Richard Poe Movies

Joel and Ethan Coen's jet-black comedy Burn After Reading begins with CIA agent Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) losing his job. This prompts his long-suffering, unfaithful wife (Tilda Swinton) to consult a lawyer about divorcing him. Osborne decides to write a book about his exploits, but an early draft of his work ends up lost at a gym where it's found by the dim-witted Chad (Brad Pitt, and the plastic-surgery obsessed Linda (Frances McDormand). They decide to blackmail Osborne in order to help Linda pay for the numerous procedures she wants to undergo. Things grow even more complicated when Linda starts an affair with Harry (George Clooney), who also happens to be sleeping with Cox's wife. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Although the villainous Ezekial Rage first appeared in "Rage's Burning Wheel," episode four of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, the character was introduced in the episode that ended up as the series' ninth telecast, the appropriately titled "Ezekial Rage." A horribly disfigured former government agent, Rage has been driven insane by the deaths of his family during a botched covert operation. Swearing vengeance against the entire "evil" world, Rage happens to be cooking up his latest scheme in the same location where the Quest team has arrived in search of a missing naturalist -- and a giant bat. "Ezekial Rage" originally aired on September 5, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The crew of the Voyager must decide if their should put the safety of their allies before their own in this episode of the sci-fi series Star Trek: Voyager. The U.S.S. Voyager is on a search mission, trying to find a Maquis ship which has gone missing, when they're drawn into the Delta Quadrant by a mysterious but power individual known as "The Caretaker." The Caretaker knows he has only a short time to live, and is devoting the last of his days to establishing a colony of Ocampas on another planet. After the death of the Caretaker, Capt. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the commanding officer of the Voyager, opts to destroy the Camps space station rather than allow their advanced technologies to fell into the glands of their enemies; however, this decision also leaves the Voyager crew stranded in space with no where to go. Star Trek: Voyager: The Caretaker first aired on January 18, 1995. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Part one of this episode introduces the titular Federation rebel group, whose activities would later spill over into Deep Space Nine's sister series Next Generation and Voyager. On this occasion, Sisko learns of the existence of the Maquis and of their scheme to spread terror in the Demilitarized Zone. Sisko must act upon this information before the group is able to spark another war between the Federation and the Cardassians. Scripted by James Crocker from a story by Crocker, Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, and Ira Steven Behr, part one of "The Maquis" originally aired April 23, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Next Generation's final one-hour episode originally aired May 21, 1994. Newly promoted to Lieutenant, Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) returns to the Enterprise, where she is immediately recruited to infiltrate a band of renegade colonists known as the Maquis. Unfortunately, the assignment requires her to defend her mortal enemies, the Cardassians, leading to yet another of the series' many crises of conscience. "Pre-emptive Strike" was scripted by Rene Echevarria from a story by Naren Shankar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A mix of political satire and a modern take on 1930's-style screwball comedy, this romance from director Ron Underwood was assumed by many to be based on the real-life relationship between liberal political consultant James Carville and conservative commentator Mary Matalin. Michael Keaton stars as Kevin, an insomniac who meets Julia (Geena Davis) in a store late one night as they haggle over the last bottle of sleeping pills. After spending a romantic evening together, Kevin and Julia each discover to their chagrin that the other is a rival speechwriter in a nasty New Mexico senatorial campaign. As the senate race heats up, the bickering pair tries to keep the relationship alive, but then Julia's ex-fiance Baghdad Bob Freed (Christopher Reeve), a network news foreign correspondent, shows up with the intention of renewing their relationship. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Two people fall in love without meeting -- and discover a wealth of complications when they try to get together -- in this romantic comedy. Even though he's about to be married, Brian McVeigh (Kevin Anderson) doesn't want to give up his old apartment, where he can swill beer, scarf pizza, and be as much of a slob as he wants. He decides to hold onto his flat as a weekend clubhouse, but he rents it out to other people during the week. Brian's new tenants, sharing the place on alternating days, are Sam (Matthew Broderick), an aspiring gourmet chef who's just been dumped by his spacey girlfriend Pastel (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and Ellen (Annabella Sciorra), who is stuck in an unhappy marriage and wants a place to work on her art. Ellen mistakenly assumes that Brian is the guy who leaves her gourmet snacks and admiring notes about how much he likes her paintings, and when she sets up a liaison with Brian, she wonders how the seemingly perfect man could be such a loser in person. The Night We Never Met also features Justine Bateman as Brian's fiancée and Christine Baranski as Ellen's best friend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rumors are flying that the executives at radio station KACL are planning to fire one of the on-the-air personalities. With no facts to back him up, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) speculates that the unlucky employee will be his nemesis, macho sports-show host Bulldog (Dan Butler). Overhearing this bit of gossip, Frasier goes ballistic and quits his job, unaware that the rumor was never true in the first place. Now it is up to loose-lipped Frasier to persuade Bulldog to come back -- and to persuade management to take him back. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of three films by co-writer/director Oliver Stone to explore the effects of the Vietnam War (Platoon and Heaven and Earth are the others), Born On The Fourth Of July tells the true story of Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise), a patriotic, All-American small town athlete who shocks his family by enlisting with the Marines to fight in the Vietnam War. Once he is overseas, however, Kovic's gung-ho enthusiasm turns to horror and confusion when he accidentally kills one of his own men in a firefight. His downfall is furthered by a bullet wound that leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. He returns home, spends an appalling, nightmarish stint in a veterans' hospital, and follows an increasingly disillusioned and fragmented path that ultimately leaves him drunk and dissolute in Mexico. However, Kovic somehow turns himself around and pulls his life together, becoming an outspoken anti-war activist in the process. The film is long but emotionally powerful; many consider it Stone's best work and Cruise's best performance. Both were nominated for Oscars, as was the film itself, but only Stone, who co-wrote the film with Kovic from the latter's book, won for Best Director. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide