Fred Ellis Movies
A high-profile criminal lawyer finds his bid for the governorship in jeopardy when an ambitious rookie journalist begins suspecting him of tampering with evidence in order to secure his many convictions in director Peter Hyams' remake of the 1956 Fritz Lang classic. Mark Hunter (Michael Douglas) has a reputation for putting criminals behind bars, and with elections approaching he seems a shoo-in for governor. But just how clean is the district attorney's record when held up to scrutiny? When hungry reporter C.J. Nicholas (Jesse Metcalfe) frames himself as a murder suspect in hopes of catching Hunter in the act, the two fierce rivals become caught up in a treacherous game of cat and mouse. But Assistant DA Ella Crystal (Amber Tamblyn) has no idea about her boyfriend C.J.'s latest assignment, and as the evidence against both men begins to pile up she starts to suspect that she's in mortal danger -- and she's right. Now, as Ella discovers irrefutable proof of both C.J.'s innocence and her boss' shady dealings, the fate of two men rests in the hands of one woman whose life could be taken at any second. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn, (more)
- 2001
A severed head is found in the trunk of car on the day that the CSI is to be evaluated by the Vegas police. Not long after, a headless body is found in the desert. Could there be a connection? No: the head and body are most decidedly a "bad fit" -- and apparently not even from the same species. Elsewhere, Warrick (Gary Dourdan) investigates when his friend James (Samuel L. Jones III) witnesses a murder while in juvenile detention. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
This low-budget independent film is a satirical melodrama containing references to director Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). In a small Texas town, an emotionally unstable native son, Perkins (Terrance Rogan) returns after a long absence to find that his brother Duane (Trent Turner) has been elected sheriff. Much to Perkins' shock, he also discovers that the ambitious and greedy Duane is having an affair with Perkins' wife Liz (Sallie Guy). Perkins also learns that the family ranch has been turned into a failing emu farm, and that his abusive, chain-smoking mother (Patt Vee) has passed away and left him only the family gun collection. Purgatory County (1997) was featured at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, where writer and director George Ratliff was awarded honorable mention in the narrative feature competition. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
The big-screen debut of country singer George Strait is a familiar tale of a star returning to his roots, a route traveled the same year by John Mellencamp in Falling From Grace (1992). Strait plays Dusty Chandler, one of the hottest performers in country music. Dusty feels that his elaborate stage show is overwhelming his music, a suspicion confirmed one night when he forgets several bars of a chart-topping hit and his fans don't even notice. Disillusioned, Dusty tells his manager Lula (Lesley Ann Warren) and best buddy Earl (John Doe) that he's taking a break. After shaving his beard and cutting off his ponytail, Dusty heads for the small farm town where he grew up, visiting his wise old grandmother (Molly McClure) and ending up at the ranch of the Tucker family, where nobody recognizes him. He becomes a hired hand, earning the respect of owner Ernest (Rory Calhoun) and falling in love with Ernest's daughter Harley (Isabel Glasser), a woman determined to save the struggling spread with victory in a Las Vegas rodeo. When Dusty learns that Lula has secretly replaced him onstage with her boyfriend (Kyle Chandler), he stages a showdown that wins Harley's affections. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- George Strait, Lesley Ann Warren, (more)
