Janu Nakts (St. John's Night) is a traditional Latvian celebration during which family and friends gather to build bonfires, barbecue, drink and generally have a good time. According to legend, lovers and those who would like to fall in love, can search the woods for the "magic fern" on this night. This magic fern serves as the focus and pivotal point of the six stories in "Midsummer Madness" It is also a metaphor for the film's underlying theme - finding love. "MIDSUMMER MADNESS " is reflected in the recurring element of the magic fern, a metaphor (both in the film and in real life) for love. The question posed by the film is: can a search for love ever be successful? Each story deals with this question. An answer is provided at the film's conclusion in a humorous and unforgettable way: we see the legendary fern, glowing magically in a meadow. It exists after all! Then a cow ambles along and eats it. The deeper message, which is not obvious to the audience, is therefore: Yes, a search for love can be successful, though we are generally unaware of how to deal with it.
Cast: Maria de Medeiros, Dominique Pinon, Orlando Wells, Tobias Moretti, Chulpan Khamatova, Gundars Abolins, Aurelija Anuzīte, Janis Blums, Birgit Minichmayr
Directed by Alexander Hahn
'It's a Boy Girl Thing' uses the high school comedy structure as a basis to explore teenage insecurities, hopes and fears. The film stars Samaire Armstrong as Nell (the smart, cute girl) and Kevin Zegers as Woody (the big dumb jock), two teenage rivals who find themselves in each others bodies after arguing in front of an Aztec statue in a museum, which then transfers their souls as they sleep, causing them to awake in each other bodies. After trying to work things out but coming to no conclusion, both Nell and Woody, inside each others bodies, begin ruining each others lives. But after all this bickering, both of them soon discover that if they work together and help each other, a happy ending might turn out after all.
Cast: Samaire Armstrong, Kevin Zegers, Brooke D'Orsay, Sharon Osbourne, Brandon Carrera
Directed by Nick Hurran
The pride of their Brooklyn fire station, Chuck Levine (Sandler) and Larry Valentine (James) are two guys' guys -- always side-by-side and willing to do anything for each other. Salt-of-the-earth widower Larry wants just one thing: to protect his family. His buddy Chuck also wants one thing: to enjoy the single life.
Grateful Chuck owes Larry for saving his life on the job, and Larry calls in that favor big time when civic red tape prevents him from naming his own two kids as his life insurance beneficiaries. All that Chuck has to do is claim to be Larry's domestic partner on some city forms. Easy. Nobody will ever know.
But when an overzealous, spot-checking bureaucrat becomes suspicious, the new couple's arrangement becomes a citywide issue and goes from confidential to front-page news. Forced to improvise as love-struck newlyweds, Chuck and Larry must now fumble through a hilarious charade of domestic bliss under one roof. And after surviving their mandatory honeymoon and dodging the threat of exposure, the well-intentioned con men discover that sticking together in your time of need is what truly makes a family.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Jessica Biel, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Dan Aykroyd
Directed by Dennis Dugan
"Stardust," based on the best-selling graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, takes audiences on an adventure that begins in a village in England and ends up in places that exist in an imaginary world. A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes).
Cast: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Peter O'Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Ian McKellen (narrator)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
The film tells the story of Natalia, 35, who at the age of 16 was married off under compulsion, directly from the orphanage. In an isolated house in the countryside Natalia lives a hard and solitary life together with her spouse, a brutal and narrow-minded man. After the death of her unloved husband Natalia gains a second life, the real one. She opens her eyes to a new world, free from habit and prejudice, imposed by the will and force of others. Natalia changes rapidly as the world around her begins to play an important role in her story. The open spaces, the river and the forest participate in the creation of a new Natalia; the same does her encounter with the trucker Sergei. From now on she is in the mood for love… This ingenuous story told in a contemporary cinematographic language conceals a kind of parable: whatever happens to you, there still remains a possibility for happiness and freedom.
Cast: Ksenija Kutepova, Dmitrijs Djuževs
Directed by Vera Storoževa
Year 1998. Time of changes. But the main heroine doesn't notice what is happening around. Her life suddenly changed - Vanechka appeared in her life.
Na?ve beautiful Nadya arrives to Moscow to enter Russian State University of Cinematography. But terrible accident happens: the only Nadya's friends in Moscow die in car accident, and the main heroine stays in foreign city with orphan Vanechka on her hands. Little boy will become closest Nadya's friend.
This touching movie is about a girl, who like Madonna, with a baby on hands goes through all circles of criminal and political chaos that prevails in the country. This is a film about clear soul, that keeping faith in good is able to help her and many others.
Cast: Andrejs Paņins, Armens Džigarhanjans, Jeļena Veļikānov?, Maksims Galkins, Ņina Ruslanova
Directed by Jeļena Nikolājeva
Single and indecisive, Eddie (Ben Stiller) begins dating the incredibly sexy and seemingly fabulous Lila. Upon the urging of his father and best friend, Eddie proposes to her after only a week, fearing this may be his last chance at love, marriage, and happiness. However, while on their honeymoon in sunny Mexico, Lila reveals her true beyond-awful nature and Eddie meets Miranda, the woman he realizes to be his actual soul mate. Eddie must keep his new, increasingly horrid wife at bay as he attempts to woo the girl of his dreams.
Cast: Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Akerman, Jerry Stiller, Rob Corddry, Carlos Mencia, Scott Wilson, Danny McBride, Stephanie Courtney, Polly Holliday, Roy Jenkins
Directed by Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
It is 1585 and, having reigned over England for nearly three decades, Queen Elizabeth I (Blanchett) continues to face bloodlust for her throne and the lingering threat of familial betrayal. A channel away, a destructive wind of fundamentalist Catholicism blows across 16th century Europe, with Spain's Philip II (JORDI MOLLA of Sultanes del Sur), its figurehead. Backed by the Church in Rome and armed with the Inquisition, Philip-with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada-presents an imminent threat to Queen and Country…the dark and pious king is determined to wrest the Protestant "heretic" from the throne and restore England to the glory that is the Roman Catholic Church.
Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth also struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Raleigh-despite his status as a commoner-who remains forbidden for a Queen sworn body and soul to her country. Unable and unwilling to pursue her passion, Elizabeth encourages her favored lady-in-waiting, Bess (ABBIE CORNISH of the upcoming Stop Loss), to befriend Raleigh and keep him near.
Reprising the roles they originated in seven-time Academy Award®-nominated "Elizabeth," Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush return for a gripping historical thriller laced with treachery and romance--"The Golden Age." Joining them in the epic is Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, a dashing seafarer and newfound temptation for Elizabeth.
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton, Abbie Cornish
Directed by Shekhar Kapur
Tsane lives with his grandfather and their cow Cvetka on a remote hilltop. Except for their neighbour, Bossa, they are the village's only inhabitants. One day, Tsane's grandfather tells the young man that he is dying. He makes Tsane promise to go over the three hills into the nearest town and sell Cvetka at the market there. With the money, he must buy a religious icon, then anything he really wants and finally, he must find a wife to bring home. In town, Tsane easily fulfils the first parts of his promise, but how is he going to get home with a wife before his granddad dies? That's when he meets Jasna, who is late for school as usual…...
Casting: Aleksandar Bercek, Ljiljana Blagojevic, Miki Manojlovic, Uros Milovanovic
Directed by Emir Kusturica
The director of "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch" presents the sequel to the cult Soviet comedy "The Irony Of Fate"!
It's been 30 years since New Year's night when Zhenja Lukashin met his Nadja. Unfortunately they didn't stay together and got back to their previous lives. Both had children - a boy and a girl… The events of the second film resemble those of the original, only now everything happens to Nadja's and Zhenja's children - main character's unconscious flight from one city to another, addresses coincidence and, finally, fortuitous encounter…
Casting: Konstantin Khabensky, Sergei Bezrukov, Liza Boyarskaya, Viktor Verzhbitsky, Barbara Brylska, Andrei Miagkov, Yuri Yakovlev, Dato Bakhtadze
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Script: Timur Bekmambetov
Producer: Anatoli Maksimov
Sixteen-year-old Poppy (Emma Roberts, Nancy Drew) is a self-obsessed, incorrigible brat who lives a pampered life in her L.A. world. Though she’s handed credit cards with unlimited balances and surrounded by countless hangers on, Poppy can’t escape the mounting frustration she feels with her family situation. And she makes sure that everyone knows it.
After an over-the-top prank pushes her father (Aidan Quinn) one step too far, Poppy is shipped off to an English boarding school. Finding herself in a foreign world of early curfews, stern matrons and mandatory lacrosse, the American princess has finally met her match: a school of British girls who won’t tolerate her spoiled ways.
Under the watchful eye of the school’s headmistress (Natasha Richardson) and surrounded by a new circle of friends, Poppy begrudgingly realizes her bad-girl behavior will only get her so far. But just because she must grow into a fine young lady doesn’t mean this Wild Child won’t be spending every waking hour shaking up a very proper system…
Starring: Emma Roberts, Natasha Richardson, Shirley Henderson and Aidan Quinn
Directed by: Nick Moore
Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) thinks he is God's gift at his high school. He plays a prank on a fellow high school student, Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) who, unbeknown to him is a witch. Kendra teaches him a lesson by putting a curse on him making him as beastly on the outside as he is on the inside. He has one year to find someone to fall in love with him or stay like that forever.
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Mary-Kate Olsen
Directed by: Daniel Barnz