MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
1. “Ned Kelly”	27 March 2003

STARRING:

•Heath Ledger as Ned Kelly •Orlando Bloom as Joe Byrne •Geoffrey Rush as Superintendent Francis Hare •Naomi Watts as Julia Cook •Joel Edgerton as Aaron Sherritt •Laurence Kinlan as Dan Kelly •Philip Barantini as Steve Hart •Kerry Condon as Kate Kelly •Kris McQuade as Ellen Kelly •Emily Browning as Grace Kelly •Erika Felton as young Ellen Kelly •Kiri Paramore as Constable Fitzpatrick •Rachel Griffiths as Susan Scott •Geoff Morrell as Robert Scott •Charles Tingwell as Premier Graham Berry (Tingwell previously narrated The Glenrowan Affair, a 1951 film based on Kelly's life) •Andrew Formosa as Park Ranger •Saskia Burmeister as Jane Jones •Talia Zucker as Sarah Wicks •Jonathan Hardy as The Great Orlando

SYNOPSIS:

After saving a young boy from drowning and being awarded a "hero sash" when he was himself 10-year-old, Ned Kelly (Heath Ledger) grows up in the British colony of Victoria where he was born. The son of a Catholic Irish settler, he lives with his widowed mother Ellen (Kris McQuade), his younger brother Dan (Laurence Kinlan), and her two younger sisters Kate (Kerry Condon) and Grace (Emily Browning). Ned's best friend Joe(Orlando Bloom) and Dan's best friend Steve (Philip Barantini) are also often at the house. One day in 1871, when he's 17-year-old, he sees a white mare grazing alone in the outback. He rides it into town to impress a local girl named Jane, only to be arrested and subsequently imprisoned for supposedly stealing the horse, even though it had actually been stolen by an acquaintance of his, Wild Wright. He is released and comes home three years later, and starts helping his family with their small horse-breeding farm located near Beechworth. He takes vengeance on Wild Wright by beating him in a prizefight, and befriends Julia Cook (Naomi Watts), the beautiful wife of an English land owner who lives nearby. One night at a bar, a local constable named Fitzpatrick is abusively courting Kate. Ned intervenes and hostilities erupt with Fitzpatrick and his fellow officers. To get back at Ned, they take the Kellys' horses, but with the help of his brother and their friends, Ned steals them back. Some nights later, while Ned and Julia are consummating their blossoming passion in the Cooks' stables, Fitzpatrick shows up at the Kelly farm and asks to see Kate; when she once more rejects him, he tries to arrest Dan for horse stealing, invoking inexistent warrants for him and Ned. A fight ensues and Fitzpatrick is wounded, and falsely reports that it's Ned Kelly who shot him. In retaliation, the police arrest Ned's mother. Ned asks Julia to testify he was with her the night Fitzpatrick was at the Kelly's farm, but she would be disgraced by the public acknowledgement of their affair and her husband would take her kids away. Ned, Dan, Joe and Steve become outlaws on the run. They later meet a patrol in the bushlandand kill three officers in a shootout, despite Ned's efforts to have nobody get hurt. During the following months the "Kelly Gang" avoids capture, living in the outback, often without food. In one occasion, Julia gives them shelter at her farm while her husband is away. A large bounty is placed on their heads, and a decree is passed that allows anybody to shoot them on sight without consequences. They rob two English banks and burn the mortgage documents with which the British Crown is starving the selectors. They give the money from their robberies to poor families in need, and soon become acclaimed as folk heroes by the Victorian population as much as the British media depict them as violent criminals. To solve a situation in danger of escalating into widespread revolt, the Colonial Government sends in stern Superintendent Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush), who arrests many sympathizers including Joe's childhood friend Aaron (Joel Edgerton). Being promised they won't harm Joe, but only the Kellys, Aaron accepts to work as an informant. During a quick visit back into Beechworth, Joe learns Aaron has been seen talking with cops, so the gang decided to feed him false information about their next heist, to test his loyalty. When they see a large group of constables heading to the bank Aaron was told about, they know Aaron betrayed them, and Joe kills him at his house. Ned devises a plan to foil Superintendent Hare. The gangs lures him in by taking over the town of Glenrowan. They gather everybody the townspeople, most of which are friendly to their causes, at the Glenrowan Inn, to better protect them in the upcoming fight. In the meantime, they sabotage the railroad tracks leading into town, to derail the train on which Hare and his army of constables are traveling. They've also built metal helmets and plates of body armour to survive bullets. They count on the derailment to kill most of them constables, then capture Hare and exchange him for Ned and Dan's mother. Unfortunately, an escaped hostage stops the train in time to avoid the incident. Hundreds of officers lay siege to the inn late at night. Determined to go out in a blaze of glory, the Kelly Gang emerge from the inn and begin shooting, protected by their amour, but are forced inside again. The police once again raid the inn, killing the innocent civilians during the shootout. To buy the time needed for the townspeople to flee from the back, Ned exits and charges forward alone; he is ultimately shot in the arms and legs and falls out of sight. Near dawn, Joe is shot and dies inside the inn. Dan and Steve, down to their last bullets and knowing all is lost, commit suicide. Ned regains consciousness and even though gravely injured, continues to fire at the police. He is finally is shot to the ground and taken down. Ned is loaded onto the train to be brought back and face justice; Hare asks if he may have his beloved green-and-gold sash, which he's still wearing 15 years after he saved the drowning kid. In the end, even with a petition over 32,000 signatures strong asking for a pardon, Kelly is hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
2. “The Order”	September 5, 2003

STARRING:

•Heath Ledger as Alex Bernier •Shannyn Sossamon as Mara Williams •Benno Fürmann as William Eden •Mark Addy as Thomas Garrett •Peter Weller as Driscoll •Francesco Carnelutti as Dominic. •Adam Toomer as Chuck Lowery

SYNOPSIS:

The film's premise is that there is another way to heaven than adherence to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. A secular Sin Eater can remove all taint of sin, no matter how foul, from the soul just before death. The purified soul can then ascend into heaven. The Roman Catholic Church, according to the film, considers this heresy. Heath Ledger plays an unhappy and disillusioned priest, Alex Bernier, a member of a fictitious religious order The Carolingians which specializes in fighting demons and other hell spawn. Father Dominic, the head of the Carolingians, has died in Rome under suspicious circumstances and Alex leaves the United States to investigate. In Rome, Alex visits the morgue and sees strange markings on Dominic's corpse. After some investigation, he comes across a book that explains the markings as being the sign of a Sin Eater's work. He heads to the Vatican, where an official tells him that Sin Eaters don't exist and that Dominic may not be buried on sacred ground because he had been excommunicated for his beliefs. Alex, moving ever farther from his vocation, defies his superiors and secretly reads a holy service over the body and buries Dominic in the Carolingian cemetery (the service takes place off screen but is referred to later). Thomas Garrett, another Carolingian (there seem to have only been a total of three left including Dominic), arrives in Rome to help investigate Dominic's death. Early in the film we meet Mara Williams, an artist Alex once exorcised, who has escaped from a mental hospital and come to Alex at his church in the USA because she has a feeling that something terrible is going to happen to him. The police come looking for her, but Alex lies and denies that he's seen her and through this exchange we learn that Mara was in the hospital because she had tried to kill Alex during the exorcism. Mara goes to Rome with Alex after promising that she won't try to kill him again. Cardinal Driscoll (Peter Weller), who is introduced at the beginning of the film and who is tipped to be the next Pope, arrives in Rome from the USA and gives Alex a special dagger. According to a fragment of parchment Alex and Thomas find among Dominic's books, the dagger is to be plunged into the Sin Eater while reciting a text in Aramaic. Alex and Thomas take these instructions to mean that the dagger and incantation will kill the Sin Eater and they begin hunting for the Sin Eater and the remainder of the parchment instructions. Thomas leads Alex to a nightclub where they are taken to the underground base of operations of a masked man called Chirac, the 'Black Pope.' The Black Pope owes a favor to Thomas and Alex asks where to find the Sin Eater. The Black Pope then hangs three people and tells Alex to ask his question of the dying men who can see what the living cannot. One of the dying tells Alex a riddlethat leads to a rendezvous with the Sin Eater. On the way out of the Black Pope's headquarters, demons attack and injure Thomas, but Alex saves him and gets him to a hospital. Alex leaves Thomas in the hospital and meets the Sin Eater, William Eden, at St. Peter's Cathedral who explains that he has been a Sin Eater for centuries, taking over for an earlier Sin Eater (a Carolingian priest) who ate the sins of Eden's brother. Eden is very charismatic and talks with Alex about the priest's desires, and Alex admits he wants Mara. He then goes and presumably tells Mara this, and they make love. Afterward, Alex leaves Mara asleep and goes to Eden, who tells Alex that he is tired and ready to die and asks Alex to take his place. Alex has the dagger with him, but is curious and so doesn't use it to kill Eden. Instead, he assists Eden with a sin eating ritual. But in the end, Alex refuses Eden's offer because he has decided to leave the priesthood to be with Mara. Later Alex returns to their lodgings and finds Mara near death, an apparent suicide. In actuality, Eden slit her wrists and left her for Alex to find. Mara is beyond medical help and Alex quickly performs the sin eating ritual so that she can go to heaven. After absorbing Mara's sins, though, Alex sees that there is no sin of suicide on Mara's conscience and realizes Eden's deception. Alex goes after Eden to kill him. The rationale that leads Alex to perform the sin eating ritual instead of giving Mara Roman Catholic Last Rites is that Alex has already made the decision to leave the priesthood to be with Mara and he has broken his vows of obedience and of sexual abstinence. He therefore considers himself ineligible to offer Mara Last Rites. Meanwhile, the injured Thomas is out of the hospital and goes to see the Black Pope who reveals himself to be Cardinal Driscoll. Driscoll shows Thomas the second half of the parchment which instead of being instructions on how to kill a Sin Eater is actually instructions on how to become a Sin Eater. The entirety of Alex's and Mara's lives have been a plot among Dominic, Eden and Driscoll to entrap Alex. Eden wants to die, Driscoll wants to be Pope and Dominic wanted the financial resources to pursue arcane knowledge. Driscoll prevents Thomas from leaving to warn Alex. Alex cannot find Eden and returns to the Black Pope to learn where Eden is. The Black Pope (face hidden) tells Alex again to ask the dying. Alex recognizes that Thomas is the man being hanged, and frees him using a pistol. However, Thomas's throat is too injured by the noose to tell Alex the truth of the parchment. Alex finds Eden and stabs him with the dagger while reciting the incantation. He quickly realizes what is actually happening but it is too late, Eden's powers are transferred to Alex, and Eden, happy to be free of his burden of the sins of others, dies. In the mean time, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome crumbles around them. Thomas, who arrives at the scene too late to prevent the transfer, vows he will find a way to save Alex, even if it means killing him. Alex informs the church about Driscoll's activities and Driscoll is ruined. Driscoll then decides to kill himself and calls on the Sin Eater, now Alex, to remove his sins. Driscoll slits his wrists and when he is near death, Alex tells him that he knows that Eden and Driscoll caused Mara's death. Alex does not eat Driscoll's sins but forces them down Driscoll's throat. Driscoll dies a painful death and presumably goes straight to hell. The Sin Eater William Eden used his power to accumulate wealth. The Sin Eater Alex Bernier decides to act as a power for good, saving only those who deserve it and allowing evildoers to die in sin.

MOVIE TITLE	RELEASE DATE
3. “Monster's Ball”	December 26, 2001

STARRING:

•Billy Bob Thornton as Hank Grotowski •Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove •Heath Ledger as Sonny Grotowski •Peter Boyle as Buck Grotowski •Coronji Calhoun as Tyrell Musgrove •Sean Combs as Lawrence Musgrove •Mos Def as Ryrus Cooper •Will Rokos as Warden Velesco •Milo Addica as Tommy Roulaine •Charles Cowan Jr. as Willie Cooper •Amber Rules as Vera

SYNOPSIS:

Hank Grotowski, a widower, and his son, Sonny, are correctional officers in a prison in Georgia. They reside with Hank's ailing father, Buck, a bigoted, cold-hearted retired correctional officer whose wife (Hank's mother) died by suicide. Hank, the prison's deputy warden, will oversee the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove. Musgrove, a talented amateur artist, draws a sketch of Sonny. Sonny is a shy and gentle person, who is as kind to Musgrove as his duties permit. Sonny has a brief sexual encounter with a prostitute in a motel and is so lonely that he tries to ask her on a dinner date, but she leaves immediately. The night before the execution, Hank tells Sonny that a "Monster's Ball" is held by the corrections officers, a get-together of those who will participate in the execution. The proceedings prove too much for Sonny, who, as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair, vomits, and then collapses. Hank confronts Sonny in the prison's bathroom afterwards and slaps him for being so "soft" and for "ruining a man's last walk". After Hank attacks Sonny in his bed and orders him to leave the house, Sonny grabs a revolver from under his pillow and holds his father at gunpoint. The confrontation ends in their living room with Hank sitting on the carpet, and Sonny in Buck's customary chair. Sonny asks his father if he hates him. After his father calmly confirms that he does, and always has, Sonny responds, "Well, I always loved you," and shoots himself in the chest, dying instantly. Hank buries Sonny in the back garden with an abbreviated funeral because, as Buck comments, "He was weak." Hank subsequently resigns as deputy warden, burns his uniform in the backyard, and locks the door of Sonny's room. He purchases a local gas station in an attempt to find common ground with his father, and to provide a diversion in his retirement. During the years of Lawrence's imprisonment leading up to his execution, his wife, Leticia, has been struggling while raising their son, Tyrell, who has inherited his father's artistic talent. She abusively berates the boy regarding his obesity. Along with her domestic problems, Leticia struggles financially, leading to the loss of the family car, as well as an eviction notice on her house. In desperate need of money, Leticia takes a job at a diner frequented by Hank. One rainy night, Leticia and Tyrell are walking down a soaked highway, when Tyrell is struck by a car. Hank happens to be driving along and sees the two. After some hesitation, Hank drives them to a hospital, where Tyrell dies upon arrival. At the suggestion of the authorities at the hospital, Hank drives Leticia home. A few days later, Hank gives Leticia another ride home from the diner. They begin talking in the car about their common losses, and she invites him in. Hank finds out that Leticia is Lawrence's widow, though he does not tell her that he participated in her husband's execution. They drown their grief with alcohol and have sex. Leticia stops by Hank's home with a present for him, but he is not there. She meets Buck, who insults her and implies that Hank is only involved with her because he enjoys sex with black women. Leticia, affected by the remarks, refuses to interact with Hank. After Hank is made aware of Buck's actions, he forces his father out of the house and into a nursing home. Leticia is evicted from her home for non-payment of rent, and Hank invites her to move in with him. She later discovers Hank's involvement in her husband's death when she finds the drawing of Sonny done by Lawrence as he awaited execution. She is upset, but is there waiting for him when he returns from town with ice cream. The film ends with the two of them eating ice cream together on the back porch, content with each other.