Mark Fincannon Movies

Director Lasse Hallström and screenwriter Jamie Linden collaborate to adapt author Nicholas Sparks' novel about a young soldier who falls for an idealistic college girl. Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) was on spring break when she first met John Tyree (Channing Tatum), who was home on temporary leave. For the smitten soldier it was practically love at first sight. Over the course of the next seven years, when each deployment seemed more treacherous than the last, the love letters that Savannah sent to John were one of the only things that kept him going. However, those loving and heartfelt correspondences would ultimately yield consequences that neither the brave soldier nor his one true love could have ever foreseen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Dan Pritzker takes the helm for this silent film centered on a life-changing experience in the childhood of famed jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Young Louis (Anthony Coleman) longs to become a famous trumpet player. Louis' life takes an unexpected twist, however, when the ambitious young musician has a chance encounter with the beautiful Grace (Shanti Lowry) and her infant daughter, Jasmine. It seems that Grace has gotten involved with the malevolent Judge Perry (Jackie Earle Haley), a local politician on the road to becoming governor. Should word of their relationship get out, Judge Perry's political ambitions will go up in flames. As Judge Perry attempts to intimidate Grace into silence, young Louis finds his passion for jazz growing. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The fearless bookworm who searched for King Solomon's Mines and sought out some of the world's most priceless relics returns to investigate a mystery that could reveal the truth about one of history's most feared villains in this made for television adventure directed by Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation, and starring Noah Wylie, Bob Newhart, and Jane Curtain. Flynn Carson (Wylie) is on a mission to recover the historic Judas Chalice when French beauty Simone rescues him from certain death. Despite her radiant gorgeousness, however, Simone possesses a dark secret. That doesn't stop Flynn from falling madly in love with Simone, though when he's betrayed by a respected professor (Bruce Davidson) and attacked by a relentless street gang, her secret finally comes out. Realizing his true mission, Flynn ventures into a decrepit New Orleans crypt rumored to house the remains of none other than Prince Vlad Dracul, the 15th Century Romanian prince whose notorious cruelty still holds the power to frighten over 500 years after his demise in 1476. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A Charlotte lawyer unearths a closely guarded family secret when his father dies and leaves him interest in an obscure entity known as The Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd. in director Gary Wheeler's adaptation of the novel by author Robert Whitlow. Convinced that the fall of the Confederacy is at hand after the Battle of Gettysburg, a group of South Carolina plantation owners gather at the Rice Planter's Inn in Georgetown, South Carolina and hatch a plan to smuggle their fortunes into Europe. Their cover for the operation: a secret society dubbed The Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd. But a weathered prophet opposes the group's nefarious plan, and issues a dire warning to his friends and neighbors that one day the descendents of the group will one day face judgment at the mighty hand of God. Decades later, the interests of the families have been passed down through the generations. The profit margin has exploded, and with each passing year the secret grows more sinister. When Charlotte lawyer Renny Jacobson learns that his father has recently passed away, he returns to Charleston to pay his final respects and attend the reading of the family will. Much to Renny's surprise, his father bequeathed a large portion of his estate to charity. Shortly after discovering that his sole inheritance is an interest in the mysterious Covenant List of South Carolina, Ltd., Renny is contacted by The List and approached by a beautiful woman named Jo Johnston. In the following days Renny will become swept up by a whirlwind of deception and greed that will lead him from the picturesque coasts of South Carolina to the closely guarded Swiss bank vaults which house a vast fortune in cursed blood money. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two people discover just how true the old adage "lucky in life, unlucky in love" can be in this romantic comedy. Ashley (Lindsay Lohan) has always been the sort of girl fortune smiles upon -- she's pretty, she has a great job, she had good friends, guys fall over themselves to ask her out, and she never has trouble getting a cab. Jake (Chris Pine), on the other hand, is not nearly so lucky -- he's clumsy and accident prone, things never seem to go his way, and he's just lost his job at a bowling alley. However, these two opposites meet one night at a ritzy masquerade ball, and Ashley and Jake exchange an impulsive kiss as two shooting stars cross in the sky. Suddenly, they both find their luck taking a one hundred and eighty degree turn; Jake is befriended by a wealthy musician and suddenly finds himself successful and flush with cash, while Ashley loses her job and her apartment after a major misunderstanding with the police. While Jake's luck with women has also taken a turn for the better, he's become deeply infatuated with Ashley, and tries to help her turn her life back around as he struggles to win her heart. Just My Luck also stars Samaire Armstrong, Faizon Love, and Tovah Feldshuh. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An indigenous people are turned from a life of violence to a more gentle and forgiving nature in this adventure drama based on a true story. Nate Saint (Chad Allen) is a pilot and Christian missionary who, with his family, lives and works in the jungles of South America near the Amazon. Nate is fascinated by tales he's heard of the Waodani, a violent and aggressive tribe living nearby, and with a group of fellow Christians takes it upon himself to teach them the importance of compassion and forgiveness. However, the leader of the Waodanis, Mincayani (Louie Leonardo), does not trust the white visitors, and believes they may have had something to do with the disappearance of a young girl from his tribe years ago. A meeting between Nate and Mincayani goes terribly wrong thanks to Nate's inability to understand the Waodani language, and Nate and four of his fellow missionaries are savagely murdered by the tribesmen. However, in the final moments of his life, Nate is able to impart a message in Mincayani that bears fruit years later when Steve Saint, Nate's son (also played by Allen) returns to continue the work his father started. End of the Spear was adapted from the true story of Nate Saint and Steve Saint, which was previously brought to the screen in the documentary Beyond the Gates of Splendor. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Alan (Lukas Haas) is a typically streetwise Brooklyn teenager of the 1940s. Naomi (Vanessa Zaoui) is a French-Jewish refugee of Nazi oppression, recently moved into the apartment above Alan's. Ever since witnessing the murder of her father, Naomi has remained in a catatonic state. Alan's well-meaning efforts to help the girl at first seem to do more harm than good. But eventually the boy's sincerity and hitherto untapped compassion win out, and the two young people form a strong, unbreakable bond. Alan & Naomi is based on a novel by Myron Levoy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this grim actioner, two city dudes head out for the country and find themselves involved in a feud when one of them falls in love with a country boy's gal. The jealous lover belongs to the murderous clan that runs the area and now the city boys, one of whom is a Vietnam vet, must team up or die. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi