Paul Attanasio Movies

Mark Wahlberg stars in Paramount Pictures' inspirational docudrama exploring the remarkable rise of Massachusetts-born, junior welterweight title winner "Irish" Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale) -- a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime -- perennial underdog Irish Micky rebounded from a disheartening series of defeats to win both the WBU Intercontinental Lightweight title and the WBU Light Welterweight title thanks to a fierce combination of determination and hard work. David O. Russell directs from a script by 8 Mile's Scott Silver and Paul Attanasio (The Bourne Ultimatum). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Although he has recovered from the gunshot wound administered by the husband of a former patient at the end of House's second season, Season Three finds the unabashedly misanthropic Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) still suffering from a plethora of emotional wounds, wracked with self-doubt about his efficiency as a nephrologist specializing in unusual medical cases, and asking himself if he should actually start treating (and regarding) his patients as human beings. This self-reflection doesn't last long, and soon House is his old obnoxious self, the holy terror of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Nor does he let up on the overuse of prescription drugs like Vicodin and Ketamine to ease the agony of his leg pain (an experimental treatment to alleviate the pain this season only makes matters worse). In fact, one of the year's most omnipresent--and ominous--storylines involves a detective named Michael Tritter (David Morse), who enters the clinic as a patient and ends up as Inspector Javert to House's Jean Valjean, dogging the doctor's trail and persecuting his colleagues in hopes of ultimately throwing House in the slammer for drug abuse and falsifying perscriptions. In other major Season Three developments, a romance blossoms between House's longtime associates Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) and Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison). And after a medical misjudgment which totally shatters his self-confidence, Princeton-Plainsboro's ace neurologist Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) abruptly resigns. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season Two of House begins as the gloriously obnoxious and abrasive Dr. Gregory House, head nephrologist at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, stubbornly (and somewhat perversely) trying to save the life of a seriously ill death-row inmate over the objections of his colleagues. Perhaps House is being more contrary than usual because he doesn't like being forced to work in close quarters with his ex-girlfriend Stacy (Sela Ward). Elsewhere, House's colleague Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) is herself faced with a life-or-death crisis when evidence indicates that she is HIV-positive; House's superior-in-name-only Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) clashes with him over the treatment of a man who suffered an injury while working on Cuddy's roof; neurologist Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) briefly becomes House's boss, with both men pushing the envelope to see which one will go ballistic first; and after separating from his wife, oncologist James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) moves in with House--who despite his anger over having to share his space with anyone is reluctant to let Wilson leave because the guy is such a great cook! And in the two-part episode "Euphoria", House races against time to determine the malady that is causing a wounded policeman to literally laugh himself to death--things getting uncomfortably personal when Foreman begins showing the same symptions! The second ends when House is shot and wounded by the husband of a former patient--and those fans aware of the series' many references to Sherlock Holmes will get a kick out of the name of the assailant. Among the honors bestowed upon House during its second season on the air was the prestigious Peabody Award for "Best of Electronic Media." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The misanthropic title character of the Fox hospital series House growls, grunts, glowers, winces and limps his way through a variety of curious and bizarre medical cases during the series' first season on the air. For starters, Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) must determine if a schoolteacher is suffering from a fatal tumor that is somehow causing her to speak fluent gibberish. Other patients suffer from hallucinations, the consequences of rough sex, and a apparent case of stigmata. Through it all, House maintains his nasty, abrasive façade, breaking as many rules as humanly possible to get the right results and save the lives of his charges--even those who flat-out don't want to be saved. Among the season's high points is a wager made by Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's dean Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) that House can keep away from his precious Vicodin for a week, which results in unexpected side effects that may adversely affect House's patient. Then there's the story arc involving billionaire Edward Vogler (Chi McBride), who wants to purchase Princeton-Plainsboro and fire House as an economy measure--and, failing that, force the reluctant House to dismiss at least one member of his loyal medical team. Finally, House endures a visit from his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner (Sela Ward), whose husband may be dying and whose lingering presence will vex our "hero" throughout most of the next season. House closed out its successful first season by garnering an Emmy award for series writer-producer David Shore, honoring his teleplay for the episode "Three Stories". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The successful franchise of Paramount motion pictures based on novelist Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers featuring heroic CIA intelligence analyst Jack Ryan stages a much-publicized "do-over" with this action-adventure that recasts the character of Ryan as a rookie to the complex game of geopolitical warfare. Ben Affleck takes the reins from Harrison Ford as Ryan, a greenhorn CIA historian and analyst who finds himself thrust front and center into the spy community's spotlight when Nemerov (Ciaran Hinds), a Russian politician on whom Ryan is an expert, suddenly becomes the leader of the former Soviet Union upon the current president's unexpected demise. Attached to the director of the CIA, Cabot (Morgan Freeman), Ryan insists -- contrary to the opinions of many high-ranking White House officials -- that Nemerov is not a warmonger. Meanwhile, a cadre of neo-fascists, led by Dressler (Alan Bates), plots the detonation at the Super Bowl in Baltimore, MD, of a nuclear device recovered from a long-ago Israeli fighter jet crash, a terrorist incident they intend to spark a war between the super powers, leaving them to conquer the world in the conflict's post-apocalyptic vacuum. The Sum of All Fears co-stars James Cromwell, Bridget Moynahan, and Liev Schreiber as covert operative John Clark, a character central to another series of Clancy's best-selling tomes. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Barry Levinson directed this $100+ million adaptation of Michael Crichton's science fiction novel about the investigation of a half-mile-long spacecraft sitting on the South Pacific ocean floor. Government functionary Barnes (Peter Coyote) assembles a crack scientific team -- psychologist Dr. Norman Goodman (Dustin Hoffman), who wrote a presidential report on alien contact; biochemist Beth Halperin (Sharon Stone), once involved romantically with Goodman; mathematician Harry Adams (Samuel L. Jackson); and astrophysicist Ted Fielding (Liev Schreiber). After descending a thousand feet, they set up housekeeping at their underwater Habitat base, suit up, and enter the craft, finding evidence that it's a U.S. ship from the future. However, the craft's cargo of a shimmering, golden sphere is definitely alien. After Harry contrives to enter the sphere, Norman notes his odd behavior. When the Habitat computer system receives an email message from the sphere ("I am happy"), it's not long before the messages from this entity take a threatening turn ("I will kill you all"), triggering fears to surface along with violent attacks to the Habitat. The film is divided into chapters, such as "The Ride Down," "The First Exchange," and "The Monster." Shot on soundstages at the abandoned Mare Island Naval Shipyard (Vallejo, California), the effects combine animation, miniatures, prosthetics, animatronics, and digital images. Ed Asner reads the Sphere audiobook. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

It's 1958, and the producers of the quiz show 21 have a problem. Their current champ, Herbert Stempel (John Turturro), has a phenomenal memory and a broad range of knowledge. He's also a pudgy loudmouth with a grating personality, so Herbert is encouraged to "take a dive" and allow Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes), a handsome and charming college professor, to become the show's new champion. Audiences like Van Doren, and he's certainly not averse to the money he's winning, but the ethics of the situation begin to trouble him, especially when the show's producers begin to give him the questions in advance. Director Robert Redford and writer Paul Attanasio paint a telling portrait of how the network heads and advertising men who manipulated the quiz shows were also able to manipulate the responsibility for the scandal away from themselves. While on the surface a story about the scandal itself, Quiz Show is just as importantly about a turning point in the 1950s when TV and advertising began to change American character and culture. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A childhood friend of Detective Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin) plans to assist in the suicide of his terminally ill father. When Felton hides his knowledge of this action, he runs afoul of investigating detectives Lewis (Clark Johnson) and Crosetti (Jon Polito). Elsewhere, Pembleton (Andre Braugher) looks into the fatal shooting of a drug dealer and uncovers a possible instance of police brutality. And Bolander (Ned Beatty) defies Giordello's (Yaphet Kotto) order to attend a sensitivity-training session. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This terse, realistic hour-long crime series was based on Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by reporter David Simon. Like many of executive producer Barry Levinson's movie projects, the series was set (and largely filmed) in Baltimore. The action centered around the homicide division of an inner-city Baltimore police station, with a large and fluid cast passing through the precinct's door during the series' seven seasons on the air. Originally, there were four main detective teams: avuncular veteran detective Stanley "The Big Man" Bolander (Ned Beatty) and his snide, conspiracy theory-spouting partner, John Munch (Richard Belzer); know-it-all Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin) and up-and-coming female detective (and later sergeant) Kay Howard (Melissa Leo); eternally grousing Meldrick Lewis (Clark Johnson) and lackadaisical Steve Crossetti (Jon Polito); and bombastic "lone ranger" Frank Pembelton (Andre Braugher) and his rookie partner, Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor), who joined the department in the first episode and quit it on the series finale. In charge of this dedicated but somewhat raffish bunch was hard-driving, hard-driven Lt. Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto). Of the above-mentioned characters, only Munch, Lewis, Bayliss, and Giardello survived the entire series' run. The first to defect was Crossetti, who went off the deep end after his former partner Thormann (Lee Tergesen) was blinded in a shoot-out, mysteriously dropped out of sight, and later turned up dead. Later, Felton, Bolander, and Howard were seriously injured in a shoot-out, after which the two of the three were suspended without pay because of their negative behavior at a police convention. Bolander never returned; Felton vanished and later died, reportedly by his own hand; and Howard stuck it out only for a year or so after Felton's disappearance. Finally, a disenchanted, burned-out Pembleton retired one year short of the final season.

Beginning with the series' third season, Isabella Hofmann joined the cast as Lt. Megan Russert, the abrasive skipper of homicide's night shift; Russert would be promoted to captain, then demoted; she ultimately left Baltimore, and the United States, to find romance and happiness in Paris. In season four, flippant former arson detective Mike Kellerman (Reed Diamond) joined the squad; he would depart after his questionable involvement in the death of vicious drug kingpin Luther Mahoney, whose killing led to a bloodbath at headquarters. That same season found videographer J.H. Brodie (Max Perlich) becoming a homicider full-time. Introduced during the sixth season was Chief Medical Examiner Julianna Cox (Michelle Forbes), who made no secret of her contempt for homicide's procedural methods; and at the end of season six, Detective Paul Falsone (Jon Seda) joined the team, following his investigation of Felton's mysterious demise. Other later editions included former beat cop and Vietnam vet Detective Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety), who along with Bayliss incurred serious wounds in the aforementioned "revenge" shoot-out vis-à-vis Luther Mahoney; Det. Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne), formerly of the Seattle PD; Det. Terri Stivers (Toni Lewis), one of several recurring characters to graduate to "regular"; Det. Rene Sheppard (Michael Michele), a onetime beauty queen; and Giardello's son, FBI agent Mike Giardello (Giancarlo Esposito).

Although the series' plotlines were not as a rule serialized, several story arcs ran over a period of many weeks, among them the investigation into the murder of an 11-year-old girl; Kellerman's neurotic reaction to an investigation of corruption in the arson squad; and the efforts by Munch and Lewis to run their own after-hours bar. And, of course, ample time was given over to the occasional romances that developed among the male and female members of the squad. Additionally, several episodes were "crossovers," concluding stories that had begun on another popular crime series, Law & Order. Making its first NBC appearance just after the telecast of 1993 Super Bowl, Homicide: Life on the Street took a little time getting started (season one ran a skimpy nine episodes, season two a skimpier four), but it hit its stride with the 1994-1995 season, remaining on the air until 1999, with a special "coda" one year later that tied up loose plot ends. ~ Rovi