Ian Holm

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary Director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

The young hobbit Frodo takes his final steps to the top of the fortified Mount Doom to destroy the fateful ring and with it, all evil in the world. Aragorn and Gandalf wage war against the Dark Lord Sauron and his army to provide a distraction for Frodo, the middle-earth`s last hope

At a Antenna Company seminar, Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is introduced as the "goddess of the gamepod". She carries a single ski boot and describes eXistenZ, which is a new game system (metaflesh). Almost everyone in the room volunteers to test the new system. At the door, a game company worker Ted (Jude Law) screens Noel Dichter (Kris Lemche) for recording devices. Noel has an outdated gamepod, and is anxious about the demo. The demo uses flesh like gamepods to allows players to interact with the game. As they go into a trance to enter the game, Noel pulls an odd-looking gun out from inside his gamepod and shoots Allegra in the shoulder. The gamers attached to her feel the impact, and Noel gets shot by security. Ted grabs the gun and whisks Allegra away. In the car, Allegra throws Ted's phone away, as it can be used to track them. He uses a pocketknife to dig out the bullet, which is a tooth. They realize the gun and ammo are made of flesh and bone, which would not be detected by a scanner. They stop at a motel. Ted wants to check in with Antenna, but Allegra wants to test the game, and needs Ted to help her. Ted does not have a "bio-port". They go to a gas station and ask the attendant Gas (Willem Dafoe) to install an illegal port. He agrees, after recognizing Allegra. When she connects her pod to Ted, it short circuits, locking everyone out of the game. Gas reappears, holding a shotgun, and explains that Ted's port is useless. Ted shoots Gas in the neck before he can kill Allegra. Allegra and Ted drive to an old ski club, where they find Kiri Vinokur (Iam Holm). She hands the ski boot to Kiri for safekeeping, then Kiri and Landry (James Kirchner) work to repair the pod. Afterwards, Allegra and Ted jack into the game, and Ted's reality changes. Allegra says "you have to play the game, to find out WHY you're playing the game. They meet a gameshop owner, D'Arcy Nader (Robert A. Silverman), and Ted realizes the non-player characters (NPCs) must act based on his actions and speech. Nader gives them micro-pods, and they use them to port in. Ted's character makes a pass at Allegra, and she responds. During the encounter, the scene suddenly changes, and Ted is at a trout farm, working on a conveyor belt as "Larry", next to Yevgeny Nourish (Don McKellar). Yevgeny explains that the trout farm is now used for making game pods. Yevgeny recommends lunch at the Chinese restaurant, and to order the special. He finds Allegra, but she seems to react like the NPCs as well. Over lunch, Ted tells her he is nervous, and manages to pause the game. Back in reality, Ted starts to feel like the real world is fake, and vice-versa. They re-enter the game, and special of the day arrives. It's gross looking, but Ted's character eats it anyway. He assembles the bones into the same weapon that he found in the real world. He shoots the waiter (against his will), and the weapon is destroyed. Yevgeny appears, and tells them the waiter was a traitor. Yevgeny leads them to a breeding pool for the creatures and explains that they are working on undetectable weapons for a secret agency in addition to pods. The trout farm where Ted and Allegra work is owned by a company called Corticle Systematics, and Yevgeny's organization wants to destroy all non-real elements such as pod games. They return to the gameshop and speak with Hugo Carlaw (Callum Keith Rennie). Hugo shows them Nader's dead body and tells them Nader and Yevgency Nourish work for Corticle Systematics, and Ted shouldn't have killed the waiter. Hugo is with the realist underground. He tells them to assassinate Yevgeny. They return to the trout farm and find a game pod left for them. She ports into the pod, but something goes wrong. Ted cuts her link to the pod, and she begins to bleed out. Yevgeny arrives and burns the pod, which releases deadly spores. Allegra stabs him, and the farm catches on fire. They awake back in the ski lodge. Allegra's pod has caught the disease from the game. She injects the pod with a spore disinfectant, then sees Ted's bio-port is infected, too. She realizes Kiri installed an infected bio-port. She inserts a disinfectant pod his port, and says they cannot play for awhile. Suddenly the ski lodge is attacked, and the game cashier arrives, talking about freedom, and destroys the pod. Ted realizes they are still in the game. Outside, a battle rages, and the cashier talks about the victory of reality (the death of eXistenZ). He points a gun a Allegra, but Kiri shoots him from behind. Kiri explains that he copied the game, and tries to recruit Allegra to Corticle Systematics. Allegra shoots Kiri. Ted points out that she's committed murder, then tries to kill her. Allegra triggers the bomb she inserted into Ted's bio-port and celebrates, thinking she's won the game. Allegra and Ted awake back in the seminar, and the group de-briefs, applauding Ted and Allegra. The session proctor, Merla (Sarah Polley) tells everyone they will get a discount on the next game, transCendenZ. We realize Allegra was only playing a part of a game designer, and that Yevgeny is the real designer. Yevgeny tells Merle he is nervous about the anti-designer theme. Ted and Allegra shoot Yevgeny and Merle, then shout "death to transCendeZ!". The Chinese waiter asks, "are we still in the game?" End.

A scientist tries to dis-prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster in the remote Scottish region. But in end ends up believing in it and caring for it so much that he gives up lifetime of fame to protect the mystery and to be with the woman he now loved (the innkeeper at Loch Ness) Opening on a pub near Loch Ness, a scientist named Dr. Abernathy steps out for some air. Standing on the shore of the Loch, he sees something rise from the water. Astonished, he takes a single photograph before slipping and falling on the rocks, killing him. A short time later in Los Angeles, disgruntled freshman college tutor, Dr. Jonathan Dempsey (Ted Danson), is obligated to journey to Scotland to replace Dr. Abernathy, who was searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Dempsey is reluctant to do so, as he ruined his respected zoology career after a fruitless three-year search for the Sasquatch and is now considered a joke among his colleagues. The only reason he agrees to go is because he is broke and cannot pay alimony to his demanding ex-wife, Caroline, whom he once named a newly discovered species of wasp after. Dempsey travels to Scotland and reluctantly begins on a Cryptozoology mission along with Adrian Foote (James Frain), former assistant to Dr. Abernathy and an eager young Scottish man who fanatically believes in the existence of the creature. Dempsey repeatedly claims there is no mystery, and that the monster is just a hoax created by the locals of Loch Ness to support their economy. Jonathan books into a small inn and meets his grouchy landlady, Laura McFetridge (Joely Richardson), and her nine-year-old daughter, Isabel, who quickly grows close to Jonathan. Jonathan quickly finds himself in hot water with the locals, in particular one named Andy McLean (Nick Brimble), who sees Dempsey as a rival for the affections of Laura. The water bailiff, (Ian Holm), guardian and protector of Loch Ness, does all he can to ensure that Dempsey fails in his search and leaves the Loch empty-handed. After the sonar equipment is sabotaged by the locals, Dempsey confronts the water bailiff, who insists that the mystery of Loch Ness will never be destroyed. Dempsey challenges him to "come out and watch him". After scanning the entire Loch and finding nothing, Dempsey declares it is the end of the Loch Ness monster, leaving Adrian crushed, but the subsequent argument between them ends on a slightly re-conciliatory note when Dempsey tells Adrian that, despite his skepticism, he did want to find the monster. Throughout the film, Laura overcomes her initial dislike of Dempsey, and they quickly grow attracted to each other. Isabel possesses a second sight and is able to foretell certain things, such as her mother's growing affection for Dempsey. The day before Dempsey's departure from Loch Ness, Adrian brings him the remainder of Dr. Abernathy's possessions, including his camera. The next morning Adrian is awakened by Dempsey, who says they are going back out for another sweep of the Loch. He reveals that after developing the pictures on Abernathy's camera, the last picture on the roll shows a large, rhomboid shaped flipper submerging into the water. After tracking a 40 ft object chasing a school of salmon, it collides with the boat, sinking it and sending Dempsey and Adrian into water. Dempsey nearly drowns but somehow surfaces after a large dark object is seen moving in the water behind his quickly sinking body. After returning to the inn, he his ecstatic, claiming to have seen the creature while under the water. After Dempsey is beaten up by Andy McLean for "moving in on his woman", Isabel makes him a get-well card which features a drawing of what she calls a "water Kelpie." Dempsey realizes that Isabel, too, has seen the monster, as her drawing of the creature's fins are identical to the picture taken by Abernathy. After Dempsey promises to buy her the red bicycle that she has always wanted, Isabel agrees to show him the monster. Later that day, Isabel leads Dempsey to an underground cavern beneath Urquhart Castle and warns him not to use lights as it scares the creatures. After a startling encounter with some sea otters, Dempsey prepares to leave, humiliated. Suddenly a Plesiosaur rises from the water and Isabel is shown to know it very well, even being able to communicate with it through a series of whistle-like calls. Responding to the calls, a second creature appears, the two animals apparently being mates. While in an astonished euphoria, Dempsey ignores Isabel's warnings and takes a photograph, the flash alarming the creatures, causing them to dive back into the water and cause havoc. Isabel falls into the water and almost drowns, and Dempsey is saved by the furious water bailiff. Dempsey develops the photographs and faces Laura's wrath about him using Isabel and nearly getting her killed. Laura refuses to have anything to do with Dempsey or his discovery of the monster, despite his claims that when he reveals the existence of the creatures, Laura's business will boom as people from all over the world come to the Loch to see the monsters. Laura evicts Jonathan and Isabel is deeply hurt that Dempsey used her in such a way. Upset, but not about to give up his chance at vindication, he leaves for London to attend a press conference where he plans to reveal the photos of the monsters to the world. The water bailiff follows him on the train, imploring him not to reveal the truth of Loch Ness. Dempsey insists that exposure will be best for the creatures, claiming that science will be able to care for the creatures professionally. Scornful, the water bailiff points out the irony in that it was not science that helped his "discovery", but a little girl. He also reminds Dempsey of the harm done to the planet because of science, and that these creatures have survived unaided since before the ice age. At the conference, Dempsey is unable to go through with it and replaces the real photos with Isabel's drawing of the "kelpie", causing an uproar while he discreetly leaves. On the way out, he tells a baffled Adrian that he had the pictures made by computer before he ever came to Scotland. Adrian, knowing the truth, understandingly plays along. Meanwhile, on a bus headed back to Loch Ness, the water bailiff discovers the pictures inside his suitcase and is moved almost to the point of tears. Dempsey returns to the inn and reunites with Laura, along with the red bicycle he promised Isabel. In Loch Ness, the Plesiosaur pair is seen swimming underwater with a baby alongside.

The story is narrated in first person by Porter Wren (Adrien Brody), a columnist and crime reporter for a New York City newspaper with a reputation as a good listener. One night, he attends an after-work party hosted by publishing magnate Hobbs (Steven Berkoff), who has just purchased the newspaper. He is approached by socialite Caroline Crowley (Yvonne Strahovski), whom Porter recognizes from headlines regarding the death of her husband, Simon (Campbell Scott). Simon was a successful movie producer obsessed with capturing authentic life, often disappearing at night to film random things. His body was discovered in the rubble of a demolished building (with little pieces of jade found next to his body). No one could figure out how the body got there, as the site was fenced off and locked up. Caroline invites Porter to her apartment where she shows him confidential police reports related to Simon's still-unsolved death. She asks Porter to investigate and, over a series of meetings, gradually seduces him. Porter, whose relationship with his wife Lisa (Jennifer Beals) and children has become stale, soon gives in. Caroline reveals how she met Simon at a bar, and he proposed to her after a few hours of talking. Caroline had no money or prospects in NYC and said yes. Caroline wants Porter to help find how and why Simon died, as he is the guy that people talk to and tell him all sorts of things. It's been 17 months since Simon died. It is not clear is Simon was in the building before it was demolished. Going through Simon's belongings, Porter forms an image of him as an eccentric and controlling man. He filmed his own life almost obsessively, sometimes with hidden cameras, and subjected Caroline to cruel pranks and mind games for the sake of capturing authentic reactions. She has a vault filled with thousands of memory cards containing footage of these incidents. None of it, however, gives Porter any insights into his death. Hobbs learns of Porter's affair with Caroline and forces him into an investigation on Hobbs' behalf by making threats against Porter's family (He threatens to fire Porter and initiate a medical malpractice suit against his wife, who is a doctor). Hobbs is looking for a particular memory card he believes Caroline is using to blackmail him. When Porter questions her, Caroline admits she is also looking for the memory card. Simon, after beating her in a drinking game, dared her to have sex with a stranger and record the encounter with a hidden camera. She randomly crossed paths with Hobbs and decided to sleep with him. When Simon watched the video, something about it infuriated him and he hid the memory card; after his death, Hobbs began threatening her. Porter, forcing Caroline to admit she only seduced him to enlist his help, leaves in disgust. Outside his house, he is accosted by thugs working for Hobbs, who beat him up and promise to do worse until he finds the video. Porter goes to see Simon's father, who is in a nursing home, but he is unresponsive. Porter discovers a video camera in a bedside table, but the memory card in it only has footage of Simon visiting his father. Meanwhile, Hobbs' men force their way into Porter's house and accidentally shoot and wound his son, causing a distraught Lisa to take the children and walk out on Porter. After attacking Hobbs' lawyer in revenge, Porter watches the nursing home video again and realizes Simon's father had regular visits from a lady named Mrs. Segal (Linda Lavin). He breaks into her house and finds financial records indicating that she has been billing Simon's estate for the visits to Simon's father but also for unknown services at $5000 per month. Before he can find the memory card, Mrs. Segal returns to find him there. After explaining himself, he learns that she is a friend of Simon's family, who became a surrogate mother to Simon after his own mother passed away when he was a child. Wanting to repay her kindness, he arranged a monthly allowance for her once he became rich. Mrs. Segal felt obligated to earn the money and became a caretaker of sorts to Simon's father. Questioned by Porter about the charges to the estate, Mrs. Segal reveals she was asked by Simon before his death to send copies of a memory card to Hobbs every month. Never having seen what is on it, she gives her last remaining copy of the card to Porter. Watching it, he sees that Hobbs and Caroline had a long and intensely personal conversation (where Hobbs revealed that his penis was butchered by random thugs in France, when he was 20 years old. Caroline also whispered a secret about her stepfather to Hobbs, but this was not audible in the video) before they had sex. Porter returns the video to Hobbs, ending the threat against him and his family. In a show of good faith, Hobbs gives him a key his men found when searching Caroline's apartment for the video. Porter figures out the key is for the basement lock of the building where Simon was found. He goes there and discovers another hidden camera. The memory card in this one reveal Simon took Caroline to the building the night he died. Having watched the sex tape, he demands to know a dark secret about her stepfather that she revealed to Hobbs. Caroline refuses to divulge the story to Simon. So, Simon puts a padlock around Caroline's ankle and swallows the key. Caroline kills Simon during the interrogation and since the building is to be demolished the following morning, Caroline has no choice but to cut into Simon's stomach to retrieve the key and get out of the building. The next morning, Porter meets Caroline and reveals the recording. He gives her a copy, with the original as insurance against her contacting his family (something she had previously done for her own enjoyment). She in turn reveals the secret she told to Hobbs but kept from Simon. Basically, as a little girl, Caroline wanted a horse, and her stepfather never gave her one. She begged and begged and then her stepfather starting sexually abusing her with the promise to get her a horse by her next birthday. On the birthday, the stepfather drives Caroline to a farm to present a horse to her, only to shoot him right in front of her eyes. Porter wishes her well and leaves. In voiceover, Porter expresses guilt for all that happened, including his divorce, while admitting that the experience has both corrupted him and revealed an inner darkness that was always there. In the final scene, Porter drives by the house of a now-remarried Caroline and they look at each other one last time.

Victor Frankenstein is obsessed with the idea of a man-made creation. But one night his Creature comes to life and so begins the nightmare that will engulf him and those he loves.

Scotland, 1885. The young John Clayton of the house of Greystoke (Paul Geoffrey) plans a voyage to Africa, to one of the colonies near the coast, along with his pregnant wife, Alice (Cheryl Campbell). John bids farewell to his father, the Sixth Earl of Greystoke (Ralph Richardson). Months later, off the coast of Equatorial West Africa, we see the remnants of a shipwreck, the very one chartered by Clayton. He and his wife have survived the wreck, but are now marooned in the jungle. They set up a house in the trees using timber and decking from the ship. Alice soon gives birth to their baby, a son named Jonathan Jr., but develops a severe fever soon after. During her sickness, Clayton writes in his journal of the difficulties in caring for his ill wife and their baby. Alice's breast milk becomes virulent and she deteriorates further. One day, Clayton checks on his wife to find her dead. As he weeps over her body, a large primate called White Eyes, leader of a nearby clan of apes, enters the home. Petrified, Clayton lunges for his gun but is quickly overtaken by the ape and killed when the ape charges him and beats him to death. Several other apes from the clan enter the house and begin to curiously inspect the house. A female named Kala, mate of the ape Silverbeard, enters the home carrying the body of her recently deceased baby. When she discovers John Jr. crying in his crib, she drops her baby's lifeless body and claims John as her own. She flees the house with the rest of the apes as one of them accidentally discharges Clayton's revolver while examining it. John (at age five Danny Potts) grows, brought up as an ape with the assumed name of Tarzan, but falls under constant persecution from White Eyes, who considers him an outsider because of his hairless skin. Despite trying hard to fit in, Tarzan's human attributes prove beneficial to him. Sipping water from a stream with a peer, Droopy Ears, Tarzan is forced into the water when the two are attacked by a leopard. Tarzan's friend is killed but he finds that he has the ability to swim to safety, whereas the apes would have normally stayed out of the water. Later (at age 12 Eric Langlois), Tarzan eventually discovers the home his human mother and father built. He finds his mother's locket which contains pictures of the Claytons, though Tarzan does not recognize them. He also finds his father's dagger and finds that it can be used as a weapon. He fashions a belt for himself and carries the dagger with him. While foraging for food, Kala is attacked and shot with arrows by a native hunting tribe. Tarzan rushes to her rescue and tries to fight off the attackers. One of the hunters, wielding a spear, lunges at Tarzan who dodges the point as it hits his already dying mother. The blow finishes Kala and Tarzan, in a rage, breaks the man's back over his shoulder. As he crouches over Kala's body, Tarzan begins to moan and scream, a mournful sound heard by the rest of the hunters. Many years later another hunting party, this time English, enters the jungle near Tarzan's home. The party is led by the vicious Major Jack Downing (Nigel Davenport), a game hunter who's been charged with bringing primates back to Britain, alive or dead, to be studied or stuffed for museum displays. Among the party are Capitaine Phillippe d'Arnot (Ian Holm) and Sir Evelyn Bount (John Wells), both contemptuous of Downing's sadism. They find the Clayton home and set up camp but are later attacked by a native tribe. Downing is killed immediately along with most of the guides. D'Arnot is wounded when an arrow pierces his lower abdomen. He manages to escape the fray but is followed by a few natives. He loses them as he hides in a large tree and, shortly after pulling the arrow from his body, is found by an adult Tarzan (Christopher Lambert) and a few apes. Tarzan brings d'Arnot to the ape camp and tends to his wounds, much to White Eyes' disapproval. Tarzan also fends off the curiosity of his fellow apes while d'Arnot recovers. During this time he discovers that Tarzan is a talented mimic who can imitate most of the animals in the jungle along with d'Arnot's mumblings. One day, Tarzan begins to hum the same tune d'Arnot does. When d'Arnot finds that Tarzan has the ability to speak, he is delighted and teaches Tarzan rudimentary English. Tarzan shows d'Arnot the locket and takes him to the Clayton home where he found it. There, d'Arnot discovers Tarzan's ancestry from John Sr.'s journal and resolves to bring Tarzan (whom d'Arnot now calls "Jean"; the French pronunciation of "John") home to his family in England. However, Tarzan's first priority is to gain leadership of the ape tribe. Having been beaten and tormented by White Eyes his entire life, Tarzan challenges the older ape to a showdown. The two engage in a vicious fight that continues through the jungle while d'Arnot and the other apes look on. Tarzan and White Eyes fall into a large pool and disappear under water. White Eyes appears at the surface revealing a large stab wound in his body. Tarzan emerges from the water victorious and is respectfully greeted by the other apes as their leader. D'Arnot continues to educate Tarzan, though he is met with resistance at first. Tarzan finds it difficult to easily discard his ape upbringing. Eventually, d'Arnot decides that John is civilized enough to return to the world & takes him out to a small settlement on the edge of the jungle where they make their way, by boat, back to England. Upon their return, John is brought to the home of his grandfather, the Sixth Earl of Greystoke, who is deteriorating a bit from age and exhibits some eccentric behavior, presumably from the loss of his son and daughter-in-law. Lord Greystoke welcomes his grandson, though sometimes forgetting that he is not his son returned. John meets Lord Greystoke's young ward, Jane Porter (Andie MacDowell), who is visiting from America and is engaged to another man. Finding it difficult to be seen as anything but a novelty in a social sense, and with his behavior seen as threatening and savage, John falls into a depression. His mood is lifted slightly when he befriends a mentally disabled worker on the Greystoke estate and, while in his company, is able to relax and act naturally. Jane takes it upon herself to teach John more English, French, and social skills such as table manners and dancing. The two become very close and develop feelings for one another, making love one evening in secret. Eventually, Jane leaves her fiance with the intent to marry John. During a large ball honoring John's return to the family, Lord Greystoke sneaks away from the crowd, appearing to enjoy a renewed vigor at the return of his grandson. Reminiscing of a childhood game he used to play, he uses a silver tray as a toboggan and slides down the grand staircase, only to crash into the railing at the bottom. John discovers him and holds his grandfather as he dies in his arms, apparently of a head injury. John reacts similarly as he did to Kala's death, devastated and confused by the loss and frustrated with his displacement in society. John is later on hand to cut the ribbon for a new wing at the Natural History Museum -- his grandfather was the chief benefactor. Bothered by the exhibits of preserved animals, John sneaks away into an alley and comes across an institute for the study of primates next to the museum. When he enters the lab he discovers, to his horror, several small monkeys and a gorilla that have been dissected. Several other primates are kept alive in cages, the largest of which contains an ape who John immediately recognizes as his adoptive father, Silverbeard. John frees him and the other primates and escapes. At the museum, Jane, d'Arnot, and Blount are informed by the police that John is running through the streets with an ape. John runs to a park where he and Silverbeard climb a tree as they are surrounded by police and a crowd. When Jane, d'Arnot, and Blount arrive, Blount gives the word to a rifleman who fatally shoots Silverbeard. John becomes enraged and sad, yelling that the ape was his father from Africa. That night, everyone discusses what is to be done with the distraught John. Jane and d'Arnot agree that he should be sent back to Africa. Because of the dual nature in his mind, he cannot adapt to life in the civilized world. Blount disagrees, stating that John is the last surviving member of the Greystoke family and that the legacy must be secured for the future. Suddenly, they hear John screaming and see him furiously driving a team of horses around the circle outside. When he comes in, covered in mud, Blount assertively tells him that he must resume his life as a Scots lord. John growls and forces Blount into a chair. He presses a muddy hand to Blount's chest and tells him, "One half of me is Greystoke. The other half is wild!" John is taken back to Africa. At the waterfall in his former territory, he quickly meets another gorilla and runs off into the rainforest, while Jane and d'Arnot watch him leave.

Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time. It is twenty years after Robin Hood's heroics against Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. Since then, Robin (Sir Sean Connery) has spent all his time outside of England, fighting as Richard the Lionheart's right-hand man in the Crusades and in France. His only connection to his past life in Sherwood Forest is his faithful companion, Little John (Nicol Williamson). However, Richard the Lionheart is now dead and a war-weary, middle-aged Robin decides to return to England. His first priority: rekindle his relationship with Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn). However, if he figured on a peaceful life, he didn't bargain on the machinations of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw) and King John (Sir Ian Holm). —grantss A sort of tragicomedy/adventure movie, this story picks up the Robin Hood legend around twenty years after most versions of the story, with Robin and his sidekick Little John returning to their old Sherwood haunts world-weary from the Crusades and their sickening brutality. They're informed by former cohorts Friar Tuck and Will Scarlett that Maid Marian now lives at the nearby priory, where she has become an abbess. Marian greets Robin's return with mixed feelings, but after he rescues her from his longtime enemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham, who tries to arrest her on religious grounds, the two become lovers once again. —alfiehitchie