Akiva Goldsman Movies

The next generation of horror emerges as director Neil Jordan collaborates with producer Akiva Goldsman to adapt author Joe Hill's novel about an aging rock star whose macabre obsession leads him down a dangerous supernatural path. Upon taking notice of an eBay auction for a purportedly haunted suit, the curious musician immediately places the top bid. When the suit finally arrives, however, the musician quickly realizes just how dangerous it can be to dabble with forces beyond his comprehension. The son of famed horror fiction specialist Stephen King, Joe Hill began writing under an abbreviated version of his birth name in hopes that the quality of his work -- not the pedigree of his surname -- would set him apart from the pack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

DC Comics' two-fisted, beer-swillin' bounty hunter, Lobo, makes his trip to feature film-land with this Warner Bros. production, spear-headed by director Guy Ritchie. Don Payne provides the scripting duties on a story that sees the heavy metal antihero making his way to Earth to hunt down three intergalactic outlaws. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Tobey Maguire produces and stars in this big-screen revamp of the Japanese animated robot sensation Robotech with this Warner Bros. Pictures production, written by Raiders of the Lost Ark scribe Lawrence Kasdan and Smallville's team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A group of black mercenaries plan their revenge against the government that set them up for death in the Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. adaptation of the Vertigo comic. Stomp the Yard's Sylvain White directs from a script by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Watchmen's Jeffrey Dean Morgan heads up the cast, which also includes Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana, and Idris Elba, with Jason Patric handling the villainous duties in the film. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg writes, directs, and produces this true-life tale of survival set in Afghanistan and involving a Navy Seal whose entire squadron was killed in a Taliban ambush. Marcus Luttrell was a Navy Seal who led a team of soldiers into Afghanistan on a dangerous mission to kill a Taliban leader. One day, while preparing for their mission on the side of a mountain, the team was surprised to encounter an Afghan man, a farmer, and a young boy. Subsequently struggling with the decision whether to kill them and violate the military rules of engagement or to let them go and risk blowing their cover, the team took a vote and found themselves deadlocked at an even split. As the leader of the team, it was up to Luttrell to make the final call. Determining that the three were simple civilians, Luttrell made the call to release them. An hour later, his entire team was wiped out by dozens of heavily armed Taliban. When the smoke cleared, Luttrell was clinging to life -- the sole survivor of the brutal ambush. In the following days Luttrell would use his military experience to stay alive in a hostile landscape and avoid detection by the Taliban. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Adapted from acclaimed author Richard Matheson's influential novelette of the same name, Constantine director Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend follows the last man on Earth as he struggles to survive while fending off the infected survivors of a devastating vampiric plague. A brilliant scientist who raced to discover a cure for the man-made virus as humanity came crumbling down all around him, Robert Neville (Will Smith) was inexplicably immune to the highly contagious superbug. Now the entire population of New York City -- and perhaps the world -- has been transformed into carnivorous bloodsuckers that fear the light and live solely to spread their contagion to any remaining living creature that crosses their path. It's been three years since civilization came to an end, and the loneliness has taken a devastating toll on Neville. By day he scours the city for food and supplies while sending out desperate radio messages in hopes that someone might respond, and by night he attempts to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus by experimenting with his own blood. But time is running out for Neville as the legions of infected watch his every move from the safety of the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They, too, long to learn the secret that lurks in Neville's blood, though they will have to take caution while attempting to procure it because Neville will sooner die attempting to slay every last one of them than willingly giving up a single drop. Previously adapted for the screen in the 1964 Vincent Price frightener The Last Man on Earth and the 1971 Charlton Heston action film The Omega Man, Matheson's novelette also served as the inspiration for George A. Romero's groundbreaking zombie classic Night of the Living Dead. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Reed Fish (Jay Baruchel of Million Dollar Baby and Undeclared) seems to be leading the life he's supposed to. He's followed in the footsteps of his late father, doing an early-morning radio show with the town's mayor, Maureen (Katey Sagal), through which the eccentric locals of Mud Meadows voice their complaints and have them addressed. He produces the show with his old high school buddy, Frank (Victor Rasuk), and he's engaged to be married to another high school chum, the gorgeous Kate Peterson (Alexis Bledel), whose dad (Blake Clark) seems to own every business in town. But Reed's plans are upended when his high school sweetheart, Jill (Schuyler Fisk), comes back to town. She's supposed to be away at law school, but she confides to Reed that she quit school years ago, and has been working as a waitress while she fruitlessly pursues a career in music. Reed encourages her to play on Open Mike Night at the local bar. He inspires her to find her voice, which leads to some complications in his relationship with Kate, forcing Reed to reexamine every aspect of his safe, secure life. I'm Reed Fish also features performances by DJ Qualls, Chris Parnell, and Shiri Appleby. The comedy marks the feature debut of director Zackary Adler, and had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Director Michael Corrente's coming-of-age comedy drama Brooklyn Rules unfurls in 1985, coincident with the early rise of John Gotti. Three young Brooklyn men of Italian-American heritage -- Michael Turner (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Carmine Mancuso (Scott Caan), and Bobby Canzoneri (Jerry Ferrara) -- make the pivotal, potentially irreversible choices that will determine their directions in life. The boys' periodic run-ins with a sadistic mobster type who rules the neighborhood, Caesar Manganaro (Alec Baldwin), suggest the ever-present option of drifting into a career of crime. On the surface, Michael courageously and doggedly bucks this choice, opting instead for the pre-law program at Columbia and a straight-laced romance with blonde-haired, blue-eyed coed Ellen (Mena Suvari), yet this path is not as antiseptic as it may seem, for he actually scammed his way into the law program. Meanwhile, Carmine idolizes Caesar, and his desire to emulate this thug not only compromises his own moral integrity, but threatens to jeopardize the stability of Michael's life as well by drawing him into a sticky web of criminal activity. While the first two men navigate these treacherous paths, the third friend, Bobby, stakes out safer ground with a low-key job at the post office and married life with his intended. Over the course of it all, the boys' bonds of friendship become stressed and strained given the divergence of their paths. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

An ordinary man with an extraordinary gift must save the planet from evil in this action-packed fantasy. Unknown to most people, the world is crowded with spirits both good and evil who walk among us in human guise. One of the few who can see these spirits is John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), but the responsibility of his vision is more than he can stand, and he tries to kill himself. Saved from death, Constantine must now atone for his actions by acting as a guardian in the middle ground between Paradise and Hell. Constantine also makes the acquaintance of Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), a police detective who becomes aware of his unusual gift while looking into the death of her sister; he leads her into the unknown world of the spirits and soon circumstances demand that they join forces in a desperate bid to save humanity from evil. Constantine also features Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare, and Gavin Rossdale, the latter best known as the lead singer of the rock group Bush. Michelle Monaghan (Made of Honor) was originally in the film (cast as a half-breed demon) but director Francis Lawrence cut her scenes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the title roles, this kitschy tongue-in cheek action comedy is based on the popular 1970s cop show of the same name. Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (Wilson) and Dave Starsky (Stiller) are a tough pair of plain-clothes cops who drive a red and white Ford Torino and solve cases with the assistance of their informant, Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg). While investigating their latest case, the duo realize that the culprit is none other than Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), the criminal involved in their first bust. Starsky & Hutch also features appearance by Juliette Lewis, Will Ferrell, and Matt Walsh, who, along with Snoop Dogg and Vaughn, all had roles in director Todd Phillips' last film, Old School. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Director Ron Howard turns to the Western genre in this tale of a father and daughter who are brought together under difficult circumstances. Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) is a man living in New Mexico in the 1880s. He had abandoned his family years before to live and travel with a band of Apaches, but his conscience has finally gotten the better of him and he's decided to return home. Jones, however, does not receive a warm welcome upon arrival -- his wife has died and his daughter Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), now grown and raising two children with her husband Brake (Aaron Eckhart), has no desire to see the man who left her mother to fend for herself. As Jones prepares to depart on a note of bitterness, a band of ruthless bandits, let by Army deserter Chidin (Eric Schweig), descends upon the homestead, murdering Brake and kidnapping his 15-year-old daughter Lily (Evan Rachel Wood). While Maggie feels no desire to forgive her father, she realizes he's her best hope to track down the criminals who took her child, and Jones and Maggie team up to find the bandits before they can disappear into Mexico. The Missing was based on the novel The Last Ride by Thomas Eidson. Val Kilmer and Jenna Boyd highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide