Sam Shepard Movies
A Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (for 1979's Buried Child), an Oscar-nominated actor, and a director and screenwriter to boot, multi-talented Sam Shepard has made a career of plumbing the darker depths of middle-American rural sensibilities and Western myths. The son of a military man, he was born Samuel Shepard Rogers on November 3, 1943, in Fort Sheridan, IL. Following a peripatetic childhood, part of which was spent on a farm, Shepard left home in late adolescence to move to New York City, where by the age of 20, he already had two plays produced.As a playwright, Shepard went on to win a number of Obies for such dramas as Curse of the Starving Class (1977), which he made into a film in 1994, and True West (aired on PBS in 1986). As an actor, the lanky and handsome Shepard made his feature film debut with a small role in Bronco Bullfrog (1969) and didn't resurface again until Bob Dylan's disastrous Renaldo and Clara (1978). The film followed Shepard's residence in London during the early '70s, where he worked on-stage as an actor and director when not playing drums for his band, The Holy Modal Rounders, which had performed as part of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue in 1975. Also in 1978, Shepard made a big impression playing a wealthy landowner in Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, but it was not until he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for playing astronaut Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983) that he became a well-known actor. Following this success, he went on to specialize in playing drifters, cowboys, con artists, and eccentric characters with only the occasional leading role. Some of his more notable work included Paris, Texas (1984), which he also wrote; Fool For Love (1985), which was adapted from his play of the same name; Baby Boom (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), and The Pelican Brief (1993). In addition to acting and writing, Shepard has also directed: in 1988, he made his debut with Far North, a film he wrote especially for his off-screen leading lady, Jessica Lange, with whom he has acted in Frances (1982), Country (1984), and Crimes of the Heart (1986).
In 1999, Shepard could be seen on both the big and small screen. He appeared in Snow Falling on Cedars and Dash and Lilly, a made-for-TV movie for which he won an Emmy nomination in the role of the titular Dashiell Hammett. In addition, he also lent his writing skills to Simpatico, a Nick Nolte vehicle about friendship and loss adapted from Shepard's play of the same name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- R
- Add Brothers to Queue
Jim Sheridan's film, adapted from Susanne Bier's 2004 movie, concerns Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire), a Marine who receives orders to ship out for yet another tour of duty in Afghanistan. But before he leaves his supportive wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his two elementary-school-age daughters, Sam picks up his black sheep brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has finished a prison stretch for robbing a bank. While overseas, Sam's aircraft gets shot down and he's thought dead. Back home, irresponsible Tommy gets his act together in order to be an anchor for Grace and the girls, and the two grow emotionally -- though not physically -- close. As the family finally begins to make peace with their grief, soldiers rescue POW Sam and he returns home. Sam's experiences overseas have caused him such emotional turmoil, he has a difficult time adjusting to civilian life, and soon his fear and paranoia manifest themselves in the form of jealousy for his brother's relationship with his wife. Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham co-star as the brothers' father and stepmother. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, (more)
A loving husband and father finds his promising future transformed into a waking nightmare when he's convicted of involuntary manslaughter after accidentally killing the burglar who broke into his home in this gritty prison drama starring Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer. Wade Porter (Dorff) would have done anything to protect his family, and when they were threatened he did what any caring family man would have done. But somehow everything went wrong, and now Wade has been sentenced to spend three years in a maximum-security prison. It's a place where the rules of society have been all but forgotten, and in addition to sharing a cell with a notorious mass murderer (Kilmer), Wade somehow incurs the wrath of the sadistic head prison guard (Harold Perrineau). Now, in order to survive the series of vicious beatings orchestrated for the amusement of the guards, Wade realizes that in order to survive the block and get back to his family he will have to become the toughest felon of them all. But even if Wade does manage to live through this harrowing ordeal, what will be left of that loving family man once he's finally released back into civilized society? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Dorff, Val Kilmer, (more)
- 2007
- R
- Add The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to QueueAdd The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to top of Queue
Brad Pitt stars as legendary Wild West outlaw Jesse James in Chopper director Andrew Dominik's cinematic rendering of the events that would eventually bring about the death of the man rumored be the "fastest gun in the West." An eager recruit into James' notorious gang, Robert Ford eventually grows jealous of the famed outlaw. When Robert and his brother Charlie sense an opportunity to kill James, their murderous action elevates their target to near mythical status. Casey Affleck stars as Robert Ford and Sam Shepard co-stars as Frank James -- Jesse's devoted sibling and partner in crime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, (more)
A radio talk-show host who specializes in repairing damaged relationships finds her life suddenly turned upside down when a listener who took her advice and later regretted doing so resolves to take revenge on the misguided love doctor. Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Sam Shepard, and Isabella Rossellini star in a romantic comedy directed by Griffin Dunne. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, (more)
A self-assured Midwestern girl finds her confidence gradually crumbling as a barrage of terrifying visions prompt her to investigate a brutal murder in a supernatural thriller directed by Asif Kapadia and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Joanna Mills (Gellar) is a successful sales representative for a local trucking company, and though her professional life is at an all-time high, her personal life couldn't be any more troubling at the moment. Estranged from her father (Sam Shepard) and menacingly stalked by an obsessive ex-boyfriend (Adam Scott), Joanna feels all alone in the world as her downward spiral rapidly begins to accelerate. When Joanna has a psychic experience in which she literally sees and feels the brutal murder of a female stranger, she soon begins to suspect that she has been targeted as the killer's next victim. Joanna isn't the type to go down without a fight, however, and as her increasingly vivid visions guide her ever closer to the victim's hometown, the secrets that will be revealed leave her wondering if the murder she is investigating may be her own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Michelle Gellar, Adam Scott, (more)
Desperate circumstances force a man to make a terrible choice in this period drama. It's 1957, and Walker Payne (Jason Patric) is a good but troubled man who struggles to keep his appetite for whiskey and women under control for the sake of his two daughters after breaking up with his wife (Drea de Matteo). Like most of the men in the small Illinois town he calls home, Payne provides for his daughters by working in a nearby coal mine, and when the mine suddenly closes, jobs become all but impossible to find. Payne's money problems come to a head when his ex-wife, who has decided to leave town and attend nursing school, demands 5,000 dollars or otherwise she will take custody of their children and he'll never see them again. Opportunity comes to Payne in the form of Syrus (Sam Shepard), a charming but unscrupulous man who offers Payne the chance to make some big money fast. Syrus runs an illegal dog-fighting circuit outside of town, and he's certain Payne's pooch Brute, a good-natured but massive animal, has the stuff to be a champion. Can Payne sacrifice his loyal canine friend to maintain the custody of his daughters? Walker Payne also stars Bruce Dern as Walker's friend Chester and KaDee Strickland as Audrey, a divorcée with an unpleasant past who falls for Payne. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Patric, Drea de Matteo, (more)
E.B. White's classic children's story comes to the screen in this live-action adaptation with an all-star voice cast. Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning) is a young girl growing up on her family's farm. When a sow gives birth to some piglets, Fern's father (Kevin Anderson) intends to do away with the runt of litter, but Fern has become attached to the little pig and persuades her father to let him live. The pig, named Wilbur (voice of Dominic Scott Kay), becomes Fern's pet, but when he grows larger, he's put in the care of Homer Zuckerman (Gary Basaraba), a farmer down the road. Fern is still able to visit Wilbur regularly, and it soon occurs to both of them that pigs tend to have a limited life expectancy on a farm, and that unless something unusual happens, Wilbur will eventually becomes someone's dinner. Charlotte, a friendly spider, hatches a plan to make Wilbur seem special enough to save by weaving messages about the "terrific" pig into her web, and she soon persuades her barnyard friends to join in her plan. Charlotte is voiced by Julia Roberts, while the other actors who provide the voices of the animals on Zuckerman's farm include Robert Redford, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Bates, Cedric the Entertainer. Thomas Haden Church, and André Benjamin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, (more)
Prolific French filmmaker Yves Simoneau directs Sam Shepard and Frank Whaley in a sports drama detailing the remarkable racing career of the horse many believe to be the finest thoroughbred filly ever to run the tracks. In her first ten runs Ruffian was unbeaten, and continued to break longstanding records with every stride. But some careers are like shooting stars, and in just her second season racing Ruffian suffered a career-ending injury. On July 6, 1975, race fans gathered at the Belmont and in front of their televisions eager to witness the prized racehorse's eleventh official race. Billed as the "Battle of the Sexes," this landmark run pitted Ruffian against Kentucky Derby top colt Foolish Paradise. As the race got underway Ruffian was running at her best, but disaster would strike just short of the one-mile marker. It was there that Ruffian would take a brutal tumble that would effectively end both her racing career, and her life. Yet despite her tragic end, Ruffian's inspirational story lives on in this drama that shows why she was the only horse ever to be buried at the Belmont. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Frank Whaley, (more)
Latina heartthrobs Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz co-headline the rousing indie Western Bandidas. The brainchild of producer/screenwriter Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Big Blue), Bandidas marks one of only a handful of films in its genre (along with Bad Girls, Cattle Annie and Little Britches, and Johnny Guitar) to use women as its principals, and distinguishes itself further by adding hefty doses of comic relief to the Western formula. Hayek and Cruz play Sara and Maria, respectively -- two women whose fathers (one a banker, the other a peasant farmer) are each wiped out by a nasty, vile, gun-wielding swindler named Tyler Jackson (Sling Blade co-star and country music singer Dwight Yoakam). Jackson cuts a bloody swath across the Southwest as he reduces one bank after another to an impoverished trash heap. In revenge, these women (who sit at opposite ends of the personality spectrum) vow to beat Tyler at his own game by hitting and robbing each of the banks before their father's killer can reach them. Steve Zahn co-stars as the "criminal science" officer who aids the girls in their mission; Espen Sandberg and Joachim Roenning co-direct. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penélope Cruz, Salma Hayek, (more)
The latest innovation in high-tech defense hardware turns out to have a very dangerous mind of its own in this action thriller. Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx), and Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) are three highly ranked U.S. Navy pilots who are part of a top-secret project involving the next generation of stealth fighter technology, the Talon Jet. Wade, Purcell, and Gannon are surprised when their commander, Captain George Cummings (Sam Shepard), introduces them to the new member of their team -- "Edi," an "extreme deep invader" developed as part of the "Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle" program. Utilizing the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, Edi is a computer-based flight controller that will take over the wingman's position in the team's formation, and while the pilots initially balk, Edi performs admirably in its first mission. However, after Edi is struck by lightning on a return trip, the computer's circuits and software begin to change in unexpected ways, and Edi not only begins to think for itself, it begins to violate direct orders. During a mission investigating the forces of a dangerous Chinese extremist, Edi starts an attack that could launch World War III, and it's up to Wade, Purcell, and Gannon to stop both Edi and its dangerous plan before it's too late. Stealth also stars Joe Morton and Richard Roxburgh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, (more)
Filmmakers Paul Lovelace and Sam Wainwright Douglas invite viewers to follow the tale of two true American originals in this documentary detailing the collaboration between fiddler Pete Stampfel and guitarist Steve Weber -- aka the Holy Modal Rounders. It was during "The Great Folk Scare" of the early 1960s that these two eccentric souls collided in New York's Greenwich Village, and their partnership was soon solidified thanks to a mutual appreciation for American roots music and early psychedelia. But this was only the beginning, because over the course of the next four decades Stampfel and Douglas would exist on the fringes of the music industry while gaining a steady cult following. From their work on the Easy Rider soundtrack to the lost years and ultimately a shot at redemption in the form of a 40th anniversary concert in Portland, OR, this is the story of the American outlaw subculture at its most volatile and luminous. Special appearances by Dennis Hopper, Sam Shepard, Loudon Wainwright III, John Sebastian of the Lovin' Spoonful, and Peter Tork of the Monkees give testament to the endless influence of a duo that beat the odds to endure for four decades and counting. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Director Wim Wenders and writer Sam Shepard, who collaborated on the award-winning film Paris, Texas, once again join forces for this dark drama of a man trying to turn over a new leaf late in life. Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) is a veteran actor who has been a popular Western star since the mid-'70s. Spence's onscreen image as a strong, principled lawman is a severe contrast to his life off the set, which has been dominated by drinking, drugs, and promiscuous womanizing. However, Spence has begun to find his hedonistic life a shallow existence, and one day, in the midst of filming his latest movie, he simply hops on his horse and rides away, eventually making his way to the small Nevada town where his mother lives. Mother (Eva Marie Saint) has little interest in seeing her wayward son after so many years, but she does share a recently discovered bit of information with him -- one of Spence's former girlfriends stopped by with word that she had given birth to his son years before. Spence borrows his father's old car and drives to Butte, MT, where he finds Doreen (Jessica Lange), the woman who was his lover years ago. Doreen runs a tavern where her son, Earl (Gabriel Mann), plays for the locals with his rock band; Spence is in fact Earl's father, but the young man has no interest in meeting his biological father, and shuts out Spence as the actor tries to get to know him. As Spence struggles to find some sort of familial connection in Butte, he makes friends with a young woman named Sky (Sarah Polley), only to discover she was also fathered by him during his rowdy younger days. Don't Come Knocking's distinguished supporting cast includes Tim Roth, George Kennedy, Fairuza Balk, Julia Sweeney, and Tim Matheson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Jessica Lange, (more)
- 2004
Based on short stories written by Sam Shepard and published in his semi-autobiographical collections Crusing Paradise and Motel Chronicles, See You In My Dreams is the compelling story of the star-crossed romance between Joe (Aidan Quinn), a New Mexico rancher, and Joe's war bride Angela (Marcia Gay Harden). Settling down on his ranch in the years following WW2, Joe is full of grandiose dreams about his future, but is quickly weighed down by the harsh realities of life, just as Angela grows more and more disenchanted with her role as the loyal dutiful farm wife. Having invested all his hopes in his son Ben (Will Estes), Joe allows his inner demons to get the best of him and ultimately compels Ben to leave home at the age of 15. Several years later, Ben returns with his own bride Ingrid (Jacinda Barrett), hoping to mend fences with his estranged father--while Angela has likewise drifted away and into the arms of another man. Offering sidelines advice and solace to both sides of the argument is Joe's best friend, Esteban (Cheech Martin). There are no pat answers or simple solutions in this poignant made-for-TV character study, which made its CBS debut on June 13, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aidan Quinn, Marcia Gay Harden, (more)
A man with no memory struggles to make sense of the troubling details that are still stuck in his mind in this psychological thriller. Frank (Val Kilmer) wakes up in a small town in the New Mexico desert with a severe head wound and most of his memory wiped away. However, Frank is somehow convinced that someone is planning to assassinate the President of the United States, and that Chloe (Neve Campbell), the woman who is claiming to be his girlfriend, is some sort of imposter. When Frank learns that the president is indeed passing through town that day, he tries to warn Sheriff Kolb (Sam Shepard) that something sinister if afoot; as it happens, Kolb believes him, though he's more than a bit busy dealing with a hard-fought election campaign against former Deputy Cash (Noble Willingham). Blind Horizon was screened at the 2004 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Neve Campbell, (more)
Directed by Nick Cassavetes, this adaptation of author Nicholas Sparks' bestselling novel revolves around Noah Calhoun's (James Garner) regular visits to a female patron (Gena Rowlands) of an area nursing home. Rather than bore her with the inanities of everyday life, Calhoun reads from an old, faded notebook containing the sweeping account of a young couple (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) whose love affair was tragically put to a halt after their separation in the midst of World War II. Seven years later, the couple was reunited, and, despite having taken radically different paths, they found themselves unable to resist the call of a second chance. The Notebook also features Joan Allen, Sam Shepard, and Kevin Connolly. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, (more)
In 2000, director Michael Almereyda brought his film crew to San Francisco to document the rehearsal process for the Magic Theater's production of Sam Shepard's play The Late Henry Moss, as directed by the playwright himself. The resulting film, This So-Called Disaster, is partly a study of the magic of theater, as well as a study of the fascinating Shepard, who is nearly universally considered one of the most influential American dramatists of the past century. Shepard and Almereyda's first collaboration came via the former's adaptation of Hamlet, in which Shepard played the part of the Ghost of Hamlet's father. Shepard, in turn, invited Almereyda to film the rehearsal process for his latest play, The Late Henry Moss, a 16-year labor of love for Shepard that relates a fictional recounting of the playwright's own relationship with his late father. Following the cast -- which includes such luminaries as Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Cheech Marin, and Woody Harrelson -- and the crew until the production's opening night, Almereyda observes the minutiae involved in leading up to the first curtain, as well as some private moments with Shepard as he recounts some of his personal history as related to The Late Henry Moss. This So-Called Disaster was included in the programs for the 2003 Rotterdam International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- T-Bone Burnett, James Gammon, (more)
- 2002
Written in 1982, Sam Shepard's darkly hilarious stage play True West was given its first important American staging at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise in the starring roles (a PBS version of this production has been made available on DVD). This Showtime cable-TV adaptation was taped at Bruce Willis' theater company in Hailey, ID, with Willis stepping into the old John Malkovich role as Lee, a tattered, battered petty crook and drifter. Showing up unannounced at his mother's home in the middle of the California desert, Lee is welcomed with more or less open arms by his mother (Danielle Kennedy), but is given a less than enthusiastic reception by his straitlaced brother Austin (Chad Smith), a screenwriter who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a Hollywood producer (Andrew Allburger). The simmering sibling rivalry between Lee and Austin boils over when Lee suddenly steals all of Austin's creative thunder -- leading to a riotous "collaboration" which all but reduces the tiny house to a pile of rubble. True West debuted on August 12, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Chad Smith, (more)
A literary drama offering the parallel tales of two wounded souls, director Mehdi Norowzian's tale of redemption and the struggle to find one's place in life finds an ex-convict's correspondence with a young boy offering hope for the future despite the fact that the boy has yet to find his own place in the world. Believing that her husband has been unfaithful, Mary Bloom (Elisabeth Shue) embarks on an affair with a young handyman (Justin Chambers) that results in her pregnancy. Racked with guilt when her husband dies in a car accident shortly thereafter, Mary begins to hate her son, Leo (Davis Sweat), leaving the youngster hungering for affection. Assigned correspondence with a convict for a class project, the withdrawn Leo begins to form a close bond with Stephen (Joseph Fiennes), who increasingly relies on his communication with Leo as a form of cathartic repentance. When Stephen is released from jail, he gets a job at a diner where concerned co-workers Vic (Sam Shepard) and Caroline (Deborah Unger) attempt to help him establish himself on the outside. Simultaneously brutalized by local drunk Horace (Dennis Hopper), Stephen decides to leave the diner and search for the boy whose letters carried him through his darkest days. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Director Dominic Sena follows up his stylish action film Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) with this high-tech thriller. John Travolta stars as Gabriel Shear, a charismatic spy who plots to steal a multi-billion-dollar fortune in illegal government funds. In order to make his scheme work, however, Gabriel needs some help from a computer hacker, which is where Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) comes in. Stanley has been paroled from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for penetrating the FBI's cyber-surveillance operations. Issued a restraining order that keeps him away from computers and living penniless in a trailer park, Stanley wants only to be reunited with his daughter Holly, who's in the custody of his ex-wife, now remarried to a pornographer. Gabriel and his partner Ginger (Halle Berry) offer Stanley the chance to get his child back in exchange for his help, but the hacker soon realizes he's a pawn in a larger operation than the high-tech bank heist he thought he was perpetrating. In the meantime, a dedicated federal agent (Don Cheadle), the same man who once arrested Stanley, is trying to expose Gabriel's operation. Swordfish also stars Sam Shepard and Zach Grenier. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, (more)
The made-for-cable drama After the Harvest was based on Martha Ostenso's 1927 novel Wild Geese, and was first broadcast in Canada under that title on March 4, 2001. Sam Shepard heads the cast as ill-tempered Canadian farmer Caleb Gare, who tyrannically treats his family like slaves, forcing them to work sunup to sundown and live in dire poverty so he can selfishly fulfill his dream to grab up all the land surrounding his farm. The only person who might have been able to stand up to Caleb was his long-suffering wife Jude (Nadia Litz), who has long since been cowed into quiet desperation lest her children bear the brunt of her husband's cruelty. But the reign of Caleb Gare is soon to end ignominiously -- that is, if Linda Archer (Liane Balaban), the attractive new schoolteacher in town, has anything to say about it. In the U.S., After the Harvest was first seen May 29, 2001, on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Nadia Litz, (more)
Sean Penn directed this tense drama of loyalty, honor, and obsession, based on a novel by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is a veteran police detective who lives and works in a small Nevada town. On the day of his retirement, it falls to Jerry to handle an especially unpleasant assignment -- a seven-year-old girl has been brutally murdered, and Jerry has to check out the crime scene, and then tell the girl's parents the awful news. The girl's mother (Patricia Clarkson), understandably distraught, demands to know if the killer will be brought to justice, and Jerry promises her that he will personally see to it, "on my soul's salvation." A younger detective also on the case, Stan Krolak (Aaron Eckhart), thinks he's traced the crime to Toby Jay Wadeneh (Benicio Del Toro), a mentally retarded man who confesses to the murder shortly before killing himself. Stan considers the case closed, but Jerry can't shake his belief that Toby Jay wasn't actually the murderer, and Jerry begins to investigate the case on his own time, over the objections of his former boss, Eric Pollack (Sam Shepard), who reminds Jerry that he's no longer an official member of the police force. Before long, Jerry's personal investigation has taken over his life, and he uncovers evidence that suggests the girl's murder was just one in a series of killings involving young girls and a mysterious man called "the Wizard." When Jerry becomes close to a young single mother, Lori (Robin Wright-Penn), he feels he has reason to believe the murderer may be targeting her eight-year-old daughter, and finds himself using her as a decoy in order to bring the killer to justice. The Pledge marked Jack Nicholson's second starring role in a film directed by Sean Penn following 1995's The Crossing Guard; The Pledge's stellar supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Helen Mirren, Harry Dean Stanton, and Mickey Rourke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Patricia Clarkson, (more)
Akira Kurosawa was arguably the most important Japanese filmmaker who ever lived; he was certainly among the most revered and most influential. His award-winning feature Rashomon was one of the first major international successes in Japanese filmmaking, convincing many western cineastes for the first time that Japan had a national cinema worth investigating, and his subsequent body of work -- including Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, and Ran -- is emotionally rich and esthetically compelling in a way few filmmakers can match. Kurosawa is a documentary which explores the personal and professional lives of this giant of world cinema, including interviews with his friends, family, contemporaries, actors, fellow filmmakers, and noted cinema historians -- and in archival clips, Kurosawa himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Paul Scofield, (more)
A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 2000
Marine Captain Mary Jane O'Malley (Anne Heche), a divorced mother of two small children, shoots and kills her decorated war hero superior officer, Major Nelson Gray (Sam Shepard), after he breaks into her bedroom with the intention of attacking her. At least that's her story. The military prosecutors are charging her with premeditated murder based on the love affair O'Malley had been having with the married major. O'Malley's military attorney, Captain Walker Randall (Eric Stoltz), has one chance to make a convincing case of self-defense. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Heche, Eric Stoltz, (more)
