Eric Watson

The Fountain director Darren Aranofsky takes the helm for this psychological thriller detailing the averse relationship between a veteran dancer and a fierce rival. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cynthia Lester's documentary My Mother's Garden traces how her mother's mental illness has affected her life. Her mother's illness manifests itself in the form of a hoarding disorder, and Lester shows how this obsessive behavior influences all of the interactions between the various family members. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A woman who has come to a strange land is torn between the life she knows and the new life around her in this epic-scale historical drama. In 1854, New Zealand's indigenous Maori tribes were engaged in an ongoing battle to drive away European settlers eager to establish colonies in the nation's wilderness, which the Maori saw as a threat to their way of life. However, some outsiders had made a home in New Zealand with the cooperation of the Maori, and an Irish settlement had been established, with Francis (Stephen Rea), the colony's doctor, bringing his daughter Sarah (Samantha Morton) with him to this new land. Sarah becomes acquainted with the son of one of the Maori leaders, and in time their friendship grows into something deeper. When Sarah discovers she's pregnant with the chief's son's child, the father has been called off to fight against the Europeans, and by the time her son is born, his father is dead. Sarah raises her child, whom she simply calls "Boy," but when Boy reaches the age of six, he's abducted by his father's family, who believes he should grow up among the Maori. Fearing further reprisals, Francis returns to Ireland, but Sarah stays behind to care for the sick and look for her son. Years later, while in search of Boy, Sarah encounters Wiremu (Cliff Curtis), a Maori warrior whose father Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison) is ill. When Wiremu learns that Sarah is well versed in medicine, he makes an offer -- if she will treat Te Kai Po and return him to health, he will find Boy. Sarah is able to cure Te Kai Po's ailment, and Wiremu returns the now-teenaged Boy (David Rawiri Pene) to his mother. Boy is not eager to leave behind the Maori people who have become his family, and he and Sarah stay with Te Kai Po's tribe for a while, but in time she is drawn back to the Irish colony, where she finds herself torn between Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland), the soldier who loves her and wishes to protect her, and Wiremu, who she has grown to love. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Reflecting studio executives' taste for material that crosses genres, this film from director David Twohy and co-screenwriter Darren Aronofsky mixes the war movie and supernatural thriller genres. After they rescue a trio of survivors that includes a nurse, Claire Page (Olivia Williams), from a British hospital ship sunk by the Nazis, the crew of the American submarine U.S.S. Tiger Shark comes to believe that their vessel is haunted. The unexpected death of their commander forces first officer Lt. Brice (Bruce Greenwood) to take command, trying to avoid a German destroyer on the hunt for his ship, while investigating the series of mysterious incidents that are terrifying his crew. Is the Tiger Shark haunted, or is there something otherworldly inhabiting the waters where the sailors are currently trapped? Originally entitled "Proteus," this project was slated to be Aronofsky's follow-up to Pi (1998), but the writer/director opted to helm Requiem for a Dream (2000) instead. Below co-stars Scott Foley, Zach Galifianakis, Dexter Fletcher, and Holt McCallany. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

A young man is torn between responsibilities to his family, his intellectual and professional ambitions, and the temptations of easy money and casual pleasures in the downbeat drama Saturn. Drew (played by Scott Caan) is a college student trying to stay focused on his studies so he can realize his dream of becoming an engineer. But he's also been handed the responsibility of caring for his elderly father (Leo Burmester), who is suffering from an advanced case of Alzheimer's Syndrome. Drew must feed his father -- who can only speak with great difficulty -- bathe him, and change his diapers. The burden puts a great strain on Drew, who has a hard time resisting the offers from his old friend Arturo (Anthony Ruivivar) to join him in his profitable, if dangerous, life as a drug dealer. The temptations are only magnified by Drew's relationship with Sara (Mia Kirshner), a girl who lives for physical pleasure; Drew scores drugs from Arturo for her and, in exchange, she offers him kinky sex, but not love. Saturn was the debut feature from writer/director Rob Schmidt, and the dark, but compelling, story won a respectful response in its screening at the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide