Paul Brooks Movies

Producer Gore Verbinski presents this Americanized version of Bong Joon-ho's 2006 Korean sea monster hit with this Universal Pictures production. Scripted by Mark Poirier (Smart People) and directed by commercial director Fredrik Bond, the remake will once again focus on a Lovecraftian monster who haunts a family after snatching a man's young daughter. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A good-old-boy small-town sheriff in a New Orleans parish happens upon a murder case that threatens to end his career in Behind the Badge, the embattled second feature of writer/director Robby Henson (Pharaoh's Army). Billy Bob Thornton stars as Darl, a divorced lawman first spotted sleeping in his truck outside his favorite bar. Darl gets a call about a truck accident, and happily hands out shoes from the ditched tractor-trailer to win over the locals for his re-election. But then the body of a beautiful woman is found in the mud near the wrecked truck. The "woman" turns out to be a transsexual with a .22 slug in her back. Prejudice reigns in the small community, and no one seems to be taking the murder too seriously. Local politicians, including a powerful judge (William Devane), are focused on the upcoming election, and are also angling to build a casino in town, and so they want to keep the sordid murder quiet. The victim's wife, Scarlet (Patricia Arquette), a New Orleans stripper, shows up. Despite Darl's own prejudices, he finds himself attracted to Scarlet, and starts to look into the case. Soon he learns that his investigation and his big mouth have cost him his slot on the ticket. When he presses on, he finds himself jailed on a trumped-up statutory rape charge. Struggling with his own family history of disgrace, Darl considers making a deal with the local bigwigs in order to keep his job. But when he learns that Scarlet is in danger, he's forced into action. Sela Ward and Jena Malone also star. Behind the Badge was heading for theatrical distribution before production company Propaganda Films went bankrupt. The film was unable to find a new distributor and premiered on Starz cable on September 7, 2002. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Film superstar Nicolas Cage's directing debut, Sonny follows a very unconventional family as they struggle to overcome personal and financial adversity. Young Sonny (James Franco) returns home to New Orleans from Army service to find his mother Jewel (Brenda Blethyn), a prostitute, in dire financial straits due to her marketability decreasing exponentially as her age increases. Jewel takes heart at her son's return, however, as she had raised him to be a male prostitute and his mid-'20s vitality should be able to provide a much-needed boost to her family's income -- which until now has primarily been based on Jewel's boyfriend Henry's (Harry Dean Stanton) small-time thievery, as well as the income generated by Jewel's new recruit, Carol (Mena Suvari). Sonny initially scoffs at the thought, having been offered a chance for a legitimate job from his Army buddy (Scott Caan), but when that possibility falls through, Sonny finds he has no choice but to work for his mother. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

British director Vadim Jean helmed this British-Canadian family comedy about former private eye Howard Spitz (Kelsey Grammer), who writes hardboiled detective novels. Unfortunately, Spitz's creative juices are drying up. His agent Lou (Joseph Rutten) suggests a switch to self-help manuals, but after Howard meets children's author Theodora Winkle (Kay Tremblay) and gets input on kid lit from Samantha Kershaw (Genevieve Tessier), he begins writing about cow detective Crafty Cow, and the character is a success. However, Howard doesn't like children, so he hires an actor (Patrick McKenna) to substitute for him at public appearances. Howard, Samantha, and Samantha's single mom Laura (Amanda Donohoe) then leave on a trip to find Samantha's dad in L.A. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This syrupy British drama stars Ian Hart as an English teacher assigned to a "special needs" school. Faced with a classroom full of angry, unruly children, Hart hopes to bring about order and unity by sharing his love of cross-country running. As is generally the case in films of this ilk, the teacher must wear down the resistance of the class' most difficult and obstreperous kid (Ruaidhri Coroy). Disaster looms on the horizon when the boy's father dies, prompting him to indulge in a series of dangerous running stunts that threaten the wellbeing of all concerned. Wending its way throughout Clockwork Mice is a romantic subplot involving Ian Hart and fellow teacher Catherine Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

An ex-con looking to start life anew with his loving fiancée resorts to extreme measures as a means of funding his lifelong dream in director Stewart Hendler's dark supernatural thriller. Max Truemont (Josh Holloway) has served his debt to society, and now he is ready to make a fresh start alongside his faithful fiancée, Roxanne (Sarah Wayne Callies). When the bank takes umbrage to Max's manslaughter conviction and refuses to approve his loan application, the desperate recidivist soon joins forces with a pair of shady associates to carry out what promises to be a lucrative kidnapping. Upon abducting the eight-year-old son of the richest woman in the state, Max, Roxanne, and their criminal collaborators travel to a secluded and abandoned summer camp to await further instruction. Now, as loyalties begin to shift, suspicions arise, and the deteriorating situation appears to go into a menacing downward spiral, Max gradually begins to suspect that their young hostage may not be quite as innocent as outward appearances suggest. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An advertising executive at risk of losing his job finds that inspiration can sometimes come from the least likely of places in a brotherly comedy about getting laid and getting the job done from director Pat Holden. Adman Ed Waxman (Brendan Fehr) has just been informed by the higher-ups that if he doesn't come up with a killer campaign in the next 48 hours, he can kiss his high-paying job goodbye. Though work is all Ed can think about as the weekend approaches and inspiration seems to take a vacation, the arrival of Ed's womanizing brother, Cooper (Chris Klein), finds the pair setting out on an altogether different mission: to find the overworked and undersexed Ed some fitting female companionship. Just as a series of disastrous encounters with everyone from single mothers to sultry strippers begins to convince Ed that his love life is in as much trouble as his professional life, the appearance of a woman who could quite possibly be Ed's soul mate provides a glimmer of hope that the situation may not be as dire as he previously thought. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Comedian Eddie Griffin delivers a set of his outrageous standup comedy and introduces his fans to the family who helped inspire his work in this documentary. In DysFunKtional Family, Griffin talks about race, sex, cats, dogs, slavery, terrorism, Michael Jackson, and several of the more eccentric members of his family during a sold-out live show. In between bits, Griffin takes us on a tour of his home town of Kansas City, where we get to meet his mother, who has a remarkable enthusiasm for corporal punishment; his uncle, who discusses his remarkable enthusiasm for pornography; and another uncle, who proved to be an invaluable help to Griffin's early career despite his drug habit and career as a pimp. DysFunKtional Family was directed by George Gallo, who previously worked with Griffin on the comedy Double Take. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Killing Time aspires to be a hip, black comedy about a bumbling band of killers but never quite carries it off. Suave serial killer Jacob (Nigel Leach) finally goes too far when he kills a cop. Detective Bob Bryant (Craig Fairbrass) hires an Italian hit woman and then blackmails a small-time criminal into killing the hit woman. The story revolves around his gang and their increasingly unsuccessful attempts to carry out the job. The film is beautifully composed, and director Bharat Nalluri shows flair for striking camera placement, but the script is so poor that the film lurches from scene to scene and the performances are uneven. The only reason to see the film is Kendra Torgan as the hit woman who gives a sexy and threatening performance. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This British romantic comedy examines a trouble relationship between a behavioral psychologist and a paleontology lecturer with serious sexual hang-ups. Currently Dr. Daniel Becker is holding seminars for teaching body language to executives. Katie, the lecturer, seems to defy all he seems to know with her habit of knocking out any male she suspects of harboring sexual thoughts about her. They go out on a dinner date. Immediately, Katie-the-mind-reader smacks the waiter. Intrigued, Daniel blindfolds her to see if she really can read thoughts. Katie, who sees no future in their relationship, plans to go on a research trip to India with her peer, Sandip. Daniel tries to thwart her plans. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Kevin Costner stars as a father that moves his pair of kids to an isolated farm only to find his daughter's changed behavior might have something to do with a burial ground near his property in Luis A. Berdejo's The New Daughter. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, and Lake Bell star in first-time feature filmmaker Jeff Lowell's heavenly romantic comedy concerning a female psychic and a doubtful skeptic who find their fledgling love affair thwarted by the latter's recently deceased fiancée. Henry (Rudd) and Kate (Longoria Parker) were all prepared to live out their "happily ever after" when tragedy struck from out of nowhere and Kate was killed on their wedding day. In the aftermath of the accident, a devastated Paul reluctantly takes his sister's advice and pays a visit to local psychic Ashley (Bell). Now, despite the fact that he openly questions her ability to communicate with the dearly departed, Paul can't help but fall head over heels in love with Ashley. Despite the fact that the feelings are most certainly mutual, however, their growing relationship is threatened when Kate makes it her supernatural mission to sabotage the happy couple's fledgling relationship before it starts to get serious. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide