Greg Shapiro Movies
- 2010
- 2010
Robert Redford mines the chaotic moment in history directly following President Lincoln's assassination in this period drama. Robin Wright Penn stars as Mary Surratt, a member of a group convicted and put to death over their taking part in the conspiracy to kill the President. James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Kline, Alexis Bledel, and Justin Long co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Wright Penn, James McAvoy, (more)
- 2008
- R
- Add The Hurt Locker to Queue
Based on the personal wartime experiences of journalist Mark Boal (who adapted his experiences with a bomb squad into a fact-based, yet fictional story), director Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War-set action thriller The Hurt Locker presents the conflict in the Middle East from the perspective of those who witnessed the fighting firsthand -- the soldiers. As an elite Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team tactfully navigates the streets of present-day Iraq, they face the constant threat of death from incoming bombs and sharp-shooting snipers. In Baghdad, roadside bombs are a common danger. The Army is working to make the city a safer place for Americans and Iraqis, so when it comes to dismantling IEDs (improvised explosive devices) the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) crew is always on their game. But protecting the public isn't easy when there's no room for error, and every second spent dismantling a bomb is another second spent flirting with death. Now, as three fearless bomb technicians take on the most dangerous job in Baghdad, it's only a matter of time before one of them gets sent to "the hurt locker." Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Fiennes star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, (more)
- 2008
- R
- Add Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay to QueueAdd Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay to top of Queue
After successfully seeking out the ultimate slider in the 2004 stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the cannabis-craving twosome returns in this high-flying sequel that finds them labeled terrorists for attempting to sneak a marijuana-smoking implement on a flight to Amsterdam. Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have just finished gorging themselves on savory White Castle hamburgers when they return to their apartment and hatch a plan for Harold to win the heart of his crush, Maria (Paula Garcés). Maria is going to Amsterdam, and if Harold can catch up with her overseas perhaps he can strike up a real love connection. After a close call with airport personnel and a chance encounter with Kumar's ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) -- who hadn't yet told Kumar that she's engaged to be married -- the pot-loving pals finally board their flight for Amsterdam. Unfortunately for Harold, Kumar isn't able to endure the lengthy flight without an innocent puff or two from his smokeless bong. When the plane hits some turbulence and the bong is mistaken for a bomb, the flight is diverted to Guantanamo Bay and our spliff-smoking heroes are detained by overzealous Deputy Chief of Homeland Security Ron Fox (Rob Corddry). Now, if they can just escape from the world's most notorious prison compound, perhaps this hapless duo can succeed in convincing the authorities that they aren't enemy combatants, and that Kumar made the mistake of his life by letting Vanessa go. But before they can prove their innocence and get the girls, Harold and Kumar will have to outsmart the dreaded Ku Klux Klan, contend with a particularly precocious Cyclops baby, and successfully elude everyone's favorite debauched former child star -- Neil Patrick Harris. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A woman who joins the undead against her will seeks vengeance against the ghouls who transformed her in this thriller. Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is a journalist who becomes acquainted with a group of beautiful but doomstruck partiers while following a story, led by the charismatic Bishop (James D'Arcy). While Sadie is taken with Bishop's good looks and sinister charm, she senses there's something dangerous about him, but it's not until she wakes up in the city morgue that she learns his secret -- Bishop is a vampire, and Sadie has joined his underlings as one of the undead. Angry and betrayed, Sadie is determined to stop Bishop and his compatriots, and she prowls the city with bow and arrow, ready to stake them from a distance when she spies them. Sadie finds an unlikely ally in her crusade in Detective Rawlins (Michael Chiklis), a police investigator whose daughter was transformed into a night creature by Bishop. However, Sadie is finding it increasingly difficult to resist her growing thirst for the blood of the living, becoming the sort of being she has grown to hate. Also featuring Carla Gugino, Robert Forster, and Nick Lachey, Rise: Blood Hunter received its world premiere with a special midnight screening at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucy Liu, Michael Chiklis, (more)
A man seeks to unlock the mysteries of his family's tragic past in this drama. Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist who has resigned a prestigious position at a major university to take a job at the Millwood Clinic, a private residential facility run by one Dr. Reed (William Hurt). Riley tells Reed he was inspired to come to Millwood by the case of a family friend who was a patient there years before, but what Riley doesn't mention is the person in question was his father, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), a successful but reclusive children's author whose book "Neverwas" became a remarkable critical and popular success. For all his talent and success, Pierson was haunted by mental illness and drug addiction, and after leaving Millwood he committed suicide, with young Zach finding the body. Ever since, his mother (Jessica Lange) has been bitter and blamed Zach for Pierson's death, and he's come to Millbrook looking for answers and closure regarding his dad. While working with the patients at Millwood, Riley strikes up a friendship with Gabriel (Ian McKellen), a charming older man with a poor connection to reality who was friendly with Pierson when they were both in treatment there; Riley also renews his childhood friendship with Maggie Blake (Brittany Murphy), a Millwood intern who was powerfully affected by "Neverwas" when she was young. Neverwas is the first feature film from writer and director Joshua Michael Stern. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, (more)
- 2004
- R
- Add Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle to QueueAdd Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle to top of Queue
Directed by Danny Leiner, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle follows the life-changing (and mind-altering) journey of Korean-American investment banker Harold (John Cho) and Indian-American medical-school candidate Kumar (Kal Penn). Both underdogs, Harold and Kumar decide to spend what would have been an otherwise uneventful Friday night satisfying an oddly intense urge for White Castle hamburgers. However, finding a White Castle proves a highly difficult task, and the two friends wind up on an epic road trip of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling, and enough half-baked, politically incorrect philosophizing to outweigh a White Castle value meal. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel about the sexual, emotional, and chemical interactions of a group of wealthy and amoral college students is brought to the screen in this adaptation from writer and director Roger Avery. Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek) is a student at Camden College, a well-respected private school on the East Coast. Sean is attracted to Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon), a high minded and seemingly unapproachable coed, while Lauren is infatuated with Victor (Kip Pardue), a handsome but self-centered ladies' man. Lauren's empty-headed roommate, Lara (Jessica Biel), is also attracted to Victor, while he has no qualms about being involved with both. Lauren used to date affected snob Paul Denton (Ian Somerhalder), but Paul, a bisexual, currently lusts after Sean. Meanwhile, friendly campus drug dealer Rupert (Clifton Collins Jr.) finds a ready market for cocaine among his classmates; Sean, a steady customer, finds himself financially embarrassed and begins dealing drugs to help pay off his debts, while leading Paul on for his ready supply of marijuana. The Rules of Attraction also features Eric Stoltz as Mr.
Lance Lawson, Faye Dunaway and Swoosie Kurtz as semi-concerned parents, and Fred Savage as one of Sean's customers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Lance Lawson, Faye Dunaway and Swoosie Kurtz as semi-concerned parents, and Fred Savage as one of Sean's customers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, (more)
A group of bohemian intellectuals struggle to have an intelligent discussion of perhaps the world's most emotional subject in this comedy-drama from director Alan Rudolph. Edgar (Dermot Mulroney) is an artist living in Paris during the 1920s who believes that sex is a subject of vital importance, but almost no one discusses it with the gravity it deserves. With this in mind, Edgar gathers together a panel of fellow creative types at the home of a wealthy tycoon (Nick Nolte) and his oddly accented spouse (Tuesday Weld) for an evening in which they will discuss their erotic lives without self-serving wit or exaggeration. Joining Edgar for this experiment is an artist from Germany (Til Schweiger), an arrogant film director (Jeremy Davies), a self-obsessed painter (Alan Cumming) whose fey personality may cross the boundaries of Edgar's prohibition of homosexuality as a topic of conversation, and a student from England (Terrence Dashon Howard) who has attracted the eye of a lovely French girl (Julie Delpy) with whom Edgar has fallen in love. Certain that a number of profound thoughts will be shared with the group, Edgar hires a pair of stenographers to record the proceedings, but the presence of the two young and beautiful secretaries -- innocent Alice (Neve Campbell) and provocative Zoe (Robin Tunney) -- has an unexpectedly strong effect on the group. Investigating Sex had its U.S. premiere as the closing night attraction of the 2001 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dermot Mulroney, Alan Cumming, (more)
Old rivalries lead to new betrayals in this Sam Shepard drama with comic undertones. Vinnie (Nick Nolte) and Carter (Jeff Bridges) have known each other for years, but their relationship has grown less than cordial. Many years ago, the two men, along with Vinnie's girlfriend Rosie (Sharon Stone), were making good money in a con game at a racetrack until Simms (Albert Finney), the local racing official, got wind of their ruse. Vinnie and Carter hatched a blackmail scheme that ended Simms' career and ruined his life. Years later, Vinnie is an alcoholic low-life who still makes a living from blackmail; Carter is now a successful horse breeder, married to Rosie, and Vinnie has incriminating information about him that he uses to get Carter to pay his living expenses. Carter gets a call from Vinnie one night as he's finalizing the sale of his prize-winning stallion Simpatico; Vinnie is in jail on a morals charge regarding a woman he's been seeing named Cecilia (Catherine Keener). Vinnie makes Carter an offer: if he comes to California to help him out of this mess, he'll hand off the documents that he's been using against him for years. Carter agrees, but when he arrives, it turns out that Vinnie's not in jail, Cecilia has filed no charges against him, and this is just part of a larger scam with Carter as its target. Director Matthew Warchus made his screen debut with this film; he also adapted the screenplay (in collaboration with David Nicholls) from the play by Sam Shepard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges, (more)
