Italy movies

Academy Award nominee ‘Diane Lane (I)’ (qv) stars as ‘Frances Mayes’ (qv), a 35-year-old San Francisco writer whose perfect life has just taken an unexpected detour. Her recent divorce has left her with terminal writer’s block and extremely depressed, and her best friend, Patti, is beginning to think she might never recover. Frances decides to take a break and she buys a villa in the beautiful Tuscan countryside and decides to begin anew. Restoring her new home, she eventually finds the fulfillment she was searching for, including love. Based on ‘Frances Mayes’ (qv)’ memoir of the same name.

It is the year 35 of the Vulgar Era. The Emperor Tiberius is troubled by strange phenomena, an earthquake and the sky turning black as an eclipse. His astrologers give him fair warning: their omens indicate that the world is in the throes of a great upheaval and that old gods have been annihilated. A new kingdom is about to rise in the East. The Emperor calls Tito Valerio Tauro, the most prominent investigator in Rome, back from his exile. He was ostracized years earlier because he had discovered too much regarding the death of the great Emperor Augustus, the predecessor of Tiberius. Tiberius entrusts Tauro with a mission that will require all his talent: should he conduct it successfully, his good name will be completely restored. He must discover the truth regarding the death sentence of a poor Judean rabbi. His name is Jesus of Nasareth and they say he has resurrected from the dead. Tiberius is convinced that it has something to do with the prophecies and the celestial omens that shook the world some months earlier. Tauro is a septic and the only thing he believes in is reason, but a series of mysteries that will put his intelligence to the test awaits him in Judea. Nothing is as it seems in Jerusalem. Governor Pilate is an ambiguous man, both discredited and treacherous, who weaves his way among the opposing Pharisee and Zealot factions. During his inquiry, Tauro comes face-to-face with individuals he has never met before: Saul of Tarsus, a valiant defender of Mosaic tradition and an unshakable prosecutor of Christians; the mysterious and nearly insane Judas of Iscariot, who is presumably one of the disciples of Jesus of Nasareth; and the alleged leader of the Christians, a poor fisherman named Shimon Peter. They are humble and powerful men, belonging to one faction or the other, but who share one obsession: an idea of faith that the Roman eyes of Tauro seems to be simply incomprehensible and quite dangerous. He withstands this idea with all his might. He believes that Jesus is only a quack, some kind of impostor and his presumed resurrection must be a public hoax staged in order to exploit the credulousness of the poor lot, the first to be converted to the Christian sect, the followers of Jesus, nearly all of them belonging to the lowest social levels of society: fishermen, farmers, even slaves - all of them treated as free men. And the same holds true, more surprisingly yet, for women - equal to men in the eyes of the Christian God. One of these women who believe in Jesus will finally offer Tauro the key to understanding the mystery of Jesus of Nasareth’s death and conclude the mission that the Emperor has entrusted him with. Her name is Tabitha. She is not yet twenty years old and she will unveil the mystery of love to the cleverest and most disenchanted Roman investigator.

Two Tigers is an action film about two beautiful, tough women, from different countries whose lives are destined to meet in the far east modern city of Shanghai and form a tight bond. One, a professional killer from Hungary, discovers that she has a heart. The other, a high-class call girl from China, is betrayed by the man who promised her a fairytale ending she could never have. Both these women’s lives cross in the exciting ‘Paris of the Orient’ and a friendship is sealed forever as they help each other overcome obstacles in their path to true happiness.

Sam Leonard (Ryan Pinkston) is the new kid at Bridgeport High School. On his first day, he is humiliated by the school jock Kyle Plunkett (Josh Close), becomes friends with Annie Dray (Kate Mara), and falls in love with Kyle’s girlfriend Vicki Sanders (Amanda Walsh). When he goes to the guidance counselor (Craig Kilborn) for guidance, the counselor gives him the advice to lie to get the other kids to like him. Sam tells lies like “I drive a Porsche”, “My dad’s a rock star”, “My dog ate my homework”, “I never miss a shot” (at basketball) and that Vicki Sanders and his English teacher Mrs. Moran (Teri Polo) are lusting after him. That night, after an argument with his parents (John Carroll Lynch and Cynthia Stevenson), he accidentally breaks the mirror behind his door. The next morning, Sam finds his dog actually eating his homework, he has a Porsche, he never misses a shot, and Mrs. Moran and Vicki Sanders are after him. Now he must find a way to fix what he’s created.

GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner’s name was Nelson Mandela.

Angie gets the sack from a recruitment agency for bad behaviour in public. Seizing the chance, she teams up with her flatmate, Rose, to run a similar business from their kitchen. With immigrants desperate to work the opportunities are considerable, particularly for two girls so in tune with these times.

John and Laura Baxter are living in Venice when they meet a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic. She insists that she sees the spirit of the Baxters’ daughter, who recently drowned. Laura is intrigued, but John resists the idea. He, however, seems to have his own psychic flashes, seeing their daughter walk the streets in her red cloak, as well as Laura and the sisters on a funeral gondola.

Oliver Twist (Clark) is an orphan, who is soon kicked out of the orphanage and thrown into a terrible home. The bad treatment Oliver receives, forces him to run off to London. Here, he is soon picked up by the Artful Dodger (Eden) and taken to Fagin (Kingsley). Fagin treats Oliver well, but is it the life Oliver really wants?

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public’s demand for an overt display of mourning.