Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2

Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is a brilliant scientist and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finds him to be a kindred spirit after meeting with him to get some background for a school report. He may be the mentor for which Peter has been searching as he has time for both romance and science much like Peter would like to have with Mary Jane Parker (Kirsten Dunst). But Peter’s view of him is sadly torn asunder when he discovers that this kind and gentle soul has morphed into Doc Ock following the laboratory accident which has fused mechanical arms to his body and killed his beloved.


Director:  Sam Raimi
Writer:  Stan Lee; Steve Ditko; Alfred Gough; Miles Millar; Michael Chabon; Alvin Sargent
Cast:
Tobey Maguire -  Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Kirsten Dunst -  Mary Jane Watson
James Franco -  Harry Osborn
Alfred Molina -  Doc Ock/Dr. Otto Octavius
Rosemary Harris -  May Parker
J.K. Simmons -  J. Jonah Jameson
Donna Murphy -  Rosalie Octavius
Daniel Gillies -  John Jameson
Dylan Baker -  Dr. Curt Connors
Bill Nunn -  Joseph ‘Robbie’ Robertson
Vanessa Ferlito -  Louise
Aasif Mandvi -  Mr. Aziz
Willem Dafoe -  Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
Cliff Robertson -  Ben Parker
Ted Raimi -  Hoffman
Elizabeth Banks -  Miss Brant









The Saint (1997)

The Saint

Simon Templar (Val Kilmer) is a bold master thief and impersonator who sells his services to the highest bidder. When he is offered $8 million to steal the formula for cold fusion, he doesn’t hesitate. Off to Russia to turn it over to his employer, he is confronted in a Moscow bar by Dr. Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue), the formula inventor who has followed him. He is gobsmacked to discover that she would have given it to him if only he had asked for it. What he doesn’t seem to understand is her view that science should be free for everybody and one shouldn’t hoard such secrets. Too much time spent in the foggy corridors of spies and evil-doers? It seems likely.


Director:  Phillip Noyce; Philip Noyce
Writer:  Leslie Charteris; Jonathan Hensleigh; Wesley Strick
Cast:
Val Kilmer -  Simon Templar
Elisabeth Shue -  Dr. Emma Russell
Rade Serbedzija -  Ivan Tretiak
Valery Nikolaev -  Ilya Tretiak
Henry Goodman -  Dr. Lev Botvin
Alun Armstrong -  Inspector Teal
Michael Byrne -  Vereshagin, Tretiak’s Aide
Evgeny Lazarev -  President Karpov
Irina Apeximova -  Frankie
Lev Prigunov -  General Sklarov
Charlotte Cornwell -  Inspector Rabineau
Emily Mortimer -  Woman on Plane
Lucija Serbedzija -  Russian Prostitute
Velibor Topic -  Skinhead
Tommy Flanagan -  Scarface
Yegor Pozenko -  Scratchface









New Best Friend (2002)

New Best Friend

How well do you know someone as they become a big part of your daily life? Alicia Campbell (Mia Kirshner) glides into the life of Hadley Ashton (Meredith Monroe) becoming indispensable, charming, helpful, subservient, manipulative, corrupting and eventually switching roles in her life. Watching this happen is so reminiscent of the process that Mia Kirshner uses so successfully in her role on the TV show, The L Word.


Director:  Zoe Clarke-Williams
Writer:  Victoria Strouse
Cast:
Mia Kirshner -  Alicia Campbell
Meredith Monroe -  Hadley Ashton
Dominique Swain -  Sidney Connors
Scott Bairstow -  Trevor
Rachel True -  Julianne McDowell Levinson
Taye Diggs -  Artie Bonner
Glynnis O’Connor -  Connie Campbell
Joanna Canton -  Sarah
Eric Michael Cole -  Warren
Oliver Hudson -  Josh
Dean James -  Max
J. Michael Hunter -  Charlie
Edmund J. Kearney -  Dean
Don Henderson Baker -  Haas
Shawn Michelle Cosby -  Joanie
Ralph Price -  Eddie









Breakfast with Scot (2007)

Breakfast with Scot

On occasion, it takes the arrival of a new face to shake the cobwebs out of our lives. Over time, we fall into patterns of convenience that let us cope with the travails of life. It isn’t intentional, it is convenient. Along comes Scot (Noah Bernett) who has a flamboyant streak. After his mother’s death, he comes to stay with partners Sam Miller (Ben Shenkman) and Eric McNally (Tom Cavanagh) whose gay life ends at the front door. Sam’s brother Billy (Colin Cunningham) is now Scot’s guardian (thanks to his mom) but he’s resisting the return home from Brazil. So Sam and Eric find themselves trying to figure out how to care for, raise and influence a boy who will be a target for every bully who ever strode a schoolyard. On Scot’s side is his near limitless capacity to forgive and his bright, shiny disposition. But none of this solves his problem of who will parent him for the next dozen years.


Director:  Laurie Lynd
Writer:  Michael Downing; Sean Reycraft
Cast:
Tom Cavanagh -  Eric McNally
Ben Shenkman -  Sam Miller
Noah Bernett -  Scot
Colin Cunningham -  Billy
Jeananne Goossen -  Nula
Megan Follows -  Barbara Warren
Sheila McCarthy -  Ms. Patterson
Graham Greene -  Bud Wilson
Dylan Everett -  Ryan Burlington
Benz Antoine -  Greg Graham
Cameron Ansell -  Finn O’Brien
Mark Forward -  Snickering Businessman
Alexander Franks -  Joey Morita
Kathryn Haggis -  Andrea Burlington
Adam Korson -  Referee
Shauna MacDonald -  Joan






Urban Justice (2007)

Urban Justice

What does it take to make some time for a loved one, given your busy day? Simon Ballester (Steven Seagal) is on the hunt for the killer of his cop son. He is wistful in his memories of his son’s funeral he tells Alice (Carmen Serano) that he begrudges his not finding the time to spend five minutes just to make a phone call to get caught up with what is going on in his son’s life.


Director:  Don E. FauntLeRoy
Writer:  Gilmar Fortis II; Gil Fuentes
Cast:
Steven Seagal -  Simon
Eddie Griffin -  Armand Tucker
Carmen Serano -  Alice Park
Cory Hart -  Max
Kirk B.R. Woller -  Frank Shaw
Liezl Carstens -  Linda
Mary Evans -  Irene
Al Staggs -  Priest
Jermaine Washington -  Rasheed
Brian Lucero -  Benny
Danny Trejo -  El Chivo
Diego Joaquin Lopez -  Winston
Grady McCardell -  Dwight Morris
Brett Brock -  Watch Sergeant
Mike Seal -  Jack
T.J. Jones -  Isaiah









Bounce (2000)

Bounce

We are all plagued by guilt. Guilt over what we’ve done, what we could have done, what we haven’t done. How we handle it is often a measure of how we are able to cope every day. My guilt tends to be associational, that is, something triggers a memory and no matter how hard I try to assuage it, the circumstances I remember cause me to pause and wonder what can be done to eliminate it. But I’m relieved that mine is limited to stuff where I had an element of control over the situation. I wouldn’t want to be Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck), an ad executive anticipating a one-sight stand with fellow passenger Mimi Praeger (Natasha Henstridge). He gives his airplane ticket to Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn) who is anxious to get home to his wife Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow) and family. After the plane crashes, Buddy checks into rehab for his drinking. He goes in search of Abby and finds her now working as a struggling real estate agent. Buddy tries to buy some relief by having her as agent for his advertising agency’s new offices but he cannot bring himself to tell her the truth. Serindipitously, Mimi has a chance meeting with Abby, who discovers Buddy’s secret.


Director:  Don Roos
Writer:  Don Roos
Cast:
Ben Affleck -  Buddy Amaral
Gwyneth Paltrow -  Abby Janello
Natasha Henstridge -  Mimi Prager
Edward Edwards -  Ron Wachter
Jennifer Grey -  Janice Guerrero
Tony Goldwyn -  Greg Janello
Lisa Carpenter-Prewitt -  Carol Wilson
Lisa Joyner -  T.V. Announcer
Richard Saxton -  CNN Reporter
Caroline Aaron -  Donna
David Dorfman -  Joey Janello
Alex D. Linz -  Scott Janello
Juan García -  Kevin Walters
Mary Ellen Lyon -  Ellen Seitz
Joe Morton -  Jim Willer
Thea Mann -  Karen









Three to Tango (1999)

Three to Tango

Sometimes being in a service industry makes one wish for a tidier, saner career. During a cab ride to the party after a gallery show, the banter between Oscar Novak (Matthew Perry) and Amy Post (Neve Campbell) so freaks out the cabbie (Ho Chow), that he’s thinking there are better jobs for him to undertake. Compound that with mechanical failure—the taxi engine begins to smoke and while Oscar investigates, it blows up in his face—and he knows that there are safer jobs and it’ll be the first thing he does in the morning.


Director:  Damon Santostefano
Writer:  Rodney Patrick Vaccaro; Aline Brosh McKenna
Cast:
Matthew Perry -  Oscar Novak
Neve Campbell -  Amy Post
Dylan McDermott -  Charles Newman
Oliver Platt -  Peter Steinberg
Cylk Cozart -  Kevin Cartwright
John C. McGinley -  Strauss
Bob Balaban -  Decker
Deborah Rush -  Lenore
Kelly Rowan -  Olivia
Rick Gomez -  Rick
Patrick Van Horn -  Zack
David Ramsey -  Bill
Kent Staines -  Gallery Owner
Ho Chow -  Cabbie
Michael Proudfoot -  Diner Waiter
Shaun Smyth -  Intern #1









The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

The Royal Tenenbaums

It’s never a good thing to try and fool your family with a scheme to return to their good graces. The repercussions can be savage and brutal. Any hope for forgiveness is unlikely. Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) has been kicked out onto the street, he is broke and now homeless. He finds out that his wife, Etheline (Anjelica Huston) is considering marrying her accountant, Henry Sherman (Danny Glover). So Royal devises a plot to convince Etheline that he has stomach cancer in order to win her back as well as the affections of his estranged children. But his symptoms are unlike any other case of stomach cancer.


Director:  Wes Anderson
Writer:  Wes Anderson; Owen Wilson
Cast:
Gene Hackman -  Royal Tenenbaum
Anjelica Huston -  Etheline Tenenbaum
Gwyneth Paltrow -  Margot Tenenbaum
Ben Stiller -  Chas Tenenbaum
Luke Wilson -  Richie Tenenbaum
Owen Wilson -  Eli Cash
Danny Glover -  Henry Sherman
Bill Murray -  Raleigh St. Clair
Alec Baldwin -  Narrator (voice)
Seymour Cassel -  Dusty
Kumar Pallana -  Pagoda
Grant Rosenmeyer -  Ari Tenenbaum
Jonah Meyerson -  Uzi Tenenbaum
Aram Aslanian-Persico -  Young Chas Tenenbaum
Irene Gorovaia -  Young Margot Tenenbaum
Amedeo Turturro -  Young Richie Tenenbaum









28 Days Later… (2002)

28 Days Later...

I’m a consumer. I like shopping for stuff. I like reading about stuff that’s coming (and wish it were here now for me to buy). I like to follow the evolution of stuff as it comes to market and see how the roll out of new stuff is accepted. I’ve got lots of stuff that never got that public acceptance it should have received. It sits right next to the stuff that did that is often replaced by the next gen stuff. I guess I’m the poster boy for consumerism. So this movie was a blow to my mad subconscious that regulates my buy, buy, buy fever. It shows a world where there won’t be any new books, movies, CDs and all manner of other toys that keeps me distracted from the real problems our world faces. And then Selena (Naomie Harris) has the gall to tell Jim (Cillian Murphy) essentially the same thing. I was bummed for a time until a buddy called to tell me what he discovered in his latest foray into the shops and I remembered this is just a movie.


Director:  Danny Boyle; Toby James
Writer:  Alex Garland
Cast:
Alex Palmer -  Activist
Bindu De Stoppani -  Activist
Jukka Hiltunen -  Activist
David Schneider -  Scientist
Cillian Murphy -  Jim
Toby Sedgwick -  Infected Priest
Naomie Harris -  Selena
Noah Huntley -  Mark
Christopher Dunne -  Jim’s Father
Emma Hitching -  Jim’s Mother
Alexander Delamere -  Mr. Bridges
Kim McGarrity -  Mr. Bridges’ Daughter
Brendan Gleeson -  Frank
Megan Burns -  Hannah
Justin Hackney -  Infected Kid
Luke Mably -  Private Clifton