Michael's Movies: Movies

2024-09-07 Birth (2004) imdb.com

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Synopsis: It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.
Cast: Nicole Kidman as Anna, Cameron Bright as Young Sean, Danny Huston as Joseph, Lauren Bacall as Eleanor, Alison Elliott as Laura, Michael Desautels as Sean
Links
Film
rogerebert.com
thetwingeeks.com
indiewire.com

Anna	Young Sean	Sean, Joseph, Laura, Anna, Eleanor	Sean, Eleanor

Anna, Eleanor	Anna, Sean	Anna, Mrs. Conte	Joseph	Joseph, Anna

2022-04-24 Beautiful City (2004) imdb.com

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Synopsis: Akbar, 18, has been held in a rehabilitation centre for committing murder at the age of sixteen. Now, Akbar is transferred to prison to await the day of his execution. A’la, a friend of Akbar, tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar’s plaintiff so as to stop the execution.
Cast: Tarane Alidousti as Firoozeh, Babak Ansari as A'la, Faramarz Gharibian as Abolqasem Rahmati, Ahoo Kheradmand as Abolqasem's Wife, Hossein Farzi-Zadeh as Akbar
Links
themoviedb.org
filmsufi.com
variety.com

Firoozeh		Firoozeh, A'la			Abolqasem

2019-07-13 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) imdb.com

Director: Adam McKay
Synopsis: Marking the directorial debut of Adam McKay, former head writer for Saturday Night Live and founder of the Upright Citizen's Brigade, Anchorman is set during the 1970s and stars Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, San Diego's top-rated news anchorman. While Burgundy is outwardly willing to adjust to the idea of females in the workplace -- even outside of secretarial positions -- he certainly doesn't want his own job challenged. Keeping that in mind, it's no wonder that the arrival of Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), an aspiring newswoman, is, in Ron's eyes, not the studio's most welcome addition. After Veronica pays her dues covering so-called female-oriented fluff pieces (think cat fashion shows and cooking segments), the ambitious Veronica sets her eyes on the news desk; more specifically, on Ron's seat behind it. Not unpredictably, Ron doesn't take the threat lightly, and it isn't long before the rival newscasters are engaged in a very personal battle of the sexes. Anchorman was co-written by Ferrell, and features supporting performances from David Koechner, Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Tara Subkoff, and Maya Rudolph. - By Tracie Cooper
Cast: Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone
Links
Wiki
rogerebert.com
rollingstone.com

Ron Burgundy	With co-workers	Baxter	Ron, Veronica

Channel 4 team	Journalists fight	Unemployed	With bears

2017-04-15 Bad Education (2004) imdb.com

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Synopsis: Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar takes a look at his own adolescence as well as confronting the issue of sexual misconduct in the Catholic Church in this stylish drama, which was chosen to open the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) is a Spanish filmmaker who is having trouble settling on a new project when he's approached by Ignacio Rodriguez (Gael García Bernal), who was his close friend when they were schoolboys. Goded, who fell in love for the first time with Rodriguez, barely recognizes the man as his former crush, but agrees to read the short story he's written. The tale turns out to be an semi-autobiographical account of their days in a Catholic boarding school, in which a cross-dressing night-club performer named Zahara (also played by Bernal) hooks up with a man named Enrique (Alberto Ferreiro), who turns out to have been his first lover when he was a student. Recalling their school days, Zahara tracks down Father Manolo (Daniel Giménez Cacho), one of his teachers from school with pedophilic tendencies, and threatens to expose the priest's attempts to seduce him and ruin his relationship with Enrique years ago. Goded decides to use the story as the basis for his next film, and Rodriguez, an out-of-work actor, makes it clear he's eager to play Zahara. However, Goded isn't certain if Rodriguez is the right actor for the role, or if he's even the man he claims to be; an angry conflict with Rodriguez leads Goded back to the real Ignacio's mother (Petra Martínez). - By Mark Deming
Cast: Fele Martinez as Enrique Goded, Gael García Bernal as Angel / Juan / Zahara, Daniel Gimenez Cacho as Father Manolo, Lluís Homar as Sr. Berenguer
Links
Wiki
Roger Ebert
Peter Bradshaw