Patrick Wachsberger Movies
An outsider teen acclimating to a new school finds a home in a reclusive teenaged fight club in this drama from Cry_Wolf director Jeff Wadlow. Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has just moved with his family to Orlando, FL. While Jake isn't exactly comfortable being the new kid in town, his younger brother, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), is an aspiring professional tennis star who might just have what it takes to break big. But Charlie isn't the only talented athlete in the family, because Jake used to be something of a hotshot on the gridiron -- at least back home. Here in Orlando, Jake is considered something of a hothead thanks to his penchant for brawling. In an attempt to better fit in with his new classmates, Jake accepts flirtatious classmate Baja's (Amber Heard) invitation to a raucous party. There, the short-fused newcomer is lured into a fight and badly beaten by local bully Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). But a beam of hope shines through the humiliation when a classmate who sees potential in the defeated fighter informs Jake of a local MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) program run by Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou). Despite Jake's preconceived notions regarding MMA, he quickly discovers that it's not just another form of street fighting but a rich new art form that he longs to master. As Roqua takes Jake under his tutelage, it soon becomes apparent that in order to become a true MMA champion, Jake will have to learn patience, discipline, willingness, and reason. This isn't just a quest for revenge, but an opportunity for Jake to finally find out what kind of man he truly is. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Faris, Amber Heard, (more)
Director Jon M. Chu takes the helm for this Step Up sequel set at the Maryland School for the Arts and following the journey of a rebellious street dancer who struggles to fit in at the prestigious school. Andie (Briana Evigan) may show great promise as a dancer, but she just can't seem to let go of her old life and get a fresh start. With Baltimore's hottest underground dance contest looming on the horizon, Andie joins forces with top dancer Chase (Robert Hoffman) while simultaneously helping to sharpen the skills of her outcast classmates. Perhaps if Andie, Chase, and their talented team of misfit dancers can earn the top slot at The Streets, the troubled new arrival can finally make her dreams a reality while also letting go of the past, and bounding confidently forward into the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, (more)
When a model soldier who recently returned to the U.S. from the front lines of Iraq goes AWOL, his veteran father enlists the aid of a dedicated police detective in seeking out his son's true fate in director/screenwriter Paul Haggis's follow up to the Oscar-winning 2004 indie-hit Crash. Mike Deerfield (Jonathan Tucker) has served his country faithfully, and now the time has come for him to return home to the United States. Shortly after returning, however, Mike simply vanishes without a trace. Mike's father, Hank (Tommy Lee Jones), is a former MP from the Vietnam era, and quickly recruits Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) to assist him in his search for the missing soldier. While it remains to be seen whether Hank will ever find his missing son, he gets quickly enmeshed in a tangled web of intrigue, cover-ups, and murder, all related to the Iraqi conflict. The drama thus highlights the profoundly personal tolls taken by combat while striking at the very heart of the American experience in Iraq. Inspired by a Playboy Magazine article written by Mark Boal, Haggis's fictionalized version of the actual events co-stars Jason Patrick, Susan Sarandon, James Franco, and Josh Brolin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, (more)
A corporate workaholic finds that her decision to work late on Christmas Eve has potentially deadly consequences in this thriller starring Wes Bentley and Rachel Nichols. It's that time of the year, and as the snow falls outside and families gather around the dinner table, Angela vows to close one last deal before the holiday. Now late for her family gathering, Angela rushes down to the garage in hopes of racing home and catching dinner before it gets cold. When her car refuses to start, her phone fails to get a signal, and everyone else has already left, it begins to appear as if Angela's luck may have finally run out. Thankfully, a friendly security guard appears and offers to lend a helping hand. During the course of discussion, the security guard flirtatiously invites Angela to share the Christmas dinner he has prepared in the parking office -- an offer that the high-powered corporate climber laughingly dismisses. The next thing Angela knows, she wakes up tied to a chair in the cold security office located on level P2. It appears as if the security guard's invitation wasn't optional, and that Christmas dinner was the last thing on his mind. Upon realizing just how serious her situation truly is, Angela struggles to escape her subterranean prison and make it out so that she might live to see another Christmas morning. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wes Bentley, Rachel Nichols, (more)
An aspiring ballerina from a wealthy family learns some lessons about both dancing and life from a roughneck with soul in this teen drama. Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a rough section of Baltimore, and has been in and out of trouble with the law most of his life. Finding himself before the judge yet again, Tyler is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and he ends up mopping floors at the Maryland School of the Arts. Tyler catches the eye of Nora (Jenna Dewan), a gifted ballet student who is trying to incorporate hip-hop moves into her classical routines. None of Nora's fellow students seem to be on the same page as her, but Tyler is a talented street dancer with strength, moves, and enthusiasm. Despite the misgivings of the school's administrators, Nora persuades Tyler to team up with her for a major class project. Tyler gains a new self-respect as he gives in to the discipline of the dance academy, but he wonders if this new opportunity means turning his back on who he really is. Matters become all the more complicated when Tyler and Nora realize they're falling in love. Step Up was the first directorial credit for choreographer Anne Fletcher, who designed dance routines for the films Bring It On, She's All That, and Boogie Nights. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, (more)
When a reformed grifter currently running a prosperous alibi service for adulterous husbands inadvertently becomes an accessory to murder, he is forced to execute one last, well-timed con as a means of clearing his name in this lightning fast caper comedy starring Steve Coogan, Rebecca Romijin, Selma Blair, and Sam Elliot. Ray (Coogan) is a smooth operator with a special knack for helping his fellow man dodge the proverbial bullet. When a married man simply can't resist the urge to have a bit of fun on the side, Ray is the man they call to ensure that word of their infidelity never gets back to their unsuspecting wives. When the spoiled son of a high-profile client accidentally kills his clandestine lover on the eve of his wedding, Ray is shocked to discover that he has been implicated in the crime. With a small-town cop targeting him on one side and a mysterious assassin known as "The Mormon" locking him into his sights from the other, desperate Ray must now enlist the aid of his beautiful new recruit Lola (Romijin) in carrying out one last con designed to both clear his name, and save his life. The debut feature from co-directors Matt Checkowski and Kurt Mattilda, Lies and Alibis also features performances by James Brolin, Henry Rollins, James Marsden, Debi Mazar, Jerry O'Connell, and John Leguizamo. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Rebecca Romijn, (more)
Many married couples have secrets, but one pair of lovebirds discover they've both been living dangerous secret lives in this action thriller laced with comedy. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and play Jane Smith and John Smith, a suburban couple whose marriage has started to go a bit stale after five or six years. Both wish for more excitement in their relationship, but as it happens, each of them is finding plenty of thrills elsewhere. Both Jane and John are world-class assassins who will take on perilous missions for the right price, but neither is aware of the other's secret life - Jane thinks her husband runs a successful construction company, and John believes his wife works on Wall Street. However, when John and Jane are both assigned to take out the same target, one Benjamin Danz (Adam Brody), they become aware of each other's secret lives, and suddenly both their careers and their marriage go through some dramatic and potentially deadly changes. Mr. and Mrs. Smith also stars Vince Vaughn as an assassin with John's company who still lives with his mother and Kerry Washington as one of Jane's associates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, (more)
The British erotic thriller Dot the I is the debut film of writer/director Matthew Parkhill. Carmen (Natalia Verbeke) is a young Spanish Flamenco dancer engaged to the wealthy Barnaby (James D'Arcy). Right before their wedding, she meets Brazilian actor Kit (Gael García Bernal). Following their passionate encounter, the secret lovers attempt to cover up their betrayal. Also starring Tom Hardy and Charlie Cox. Dot the I premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gael García Bernal, Natalia Verbeke, (more)
A turn down an uncharted dirt road leads six young people into a night of pure terror in this horror story. Chris (Desmond Harrington) is driving through West Virginia on his way to a job interview when an auto accident slows highway traffic to a near standstill. Afraid he'll be late, Chris takes a detour down an old dirt road; a distracted Chris doesn't see an SUV stuck in the middle of the road before it's too late, and he plows into the back after his tires suddenly blow. The driver of the SUV, Jessie (Eliza Dushku), was out on a camping trip with four of her friends -- Evan (Kevin Zegers), Francine (Lindy Booth), Carly (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and Scott (Jeremy Sisto) -- when their tires went out, and as Jessie and Chris compare notes on their accidents, they discover that the road has been sabotaged with barbed wire. With both parties in need of a telephone, Evan and Francine are left to look after the cars while the other four set out to find help. However, Evan and Francine soon discover they've been led into a horrible trap, and as Chris, Jessie, and their friends search for help, they find that they've fallen victim not to local pranksters, but a gang of inbred backwoods killers with a taste for blood. Wrong Turn was produced in part by Stan Winston, a legendary special-effects artist whose work has appeared in such films as Jurassic Park, Aliens, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, (more)
Director Mike Figgis, creator of the Academy award-winning Leaving Las Vegas, presented this film's world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The story is made up of non-linear, interconnected episodes about a man at different stages of his life, all of which explicate thematically the film's title. The film also juxtaposes a retelling of the classic biblical fall-from-grace tale of Adam and Eve. We see the leading character, Nic, at 5 years old as a boy in colonial Kenya, at age 16 in swinging London in the '60s, and as a grown man working as a film ethnographer. Each sequence shows how he lost some degree of his sexual innocence, whether it be through love, puberty, or masturbation. Shot all over the world, including Tunisia, Italy, and England, the film is an exploration of sex and loss through the life of one individual. ~ Arthur Borman, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Saffron Burrows, (more)
In this fast-paced military thriller, Tom Berenger is Thomas Beckett, a tough, grizzled, U.S. Marine Corps veteran sharpshooter who goes through target-spotter partners faster than bullets on his ultra-dangerous missions. The National Security Council secretly assigns Beckett to assassinate a Panamanian rebel bankrolled by a drug cartel in his bid for the presidency. The NSC also gives Beckett a sidekick: raw recruit Richard Miller (Billy Zane), a former Olympic marksman who's never killed anybody. Miller technically outranks the more experienced Beckett, a source of friction between the men as they make their way through the jungle to find their prey. Once they locate their target, Beckett and Miller not only have to pull off a complex shooting but also must avoid a covert shooter who's been trained by Beckett and is now gunning for them. A Panama native, director ($Luis Llosa} later repeated the trick of crafting a visually exciting genre film out of thin material with Anaconda (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Billy Zane, (more)
- 1992
- NC17
If police lieutenant Harvey Keitel's life could get any more sordid, he could probably sell tickets. The least of his vices is gambling, which has gotten him in Dutch with the mob. He abuses his body with drugs and his soul with hookers, and now he's turned to exploiting teenage girls for sex. Keitel is forced to reassess his life while investigating the rape of a nun. Director Abel Ferrara co-wrote the screenplay with Zoe Lund, who as Zoe Tamerlis starred in Ferrara's cult classic Ms. 45. A soundtrack tune by rapper Schoolly D, which was included in the initial release of Bad Lieutenant, featured a sample from Led Zeppelin which was used without permission; the song has since been excised from the soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Frankie Thorn, (more)
Ellen Barkin stars in this mystical comedy about a detestable male chauvinist temporarily reincarnated into the body of a woman. Steve Brooks (Perry King) foolishly accepts an invite for an evening of debauchery from three former girlfriends, and thinks he's got it made when he shows up to find them waiting for him in a hot tub. Eager to exact revenge on the scoundrel, the women proceed to drown him, and Steve is cast into a purgatory in which two unseen voices are deciding whether to send him to heaven or hell. Steve is given one chance to save himself from damnation -- if he can find a woman alive who actually liked him. To complicate his task and teach him a lesson, Steve is reincarnated as a sexy woman (Barkin), just the type who would have been the target of his cheesy advances. Sloppily adjusting to his new body, Steve (now Barkin) tells people he is the sister of the missing Steve Brooks, and begins working at his old advertising agency as a means toward completing his arduous task. As Steve's sister, he also enlists the help of his best friend, Walter (Jimmy Smits), despite the complication that Walter is noticeably attracted to the woman he has become. Steve's homophobia -- and several of his other hateful traits -- are put to the test. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, (more)
Following Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981), veteran urban crime film director Sidney Lumet completed a thematic trilogy about New York City police corruption with this noir drama. When New York City cop Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) shoots an unarmed Hispanic drug dealer in cold blood, he quickly plants a gun on his victim and manufactures some eyewitness testimony. D.A. Kevin Quinn (Patrick O'Neal) calls in his assistant district attorney, Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton), to conduct a perfunctory investigation of the incident, but Brennan's obvious guilt during a question and answer session makes Reilly dig deeper. The crusading lawyer is soon uncovering a web of corruption that reaches from Brennan into Quinn's office. At the same time, Reilly learns that his ex-girlfriend Nancy Bosch (Jenny Lumet, the director's daughter), is now dating his chief witness, Puerto Rican drug dealer Bobby Texador (Armand Assante). Q&A (1990) was based on the novel by Edwin Torres, a New York State Supreme Court judge whose two other novels were later adapted into the film Carlito's Way (1993). Lumet would again return to the subject of New York's corrupt criminal justice system with Night Falls on Manhattan (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, (more)
In this comedy drama, three exuberant high-school graduates finally find a direction in life when they decide to fix-up a ramshackle Catskill resort and turn it into a little slice of rock & roll heaven for teens. They work hard to make the repairs and pay the over $8,000 in back taxes. When locals hear of their plans, they misunderstand and try to stop the young men as do wicked industrialists and the corrupt president of the town council who want to use the locale to dump toxic wastes. The lively soundtrack features songs by Phil Collins, Julian Lennon, Arcadia, and Pete Townshend. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Jordano, Matthew Penn, (more)
- 1978
- PG
Italian schlock-master Luigi Cozzi (billed as Lewis Coates here) directed this low-budget Star Wars rip-off in 1978, right when the sci-fi craze was hitting audiences on a world-wide scale. The story begins familiarly enough, with a huge spaceship tracking through an extremely colorful space scene while under attack by some kind of unknown and deadly force resembling a lava lamp. Being no match for the '60s acid-flashback rays, they manage to jettison a few escape pods just before being blown to kingdom come. Fast forward now to the other end of the galaxy, where we find the best smugglers in town -- gorgeous Stella Star (Caroline Munro) and space-pimp Akton (Marjoe Gortner) -- outrunning a band of cops on their tail. Eventually, they're caught, taken into custody, and sentenced to intense Labor Camps, where Stella is forced to wear a skimpy Barbarella-like outfit by the extreme, merciless guards. A break-out ensues, and in the intense laser shoot-out, Stella manages to escape, only to be captured again by the semi-green-skinned Thor (Robert Tessier) and his annoying southern-drawled robot, Elle (voiced by genre veteran Hamilton Camp). Brought in front of the Emperor of the Galaxy (Christopher Plummer) and reunited with Akton, the sexy duo find themselves suddenly in charge of finding Prince Simon (David Hasselhoff). Thus begins the heroes' amazing adventure through space and time as they search for Hasselhoff and end up fighting Amazons, Cavemen, and the Evil Count Zarth Arn (Joe Spinell) along the way. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjoe Gortner, Caroline Munro, (more)
- 1975
- R
Peter Fonda stars as a diamond mine security officer who fakes a robbery in order to gain the respect of the group of mercenaries he needs to help him pull off the biggest heist in history. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas, Peter Fonda, (more)
