Actor Geoffrey Rush (1951)

The American swashbuckler fantasy film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. In the opening scene, young Henry Turner leaves his home in the dark of night on a rowboat, only to find himself pulled down to the bottom of the sea and inside the cursed ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman. He reunites with his cursed father, Captain Will Turner, and seeks out the fabled Trident of Poseidon to break his father’s curse. However, Will discourages him from this seemingly impossible task and sends him back to ...

An animated comedy film, Minions (2015), was produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. These small, yellow pill-shaped creatures have been around since the beginning of time, evolving from single-celled organisms into servants for history’s most sinister rulers. However, their loyalty towards their masters backfires as they accidentally cause their demise; rolling a Tyrannosaurus into a volcano, allowing a caveman to be attacked by a bear, crushing a Pharaoh and his subjects with a pyramid, and exposing Count Dracula to sunlight. The Minions are forced into hiding after shooting a cannon at Napoleon in Russia and find ...

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), the fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall, marks a change in leadership for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. For this installment, Jerry Bruckheimer produces while Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio write, drawing inspiration from Tim Powers’ novel On Stranger Tides and connecting to previous films At World’s End (2007) and the first ...

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010) is a 2010 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. Soren, a young barn owl, resides in Tyto Forest with his family, where he enjoys listening to his father’s tales of the ‘Guardians of Ga’Hoole’ – noble owls who battled against the malevolent Pure Ones. However, Soren’s older brother Kludd grows envious when they are taught how to fly and pushes him off a branch, causing them both to plummet to the ground. They are then taken captive by Jatt and Jutt, minions of the Pure Ones, and transported to St. ...

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur released a biographical historical drama called Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007). During this time, Catholic Spain, under the rule of King Philip II, held immense power in Europe. Despite multiple Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth’s life in the 1570s, all were ultimately unsuccessful. Pope Sixtus V then turned to King Philip and convinced him to use his formidable naval force for invading and re-Catholicizing England. This plan would result in the overthrow of Elizabeth and give control of England to Philip with the pope’s approval. As part of this plot, Philip plans to have his ...

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), an American epic fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, follows the story of Lord Cutler Beckett’s tyrannical rule over the seas. He orders Davy Jones to destroy all pirate ships and executes anyone affiliated with piracy in Port Royal. In response to this threat, nine Pirate Lords are called upon to convene at Shipwreck Cove for the Brethren Court. However, due to Jack Sparrow’s absence and lack of a named successor, Barbossa, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, ...

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) is a swashbuckling adventure directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. At the wedding of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, their celebration is cut short when Lord Cutler Beckett arrives at Port Royal with arrest warrants. These charges stem from their involvement in freeing Captain Jack Sparrow. However, they are not the only ones on Beckett’s list. ...

The epic historical drama film, Munich (2005), was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and co-written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth. It is based on Vengeance, a 1984 book by George Jonas that details Mossad assassinations in the aftermath of the Munich massacre. The events take place during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where a terrorist attack by the Palestinian militant group Black September resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team. To carry out this mission, Mossad agent Avner Kaufman, ...

The biographical film, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), is based on Roger Lewis’s book and follows the journey of English comedian, Peter Sellers. It begins with him walking up to a director’s chair, before the unseen live audience breaks into applause. In 1950s London, he is already a well-known performer on The Goon Show but struggles to make a mark in film. After a disappointing audition, he seeks comfort at home with his family but receives pushy advice from his overbearing mother Peg to ‘bite the hand that feeds you’. Inspired by her words, Peter taps into his talent for ...

The Australian-British film Ned Kelly (2003) is based on the 1991 novel Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe. Directed by Gregor Jordan, the adapted screenplay was written by John Michael McDonagh. As a child, Ned saved a young boy from drowning and was awarded a ‘hero sash’. Growing up in Victoria, where he was born, the Catholic Irish settler lives with his widowed mother Ellen, younger brother Dan, and sisters Kate and Grace. At their house, Ned’s friend Joe and Dan’s friend Steve are frequent ...

Finding Nemo (2003) is a heartwarming and humorous adventure from Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. Marlin, a clownfish living in the Great Barrier Reef with his wife Coral, anxiously awaits the arrival of their eggs. However, their joyful anticipation is cut short when they are attacked by a barracuda, leaving Marlin as the sole protector of their only surviving egg. Fast forward six years and Marlin’s overprotective nature has only grown as he sends his son Nemo off to school. But Nemo’s rebellious streak leads to him getting captured by scuba divers. Desperate to find his son, Marlin meets Dory, a blue tang with a forgetful memory who ...

Intolerable Cruelty (2003), an American romantic comedy directed by the Coen brothers, follows Donovan Donaly, a TV soap opera producer who discovers his wife Bonnie with an ex-boyfriend. After filing for divorce, Bonnie hires Miles Massey, a renowned divorce attorney known for his ‘Massey pre-nup’ which guarantees airtight prenuptial agreements. As Donaly is left bankrupt from the settlement, private investigator Gus Petch captures wealthy and married Rex Rexroth in a drunken affair with a blonde. When Gus presents the video to Marylin Rexroth, a woman infamous for marrying for money, she demands a hefty ...

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) is an American fantasy supernatural swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, it’s based on the popular Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney theme parks. In the 18th century, Governor Weatherby Swann and his daughter, Elizabeth, sail aboard HMS Dauntless. During their voyage, they come across a shipwrecked survivor named Will Turner. However, when Elizabeth takes a gold medallion from around Will’s neck, she ...

The Tailor of Panama (2001) is a spy thriller film directed by John Boorman, co-written by John le Carré and Andrew Davies. It is based on le Carré’s 1996 novel of the same name. The story follows Andy Osnard, an MI6 spy who has been sent to Panama after an affair with the foreign minister’s mistress in Madrid. Despite his superior’s warning about the corruption in Panama, Osnard sees it as an opportunity. He consults a list of British citizens living in ...

Elizabeth (1998), a British biographical period drama film directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Michael Hirst, tells the story of Catholic Queen Mary I of England’s death in 1558. The forty-two year old daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon is believed to have died from a cancerous tumor in her womb. With Mary gone, her twenty-five year old half sister Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, is released from house arrest for suspected involvement in Thomas Wyatt the Younger’s rebellion. As the new Queen of England, Elizabeth inherits a ...

The romantic comedy film, Shakespeare in Love (1998), was directed by John Madden. Set in London during 1593, it follows the story of William Shakespeare as he struggles with writer’s block while working for Philip Henslowe, owner of The Rose Theatre and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. In an attempt to sell his new comedy, Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter, to rival theatre owner Richard Burbage, Shakespeare tries to seduce Rosaline, Burbage’s mistress. He also seeks advice from fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe. However, his plans are complicated when he discovers Rosaline is involved with ...