Sling Blade marked the directorial debut of country singer turned actor Billy Bob Thornton, who also authored the script (expanding George Hickenlooper's acclaimed short Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade) and stars in the picture. Thornton plays Karl Childers, a mildly retarded man who spent most of his life in a mental institution. When Karl was a ...
In this suspense thriller, a man discovers the unexpected danger of trusting a good Samaritan. Jeff Taylor (Kurt Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) are driving through the New Mexico desert en route to California when an incident with a lunatic driver causes their jeep to break down in the middle of nowhere. Jeff is trying to fix the ...
In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who ...
John Dahl directed and co-wrote (along with his brother Rick Dahl) this quirky and energetic film noir that, after a well-received screening at the Toronto Film Festival, was consigned to oblivion before resurfacing on cable television. When the owner of a San Francisco movie theater, who was a big fan of the film, arranged for a theatrical ...
This by-the-numbers psychodrama about a child psychologist trying to discern the truth behind a pair of murders stars Richard Dreyfuss as Dr. Jake Rainer, a child psychologist living in an upscale community. Rainer retired when a patient committed suicide, but the local sheriff (J.T. Walsh) calls him to the scene of a double murder. In a lavish ...
Satan opens an antique shop in a small town and lures the residents into evil actions in this supernatural chiller. Based on a novel by the prolific Stephen King, the film bears many of the author's trademarks, such as the New England setting and the focus on regular people tempted by the forces of supernatural evil. Here, the enticements toward ...
Perhaps it was his collaborator Shel Silverstein who said to screenwriter David Mamet "Lighten up. Do a comedy." Whatever the case, Things Change was a welcome change of pace for Mamet, both as scenarist and director. Don Ameche also goes against his usual grain by playing a downtrodden Chicago shoeshine boy (if one can call an 80-year-old a "boy" ...
A disturbed man looks back at his past as he faces an uncertain future in this dramatic short subject. Teresa (Molly Ringwald), a young journalist, is sent on assignment to a state-run mental hospital, where she is to interview Karl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton), soon to be released after spending 25 years in the facility. While Jerry Woolrich ...
Another "get even with Hollywood" satire in the tradition of SOB and Movers and Shakers, The Big Picture is an elongated inside joke complete with un-billed celebrity cameos. In this first feature-film directorial effort by actor/writer Christopher Guest, Kevin Bacon plays a "boy wonder" director whose willingness to compromise his ideals allows ...
Gary Ross, Oscar nominated for his Dave and Big screenplays, made his directorial debut with this comedy. The cheerful '50s TV sitcom "Pleasantville" is revived in the '90s for a loyal cable audience. One devoted fan is shy suburban teen David Wagner (Tobey Maguire), who has an almost obsessive interest in the series. Living with his divorced ...
For his first directorial project in six years, Robert Towne selected a timeworn romantic-triangle yarn, injecting the material with subtlety and conviction. Tequila Sunrise stars Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell as two lifelong friends who, in true James Cagney-Pat O'Brien fashion, grow up on the opposite sides of the law. One is a retired drug dealer ...
An American travelling abroad discovers that his brother has been murdered and sets about to discover the truth. The truth, however, is a bit more complex than he was expecting. ~ All Movie Guide
Blue Chips examines greed, cheating, and "winning at all costs" in the world of college basketball. Nick Nolte plays the stressed-out coach on the verge of his first losing season, who hits the road in search of new players not already signed by a bigger school. He finds three prospects: a precision Chicago shooter (Anfernee Hardaway), a giant ...
This film, loosely-based on the book by Bob Woodward, follows the career of comedian John Belushi (Michael Chiklis) as his spirit is guided through the past by the Angel Velasquez (Ray Sharkey). ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
In this suspense drama, a lawyer finds out more than she wanted to know about her friends and lovers. T.K. Katwuller (Barbara Hershey) is a lawyer with a firm command of her career but an unstable hold on her private life; she's more single than she'd like to be, and she's become romantically involved with one of her clients, Steven Seldes (J.T. ...
In this highly-charged police drama, Officer Michael Rhoades is becoming increasingly disturbed by the amount of white-on-black violence that has been escalating in his quiet town. He is especially disturbed that much of that interracial brutality is coming from the police. Rhoades calls they FBI but lacks sufficient hard evidence to warrant their ...
This tightly woven, fast-paced thriller begins when Amanda (Kelly Lynch), a sexy gal on in-line skates, trips because alcoholic ex-cop/security expert Jim Holland (Joe Mantegna) bumps into her. Something between the two clicks and they spend the night together. Jim has no idea that he has just been victimized until one of his less-than-savory ...
Goldie Hawn garnered favorable reviews with her TV-movie directorial debut, a family drama set against the backdrop of racism in the American South of the early '60s. While in 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis generates fears among adults, 12-year-old Lilly Kate Burns (Jena Malone) dreams of a career as a dancer. The problem is how to escape her ...
A man who thinks that he's on a mission of mercy finds himself in the middle of international espionage at its most dangerous in this thriller. Father Andrew Kanevsky (Martin Sheen) is a Catholic priest who persuades his brother Vince (Chris Penn) to join him as he travels to Russia to do missionary work with a group of Franciscan priests in St. ...
In this comedy, the ancient curse of a priceless ruby, known as the Byzantine Fire, comes into play when it is accidentally stolen by a group of thieves, headed by Gus Cardinale (Christopher Lambert). The crooks soon discover that their heist might have been more trouble than it was worth when they are pursued by the police, the CIA, the Turkish ...
In this thriller, a penniless musician starts looking into the mysterious death of his father and discovers that the killer is now after him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Made-for-cable drama based on the true story of Bruno Hauptmann, who was convicted and put to death for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindberg's son in a case still regarded as a travesty of justice. Stephen Rea plays Hauptmann, and Isabella Rossellini co-stars as his wife. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Director Stephen Frears' tense adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters was one of a number of revival film noirs in the first half of the '90s. Updating the setting to contemporary Los Angeles, the film follows a trio of con artists who are intent on out-foxing each other. Roy Dillon (John Cusack) is a simple, two-bit con, whose life is ...
Director John Dahl's The Last Seduction is an updated film noir centering around a seductive, cheerfully lethal femme fatale. Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) talks her gullible, easily manipulated, doctor-husband Clay (Bill Pullman) into pulling off a $700,000 drug deal to pay off his gambling debts. But while Clay is in the shower, Bridget ...
A nubile young babysitter (Alicia Silverstone) has no idea that she is the center of a maelstrom of male sexual fantasies. Based on a disturbing short story by Robert Coover, the drama presents a non-linear account of a perfectly mundane event. Having a social engagement, a couple calls for their babysitter. She arrives, they go out, her boyfriend ...
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