Rick Rosenthal Movies
Director Rick Rosenthal received a degree in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1971. He started his professional career as a documentarian, working closely with PBS in New Hampshire. In 1989, Rosenthal directed the pilot episode for the television series Life Goes On, which became a very popular and respected part of United States TV history. In addition to his filmmaking, Rosenthal also teaches film with the American Film Institute, as well as with the University of Southern California. ~ Rovi- 2012
An overweight teen with no friends puts his planned suicide on hold after he is taken under the wing of an older yet unstable punk rocker in this tender adaptation of K.L. Going's award-winning young adult novel. Troy Billings (Jacob Wysocki) is a misfit with a weight problem. He's hatched a plan to end it all when out of the blue he meets 18 year old non-conformist Marcus Macrae (Matt O'Leary), whose devil-may-care attitude gives Troy an optimistic new outlook on life. Troy's merciful reprieve from depression meets an unexpected challenge, however, when his strict father (Bill Campbell) deems Markus a druggie troublemaker, and forbids the two from being friends. Fat Kid Rules the World marks the feature directorial debut of longtime actor Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby-Doo). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacob Wysocki, Matt O'Leary, (more)
- 2012
A has-been British pop star reluctantly confronts the demons of his past in order to avoid getting deported from the U.S. after being pulled over for drunken driving and seeing a previous drug offence used against him in court. Back in the 1990s, Lachlan MacAldonich (Robert Carlyle) was on top of the world. You could barely turn on a radio without hearing one of his hits, but these days Lachlan maintains a low profile by working on an organic farm in L.A., and reflecting on the untimely deaths of his favorite musicians in his podcast "Flame-Outs". One night, while driving back home following a night of drinking at his favorite bar, Lachlan is arrested on a DUI charge. That compounded with a drug conviction from years prior means that Lachlan may force deportation unless he can convince the judge that his absence would have a negative impact on his family stateside. Desperate, Lachlan soon finds himself compelled to try and repair the failed relationships that have haunted him ever since his music career dried up and his star faded. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2011
- R
An act of violence has a powerful impact on the friendship of two young men in this independent drama. Qalli (Josiah Patkotak) and Aivaaq (Frank Qutuq Irelan) are two 17-year-old boys growing up in the Inupiaq community of Barrow, Alaska. While Barrow is at first glance an old-fashioned community cut off from major urban centers and a place where men still hunt seals and walruses to put food on the table, the town shows a few signs of big-city life; the teenagers like to race snowmobiles and listen to hip-hop, and there's also a growing crystal-meth problem. Qalli and Aivaaq have known each other since early childhood and are as close as siblings, but they come from very different households -- Qalli has a tight-knit family and has plans to attend college, while Aivaaq is the son of a single mom and has a pregnant girlfriend to look after. One day, Qalli sees Aivaaq in a fist fight with his friend James (John Miller); both are high on meth, and Aivaaq loses control and accidentally kills James. Rather than report the matter to the police, Aivaaq comes up with a plan to hide the body and let folks believe James has gone missing. Qalli agrees to help out of loyalty, but soon his guilt over the cover up begins to take a heavy toll. On The Ice was the first feature film from writer and director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Teddy Kyle Smith
Hilary Duff and Evan Ross star in this interracial teen romance about a waitress whose summer romance with an ambitious cook is threatened when her grandparents (Ellen Burstyn and Michael Murphy) voice concern about her new boyfriend's criminal history. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Evan Ross, (more)
A slacker tries to do the right thing for his family with unexpectedly chaotic results in this independent comedy. Salman (Scott Prendergast) is an out-of-work twentysomething who has few skills and fewer prospects. However, things are significantly worse for his older brother -- his National Guard unit has been called back to Iraq, and his wife, Leslie (Lisa Kudrow), needs to go back to work in order to support their children. However, Leslie doesn't have anyone to look after her two sons, so when Salman learns of her sad situation, he volunteers to move in and help mind the kids. Salman quickly discovers the boys are nearly psychotic and will stop at nothing to get him out of the house, including putting sharp objects in his breakfast. With the household still short on money, Leslie helps Salman get a job, and soon he's become the corporate mascot for a failing Internet company, who pounds the pavement wearing a strange blue costume hoping to drum up interest in renting space in the corporate offices. The first feature film as writer and director for actor Scott Prendergast, Kabluey also stars Christine Taylor, Conchata Ferrell, Teri Garr, and Chris Parnell. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lisa Kudrow, Scott Prendergast, (more)
As co-directed by Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill, the nature documentary Earth represents an edited-down version of the 12-hour small-screen miniseries Planet Earth, reslated for cinematic release. The program provides a sweeping 99-minute tour of our home planet's biosphere -- spanning every level of gaze, from the epic (crystal-clear shots of the Earth hovering in space) to the hyper-specific (a mother polar bear and her cubs waking from a lengthy period of hibernation). The film almost exclusively emphasizes the behavior of the animal populations that inhabit the Earth, yet carefully omits shots that depict the more gory predatory behavior of species, rendering it family-friendly. It also employs a chronological approach -- beginning in January in the Arctic wilderness, and moving progressively through the four seasons and 12 months comprising a single year, until it hits late December -- contrasting various geographic regions of the Earth as shot in various seasons. Above all else, a cautionary message underscores this footage; as in An Inconvenient Truth, the filmmakers continually remind their audience that despite the grandiloquence present onscreen, all may be lost if humankind is not careful. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Earl Jones
A teenage boy tries to hold his family together while the girl of his dreams drives him to distraction in this coming-of-age comedy drama. It's 1978, and Henry Nearing (Gregory Smith) and his family are in a state of flux. Henry's mother has died, and now his father, Shep (David Morse), is trying to find himself by quitting his job, buying a motorcycle, and growing out his hair. Henry's brother, Blair (David Moscow), is similarly trying to expand his boundaries by dating a free-spirited girl and experimenting with drugs. Henry, meanwhile, is just trying to get through high school, but a certain girl is making that difficult for him. Grace Chance (Jordana Brewster) is a pretty girl in Henry's class who enjoys wrapping boys around her little finger; it doesn't take long for her to notice he's smitten with her, and she begins flirting with him and getting him to do whatever she wants, even though she already has a boyfriend whom she has no intention of leaving. Meanwhile, Merna (Ashley Johnson), a cute girl who lives nearby, has a crush on Henry and is clearly a better match for him, but she can't get him to notice her, even after she starts dating an older boy to make him jealous. Nearing Grace received its world premiere at the 2005 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregory Smith, Jordana Brewster, (more)
Marine biologist Dr. Roger Payne has dedicated four decades to studying whales and campaigning for their protection; his groundbreaking studies of whale songs and habitat pollution helped lay the foundation for the ocean conservation movement. This evocative documentary combines the natural history of whales with the story of Payne's life and career, and raises important questions about man's responsibility to the Earth and its creatures. ~ Carly Wray, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roger Payne
Alastair Fothergill's nature documentary Deep Blue consists of 90 minutes of footage of undersea creatures -- living, surviving, fighting, and dying. Similar to like-minded documentaries such as Winged Migration and MicroCosmos, Deep Blue features footage from locations throughout the world. The great British actor Michael Gambon provides the narration, which favors involving the viewer emotionally over providing enlightening factual information on the creatures. The 22 segments of the film conclude with footage of how man has affected life under the sea. This film was originally produced for the British television series The Blue Planet. According to the filmmakers, some of the creatures seen here have never been previously recorded on film. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Gambon
- 2003
Clark Kent (Tom Welling) suspects that he and new Smallville High student Cyrus Krupp (Jeremy Lelliott) share the power of "heat vision." This leads to the logical conclusion that Cyrus, like Clark, is an alien from another world -- a conclusion seemingly verified when Cyrus displays the ability to heal. Before the "mystery" of Cyrus Krupp is solved, two separate subplots are introduced, one involving the pregnant-and-worried Martha Kent (Annette O'Toole), the other revolving around the budding romance between Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and his anger-management therapist, Helen Bryce (Emmanuelle Vaugier). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2003
The Indian caves introduced in the previous episode "Skinwalker" happen to harbor an alien parasite which feeds on the adrenal glands of teenagers. Among those infected by the parasite is Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) best friend, Pete (Sam Jones III). His mind and personality altered by the "invader" in his system, the usually shy and mild-mannered Pete becomes a reckless, extroverted daredevil -- thus endangering not only his own life but those of everyone around him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2003
Created by West Wing writer Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., the weekly, 60-minute political drama Mister Sterling was a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the 21st century. Josh Brolin starred as William Sterling Jr., the idealistic young "reformist" son of a popular retired California governor (James Whitmore). Selected by his state's political machine to fill out the term of a dead Democratic senator, Mister Sterling arrived in the nation's capitol with a naïvely altruistic agenda -- and with no party ties, since he was a registered Independent (though in West Wing tradition, he tended to veer toward the left). Doing their best to educate Sterling to the facts of life about Washington, and sometimes expressing amazement at how much smarter he was than the "established" politicos, were his chief of staff, Jackie Brock (Audra McDonald); his legislative director, Tommy Doyle (William Russ); and resident techno-geek Leon (David Noroña). Mister Sterling was elected to office on January 10, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Josh Brolin, Audra McDonald, (more)
Independent filmmaker Jacob Aaron Estes makes his feature debut with the coming-of-age drama Mean Creek. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Josh Peck, Trevor Morgan, and Carly Schroeder are teenagers living in small-town Oregon. Some of the boys take a boat trip for a birthday celebration. When they get an idea to play a mean trick on the town bully, it suddenly goes too far. Soon they're forced to deal with the unexpected consequences of their actions. Mean Creek was workshopped at the Eugene O'Neill Center's National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as part of the American Spectrum program. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, (more)
- 2002
When Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) nearly stumbles on the lair of the super-nerd troika, Warren (Adam Busch) and his cronies sic a demon on her. The fiend manages to stab the Slayer with its talon, sending her in and out of an alternate reality where her life as a demon-hunter is nothing but the delusions of an insane, institutionalized young woman. As she wanders through her day, jumping back and forth between realities, Buffy finds her alternate life terrifying but alluring. She's overjoyed to see her mother (Kristine Sutherland) alive and her parents still married, but the non-Slayer Buffy is still just a hopeless basket case in a straitjacket. Elsewhere, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) seeks to reignite her relationship with Tara (Amber Benson) and learns that Xander (Nicholas Brendon) still loves Anya (Emma Caulfield), despite having left her at the alter. Later, while Xander and Spike (James Marsters) capture the creature who has infected Buffy, Willow listens to the Slayer's musings about the depression that has plagued her since her resurrection. Ultimately, when Willow brews up a cure for the demon's spell, Buffy dumps it out, preferring to retreat into the comfort of padded walls in a world where Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) doesn't expect her to be a parent and Spike isn't threatening to reveal their illicit tryst. Only Tara's surprise intervention keeps the comatose Slayer from "exorcising" her friends as if they were figments of a troubled imagination. Bidding farewell to her parents, Buffy jumps back into her Slayer self. Back in the alternate reality of Buffy's vision, her folks cry over the shell of their brain-dead daughter. Originally broadcast March 12, 2002, on UPN, "Normal Again" marked episode 117 of the cult-favorite series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- 2002
When a troubled student claims to know the date of her own impending death, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) gets to employ her slayer skills as part of her new job as high-school counselor. Cassie Newton (Azura Skye), the student in question, seems like any number of other sweet, depressive, poetry-writing goth kids, except for her seeming ability to tell the future. With help from the Scooby Gang -- including the back-on-board Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and aspiring slayerette Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) -- Buffy investigates the girl's family and friends and finds nothing to indicate foul play is at hand. But when Cassie suddenly disappears, the trail leads to a group of red-robed malcontents who plan to sacrifice the girl to a demon. Ultimately, Cassie's prediction does come true, but not in the way anyone expected. And speaking of unexpected mortality, Willow finally works up the nerve to visit her slain lover Tara's grave. Originally broadcast October 15, 2002, on the UPN network, "Help" marked episode 126 of the cult-favorite series. This episode was helmed by Rick Rosenthal, director of Halloween II and Halloween: Resurrection. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
Masked serial killer Michael Myers makes his seventh appearance in the eighth installment of this long-running slasher series. Although the climax of the previous installment, Halloween: H20, depicted heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finishing off her brother/tormentor, the opening sequence of Halloween: Resurrection reveals that Laurie actually beheaded the wrong guy. Now confined to a mental institution, she quickly falls victim to her brother and longtime foe (played this time out by Brad Loree). Cut to Haddonfield, IL, where a sextet of college students is assembling for the production of an online reality show in which they'll spend the night locked up in the killer's childhood home being filmed by dozens of cameras and broadcast over the Internet. Presided over by fast-talking producer Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) and his girlfriend/business partner, Nora Winston (Tyra Banks), the players range from fame-hungry Jen (Katee Sackhoff) and food-obsessed Rudy (Sean Patrick Thomas) to rakish Jim (Luke Kirby) and cerebral Donna (Daisy McCrackin). As these photogenic youngsters hunt for clues about Michael's tortured childhood, engage in on-camera sexual escapades, and discover the phony props planted by Freddie and Nora, Michael arrives to stalk them relentlessly one by one. To complicate matters, Freddie himself is skulking around in a Michael Myers mask hoping to scare up some ratings. As the bodies begin to pile up, thoughtful cast member Sara (Bianca Kajlich) manages to survive thanks to wireless email instructions from high-school dork Myles (Ryan Merriman), but even the latest technology might not be enough to outwit Michael Myers. Halloween: Resurrection was directed by Rick Rosenthal, who previously helmed 1981's Halloween 2. The cast also features Thomas Ian Nicholas of American Pie and Billy Kay of L.I.E. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad Loree, (more)
Love, sex, fidelity, and the nearly endless variety of complications they can bring are played for laughs in this sophisticated comedy. Alan (Robert Mailhouse) is driving home on a dark and rainy night when he sees an attractive woman standing by the side of the road. He stops and offers her a ride; she accepts and immediately offers him fellatio for his troubles. Though Alan is married and has never cheated on his wife, he's not sure how to say no in this instance, but he doesn't get much of a chance to enjoy infidelity before he's interrupted by the police -- who inform him he's picked up a prostitute and he's under arrest. Several days later, Alan is trying to figure out how to get his wife Laura (Alison Eastwood) to take him back. His buddies Danny (Jonathan Silverman) and Brent (William Ragsdale) chide him for his naivete and advise him to stick by the old rationalization that oral sex isn't really sex. Meanwhile, Laura heads out for a night on the town with her friends Ally (Kimberly Williams) and Terianne (Jessica Lundy). Laura is thinking that adulterous turnabout might be fair play, Ally is mulling over her secret fantasy of becoming an exotic dancer, and Terianne is looking for a man who can help her with her problems in reaching an orgasm. The supporting cast includes Lauren Hutton as Laura's mother. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alison Eastwood, Robert Mailhouse, (more)
- 1992
In this made-for-cable-TV crime drama, New York detective Devlin must prove that he is innocent of killing his brother-in-law, a mayoral candidate. It is not easy for the unhappily married, alcoholic gumshoe because he suspects that the man trying to frame him is his arch nemesis, his corrupt father-in-law, a powerful local politician. Now while trying to save his neck and solve the murder, Devlin finds himself pursued by both his fellow cops and the mob. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1989
The Nasty Boys refers not to a rock group but an elite corps of law enforcement officers. This fact-based TV movie is set in August, 1986. The place is drug-ridden North Las Vegas, Nevada. Unable to stem the drug trade by orthodox means, the police department organizes a group of "commando cops", who swoop down on the narcotics kingpins while garbed in identification-obscuring ski masks. These guerilla tactics worked beautifully in 1986, though the hooded vigilantism inherent in so extreme a police procedure has subsequently triggered racial tensions in some large cities. In 1989, however, The Nasty Boys was regarded as a merely a slam-bang piece of entertainment. It was designed as the pilot for a potential TV series, and was given a "sure-fire" network lead-in with the premiere episode of Baywatch (Baywatch clicked; The Nasty Boys clunked). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Discharged from Vietnam, John Lithgow and his army buddies have trouble fitting into a hostile home-front society. Rather than endure dirty looks and taunts of "baby killer," Lithgow and his friends wander aimlessly all through the Pacific Northwest. Several years pass, during which time Lithgow's estranged son Ralph Maccio grows to manhood. Finally emerging from his self-imposed exile, Lithgow begins searching for the son he's never known. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Lithgow, Ralph Macchio, (more)
This children's movie is set in sunny Key West during a Fourth of July celebration. Three buddies sneak off to their secret fort and to their surprise discover a Russian sailor hiding there. He is Mischa, who with two shipmates was assigned to sneak into the town military base to steal certain computer parts. Unfortunately, a rafting accident left him stranded and alone. The boys eventually decide to help poor Mischa make it back to his home. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Whip Hubley, Leaf Phoenix, (more)
- 1985
In this action movie, a wanderer goes looking for a missing woman's brother and instead gets entangled in a war between two gangs of smugglers along the Arizona-Mexico border. The film is also titled "Dalton." ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Most animation aficionados of the 1990s know "Savage Steve Holland" as the cocreator (with Bill Kopp) of the all-stops-out TV cartoon series Eek! The Cat. But Holland had been exercising his own peculiar brand of deviltry on live characters long before Eek! came into being. In Holland's Better Off Dead, John Cusack plays a lovestruck teenager, hopelessly enamored with Amanda Wyss. When she dumps him in favor of a more popular high-schooler, the boy's entire day quickly goes to Hell. In the words of Hamlet, all occasions do inform against Cusack: he is bullied, tormented and torn apart by everyone from the paperboy (who seemingly turns up everywhere) to the disembodied voice of a radio deejay. Cusack attempts suicide, but his efforts are just as unsuccessful-and amusing-as Bud Cort's in Harold and Maude. Meanwhile, French exchange student Diane Franklin, held a virtual prisoner by her host family, develops a long-distance crush on Cusack. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, (more)
This spoof of the 1930s and '40s crime stories ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime as it tells the story of Johnny Dangerously (Byron Thames as the young Johnny, Michael Keaton as the older), a devoted son to his ailing mother (Maureen Stapleton), so ill that she needs money for several operations. Johnny has nowhere to turn, and because gangsters tend to flourish in his neighborhood he goes to work for Dundee, a benevolent godfather-gangster type, in order to cover his mother's medical bills. Johnny hides his association with Dundee from his younger brother Tommy (Griffin Dunne) and goes so far as to pay for Tommy's law school fees -- supporting him until Tommy joins the staff of the local (and corrupt) district attorney's office for Burr (Danny DeVito). When Johnny starts working for Dundee, he clashes with the evil Vermin (Joe Piscopo) right from the beginning, but things only get worse. After Dundee decides to retire, Johnny ascends to the helm, and it does not look like Vermin is going to take that sitting down. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, (more)
