Julia Roberts

Bitter exes Georgia (Julia Roberts) and David (George Clooney) team up to stop their daughter, Lily (Kaitlyn Denver), from committing the biggest mistake of her life: getting married.

Nobody less than the Hungarian Bela Bartok once declared: "Competitions are for horses, not artists!" Using the example of the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, the documentary film "Why Competitions" looks into the question whether the competitive spirit that dominates music competitions is conformable with objective and ethical precepts, whether the prize winners actually benefit from their success and what happens to those who are often being stigmatized as "losers". This documentary film about the most important piano competition in the world was produced on the occasion of Frederic Chopins 200th birthday. It lets the participants and jury members have their say, some of who have learned to keep their distance to their experiences, yet most of them are unable to forget and accept the fact they had to suffer injustice even after 60 years. The film focuses on the scandal following the elimination of the Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich who did not pass to the final round at the competition in 1980, which caused the world-famous Argentinian pianist Martha Argerich to leave the jury in protest, thanks to which Pogorelich became a star overnight. 1980 also marked a turning point in Polish history: A few months before the competition began the trade union "Solidarnosc" was established. The film is divided in several chapters with each of them dealing with another competition year. In 1980 it was Pogorelich who took center stage, in 1975 the three Soviet competitors who instead of winning the competition only took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th prize were "penalized" by the Soviet Regime and thus prevented from making a career after the competition. The last chapter deals with the general question whether music competitions can be just and useful. Never before has such a wide range of world-famous musicians and eminent pedagogues spoken on this subject so candidly. With some ugly truths about corruption and bribery being revealed by these respectable persons, the question remains: Why do these people often chose to remain an integral part of the international competition circuit?

The movie follows a hard-drinking, womanizing Texas congressman who, along with a CIA agent, drove the funding of Afghan guerillas in the 1980s to beat back the Soviet invasion.

The coolest gang of hustlers ever is back! This time their targets are Paris, Rome and Amsterdam. Danny`s ex-wife joins the team, adding one to make it Ocean`s Twelve!

Less than 24 hours after being paroled, Danny Ocean handpicks a team to pocket $150 million in one night! The mark: the man who controls the three biggest casinos in Las Vegas!

A corporate raider hires a hooker to act as a business escort in Beverly Hills, California. Replete with extreme wealth and suave good looks, Edward Lewis could seemingly have any woman he wants, a committed significant other needed on his arm at social events to further how he makes his money as a corporate raider, but since he focuses more on his corporate-raiding pursuits with his lawyer of 10 years and partner-in-crime Philip Stuckey than any woman, every significant other he's had in his life has felt neglected and eventually left him, the fact of which he is just realizing. In Beverly Hills, still in need of a woman on his arm as he and Philip work toward taking over a company owned by the increasingly insolvent James Morse, he decides, from a chance encounter, to hire Hollywood Boulevard hooker Vivian Ward as his escort for the week. It makes sense: a professional who would be committed to the work without having any relationship issues after the week is done. Beyond their chance encounter, he also makes this decision because she surprises him about how unhookerish she is in certain respects. Vivian, relatively new to Los Angeles and the business, must still look and act the part, with Edward, beyond giving her money, leaving her largely to her own devices to do so. She finds a somewhat-unlikely Henry Higgins in Barney Thompson, manager of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where Edward is staying. Barney draws that fine line of keeping the hotel's upscale clients happy while maintaining the posh decorum of the upper class, which does not include people to the hotel looking for rooms with hourly rates. As Barney and his associates are able to transform Vivian into a Cinderella, the questions become whether Vivian can go back to her Hollywood Boulevard life and whether she does have her Prince Charming beyond this week in the form of Edward (or anyone else) who truly does see her as Cinderella as opposed to a Hollywood Boulevard streetwalker. —Huggo Young prostitute Vivian Ward dreams of a knight-like man who will rescue her. In an unexpected event, she meets handsome billionaire Edward Lewis, who's lost his way while driving his friend's sports car. She asked if he wants a date, but he asked her for the direction to his hotel instead. For $20, Vivian drives him to his hotel. As Edward is about to enter the hotel, he looks back. Seeing her sitting at the corner, he suddenly finds her beauty hard to let her go and asks her to accompany him to his penthouse suite. That night, they get acquainted and make love. The next morning, Edward surprises her with a lucrative business proposal: be with him for the next seven days. Delighted, Vivian accepts. Being with Edward for the whole week changes Vivian's world, far from her regular work as a Hollywood Boulevard prostitute. Though knowing professionals should never fall in love, each begins to question this rule. —judytrinidad Having recently broken up, Edward Lewis, a successful out-of-town corporate raider and elegant bachelor with an impeccable sense of style, borrows his lawyer's silver 1990 Lotus Esprit SE, only to get lost on bustling Hollywood Boulevard. Looking for directions, Lewis has a chance encounter with beautiful Vivian Ward, a statuesque streetwalker with a heart of gold; and, as one thing leads to another, a mutually beneficial voluntary association commences. Now, to escort suave Edward for an entire week, gawky diamond-in-the-rough Vivian must endure a complete makeover; but, as personal secrets come to light, something starts to change. Both Vivian and Edward have already had their share of unhappiness and hurt, and they also come from different worlds. Is Vivian willing to break her rules and give love a second chance? —Nick Riganas Edward is a rich, ruthless businessman who specializes in taking over companies before selling them off piece by piece. He travels to Los Angeles for a business trip and decides to hire a prostitute. They take a liking to each other and he offers her money if she'll stay with him for an entire week while he makes the "rich and famous" scene (since it doesn't do for a man of his stature to be alone at society parties and polo matches). Romantic comedy (and complications) ensue. —Afterburner <aburner@erols.com>