Cadenet, Amanda De

Four Rooms

This unbearable quartet of stories was written and directed by hot filmmakers Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi), Allison Anders (Gas Food Lodging), and Alexandre Rockwell (In the Soup), which only proves that even the smart guys can really blow it sometimes. The anthology is linked by the hotel in which all the events are taking place, and by Tim Roth as a bellboy flitting from scene to scene. Nobody overcomes the insufferable air of self-congratulation that permeates this exercise in forced hipness. With Bruce Willis, Madonna, Lili Taylor, Ione Skye, Jennifer Beals, and Antonio Banderas. --Tom Keogh

Don't miss the fun in this hilariously sexy comedy that has Antonio Banderas (THE MASK OF ZORRO), Madonna (EVITA), and a sizzling all-star cast checking in for laughs! It's Ted the Bellhop's (Tim Roth -- PULP FICTION) first night on the job ... and the hotel's very unusual guests are about to place him in some outrageous predicaments! It seems that this evening's room service is serving up one unbelievable happening ... after another! Also featuring Academy Award(R) winner Marisa Tomei (1992 Best Supporting Actress, MY COUSIN VINNY), FOUR ROOMS is a wild night of highly original comedy entertainment you'll enjoy ... without reservations!

Brokedown Palace

Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) are best friends on their post-high-school whirlwind vacation. Telling their parents they're off for Hawaii, they head instead to Thailand, where they stay at a $6-a-night dive and sneak drinks at a posh hotel. They both fall sway to the charms of a handsome Australian (Daniel Lapaine), who invites them to Hong Kong. Off they go, although unbeknownst to them (or is it? this question is never fully answered), one of them has heroin in her backpack. Sentenced to 33 years in a Thai jail, they find their friendship begins to deteriorate as their trust in each other fades. They enlist the help of Yankee Hank (Bill Pullman), a greedy but knowledgeable American lawyer living in Asia.

The main flaws of this film are the capital-L lessons: friendship is powerful, don't trust strangers, nice girls shouldn't drink and sleep around. The film's bleakest moments, in the jail, aren't all that bad, and in this respect Brokedown Palace has nothing on the intensity of films such as Midnight Express or even Return to Paradise. Yet Danes and Beckinsale prove they are strong actresses, and their characters' friendship is suitably complex and believable. --Jenny Brown

In this riveting thriller, Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale star as two best friends whose dream vacation becomes a nightmare. Alice (Danes) is impulsive and reckless; Darlene (Beckinsale) is more reserved. But when each falls for the same mysterious man, both girls throw caution to the wind, and in one instant, their lives are changed forever. Now in a foreign land, they must prove their innocence before it's too late. Bill Pullman co-stars in this "compelling" (People Magazine) tale of self-discovery and the ultimate sacrifice for a friend!

Grace of My Heart

The traditions of old-fashioned melodrama are given a hip facelift in this homage to the Brill Building era (the late 1950s to the early 1970s) of pop-music glory, providing a perfect match between writer-director Allison Anders and her excellent cast. Illeana Douglas plays a singer-songwriter (loosely modeled after Brill recording artist Carole King) whose life runs emotionally parallel to popular music trends. John Turturro is a stand-in for "wall of sound" producer Phil Spector and Matt Dillon is a thinly disguised version of maverick Beach Boy Brian Wilson. It's a bit too schematic in the way the central character is always in the right place at the right time, but as a tale of fame and romantic highs and lows in the '50s and '60s the movie is funny, touching, and sincere. It's a lively and loving tribute to timeless music and the colorful characters who created it. --Jeff Shannon

Fall

Writer/director Eric Schaeffer (If Lucy Fell) and Amanda De Cadenet (Four Rooms) steam up the screen with this humorous, provocative and sexy tale of lust and desire that "examines the surprisingly tender sides of erotic craving" (MovieMaker). For Michael Shiver (Schaeffer), life as an easy-going cab driver in New York suddenly changes when he picks up supermodel Sarah Easton (De Cadenet) and falls head over heels in love. But Sarah has more than just passion on her mind ? she also has a husband and a glamorous lifestyle that she can't seem to leave behind. Torn between her feelings for Michael and the security of her marriage, Sarah is forced to make a realistic decision about the sacrifices that must be made to be truly and totally in love.

The Rachel Papers

Computer geeks usually don't get the girls but imagine how things would change if a computer program could help! This "amusing, sharply acted" (Variety) teen comedy follows a young genius as he allows his raging hormones, high intellect and desktop computer'to ensnare him in the most unsolvable of all equations: love! Nineteen-year-old whiz kid Charles Highway (Dexter Fletcher) has developed a computer program that can attract any woman he fancies. But despite his computer know-how, Charles' current project, the sweet and beautiful Rachel Noyce (Ione Skye, Say Anything) refusesto download her affections! And when he falls head over heels with her, everything short-circuits for this cyber-lothario and he finally gets a taste of how much unrequited love mega-hurts!