Rosario Dawson

Prime Suspect 4 and Inspector Morse director John Madden comes back to the world of crime after a brief foray into romance with Shakespeare in Love and Captain Corelli's Mandolin with this adaptation of pulp icon Elmore Leonard's novel concerning a real estate agent and her husband (Thomas Jane) who become the targets of two relentless mafia hitmen. When real estate agent Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) catches a glimpse of a hitman named the Blackbird (Mickey Rourke) as he carries out a job, a subsequent request for her to testify against the aging gun for hire soon lands both Carmen and her husband, Wayne (Thomas Jane), in the Witness Protection Program. Blackbird isn't a man who likes to leave loose ends when it comes to his work, though, and now as the seasoned assassin and his psychotic partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) attempt to catch the couple in their crosshairs, Carmen and Wayne are going to need much more than a few federal agents to make it out of increasingly deadly situation alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The beauty of hope and the power of unity form the foundation of this tale of youthful love, drugs, and poverty in The City of Brotherly Love. Rosario Dawson, Naomie Harris, and Paul Dano star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Rosario Dawson and Justin Hartley star in a series of fifty web shorts set in the not-too-distant future, and tracing the war between a race of artificial life forms dubbed "Simulant" and the covert agency charged with eliminating them at all costs. Anna Diaz (Dawson) is an undercover NYPD vice cop who was attempting to solve the mystery of her fiancee's murder when she became drawn into the top-secret war between man and machine. As an undercover vice cop, Diaz was always reluctant to let down her guard with strangers. But there was something different about Nick Korda (Hartley that made Anna feel as if she could trust him from the very moment they first met. Perhaps it was the fact that Nick swept Anna off to Paris and asked for her hand in marriage that made him seem too good to be true. Anna was still attempting to discover if Nick was truly the man she believed him to be when he was suddenly murdered right before her eyes. Later, after discovering that Nick was in fact a bioengineered life form with ties to a mysterious organization known as the Gemini Division, Anna makes it her personal mission to discover exactly what the Gemini Division has to do with a global conspiracy involving clandestine military operations, and a strange series of top-secret genetic experiments. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez join forces to offer a cinematic tribute to the blood-soaked exploitation epics of yesteryear with this hyper-violent coupling of two full-length features punctuated by a collection of outrageous trailers. The first segment, directed by Rodriguez and entitled Planet Terror, details the violent struggle between a ravenous army of zombie-like humanoids who have taken control of the planet and the remaining survivors who refuse to go down without a fight. Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, and Rose McGowan headline a cast that also includes Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, and Tom Savini. In Death Proof -- director Tarantino's take on such peddle-to-the-metal shockers as White Line Fever -- Kurt Russell stars as an engine-revving psychopath who prefers to take out his beautiful victims at 200 mph. With a list of potential roadkill candidates that includes Rose McGowan, Jordan Ladd, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Ferlito, Death Proof takes viewers on an adrenaline-infused drive that's as sexy as it is shocking. Its tantalizing title borrowed from the term frequently used to describe the seedy, 1970s-era inner-city movie theaters that screened excessive, low-budget independent films containing copious amounts of violence and nudity as a means of offering counter-programming to the decidedly more restrained big-budget studio films, Grindhouse takes its love for these unabashedly sleazy efforts one step further by offering a jaw-dropping collection of fake exploitation trailers from such directors as Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and Edgar Wright. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Sin City star and lifelong comic-book devotee Rosario Dawson produces and headlines this big screen adaptation of her own Image Comics series about a New York City detective who is recruited to join a covert team of investigators who utilize black arts and mystical weaponry as a means of doing battle with the supernatural. Original comic book co-creators David Atchison and Tony Shasteen also join the film as co-producers. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

You can take the clerks out of the Quick Stop, but you just can't take the Quick Stop out of the clerks as Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) prove in this long-awaited sequel to Kevin Smith's breakthrough comedy. Years after we last saw them, Dante is still toiling behind the counter at a New Jersey convenience store and Randall is still annoying customers at the video shop next door -- or at least they are until a fire burns down the strip mall, forcing Dante and Randall to look for work. Times are tough, and the guys find themselves embracing the ultimate indignity as they take jobs at Mooby's, a fast-food outlet where the burgers are advertised as "udderly delicious." While Randall's snarky attitude toward the public remains unchanged, Dante is trying to make the best of the situation as he plans to marry his fiancée, Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith), and move to Florida. However, Dante's plans are complicated when he falls for Becky (Rosario Dawson), a funny and tart-tongued woman who happens to be his boss at Mooby's. Lurking about in the background, as always, are Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), who for good or ill have changed even less with the passage of time than Dante and Randall. Clerks II also features Wanda Sykes, Ethan Suplee, and Trevor Fehrman, with cameo appearances from Kevin Smith regulars Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Eisner Award-winning comic series Sin City comes to life in this live-action feature adaptation from director Robert Rodriguez and creator Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, this violent crime noir paints the picture of the ultimate town without pity through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (Jaime King) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (Clive Owen), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (Rosario Dawson), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Finally, there's Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba). Featuring a who's who supporting cast that includes Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, and Nick Stahl, Sin City promises to be one of the most direct translations from page to screen of a comic series, with shots and dialogue adapted straight from the original comic's panels. Rodriguez quit the Director's Guild when they refused to let Frank Miller co-direct the film, a deal hashed out after the two collaborators developed and shot the opening scene utilizing a green-screen process to harness the stark, black-and-white look of the books as a litmus test for the rest of the production. Quentin Tarantino was brought in and reportedly paid one dollar to direct an extended scene between Del Toro and Owen that amounts to one issue of The Big Fat Kill miniseries. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

The fourth film to chronicle the life of fourth-century B.C. ruler Alexander the Great, Oliver Stone's Alexander stars Colin Farrell as the titular Macedonian conqueror. The film follows the young king as he leads his forces on a bloody empirical conquest across the known world, taking large parts of Asia and the Middle East to amass a giant empire, all by the time he turned 25. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as Ptolemy I along with Rosario Dawson as Roxane, Angelina Jolie as Olympias, Jared Leto as Hephaistion, Val Kilmer as King Philip II, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Cassander. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Beck (The Rock) is a "retrieval specialist" in hock to a powerful and not particularly nice gentleman named Walker (William Lucking). Beck is anxious to retire from his dangerous work and open a small restaurant. Walker tells Beck he'll be free and clear with enough cash to fulfill his dream if he does one more job. He sends Beck into the Brazilian rainforest to bring back his wayward son, Travis (Seann William Scott). Travis is down there looking for a legendary idol, El Gato Diablo, which he could sell for millions if he found it. A pretty local, Mariana (Rosario Dawson), offers Travis the use of her boat in exchange for a cut of the take on the statue. But the powerful Hatcher (Christopher Walken) owns the area's huge mine, where locals work for slave wages, and feels that anything found in the area is his property. He refuses to let Beck take Travis back to the U.S. until the statue is in his hands. Using his estimable fighting prowess (he doesn't like guns), Beck manages to get Travis out of town, but Travis doesn't want to go home, and he ends up getting them stranded in the jungle, where they're confronted with horny monkeys and angry guerrillas. To make matters worse, Hatcher and his thugs are hot on their trail, and Mariana turns out to have her own motives for getting involved. The Rundown, the second film directed by actor Peter Berg (Very Bad Things), features a brief, uncredited cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A slice-of-life view of modern morality filtered through the eyes of a young and down-to-earth porn star, writer/director Ash's character-driven drama offers a unique perspective of the adult film industry. Moon (Juliette Marquis) is one of the most popular adult film stars around, and she finds no fault in using her sexuality as a means of profit. As she continues the process of renewing her contract, Moon's personal life remains a delicate issue due to her father's (James Woods) degeneration due to Parkinson's disease and a blind date (Kip Pardue) who remains hesitant to get close to Moon after learning of her profession. Although she makes a healthy living and sees nothing in particular wrong with her profession, Moon must ultimately reevaluate her life in order to understand what is best for both her and the people she cares most about. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Eddie Murphy gets way, way out in this futuristic sci-fi comedy. In the year 2087, the Earth's natural resources have been largely depleted, and an increasingly large number of people have taken up residence on the moon, where the pioneering attitude of the new residents has created a culture not unlike the old west. Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) is one such lunar exile who formerly made his living outside the law, but has since gone straight and now runs the hippest nightclub in the moon colony known as "Little America." Pluto is approached by Mogan (Joe Pantoliano), a gangster who wants to buy the nightclub; Pluto has no interest in selling, but it seems Mogan isn't about to take no for an answer. Pluto also discovers Mogan is in cahoots with Max Crater, a crime boss whose goal is to take over the entire moon. The Adventures Of Pluto Nash also features Randy Quaid as Pluto's robot bodyguard, Rosario Dawson as a naive singer who has just arrived on the moon, Peter Boyle as Rowland the pool hustler, Jay Mohr as old-school lounge singer Tony Francis, Illeana Douglas as a cloning technician, and Pam Grier as Pluto's mother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man has one day to put his life in order before a long stretch in prison in this drama directed by Spike Lee. Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a man who came from a working class family in New York. Monty's best friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Slaughtery (Barry Pepper) went on to distinguished careers as, respectively, a high school teacher and a bonds trader, but Monty took a different path and began dealing drugs. While Monty's trade has made him plenty of money, it hasn't brought him much respect from his family and friends, and while Jacob and Slaughtery have stayed in touch, Monty's lifestyle has led them to keep their distance. One night, Monty is relaxing at home with his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson) when the police show up; Monty is arrested, and after a trial he's sentenced to seven years in prison. On his last day of freedom before he goes to jail, Monty tries to make amends with his father (Brian Cox) and goes out on the town with Jacob and Slaughtery. With both of his friends facing emotional crises of their own, Monty finds himself wondering where his life took a wrong turn and if there's any way left to redeem himself. Along the way, Monty begins to suspect that Naturelle may have turned him in, and he has to deal with Kostya Novotny (Tony Siragusa), an ill-tempered drug supplier who has unfinished business with him. 25th Hour was scripted by David Benioff, who adapted the story from his novel of the same name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Otherworldly villains are on the loose again, and it's up to Earth's interstellar police force to bring them to justice in this sequel to the sci-fi comedy blockbuster Men in Black. Agent Jay (Will Smith) has become a high-ranking member of the Men in Black, the secret government task force designed to deal with unruly visitors from other worlds, while his former cohort, Agent Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), had his memory wiped clean and now lives a simple but contented life as a mailman. However, an especially nasty alien threat has reared its not-so-ugly head; Serleena (Lara Flynn Boyle) is a shape-shifting Kylothian alien who is in pursuit of another escaped visitor who holds the key to powers that would allow her to destroy the world. Making Serleena all the more dangerous is the fact she's taken on the appearance of a lingerie model, making her irresistible to most men. When the rampaging Serleena takes control of the MIB offices, Jay is forced to turn to the only man who can help him save the world -- the former Agent Kay. After restoring Kay's memory, the two remaining Men in Black set out to conquer Serleena with a motley band of friendly aliens, including a handful of worm creatures and a talking dog named Frank (voice of Tim Blaney). Jay, meanwhile, has his head turned by Laura (Rosario Dawson), an attractive waitress who was an unwitting witness to an alien attack. Men in Black 2 also features Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, Patrick Warburton, and Johnny Knoxville. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide