Ed Setrakian Movies
The true story behind the murders that many crime scholars believe to be the most perplexing series of unsolved crimes in modern history comes to the screen in chilling detail as Fight Club and Seven director David Fincher steps behind the camera to tell the mysterious tale of the infamous Zodiac killer. A relentless serial killer is stalking the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, leaving citizens locked into a constant state of panic, and baffled authorities scrambling for clues. Though the killer sadistically mocks the detectives by leaving a series of perplexing ciphers and menacing letters at the crime scenes, the investigation quickly flatlines when none of the evidence yields any solid leads. As two detectives remain steadfast in their devotion to bringing the elusive killer to justice, they soon find that the madman has control not only over their careers, but their very lives as well. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, (more)
Nick Efteriades directs this coming-of-age movie about a youngish Greek-American guy looking for some point in his useless existence. Nick (Rick Stear) is pushing 30 and feels as if his soul is slowly going to wither and die as he slings burgers day in and day out at his dad's diner. In a desperate attempt to forestall his impending spiritual and emotional demise, he longs with aching intensity to join an archeological search for Alexander the Great's tomb. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Stear, Paige Turco, (more)
- 1997
The victim of a probable mugging dies, whereupon the detectives launch a homicide investigation. The trail of clues leads to the planned circumcision of Alison Martin (Emmy Rossun), the daughter of an American father (Cotter Smith) and an Egyptian mother (Ava Haddad). The outcome of the story is triggered by the ethnic and religious schism between Alison's parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
An autistic youth dies while in custody, leading Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) to investigate the clinic where the victim was being treated. The clinic's head, Dr. Alan Colter (Lawrence Pressman), has been known to use radical and possibly illegal therapies on his patients, most of these "treatments" involving electric shock. The D.A. office's efforts to tie Colter together with the victim's death are complicated by the lack of cooperation from the parents of Colter's patients. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Action film director John Badham bites the hand that feeds him in this action movie spoof that features ribbing of pretty-boy Hollywood action stars by Michael J. Fox and a parody of colorful, hair-trigger James Woods types by the man himself. Woods plays New York homicide detective John Moss, who is within an inch of closing in on a serial killer who calls himself The Party Crasher (Stephen Lang) because his specialty is shooting his victims in the middle of discos. Chasing The Party Crasher after his latest victim has been dispatched, Moss finds himself hanging onto the door of a speeding truck with The Party Crasher at the wheel. When Moss is thrown off the truck and nearly killed, The Party Crasher escapes, and Moss is taken off the case. Moss is given a new assignment --to tag around with Hollywood action film star Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox), the popular hero of the "Smoking Gun" movies. Lang spotted Moss on a television news show and thinks he would be the ideal cop to study for adding authenticity to an up-coming police action picture. Posing as Moss's rookie partner, Lang follows Moss everywhere, proceeding to spoil his pursuit of The Party Crasher and interfering with Moss's burgeoning affair with his girlfriend Susan (Anabella Sciorra). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, James Woods, (more)
Shakespeare's Macbeth is transplanted to a '90s New York gangland in this 1991 film. A hit man (John Turturro) is convinced to murder his boss (Rod Steiger) after his future as the head of the organization is ensured by three fortune-tellers. With the help of his domineering wife (Kathie Borowitz), the hit man murders his way to the top, but then faces the consequences. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz, (more)
- 1990
In this first telecast of Law & Order, a case of fatal criminal negligence takes front and center. During a particularly frantic night in an emergency room, a young woman dies, prompting her father to sue the hospital. Investigating detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) uncover evidence that the E.R.'s chief resident, Dr. Edward Auster (Paul Sparer), has a history of alcoholism, and may have been drinking at the time of the tragedy. D.A. Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) orders his subordinates Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) to charge Auster with murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Directed by Susan Seidelman and written by Alice Arlen and Nora Ephron, Cookie comes across as an inconsequential piece of fluff, bolstered by a quirky performance by Emily Lloyd. Lloyd is Cookie Capisco, the daughter of mobster Dino Capisco (Peter Falk), who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Dino wants to get out of jail, settle some old scores, and make up for lost time with his daughter. His illegitimate daughter, that is -- since Cookie's mother, Lenore (Dianne Wiest), has been Dino's longtime mistress. Dino's actual wife Bunny (Brenda Vaccaro) has, he thinks, been kept in the dark about Dino's mistress and his daughter. Dino decides that the best way to get to know Cookie is to hire her as his chauffeur. With her ears attuned to the conspiracies floating around Dino, she quickly discovers that her father's old crony, Carmine (Michael V. Gazzo), has been swindling him and that Dino's life is in jeopardy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Dianne Wiest, (more)
Set on the streets of New York's Little Italy, this dramatic series of character studies chronicles the lives and relationships between a disparate pair of Italian American cousins. Both of them want to leave the poverty of ghetto life, but each takes a dramatically different route when one of them joins the mob and the other accidentally impregnates his girlfriend. When the young gangster gets into deep trouble, the other must reevaluate his goals and his true feelings about his family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, (more)
"His code name is Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him." As the ads ominously announced, a low-level spook confronts the unfathomable in Sydney Pollack's 1975 political thriller, adapted from the James Grady novel Six Days of the Condor. CIA researcher Joe Turner (Robert Redford) returns from lunch to find the entire staff of his small New York office assassinated. When he meets his boss (Cliff Robertson) at another location to tell him what happened, someone tries to shoot Turner as well. On the run from the cops and his agency, a desperate Turner resorts to holing up with innocent civilian Kathy (Faye Dunaway), who becomes his only ally. Joe decides to save himself the only way possible: by going to The New York Times. But will it work? One of a cycle of conspiracy films from the 1970s that also included The Parallax View (1974) and Redford's All the President's Men (1976), Three Days of the Condor pits a working Everyman (albeit a CIA everyman) against a far-reaching conspiracy, as it also criticizes the CIA during a period of increasing publicity about federal wrongdoing, from the Pentagon Papers through Watergate and other congressional investigations; the challenge of negotiating New York City, shot on location, becomes one more sign of the forces that Joe must face. With its timely subject matter, taut suspense, and sympathetic Redford hero, Three Days of the Condor became a substantial hit. Balancing the conspiracy cycle's pessimism with a margin of attenuated hope, Three Days of the Condor suggests that one man can still discover the truth, but whether it helps him remains to be seen. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, (more)
- 1970
William Popper (Michael Sarrazin) is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter. His participation in some prison violence motivates him to attempt to escape, though he has only a week to go on his sentence. Having escaped, he and his old girlfriend (Barbara Hershey) make a run for Canada. The story is adapted from the novel The Pursuit of Happiness by Thomas Rogers. As William's starchy grandmother, Ruth White, notable for her work in To Kill a Mockingbird and Midnight Cowboy makes her last film appearance. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Filmed independently by Michael Roemer in 1969, The Plot Against Harry didn't earn a mainstream release until 1989. What was contemporary in 1969 became a period piece by the time it saw the light of day, but this anachronistic quality lent a great deal of charm to the proceedings. Harry Plotnick (Martin Priest) is a once-notorious criminal whose life becomes a series of comic disasters once he's released from prison. His family members either refuse to acknowledge his existence or think the very worst of him, and his health rapidly deteriorates. Meanwhile, Harry's brother Max (Henry Nemo), beset with tax problems, sets fire to his business. Naturally, poor Harry is held responsible. Just when he has an opportunity to start life anew, Harry suffers a heart attack on a TV marathon. Certain that he's about to die, Harry confesses to all his past transgressions-and ends up behind bars once more. In lesser hands, The Plot Against Harry might have been clumsy or, even worse, maudlin. But with Michael Roemer at the helm, the laughs never stop-even though we sometimes feel guilty at deriving pleasure from poor old Harry's misery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Priest, Ben Lang, (more)
