Annette Miller Movies
A high-powered sales executive struggles with his own dwindling sense of self-worth after becoming a victim to corporate downsizing. Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) has a big house, a new Porsche, a beautiful wife, and two adoring kids. When he's not in the office, he can usually be found on the golf course, perfecting his game or clinching an important business deal. But when the axe falls, Bobby and his colleagues Phil (Chris Cooper) and Gene (Tommy Lee Jones) find their necks on the chopping block, and their futures looking bleak. In order to stay afloat, Bobby reluctantly goes to work as a carpenter for his brother-in-law (Kevin Costner). But building houses is a far cry from the boardroom, and just as Bobby starts to wonder if he'll ever taste success again, he realizes that true prosperity doesn't come in the form of a paycheck, but through the satisfaction of knowing that his family will always be there to support him. Maria Bello, Craig T. Nelson, and Rosemarie DeWitt co-star in a drama from writer/director John Wells (ER). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Affleck, (more)
Filmmakers Arnie Reisman and Ann Carol Grossman collaborate on this documentary detailing the stories of Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein, who became the first highly female entrepreneurs in America by creating the global cosmetics industry. In the early 20th Century, make-up was worn almost exclusively by performers and prostitutes, and considered taboo for the average female. Enter Arden and Rubenstein, two immigrants who arrived in the United States without a dollar to their names, and created what would eventually become a $150 billion global health and beauty industry. Though both women lived and worked only blocks apart in New York City for over half a century, their paths would never cross as they competed to become the biggest cosmetics suppliers in the country. The advertising and marketing techniques they developed would become the cornerstone of the industry, transforming both women into household names while elevating their products from merely respectable, to absolutely indispensable. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A thief plans one last heist -- though hardly for the typical reasons -- in this offbeat drama. Neicy (Kerry Washington) is a stylish, well-dressed young woman who maintains an air of intelligent arrogance in her part-time job as a window dresser at an upscale Boston department store. Neicy has a secret to looking good on a window dresser's salary -- she's an expert shoplifter, who has learned how to steal the best outfits for herself and her friends, and occasionally makes a few bucks lifting items she can sell to others (though she charges much less than the market will bear). Neicy's boyfriend Angelo (Eugene Byrd) thinks she ought to get out of shoplifting before she's arrested, but since he makes his living selling marijuana, Neicy doesn't have much respect for his opinions in this area. However, when Neicy discovers she's pregnant, she begins to think that a less risky occupation might be in order after all; her boss at the department store thinks enough of her work to suggest a career in design, and is even willing to give her a better paying job in New York. But Neicy has never gotten much affection from her mother (Lonette McKee) and wants to do something to prove her love; when she sees her mother admiring a beautiful and very expensive necklace, Niecy decides to steal it as a gift for her. However, the jewelry store in question has much better security than the shops Neicy is used to, and she's forced to bring an outside accomplice into the picture -- Christian (Todd Williams), a jewel thief whose demands involve more than just money. The second feature from the writing and directing team of DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter, Lift premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kerry Washington, Lonette McKee, (more)
A woman trying to come out of the closet must contend with her family, whose closets have some skeletons of their own in this independent drama. Casey (Angela Redman) is a woman from an upper class Massachusetts family whose mother (Annette Miller) expected her to go into business or one of the professions. Casey, however, has developed an interest in commercial fishing and is pursuing that as an occupation, much to her mother's chagrin. However, this is hardly Casey's biggest point of contention with her parents; Casey is a lesbian, but her parents not only openly disapprove of her lifestyle, they're openly hostile to Alex (Nina Landey), Casey's significant other. While Casey is grudgingly invited to the family's holiday celebration, Alex is not, but it turns out that Alex knows Casey's family better than they imagine; Alex makes her living counseling young people with drug problems, and one of her new clients is Casey's younger brother. Treading Water was the first feature from director Lauren Himmel; the film was shown in competition at the 2001 Seattle Film Festival, as well as the same year's Los Angeles Outfest. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Angela Redman, Nina Landey, (more)
Karate Kid, Part 4 is better known by its release title, The Next Karate Kid. The sole holdover from the first three KK flicks is Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, once more cast as janitor/martial arts maven Miyagi Yakuga. This time, his pupil is orphaned 17-year-old Hilary Swank, the granddaughter of Miyagi's war buddy. Relentlessly bullied by her male classmates and feeling responsible for her parents' fatal accident, Swank is taught self-worth through the tough-but-gentle guidance of Miyagi. While The Next Karate Kid may come off as too "PC" for the tastes of some fans, it is heaps better than the appalling Karate Kid, Part 3. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Noriyuki "Pat" Morita, Hilary Swank, (more)
- 1989
This comedy is set in Boston in the early 1900s and tells the story of a widowed Polish immigrant who begins fearing that he has not earned a proper place in Heaven. He has been in the States many years and has since become a wealthy landlord. But his pursuit of money seems to have cost him his humanity and his chance at eternal happiness as an angry tenant points out. This so worries the landlord that he returns home to tell his daughter that he shall return to his Polish hometown to recapture his good spirit and, in accordance with Jewish tradition, earn a Heavenly reservation by insuring that his daughter marries a brilliant scholar of sacred writings. Once home, he finds such a man and brings him back to his daughter who immediately rejects him because she is determined to marry a genteel American doctor. Since the scholar now lives in the US, he must learn English and so the landlord gets him a tutor who introduces the scholar to the guilty pleasures of secular literature. When the landlord discovers the non-religious books that the scholar has smuggled into the house, he tosses the young man out. Fortunately, by this time, the daughter has taken a liking to the serious youth and helps to broaden his secular knowledge. Romance ensues and by the story's end, everyone finds happiness, including the crotchety old landlord. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eugene Troobnick, Greta Cowan, (more)
- 1981
- R
In this gory horror movie, a group of young, nubile night-school students find themselves unable to hang on to their heads when a mad slasher takes up residence in their hallowed halls. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, (more)
- 1978
The made-for-television See How She Runs is the story of a 40-year-old divorced teacher (Joanne Woodward) whose life is changed by her decision to enter the Boston Marathon. Woodward won an Emmy for her performance, while her daughter Lissy Newman made her acting debut in the film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
