James MacDonald Movies

The investigation into a disturbing murder takes a heavy emotional toll on the detective attempting to overcome a personal tragedy while simultaneously chasing a cold-blooded killer in this thriller from first-time producer/editor/director Russ Pond. Detective Paul Gruning was still wrestling with some intensely personal issues when he was summoned to the home of a slain college professor, and as he surveys the scene of the crime his mental malaise only intensifies. The professor's body lies lifeless on the floor of the kitchen, and his wife Emma doesn't seem capable of offering coherent answers to the questions posed by the detective. Frustrated by his subsequent inability to elicit answers from either the professor's resentful son Andrew or his lab-assistant and house guest Rachel, Detective Gruning is troubled to realize that nearly everyone involved has a sufficient motive for murder. But with each interview he conducts, the facts seem to shift. So which version of reality can he trust as the truth? As the stakes are raised, it doesn't take long for Detective Gruning to realize that failure to solve the case could very well cost him his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Further cementing 2003 as the year of Ron Shelton cop movies, the director continued his vacation from the sports genre with Hollywood Homicide, a police comedy that comes right on the heels of Shelton's Dark Blue, a decidedly grittier cop thriller. The film stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as LAPD homicide detectives Joe Gavilan and K.C. Calden, two cops with bigger dreams. Gavilan moonlights as a real estate agent, while Calden teaches yoga and yearns for a career on the big screen. When an entire hip-hop group is murdered on-stage, Gavilan and Calden are called in to handle the case. As their investigation progresses, they begin to suspect that the rappers were offed for attempting to get out of their recording contract with label head Sartain (Isaiah Washington). Along with Bruce Greenwood and Keith David, the supporting cast boasts a plethora of real-life musicians, including Dr. Dre, Gladys Knight, Dwight Yoakam, Master P, and Ronald DeVoe of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Momentarily distracted by his passenger, an Indian taxi driver (Anjul Nigam) apparently strikes and kills a young boy at a busy intersection. Grissom (William L. Petersen) is among those called on the scene when the driver is nearly beaten to death by an angry white mob, whose members claim that the cabbie was trying to flee the death scene. What begins as a hate-crime investigation deepens into a baffling murder mystery when Grissom discovers that the dead pedestrian didn't die from the impact of the cab, but had in fact been stabbed -- and gutted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this adventure drama, four men passed over by the space program get one last chance to be heroes and live out their dreams. Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland), and Tank Sullivan (James Garner) were top pilots within an elite Air Force squadron and on the fast track to becoming the first Americans in space in the early 1950s. However, when NASA was established, the pilots were cut out of the loop; Corvin went on to become an aerospace engineer, Hawkins continued on as a freelance pilot, O'Neill became an astrophysicist with a sideline in designing roller coasters, and Sullivan took up preaching as a Baptist minister. Years later, a Russian satellite's guidance system has started to malfunction, and it is expected to crash into the Earth within a matter of weeks. The system is identical to the one Corvin designed for Skylab, so NASA head Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) asks Corvin to help him with the emergency mission to repair the satellite. Corvin agrees under one condition -- that he be sent up to do the repairs himself, with Hawkins, O'Neill, and Sullivan as his crew. Clint Eastwood directed Space Cowboys while also starring as Frank Corvin; his supporting cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Courtney B. Vance, Loren Dean, and William Devane. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sitcom veteran Larry David, the co-creator of TV's Seinfeld, made his big-screen directorial debut with this clever comedy featuring distinct Seinfeld overtones. Sour Grapes was released April 17, 1998, only four weeks prior to the last Seinfeld episode. Selma Maxwell (Viola Harris) is the adoring mother of boyish, fun-loving shoe designer Richie (Craig Bierko), who would like to see his more-mature cousin Evan (Steven Weber), a respected neurologist, enjoy himself more. So the two head for Atlantic City for a gambling weekend. They lose heavily at the tables and soon are down to pocket change at the slot machines. After Richie inserts his last quarter, he asks Evan for two coins to go a final round. The spinning cylinders land on three grape clusters, triggering alarms, flashing lights, and a $400,000 jackpot. Richie is ecstatic. But Evan feels that since the win was made with his quarters, he deserves 50%. Richie refuses, and heady with power, Richie soon turns nasty and is fired after he insults his boss. Richie's girlfriend Roberta (Robyn Peterman) suggests he settle down and give Evan something, while Joan (Karen Sillas) wants Evan to drop his money demands. An attempt to renew the friendship goes awry when Richie finds Evan's jogging-suit gift ludicrous, while Evan becomes incensed by an offer of only 3% of Richie's $400,000. The film's score punctuates the escalating conflict with witty excerpts from familiar classical compositions. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Three's a crowd as Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) finds her mom making out with John Ritter in her house. Ritter plays Ted, a man who Buffy's mom has apparently been seeing for a while. Ted's demeanor lies somewhere between Ward Cleaver and Herman Georing. Even though he bakes delicious cookies and her mom is happy, Buffy is suspicious. These worries are confirmed when, after returing from a night of slaying, Buffy catches Ted reading her diary. Justifiably angered by the invasion of privacy, she argues with him and he strikes her. In an abuse of her slayer powers, Buffy punches him down the stairs to his death. But her guilt is short-lived as Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendon), and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) discover that Ted has had marriages dating back to 1957 and puts drugs in his cookies. The weirdest twist is that Ted comes back to fight Buffy because he's an evil robot who keeps his dead wives in his closet. ~ All Movie Guide

A shuttle malfunction causes Quark, Rom, and Nog to crash-land on Earth. Normally, this would be a minor inconvenience: This time, however, the shuttle has passed through a timewarp, depositing the three travellers in Roswell, New Mexico, on that fateful day in 1947. As if the U.S. Air Force wasn't threat enough for our heroes, they are taken captive by a band of genuine alien invaders. Originally slated for telecast on November 13, 1995, "Little Green Men" was shown one week earlier on November 6. The episode was scripted by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe from a story by Toni Marberry and Jack Trevino. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Spike Lee's epic portrayal of the life and times of the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X begins with the cross-cut imagery of the police beating of black motorist Rodney King juxtaposed with an American flag burning into the shape of the letter X. When the film's narrative begins moments later, it jumps back to World War II-era Boston, where Malcolm Little (Denzel Washington) is making his living as a hustler. The son of a Baptist preacher who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, Little was raised by foster parents after his mother was deemed clinically insane; as an adult, he turned to a life of crime, which leads to his imprisonment on burglary charges. In jail, Little receives epiphany in the form of an introduction to Islam; he is especially taken with the lessons of Elijah Mohammed, who comes to him in a vision. Adopting the name 'Malcolm X' as a rejection of the 'Little' surname (given his family by white slave owners), he meets the real Elijah Mohammed (Al Freeman, Jr.) upon exiting prison, and begins work as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Marriage to a Muslim nurse named Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) follows, after which X spearheads a well-attended march on a Harlem hospital housing a Muslim recovering from an episode of police brutality. The march's success helps elevate X to the position of Islam's national spokesperson. There is dissension in the ranks, however, and soon X is targeted for assassination by other Nation leaders; even Elijah Mohammed fears Malcolm's growing influence. After getting wind of the murder plot, X leaves the Nation of Islam, embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca that proves revelatory; renouncing his separatist beliefs, his oratories begin embracing all races and cultures. During a 1965 speech, Malcolm X is shot and killed, reportedly by Nation of Islam members. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The New York Mounted Police division teams up a former rodeo cowboy and a veteran police officer. ~ All Movie Guide

In a gender-reversed version of his previous hit Pretty in Pink, John Hughes retreads all-too- familiar ground in Some Kind of Wonderful, the story of a sensitive, young would-be artist, Keith (Eric Stoltz), who vies for the affection of his high school's popularity queen, Amanda (Lea Thompson), seemingly out of some deep-rooted insecurity regarding his social ineptitude. He enlists the help of his butch best friend and fellow misfit, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), unaware that she secretly pines for him. While she goads him to give up his pointless pursuit of Amanda, he encounters one other small obstacle -- Amanda's rich bully of a boyfriend, Hardy (Craig Sheffer), who threatens Keith with a face rearrangement. Undeterred, Keith decides he will, by any means necessary, escort his dream girl to the prom -- but not before he buys her expensive jewelry with the money from his college fund in order to impress her. (Hughes expects the audience to side with Keith when his father protests.) Some Kind of Wonderful is pure fantasy, but the plot is too tired and flawed for it to be completely satisfactory escapism. Still, the performances are all-around good and the ending is slightly more likeable than its predecessor's. Hughes decided to use the original Pretty in Pink ending, which had been dropped from the original after poor audience response at the advance screenings. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide