The Fly

The Fly

The Fly

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz

At a meet-the-press party held by Bartok Science Industries, Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a brilliant, but eccentric scientist, meets Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), a journalist for Particle magazine. Bartok Science Industries provides the funding for Brundle's work, and he tells Veronica that he's working on a project that will change the world. Intrigued, Veronica accompanies Brundle back to his warehouse laboratory (where he also lives) so that he can show her his invention: a set of "Telepods" that allows instantaneous teleportation of an object from one pod to another. Veronica is highly impressed and eventually agrees to document Seth's work. Although the telepods can transport inanimate objects perfectly, they do not work correctly on living things. Seth unintentionally experiences this horrific fact when he attempts to teleport a baboon, which is killed when it is reintegrated inside-out. Shortly thereafter, Brundle and Veronica begin a romantic relationship, and their first sexual encounter provides inspiration for Seth. He realizes that the machine is not perfectly reassembling living objects, but is rather "interpreting" them, and sets about reprogramming the telepod computer to cope with living flesh...

The Switch

The Switch: Jennifer Aniston

The Switch

Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis

Jennifer Aniston stars alongside Jason Bateman in this offbeat comedy as Kassie, a smart, fun-loving single woman who, despite her neurotic best friend Wally's (Bateman) objections, decides it's time to have a baby?even if it means doing it by herself... with a little help from a charming sperm donor (Patrick Wilson). But, unbeknownst to her, Kassie's plans go awry because of a last-minute switch that isn't discovered until seven years later when Wally finally gets acquainted with Kassie's cute--though slightly neurotic--son.

Independence Day

Independence Day

Independence Day

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Mary McDonnell, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid

On July 2, a gigantic alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped "destroyer" spacecraft, each 15 miles (24 km) in width. As the destroyers take positions over some of Earth's major cities, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an MIT graduate working for a cable company in New York City, discovers hidden satellite transmissions which he believes to be a timer counting down to a coordinated attack by the aliens. With the help of his ex-wife Constance Spano (Margaret Colin), a White House employee, he and his father Julius (Judd Hirsch) gain entrance into the Oval Office to warn President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) of the impending attack. The President immediately orders large-scale evacuations of the targeted cities, but the aliens attack with advanced directed-energy weapons before these could occur. The President, portions of his staff, and the Levinsons narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the destroyers simultaneously lay waste to Washington, D.C, New York City, Los Angeles, and several other major cities around the world.

On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack; Black Knights, a squadron of Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets participate in an assault on a destroyer near the destroyed city of Los Angeles. Their weapons fail to penetrate the craft's force field, and it responds by releasing scores of smaller "attacker" ships which are similarly shielded and armed with directed-energy weapons, and a one-sided dogfight ensues. Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) survives the attack by luring a single attacker to the Grand Canyon. There, he blinds the alien with the braking parachute on his jet and ejects just before running out of fuel, causing both to crash in the desert. Having parachuted to safety, he subdues the injured alien. Hiller is subsequently picked up by Russell Casse (Randy Quaid), who is traveling across the desert with a group of refugees in a convoy of RVs. They take the captured alien to nearby Area 51, commanded by Major Mitchell (Adam Baldwin), where the President and his remaining staff have also landed. Here, it is shown that Area 51 conceals a top secret facility housing a repaired attacker and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947.

When lead scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Brent Spiner) removes a "bio-mechanical" suit from the alien, the specimen regains consciousness, attempts escape, and takes control of Okun's mind, presumably killing an examination crew in the process. When questioned by President Whitmore, it reveals through a telepathic connection that its species travels from planet to planet, destroying all life and harvesting a planet's natural resources before moving on to the next planet. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore, but is killed by Whitmore's entourage. Whitmore orders a nuclear attack on all of the destroyers using B-2 Spirit bombers; the first one to be hit is the alien destroyer hovering over a deserted Houston, Texas, but this too fails to penetrate the craft's shield and destroys the city instead; as a result, the remaining bombers are called back.

On July 4, Levinson devises a plan to use the repaired attacker to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space in order to introduce a computer virus and plant a nuclear bomb on board. This, it is hoped, will cause the shields of the Earth-based alien craft to fail long enough for the human resistance to eliminate them. Hiller volunteers to be the mission's pilot, with Levinson accompanying him to upload the virus. With satellite communications knocked out, the Americans use Morse code to coordinate an attack with the remaining forces around the world, timed to occur when the invaders' shields are set to fail. With not enough military pilots to man all available aircraft, the battle requires several volunteers, including President Whitmore and Russell, both of whom have previous combat flight experience.

With the successful implantation of the virus, President Whitmore leads the American jet fighters against an alien destroyer on approach to Area 51. Although the aliens now lack shields, the fighters' supply of missiles are quickly exhausted against the colossal craft and its large complement of assault ships. The underside of the alien craft opens up as its directed-energy weapon prepares to fire on the base. Russell possesses the last remaining missile, but his firing mechanism jams; changing his plan, he pilots his aircraft into the alien weapon in a kamikaze attack. The ensuing explosion causes a chain reaction which annihilates the ship. Using this same method, human resistance forces around the world destroy the remainder of the alien ships and saving several surviving major cities, while the nuclear device planted by Hiller and Levinson destroys the alien mothership soon after the duo escape. Hiller and Levinson return unharmed, crash-landing their captured alien fighter in the desert close to Area 51. The world celebrates, and the film ends as the main characters watch debris from the mothership enter the atmosphere like fireworks.