Sam Maydew Movies

A girl looking for kicks gets a whole lot more than she bargained for in a singularly curious town in this dark comedy. Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) is a clever but cynical 17-year-old whose father is still adjusting to the death of his wife. Caroline's dad takes a new job and they move to a strange community where the sky is always dark thanks to an industrial fire that's been burning for several months and isn't going to be put out anytime soon. Caroline doesn't have much use for her backward drug-addled classmates, and so to relieve her boredom she sets out to seduce Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas), the best-looking man on the school's faculty. While Mr. Anderson tries to avoid responding to Caroline's blunt sexual overtures, it isn't long before he succumbs to her charms and is sleeping with his new student. But Caroline's new romance turns into a romantic triangle when Thurston (Reece Thompson), one of her stoner classmates, falls head over heels for her and she gives him a chance to impress her. Before long, Thurston is declaring Caroline the love of his life, Mr. Anderson is angry over having a rival for her affections, and the local serial killer begins to make their presence known, picking off the town's teenagers one by one. Also featuring Andie MacDowell and Ted Whittall, Daydream Nation was the first feature film from writer and director Mike Goldbach. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young man is faced with a dilemma when a threatening figure from his past returns in this drama, the directorial debut from Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Charlie Banks (Jesse Eisenberg) and his best friend, Danny (Chris Marquette), grew up in a rough section of New York, where they both knew Mick (Jason Ritter), a kid whose was much admired for his cool and equally feared for his talent for violence. When Mick got into a fight that left two teens nearly dead, Charlie was a witness, and when he was approached by the police, Charlie told them what he saw, though he later refused to testify against Mick in court for fear of his own safety. Several years later, Charlie and Danny have left the old neighborhood behind and are students at a prestigious private university when Mick pays them an unexpected visit. Charlie has no idea if Mick knows that he informed on him to the police, and is afraid to find out, but in the meantime, Mick aggressively reintroduces himself into Charlie and Danny's lives. As Mick starts dressing like a wealthy college boy, reading F. Scott Fitzgerald, and dating a girl Charlie has a crush on, he seems to be transforming himself into someone who can be all Charlie is and more, but in time Mick learns he can't completely turn his back on his past. The Education of Charlie Banks had its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The follow-up to his feature debut, director Alfred De Villa's Yellow is drama starring Roselyn Sanchez as Amaryllis, an aspiring dancer trying to make it in New York City. After her father unexpectedly commits suicide, Amaryllis leaves her native Puerto Rico for the Big Apple with dreams of stardom. Naturally, she meets more than a little adversity and soon finds herself working as a stripper to make ends meet. But with a cadre of supportive new friends and ample moxie, she just might beat the odds. Also starring D.B. Sweeney, Yellow screened at the 2006 New York Latino Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

A would-be illusionist tries to create some magic for himself and his friends in this comic road movie. Max (Til Schweiger) is a struggling professional magician who has a great act, once you get past the fact that most of his tricks don't work very well. One day, Max meets Hugo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a thief who boasts all the skill and expertise in his line of work that Max lacks in prestidigitation. Max is convinced he and Hugo would be an unbeatable combination in Las Vegas, so Hugo steals a van and they hit the road for Nevada, after convincing pretty waitress Lydia (Claire Forlani) to tag along as Max's assistant and Hugo's potential significant other. When the trio hits Las Vegas, they encounter Milo (Alan Arkin), a longtime magician and manager who thinks Max has the right stuff to be a success -- until he sees him perform. Magicians was directed by James Merendino, who previously directed the independent cult hit SLC Punk. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this thriller, an attempted variation of Roman Polanski's Repulsion, a young woman is repeatedly threatened by a violent intruder. The pretty woman had a husband, but lost him after he killed her lover and then himself in front of her. Now she is constantly harassed and approached at work, but consistently demurs. She begins to believe she is being stalked and her suspicions are confirmed when her apartment is entered and she is knocked around and robbed. A policeman is assigned for protection, but after she rejects his advances, he stops doing his job adequately. Now the woman is on her own against an unknown force. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi