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
Based on the book by Douglas Adams, this is a goofy sci-fi comedy movie. The protagonist is Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman), an ordinary man who goes on a strange journey when extraterrestrial aliens destroy Earth. Aided by his pal (Mos Def), Arthur escapes by hitching a ride on an alien spaceship. Eventually Arthur encounters the galaxy president (Sam Rockwell) and his female companion (Zooey Deschanel), a religious leader (John Malkovich), and a supercomputer (voice of Helen Mirren).

September 20, 2005

"Born Into Brothels"
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this movie tells the stories of a few of the children who live in Calcutta's red light district. Filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman give the kids cameras and teach them how to use them, and one talented boy travels to Amsterdam for a competition. Also, Briski tries to help some of the youngsters escape their squalid world by getting them into boarding schools, but she runs into problems with both parents and government bureaucracy.

September 27, 2005

"Robots"
This computer-animated film takes place in a futuristic world inhabited by robots and features the voices of many well-known actors, including Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Drew Carey, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, and Jennifer Coolidge. The hero is young Rodney Copperbottom (McGregor), who learns of a diabolical plot to stop making replacement parts. Realizing many robots will be done away with so their parts can be recycled, he does what he can to set things right.