Rio Hackford Movies
Santa's black-sheep brother gets a much-needed shot at redemption in this holiday comedy reuniting actor Vince Vaughn and director David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons, Wedding Crashers). It's not easy being the brother of a benevolent and beloved saint, and no one knows that better than Fred Claus (Vaughn). After struggling for years to live up to the example set by his younger sibling Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), Fred has finally given up. These days Fred is working as a repo man taken to stealing the items he repossesses, and his shady tactics have just landed him in jail. While Mrs. Claus vehemently insists that Fred fend for himself, Nicholas refuses to sit idly by as his brother rots in jail and agrees to set bail if Fred will repay the debt by coming to the North Pole and help make toys for the upcoming Christmas season. But Fred isn't nearly as productive as your average elf, and he's got quite an attitude to boot. With Christmas fast approaching and Fred threatening to sideline Nicholas' entire finely tuned operation, the brother that always struggled to get out from under his sibling's substantial shadow finds out just how far the patience of a saint can be pushed before jolly old Santa reaches his breaking point. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, (more)
A group of teens discover that the next generation of survival horror games are more realistic than they thought when they begin dying in the same manner as their pixilated counterparts in director William Brent Bell's bloody tale of video games gone bad. In the days following the mysterious death of an old friend, a young group of gaming enthusiasts comes into possession of a chillingly realistic game based on the exploits of a 17th century noblewoman who earned the name "The Blood Countess" for her murderous exploits. Their curiosity piqued by the fact that they were obviously not supposed to come into possession of the grisly game, the teens soon give in to temptation and begin doing battle for high score. When the chilling events of the game begin to bleed over into the real world and the real-life deaths of the players begin to mirror the deaths of their in-game characters, the race is on to defeat the murderous Blood Countess and ensure that other curious gamers don't fall into the same deadly trap that they did. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Foster, Samaire Armstrong, (more)
An emotionally stunted ex-convict whose recent release from prison finds her attempting to form a relationship with her young daughter finds that redemption doesn't come easy in this emotional family drama, the feature debut of award-winning documentary filmmaker Laurie Collyer. When Sherry Swanson (Maggie Gyllenhaal) was sentenced to three years in prison on a drug-related robbery conviction at the age of 22, she had just given birth to a daughter named Alexis (Ryan Simpkins). Placed in the care of Sherry's brother, Bobby (Brad William Henke), and sister-in-law, Lynette (Bridget Barkan), while her mother was behind bars, young Alexis has grown into an affectionate young girl eager to reconnect with the mother she has never met. Though Sherry at first seems determined to stay on the straight and narrow, increasingly infrequent visits to Alexis and a troubling revelation about her family past soon begin to lead the protective Lynette to take a stand in protecting the vulnerable youngster. Later, when compassionate 12-step veteran Dean (Danny Trejo) makes an effort to help Sherry become the mother she longs to be, the troubled ex-con is faced with the choice of truly living up to her word or potentially losing her daughter forever. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brad William Henke, (more)
Adrenaline loving director Tony Scott teams with iconic action producer Jerry Bruckheimer for this high flung sci-fi action thriller concerning a New Orleans based maverick ATF agent named Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) who is brought in on a top secret government program to catch the terrorist (Jim Caviezel) responsible for a ferry bombing that kills hundreds. Able to do what most law enforcement officers only dream of, Carlin is now able to look back in time at the perpetrator's movements, and at the life of the innocent woman whose death would set the events into motion. Carlin's instincts tell him that something is amiss, however, and while the government agent who tapped him for the job (Val Kilmer) and the team of ultra-cool scientists who run the project (Adam Goldberg, Erika Alexander) tell him one story about the quantum physics behind this marvel of technology, the hotshot agent suspects that there is a greater power at their fingertips--one that might not just solve the crime at hand, but prevent it. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, (more)
- 1998
Taking a stylistic cue from the French New Wave and Cassavetes, Adam Goldberg wrote and directed and stars in this black-and-white neo-noir -- with "additional dialogue by the cast." Writer wannabe Jim (Goldberg) lives in a seedy L.A. apartment building where he tries to write and broods over his lost love Ilsa, portrayed by Clea Lewis (who actually is Goldberg's former girlfriend). Jim's drinking buddies make a retro bid for the lifestyles of '50s hipsters. The gang gathers at the Catalina Bar and Grill to catch jazz singer Jimmy Scott perform "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child". A friend cruises into town with a car, enabling the group to go to the beach. Otherwise, they visit hookers, gamble after hours, walk empty streets, and hang around noir-style pre-1957 locations such as the colonnaded Venice, California -- buildings seen in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. Familiar jazz classics punctuate the soundtrack. Shown at the 1998 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Goldberg, Nicky Katt, (more)
