Mark Fincannon Movies
Gina Prince-Bythewood's adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees stars Dakota Fanning as Lily, a 14-year-old growing up in a small Southern town in 1964. She is haunted by memories of shooting her mother when she was a young girl. Lily lives with her emotionally distant father, and her best friend is their African-American housekeeper Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). After locals beat Rosaleen for attempting to register as a voter, and Lily's dad goes one step too far during an argument with his daughter, Lily and Rosaleen set out to find the place where the only picture Lily has of her mother was taken. That place turns out to be the home of the independent Boatwright sisters, a trio -- Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys -- who make a very successful living producing honey. Lily and her friend move in with them, and soon the girl learns about both beekeeping and life. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, (more)
- 2008
- Add The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice to QueueAdd The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice to top of Queue
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle
Snakes on a Plane director David R. Ellis follows up his high-flying tale of reptilian terror with this horrific frightener concerning a group of college students who discover that their dormitory was once a mental hospital presided over by a sadistic doctor. As the semester gets under way, it begins to appear as if the spirit of the malevolent M.D. has decided to remain in the haunted hallways in order to continue his experiments on the latest crop of students. Written by Ethan Lawrence and starring Sarah Roemer, Mark Rolston, Ellen Hoffman, Travis Van Winkle, Cody Kasch, and Jake Muxworthy, Asylum features state-of-the-art special effects work by Academy Award-winning artist David LeRoy Anderson (Dawn of the Dead [2004], Men in Black, and The Nutty Professor). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Roemer, Mark Rolston, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Chuck Carrington, (more)
A decorated Coast Guard search and rescue specialist still haunted by the death of his teammates during a disastrous mission off the coast of Alaska is charged with the task of training the next generation of Coast Guard rescue swimmers in director Andrew Davis' ocean-bound adventure drama. Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) was the best swimmer of his graduating class, but upon surfacing as the sole survivor of an Alaskan rescue mission attempted during a Category Three storm, his outlook on life has grown increasingly jaded. Now, as hotshot young swimmer Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) arrives at Coast Guard rescue school looking to accomplish something meaningful with his life, he will be forced to endure the rigorous training methods of a man who expects nothing less than the very best in order to become a member of one of the most elite rescue squads on the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, (more)
An FBI agent finds himself crossing the gender line again in the name of national security in this sequel to the comedy hit Big Momma's House. Tom Fuller (Mark Moses) is a computer whiz who is under investigation by the FBI, who suspect he may be the man behind a dangerous piece of underground software that would allow terrorists and criminals to access secured intelligence files online. The Bureau is looking for a way to get inside Fuller's home to find out what he's doing when a golden opportunity presents itself -- Fuller and his wife, Leah (Emily Procter), are in the market for a nanny to help look after their three children. The FBI sends in Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence), who will once again impersonate feisty septuagenarian Hattie Mae Pierce, better known as "Big Momma." "Big Momma" gets the job, but while trying to dig up the truth about Fuller's possible criminal connections, Malcolm also finds himself developing a close relationship with the suspect's wife and kids. Malcolm also finds himself offering unlikely romantic advice to his new partner, Kevin (Zachary Levi), and developing a new appreciation of the day-to-day travails of his wife, Sherrie (Nia Long). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Nia Long, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louie Leonardo, Chad Allen, (more)
A blend of screwball farce and whodunit murder mystery, this madcap period piece was the brainchild of executive producer George Lucas. In 1939, Penny Henderson (Mary Stuart Masterson) is the harried general secretary and de facto manager of a new fourth radio network, WBN. On the night that the Chicago station goes live on the air, a mysterious voice interrupts, and a series of murders soon follows, each one described by the same sonorous phantom. While Penny and her staff desperately try to keep WBN's roster of shows afloat during the unfolding crisis, her estranged husband Roger (Brian Benben), a staff writer, becomes the chief suspect. Roger is forced to dodge a detective, Lieutenant Cross (Michael Lerner), find the real killer, win Penny back, and perform last-minute script rewrites for an unhappy sponsor. As the backstage hysteria reaches a fever pitch, the show goes on with real-life radio-era pros such as George Burns and Rosemary Clooney. Although never explicitly pointed out in the film, Radioland Murders (1994) was a pseudo-prequel to an earlier Lucas feature -- Roger and Penny are the future parents of Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) from American Graffiti (1973). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Benben, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
- 1992
- PG
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lukas Haas, Vanessa Zaoui, (more)
Hot off her success in Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts starred in this thriller about a battered wife stalked by her abusive husband. Roberts plays Laura Burney, the wife of a rich investment counselor, Martin (Patrick Bergin). Martin appreciates his wife as a trophy, but at home he abuses her for not keeping the house as clean as he would like it. The verbal abuse descends into physical violence --so much so that Laura decides to disappear rather than live a life under Martin as a brutalized slave. Laura fakes her own death by drowning, and relocates to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where she changes her name to Sara Waters. She starts a relationship with her friendly Iowa neighbor Ben Woodward (Kevin Anderson), but her happiness is short-lived. Martin has discovered that Laura has staged her drowning and is coming to Iowa to reclaim his possession. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, (more)
- 1989
- R
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Estes, Betsy Russell, (more)
Set in the Appalachians during the Depression, this drama follows the events that take place when Wayland Jackson (Kurt Russell) falls in love with Collie Wright (Kelly McGillis) and becomes involved in the family feud that is sparked by the existence of Collie's illegitimate son. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Kelly McGillis, (more)
