Bedtime stories
Cast: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Courtney Cox
Director: Adam Shankman
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy
Rating: PG
Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) works at the Sunny Vista Nottingham hotel in Los Angeles. Flashbacks reveal that Skeeter's dad Marty (Jonathan Price, who narrates the story) was the original owner of the property, that is until financial problems forced him to sell it to Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths). Now, 30 years later, Nottingham is sticking to his word to keep Skeeter in his employ, but only as a janitor, not as the manager as was originally promised. But Skeeter is brimming with managerial goals and wants to prove himself, especially when the boss announces plans for Sunny Vista Mega Nottingham, the largest hotel on west coast of America. Meanwhile, Skeeter's sister Wendy (Courteney Cox) loses her job and has to go to Arizona for a week to look for another position. Babysitting her kids at night Skeeter has to tell them bedtime tales before the lights go out. Strangely, the stories come true the next day and this gives Skeeter an opportunity to change his life.
The Express
Cast: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Omar Benson Miller
Director Gary Fleder
Genre: Biography/Drama
Rating: PG
The Express is based on the true story of Ernie Davis, the college football hero who was the first African-American to win the coveted Heisman Trophy. But, playing out in the late '50s when racism was rife in the American Deep South, the movie is a lot more than the tale of a football prodigy. The prologue makes this very clear: '21 straight lines, five yards apart& that's a football field. But there are other lines, ones you don't see, that run deeper and wider, all the way through a country and they aren't part of any game.'
Davis (Rob Brown) discovered his talent at Elmira High School in New York and went on to gain national fame at Syracuse University guided by one of the best football coaches of the time, Ben Schwartzwalder (well played by Dennis Quaid). A flashback shows us how Davis developed his ability to keep ahead of the pack: as a deprived 10-year-old scavenging beverage bottles to earn some money, Davis and a friend were chased by a gang of white boys. Davis outran them and he didn't stop sprinting until his life was tragically cut short. He was only 23 when he died.
