Mark Weiner Movies
From the best-selling book by journalists Gene Lyons and Joe Conason comes The Hunting of the President, a documentary by filmmakers Harry Thomason and Nickolas Perry. Going back to Bill Clinton's time as Governor of Arkansas and tracing through his impeachment while President of the United States, the Morgan Freeman-narrated film attempts to shed light on the alleged organized campaign to topple the charismatic statesman. Along the way, Thomason and Perry attempt to explore on a more general level the effect and influence of the media and slander-machines on contemporary politics. Interviews with such contrasting figures as James Carville and Jerry Falwell are included alongside never-before-seen Clinton-era footage. The Hunting of the President premiered at a special screening during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Paul Begala, (more)
It is surprising to note what doesn't change when the story of Dickens's novel Oliver Twist moves from the criminal underground of 19th-century London to the world of American gays in the 1990s. In this movie, Lee (Keivyn McNeill Graves) is a homeless young orphan boy who gets taken into the lives of a group of colorful, decadent men. Their friendships and jealousies, as well as their disagreements about Lee's upbringing, carry the familiar story along. Billy Porter's performance as Shiniqua, a feisty street-hardened drag queen, stands out. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
Another "true story" of dubious authenticity, The Entity concerns a libidinous invisible presence. This unseen force repeatedly rapes poor Barbara Hershey, who can't get anyone to believe her stories of sexual assault. Frankly, she doesn't believe them herself until she undergoes therapy conducted by experts in both psychology and the supernatural. The entity, a great, hairy blob, is ultimately tricked into materializing, an act of revelation that proves to be its downfall. The Entity was adapted by Frank de Felitta from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Barbara Hershey, Ron Silver, (more)
In this loose adaptation of the 1942 horror classic of the same name, a 2001-style opening montage establishes some sort of sacrificial, mystical union between panthers and an ancient tribe of humans. Flash forward to 1980's New Orleans, where waifish Irina (Natassja Kinski) meets her older brother, Paul (Malcolm McDowell), a minister, for the first time since their animal trainer parents died and she was sent to a series of foster homes. Paul's Creole housekeeper, Female (Ruby Dee), helps Irina settle into her brother's home, but Paul himself disappears. Cut to a fleabag motel where a blasé prostitute finds an angry panther instead of a client; after mauling her, the cat is captured by police and a team of zoologists: Oliver (John Heard), Alice (Annette O'Toole), and Joe (Ed Begley Jr.). The next day Irina finds herself in the zoo where these scientists work; drawn to the newly captured panther, she befriends Oliver and takes a job in the gift shop. Shortly after the panther's violence turns deadly, it escapes, and soon Paul turns up spouting an unbelievable story about his family's were-cat heritage and his inevitable sexual union with little Irina. On the run from her dangerous brother, Irina takes refuge in a sexually frustrated romance with Oliver, afraid of what might happen if she consummates their passion. Astute viewers will notice that the zoologist characters refer to the film's panthers as leopards; "panther" is actually a generic term for any large cat, especially a black one, but Cat People's panthers are in fact leopards whose black color comes from a recessive trait known as melanism. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, (more)
