Speed Racer

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is an 18-year-old whose life and love has always been racing. Racing is "in his blood": his parents, Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon), run an independent business building race cars; and his older brother, record-setting racer Rex Racer (Scott Porter), was killed in Speed's childhood in the running of the Casa Cristo, an incredibly intense cross-country racing rally notorious for rough and foul play. Before his death, Rex was rejected by his father for his choice to run the Casa Cristo, and publicly defamed for appearing to cheat underhandedly in a race. Now, Speed Racer is quickly sweeping the racing world with his artistic skill, driving the Mach 5 (and later the Mach 6) of his father's design, but remains interested only in the art of the race and the well-being of his family.

When Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam), owner of conglomerate Royalton Industries, offers Speed an astoundingly luxurious lifestyle in exchange for signing to race with him, Speed is tempted but declines, knowing that his father would never wish Speed to sign with the very power-hungry corporations he so mistrusts. When Speed refuses Mr. Royalton's offer, Royalton reveals that top corporate interests, including Royalton himself, are fixing the races to gain profit, and then threatens Speed's career success and very life when he still does not agree to sign on. When Royalton later proves ready to make good on his threats, Speed teams up with his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), his one-time rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox), and shifty racer Taejo Togokhan (Rain) to enter the Casa Cristo 5000 – known as "The Crucible" – in part of a plot to uncover the treacheries of Royalton and save the Racer business.

Speed begins to suspect that Racer X is actually his brother Rex in disguise, after they drive together and work naturally as a team. Despite his father's initial anger at his racing in the Crucible, Speed's family eventually joins up as well, as Speed overcomes Royalton's brutal team and many seemingly insurmountable obstacles to win the Casa Cristo 5000.^[4] It is, unfortunately, a sham victory, as it's revealed that Taejo's purpose was simply to make himself - and, by association, his father's racing company - look better, so the stock price would rise, and a proposed Royalton-arranged company buyout would be more expensive.

An angry Speed hits the old track his brother Rex used to take him as a boy, and the arrival of Racer X leads Speed to confront X, demanding to know the truth as to whether or not he is Rex. Racer X removes his mask, revealing an unfamiliar face, and tells Speed that his brother Rex truly is dead. Speed returns home, and Taejo's sister Horuko (Yu Nan) arrives, giving Speed Taejo's automatic invitation to the Grand Prix, as she felt bad for what her brother had done, noting that Taejo had declined to accept anyway. After 32 hours of family effort, the Mach 6 is rebuilt (having been destroyed in the race following Speed's refusal to sign with Royalton), and Speed hits the Grand Prix for the greatest race of his life, with a bounty on his head from the other drivers, and pitted against legendary Hall of Fame driver Cannonball Taylor.

Speed's battle in the race succeeds in exposing Royalton, and returning racing to its true purpose. Furthermore, it is revealed to the audience at the movie's end that Rex did not die (and also did not cheat), but instead underwent plastic surgery to re-emerge as Racer X, helping his younger brother finally save his family and his sport. He chose not to reveal his identity to his family, presumably for their protection. In the end of the movie, Rex is heard saying that even if he made a mistake hiding from his family it would be a mistake he had to live with, as he felt that it would do more damage to return to them rather than continue to live in hiding. As the cameras flash, Speed scoops Trixie up and kisses her, as he had promised to do at inspiration point, and Spritle starts getting overly excited; swinging the trophy from side to side while shouting. The "Magazine Montage" at the end confirms that Royalton's perversities were finally disclosed to the public and that he is sentenced to jail for life, and it also states that "Cheaters Never Prosper".

Zathura : A Space Adventure

Two boys, Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny (Jonah Bobo), discover a space themed board game, where everything inside it becomes real. The boys are eventually drawn into an adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space. The story is similar to Jumanji, another illustrated book by Van Allsburg (in the book, the Zathura game is contained inside the Jumanji one, although paradoxically the astronaut is revealed to be the creator of Jumanji. Likewise in the movie versions Zathura takes place in the 1970's and Jumanji takes place in the 1960's).

During the course of the story, the boys must overcome their personal ill-feeling held toward one another in order to survive. They are aided in this by an astronaut (Dax Shepard) who appears as a result of the game. This astronaut is eventually revealed to be an older version of Walter, who had been trapped as a character in the game's world as a result of causing the disappearance of Danny, without whom he was no longer a player. Thus, the game could not advance without Danny taking his turn. This backstory becomes the basis, although the viewer only sees its role as such in retrospect, of parallels drawn between the two versions of Walter, including a revelation of the backstory without mention of his name or that of his brother. He is finally released when Walter summons his brother back to him. Both he and his brother seem to merge with Danny and Walter (after the astronaut turns back into another version of Walter) now that the future caused by Walter wishing Danny away has been erased.

Accompanying Danny, Walter, and the astronaut is their cantankerous elder sister, Lisa (Kristen Stewart), who while not a player is as vulnerable to the dangers present in the game. She is placed in cryogenic freeze for five turns. She develops a crush on the astronaut, and is thus horrified when she finds out that she fell for an older version of her brother Walter.

The main villains in the movie are the Zorgons; reptilian, biped tool-users who are fond of heat and are attracted to a heat source much like bees are attracted to nectar, because they are cold-blooded. The Zorgons, having burned their own planet to obtain more heat, are nomads who travel through space seeking more to burn and who keep a flock of four-eyed goats on their ship.

Another character, a robot (Frank Oz), first appears as a wind-up tin toy that quickly becomes life-size. It is supposed to defend the players, but as it is malfunctioning it mis-identifies Walter as an alien life form and begins rampaging through the house. Walter uses a "Reprogram" card on the robot, and it instead sets its sights on the Zorgons. A single Zorgon survives the robot's kamikaze attack and sneaks up behind Walter and Danny as they are wondering where Lisa is. Just as it's about to kill them, it is crushed and killed by Lisa with Danny's piano. Unfortunately, a massive Zorgon fleet arrives and attacks after Walter frees the astronaut and his brother.

Danny eventually completes the object of the game, whereupon the house is drawn into a roaring black hole, which Danny realizes is Zathura. The Zorgon fleet is pulled into the black hole, as are Lisa and Walter. Moments later, they have returned to Earth. All the "pieces" of the game (the house, its furnishing, and the players) have been replaced as they were before the game began. The brothers are thereafter much more cooperative with one another. The boys, and Lisa, retain their memories of the game's events in which they all agree never to speak of Zathura again.

As the kids get in the car with their mother and drive away, one of their bicycles which drifted off into space falls back to the lawn.

The SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie

Eugene H. Krabs is about to open his new restaurant, the Krusty Krab 2, to boost his business venture's popularity. At the opening ceremony, SpongeBob does not receive the title of general manager, which is instead given to Squidward, severely depressing the sponge. Plankton, distraught that his archrival is getting all the attention, uses the dreaded Plan Z to steal the Krabby Patty formula. He arrives at King Neptune's castle to steal Neptune's crown as part of Plan Z and is successful. Plankton feeds false information to Neptune, stating Eugene H. Krabs stole the crown. Infuriated, Neptune heads for the Krusty Krab 2. Later that evening, SpongeBob has an ice-cream eating contest with Patrick to brood over his loss, and, after obtaining a hang-over, heads to Krabs to talk things out. When he arrives, he sees Neptune attacking Krabs and demanding him to return his crown. SpongeBob promises Neptune he will travel to Shell City (where the crown was seen last) and retrieve the crown in six days; in the meantime Neptune freezes Krabs as he is the only suspect. Should the crown not return in six days's time, Krabs will fry. SpongeBob and Patrick take the Patty-Wagon, and with a resounding KER-PATTY!, smash through the wall of the restaurant and head off on their adventure.

Carrying out his Plan Z, Plankton steals the secret formula of the Krabby Patty while Mr. Krabs remains frozen. Plankton's restaurant finally gets customers when the Patty is distributed, though this is only a portion of Plan Z. Meanwhile, SpongeBob and Patrick lose their car at a gas station, and they go to great lengths to retrieve it upon finding it at a bar for tough fish. They continue their journey, unaware of the trouble that is brewing at Bikini Bottom: Plankton has sent a hitman named Dennis to go after the two.

Squidward uncovers the truth about Plankton and Neptune's crown theft and attempts to alert the authorities. However, Plankton uses mind-controlling buckets, disguised as souvenirs, to control the residents of Bikini Bottom, including Squidward, and renames the city Planktopolis. Back on the road, SpongeBob and Patrick drive into a place littered with skulls and bones, but, due to their ignorance, buy ice cream. The whole setting turns out to be a frogfish's lure, but SpongeBob and Patrick escape when the frog fish is eaten by a giant eel from a trench. SpongeBob and Patrick are about to admit defeat from the danger of the trench when Neptune's daughter, Mindy, shows up and tells them what Plankton has done. Neptune, however, is more concerned about his baldness (the prime reason why he wants his crown back) than the safety of the underwater world, and it is entirely up to SpongeBob and Patrick to save the day. When the two still refuse to cooperate, Mindy falsifies things by attaching strands of seaweeds to their lips, lying to them that they have grown mustaches and have become men. The gullible SpongeBob and Patrick are motivated and dances their way across the monster-infested trench, while Mindy leaves. The two then come across Dennis, who, after ripping off their false mustaches and spitting the truth at them, tries to kill them. Unexpectedly, a giant boot belonging to a human squashes Dennis, and the human, known to marine life as "the Cyclops", (due to the old wet suit he wears) grabs SpongeBob and Patrick and takes them away to his gift store, which is in fact Shell City. The Cyclops owns the shop and is selling Neptune's crown for seven dollars.

When they arrive, SpongeBob and Patrick encounter a lethal drying-out process which nearly kills them. However, their tears short circuit the heat lamp, which releases smoke and activates the emergency sprinkler system, which revives them as well as the other hundreds of dried-out sea creatures (their bodies were being sold as souvenirs). While the sea creatures attack the Cyclops, SpongeBob and Patrick take the crown outside to the beach. David Hasselhoff offers the two a ride to Bikini Bottom, which they gladly accept. Dennis makes one final attempt to eliminate the two, but is struck by a catamaran. Back at the Krusty Krab 2, Neptune arrives to execute Krabs, while Plankton eagerly watches. In the nick of time SpongeBob and Patrick return with the crown, saves Krabs, and then confronts Plankton. In turn Plankton activates the mind buckets, even brainwashing Neptune. But before Plankton thinks he is triumphant, SpongeBob, cherishing the fact he is just a kid and that he accomplished a lot in the past six days, uses his imagination by playing a rock song, using his guitar to free Plankton's slaves. Realizing defeat once again, Plankton tries to escape, but is trampled by Bikini Bottom's citizens.

Plankton is arrested and incarcerated, being sent to the "Institution of the Criminally Tiny." King Neptune thanks Mindy for her braveness and unfreezes Mr. Krabs, who graciously gives the title of general manager of the Krusty Krab 2 to SpongeBob. SpongeBob declares this to be the greatest day of his life.