John Michael Higgins

Almost Christmas tells the festive story of a beloved patriarch who asks his family for one gift this holiday season: to get along. If they can honor that wish and spend five days under the same roof without killing one another, it will be a Christmas miracle.

The Bellas are back, and they are better than ever. After being humiliated in front of none other than the President of the United States of America, the Bellas are taken out of the Aca-Circuit. In order to clear their name and regain their status, the Bellas take on a seemingly impossible task: winning an international competition no American team has ever won. In order to accomplish this monumental task, they need to strengthen the bonds of friendship and sisterhood, and blow away the competition with their amazing aca-magic! With all new friends and old rivals tagging along for the trip, the Bellas can hopefully accomplish their dreams once again.

The Immediate Unknown is a story about Chloe, an eighteen-year-old girl who enters her freshman year at Fitz College, a small liberal arts school in the Midwest. After a few weeks of settling into college life, Chloe makes new friends, experiences her first house party, and meets Dan, a sweet skater boy. As Chloe's relationship with Dan deepens, Chloe's friendships with her extroverted roommate Liz and cool girl Nicole solidify. One day, Chloe finds out her father has unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack. When Chloe returns to school, she attempts to carry on with the new life she's made at college only to find herself deeply afraid of the impending unknowns in her future. Ultimately, Chloe is left with the decision to grow from her grief or let it defeat her. —Kaitlyn Mek

A self-centered, unmotivated middle school teacher is forced back to work after her rich fiance dumps her. Determined to fund her dream cosmetic surgery, she embarks on outrageous schemes, only to find unexpected lessons in the chaos.

The battle of the sexes movie has Katherine Heigl playing a single morning show producer, who can`t seem to find the perfect man. But when her superiors team her with Mike (Butler), a TV personality, she`s up for a crash course on what makes men tick, trying out outrageous tests to determine if they work.

Adapted from Danny Wallace`s autobiographical book, Yes Man is directed by Peyton Reed (The Breakup, Bring it On), starring Jim Carey and Zooey Deschanel. Carl Allen`s monotonous life takes a turn when he enrolls for a self-help program that requires him to say yes to everything, whether he means it or not. While this opens doors of opportunities for him, the weight of his decisions begins to grow weary.

It is not easy being the brother of a benevolent and beloved saint, and no one knows that better than Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn). After struggling for years to live up to the example set by his younger sibling Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), Fred has finally given up.Fred is working as a repo man taken to stealing the items he repossesses. His shady tactics land him in jail. While Mrs. Claus vehemently insists that Fred fend for himself, Nicholas refuses to sit idly by as his brother rots in jail and agrees to set bail if Fred will repay the debt by coming to the North Pole and help make toys for the upcoming Christmas season. But Fred isn`t nearly as productive as your average elf, and he`s got quite an attitude to boot. This makes for a humorous disaster wherein Fred tries hard to find out just how far the patience of a saint can be pushed before jolly old Santa reaches his breaking point.

God contacts Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood. Buffalo newsman Evan Baxter is elected to Congress with the slogan, "Change the world." He lucks into a huge house in a new Virginia suburb. His Capitol office is also fantastic, but there's a catch: he's tapped by the powerful Congressman Long to co-sponsor a bill to allow development in national parks. In steps God, who appears to a disbelieving Evan and gently commands him to build an ark. Tools and wood arrive in Evan's yard, animal pairs follow, his beard and hair grow wildly, nomad's clothes and a staff appear. Long grows impatient, Evan starts building, his family leaves him, reporters gather, and drought grips D.C. Still, Evan believes. But will he change the world? —<jhailey@hotmail.com> Just like Bruce Nolan in Bruce Almighty (2003), the former news anchorman and newly elected Congressman, Evan Baxter, is facing a pivotal point in his life while trying to change the world. With a controversial bill waiting for approval, suddenly, strange coincidences start to occur, as the mysterious numbers 6:14 seem to sprout up again and again, and pairs of wild animals flock to his perfectly manicured lawn. Now, long silver hair and a matching beard complete the perplexed congressman's new look. Has he become a modern-day Noah? Under those circumstances, has Evan, indeed, conversed with God? Above all, will, or, better yet, can Evan build God's ark in time? —Nick Riganas The last time we saw Evan Baxter, he was being tormented by rival Bruce Nolan on screen, live from their Buffalo TV station. But as time passed and Evan has made up with Bruce, he's gone onto bigger and better things. Newly elected to Washington D.C. as a congressman, Evan has left Buffalo, New York in pursuit of a greater calling. But that calling isn't serving in the illustrious ranks of America's politics, but being summoned by the Almighty himself, who has handed Evan the task of building a new ark, much as Noah did before. With time passing by and his family belittled by Evan's newfound realization, Evan will have to do the work that God has given him in what promises to be an unusual adventure for a man who just wanted to serve his country, might actually be serving humanity. —mystic80 Evan Baxter is a rising congressman with a bright future and his goal to "change the world". God hears this message and decides to give him a hand. Delivering Evan the material and the animals, he sets Evan the task of building an ark. After trying to ignore God as much as possible, Evan eventually goes ahead with the plan, even if the other Congressmen and his family thinks he's mad. —FilmFanUk

In January 2000, Dick Harper (Jim Carrey) is promoted to VP of Communication for his company, Globodyne. He convinces his wife Jane to quit her job as a travel agent to spend more time with their son Billy, as Dick's salary would be able to cover their expenses. Soon after, he is asked to appear on the show Money Life, where host Sam Samuels and then independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader dub him and all the company's employees as "perverters of the American dream" and claim that Globodyne helps the super-rich get even wealthier. Dick discovers that his CEO covertly sold 80 percent of his shares in the company. As they speak, the company's stock goes into a free-fall and is soon worthless, along with all the employees' pensions, which are in Globodyne's stock. Dick tries to confront CEO Jack McCallister, but he smugly dismisses his former employee and flies away in a helicopter. Dick arrives home to find his excited wife Jane (Tea Leoni), who informs him that she took his advice and quit her job in order to spend more time with their son Billy (Aaron Michael Drozin). Dick has to break the news over dinner, instantly alarming Jane. Dick tries to think positively and tries for a few months to get a Vice President job at other corporations. However, he soon finds that Globodyne's collapse has sent the overall economy into a recession, dashing any hope of finding a lucrative new position. In addition, the television interview has tarnished his reputation as being incompetent, rendering him not suitable for hiring in his field of profession. After getting no job anywhere, Jane reveals that they'll end up declaring bankruptcy in the next couple of months. Even worse, Jane discovers that, because their pension and all their savings and investments were tied up in Globodyne's now-worthless stock, the family now has no assets and can no longer afford their mortgage payments. After coming to terms with the prospect of being poor, Dick and Jane both apply for low-paying jobs. Dick and Jane get jobs as a retail associate and a workout instructor, respectively, but Dick is fired for harassing an elderly customer and Jane is dismissed after unintentionally assaulting a client. Their utilities are soon cut off, and the couple have no choice but to pawn their valuables to their maid and take illegal off-the-books employment. This results in Dick being deported to Mexico by federal immigration officers and having to sneak back across the border while Jane suffers a severe allergic reaction while testing makeup. The last straw comes when the bank sends them an eviction notice. Dick turns to crime and persuades his wife to help him. Dick borrows Billy's squirt gun and decides to rob a local convenience store but loses his nerve and merely gets away with a slushy. After several failed attempts, they finally rob a head shop. Realizing that they get a thrill out of stealing, they begin going on nightly robbing sprees. They climb their way up the crime ladder, becoming more professional with each passing night, even stealing from people who wronged them during their job search, and eventually steal enough money to redeem the loans on their house and car, both of which were on the verge of repossession. Dick and Jane's last "job" is to rob a local bank by going undercover as corporate security personnel. All goes as planned, until another couple who used to work for Globodyne, Oz (Carlos Jacott) and Debbie Peterson (Stephanie Weir) make an amateurish attempt to rob the bank at gunpoint. The Petersons are arrested almost as soon as they appear, while Dick and Jane escape, unharmed, though without any money. Watching a news report on the arrests of the Petersons and other former Globodyne employees who desperately turned to crime, the Harpers decide to cease their criminal lifestyle. However, Dick finds that his interview with Ralph Nader has caused him to be indicted for his unwitting role in the company's collapse. While drowning his sorrows at the local bar, Dick encounters a drunk Frank Bascombe (Richard Jenkins), the former CFO of Globodyne, who reveals that the company's crooked CEO, Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin) siphoned off all of Globodyne's assets, then dumped the entire stock, thus ruining the company while getting away Scott-free with a $400 million fortune. Bascombe, who is going to jail for his role in the collapse, got a $10 million bribe from McCallister to keep his mouth shut. After learning about McCallister's scheme, Dick and Jane decide to get revenge, with Frank's help. He tells them that McCallister plans to transfer his $400 million in bearer bonds to an offshore account in the Caymans. All Dick and Jane have to do is intercept the transfer from inside the bank and substitute a fake, transferring the funds to another account. Things go wrong when Dick accidentally loses the form, forcing him to print a new one in the bank while McCallister is there making the transfer, with Jane making the switch. McCallister realizes there are errors on the form and spots Dick. Finally, Dick holds McCallister discreetly at gunpoint, demanding he sign a paltry check, which he does. Knowing that Dick's threats are empty, McCallister mockingly cuts him a check for $100 and leaves the bank. Dick reveals to Jane it was a ruse to get his signature, so Jane (who studied calligraphy in college) can forge it. The next day, as McCallister leaves his mansion, he is mobbed by reporters and former Globodyne employees, all praising him for his generosity. Dick appears and hands him a prepared statement. Reading it on live television, McCallister is shocked to announce that "he" transferred $400 million to a trust fund to support Globodyne's defunct pension plan, in gratitude to all his former employees. As Dick and Jane lead the cheers from the crowd, there is nothing McCallister can say without revealing his own fraud. A news report later shows Dick and Jane delivering pension fund checks to former Globodyne employees (including the now-imprisoned Oz and Debbie), while reporting that McCallister's net worth has been reduced to just $2,238.04. The film ends with the wealthy Harper family driving along the highway in a Volkswagen and into the sunset. While Billy is teaching his parents Spanish words, a Bentley drives up to them. In the car is Dick's friend Garth (John Michael Higgins), who tells Dick he's got a great new job at a company called Enron.

A group of vampires look for the hidden resting place of Drake (Dominic Purcell), also known as Dracula-the genetic "father" of their species. They find him in an Iraqi Ziggurat tomb, although not before, in a moment of blood lust, he kills one of them. The vampires capitalize on Blade's (Wesley Snipes) reputation as a serial vampire killer and frame him for the killing of a human (by making him look like a vampire). During the ensuing manhunt, the FBI locate Blade's latest hideout, and, during the siege, Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) dies (he is killed during the raid, when he decides to sacrifice his own life to protect his research and data). With his mentor gone and surrounded by human authorities, Blade allows himself to be captured and arrested. After both medical and interrogative sessions prove futile, the police prepare to hand Blade over to a group of medics, who are, unknown to them, vampires (the vampire team comprises of Danica Talos (the vampire who awoke Drake), Asher, her brother and Jake Grimwood, the vampire strong-arm). He is rescued by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel), Abraham's daughter, both of whom belong to a group of vampire hunters called the Nightstalkers. King and Abigail reveal that the vampire Danica Talos (Parker Posey), who once temporarily turned King into a vampire, has located Drake. Because he is the first of their kind, Drake is invulnerable to sunlight. Talos hopes Drake is powerful enough to kill Blade and make the rest of the vampires into Daywalkers as well. The Nightstalkers believe the vampires are too numerous to kill individually (They kill a few hundred each year, but the vampires are multiplying a lot faster than that), so Sommerfield (Natasha Lyonne), their resident chemical specialist, has created an experimental bio-weapon dubbed Daystar, an airborne virus capable of killing every single vampire in the world on a molecular level. In their first confrontation, Drake tests Blade by drawing him away from King and Abigail, incapacitating King in the chaos. Although physically superior, Drake shows an affinity with Blade, as they are both unique to their race and "honorable warriors" by choice. While Drake converses with Blade, he uses a baby that he has taken hostage as leverage. Drake considers all humans unworthy of his notice and holds his own followers in contempt. Blade and Abigail learn of the vampires' planned "final solution": blood farms where brain-dead humans are harvested for their blood. Blade shuts down the victims' life support in an act of euthanasia. The two return to find all the Nightstalkers but King and Sommerfield's young daughter, Zoe (Haili Page), dead; Drake uses the two survivors to lure Blade into combat. A posthumous recording by Sommerfield reveals that she has perfected a small quantity of the Daystar virus, but it requires the blood of Drake and may kill Blade. Meanwhile, King is chained and tortured by Jarko Grimwood (Triple H) and Asher Talos (Callum Keith Rennie) for information about Daystar. When this fails, Danica Talos, tortures King by pressuring his covered wound with the tip of the high heel of her shoe. She also threatens to turn King into a vampire again and force him to feed on Zoe. Blade and Abigail arrive and fight the Talos' underlings and the building security force. After freeing both King and Zoe, Abigail kills Asher, King kills Jarko, and Blade engages Drake in a sword battle. In the end, Blade impales Drake with Abigail's Daystar arrow, which releases the virus into the air, killing all the nearby vampires, including Danica. As Drake dies, he praises Blade for fighting with honor and tells him that through Blade, the vampire race will survive. Dying, he offers Blade a "parting gift"; he also warns him that, "sooner or later, the Thirst always wins". From here there are multiple endings: Theatrical ending: As Blade fought honorably, Drake gives him a "parting gift" by transforming his dying body into a replica of Blade's. The FBI retrieves the body of who they think is Blade, and thus call off their manhunt. Just as they begin the autopsy, Blade's body reverts into that of Drake's. Hannibal's voiceover tells the viewer that Blade is still alive somewhere, finishing the last struggles of the war; having rejected Drake's hopes of prolonging the vampire race, Blade's war will never end. Unrated ending: The body retrieved by the FBI is Blade's, but he's not really dead. Drake's body is nowhere to be seen, hinting at his survival. At the morgue, Blade sits up abruptly, attacks the FBI agents, and appears ready to bite a nurse on the neck. The ending is ambiguous as to whether Blade has retained his humanity or given in to his vampire thirst as Drake predicted. Werewolf ending: The Daystar virus circles the globe and wipes out all vampires. Blade walks off into the sunset, his long battle finally over. The final shot is of the Nightstalkers battling a new enemy: werewolves.

The NDR series robot "Andrew" (Robin Williams) is introduced into the Martin family home in April 2005 to perform housekeeping and maintenance duties. Unfortunately, the elder daughter of the family doesn't accept him, and orders him to jump out the window - injuring his mechanisms severely. The father of the household, Richard Martin, holds a family meeting and stipulates that Andrew is to be treated as a human being, and as a member of the family, rather than a household appliance. They then slowly grow to accept Andrew as a functional member of their family unit. But when Andrew accidentally breaks a glass figurine belonging to "Little Miss" Amanda Martin, to whom he is devoted, he carves a similar figurine out of wood. The family is astonished by this sign of original creativity in a robot and Sir Richard Martin takes Andrew to his manufacturer, NorthAm Robotics, to inquire if all the robots are like him. The CEO of the company sees this development as a problem and wishes to scrap Andrew or, as he puts it, "fix him." Deeply angered, Martin takes Andrew home and allows him to pursue his own development: creating masterpiece clocks and other wood items. He also encourages Andrew to educate himself in the humanities and helps him to understand the concepts. When Andrew is damaged, Martin again takes him to NorthAm Robotics for repairs, but stipulates that if they attempt in any way to alter Andrew's Positronic brain, the company would be liable for the projected revenue Andrew's creativity would generate over his operational lifespan - a sum that would bankrupt the company (since his operational lifespan is essentially limitless). Andrew requests that while he is being repaired his face be altered to convey the emotions, he feels but cannot fully express; thus begins Andrew's outward transformation from robot to android. He is told this would cost an exorbitant amount of money, and prints of a check, to which Andrew replies that the sum is roughly one months of his salary. The CEO of NorthAm Robotics balks and mutters that the sum is "more than he makes in a year". "Sir" Richard is gleeful at this, and says it is quite a "good achievement for...what was it he called you last time we were here, Andrew?" "Household Appliance, Sir." "That's right. Household Appliance." After many years, Andrew has amassed enough money to need a legal adviser and bank account. Andrew eventually asks for his freedom, much to Richard's dismay. Deeply hurt, Mr. Martin grants his request, but banishes Andrew from the house so that he can be 'completely' free. In 2048, Andrew sees Richard Martin one last time, on his deathbed. Mr. Martin apologizes to Andrew for banishing him, telling him it was Andrew's right to have his freedom. Andrew sets out to find other NDR series robots and discover if they have also developed personalities of their own. He spends years searching but finds none functioning. Finally, he stumbles across Galatea, an NDR robot that has been given female attributes and is owned by Rupert Burns, son of the original NDR robot designer. Andrew is attracted to Galatea after seeing her dance, but soon discovers that her personality chip was activated. She becomes a source of great annoyance to Andrew: her personality was implanted by the manufacturers, whereas his developed independently of programming. As it turns out, her owner, Burns, has been working to create a more human looking robot on his own, but has been unable to attract funding for the project. Andrew Martin agrees to finance Burns' research and the two join forces to revolutionize robotics - in the course of which they also revolutionize the field of human prosthetic organs. Over the years, he maintains contact with Amanda, grown-up, married, divorced, and with children of her own - who resent Andrew's friendship with their mother. Eventually, Andrew becomes human enough to fall in love with Amanda's granddaughter, Portia, and she with him. Andrew Martin petitions the World Congress to recognize him as human, which would allow him and Portia to be legally married but is rejected on the grounds that so long as he is in effect immortal, he cannot be human. Over the course of the next 100 years, he proceeds to turn himself into a prosthetic human, thus allowing him to age. Andrew again attends the World Congress, now appearing old and frail. The Speaker of said Congress agrees to debate the issue and asks him why he wants this. He replies: "To be acknowledged for who and what I am; no more, no less. Not for acclaim, not for approval, but the simple truth of that recognition has been the elemental drive of my existence, and it must be achieved if I am to live or die with dignity." Andrew Martin is on his death bed, Portia beside him, when the Speaker of the World Congress finally announces on television the court's decision: that Andrew Martin is recognized as the oldest, non-biblical human being in history, aged 200 years old. The Speaker also finally validates the marriage between Portia and Andrew. Andrew dies while listening to the broadcast. Portia orders their nurse, Galatea, now recognizably human, to unplug her, i.e., shut down her life support machine. The movie ends with Portia about to die hand-in-hand with Andrew, as she whispers to him "See you soon."

A Senate Armed Services Committee interviews a candidate for the position of Secretary of the Navy. Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) from Texas criticizes the Navy (Secretary of the Navy Theodore Hayes (Daniel Von Bargen)) for not being gender neutral. Behind the curtains, a deal is struck: If women compare favorably with men in a series of test cases, the military will integrate women fully into all occupations of the Navy. The first test is the training course of the U.S. Navy Combined Reconnaissance Team (similar to the SEALs UDT/BUDs) Senator DeHaven selects topographical analyst Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore), because she is physically more feminine (& hence would look good on the cover of magazines) than the other candidates. Jordan is known to speak her mind and not take shit from her superiors in operational situations. Jordan is dating Lieutenant Commander Royce Harper (Jason Beghe). Royce thinks Jordan won't survive the course and discourages her. This makes Jordan more determined to make it through. To make the grade, O'Neil must survive a grueling selection program in which almost sixty percent of candidates wash out, most before the fourth week, with the third week being particularly intensive ("hell week"). Captain Salem (Scott Wilson) is in charge of the program. The enigmatic Command Master Chief John James Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen) runs the training program that involves 20-hour days of tasks designed to wear down recruits' physical and mental strength, including pushing giant ship fenders up beach dunes, working through obstacle courses, and hauling landing rafts. His fellow trainers are Instructor Max Pyro (Kevin Gage) & Instructor Johns (David Warshofsky). trainees include Sergeant First Class Cortez (David Vadim), Ensign F. Lee 'Flea' Montgomery (Josh Hopkins), 'Slov' Slovnik (Jim Caviezel), Newberry (Angel David), Stamm (Stephen Ramsey) & Lieutenant 'Wick' Wickwire (Boyd Kestner). Lieutenant Blondell (Lucinda Jenney) is the medical officer on the training program and the only other female on base. Jordan has to shave her head to make sure her hair doesn't interfere with the physical demands of training. Slovnik has the hots for Jordan and makes several attempts of sexual harassment at her. Given a 30-second time "gender-norming" allowance in an obstacle course, O'Neil demands to be held to the same standards as the male trainees (she gets the same barracks and same everything as the rest of the batch). The master chief observes O'Neil helping the other candidates by allowing them to climb on her back to make it over the wall obstacle course. Cortez sabotages Jordan by refusing to pull her up (she was the last one) and Urgayle chews him out. Eight weeks into the program (She has already missed her period, as an nasty knee injury and jungle rot on the foot), during SERE training in Captiva, Florida, the Master Chief ties her to a chair (Jordan is captured with her team, after Cortez and Slovnik refuse to obey her orders and get caught, forcing the rest of the team to retreat) with her hands behind her back, grabs hold of her and slams her through the door, then picking her up off the floor he repeatedly dunks her head in ice-cold water in front of the other crew members. O'Neil retaliates and is successful in causing him some injury, despite her immobilized arms. In so doing, she acquires respect from him, as well as from the other trainees. Navy leaders, confident that a woman would quickly drop out, become concerned. The media learn of O'Neil's involvement, and she becomes a sensation known as "G.I. Jane." Soon, she must contend with trumped-up charges that she is a lesbian and is fraternizing with women. O'Neil is told that she will be given a desk job during the investigation and, if cleared, will need to repeat her training from the beginning. She decides to "ring out" (ringing a bell three times, signaling her voluntary withdrawal from the program) rather than accept a desk job. It is later revealed that the photo evidence of O'Neil's alleged fraternization came from Senator DeHaven's office (Chief of Staff (John Michael Higgins) figures it out as all faxes have the same smudge marks on the papers). Royce informs Jordan, who confronts DeHaven. DeHaven never intended for O'Neil to succeed; she used O'Neil as a bargaining chip to prevent military base closings in her home state of Texas. O'Neil threatens to expose DeHaven, who then has the charges voided and O'Neil restored to the program. The final phase of training, an operational readiness exercise, is interrupted by an emergency that requires the CRT trainees' support. The situation involves a reconnaissance satellite powered by weapons-grade plutonium that fell into the Libyan desert. A team of U.S. Army Rangers is dispatched to retrieve the plutonium, but their evacuation plan fails, and the trainees are sent to assist the Rangers. The Master Chief's shooting of a Libyan soldier to protect O'Neil leads to a confrontation with a Libyan patrol. During the mission, O'Neil, using her experience as a topographical analyst, realizes when she sees the team's map that the Master Chief is not going to use the route the others believe he will in regrouping with the others. She also displays a definitive ability in leadership and strategy while rescuing the injured Master Chief, whom she and McCool (Morris Chestnut) pull out of an explosives-laden "kill zone." With helicopter gunships delivering the final assault to the defenders, the rescue mission is a success. Upon their return, all those who participated in the mission are accepted to the CRT. Urgayle gives O'Neil his Navy Cross and a book of poetry containing a short poem, "Self-pity", by D. H. Lawrence, as acknowledgment of her accomplishment and in gratitude for rescuing him.

A dog wags its tail as the dog is smarter than the tail. If the tail was smarter, it would wag the dog. The President (Michael Belson) is caught making advances on an underage girl inside the Oval Office, less than two weeks before the election. Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro), a top spin doctor, is brought in by presidential aide Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) to take the public's attention away from the scandal. The President himself is in China, while Washington Post has the story and is ready to roll with it the following day. Conrad starts by delaying the President's return by 1 day claiming that he got sick in China. And then he floats a rumor regarding a deal for the B3 Bomber, only there is no B3 Bomber. As Conrad works with Ames on his plans, the news of the Presidential sexual misconduct with an underage girl hits the TV news. The President's rial Senator Neal (Craig T. Nelson) goes on TV and demands that the President step down to allow for an impartial investigation. The President is still 17 points ahead of Neal in the opinion polls. Conrad decides to construct a fictional war in Albania, hoping the media will concentrate on this instead. Conrad then ties in the rumor and adds that this is why the B3 bomber is being mobilized. Conrad plants questions in the media briefing regarding the situation in Albania and the B3 bomber being mobilized. The White House Press secretary had no knowledge of either and vehemently denied any such developments, thereby providing more credence to the stories. Brean contacts Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to create the war, complete with a theme song and fake film footage of a photogenic orphan. Conrad convinces Motss that war is show business. Each war in the American past is characterized by a single iconic photo or event. People remember the symbolism but forget the war itself. Conrad argues that why US is at war with Albania is almost immaterial as when the bombs start falling, the reasons are sent to the background. Grace (Suzie Plakson) is Motss' assistant. Motss comes up with the story that Albania has a nuclear bomb and is threatening the US with it. The Albanians have placed the device into a suitcase and moved it to Canada to smuggle it into the US. Johnny Dean (Willie Nelson) is brought in to sing the song while "Fad King" (Denis Leary) and Liz Butsky (Andrea Martin) come up with the lyrics. Tracy Lime (Kirsten Dunst) is hired to play the orphan, running from a terrorist attack, with a kitten in her hands. Tracy is concerned that she will not be allowed to put the gig on her resume even after it goes national. Ames gets her to sign a security clearance form that prohibits her from even talking about it. Tracy is made to run in front of a blue screen and the entire scenery is added digitally, including the village, the flames and the kitten. The hoax is initially successful, with the President quickly gaining ground in the polls appearing afterwards. When the CIA learns of the plot, they send Agent Young (William H. Macy) to confront Brean about the hoax. Brean convinces Young that revealing the deception is against his and the CIA's best interests. But when the CIA - in collusion with the President's rival candidate - reports that the war did happen but is drawing to an end, the media begins to focus back on the President's sexual abuse scandal. To counter this, Motss decides to invent a hero who was left behind enemy lines in Albania. Inspired by the idea that he was "discarded like an old shoe", Brean and Motss have the Pentagon provide the team with a soldier named Schumann (Woody Harrelson) around whom a POW narrative is constructed, complete with T-shirts, patriotic songs, and faux grassroots demonstrations of patriotism and solidarity. As part of the hoax, folk singer Johnny Dean (Willie Nelson) records a song called "Old Shoe", which is pressed onto a 78 RPM record, prematurely aged so that listeners will think it was recorded years earlier and sent to the Library of Congress to be "found". Soon, large numbers of old pairs of shoes began appearing on phone and power lines, signs that the movement is taking hold. The American public gets caught up in the events of a fictional war produced in the basement of the White House with computers and blue screens, actors and scenarios. Soon they even release a mental patient who once served in the military because he has the right last name, "Shoe", to portray a war hero of the conflict. They release him because they have a show song from a nostalgic old tune that contains his name, a war tune now to drum up sympathy and national support for the war effort. When the team goes to retrieve Schumann, they discover he is in fact a criminally insane Army convict. On the way back, their plane crashes on route to Andrews Air Force Base. The team survives and is rescued by a farmer, an illegal alien who is given expedited citizenship for a better story. However, Schumann is killed after he attempts to sexually assault a gas station owner's daughter. Seizing the opportunity, Motss stages an elaborate military funeral for Schumann, claiming that he died from wounds sustained during his rescue. While watching a political talk show, Motss gets frustrated that the media are crediting the president's upsurge in the polls to the bland campaign slogan of "Don't change horses in mid-stream" rather than Motss's hard work. Despite previously claiming he was inspired by the challenge, Motss announces that he wants credit and will reveal his involvement, despite Brean's offer of an ambassadorship and the dire warning that he is "playing with his life". After Motss refuses to back down, Brean reluctantly orders his security staff to kill him. A newscast reports that Motss has died of a heart attack at home, the president was successfully re-elected, and an Albanian terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for a recent bombing, suggesting the fake war is becoming real.