Oana Paunescu Movies

Horatiu Malaele helmed this Romanian-language nuptial comedy. A period film set in March 1953, at the exact moment of Josef Stalin's death, it tells of a couple, Fira (Luminita Gheorgiu) and Iancu (Alexandru Potoceanu) determinedly attempting to celebrate their wedding festivities despite repeated interruptions thanks to the dictator's passing. The title translates, literally, as Silent Wedding. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

First-time writer/director Scott Burns spins this suspenseful yarn about a nuclear technician who has a curious encounter with a notoriously violent Russian gangster (Nikolaj Lie Kaas). The year is 1995, and Timofey (Paddy Considine) is a nuclear power-plant worker in post-Soviet Russia. After being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation while working to avert a disaster, Timofey discovers that the authorities have deliberately misled him about the severity of his exposure, and that he will likely die in just a few days. Determined to provide for his wife (Radha Mitchell) and young son before he succumbs to the effects of radiation, Timofey absconds with a small amount of weapons grade plutonium, straps the vial to his body, and makes his way to Moscow in hopes of making a quick and profitable sale in the criminal underground. This is the "new Russia," where everything has its price, and Timofey is determined to secure his family's future even if he himself has none. Oscar Issac and Jason Flemyng co-star in a film produced by Section Eight and Beacon Pictures for HBO Films, and distributed by Picturehouse. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Co-writers and directors David Moreau and Xavier Palaud's French-language horror picture Them take audiences on a ride of sheer terror as a couple fight for their life when an assault on their home turns deadly. The story opens with the homicide of two Romanians -- a woman and her young daughter -- who crash their car along a rural road and are promptly butchered by a shadowy figure. Meanwhile, in Bucharest, schoolteacher Clémentine (Olivia Bonamy) climbs into her car and drives to the isolated mansion that she inhabits with partner Lucas (Michaël Cohen), not far from the site of the murders. Soon the couple overhears someone stealing their car, but a call to the police accomplishes little. The lovers gradually realize that an outsider is attempting to break into the house with homicidal intent. Thus begins a nasty, brutal battle of wills that can only end in the death of the victims or the assailants. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Wesley Snipes stars in this pulse-pounding thriller set in the former Soviet Union. A once high-ranking Soviet military leader has resurfaced in Chechnya, where he has been consolidating his power with remarkable success. United States intelligence discovers he's been able to construct a thermonuclear weapon from materials scavenged from an abandoned nuclear power plant, and he and his soldiers have taken a handful of powerful citizens hostage. In hopes of preventing a global catastrophe, the military brings in Painter (Wesley Snipes), a special agent known as "the Marksman" for his talent in focusing in on the key elements of a crisis and resolving it. Painter and his crew attempt to get inside the nuclear plant-turned-terrorist base and rescue the hostages before U.S. forces begin staging a full-scale attack. But Painter's plan soon backfires when the military's operations don't go as planned, leaving him to wonder who set him up -- and why. The Marksman also stars Tim Abell and William Hope. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A thief finds one of his best friends is in jeopardy when a disastrous robbery turns out to yield the score of a lifetime in this action thriller. Jack Tolliver (Wesley Snipes) is a former Delta Force commando who has jumped to the wrong side of the law to take part in a massive heist intended to carry off the winnings of several major London casinos. However, the robbery goes haywire and one of Tolliver's partners is taken hostage by handful of brutal Russian gangsters. It seems the gangsters want something that Tolliver mistakenly grabbed during the foiled heist -- a case containing a rare painting by Van Gogh worth millions -- and Tolliver is forced to team up with rival Kelly Anders (Tamzin Outhwaite) to save both his friend and himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The cenobites are back and they're bringing an army of the dead to create hell on earth on the latest installment of the long-running Hellraiser series. After viewing a mysterious videotape showcasing a shocking act of death and resurrection, undercover reporter Amy Klein (Kari Wuhrer) soon learns of an underground group who possesses the power to restore life to the dead. Soon deeply entangled in the group's malevolent experiments with the afterlife, Amy finds herself caught in a life-or-death struggle that threatens to tear her soul apart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Peter O'Donnell's novels and comic strip was previously brought to film by actress Monica Vitti and director Joseph Losey in an eponymous 1966 spy spoof. Quentin Tarantino had been interested in bringing the character to the screen for a series of films, but the idea languished. Reportedly, Miramax rushed My Name Is Modesty into production because their option on the material was on the verge of expiring. While there were rumors that Luc Besson was going to direct, with Natasha Henstridge starring, that version never came to fruition. The film was released straight-to-video with Tarantino's imprimatur. Relative newcomer Alexandra Staden plays Modesty, and the film serves as a prequel, an introduction to the character of O'Donnell's work. It opens in the Balkans where some soldiers happen upon a resourceful little girl, a wild child. The film then flashes forward to Modesty as a young adult running a casino for the shady businessman, Louche (Valentin Teodosiu). When ruthless bandits attack the casino and the staff is taken hostage, Modesty secretly signals her partner, Garcia (Raymond Cruz), that there's trouble, then buys time by engaging the bandit leader, Myklos (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of the original Nightwatch), in a battle of wits. She uses the roulette wheel to barter the lives of the hostages for bits and pieces of her life story. And so the film flashes back to her orphaned past, showing how she was taken in by Lob (Fred Pearson), a wily older gentleman, who taught her to read and write several languages and how to thrive in a dangerous world. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

In this fantasy adventure tale, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and his kinsman Duncan (Adrian Paul) are "Immortals," members of a secret clan who can be killed only through decapitation. Connor and Duncan find themselves thrown into a tournament where Immortals both good and evil battle one another in a bid to become the last of their kind. Highlander: Endgame was the fourth feature film in the Highlander franchise, but its narrative draws from the storyline of the Highlander television series and ignores the events of the second and third films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Witchouse, a quickie horror film from Full Moon Pictures and director Jack Reed, concerns a young woman named Elizabeth LeFey (Ashley McKinney). She invites some of her old school friends to her creepy Dunwich, MA, home for a May Day haunted-house party. The first couple to arrive finds the house decked out with candles, torches, jack-o-lanterns, and so on before being stabbed to death in the basement by a gruesome-looking old hag with glowing eyes. When the other unsuspecting guests arrive, Elizabeth reveals a pentagram on her living room floor, telling them about her ancestor, Lilith, a witch who was burned at the stake on that night 300 years ago. Later, she raises the demonic Lilith (Ariauna Albright), now a fanged monster who zaps people with blue lightning until they die, because all but one are descendants of the original witch hunters who killed her. Many of the dead come back as possessed demons and interrupt the usual teen horror sexathon with some nasty violence. Executive producer Charles Band has a credit for "original story," which one can only assume means that he jotted down some notes while watching 1987's Night of the Demons and 1985's Demoni on late-night cable. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In this youthful adventure, the title time traveller and his pals end up in a toymaker's strange world of living playthings. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When the nefarious Lord Caliban and his wicked henchman start acting up again, its up to future cop Jack Deth and his intrepid Tunnel Rats to try to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

What do you get when you combine a Western with a Science Fiction film? You might get this shoot'em up in space. It is set in the distant town of Oblivion (it was actually filmed in Romania). Though it's a high tech town, it has the feel of an old fashioned Western outpost from the 1800's. The town is being terrorized by the snakelike, power-mad Redeye who is also out for the contents of local mines. He shoots the sheriff and disarms Stell Barr, his cyborg deputy. Enter Zack Stone, son of the late Sheriff Stone. Zack is of a rare breed, the empaths. Because he feels the pain of others, he walks a path of non-violence. Can he remain pacifistic in the face of Redeye's terrifying reign? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this chilling horror movie, loosely based on a tale by H.P. Lovecraft, a group of people in an ancient church find themselves beleaguered by terrifying monsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide