Cassian Elwes Movies

Investment-firm analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) uncovers sensitive information that could easily plunge the entire business into peril, inadvertently destroying the lives and careers of his colleagues in this tense thriller set during the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. Over the course of the next 24 hours, Sullivan realizes that the decisions he makes will not only affect the employees of the firm, but the lives of everyday Americans from coast to coast as well. Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, and Paul Bettany co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A Los Angeles detective encounters high strangeness in his search for a missing woman and a 30-million-dollar cache of diamonds in this off-beat mystery thriller from Otis director Tony Krantz. Ned Cruz (Antonio Banderas) is the kind of detective people come to when all of their other resources have run dry. Approached by paroled Russian boxer Anton (Robert Maillet) to track down his elusive girlfriend, Lexie (Sienna Guillory), and recover the stash of diamonds she has stolen, Detective Cruz calls on all of his connections to get the job done. Eventually, his investigation leads him from a kinky Hollywood action icon (James Van Der Beek) to a multi-talented pornographer (Snoop Dogg) and a physics-obsessed waitress (Autumn Reeser) with an insatiable sexual appetite. Ned's hard work starts to pay off, however, when he ventures deep into the New Mexico desert, where an eccentric billionaire (Sam Elliott) and a brilliant physicist (Jimmi Simpson) have hatched a plan to recreate the Big Bang. Now, with the cops hot on his tail and a potentially catastrophic experiment unfolding right beneath his feet, Ned races to find the girl and recover the diamonds before the world comes to an end. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A relationship is charted from its promising beginning to its sad collapse in this independent drama from Derek Cianfrance. Dean (Ryan Gosling) meets Cindy (Michelle Williams) when they're in their late teens; he's working for a moving company, she's a college student visiting her elderly grandmother at a home for the elderly. Cindy is dating Bobby (Mike Vogel), her boyfriend from high school, but as she gets to know Dean better, a mutual attraction grows between them. Years later, Dean and Cindy are married and have a daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka), but they're clearly not as happy as they once were; Dean loves his daughter but feels distant from his wife, they have to look after an elderly relative (John Doman), and when Cindy bumps into Bobby while running errands, it's clear he still holds a grudge against her. Dean and Cindy go away for a weekend together at a hotel, but it doesn't take long for them to realize that the magic isn't coming back. Blue Valentine received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An extramarital affair blossoms into a marriage defined by tragedy and hardship in this emotional family drama from director/screenwriter Don Roos (Bounce, Happy Endings). When Emilia (Natalie Portman) met Jack (Scott Cohen), she was the other woman. In time, she became his only woman. But winning Jack's heart was just the beginning. Shortly after attempting to start their new life together by having a child of their own, their newborn dies suddenly. Compounding Emilia's grief over the loss of her child is the fact that her adolescent stepson, William (Charlie Tahan), seems intent on making her life miserable. Somewhere between her sorrow and her hopes, however, Emilia learns that no family is perfect, and that it's our ability to accept those imperfections that makes life worth living. Lisa Kudrow co-stars. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A female vampire is on the loose. She mostly preys upon those who try to exploit her in this low-budget horror movie dedicated to Fritz Leiber (the movie is based upon one of his short stories). The story begins in 1937 as the beautiful Louise, a popular fashion model who also owns the Tides hotel, commits suicide. She is despondent when she discovers her fiance and photographer has been lying and cheating. The film switches to the present. The hotel is abandoned and rapidly decaying. Louise returns and is obsessed with restoring it. She has also come back for revenge against all men who treat her as an object. She keeps up her vendetta until she meets a sensitive Cuban refugee, Carlos, who is also a photographer. They begin a strange relationship. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This high-speed action comedy stars Charlie Sheen as Jack Hammond, who has been given a life sentence for a bank robbery that he didn't commit. Hammond manages to escape, and while trying to avoid capture at a gas station, he ends up kidnapping Natalie Voss (Kristy Swanson); he threatens her with what she thinks is a gun, although it turns out to be a candy bar. Jack and Natalie take off in her BMW, with Jack unaware that his "victim" is actually Dalton Voss (Ray Wise), one of California's richest and most powerful land barons. Soon half the state's law enforcement officers and every member of the media is on Jack's tail as he races down the highway; in the meantime, Natalie and Jack get to know each other, and while she doesn't much care for him at first (as you might imagine), before long her attitude has softened quite a bit. Alternative rock fans might want to keep an eye peeled for Henry Rollins, playing a policeman, and Anthony Kiedis and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers as a pair of yahoos with a very large truck. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Once Teri Hatcher hit it big on the TV series Lois and Clark, several of her less memorable earlier projects began popping out of the woodwork. The R-rated The Cool Surface is listed as a 1993 film, but one wonders. Hatcher plays Dani Payson, a beautiful aspiring actress and neighbor to playwright Jarvis Scott (Robert Patrick). Jarvis observes Dani as she and her live-in lover alternately have sex and argue violently. He begins to have his own fantasies about Dani and is inspired to base one of his characters on her. The ambitious Dani finds out about his novel, then campaigns to win the lead in Scott's upcoming film. Cool Surface evidently wasn't cool enough to prevent certain well-proportioned members of the cast from baring all. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Martin Donovan (real name Carlos Enrique Varela y Peralta-Ramos) directed this beautifully photographed western/horror amalgam. The story takes places in the American West in 1892. Jenny Hill (Mary Stuart Masterson) longs for the love of the local rough-and-tumble outlaw James Miller (Stephen Blake), who is also in love with her. But Jenny's mother (Fionnula Flanagan) doesn't approve, and instead marries Jenny off to James's half-brother Miller Brown (Hart Bochner), a polite and inarticulate farmer. Miller is in love with Jenny, but she can't stand his touch. Jenny begins to lapse into boredom until the full moon rises and she discovers Miller is a werewolf who spends his nights growling and baying at the moon, while Jenny remains locked inside their cabin. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Writer/director Adam Rifkin's The Dark Backward is set in a dark, grimy, garbage-strewn urban netherworld, where a company named "Blump's" apparently owns everything. Marty Malt (Judd Nelson of The Breakfast Club) is an unhappy garbageman who moonlights as an atrociously unfunny standup comic. His best friend and fellow trash collector, Gus (Bill Paxton), is the only one who laughs at his jokes, and his sincerity is questionable. The obnoxiously exuberant Gus plays an accordion, which he always carries with him. Marty is seeing Rosarita (Lara Flynn Boyle), a waitress, but she doesn't seem too interested in him, either. One day, Gus convinces a talent agent, Jackie Chrome (Las Vegas circuit staple Wayne Newton), to check out Marty's act. Jackie isn't impressed. Marty's luck seems to take a turn for the worse when a large lump starts growing on his back. He goes to a quack doctor (James Caan), who calls him a wimp and puts a Band-Aid on the lump. The lump continues to grow, eventually becoming a full-sized arm. While Gus uses Marty's newfound freakishness to impress his obese girlfriends, a horrified Rosarita breaks up with Marty, and he gets fired from the club where he does his act. Marty is despondent until Gus brings him to see Jackie, who, it turns out, has always dreamed of finding a real three-armed comic. Re-christened "Desi the Three-Armed Wonder Comic," and with Gus now providing musical accompaniment, Marty gets a fresh start on his career. The Dark Backward received devastating reviews upon its initial release, but has since developed a minor cult following. The film also stars Rob Lowe and King Moody, who was the original Ronald McDonald. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

A pair of garbage workers (Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez) are shocked to find the body of a city councilman in one of their trash cans. With help from a supervisor (Keith David), the duo must solve the case and find the man's killer while hiding the body from the cops. Estevez also directed and provided the screenplay for Men at Work. ~ John Bush, Rovi

When a suicidal woman meets up with a wayward young man, the two develop a strong relationship as they find comfort and sympathy in one another. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

The leader of a group of misfits (Keith Carradine), his girlfriend (Sally Kirkland) and a hit man (Tom Waits!) hatch a bizarre plan to smuggle stolen jewels across the Mexican/American border by means of implanting them in a racehorse surgically. ~ John Bush, Rovi