Daniele Liotti Movies

A Roman warrior on a quest to uncover the truth about Jesus of Nazareth becomes enamored with an Israeli beauty after rescuing the woman from a violent mugger in this Biblical-themed period drama starring Dolph Lundgren, F. Murray Abraham, Max Von Sydow, and Mónica Cruz. A solar eclipse has cast darkness over the Roman Empire, and as the frightened population cowers in fear the earth beneath their feet begins to violently tremble. Having recently heard rumors about a mysterious Jewish savior who apparently transcended death, Emperor Tiberius sends fierce warrior Tauro to Jerusalem to solve a mystery that threatens to dissolve their empire. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, Tauro rescues a young beauty named Tabitha and her frail grandmother from a menacing street criminal. But Tabitha is forbidden to look at Romans - much less speak to them - and now after entering into a forbidden romance with Tauro the end of an era fast approaches. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Boris Pasternak's Nobel Prize-winning novel of love and betrayal amidst the Soviet Revolution is given a new interpretation for the small screen in this made-for-television adaptation. Yury Zhivago (Hans Matheson) is a young man who is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Anna and Alexander Gromeko, (Celia Imrie and Bill Paterson) after his father takes his own life as a result of the machinations of his corrupt business partner, Victor Komarovsky (Sam Neill). As Zhivago grows to manhood and studies to be a physician, he falls in love with his cousin Tonya (Alexandra Maria Lara), but one day he sees a beautiful woman and immediately becomes deeply infatuated. Zhivago learns that the woman in question is Lara Guishar (Keira Knightley), whose mother is the lover of Komarovsky. Eventually, Zhivago marries Tonya, and Lara weds Pasha Antipov (Kris Marshall), a passionate Bolshevik. As World War I breaks out, Zhivago once again crosses paths with Lara, who has become a combat nurse and is searching for her missing husband. After Zhivago is severely wounded, Lara nurses him back to heath, and along the way the two fall deeply in love. However, after the end of the war, the reality of Zhivago's marriage to Tonya puts a halt to their romance, and the explosive impact of the Soviet Revolution changes the shape and character of the land they knew, especially when Lara discovers that her husband is not dead, but has become a powerful and calculating leader of the new regime. Doctor Zhivago had its American debut on the acclaimed PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Stones is a film about shoes which functions on the old Native American proverb, "Never judge a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins." The shoes, in this case, belong to an ensemble of wacky characters whose lives are anchored to a brothel on the outskirts of Madrid. Adela is a long-suffering madam who must balance whoring with motherhood; Anita is her disabled, dog-obsessed daughter; Joaquin is one of Adela's most loyal clients, a tango-dancing businessman; Maricarmen is a taxi driver who can't get over her husband's death; Isabel is an eccentric rich woman fascinated by a foot-reading fortune teller; and Leire is a washed-up shoe designer. Together, this motley crew struggles to scrape through life and stay happy, learning to look beyond the quality of the shoes that they wear and to appreciate their quirky personality traits. This first feature film by Spanish director Ramón Salazar shows many influences from the films of Pedro Almodóvar, which often feature an ensemble cast in a slice-of-life situation where the rules of the normal world need not apply. ~ Connor McMadden, Rovi

Saying that she needs to "discover herself," Irene has just left her boyfriend, Andrea. Because she was the wealthy one with an apartment, he is now in need of a place to stay. In this comedy, when he goes to see his buddies for sympathy, he finds that they are in even worse straits. Sandro's wife has finally kicked him out after his umpteenth affair with a married woman, and Alberto has been trying (and failing) to conceive a baby with his wife. When Christian, a young soccer star, offers to put up the beleaguered Sandro and Andrea in his expensive bachelor digs, it looks like a heaven-sent opportunity for non-stop good times. However, Christian has had a surfeit of casual sex, and he longs to find a nice young girl to settle down with. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Italian comedy takes a sharp poke at the corruption inherent in Italy's political circles and big businesses. Ecological crime correspondent Giuseppe has just been divorced and now, since a major corporation has taken over the independent television station where he works, may be out of a job. To save money, he moves into the apartment of Riccardo, a carabiniere officer. Both of them end up entangled with the lovely Sandra, who works as the personal secretary to the politician who controls the country's biggest toxic waste operation, Nautilus. The politico Giulivi is a sly fox and Giuseppe's investigation into Nautilus reveals that it is Sandra, not Giulivi who has been named the president. But Sandra is a ditz, and swears that she knows nothing of her boss's illicit activities. She convinces the two roommates to help clear her name and to bring her an important computer disk that can prove everything. The two fellows indeed help her, but as soon as she gets that disk, she uses it to drain Giulivi's secret Swiss bank account. Now all three of them are pursued by the angry crook's henchmen. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi