Christopher Mann Movies
Closer co-stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen reunite for Oscar-nominated director Tony Gilroy's drama tracing the illicit love affair between two spies-turned-corporate operatives. The Cold War has thawed, and for CIA agents seeking to make an easy mint, the real money is in multinational corporations. CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen) are both racing to secure the formula for a product that will bring untold wealth to the company that lands the patent first as the stakes begin to rise, and their passions start to flare. Meanwhile, their mutual employers, industry giant Howerd Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and trailblazing CEO Dick Garsil (Paul Giamatti) start resorting to some seriously underhanded tactics in hope of gaining an advantage over the competition. Loners by definition of their own careers, Claire and Ray engage in a series of schemes and double-crosses while contending with the fact that their mutual attraction could ultimately jeopardize their entire missions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, (more)
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) handles all of the dirty work for a major New York law firm, arranging top-flight legal services and skirting through loopholes for ethically questionable clients. But when a fellow "fixer" decides to turn on the very firm they were hired to clean up for, Clayton finds himself at the center of a conspiratorial maelstrom. Once an ambitious D.A., Clayton is now a shell of his former dynamic self, thanks to a divorce, an unfortunate business venture, and astronomical debt. Though he longs to leave the cutthroat, ethically dubious world of corporate law behind, Clayton's poor financial situation and devotion to firm head Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack) leave him little choice but to remain on the job and tough it out. Meanwhile, litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) finds her entire company's future hinging on the outcome of a multi-billion-dollar settlement overseen by Clayton's friend, star lawyer Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson). When Edens snaps and decides to blow the whistle on the questionable case, sabotaging the defense, Clayton must decide between his loyalty and his conscience. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
An American abroad is introduced to the heady but dangerous pleasures of violence in this powerful drama from Great Britain. Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is a journalism student from America who is expelled from college when his roommate sets him to take the fall after drugs are found in their dorm room. Needing time to sort out what his next move should be, Matt travels to London to visit his sister Shannon (Claire Forlani), who has married British Steve Dunham (Marc Warren). As it happens, Matt arrives at a less than opportune moment, and he ends up spending his first evening in the U.K. with Steve's brother Pete (Charlie Hunnam). Pete hangs out with a "firm" of friends who call themselves "the Green Street Elite" and are passionate fans of the West Ham United football club (Matt quickly discovers calling British football "soccer" is an easy way to get your teeth knocked out). Pete has little use for Matt until the Green Street Elite get into a dust-up with another firm; Matt turns out to be a fierce if inexperienced fighter, and discovers he enjoys the kick of street brawling. Matt is cautiously accepted by Pete and the other members of the firm, and is soon absorbed into the very British world of violent football fandom. But when Pete and his friends learn that Matt studied journalism, they begin to suspect he's a reporter doing an undercover piece on hooliganism, and they set out to teach him an ugly lesson about loyalty. The debut feature film from British director Lexi Alexander, Green Street Hooligans (initially shown simply as Hooligans) was the first film ever to win both the Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, (more)
- 2004
Stringer's (Idris Elba) "legitimate" real estate associates are soaking him for bribe after bribe. Colvin's (Robert Wisdom) "provisional legalization" program, which the hoppers call "Hamsterdam," seems to be working. Colvin orders his troops to spare no effort in deterring dealers from staying on their corners, and they go wild with it. Avon (Wood Harris), fresh out of jail, is upset to hear about his crew's run-ins with Marlo (Jamie Hector). He wants to take a run at him, but Stringer wants to keep trying to talk to Marlo. Stringer wants to worry about the wholesale business of supply and money laundering, not the petty retail squabbles of who runs what corners. Kima (Sonja Sohn) and McNulty (Dominic West) tell Daniels (Lance Reddick) about Stringer's meeting with Marlo, but he's tells them, "This unit is about the bodies," and the Western District has been quiet. Avon has Cutty (Chad L. Coleman) and Slim Charles (Anwan Glover) take a run at Marlo. But Barksdale's crew doesn't have the muscle it once did. Bubbles (Andre Royo) tells Kima about the bodies dropping, but Daniels gets fed up with McNulty and Kima usurping his authority, and refuses to reassign the unit, so Kima suggests that McNulty go around him. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) and D'Agostino (Brandy Burre) think if there's a black candidate running against Royce (Glynn Turman) in the primary to split the black vote, and Carcetti can get the support of someone like Odell Watkins (Frederick Strother), he might have a chance. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) gets permission to work his murder case, and arranges a face-to-face meeting with Omar (Michael K. Williams), taking the opportunity to lecture the man about his effect on the community. Donette (Shamyl Brown) talks to Brianna (Michael Hyatt) about her relationship with Stringer, and about McNulty's visit. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Bubbles (Andre Royo) has been working as a CI, and Johnny (Leo Fitzpatrick) is not happy about it. He convinces Bubbles to pull a small-time scam. McNulty (Dominic West) get fed up watching Stringer (Idris Elba) and decides to confront the man directly. Stringer tries to sell him a condo, leading McNulty to lament, "You disappointed me, String. I had such f***ing high hopes for us." Later, Kima (Sonja Sohn), watching Marlo (Jamie Hector), makes a discovery that will bring joy to McNulty. Colvin (Robert Wisdom), having failed to get the corner boys to move of their own volition, decides to go over their heads, and eventually has to go to Daniels' (Lance Reddick) unit to find out who the drug lieutenants are in his district. Colvin explains to them that police will only be in the designated locations to prevent violence, and will not arrest them for dealing. He also threatens to crush those who choose to stay on the corners. The cops even end up rounding up customers for the dealers, but Marlo, for one, refuses to play along. Just before Avon (Wood Harris) is released on parole, Baltimore's drug kingpins meet and agree to Stringer's plan to team up to get a better deal from his New York suppliers. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) is developing leads on the double homicide involving Omar (Michael K. Williams), but his superiors again force him to focus on tracking down the missing police weapon. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) learns about a state's witness who was murdered, and quietly makes his displeasure known to Royce (Glynn Turman), who promises swift action to prevent further such incidents. McNulty meets D'Agostino (Brandy Burre) at an event for his son's school, and the two hit it off, after a fashion. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Omar (Michael K. Williams) hits another Barksdale stash house, but this time, they're better prepared for him, and in the ensuing gun battle, a member of each crew is killed. Bunk (Wendell Pierce) catches the double homicide, and quickly realizes that Omar was involved, but he's also under tremendous pressure to complete an impossible task. For PR purposes, he's been instructed to recover Officer Dozerman's gun, which was stolen after Dozerman was shot. Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) continues to put pressure on the mayor, going to the press with the news that the next police academy class has been postponed for budgetary reasons. An irate Royce (Glynn Turman) orders Burrell (Frankie Faison) to take responsibility for the postponement, angering the commissioner. Prop Joe (Robert F. Chew) warns Stringer (Idris Elba) that the police are listening to their phone conversations. He also tells Stringer "what kills more police than bullets and liquor." It's boredom. "Keep it boring, String," he advises. With the wire dead, Daniels (Lance Reddick) assigns his team a new target in East Baltimore. McNulty (Dominic West) is still obsessed with Stringer, however, and continues to investigate D'Angelo's death. Bodie's (J.D. Williams) crew continues to encroach on one of Marlo's (Jamie Hector) corners, leading to violence. Cutty (Chad L. Coleman) visits an ex-girlfriend who tries to hook him up with a job opportunity. Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom), under increasing pressure to reduce felonies in his district, devises a radical plan to make some abandoned blocks in the neighborhood an enforcement-free zone, and coerce the dealers to move there. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Season Three of The Wire opens with the demolition of Baltimore's notorious Franklin Terrace towers, the home base of Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) crew, currently under the supervision of Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Rather than worry about expanding his control, through violence and intimidation, of the corners of West Baltimore, Stringer explains to his lieutenants that he plans to make money by offering the other gangs in on their New York drug supply, and sharing the corners with them. Lieutenant Daniels (Lance Reddick) and his unit are doing surveillance on Cheese (Method Man), one of Proposition Joe's dealers, and begin to realize that the phones that the street dealers use never reach the higher-ups in the organization. They have a wire up on one talkative dealer, who happens to be Prop Joe's nephew, and they decide to bust someone higher on the food chain in hopes that Prop Joe will promote the talker. "What makes you think they'll promote the wrong man?" asks Commissioner Burrell (Frankie Faison), to which Daniels responds, "We do it all the time." Daniels also finds out that Mayor Royce (Glynn Turman) is holding up his promotion because his wife, Marla (Maria Broom) is planning to run for the city council against one of the mayor's cronies. An ambitious councilman, Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) notices an uptick in violent crimes in the city, and decides to go after the mayor, inviting the media to watch him criticize Burrell at a hearing. This leads Burrell and Rawls to pressure their majors, including Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom) who is approaching his thirty year pension, to bring the murder rate down. Cutty (Chad L. Coleman), a former drug soldier, gets out of prison after fourteen years, and gets a handout from Avon, who plans to get out soon himself. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 1997
When one of drug kingpin Luther Mahoney's "heroin mules" is found dead, Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Kellerman (Reed Diamond) mount an elaborate sting operation to bring down Mahoney (Erik Todd Dellums) once and for all. Elsewhere, Bayliss (Kyle Secor) finally patches up his differences with Pembleton (Andre Braugher), then braces himself for a meeting with the relative who sexually abused him as a child. And Munch (Richard Belzer) is informed that the so-called victim in an old murder case may still be alive -- little realizing that he is being set up as a pawn for a vengeful gangster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
