Janet Jackson

The Central Park Effect reveals the extraordinary array of wild birds who grace Manhattans celebrated patch of green and the equally colorful, full-of-attitude New Yorkers who schedule their lives around the rhythms of migration. The film focuses on seven main characters who regularly visit the Park and have found a profound connection with this hidden natural world. Movie-star handsome Chris Cooper dodges the morning rush hour traffic on bustling Central Park West, his binoculars knocking against his leather bomber jacket as he ducks into the Park. My friends mock me for what I do in the spring because they know from experience. From April 15 until Memorial Day, they wont see me. Because Im birding! Anya Auerbach, a radiant fashion-averse teenager, admits that I take my binoculars pretty much everywhere except school. Acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen recalls that he walked through Central Park almost daily for seven years, noticing only the pigeons and sparrows. Then one day, friends invited him to come along with them on a tour of the Parks famous Ramble section and handed him a pair of binoculars. It was like the trees were hung with ornaments. It was one of those rare times in an adults life where the world suddenly seems more magical rather than less. One poignant narrative revolves around Central Park doyenne Starr Saphir, the bird walk leader whos recorded every sighting shes made since the 1940s. After discovering several years ago that she has terminal breast cancer, she says that time has a different meaning for her now. I have a great deal more enjoyment. I always loved what I did, but its heightened even more, because I know not only is it not going to last forever its not going to last all that much longer. Featuring spectacular wildlife footage capturing the changing seasons, the film reveals that Central Park acts as a magnet for the millions and millions of birds migrating along the Eastern Seaboard twice every year. Desperate for a rest-stop, the tiny birds funnel in to this oasis of nature amid a sea of steel and concrete a phenomenon known as the Central Park Effect. Tiny hummingbirds, tall herons and egrets, majestic owls, hawks, orioles, kingfishers, flycatchers and a vast array of wood warblers - the jewels of the Eastern forests - all have starring roles in the documentary. Filmmaker Jeffrey Kimballs lyrical film transports the viewer to a dazzling world that goes all but unnoticed by most of the 38 million who people Americas most famous park each year.

The big-screen adaptation of Perry's stage play about the trials of marriage and what happens to one family when a sexy young temptress arrives on the scene. Dr. Patricia Agnew, a psychologist, has written a best-seller about marriage: hers and those of three other couples who together take a week's vacation each year to ask themselves, "Why did I get married?" It's time for one of those weeks, and all four relationships are strained: Patricia and her husband Gavin have the shadow of grief between them; Terry believes that Diane has abandoned him for her work; Angela, who's built a successful business, belittles her husband Marcus, who works for her; Mike is cruel to Sheila, his religious, overweight wife. During the week, each person's secret comes out. Will these marriages survive? —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

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

Justice (Janet Jackson) is a young woman living in South Central, Los Angeles. She was named Justice by her late mother, who gave birth to her while attending law school. After the shooting death of her boyfriend Markell (Q-Tip), Justice falls into a deep depression. She spends the majority of her time in the house she inherited from her grandmother, with her pet cat White Boy, only going out to her job at a local hair salon. Justice is a talented poet, she reads many of her poems throughout the course of the film, both to other characters and in voice over. Justice is at the hair salon working one day when a young postal clerk named Lucky (Tupac Shakur) comes in and begins flirting with her. She rebuffs his advances with the help of her female boss; the two women pretend to be lesbians and mock Lucky with their "relationship". Meanwhile, Lucky has also had tragedy in his life: his main focus is caring for his young daughter Keisha. He had to forcibly remove her from the care of her mother, Angel, a crack addict who was using drugs and having sex with her drug dealer while leaving the child unattended in the apartment. Lucky dreams of a professional career in music and shows considerable promise, but he insists his cousin is the true talent. Justice's friend Iesha (Regina King) manages to talk Justice into taking a road trip to Oakland with Iesha's boyfriend, Chicago (Joe Torry), Lucky's co-worker at the post office. Justice warily accepts, mainly because she has to go to Oakland for a hair show, and her car dies at the last minute. Unbeknownst to Justice, Lucky is Chicago's co-worker also on the trip, and she will now be sharing a postal van with him and their two mutual friends. Initially they argue, but over the course of the film soften towards each other as they discover their similarities. The foursome make a couple of detours off the I-5 expressway, the first being a family reunion barbecue they see signs for on the road. Here it becomes apparent (although there were ample hints earlier) that Iesha and Chicago's relationship is troubled. Iesha openly flirts with other men at the barbecue, while Chicago broods watching her behavior. The second stop is a beach where each of the four characters contemplate their separate situations in internal monologues. Next, they stop at an African Cultural Fair where Lucky and Justice grow closer as they discuss their lives. After leaving the fair, the friction between Chicago and Iesha explodes when Iesha informs Chicago she has been seeing someone on the side and he physically attacks her. Lucky initially decides not to get involved in the fight until Justice defends Iesha by kicking Chicago in the groin, and Chicago turns his physical brutality on Justice in retaliation. Lucky, Justice, along with a bleeding and shaken Iesha leave Chicago by the side of the road and continue on their journey. Lucky stops the postal van at a beach, and Justice goes to see what's wrong. She begins opening up to him about her life and Lucky becomes sympathetic. They share a kiss and Justice walks away apparently unsure of her feelings for Lucky. She goes back to him and they share another kiss. When the trio finally arrive in Oakland, they are met with the news that Lucky's cousin, with whom he had been working on recording music, has been killed. Lucky blames himself for not being in Oakland sooner, believing he could have prevented the shooting had he been in town. He turns his anger on Justice, angrily blaming her for distracting him while they were on the road. Several months later. Lucky and Keisha meet up with Justice again back at the hair salon, just at the moment Lucky brings in his daughter Keisha. Lucky is remorseful over his conduct in Oakland and the cruel words he said to Justice there, and apologizes. She smiles at him and they share a passionate kiss. Justice smiles coyly, and then turns her attention to Keisha, fussing over her hair. Justice and Lucky's eyes meet over Keisha's head and they smile, their connection as strong as ever.