Dana Anderson Movies

One of the best-known stories from the Bible gets a new and decidedly playful retelling in this animated comedy, the first feature film from the creators of the popular video series VeggieTales. Archibald Asparagus (voice of Phil Vischer) stars as Jonah, who is chosen by God to help spread his message to the world. Unfortunately, his first stop on his evangelical tour is the city of Nineveh, where the residents while away their days bingeing on cheese snacks and arguing, usually settling a war of words by throwing fish at one another. Circumstances force Jonah to set sail across the ocean, where he's assisted by Khalil (voice of Tim Hodge), a carpet peddler who is half caterpillar and half worm ("but I'm OK with that now"), and "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," who are led by the well-meaning but lethargic Mr. Lunt, Pa Grape (both voiced by Phil Vischer), and Larry the Cucumber (voice of Mike Nawrocki). However, Jonah's mission gets a bit of a setback when a mammoth whale changes his plans. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, who provide most of the character voices, also wrote and directed Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, and also created the original video series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A handful of scientists struggle to prevent the destruction of a small town -- and possibly the entire country -- in this suspense drama. In the mid-1960s, a deadly virus is discovered in Zaire that wipes out an entire village in 24 hours. Government researchers are brought in to investigate, but the military opts to destroy the village rather than risk further infection. Thirty years later, Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman), an expert on contagious diseases, is called in when the virus re-emerges in Africa. A monkey carrying the bug is smuggled into the U.S., and a suburban California town soon begins to succumb to the illness. Sam scrambles to find an antidote with the help of his ex-wife Robby (Rene Russo), a Center for Disease Control researcher, and their colleague Casey (Kevin Spacey), while Gen. McClintock (Donald Sutherland) has his own reasons for wanting to use bombs to contain the epidemic, and Army surgeon Gen. Ford (Morgan Freeman) is caught in the middle. Outbreak was produced in the hopes of beating the film version of Richard Preston's bestseller The Hot Zone (about a real-life epidemic) into theaters; script problems shelved The Hot Zone, and Outbreak had the infectious disease market to itself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Real-life sweethearts and film directors Ken Kwapis and Marisa Silver co-directed this throwback to the silver-screen romantic comedies of the 1940s, examining the different ways men and women view reality. Kwapis takes the male character's point of view, recalling a burgeoning relationship. Silver then takes a crack at the same story, recalling the same events from the woman character's point of view. Unfortunately, both perspectives are not that much different. Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins star as Dan Hanson and Lorie Bryer, two reporters from the Baltimore Sun who are assigned to share space on the editorial page debating opposing viewpoints. Dan is the conservative philanderer. Lorie is the sensitive liberal. The new column becomes a big hit -- a shop owner exclaims, "Hey, it's the people who argue!" Although originally antagonists, Dan and Lorie become lovers. As their relationship grows, so does their popularity, and they end up hosting a popular television program. But Lorie wants commitment, and Dan doesn't. Frustrated, Lorie shies a coffee cup off Dan's noggin live on the air. Their ratings soar. And then the whole routine is played out again. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Novelist Larry McMurtry scripted this contemporary western, which examines cattle ranchers Hoyce and Bess Guthrie (Richard Crenna and Gena Rowlands) as they struggle to keep their marriage afloat after a power company offers to buy their land. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This uneven comedy came and went quickly in commercial release. An American triathlete (Mark Neely) trains for an upcoming event, with the main competition coming from a pretty Russian exchange student (Terry Farrell). Billy Barty excels in his character role as a diminutive Russian, and the slapstick rivalry between the two event announcers and some sight gags help but fail to bring this feature to the finish line. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In what can only be described as a dramatic change of pace, Robert Altman directed this raunchy teen comedy based on the antics of two characters featured in a series of stories published in the National Lampoon. Oliver Cromwell Ogilvie (Daniel Jenkins), aka O.C., and his buddy Mark Stiggs (Neil Barry), are a pair of misfit teenagers whose greatest joy in life is making those around them miserable. O.C.'s ancient grandfather (Ray Walston) has just had his insurance cancelled, and when he discovers that suburbanite salesman Randall Schwabb (Paul Dooley) is responsible, O.C. and Stiggs swing into a summer-long campaign to get revenge on Schwabb and his family. While it received some of the most brutally negative reviews of Altman's career, O.C. and Stiggs is worth a quick look for its cast, which includes fellow outcast auteurs Dennis Hopper and Melvin Van Peebles, comics Louis Nye and Jane Curtain, the one-time glamour girl of the Clifford Irving scandal Nina Van Pallandt, and Thomas Hal Phillips, reprising his role as Hal Phillip Walker from Nashville. World music superstars King Sunny Ade and his African Beats appear and provide the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide