Sofia Shinas Movies
- 1997
A condemned man's benevolent act turns out to be a desperate bid for freedom in this action thriller. Rudy Salazar (Danny Trejo) is a multiple murderer who has been sentenced to death, but an unexpected act of generosity takes him off death row. Rudy's bone marrow type matches that of a young girl suffering from a rare form of leukemia; he volunteers to donate his marrow for the girl's treatment in exchange for having his sentence reduced to life without parole. The courts agree, but Thomas Quinlan (C. Thomas Howell), the detective who cracked the Salazar case and put him behind bars, is convinced something is afoot. Sadly, Quinlan turns out to be right; as Salazar is being transported to the hospital for the marrow donation, he puts into motion a carefully organized escape plan, and soon the murderer is back on the street, with a number of dead police officers left in his wake. Now Quinlan and his partner Lydia (Sofia Shinas) have to capture Salazar for the safety of the public, as well as giving a little girl her last chance at survival. Dilemma marked the feature debut for director Eric Larsen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1996
C. Thomas Howell made his directorial debut in this suspense thriller, in which he also stars as Michael Jardine, a successful fashion designer. When Jardine's wife drowns under mysterious circumstances, he finds himself the key suspect in the murder investigation led by police detective Cecil Dish (Ed Begley Jr.). Meanwhile, Jardine falls into a destructive relationship with obsessive fashion model Dara Jensen (Sofia Shinas). Adding to Jardine's crises is a potential hostile takeover of his company by a rival firm that is marked by threats of blackmail and violence. In what was undoubtedly a great project for red-headed comic actors, the supporting cast also includes Don Most (known as "Donny" when he played Ralph Malph on Happy Days) and Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Sofia Shinas, (more)
This uninspired, dull action film promotes an anti-national government stance while it tells the tale of a group of men who have developed a foolproof, hack-proof computer system devoted to military matters, and then they go off into the wilderness to engage in war games. Right behind them is a team of assassins, undoubtedly after their great software. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, John Savage, (more)
Based on the graphic novel by James O'Barr, this fantasy follows Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), a rock musician who is murdered along with his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) by a group of marauding thugs who terrorize the decaying city in which they live. One year to the day after his death (which happens to be Devil's Night), a mystical crow appears at Eric's grave; Eric rises from the dead and, with the bird as his guide, goes on a mission to avenge himself against Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the leader of the gang who killed him. Star Brandon Lee was killed while filming a scene in which he was shot with a shell from an improperly cleaned gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks. Like his father, martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, Brandon was fated to enjoy his greatest popular success after his premature death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, (more)
Party-hard skydiving teacher Ditch Brodie (Charlie Sheen) has a knack for getting himself into trouble, but his booze-babes-and-planes shenanigans hardly prepare him for an international plot that pits Brodie and a mysterious KGB agent against a post-Cold War Russian villain called Kerr (Chris McDonald) and an American heavy named Ben Pinkwater (James Gandolfini). Aerial set pieces alternate with tongue-in-cheek flirtation and conspiracy-theory suspense as Brodie meets a beautiful new student, Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski), then must try to explain to the authorities how he allowed her to fall out of a plane to her death. Soon Brodie -- on the run from both Kerr and the police -- begins to realize that in espionage, as in romance, often nothing is as it seems. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
