Chris Elliott

This is an island 100 km away from Havana in Cuba. Who are the young people of this island society: are they the heirs of this 1960s revolution which will celebrate its 52nd anniversary, or have they evolved towards new hopes, new utopias?

A look at the inspiration behind Thomas Kinkade's painting The Christmas Cottage, and how the artist was motivated to begin his career after discovering his mother was in danger of losing their family home. Necessity is the mother of invention. In the weeks leading up to Christmas 1977, Maryanne Kinkade has fallen behind in her mortgage payments and is about to lose her small house in Placerville, a town in California's gold country in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Her son Thom, who attends art school and is in his 20s, determines to make the transition from amateur to professional painter to help save the family's home. He seeks advice from an aging mentor. —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Inspired by true events. It's 1977, and college student and aspiring but struggling artist Thomas Kinkade, without his big city girlfriend Hope, is heading home to Placerville, CA with his younger brother Pat Kinkade for Christmas. Tom is expecting it to be a typical Placerville Christmas with their single mother, Maryanne Kinkade, being her community-minded, helpful self directing the children's choir for the Christmas pageant among other things, and all the town's eccentrics being their eccentric selves. But their Christmas may end up not being a very merry one when the boys inadvertently learn that the bank will foreclose on the mortgage at the end of the year, Maryanne not even having the money to make repairs on what is the crumbling family cottage. They later learn that the reason for the non-payment is that Maryanne lost her job in the town not drawing the tourists, Ernie, the major town booster, who is trying to market the town as the Christmas tree capital, including a planned prime time televised event. Especially with their father Bill Kinkade being a non-entity in their lives in he long ago having abandoned them in pursuing his adventurous life, both Tom and Pat want to do whatever they can to help Maryanne, Tom accepting a job, one he believes beneath him in wanting ultimately to be known as a serious artist, to paint a mural depicting Main Street at Christmas, the fee not even close to the money needed for the mortgage back payments. As the town marches on toward Christmas including Tom with this job, a combination of the change in focus of the mural as well as Maryanne helping Tom's artist mentor, Glen Wesman, as he seems to be slipping away both mentally and physically as he pines for his long lost love Nicole, may be the impetuses to turn the tide for all concerned. —Huggo

The film opens with talk about snow forming from crystallized water and explaining that a snow day isn't just when school's close, but a day of magic. We're then introduced to Tom Brandston (Chevy Chase) the local weatherman forced to wear a Hawaiian style outfit to promote the warm weather coming in. Tom isn't happy with his job as he works for a station that makes him use gimmicks on camera to improve their low ratings. We're next introduced to Tom's daughter Natalie (Zena Grey) as she hopes to get snow on what were told has been a unusually warm season. As she and her friends Chet (Jade Yorker) and Wayne (Josh Peck) throw snowballs leftover from last year (kept in a cooler) at their principal (Damian Young) a stick in the mud who's a prime target for snowballs during the winter. We're also introduced to Tom's son Hal (Mark Webber), who sits besides the high school pool area with his friends Lane (Schuyler Fisk) and Bill (J. Adam Brown). Hal has a crush on the local popular girl Claire (Emmanuelle Chriqui) as he tells us via voice over. He watches her dive and when sliding along the side of the pool, he falls in and finds her ankle bracelet at the pools bottom. The ankle bracelet containing a whale charm had fallen off when she was diving. Later Hal plans to return it to Claire, but is unable to when her loud jock boyfriend Chuck (David Paetkau) shows up, revealing that he and Claire are on the verge of ending their relationship. Natalie takes Hal's collectible action figures and attempts to play with them, but Hal takes them away from her, claiming he doesn't want her playing with them because he plans to sell them some day. At dinner with their father and younger energetic brother Randy (Connor Matheus), the kids wait for their mother Laura (Jean Smart) to come home, she does arrive, apologizing for being late as she is a workaholic. Later that night, Natalie shakes a snow globe her father has given her, claiming she wished it was that easy to get snow to appear. At the news station, Tom is getting ready to report sunshine all day, when he discovers a snow storm is coming in from his radar. Natalie awakens the next morning to find the entire area has been blanketed in several layers of snow. The radio then announces that all schools are officially closed and a snow day is in effect. Natalie is so excited and plans to use the magic of a snow day to take down her arch enemy, The Snowplowman (Chris Elliott) a local villain who is said to run over kids and plow the streets so efficiently that there has never been a second snow day in years. Natalie enlists Hal's help, but in light of hearing Claire has broken up with Chuck, Hal wants to use the magic of the snow day to return Claire's whale bracelet and profess his love to her. Laura attempts to leave for work, but finds she has been so severely snowed in; she cannot make it into work and must stay home with Randy. Principal Weaver attempts to clean his car off of the snow, but is overwhelmed by an army of kids who are throwing a barrage of snow balls at him. Weaver appears throughout the movie as a running gag, being chased by snow balls as they are pelted at him off screen. Lane meets up with Hal and upon hearing he plans to spend the day winning over Claire; she disapproves and proclaims that love is about finding someone you can stand to be around for more than ten minutes at a time. Hal insists and she follows him. Natalie meets up with Chet and Wayne at their igloo-style snow fort, but Snowplowman appears and after Natalie throws a snowball at him, he maliciously goes off road to plow over their snow fort. Hal and Lane go to Claire's house, where Hal plans to talk to her, but a parade of other suitors has gathered outside her house after hearing about her break up. Chuck arrives and clears them out, attempting to win Claire back. She initially turns the volume on her TV up to drown him out, but caves and lets him inside. Lane hears that the TV station Claire has on is the same one Hal's dad Tom works at, giving Hal an idea. With the record snow fall, Tom is forced to wear a snowman costume to report the weather and is pushed down a scary hill on a sled. With everyone distracted when Tom wipes out, Hal uses the opportunity to introduce himself to Claire on live TV. Recovering from his crash, Tom discovers his rival weatherman Chad (John Schneider) from another station is taking credit for discovering the night's snow storm first. Meanwhile Natalie has her friend Wayne pretend to be dead in the middle of the street, pouring ketchup on him as blood in order to trick Snowplowman. When he leaves the plow to investigate, Natalie sneaks in. She's attacked by his bird Trudy and ends up kidnapping the violent creature, Snowplowman retaliates by grabbing Wayne. Hal and Lane have followed Claire and Chuck to the local skating rink, where Lane distracts the rink's DJ (Iggy Pop) while Hal changes the usually boring music to something more upbeat, much to Chuck's dismay. Next Snowplowman drops by Natalie's house to talk to Laura claiming he's taking kids around in his plow and that she's next in line, claiming Wayne to be his last passenger when she spots him in the plow. When Laura is distracted by Randy, Snowplowman gets a call from Natalie who offers him an exchange, the bird for Wayne and a second snow day, he agrees. Hal's next plan involves Lane going to the local diner where she tells Claire how great a guy Hal is, retelling a story about him. Claire is convinced and follows Lane to the local football field where Hal has carved a giant whale in the snow. Chuck shows up and Hal steals one of his snowmobiles and a chase ensues, Hal gets away. The prisoners are exchanged, but even with his bird back, Snowplowman appears to not be a man of his word as he leaves in his plow back on route to plow the snow. Laura chases after Randy when he escapes outside to play in the snow. Initially she's angry but after Randy throws snowballs at her, she retaliates and finds herself having fun. Natalie is about to give up, but after she imagines what her brother's action figures would tell her if they came to life, she rediscovers her determination for a second snow day. Hal meets up with Lane, but after he shows no signs of giving up, she gets angry admitting she hasn't done what she wants to do for the snow day, when Hal asks what she wants to do, she kisses him and leaves. Tom is reporting on the snow as Old Man Winter, but when his rival Chad appears, Tom proves him a fraud when he's unable to answer basic meteorology questions on air, proving he discovered the storm first. Hal meets up with Claire at the school's pool and she kisses him, but Hal realizes that he was wrong and that he has stronger feelings for Lane. Claire understands. Snowplowman continues to plow the streets, but at the last road, Natalie appears to challenge him. He taunts her but she reveals an army of kids have gathered together to stop him. The kids tie him to a street sign and take his plow to un-plow the snow back onto the roads. Hal journeys to find Lane (dressed in Bill's cloths for some reason) but is attacked by Chuck. A fight ensues, but Hal is saved when Natalie and friends plow Chuck away into a snow bank with the snow plow. Hal is impressed and tells Natalie she can keep his action figures and that he wants to spend the soon to be second snow day with her. They part ways as Hal finds Lane at the local skating rink. Hal apologizes to Lane repeating her line about true love being about finding someone you can stand to be around for ten minutes, and then asks "You got ten minutes?" They kiss. Hal narrates as he recaps everyone's journey throughout the day and the film ends with Principal Weaver making it home, only to find another volley of snowballs come at him from inside his house.

Scientist Sherman Klump's inventions, his upcoming marriage to his pretty colleague Denise Gaines, and his reputation, are threatened by his evil clone Buddy Love. Having learned his lesson after the events of The Nutty Professor (1996), meek, gentle Dr Sherman Klump dedicates himself to science. However, when beautiful fellow DNA-researcher Denise Gaines enters the picture, once more, Dr Klump is in love. And, as the love-smitten professor dreams of a brighter future, the lean-and-mean Buddy Love persona emerges, demanding freedom. Now, the nasty alter-ego stands in the way of happiness, and poor Sherman must do everything in his power to rid himself of Buddy once and for all. Can the rowdy Klump family lend a helping hand? —Nick Riganas Professor Sherman Klump is getting married, and the Klump family could not be more delighted for him. But Buddy Love, his Mr. Hyde alter-ego from the first film, is back and trying to make it on his own. Buddy keeps resurfacing in untimely outbursts, and threatening the portly professor's marriage plans to colleague Denise Gaines. Utilizing Denise's cutting-edge DNA research, Sherman decides to rid himself of his monstrous nemesis--and his disruptive outbursts--once and for all by extracting Buddy's DNA from his system. But Buddy bursts full-bodied into Sherman's world and lays claim to the professor's astounding invention: a revolutionary youth serum. Desperate to keep it from Buddy, Sherman hides the serum in the Klump family home, thinking it will be safe. Buddy correctly divines where Sherman has placed the serum, but to get it, he has to deal with the entire Klump family first. —Anonymous Sherman Klump is engaged to his pretty girlfriend, fellow professor Denise Gaines. But Buddy Love, his other him from the first movie, tries to stay in his own form for eternity, so he keeps reappearing, which creates chaos for Klump. Klump tries to destroy Buddy Love forever, but while his plan has failed, and he starts to lose his knowledge and memory, he must do something to prevent the loss of the thing that made Denise fall in love with him: his wisdom. With help from his very crude and rude family, the Klumps, he tries to return his memory and to vanish Buddy Love forever. —rsilberman

An amateur state bowling champion whose professional aspirations are prematurely dashed when he gets "Munsoned" hopes to ride a new bowling prodigy to success and riches by becoming his manager. Roy Munson was trained by his father from childhood to be the best bowler in the world. As a teenager, he manages to win the Iowa state amateur championship. Not long after this, Roy becomes a bowling hustler along with his partner Ernie McCracken. They soon go up against a group of ruffians who don't take kindly to being hustled by the pair and exact revenge by damaging Roy's bowling hand so badly that it has to be amputated leaving him with a rubber prosthetic. Being the coward that he is, Ernie runs away as Roy is being abused by the gang. No longer able to bowl as before, Roy becomes a traveling bowling equipment salesman. Eventually, he meets up with an Amish bowling prodigy named Ishmael and takes him under his wing as his manager and trainer. He manages, with difficulty, to convince Ishmael, against his conservative Amish sensibilities, to embark on a professional career. Eventually, they cross paths with Ernie McCracken at a championship bowling event that Ernie is favored to win. While Roy's career and life have landed in the toilet bowl, Ernie is still drawing huge crowds and all the babes. Ishmael injures his bowling hand just prior to the big tournament leaving it up to Roy to go up against Ernie at the big event and, hopefully, exact personnel revenge for leaving him to fend for himself against the gang they hustled years earlier. The championship match will determine whether Roy or Ernie is the best bowler. —Jane Byron Dean / edited by Hans Delbruck Roy Munson wins the Iowa amateur state bowling championship in 1979. Unfortunately, soon after he achieving that honor, his bowling hand has to be amputated after he and his partner Ernie McCracken hustle the wrong group of local bowlers and they exact revenge on Roy by severely damaging his hand while Ernie runs away like the coward that he is. Roy's hand is replaced with a rubber prosthetic. No longer able to bowl, he embarks on a career as a traveling bowling implement salesman. One fine day, he encounters an Amish bowling phenomenon named Ishmael and talks him into letting Roy be his manager and trainer. He convinces Ishmael that he can lead him to great success on the professional bowling circuit and that they'll be able to win enough money to save Ishmael's cash-strapped farming family from losing their farm. They have great success as bowling hustlers against amateur competition and eventually enter a winner-take-all pro-am tournament in Las Vegas for a one-million dollar cash prize. Ishmael injures his bowling hand just prior to the competition leaving it up to rubber-handed Roy to go up against tournament favorite Ernie McCracken, Roy's old partner, for the grand prize. Will Roy be up to the task of proving that he is the superior bowler to old friend, and nemesis, Ernie? —Kale Whorton / edited by Hans Delbruck

A nasty, self-centered (but hilarious) weatherman is forced to relive one strange day over and over again, until he gets it right.

A guy makes a documentary of the rap band CB4 by following them. CB4 got popular by stealing Gusto's name, background and image. He wants them dead. A "rapumentary", covering the rise to fame of MC Gusto, Stab Master Arson, and Dead Mike: members of the rap group "CB4". We soon learn that these three are not what they seem and don't apear to know as much about rap music as they claim... but a lack of musical ability in an artist never hurts sales, does it? You've just got to play the part of a rap star... —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au> Albert Brown and his buddies Rip and Otis are aspiring rappers who have tried every gimmick to break into the music business. Eventually, Albert and the boys decide to go into gangster rap, with Albert assuming the identity of M.C. Gusto (a local crime lord who is serving time in prison). Eventually, Gusto finds out about the boys scheme and seeks revenge as well as a share of the profits. —Brian Washington <Sargebri@att.net>