Rip Torn

Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, and Adam Scott star in director/co-screenwriter Austin Chick's tale about an ambitious dotcom entrepreneur attempting to stay afloat as the stock market begins to collapse and the entire country remains blissfully unaware of the national tragedy looming ever closer on the horizon. Tom Sterling (Hartnett) is on a professional downward spiral that's rapidly cutting into his personal life as well. His apathetic investor, Ogilvie (David Bowie), is refusing to relinquish control of the company that Tom is fighting to save, and his girlfriend, Sarrah (Harris), seems to have lost all interest in their relationship. In the midst of all this, Tom must also attempt to heal the wounds that have kept him estranged from his father, David (Torn), and brother, Joshua (Scott), as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A woman struggles to win back the son she lost when she divorced her husband in a gritty drama that marks the directorial debut of actor Chris Eigeman. Kailey (Famke Janssen) is a woman who makes her living playing high-stakes poker and hustling pool, a trade she learned from her longtime friend Quinn (Rip Torn). Kailey's rough-and-tumble life drove a wedge between her and her husband, David (Matt Ross), and when they split up he won custody of their son, Gulley (Jaymie Dornan). However, while David was seemingly the sober and respectable one in their relationship, in truth he's a heavy drinker whose life is controlled by his wealthy, bullying mother, Abigail (Lois Smith). Gulley is unhappy living with David, and unbeknown to his father the boy has been corresponding with Kailey as they plan to start a new life together in Canada. However, Kailey is unable to get legitimate papers for herself and her son, so she heads to New York City to raise the 50,000 dollars she'll need to get passports on the black market. Turn the River also stars Marin Hinkle, John Juback, and Terry Kinney. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer and director Sofia Coppola puts a new spin on the life and times of one of Europe's most infamous monarchs in this lavish historical drama which fuses a contemporary sensibility with painstaking recreations of the look of the 18th century. Born to Austrian nobility, Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) is only 14 years old when she's pledged to marry Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the 15-year-old king of France, in an alliance that has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with love. Sent to France and literally stripped of her former life, Marie weds Louis, but to the consternation of the royal court, he seems either unwilling or unable to consummate the marriage while their advisors clamor for an heir to the throne. Young and more than a bit out of step with the new life that's been thrust upon her, Marie gives herself over to the pleasures of life in Versailles, knowing and caring little of the political intrigue that surrounds her. In time, Marie's trusted older brother, Joseph (Danny Huston), is brought in to coach Louis on the finer points of marital relations, and before long the couple is finally blessed with a child. However, as Marie tends to her children in the gilded cage of her palace and enjoys an affair with a Swedish nobleman, political power plays are throwing France into chaos, and the growing ranks of the poor rebel against the royals and their life of privilege. Also starring Rip Torn, Judy Davis, Steve Coogan, and Asia Argento, Marie Antoinette was given a controversial reception when it premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two big families merge into one super-sized brood in this comedy. Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid) is a naval officer who has been raising eight children on his own after the death of his wife, and while he loves his kids, he rules his household with military precision. Frank has been alone just long enough that he decides it's time to start dating again, and he agrees to be set up on a blind date for a social function. To his surprise, his date turns out to be Helen North (Rene Russo), a girl he dated years ago when they were both in high school who, like Frank, lost her spouse not long ago. The old chemistry clicks anew for Helen and Frank, and he asks her to marry him. However, there's just a bit of a problem -- Helen is caring for ten children of her own, six of whom were adopted, and her artistic temperament makes for a very different household than Frank and his kids are used to. Frank and Helen decide to give this grand experiment a try, but the 18 siblings don't get along at all well at first, until they decide to set aside their differences and unite against a common foe -- their folks. Yours, Mine & Ours is a remake of a 1968 comedy of the same name, which starred Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball as the newlywed parents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A woman who has drifted away from her boyfriend's affections finds love in the arms of his son in this independent drama. Laura (Dina Korzun) is an attractive woman in her early thirties who was living in her native Russia when she met Alan James (Rip Torn), a legendary music producer from Memphis. Alan brought Laura back to the United States and moved in with her, but now that the couple have a three-year-old son, Laura finds herself a stranger in the city she now calls home and is growing increasingly distant from the philandering Alan. After a testimonial tribute to Alan, Laura meets his grown son Michael (Darren E. Burrows) for the first time; Michael has a difficult and sometimes combative relationship with Alan and prefers to keep a distance from him and his life, but Michael and Laura find they quickly develop a strong rapport. Laura and Michael's friendship soon grows into an affair, but as Laura considers her unhappiness with Alan, she also feels guilty about betraying a man who has given her a life she would hardly have dared to dream of when she was younger. Forty Shades of Blue was helmed by Ira Sachs (who earned enthusiastic reviews for his 1997 debut feature The Delta), from a script he co-wrote with Michael Rohatyn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Michael Clancy makes his feature film debut with the black comedy Eulogy. Zooey Deschanel plays Kate Collins, an unhappy college student who is made even more unhappy when her grandfather (Rip Torn) dies. Even though the entire family hates each other, they reunite at the home of Grandma Collins (Piper Laurie). Among other family members, Kate observes a war between her washed-up actor dad, Daniel (Hank Azaria); her lesbian Aunt Lucy (Kelly Preston); her wound-up Uncle Skip (Ray Romano); and her strict Aunt Alice (Debra Winger). Tensions escalate and family secrets are ultimately revealed. Kate is also inundated with the eulogy-writing duties, as she's the only one capable of such a task. Meanwhile, she reunites with old flame Ryan Carmichael (Jesse Bradford). Eulogy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Having exited his role on The West Wing in a flurry of largely negative publicity, Rob Lowe quickly resurfaced as the star of the NBC legal drama The Lyon's Den. Lowe was cast as Jack Turner, an idealistic attorney who hoped to make a name for himself separate from that of his prestigious state-senator father (Rip Torn) by helping the poor and downtrodden on a pro bono basis. A stroke of fate obliged him to accept a full partnership at a high-profile D.C. law firm, populated almost exclusively by ruthless glory-grabbers, bottom-feeding backstabbers, and hedonistic sexual predators. Would Jack be able to do the sort of work he loved while surrounded by expensively dressed sharks? The Lyon's Den opened for business on September 28, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Otherworldly villains are on the loose again, and it's up to Earth's interstellar police force to bring them to justice in this sequel to the sci-fi comedy blockbuster Men in Black. Agent Jay (Will Smith) has become a high-ranking member of the Men in Black, the secret government task force designed to deal with unruly visitors from other worlds, while his former cohort, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), had his memory wiped clean and now lives a simple but contented life as a mailman. However, an especially nasty alien threat has reared its not-so-ugly head; Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a shape-shifting Kylothian alien who is in pursuit of another escaped visitor who holds the key to powers that would allow her to destroy the world. Making Serleena all the more dangerous is the fact she's taken on the appearance of a lingerie model, making her irresistible to most men. When the rampaging Serleena takes control of the MIB offices, Jay is forced to turn to the only man who can help him save the world -- the former Agent Kay. After restoring Kay's memory, the two remaining Men in Black set out to conquer Serleena with a motley band of friendly aliens, including a handful of worm creatures and a talking dog named Frank (voice of Tim Blaney). Jay, meanwhile, has his head turned by Laura (Rosario Dawson), an attractive waitress who was an unwitting witness to an alien attack. Men in Black 2 also features Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, Patrick Warburton, and Johnny Knoxville. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Big Brother & the Holding Company was one of the first major bands to emerge from the nascent psychedelic music scene in San Francisco, CA, in the mid-'60s. Conjuring up a high-powered blend of blues and folk, the band had already begun to gain a significant local following when the group's manager, Chet Helms, introduced them to a young woman from Texas who was looking for a gig -- Janis Joplin. After Joplin joined the band, Big Brother & the Holding Company became major stars, and their album Cheap Thrills became one of the touchstones of the early San Francisco sound, but Joplin's presence proved to be both a blessing and a curse. Her powerful vocals on tunes like "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain" helped make the group a hit, but once the music press singled out Joplin as the star of the show, the bandmembers soon found themselves in the shadow of their singer, even after she left the band to go solo. Big Brother and the Holding Company With Janis Joplin: Nine Hundred Nights is a documentary which examines the group's rise and fall, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the band and rare footage of the group on-stage, including performances of "Piece of my Heart," "Combination of the Two," "Ball and Chain," "Down on Me," "Light Is Faster Than Sound," and more. Rip Torn narrates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A documentary about the iconic career of actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows traces its subject's work from his earliest days in Hollywood to his award-winning (and career-salvaging) films of the 1990s. Directed by Bruce Ricker, who also made the lauded jazz films The Last of the Blue Devils and Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser, the documentary combines archival footage with interviews from the likes of Sergio Leone, Curtis Hanson, Rip Torn, Meryl Streep, and, naturally, the man himself. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

"Inspired by actual events", this made-for-TV drama stars Melissa Gilbert ad Donielle, who since childhood has been blessed--or cursed--with a Sixth Sense. It all began at her best friend's funeral, when 8-year-old Donielle was seized with a vision which indicated that her friend had been murdered by his own father. Disowned by her family and ostracized by the community, Donielle learns the hard way to keep her premonitions to herself. By the time she has reached adulthood, Donielle is a rootless single mother, travelling from town to town with her children to avoid coming in close contact with anything that might retrigger her paranormal gifts. But upon arriving in a small town where the citizens are being terrorized by a serial killer, Donielle again begins experiencing horrible visions--and this time, maybe someone will listen...and believe...A Vision of Murder: The Story of Donielle first aired February 9, 2000, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on George Dell's 1934 novel The Earth Abideth, the two-part CBS TV movie Seasons of Love covers thirty years (1866-1896) in the lives of Kansas farming couple Thomas and Kate Linthorne (Peter Strauss, Rachel Ward). A dynamic, forceful person who manages to carve a home and livelihood out of virgin territory, Thomas emerges as one of the leaders of his tiny community, despite the resentment and opposition of rival farmer Gorm Schrader (John Finn). At home, the sometimes rocky relationship between the Linthornes is put to the test by the arrival in town of Lucille (Chandra West), the young wife of one of Thomas' best friends. Later on, a series of devastating setbacks--some directly related to an bitter quarrel between Thomas and his son Hocking (Justin Chambers), not to mention the profligate ways of his other son Grover (Nick Stahl)--threatens to destroy everything that Thomas has built. Eschewing the usual Hollywood Happy Ending, the film remains doggedly faithful to its source--that is to say, forgiveness is not a part of the characters' makeup, and there are some wounds too deep and painful to heal. Filmed on location in Ontario, Seasons of Love originally aired March 7 and 9, 1999, on CBS. The film has since been shown on cable TV under the title Love on the Land. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but a quarter of a million dollars can be quite a pal too, as an ex-Navy Seal with a gold-digging girlfriend discovers in this hair-raising heist film from former Tales From the Crypt and China Beach director David Burton Morris. All Frank Syler (Dylan Walsh) wants after retiring from the service is a quiet life with ravishingly beautiful girlfriend Cyndee LaFrance (Brooke Shields), but an ex-military man's budget just doesn't cut it for a girl of such refined tastes. When Frank visits Cyndee at the bank where she works and notices the lax security with which the institution guards its funds, he soon hatches a scheme to raid the vault so that he may continue to provide the kind of lifestyle to which Cyndee has become accustomed. Unfortunately for Frank, FBI agent Royce (Rip Torn) is on the case and determined to crack the "perfect crime" wide open. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide