Michael Sorich Movies

Bob Hoskins stars as Manuel "Tony" Noriega, former leader of Panama, in this biographical comedy-drama about his improbable rise to power and inglorious fall. Abandoned by his parents at an early age, Noriega grew up fending for himself among the desperate poverty of Panama's slums. In search of a career, he joined the Panamanian Army, and rose through the ranks to become a powerful military leader. In time, Noriega became Panama's dictator, but the widespread corruption of his administration, his inability to tell the truth, and over-reliance on political assassination caused him to lose the support of the people, especially after the mutilated corpse Hugo Spadafora (Ivo Cutzardia), his chief political rival, is discovered in the jungle. Noriega also loses the support of Cuban leader Fidel Castro (Michael Sorich) when he enters into an agreement with a drug ring to refine cocaine in Panama, but then buckles under pressure from the U.S. government and destroys the processing plant. The CIA, who once regarded Noriega as a friendly ally in Latin America, have turned their back on him, and Vice President George Bush starts acting as though they never met. Even Noriega's wife Felicidad (Denise Blasor) and mistress Vicki (Rosa Blasi) seem to have given up on him. In a bid to save face, Noriega hires a public relations man (Richard Masur), who suggests that holding open elections might be a good idea. Noriega agrees, but then changes his mind when it becomes obvious that his candidates will loose. Beset by enemies on all sides and trying to flee American troops, Noriega hides out in the Vatican Embassy, where he confesses his sins as U.S. soldiers try to drive him out with loud music. Noriega: God's Favorite was produced for the Showtime premium cable network and directed by Roger Spottiswoode, who also helmed the James Bond adventure Tomorrow Never Dies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Ginger Lynn Allen and Linnea Quigley reprise their roles as Holly and Didi from the first Vice Academy film, this time chronicling their adventures after finally joining the police force. The two new recruits argue ceaselessly over who is the better officer, though in reality they both make the same dumb mistakes and are equally in hot water after accidentally injuring fellow cop Petrolino (Scott Layne). Demoted to switchboard duty, the girls get another chance to prove their worth when the evil supervillainess Spanish Fly (Toni Alessandrini) threatens to poison the city's water supply with a dangerous aphrodisiac. Since her hideout is rumored to be the Vicerama Strip Club, Holly and Didi are sent there to get jobs and search for clues. Unfortunately, the only position to be filled is bookkeeper, so when the girls arrive in skimpy outfits and proposition the boss, they fail to make the right impression. Luckily, the police force has a new secret weapon that will render police women obsolete: Bimbocop (Teagan Clive), an Amazonian robot who is "half woman, half machine, and all trash!" Bimbocop is assigned to help Holly and Didi save the city from Spanish Fly once and for all. However, this amazing contraption has four settings (Work, Rampage, Overload, and Worthless) and when her controls are tampered with, nothing works out according to plan. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Vin Diesel returns as the nocturnally gifted antihero Riddick in this sequel to the 2000 cult item Pitch Black. Riddick, on the run from the law and evading mercenaries eager to claim the price on his head, seeks refuge on the planet of Helion, only to discover he's walked into a world in chaos. Helion has been seized by the Lord Marshall (Colm Feore), leader of the Necromongers, a race of bloodthirsty warriors determined to wipe out humanity throughout the universe. Aereon (Judi Dench), leader of Helion's "elementals," pleads with Riddick to join them in their fight for survival; Riddick agrees, hoping to fill out some of the blank chapters in his history along the way. As he plots his battle strategy against the Necromongers, Riddick becomes reacquainted with Kyra (Alexa Davalos), whom he knew as a girl but has since grown into a strong and beautiful woman eager to join him in the fight against the Lord Marshall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The legendary rogue of the seven seas confronts a new assortment of dangers and thrills in this animated action-adventure tale. Sinbad (voice of Brad Pitt) and his crews of pirate adventurers are hoping to retire to Fiji, and they discover a treasure that could make that possible -- the Book of Peace, which has kept the Twelve Cities in harmony for centuries. But Sinbad's plan to snatch the magic book is complicated when he learns it's on board a ship captained by his longtime friend Proteus (voice of Joseph Fiennes). While Sinbad still has his eye on the book, so does the mischievous goddess Eris (voice of Michelle Pfeifer), who sends a deadly sea monster into Sinbad's path to scuttle his plans. With the help of Proteus, Sinbad prevails over the beast, and determined Eris responds by snatching the book and framing Sinbad for the crime. Noble Proteus offers to step in for Sinbad and take his punishment, so now the adventurer has ten days to rescue the book from Eris or Proteus will pay with his life. While Sinbad is at first uncertain if he should take on such a dangerous assignment or simply high-tail it to Fiji, someone is on hand to persuade him -- Marina (voice of Catherine Zeta-Jones), Proteus' lovely but hard-headed fiancée, who has stowed away on Sinbad's ship. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was the first animated feature written by John Logan, who received an Oscar nomination for his script for Gladiator. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

While some children spend their summer vacation playing ball or going to the beach, seven kids use their free time to help save the world in this feature-length animated adventure adapted from the popular television series. While attending summer camp, a group of kids playing with computers are transported into a digital universe, where they make friends with the Digital Monsters, or Digimon, creatures of the electronic world who can transform themselves into more advanced beings at will. However, while the children have been befriended by good Digimon, there are also evil Digimon, and a ruthless Internet Digimon is ravenously swallowing up communications data from around the world. The Internet Digimon has the potential to take over worldwide communications -- including military weapons-launch technology -- if the good Digimon and their human friends cannot stop its schemes. Digimon: The Movie was adapted from two shorter Japanese films using the Digimon characters, and was prepared for U.S. release by the same team who Americanized the original Japanese anime series Dejimon Adobencha. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide