Actor Bernard Hill (1944)

ParaNorman (2012) is a stop-motion animated film from directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler, who also wrote the screenplay. The story takes place in Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts and follows 11-year-old Norman Babcock. Despite his ability to communicate with the dead, including his late grandmother and other ghosts in town, Norman is ostracized by his family and peers at school. However, he finds a friend in Neil Downe, who shares his experiences of being bullied. During rehearsals for a school play about the town’s witch trials, Norman and Neil are visited by Mr. ...

Franklyn (2008) is a British science fantasy film written and directed by Gerald McMorrow as his debut feature. Set in a vivid, comic book-inspired world, it tells the story of Jonathan Preest, the masked vigilante of Meanwhile City. In this city, everyone is required to adopt a religion by law. However, Preest stands out as the only atheist around. When he discovers that his archenemy, The Individual, has abducted a young girl, Preest sets out to find her. But his quest takes an unexpected turn when he is taken into custody by the local authorities. In exchange for his eventual release, they attempt to implant a ...

The American horror film Gothika (2003), directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and written by Sebastian Gutierrez, was co-produced by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis. Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist at Woodward Penitentiary in rural western Connecticut, crashes her car one night to avoid hitting a young woman on a country road. After waking up, she discovers that she is now an inmate at the women’s ward where she works. Her colleague, Dr. Pete Graham, is treating her for the ...

The epic high fantasy adventure film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), was directed by Peter Jackson and written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s third volume of the novel series, The Return of the King (1955), it follows the journey of Sméagol, a hobbit who becomes consumed by the power of the One Ring after murdering his cousin Déagol to obtain it. As ...

The Scorpion King (2002), an action adventure film directed by Chuck Russell, features Dwayne Johnson in the lead role. Set before the time of the pyramids, it tells the story of a powerful conqueror named Memnon who terrorizes local tribes with his sorcerer’s foresight. Only three true Akkadians, Mathayus, Jesup, and Rama, are left to face the threat and are hired by King Pheron to kill Memnon’s sorcerer for twenty blood rubies. Sneaking into Memnon’s camp, they are ambushed by guards who were warned by Pheron’s son Takmet, a traitor who kills his ...

The film, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), directed by Peter Jackson and written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Jackson himself, is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s second volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, titled The Two Towers. In one of his dreams, Frodo Baggins envisions Gandalf battling a Balrog in Moria, before ...

A film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedic play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999), was written, produced, and directed by Michael Hoffman. Set in the 1890s in Monte Athena, a fictional Italian kingdom, the story follows the preparations for Duke Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding banquet. During this time, Egeus, father of young Hermia, approaches the Duke to request his support in forcing his daughter to marry Demetrius. Egeus threatens that Hermia will die if she does not comply. In response, Theseus offers Hermia four days to decide between ...

True Crime (1999) is an American mystery thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on Andrew Klavan’s same-titled novel from 1995. The story follows Steve Everett, an Oakland journalist who is recovering from alcoholism. He is assigned to cover the execution of Frank Beechum, a convicted murderer, after his colleague Michelle Ziegler, who had originally been tasked with the story, passes away. Interested in the case, Everett delves into Beechum’s background and begins to question his guilt in the murder of Amy Wilson. With permission from his ...

James Cameron directed, wrote, produced, and co-edited Titanic (1997), a powerful American film blending historical facts with fictionalized elements. The story revolves around the tragic sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. A year earlier, Brock Lovett and his team embarked on a dive to the wreck of RMS Titanic aboard the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. Their primary objective was to retrieve a safe believed to hold the iconic Heart of the Ocean diamond. To their surprise, they instead discovered a drawing of a young nude woman wearing the necklace on April 14, 1912 – the same day Titanic struck an iceberg ...

The British epic historical drama film, The Bounty (1984), directed by Roger Donaldson, portrays the story of Commanding Lieutenant William Bligh and the loss of HMS Bounty to mutineers led by his friend Fletcher Christian. Admiral Hood presides over the court of inquiry as flashbacks take viewers on a journey from Portsmouth, England on 23 December 1787 to an expedition in Tahiti to gather breadfruit pods for transplantation in the Caribbean. Despite harsh weather making it impossible to round Cape Horn after 31 days, Bligh persists and chooses to sail the ship west instead. Along the way, he replaces Fryer with ...