Robert John Burke Movies
Tall, chiseled-face character actor Robert John Burke has been acting since the 1970s, but he is best known to art house audiences as a regular member of New York-based director Hal Hartley's stock company of decidedly non-Hollywood actors.Born on Long Island, Burke studied acting at S.U.N.Y. Purchase in the early '70s. After he graduated from college, Burke began acting in TV, appearing on such shows as As the World Turns and Happy Days. Though he made his feature film debut in The Chosen (1981), Burke devoted his energies in the early '80s to an experimental teaching program designed to involve students directly in the arts. Burke returned to movies and TV in the latter half of the 1980s with roles in actioner Wanted Dead or Alive (1986), TV movie comedy Pass the Ammo (1989), and late-'80s dance trend vehicle Lambada (1989).
Burke's fortunes began to change when he was cast in the lead role of an enigmatic ex-con who returns to his Long Island hometown in the then-unknown Hartley's first feature, The Unbelievable Truth (1990). Shot on a shoestring budget in 11 days, The Unbelievable Truth garnered positive notice for Hartley's distinctly offbeat, dark comic sensibility and his stars' deadpan, wry performances. Burke followed The Unbelievable Truth with a supporting part in the Oscar-nominated 1930s coming of age film Rambling Rose (1991) and a high-profile starring role replacing Peter Weller as the imposing eponymous cyborg law enforcer in Robocop 3 (1992).
Burke stayed busy from then on, alternating between independent movies and Hollywood projects. Working with Hartley again, Burke starred as one of a pair of brothers searching for their ballplayer-turned-anarchist father in the quirky yet appealing Simple Men (1992); he played a smaller role in Hartley's troubled romance triad Flirt (1995). Burke also acted more than once with the far less celebrated independent filmmaker Eric Schaeffer, appearing in Schaeffer's industry insider comedy My Life's in Turnaround (1993) and self-indulgent romantic comedy If Lucy Fell (1996). Outside of the New York independent scene, Burke played Reese Witherspoon's African gamekeeper father in the children's adventure A Far Off Place (1993), joined the distinguished cast populating Tombstone (1993) (the Kurt Russell version of the Wyatt Earp Western legend), appeared in Oliver Stone's third Vietnam movie, Heaven and Earth (1993), and starred as the cursed obese lawyer in Stephen King's horror yarn Thinner (1996). Continuing to show his versatility in both comedy and drama, Burke joined the supporting cast of the light-hearted buddy chase movie Fled (1996) and starred as Natasha Gregson Wagner's father in the bayou love story First Love, Last Rites (1997). Burke returned to TV in the late '90s in two acclaimed HBO productions, the ambitious miniseries From the Earth to the Moon (1998) and the wrenching Vietnam War docudrama A Bright Shining Lie (1998).
At the start of the 2000s, Burke reunited with Hal Hartley for the Cannes Film Festival entry No Such Thing (2001). Drawing upon his varied experience, not to mention his formidable mien, Burke played the mammal/lizard Beast to Sarah Polley's Beauty in Hartley's singular reworking of the fairy tale romance. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna begins in 1983 with Hector Negron, a veteran of that war, unexpectedly shooting a customer dead. Police discover that the suspect, a quiet postal worker, kept a statue head worth millions of dollars in his apartment. An eager young reporter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) interviews Negron in his cell about the mysterious artifact. While serving in the all-minority 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division, Negron and three comrades managed to sneak deep into enemy territory in Italy. One of the men, Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), picked the head up while they were serving in Florence and believes it brings him good luck. Negron (Laz Alonso), Train, and Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), along with their sergeant, Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), take refuge in the Italian village of St. Anna, harbored by locals who are resisting the Nazis -- who themselves surround the area. Train also protects an injured Italian boy he discovers while investigating a seemingly abandoned dwelling. Eventually, the soldiers make contact with their superiors, and are ordered to capture a German so that he may be interrogated about an upcoming attack. Lee adapted Miracle at St. Anna from a novel by James McBride, who also penned the screenplay. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, (more)
Want to know a secret? A really juicy secret? Look no further than the latest message from Manhattan's notorious blogger Gossip Girl. She keeps tabs on the city's most elite teens as they make the rounds from the preppiest school events to the most lavish, decadent parties. And between Serena and Blair's explosive friendship, Dan and Serena's budding romance, Nate and Blair's fairytale relationship (or is it?), Chuck's escapades and Jenny's introduction to the glamorous life, there's a lot to track! In this 5-disc, 18-episode Season One, friends, lovers, rivals and enemies abound. Even the darkest secrets don't stay hidden for long. You know you love it. XOXO!
- Starring:
- Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, (more)
A woman gets a belated introduction to the joy of sex in this comedy. Priscilla (Parker Posey) is a thirtysomething public-relations agent with the unenviable job of trying to lure new businesses to Cleveland, OH. Priscilla is married to Jack (Paul Rudd), a high-school teacher who is reaching the end of his patience with his career. Things aren't going especially well at home for Priscilla and Jack -- she seems unable to have an orgasm, and while Priscilla insists she's perfectly happy with their sex life, Jack is driven to distraction by his inability to arouse his wife. When Kristen (Mischa Barton), one of Jack's students, begins displaying an extra-curricular interest in him, he throws caution to the wind and begins an affair with her, and has soon moved out of the house. Left on her own, Priscilla finally begins feeling sexual frustration, and turns to Alyssa (Liza Minnelli), an outspoken sex therapist who advises her to learn how to pleasure herself. Alyssa's advice proved to be right on the money, and soon Priscilla is a changed women who is looking for a new man in her life. She soon finds one in Wayne (Danny DeVito), a swimming-pool salesman whose sloppy appearance belies his talent in the bedroom. The Oh in Ohio was the first feature film from director Billy Kent, who previously established himself making television commercials. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, (more)
George Clooney pays homage to one of the icons of American broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, in this fact-based drama, which was Clooney's second feature film as a director. In 1953, Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) was one of the best-known newsmen on television as host of both the talk show Person to Person and the pioneering investigate series See It Now. Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, was generating no small amount of controversy in the public and private sectors with his allegations that Communists had risen to positions of power and influence in America, and an Air Force pilot, Milo Radulovich, had been drummed out of the service due to McCarthy's charges that he was a Communist agent. However, Radulovich had been dismissed without a formal hearing of the charges, and he protested that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Murrow decided to do a story on Radulovich's case questioning the legitimacy of his dismissal, which was seen by McCarthy and his supporters as an open challenge to his campaign. McCarthy responded by accusing Murrow of being a Communist, leading to a legendary installment of See It Now in which both Murrow and McCarthy presented their sides of the story, which was seen by many as the first step toward McCarthy's downfall. Meanwhile, Murrow had to deal with CBS head William Paley (Frank Langella), who was supportive of Murrow but extremely wary of his controversial positions, while Murrow was also trying to support fellow newsman Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise), battling charges against his own political views, and working alongside Fred Friendly (George Clooney), the daring head of CBS News. Good Night, and Good Luck also stars Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, and Robert John Burke; the film won Best Film honors after its world premiere at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Strathairn, George Clooney, (more)
A newly single father discovers his daughter is caught up in a web of evil in this thriller. David Callaway (Robert De Niro) has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily (Dakota Fanning), on his own after the unexpected death of his wife. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named "Charlie," but it isn't long before "Charlie" develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realization that "Charlie" isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination. Hide and Seek also stars Famke Janssen, Dylan Baker, and Amy Irving. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, (more)
Actress and writer Nia Vardalos, who became an overnight sensation with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, returns to the big screen with this gender-bending comedy. Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) are best friends who've shared the same dream ever since they were teenagers -- making a name for themselves in the musical theater. However, after years of treading water on Chicago's dinner theater circuit and playing bottom-of-the-barrel nightclubs, the two are facing middle age with minimal career success. One evening after a performance, Connie and Carla have the misfortune of witnessing the murder of nightclub owner Frank (Michael Roberds) by low-level Mafiosi; the gals are seen by the shooters, and they hit the road in fear for their lives. Connie and Carla end up in Los Angeles, where they struggle to create new identities for themselves. After witnessing a drag review at a nightclub, they realize that even they have more talent than most of the men performing that evening, and they decide to pose as female impersonators in hopes of landing a gig. Connie and Carla's new act is an immediate hit, and soon they're the toast of L.A.'s gay community. But the women discover it's difficult to keep on fooling people into believing they're men, and things become even more complicated when the Mobsters discover that Connie and Carla are in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Connie finds herself falling for Jeff (David Duchovny), a regular guy looking for his cross-dressing brother who can't understand why he's developing a crush on a drag queen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, (more)
- 2003
A strange teenager becomes obsessed with a man who has a dangerous past in this independent drama. Fannie (Savannah Haske) is a slow-witted young woman living with her father (Robert John Burke) on a small farm in upstate New York. Fannie's only friends are her pet pig and an elderly woman who she tends to after a fashion, but Fannie wants to have a boyfriend, and often writes clumsy songs about the subject that she performs for the benefit of her cassette recorder. Nile (Dean Wareham) is a second-rate rock musician with a drug habit who moves in next door to the old woman; Fannie is immediately smitten with him, and follows him constantly until he agrees to go out on a date. But Nile makes no secret of his disinterest in Fannie, and ditches her for another woman before the end of the evening. As Fannie wonders how to win Nile's affection, the musician is confronted by a small-time gangster (John C. Reilly) who has some old business with Nile. Piggie was the first directorial credit for Alison Bagnall, who co-authored the screenplay for the cult favorite Buffalo '66. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Savannah Haske, Dean Wareham, (more)
Award-winning short filmmaker Jessica Sharzer makes her feature debut with the teen drama Speak, based on the young-adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Kristen Stewart stars as high school freshman Melinda, who has lost her ability to speak. Ever since a traumatic event that occurred at a party over the summer, she has chosen to remain silent. She's abandoned by her friends, while her mother Joyce (Elizabeth Perkins) is too wrapped up in her own problems to notice. By recalling the details of the past situation, it becomes clear that a date rape occurred. Yet no one has offered her support in order to deal with the psychological consequences. Eventually her art teacher Mr. Freeman (Steve Zahn) reaches out, helping her develop ways to express herself. Also starring Hallee Hirsh and Eric Lively. Speak premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the American Spectrum competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristen Stewart, Eric Lively, (more)
- 2002
- R
- Add Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to QueueAdd Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to top of Queue
Chuck Barris is best known to most Americans as the guy who used to host The Gong Show. He was also the creator and producer of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and a handful of other successful game shows in the 1960s and 1970s. But was he also a hired killer working with the CIA? That's the take-it-or-leave-it premise of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the memoir of the same name by Chuck Barris. Barris (Sam Rockwell) grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney), a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia (Julia Roberts). As he hops the globe, killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marked the directorial debut of actor George Clooney, working from a screenplay adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Barris' book. Dick Clark, Dating Game host Jim Lange, frequent Gong Show panelist Jaye P. Morgan, and Gene Gene Patton appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 2001
A criminal well known to detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) may have been responsible for the murder of a businessman. Unfortunately, the investigation is impeded by the FBI, who insist upon shielding the prime suspect. Without giving away the outcome, it can be noted that one of the guest actors plays a dual role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
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Originally aired as a four-part miniseries on Canada's Space cable network, Robocop: Prime Directives picks up after the events of 1993's Robocop 3 and was released straight-to-video in the U.S. as four seperate features. Robocop: Prime Directives - Resurrection is the third volume in the series and features the events following the battle between Robocop (Page Fletcher) and RoboCable. While the two recuperate, Robocop's son James dispatches a group of RoboHunters to seek out and take down Robo once and for all. Robocop: Prime Directives - Resurrection was preced by Robocop: Prime Directives - Meltdown and Robocop: Prime Directives - Dark Justice and is followed by Robocop: Prime Directives - Crash and Burn. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Falsone (Jon Seda) is the primary investigator when a four-year-old boy is abducted from a merry-go-round right under his mother's nose. Before long, the precinct gets a call from a man claiming to be the kidnapper -- and another call from the publicity-conscious host of the crime-solving TV show "This Week's Wanted." The key to the solution of this case ends up in the hands of a professional hypnotist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
Iranian-born director Ramin Niami loosely adapted the Maxim Gorky play The Lower Depths for this ensemble character study set in modern-day New York City's Lower East Side. Sandra Bernhard stars as Betty, a remarkably introverted and lonely therapist hungering for a male companion. In her apartment building, several other residents also have emotional, career, or romantic issues. Chinese student Lu Lu (Bai Ling) wants to stay in the U.S., so she interviews prospective husbands in hopes of obtaining a green card. Marta (Ornella Muti) is forced to sexually service her building's fat landlord daily in exchange for a free room, but she's in love with Frankie (Robert John Burke), an inept thief. Che (Paul Anthony Stewart) is a rich kid trying to incite a worker's revolt from his basement headquarters, while Graham (Peter Stormare) is a gay Shakespearean actor looking for love. Their stories intersect in the film's finale, which involves the kidnapping of former New York mayor Ed Koch (who plays himself). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bernhard, Ornella Muti, (more)
The plot of Thinner concerns massively overweight lawyer Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke), who is receiving an oral gift from his wife (Lucinda Jenney) while driving down the street one night, when he becomes so carried away that he runs over an old Gypsy woman (Irma St. Paule), killing her. Nobody in town likes the traveling Gypsies much, so Halleck's pals -- a judge and a cop -- cover up the incident. After the cover-up, the dead woman's father, Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), touches Halleck's face and whispers "thinner." Pretty soon, Halleck is losing weight at an incredible rate of more than 40 pounds a week. He tries everything, but learns that Lempke is the only man who can remove the curse. In the meantime, the judge dies of a mysterious skin ailment, and the cop commits suicide. When begging and pleading with Lempke doesn't work, Halleck turns to more drastic methods of persuasion. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert John Burke, Joe Mantegna, (more)
This vanity project from writer, director, and star Eric Schaeffer is a romantic comedy about a pair of New Yorkers with a suicide pact. Joe MacGonaughgill (Schaeffer) is a painter and teacher who has been spying for years on Jane (Elle Macpherson), the gorgeous woman who lives across the alley, where she can be secretly observed undressing. Joe lives with Lucy Ackerman (Sarah Jessica Parker), a psychotherapist who's also his best friend. Suffering from her own relationship troubles with her boyfriend Dick (William Sage), Lucy is reminded of a long-ago pact she made with Joe: if neither is involved in a serious relationship by her rapidly approaching 30th birthday, they will commit suicide by jumping together off the Brooklyn Bridge. Then Jane comes to a show of Joe's artwork and he musters up the courage to ask her out, while Lucy begins dating Bwick Elias (Ben Stiller), an oddball artist who paints with his body parts. Only after Jane and Bwick turn out to be major disappointments do Joe and Lucy realize that they're perfect together -- and not in the platonic sense. Struggling independent filmmaker Schaeffer convinced Parker to take the female lead in If Lucy Fell when she hailed the cab he was driving. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer, (more)
Though serving a prison sentence for using his computer to embezzle from an international corporation, Dodge (Stephen Baldwin) still thinks of himself as an ordinary criminal. His fellow convict, Piper (Lawrence Fishburne), whose basic decency leads him to protect Dodge from an assault by another prisoner, thinks the same. Neither Piper nor Dodge particularly like each other; matters are not improved when they are chained together. When a prison riot transforms into a break-out opportunity, they get to know one another better on the run, and neither is any too thrilled about it. The action soon grows fast and furious when they realize that they are not only on the run from the usual police authorities, but from several different kinds of police and a gang of mobsters, whom Dodge has unknowingly endangered. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, (more)
- 1995
- R
A lover, an ultimatum, a phone call, and a gun: these elements are found in each segment of Hal Hartley's Flirt, an experimental comedy-drama that essentially repeats the same story three times. But while the basic narrative remains the same -- a congenital flirt must decide whether or not to commit to a current lover, who otherwise will marry someone else -- the details differ greatly, from the location of the film to the gender of the participants. The initial segment, set in New York, tells the tale with a male flirt in turmoil over his relationship with a woman. The film then moves to Berlin, where the same drama is played out amongst a gay male couple, with an added touch of self-reflexive humor. The third and final episode takes place in Tokyo, with a female flirt and a more abstract cinematic approach, including several sequences in traditional Japanese pantomime. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Parker Posey, (more)
- 1995
- R
Based on a true story, this psychological study concerns Henry Lesser (Robert Sean Leonard), a prison guard who witnesses the brutal beating of an inmate, Carl Panzram (James Woods), who attempted to escape. Lesser tries to befriend the convict, whom he senses has an intelligence that has gone unrecognized by his jailers; he gives Panzram a notebook and pencils and encourages him to keep a journal. Panzram responds by writing the story of his life of crime -- a shocking litany of violence and brutality in which he takes credit for 21 murders, numerous armed robberies, several acts of arson, and over 1,000 homosexual rapes. Lesser has a difficult time reconciling the intelligent, articulate man he sees in his cell every day with the monster documented in his writings (though as far as anyone can tell, his claims are entirely accurate). Lesser believes that there's a humanity in Panzram that can be brought out, and that he can be redeemed and perhaps rehabilitated. Panzram, however, doesn't seem so convinced; his violent behavior continues behind bars, and attempts by opponents of the death penalty to prevent his execution only inspire his scorn -- as he sees it, society made him a killer, and it's society's responsibility to stop him once and for all. Killer: A Journal of Murder was the first directorial project for screenwriter Tim Metcalfe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Robert Sean Leonard, (more)
- 1995
The detectives spring into action when a 12-year-old is killed in a bombing at a renovation site. As usual, there is a plethora of suspects, but Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) pay special attention to antagonistic contractor Arthur "Buzz" Palley (Robert John Burke). Either Palley is the guilty party, or someone hated the man so much that they were willing to commit murder. The key to the solution is a taped telephone conversation, which Assistant D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) brings into play even though it has already been ruled as inadmissible evidence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
With Heaven and Earth -- cobbled together from two autobiographical reminiscences (When Heaven and Earth Changed Places and Child of War, Woman of Peace by Le Ly Hayslip -- Oliver Stone completes his self-declared "Vietnam Trilogy" (the other films being Platoon and Born On the Fourth of July) of films examining the Vietnam War from different perspectives. Heaven and Earth begins in the central Vietnamese village of Ky La during the 1950s. Phung Le Ly (Hiep Thi Le) is an innocent peasant girl, helping her mother (Joan Chen) to tend the rice paddies while being lectured in the ways of life by her father (Haing Ngor). The idyllic peace of the village is disrupted when a jet bomber crosses the skies. Soon the village is decimated as the American-backed South Vietnamese government troops and the Viet Cong engage in brutal warfare in which the victims are the innocent villagers. Le Ly is both tortured and raped. She leaves Ky La for Danang for a life as a prostitute. There she meets the tall and craggy American soldier Steve Butler (Tommy Lee Jones), a kind but lonely man who isn't looking for sex but for someone to settle down with -- as he says, "I want an Oriental wife." They marry, and Steve takes her back to the United States, where her in-laws look at her not as a wife but as a pet. In the harsh glare of 1970s U.S. culture, Le Ly has trouble adjusting to the American way of life. But not as hard a time as her husband, who, after twenty years in Vietnam, discovers he cannot adapt to civilian life. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Joan Chen, (more)
A high-energy action adventure based on legend rather than historical fact finds Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) desiring to retire from law enforcement. With brothers Virgil (Sam Elliot) and Morgan (Bill Paxton), he arrives in Tombstone, Arizona intending to build his fortune. He discovers that long-time friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is there and that the town is run by a group of brutal outlaws called the Cowboys. Earp, frustrated with his laudanum-addicted wife, begins a romance with traveling stage actress Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany). Meanwhile, the Cowboys terrorize the citizens of Tombstone unchecked.
When the town marshal is killed by a Cowboy, Earp steps in to prevent a lynching by an angry mob. He also refuses to hand the killer over to his fellows, beginning the enmity between the Cowboys and the Earp brothers. Virgil, overcome with guilt at doing nothing to help the Tombstone citizens, accepts the position of town marshal. With Wyatt and Morgan as his deputies, and the help of Doc, Virgil attempts to arrest several Cowboys, resulting in the famous OK Corral shoot-out. The Cowboys take revenge by ambushing two of the brothers and injuring Virgil and killing Morgan. The Earps leave town, apparently cowed. Wyatt returns, wearing the badge of a U.S. marshal, vowing to destroy every last Cowboy. He hunts them mercilessly, until the leader, Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) challenges Wyatt to a duel. While not regarded as an artistic masterpiece, "Tombstone" is considered the best of director George P. Cosmatos' prolific films. The all-star cast (including Thomas Haden Church and Billy Bob Thornton in small roles) delivers solid performances. Both William A. Fraker's cinematography and Bruce Broughton's stirring musical score are expertly designed for dramatic effect. Blood is shown liberally in several key scenes, but seems intended to show that there is nothing glorious in Wyatt Earp's actions, only necessity. He and his deputies take on the symbolism of the horsemen of the apocalypse -- dispensing judgement, and the Biblical references form a symmetry at the beginning and end of the film.
~ Lucinda Ramsey, All Movie Guide
When the town marshal is killed by a Cowboy, Earp steps in to prevent a lynching by an angry mob. He also refuses to hand the killer over to his fellows, beginning the enmity between the Cowboys and the Earp brothers. Virgil, overcome with guilt at doing nothing to help the Tombstone citizens, accepts the position of town marshal. With Wyatt and Morgan as his deputies, and the help of Doc, Virgil attempts to arrest several Cowboys, resulting in the famous OK Corral shoot-out. The Cowboys take revenge by ambushing two of the brothers and injuring Virgil and killing Morgan. The Earps leave town, apparently cowed. Wyatt returns, wearing the badge of a U.S. marshal, vowing to destroy every last Cowboy. He hunts them mercilessly, until the leader, Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) challenges Wyatt to a duel. While not regarded as an artistic masterpiece, "Tombstone" is considered the best of director George P. Cosmatos' prolific films. The all-star cast (including Thomas Haden Church and Billy Bob Thornton in small roles) delivers solid performances. Both William A. Fraker's cinematography and Bruce Broughton's stirring musical score are expertly designed for dramatic effect. Blood is shown liberally in several key scenes, but seems intended to show that there is nothing glorious in Wyatt Earp's actions, only necessity. He and his deputies take on the symbolism of the horsemen of the apocalypse -- dispensing judgement, and the Biblical references form a symmetry at the beginning and end of the film.
~ Lucinda Ramsey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, (more)
Eric Schaeffer and Donald Ward managed to scrape together 22,000 dollars to make this independent film about the making of an independent film. Schaeffer plays a New York City cabdriver (which he really was), while Ward co-stars as his roommate (which he really was). They have no money, no script, and admittedly not much talent, but they're determined to put a movie together about a couple of slightly overweight twentysomethings who are united by their "outsider" status. Talent agent Lisa Gerstein, the men's mutual friend, takes a maternal interest in their project. Along the way, they manage to charm genuine celebrities such as Phoebe Cates and Martha Plimpton into appearing in their film. (Cates really was cajoled into appearing when she stepped into Schaeffer's taxi!) My Life's in Turnaround debuted at the Seattle Film Festival, where it scored a hit (despite its misogynistic undertones) and earned Schaeffer and Ward a multimillion-dollar studio deal. Incidentally, the word "turnaround" is a Hollywood term referring to a movie project that has been in development so long that its chances of ever being produced are slim to none; detractors of Schaeffer and Ward (and there are many) tend to wish that this had been the fate of My Life's in Turnaround. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Schaeffer, Donal Lardner Ward, (more)
The directorial debut of Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Mikael Salomon (The Abyss), A Far Off Place is based on a pair of books by novelist Laurens Van der Post. Reese Witherspoon stars as Nonnie Parker, a young girl living on an African game preserve with her parents. Ethan Embry is Harry Winslow, the snooty son of a visiting dignitary. When Nonnie and Harry witness the murder of their parents at the hands of ruthless poachers, they suddenly find themselves braving the harsh Kalahari Desert in an attempt to escape the gang. Along the way, the pair encounters a bushman called Xhabbo (Sarel Bok) who shows them how to survive in the barren desert. Forced to work together to survive, Nonnie and Harry learn to overcome their differences and become friends. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reese Witherspoon, Jack Thompson, (more)
In this stylish supernatural horror story, Hitch (Robert Burke), a mysterious loner, wanders the deserts of the African nation of Nambia as he searches for the lost and suicidal. Hitch is wanted by the police in connection with the death a woman whose blood was used in a strange magic ceremony. A shaman consulted by the police and a pathologist investigating the killing believe that Hitch is a "Dust Devil," an evil spirit who can shift shape at will, taking the form of a man when it's convenient. Meanwhile, Hitch encounters Wendy (Chelsea Field), a woman who is despondent after the collapse of her marriage. Wendy gives him a ride along a lonely highway, and later that night, as Wendy contemplates suicide, Hitch waits patiently outside her door. The next day, Wendy runs into Hitch again and casually looks through his bag to discover that it's filled with human fingers. Convinced that Hitch is no harmless eccentric, she tries to escape, but she discovers that he's difficult to get away from; meanwhile, Mark (Rufus Swart), Wendy's ex-husband, is searching for her, convinced that she's fallen victim to foul play. Dust Devil has been released in a number of different forms; the original European cut ran 125 minutes, while the American version, which features redubbed voices and a different narration, ran only 87. The "final cut" prepared by director Richard Stanley, meanwhile, is 103 minutes in length. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert John Burke, Chelsea Field, (more)
A pair of brothers dodge the law while trying to locate their long-lost father in this third feature from independent New York filmmaker Hal Hartley. Robert John Burke stars as Bill McCabe, a failed computer thief who's just been doublecrossed by his girlfriend and partner. Vowing revenge on the next beautiful blonde he encounters, Bill meets up with his younger brother Dennis (William Sage), a philosophy student concerned about their father William (John A. MacKay). It seems the McCabe paterfamilias was a former major league shortstop who became an anarchist bomber in the 1960s, nearly blowing up the Pentagon. On the run for twenty-three years, William was recently caught by the FBI but escaped again. Based on information from their mother, the McCabes travel to Long Island, where William may be hiding. Along the way, the brothers meet the epileptic Elina (Elina Lowensohn) and her friend Kate (Karen Sillas), a beautiful blonde with whom Bill is instantly smitten. While Dennis figures out that Elina is somehow connected to William, Bill contends with Kate's ex-con husband Jack (Joe Stevens) and Jack's best friend Martin (Martin Donovan), both of whom are also in love with her. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert John Burke, Bill Sage, (more)
