Saturday, September 10, 2011

Friends Poster TV Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc 11x17 MasterPoster Print, 11x17 MasterPoster Print, 17x11

  • Masterprint Title: Friends Poster TV Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc 11x17 MasterPoster Print, 11x17
  • Size: 17 x 11 inches
(HBO Comedy Series) Ten years ago she was TV's "It" girl. Now It's a different story. For Valerie Cherish, no price is too high to pay for clinging to the television spotlight. Lisa Kudrow stars as Valerie Cherish, a former B-list sitcom star so desperate to revive her career that she agrees to star in a reality television show called The Comeback.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Audio Commentary
Interviews:Valerie?s DVD Interview
Other:Valerie Backstage at Dancing with the Stars

How wickedly ironic--and delicious--that Lisa Kudrow's single season of The Comeback provided the talented actress with enough meat for her to be nominated for an Emmy--after the show was canceled by H! BO. Kudrow went for the Anti-Phoebe role after the demise of Friends, demonstrating her spectacular acting chops and range of comic abilities. The show centered on Kudrow's playing an actress, once the ingénue of the moment, trying ever more desperately to get back into the limelight. The vehicle of choice: a reality "series" that follows Kudrow's Valerie Cherish into scenarios with the deck more than stacked against her. Kudrow's acid delivery and willingness to show Valerie's raw pain, ambition, and obsequiousness make for engrossing and poignant, if squirm-inducing, viewing. Valerie's fond memory of being on Leno: when a fellow guest's monkey unexpectedly relieves himself on her head. "It was a real water-cooler moment," she says, desperately spinning. "And you know, this was Leno's first year. So it was a real important show for him too!" The boxed set includes all 13 episodes and some yummy extras, including a new "interview" with Valerie Cherish, an ap! pearance by Valerie backstage at Dancing with the Stars! , and ba ckstage dish with series creators Kudrow and Michael Patrick King. The series, though short-lived demonstrates why Kudrow is one of our most talented actresses; here's hoping for a succession of more Comebacks. --A.T. HurleyThe smash-hit comedy series Friends is now available in three new compilations, including Birthday, Wedding and Baby themed collections. Compiling the best episodes from all ten seasons, these compilations make the ideal gift to mark life's special occasions! At first glance one may not believe there are enough Friends having babies to warrant a compilation DVD. But don't be misled by the title: only three of the five episodes are set in the hospital. A couple of miscellaneous baby-themed episodes--"The One With the Baby on the Bus" (season two) and "The One With the Male Nanny" (season nine)--are good installments, but still feel out of place against the more showy where's-my-epidural hospital-set shows. The One With All the Babies compilat! ion begins with "The One With the Birth," in which Ross (David Schwimmer) and lesbian ex-wife Carol welcome their son Ben. "The One Hundredth," in season five, had the loopiest premise--Phoebe's surrogate delivery of her half-brother's triplets--but Lisa Kudrow's stellar acting as she struggled with giving up the babies won her an Emmy. An Emmy also went to Jennifer Aniston the year Rachel went through pregnancy, culminating in a 48-hour labor in the aptly named "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby" (season eight) that's at once hilarious and tearful. Sadly, the series-finale birth of Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler's (Matthew Perry) adopted twins is not included, but should have been.

Watching them back to back, it's funny seeing how much the characters' maturities have evolved (not to mention their hairstyles). However, the disc adds nothing new in addition to the extra footage never aired on TV and producer commentary found on existing Friends DVDs. If you alr! eady own several season boxed sets, these repackaged highlight! reels a re completely redundant. But if you're enough of a fan to want some of the best episodes of the show's 10-year run, this is not a bad place to start. --Ellen A. KimBig laughs and hot stars make this a can't-miss comedy in the hilarious tradition of CLUELESS and DUMB AND DUMBER! Romy (Academy Award(R)-winner Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Emmy Award-winner Lisa Kudrow) are carefree party girls who reinvent themselves for their 10-year high school reunion. With new wardrobes and wild stories of success, they make a big impression ... until a former classmate Janeane Garofalo -- DOGMA) blabs their real story to everyone! But that's when Romy and Michele let loose with a surprise of their own ... and outrageous results! Featuring a sizzling hit soundtrack of favorite hits from the '80s, it's the comedy treat The New York Times calls "cheerful, giddy fun!"Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino play ditzy best friends who decide to attend their 10-year high school reunion, but they com! pletely make over their styles and identities first in order to impress the people who tormented them. The two stars keep the film going despite various lapses and potholes in David Mirkin's direction and despite a sneaking sense that the idea can't sustain the length of an entire feature. A midsection dream sequence underscores the latter problem through blatant padding, but Sorvino and Kudrow--both of whom became established stars playing airheads on other projects--are worth the weaknesses. --Tom Keogh Big laughs and hot stars make this a can't-miss comedy in the hilarious tradition of CLUELESS and DUMB AND DUMBER! Romy (Mira Sorvino) and Michele (Lisa Kudrow) are carefree party girls who reinvent themselves for their 10-year high school reunion. With new wardrobes and wild stories of success, they make a big impression ... until a former classmate Janeane Garofalo -- CLAY PIGEONS) blabs their real story to everyone! But that's when Romy and Michele let loose with! a surprise of their own ... and outrageous results! Featuring! a sizzl ing hit soundtrack of favorite hits from the '80s, it's the comedy treat The New York Times calls "cheerful, giddy fun!"Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino play ditzy best friends who decide to attend their 10-year high school reunion, but they completely make over their styles and identities first in order to impress the people who tormented them. The two stars keep the film going despite various lapses and potholes in David Mirkin's direction and despite a sneaking sense that the idea can't sustain the length of an entire feature. A midsection dream sequence underscores the latter problem through blatant padding, but Sorvino and Kudrow--both of whom became established stars playing airheads on other projects--are worth the weaknesses. --Tom Keogh

Decorate your home or office with high quality wall décor. Friends Poster TV Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc 11x17 MasterPoster Print, 11x17 is that perfect piece that matches your style, interests, and! budget.

Operation Cobra

  • Directed by: Fred Olen Ray
  • Written by: Sean O'Bannon
  • Cast: Don "The Dragon" Wilson ("Bloodfist"), Tane McClure ("Legally Blonde", "Behind Closed Doors," "Cruel Intentions 2")
  • Year: 1998
Nicknamed as "Hitler", Jailer Siddhanth Kumar Sharma is feared and respected at work as well as at home where he lives with his wife, a former lawyer, Sheila; younger brother, Amar; two younger sisters and his son. He would like Amar to find employment for himself on his merit rather than use his contacts, but Amar is unable to secure any employment. Then wealthy Daulatram insults Siddhanth, accuses him of using Amar as a ploy to fall in love with his daughter, Priya, so that the Sharma family can inherit his wealth. An angered Siddhanth confronts Amar, and is told that he has fallen in love with Priya and would like to marry her. Amar is angry with Daulatram and wants him to apologize ! to Siddhanth, an argument ensues between them, Amar grabs a knife and warns Daulatram. Shortly thereafter, the police arrest Amar for killing Daulatram. Siddhant disbelieves him, but Sheila decides to don her black gown and represent her brother-in-law, against the overwhelming evidence that has surfaced against him. It is now up to Sheila to not only defend Amar but also attempt to find out the reason behind Daulatram's death.When Interpol officer Kyle Connors watches his partner die in an explosion, he swears he'll hunt down the killer. Yanked off the case by Internal Affairs, Connors defies his orders and follows the only lead he has... to India. Now he is in a strange land where nothing is what it seems. Who can he trust? A beautiful counter-operative? An earnest young cop? A reclusive arms dealer? In a country where assassins come cheap, Connors finds himself in a cobra's nest of danger and betrayal. Format: Color, DVD, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 (U.S. and! Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.33! :1 Numbe r of discs: 1 Rated: R (Restricted) Studio: New Concorde DVD Release Date: April 8, 2003 Run Time: 82 minutes

True Blood: The Complete Third Season

  • Genre: Horror
  • Actors: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Rutina Wesley, Ryan Kwanten
  • Release Date: May 31, 2011
  • Region: DVD: 1 (US, CA)
  • Rating: R
A couple on the verge of a nasty divorce attempt to sell their empty love nest and move on with their lives, separately. After a successful open house, they are horrified to discover, days later, that a potential buyer didn’t leave their home. While Alice is being held captive in the basement, the unannounced houseguest moves in upstairs. She senses her capture is being kept a rebellious secret. She knows her only way out, if she can only get out alive.

Stills from Open House (Click for larger image)

With a True Blood-like poster featuring portraits of Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer hovering in front of a haunted house, one may mistakenly expect a vampire tale starring this popular horror-series couple. However, Open House, written and directed by A! nna's brother, Andrew Paquin, is a far cry from the hit TV ser! ies. Rat her, it is a slow-paced horror film in which couple Josh (Moyer) and Alice (Rachel Blanchard) try to sell their home to prepare for divorce but encounter a hazard in the form of psychotic couple David (Brian Geraghty) and Lila (Tricia Helfer), who steal the home and move right in, with deadly results. In fact, Paquin, as Alice's friend Jennie, and Moyer have mere cameos in Open House. The bulk of the plot is devoted to David's conundrum as Alice struggles to stay alive in the basement. While Open House is not overly gory, there are bloody moments. Overall, it is no Texas Chainsaw Massacre, meaning that the film is not about gore in itself. The film is primarily a psychological investigation of a man who is torn between torturing and killing. This narrative has created some rich horror film territory--see any of Dario Argento's films, such as Opera--but Open House mines no new approach. A couple of odd, funny moments, like when David offers ! Alice a sandwich while he gets out his laptop to work despite her bruised, defeated appearance, hint at the contemporary edge, an ennui, that this film tries so hard to achieve. But it is mostly a fluffy rehash of a story that horror films can only pull off if they have either style or script going for them, not to mention a captivating criminal character. Open House lacks engaging characters or original vision. For a stronger horror film along similar lines, check out Terribly Happy, a Danish movie with enough plot twists and curve balls that the crimes perpetrated convey not only dark humor but also a deeper social message. --Trinie DaltonThere's something in this house...Something ancient and dark that remains still, hidden and silent. It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years. In fact, its milieu is darkness. Only in it can it show itself and move. It even takes its name: DARKNESS. It's lived here since someone tried to call i! t, more than forty years ago. Because this house hides a secre! t, a ter rible past, an inconceivably evil act. Seven children, faceless people, a circle that must be completed. And blood, lots of blood... But something went wrong. One of the children got away. The circle wasn't completed. That's why what lives here isn't finished. It's just waiting...It tries to carry out what it couldn't before, making plans in the shadows, to become complete, to be, to exist. A new family has just moved into the house. A small child. An unstable father capable of losing his temper at any time. A perfect target. The right place at the right time. The pieces only have to be put in place. And then wait. Maybe the family's daughter will be able to discover the truth; the dark secret of the past, the sinister conspiracy, the truth about what threatens them. Why is the father getting worse? What is her little brother afraid of? Why doesn't her mother listen to her? And why do the lights keep going out? It could be that nothing happens by chance, that everything has ! been worked out from the start. A devilish plan, precise and exact like a time-bomb. Her father's illness, the house, the circles, the children. Perhaps she can foresee darkness' master stroke of play and the inevitable destiny that is closing in on her family. But maybe it's too late....A FAMILY OF ORPHANED GEESE WHO LOST THEIR WAY. A 14 YEAR OLD KIDWHO WILL LEAD THEM HOME. TO ACHIEVE THE INCREDIBLE, YOU HAVE TO ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE.There are some filmmaking teams that invariably bring out the best in each other, and that's definitely the case with director Carroll Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. They previously collaborated on The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolf, and Fly Away Home is their third family film that deserves to be called a classic. Inspired by Bill Lishman's autobiography, the movie tells the story of a 13-year-old girl (Anna Paquin) who goes to live with her estranged, eccentric father (Jeff Daniels) following the death! of her mother. At first she's withdrawn and reclusive, but fi! nds rene wed happiness when she adopts an orphaned flock of baby geese and, later, teaches them to migrate using an ultralight. Sensitively directed and stunningly photographed, the movie has flying sequences that are nothing short of astonishing, and Daniels and Paquin (Oscar winner for The Piano) make a delightful father-daughter duo. (Ironically, the digital video disc is not available in widescreen format, but the image quality is brilliant.) --Jeff ShannonA couple on the verge of a nasty divorce attempt to sell their empty love nest and move on with their lives, separately. After a successful open house, they are horrified to discover, days later, that a potential buyer didn’t leave their home. While Alice is being held captive in the basement, the unannounced houseguest moves in upstairs. She senses her capture is being kept a rebellious secret. She knows her only way out, if she can only get out alive.


Stills from Open House (Click for larger image)

With a True Blood-like poster featuring portraits of Anna Paq! uin and Stephen Moyer hovering in front of a haunted house, on! e may mi stakenly expect a vampire tale starring this popular horror-series couple. However, Open House, written and directed by Anna's brother, Andrew Paquin, is a far cry from the hit TV series. Rather, it is a slow-paced horror film in which couple Josh (Moyer) and Alice (Rachel Blanchard) try to sell their home to prepare for divorce but encounter a hazard in the form of psychotic couple David (Brian Geraghty) and Lila (Tricia Helfer), who steal the home and move right in, with deadly results. In fact, Paquin, as Alice's friend Jennie, and Moyer have mere cameos in Open House. The bulk of the plot is devoted to David's conundrum as Alice struggles to stay alive in the basement. While Open House is not overly gory, there are bloody moments. Overall, it is no Texas Chainsaw Massacre, meaning that the film is not about gore in itself. The film is primarily a psychological investigation of a man who is torn between torturing and killing. This narrative has! created some rich horror film territory--see any of Dario Argento's films, such as Opera--but Open House mines no new approach. A couple of odd, funny moments, like when David offers Alice a sandwich while he gets out his laptop to work despite her bruised, defeated appearance, hint at the contemporary edge, an ennui, that this film tries so hard to achieve. But it is mostly a fluffy rehash of a story that horror films can only pull off if they have either style or script going for them, not to mention a captivating criminal character. Open House lacks engaging characters or original vision. For a stronger horror film along similar lines, check out Terribly Happy, a Danish movie with enough plot twists and curve balls that the crimes perpetrated convey not only dark humor but also a deeper social message. --Trinie DaltonVowing to move to Canada if John Kerry loses the 2004 election, fervent liberal John Logue (Breckin Meyer) suddenly find! s himself with no job, no girlfriend... and no country! Making! good on his "campaign promise," Logue finds a traveling companion--a sexy, mysterious woman named Chloe (Anna Paquin)--and heads north. But Chloe is not all that she seems, and their journey takes more twists and turns than either could have imagined in this romantic comedy that's as poignant as it is "disarmingly fun" (Martin Kelley, CinemATL).Blue State looks at just how far one young man will go to prove his point that the wrong candidate won the 2004 presidential elections. When John Kerry loses to George W. Bush, one of Kerry's campaign workers makes good on his promise to move to Canada if Bush is elected president. The disgruntled volunteer John (Breckin Meyer, Clueless) is a borderline slacker who most likely would've been too lazy to move anywhere if his friends didn't remind him about his promise. Then, too, there's the invitation from a Canadian dating service that promises him a bevy of women to date if he heads north. Heading to a different country is dau! nting (and can be expensive), so John finds someone willing to share the expenses of driving from California to Canada. Chloe (played by Anna Paquin, The Piano) is a lovely and somewhat mysterious young woman who challenges John's opinions and makes him think about why he believes what he believes. They bicker in the way that people do when they are attracted to each other. Chloe also has a few secrets of her own, some of which she hides behind ambivalence and a tiny bit of fear. Paquin, who also served as one of the film's executive producers, is particularly convincing in her role: Smart, sweet and cynical, she complements Meyer's endearing acting style. The filmmakers make no apologies for their political leanings; though this romantic comedy would like viewers to think about what is happening in U.S. politics, it doesn't bludgeon the point too often. Where the film falters occasionally is in the hefty dialogue between Chloe and John. Do people really talk like th! at? And if they do, shouldn't they stop for their own sake? --Jae-H a KimDustin Hoffman presents Diane Lane (MURDER AT 1600, JACK), Liev Schreiber (SPHERE, SCREAM I&II), and Viggo Mortensen (A PERFECT MURDER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS) in a provocative and sensual story about one woman's personal sexual revolution! It's the summer of 1969 and Pearl (Lane) is spending yet another vacation with her family when she realizes that the freedom of the times is passing her by. Following a chance meeting with a sexy, free-spirited young man (Mortensen), Pearl is soon doing the unthinkable: having a daring, passionate affair! Also starring Academy Award(R)-winner Anna Paquin (Best Supporting Actress, THE PIANO, 1993; SHE'S ALL THAT) in a powerful motion picture that's been called one of the year's best -- Pearl must ultimately decide between the love of her husband and children ... or the lure of her newfound desires!Although its tale of marital crisis unfolds a bit too cleanly, A Walk on the Moon--which was coproduced by Dustin Hoffman--offer! s a welcome relief from the juvenile assault of skull-throbbing blockbusters. The story is gently involving, the characters are authentic, and, best of all, Diane Lane is given a chance to show why she's one of the most genuine and underrated actresses of her generation. Here she plays Pearl Kantrowitz, a devoted housewife on a routine vacation in the Catskills with her TV repairman husband Marty (Liev Schreiber), 14-year-old daughter (Anna Paquin), and rambunctious younger son (Tovah Feldshuh).

It's the summer of 1969. Neil Armstrong has made his "one small step for man," Woodstock is about to happen nearby (leading to a barely plausible dramatic coincidence), and while her husband is away on business, Pearl is cautiously receptive to the seductions of "the blouse man" (Viggo Mortensen), a hippie salesman who offers the adventure and passion that Pearl sacrificed to young pregnancy and marriage. Once the stage for infidelity is set, A Walk on the Moon progresse! s predictably, but first-time screenwriter Pamela Gray stays t! rue to t he emotions of her characters, and actor Tony Goldwyn (making a smooth directorial debut) maintains precisely the right tone to downplay most of the movie's dramatic clichés. Add to this a sharp dynamic between Lane and Paquin, whose performances create a substantial mother-daughter relationship. Graced by stolen moments and fleeting expressions that speak volumes, this unassuming little film is eminently worthwhile. --Jeff ShannonIn Bon Temps, everyone has something to hide. But when new threats emerge, no one can conceal the secrets of their past. After Sookie discovers Bill was kidnapped, she heads to Mississippi, where she becomes entangled in a world ruled by werewolves and a powerful Vampire King. Eric is also drawn to the King’s domain to settle an old score; Jason falls for a mysterious woman; Lafayette can’t avoid love or demons; and Sam uncovers the truth about his birth family. It all leads up to the revelation of the series…Sookie’s true identit! y. The 12 episodes composing True Blood: The Complete Third Season are either the best yet or the most ridiculous, depending on one's opinion of the increasing number of monsters entering the scene. As last season saw an onslaught of pagan and ancient Greek-derived "supernaturals," as they're called by Bon Temps' citizens, this season welcomes everything from werewolves, to vampire royalty, to that surprise-being that Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) finally discovers she shares genes with. While the first two seasons centered on the spicy love affair between Sookie and Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), this season branches out once again from the vampire-human cultural blender. From the first episode, "Bad Blood," when Bill is whisked off to meet the King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare), whose villainous scheme will inform all ensuing episodes, one gets less of Sookie and Bill, and more of everything else.

For example, Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell) re! veals himself this time around, starting in the episodes "Beau! tifully Broken" and "It Hurts Me Too," in which he tracks down members of his past and in turn meets some new family, like his mischievous brother, Tommy Mickens (Marshall Allman). Following up on Eggs's death at the end of season two, Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) and Jason Stackhouse (Ryan Kwanten) have multiple police dramas, especially in later episodes like "I Smell a Rat" and "Fresh Blood." This season, too, presents some of life's greatest challenges to Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), as if she hadn't suffered enough after her new love Eggs was shot. Hoyt (Jim Parrack) and Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), as a foil couple to Sookie and Bill's vampire-human coupling, have enormous hurdles to jump over simply to continue dating. While all of these dramas make the characters in Bon Temps come alive like never before, the silliest of the plots continues on, unfortunately, as Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq (Evan Rachel Wood) has to battle King Edgington for Vamp-Blood sales territory. On the! up side of that chess-game narrative, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) and his femme fatale, Pam De Beaufort (Kristin Bauer), play much larger roles this season, and in the finale, "Evil Is Going On," Eric not only discovers his deep past history but struggles through his rockiest present dangers thus far.

Interestingly, though Sookie is still the protagonist, True Blood appears to be shifting to a wider view, emphasizing the overall community and the effects supernatural warfare has on Bon Temps collectively. Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis), still one of the most charming characters, discovers more about his past, thanks to nurse Jesus Velasquez (Kevin Alejandro), and Jason too discovers a new calling, thanks to Crystal Norris (Lindsay Pulsipher). If anything, this season of past recollections and the realizations of future callings will allow for this excellent series to carry on into infinity, as magical creatures continue to grace this setting enriched! with full-fledged characters. Vampires were, as the cast conf! irms thi s time around, only the beginning. --Trinie Dalton

The Painted Veil

  • Based on theic novel by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Painted Veil" is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter, a middle doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote villa
OUTSIDER - DVD MovieFrom the director of The Bourne Identity comes this riveting thriller inspired by the experiences of real-life CIA officer Valerie Plame (Academy Award® nominee Naomi Watts). When Plame's retired ambassador husband Joe Wilson (played by Academy Award® winner Sean Penn) writes a newspaper article challenging the basis for the U.S. war on Iraq, the White House leaks Plame s undercover status leaving her international contacts vulnerable, her career in shambles and her life in dan! ger. Crackling with sharp dialogue, gripping intrigue and heart-pounding suspense, Fair Game is the adventure that s so unbelievable, it can only be realThe skullduggery surrounding the Valerie Plame affair is already the stuff of an espionage thriller, even if at the time of the making of Fair Game many details of the incident remained murky. Naomi Watts plays Plame, a longtime CIA agent whose classified status was exposed to the world by columnist Robert Novak in 2003. The move was widely seen as retaliation for the fact that Plame's husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), had just written an op-ed piece contradicting an assertion in President Bush's State of the Union address--an assertion that was part of the Bush administration's drum-beating enthusiasm for the Iraq War. The movie can't answer all the questions about who wanted Plame exposed, but at the least it could create a convincing piece of Beltway intrigue. Instead, Fair Game steers in the dir! ection of domestic melodrama, as the marriage between Plame an! d Wilson is severely tested by the unwanted notoriety. It's not that the actors are unable to bring this situation to life; Penn is forceful (and he cleverly suggests the vanity of a longtime cocktail-party maven), while Watts, though quite capable, is somewhat frozen by her character's mixed, ambivalent reactions. The main problem is simply that these relationship scenes tip the balance, as though the Plame-Wilson marriage carried greater weight than allegations of weapons of mass destruction and the ramp-up to the Iraq War. Meanwhile, director Doug Liman tries to whip up some spy-movie "energy" with lots of noise and cutting, all of which feels increasingly hollow as the movie goes along. A calmer, cleaner documentary on the same subject might do a superior job someday. --Robert HortonFrom writer-director Rodrigo Garcia (TV'S Big Love, Nine Lives) and executive producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) comes the moving story of three women and the po! wer of the unbreakable bond between mother and child. Three women's lives share a common core: the have all been profoundly affected by adoption. Karen (Annette Bening) placed a baby for adoption at age 14 and has been haunted ever since by the daughter she never knew. Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) grew up as an adopted child; she's a bright and ambitious lawyer, but a flinty loner in her personal life. Lucy (Kerry Washington) and her husband are just embarking on the adoption odyssey, hoping for the opportunity to become parents.Nine Lives director Rodrigo García explores the maternal instinct in Mother and Child through three disparate L.A. women: Karen (Annette Bening), a physical therapist, cares for her ailing mother; Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) works as a high-powered attorney; and Lucy (Kerry Washington), a bakery owner, plans to adopt (only Lucy has a spouse). An opening sequence reveals that Karen, who became pregnant at 14, gave Elizabeth up for adoption. Tho! ugh the daughter has no desire to track down the mother, Karen! has bee n mourning her loss for decades, never working up the nerve to take the next step. All three turn to the same adoption agency (Cherry Jones, who donned a nun's habit for Broadway's Doubt, plays Sister Joanne). When Karen yields to the advances of a kindly divorcé (Jimmy Smits), and Elizabeth, who's been sleeping with her boss (Samuel L. Jackson) and her married neighbor (Marc Blucas), finds herself with child, their feelings of anger and resentment start to melt. Lucy, meanwhile, has been meeting with a prickly expectant mother (Half Nelson's Shareeka Epps) who may hold the key to her happiness--assuming that a baby will solve all life's problems. García clearly venerates motherhood, but he doesn't let any of his characters off the hook: Karen can be cruel, Elizabeth can be cold, and Lucy can be whiny, but they overcome their lesser natures. There are a few missteps, like a soft-focus montage toward the end, but García manages a sprawling cast with finesse, ! and his gifted leads have rarely been better. --Kathleen C. FennessyBased on the classic novel by W. Somerset Maugham, "The Painted Veil" is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter, a middle class doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly epidemic, and takes her along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth.Produced by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil works well as a movie--even better as an actor's showcase. The year is 1925. When her domineering mother pressures her to marry, Kitty (Watts) settles for shy bacteriologist Walter (Norton). Then Walter is transferred from London to Shanghai! and the lonely and bored Kitty drifts into an affair with mar! ried dip lomat Charlie (Liev Schreiber). When Walter finds out, he makes a startling proposition: either Kitty accompanies him to the cholera-infested countryside or he'll divorce her. With no other prospects, she comes along on what looks like a double-suicide mission. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil was adapted by Philadelphia's Ron Nyswaner (who knows a little something about infectious diseases). As two previous versions made little impact--despite Garbo's presence in the 1934 melodrama--John Curran's film is sure to stand as definitive. Interestingly, Norton, who studied Chinese history at Yale, chose Watts as his co-star, while Watts chose Curran, for whom she appeared in 2004's underrated We Don't Live Here Anymore. Filmed on location, the handsome production is, in many respects, just as old-fashioned as its source material--sex is merely suggested and Kitty is shocked that their English neighbor (Toby Jones) has a Chinese love! r--but the ending packs a feminist twist. Mostly though, The Painted Veil is about the acting, and Watts and Norton, along with Diana Rigg as a disillusioned Mother Superior, have rarely been better. --Kathleen C. Fennessy