Angel Caban Movies
Adventure-loving house painter Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) contends with the problem of having too many penguins in director Mark S. Waters' adaptation of author Richard Atwater's beloved children's book. Shortly after penning a letter to a team of Arctic explorers, Mr. Popper is surprised to receive a penguin in the mail. Later, after making his mischievous new pal a cozy new home in the freezer, the hapless Mr. Popper comes into possession of a playful female penguin as well. Before long Mr. Popper finds himself surrounded by a growing family of the flightless birds, and begins training them to perform in a traveling show dubbed Popper's Performing Penguins. With each new town the show travels to, pandemonium is quick to follow. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, (more)
An orphaned boy is thrown head-first into a new and different life in this drama. Twelve-year-old Hector (Jacob Kiron Shalov), who has lived all his life in New Jersey, is riding in the car with his mother when they're struck by another driver; Hector receives only minor injuries, but his mother is killed. With nowhere else to go, Hector is forced to take up an offer to stay with his grandmother, who lives in the Philippines and has never met him. Hector can't speak Tagalog and his grandmother Lita (Angie Ferro) knows no English; not only can't they communicate, but Hector and Lita soon discover they don't much like one another. The teeming slums of Manila are like no place Hector has ever seen, and with few other options he falls in with a gang of teenage thugs led by Miguel (Pierro Rodriguez), who goads him into breaking into a house in a well-to-do neighborhood. Hector is caught red-handed by the owner of the house, Jose (Jaime Tirelli), a photographer who speaks fluent English. Jose insists that Hector work off the damage he's done, but he soon takes the boy under his wing, teaching him a bit about photography and giving him chores to keep him out of trouble. Hector also attracts the attention of a pretty girl, Sel (Maria Lopez), but while they're clearly fond of one another, Hector soon discovers Sel already has a boyfriend -- Miguel. Santa Mesa was the first feature film from writer and director Ron Morales. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacob Kiron Shalov, Angie Ferro, (more)
Director Roger Michell follows up the hit romantic comedy Notting Hill (1999) with this thought-provoking thriller. Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson star, respectively, as Gavin Banek and Doyle Gibson, two New York men whose lives become accidentally intertwined in a Good Friday fender bender on the FDR Drive. Late for a crucial appointment, hotshot lawyer Gavin tosses Doyle a blank check and leaves the scene, while Doyle, whose car is inoperable, is late for a court-appointed custody hearing. A recovering alcoholic, Doyle's tardiness doesn't sit well with the judge, who - sick of waiting for Gipson - grants custody to Doyle's ex-wife in Doyle's absence. The situation worsens when it becomes evident that Doyle has an equally important file belonging to Gavin, which proves that an elderly man gave Banek's firm power-of-attorney over his foundation. So begins an escalating war of words and deeds between the two men. Soon, egged on by an associate (Toni Collette), Gavin hires a "fixer" (Dylan Baker) to destroy Doyle's credit, forcing Doyle to fire back with some cunning moves of his own. Changing Lanes co-stars William Hurt, Sydney Pollack, and Toni Collette. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
- 1998
While investigating the rape of a ten-year-old girl, a grieving detective Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) is afforded the opportunity to avenge the death of his own daughter Cathy. Meanwhile, Assistant D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) faces a disciplinary committee to explain the questionable courtroom tactics used in the earlier episode "Under the Influence"; McCoy's assistant Ross (Carey Lowell) may either lose her job or leave it voluntarily; and McCoy and Ross' boss Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) faces stiff opposition (most of it fomented by a couple of longtime enemies) during his re-election campaign. Though the central rape case is resolved, the fates of several series regulars are left hanging in this eighth season finale episode of Law & Order. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
A black student is murdered, and the main suspect claims that she had been previously drugged and raped by the dead man. The parents of the victim insist that the girl is lying and demand that the DA's office prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law. The outcome hinges upon two mutually dependent "airtight" alibis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A pair of New York City cops collaborate on a plan to rob a cash-packed subway train in this action-comedy. Charlie (Woody Harrelson) and John (Wesley Snipes) are not just co-workers and close friends but also foster brothers. Because of this family connection, the reluctant John becomes involved in the more capricious Charlie's far-fetched scheme to rob the "money train" that collects the subway's daily grosses. Charlie needs the money for gambling debts, and robbing the train would have the added benefit of angering Charlie's and John's harsh, corrupt boss Captain Patterson (Robert Blake). Romantic interest is provided by a fellow police officer (Jennifer Lopez) who sparks rivalry between the brothers, but the film's main interest is in the violent events that surround the attempted heist, which naturally proves more complicated than planned. The film attempts to capitalize on the chemistry between Snipes and Harrelson, who had previously had a hit comedy with White Men Can't Jump (1992), but Joseph Ruben's unexceptional direction and a bland screenplay by Doug Richardson and David Loughery make the film less distinctive than its predecessor. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Woody Harrelson, (more)
- 1994
- R
Hal Hartley's fourth feature is a significant break from the quirky romantic comedy territory of his previous work -- though all of the deadpan idiosyncracies which make him such a singular filmmaker remain intact, here he tries his hand at the thriller genre, a move yielding typically unconventional and innovative results. Amateur stars Hartley mainstay Martin Donovan as Thomas, an amnesiac who, in the first scenes, wakes up in an alley, badly injured; he stumbles to a nearby coffeeshop where he meets Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert), a former nun and would-be nymphomaniac who now makes her living writing pornographic fiction. She takes him back to her apartment, where in time his past slowly begins to emerge -- a sharp contrast to the sweet, even naive soul that Huppert has befriended, it appears that the old Thomas was in fact a vicious pornographer whose attempted murder was at the hands of his wife, adult film star wife Sofia (Elina Lowensohn). Thomas is also the target of a nefarious European arms merchant whose hired guns are hot on his trail. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan, (more)
- 1994
- R
Two estranged brothers discover that family secrets can have a high value on the wrong side of the law in this crime drama. Jack McCallister (Seymour Cassel) is an aging career criminal whose luck is about to give out; Jack and his henchmen are ambushed by police in the midst of a major robbery, which leaves Jack severely injured and his accomplices dead. Jack manages to hide the $500,000 from the robbery before he makes his way to his death bed, where he speaks with his two sons, George (Treat Williams) and Michael (Paul Schulze). George has followed Jack's example as a thief, though his violent recklessness suggests that his career will not be as long as his father's, while Michael makes ends meet as a con man, selling burial plots that don't exist to the elderly and gullible. George and Michael have never gotten along and don't trust each other, but before Jack dies, he gives each of his sons an important clue as to where his final windfall is hidden. If they are to find the money, George and Michael will have to put aside their differences and help each other, but of course they're not the only ones in town looking for the missing half-million. Handgun was the first theatrical feature for television director Whitney Ransick and also features Michael Rappaport, Frank Vincent, and Michael Imperioli. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Seymour Cassel, (more)
In this action comedy, director Gregg Champion relies on the premise that, indeed, "country boys can survive," as Sonny (Kiefer Sutherland) and Pepper (Woody Harrelson, always game) head off to the Big Apple in order to rescue a mutual friend's daughter from the clutches of an evil sweatshop owner. Naturally, there are lots of encounters highlighting the two fishes out of water; there are opportunities to lasso bad guys; there's even a chase on horseback through the city streets after Sonny and Pepper steal a pair of NYPD horses. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Woody Harrelson, Kiefer Sutherland, (more)
- 1993
Comic horror film about the Batemans, who move from Ohio to New York. The rusty old refrigerator in their run-down apartment turns out to be the gate to hell. The previous tenants disappeared without a trace--now will the Batemans be next? ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Julia Mueller, David Simonds, (more)
When a media-relations mogul (Johnny Stumper) gains another client in the form of a mob boss (David Henry Keller), it sparks a war between rival families. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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