Anthony de Sando Movies

A small-town boy hustling his way through the big city forms an uneasy alliance with a scam artist who inducts him into the violent world of bare-knuckle brawling in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints writer/director Dito Montiel's unforgiving urban action film. Arriving in New York City with little more than the shirt on his back, Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum) makes ends meet by selling counterfeit goods on the street. But times are tough and money is short, and just as things are starting to look grim, Shawn crosses paths with crafty con artist Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard). Harvey instantly recognizes Shawn's natural talent for street fighting, and offers to help the uneasy newcomer make some quick cash on the bare-knuckle circuit. But making a living by brawling isn't easy because the system is hopelessly corrupt, and the only people who really come out on top are the rich businessmen who place wagers on the disposable fighters. Still, Harvey's instincts were right, and Shawn quickly makes a name for himself by taking down every opponent who crosses his path, including mixed martial arts champs, veteran pugilists, and ultimate fighters. As each bout becomes more intense, Shawn realizes that his only hope for escaping this dark world is to face his fiercest opponent to date. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Valentine's Day is anything but festive for Piper (Holly Marie Combs), who worries that Leo (Brian Krause) will be harshly punished for aiding the Avatars in their misbegotten efforts to utopian-ize the world. Elsewhere, Paige (Rose McGowan) struggles to overcome the loss of Brody by plunging into her latest project: finding new faculty members for the magic school. English teacher Drake Robin (Billy Zane, in his first series appearance) seems eminently qualified for an academic post. However, Drake has left one teeny-tiny item off his resumé: he used to be a demon, and he has recently entered into an unholy pact! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having recently earned his college degree, Lorenzo Primavera (Eddie Malavarca) leaves his home in Boston to travel to his family's ancestral homeland in Italy -- as was requested by his late grandfather. Upon arriving, Lorenzo is offered a short-term position as coach for an American-style football team by the team's manager, Giulio Fellini (Maurizio Nichetti). As the young American immerses himself in his new duties, he makes the acquaintance of Paola Angelini (Violante Placido) and the two begin a friendship that quickly blossoms into something more. In between spending time with Paola and working with the team, Lorenzo also begins investigating his own family's history and learns the reason for his grandfather's departure from Italy, as well as why his grandfather never returned to visit. As Lorenzo begins to forge an identity for himself in Italy -- not to mention strong romantic attachments to Paola -- he must eventually decide whether or not to return to the States. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

A non-narrative comedy that explores issues of race in contemporary America, A Day in Black and White concerns two friends who are students, identified only as Black Man and White Man. Black Man has to deliver a speech in class on race relations, and the two begin to discuss both the speech and the larger ideas involved; and, as one might expect, they have decidedly different views on the subject. As the pair go through their day, the argument continues and others add their opinions on everything from popular culture and professional sports to the O.J. Simpson case. The debut film from writer and director Desmond Hall, A Day in Black and White was shown at the 1999 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Revelations mark this fourth episode of the series, involving a schoolyard fight brewing between Anthony Soprano Jr. (Robert Iler) and a bully who unexpectedly backs down. Anthony Jr. fails to understand the boy's fear, so his sister Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) explains that their father, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), is not really a "waste management consultant" but a New Jersey mob kingpin. After he begins having erotic dreams about his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Tony hires a crooked cop, Vin Makazian (John Heard) to investigate Melfi's background, and the detective accidentally ruins her romance with a lawyer. Frantic after the mock execution he suffered, Soprano soldier Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) believes that his cousin and boss, Tony, ordered the incident because he gave Tony's daughter, Meadow, some crystal methamphetamines; however, after Christopher and his girlfriend, Adriana (Drea de Matteo), discover the corpse of his murdered friend, Brendan Filone (Anthony de Sando), he realizes that his uncle, Junior (Dominic Chianese), ordered the slaying in retaliation for a botched truck hijacking. Exacerbated by Junior's bloodthirsty soldier, Mikey (Al Sapienza), tensions rise between Tony and Junior when their boss and head of the family, Jackie Aprile (Michael Rispoli), passes away from cancer. Tony is left to decide whether he will make a play for the top job in the family or concede control to his uncle. "Meadowlands" first aired on January 31, 1999. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Longtime Hollywood vice detectives Holt (Chris Penn) and Nin (Jeffrey Wright) have themselves become gangsters and drug users. When violence-prone Holt catches his girlfriend Lyndel (Sherilyn Fenn) with drug kingpin Truman Rickart's (Henry Czerny) number one henchman Sean (Anthony DeSando), Nin does everything he can to save the hood's life from his obsessed partner. But it might be a matter of too little too late: Holt already has Sean strung up in a pig-iron box that he's filling with cement. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Can a homophobic tough guy and an out-of-the-closet gay man find happiness splitting the rent in Midtown Manhattan? This and other crucial questions are answered in this comedy. Frankie (Nick Scotti) is a macho and slightly thick-headed Italian-American from the Bronx who works in a pizzeria but dreams of becoming a successful actor, like his heroes Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. He's long had vague plans of someday moving to Manhattan and taking a serious shot at making his dream a reality, but it takes a personal crisis to put Frankie's plans into first gear -- namely, learning that his brother Pino (Anthony DeSando) has been sleeping with his girlfriend. This turn of events leaves Frankie with neither a significant other nor a place to live, so he starts hunting for affordable digs downtown. Looking in an alternative newspaper, Frankie spots an ad for a "GWM seeking same to share fully furnished apartment;" naive Frankie figures "GWM" means "Guy With Money," and since the price is right, he moves in right away. However, after spending several days with his new roommate Warren (Anthony Barrile) and his friends, Frankie slowly makes the discovery "GWM" actually means "Gay White Male," which is most certainly not what Frankie was looking for. However, he's in no financial position to go anywhere else, so both Frankie and Warren wind up confronting their fears and learning a lot about people different from themselves. As it turns out, Warren does a bit of acting, and when he hurts his leg shortly before the opening of an off-Broadway play in which he's to appear, Frankie arranges to take his place. There is, however, a catch -- Frankie will be playing a gay man, and he'll have to kiss another actor full on the lips in his big scene. Kiss Me Guido was the first feature film from writer and director Tony Vitale. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A group of friends from a rough, predominantly Italian-American neighborhood consider their future in surroundings dominated by petty crime in this drama. Nicky (Anthony DeSando) and his pals grew up together in the Federal Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island, where Nicky makes ends meet by dealing cocaine and stealing cars. His best friend Ralphie (Nicholas Turturro), who works in construction, is prone to wild mood swings and has a dangerous penchant for breaking into the homes of local wise guys, including mob boss Sal (Frank Vincent). He also has a barely sublimated sexual attraction to Nicky which he tries to camoflage with outbursts of anti-gay violence. Nicky falls for Wendy (Libby Langdon), an archeology student at nearby Brown University, when she buys some coke from him for a sorority party; while Wendy treats their affair casually, Nicky thinks that they have a future together, and he considers travelling with her to Italy for an upcoming archeological dig. Ralphie, however, resents Nicky for spending so much time with his new girlfriend, which makes his reckless streak even more pronounced. While Federal Hill was shot and released theatrically in black and white, a colorized version was distributed on home video over the objections of director Michael Corrente; the original monochrome version was later released on tape as well. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Steven Seagal plays a good if troubled man living in a corrupt world (sound familiar yet?) in this action drama. Gino Felino (Seagal) is a cop who grew up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood, and while many of his old friends now live on the other side of the law, he retains a fierce loyalty to the community. When his partner, a friend since childhood, is murdered -- in broad daylight, and in clear view of his wife and children -- Gino is assigned to investigate, and he soon learns that the shooter was Richie Madano (William Forsythe), his life-long nemesis and now a low-level wise guy with an addiction to crack. Gino swings into action to bring Richie to justice, though he discovers that he's not the first in line -- the Don who oversees Richie's crew is appalled by this crime, and Gino has to bring Richie in before the Mafia can put a bullet in his head. Out for Justice also features Jerry Orbach, Jo Champa, and Gina Gershon; keep an eye peeled for John Leguizamo and Julianna Margulies in small roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride, this 2-part TV movie stars supermodel Carol Alt as Nancy, the ward of Mafia don Frank Latella (Eli Wallach). Part One gets off to an explosive start when Nancy witnesses her father's murder. Raised by Latella, our heroine lives for the day that she can avenge her dad's death. Little does she know that her own fiancé (Eric Roberts) was the man who pulled the trigger. Syndicated to local TV stations, Family Matter was first made available on May 13, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide