Ethan Suplee Movies

Widely recognized for his brief but memorable role as the frustrated viewer of those annoying, colorful, semi-psychedelic 3-D eyesores in director Kevin Smith's Mallrats (1995), actor Ethan Suplee voiced the frustration of legions of optically challenged shopping mall patrons with his futile efforts to cross his eyes and conquer the illusion that was once the plague of shopping malls everywhere.
Born in his hippyish parents' Manhattan home, moving to L.A. and then Vermont, Suplee spent most of his childhood in L.A. and, as with many other actors, began to realize his love for acting early in life through school plays and drama projects. Lacking a sense of direction after graduating from high school, Suplee was prompted by friend and fellow actor Giovanni Ribisi to attend acting classes; Suplee took his friend's advice. Frustrated at his teacher's lack of promotion and encouragement, Suplee dropped out after one year and soon landed his first major role, as a recurring character on the television sitcom Boy Meets World in 1994. After making his feature debut in Mallrats, Suplee stuck mainly to the big screen, with diverse roles in such films as Desert Blue and the controversial American History X (both 1998). Frequently appearing in later Kevin Smith efforts, as well as comedies like Road Trip (2000) and Evolution (2001), Suplee also appeared in the drama Blow (2001), and with Denzel Washington in both Remember the Titans (2000) and the emergency room hostage drama John Q. (2001). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
2007  
 
Add My Name Is Earl: Season 03 to QueueAdd My Name Is Earl: Season 03 to top of Queue
My Name is Earl - Season 3 finds everyone's favorite dimwitted white-trash loser, Earl Hickey (Jason Lee), continuing his hilarious quest to make up for a lengthy list of detestable deeds and thereby become a better person. Earl's life has been full of poor choices and mistakes, but after winning a lottery jackpot he has an epiphany and vows to change his ways. This season, however, Earl finds himself back in prison. Life behind bars is a real pain in the butt. His shackled hands are full -- there's a gang war to stifle and a gala prison prom to plan. Even conjugal visit day is one big headache. With a pregnant ex-wife and a hilariously inept prison guard for a brother, Earl suffers a karmic crisis and finally goes over the top. Earl is joined by an outrageous ensemble cast including Ethan Suplee as his hapless brother Randy; Nadine Velazquez as the sexy love interest Catalina; Eddie Steeples as Crab Shack owner Darnell; and Jaime Pressly in her Emmy Award-winning role as Earl's ex-wife, Joy. This four-disc collection includes all 22 half-hour episodes from 2007-8's Season 3, plus bonus features including a gag reel, "Creating the Characters" featurette, deleted scenes, and more.

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Starring:
Jason LeeEthan Suplee, (more)
2007  
PG13  
Add Mr. Woodcock to QueueAdd Mr. Woodcock to top of Queue
Every junior-high geek's worst nightmare becomes a reality in this comedy. John Farley (Seann William Scott) grew up as a chubby kid with no athletic skills and poor self-esteem, and during his early teenage years his nemesis was Mr. Woodcock (Billy Bob Thornton), his junior-high gym teacher, who took a sadistic glee in tormenting John and others like them. Years later, John has slimmed down, come to terms with his self-image, and become a best-selling author, publishing a self-help book on overcoming the specters of the past. John comes home to visit his widowed mother, Beverly (Susan Sarandon), and discovers she has a surprise for him -- she's getting married again, and her new fiancée is none other than Mr. Woodcock. Horrified, John is determined to keep Beverly from walking down the aisle with Woodcock, and along the way finds himself struggling to settle some old scores. Mr. Woodcock also stars Amy Poehler as John's publicist and Ethan Suplee as John's old friend Needleman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Billy Bob ThorntonSeann William Scott, (more)
2006  
R  
Add Clerks II to QueueAdd Clerks II to top of Queue
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

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Starring:
Brian O'HalloranJeff Anderson, (more)
2006  
 
Add My Name Is Earl: Season 02 to QueueAdd My Name Is Earl: Season 02 to top of Queue
Doing the right thing isn't always easy. Just ask Earl Hickey (Jason Lee), a recovering ne'er-do-well with a lifetime's worth of dirty deeds to make up for. In order to turn his life around, Earl needs a G.E.D., a job, an apartment, and a whole lot of good karma. And, if he can keep his ex-wife (2007 Emmy-winner Jaime Pressly) out of prison, so much the better! Join Earl and his gang of lovable losers -- including Randy (Ethan Suplee), Darnell (Eddie Steeples), and Catalina (Nadine Velazquezas) -- as he continues his wildly offbeat transformation from hood to good in the uproarious and outrageous Season 2 (2006-7) of My Name Is Earl. The second season features appearances from such notable guest stars as Roseanne Barr, Burt Reynolds, John Leguizamo, Beau Bridges, Sean Astin, Amy Sedaris, and John Waters, among others. The collection includes all 23 half-hour episodes, audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and more.

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Starring:
Jason LeeEthan Suplee, (more)
2006  
R  
Add Art School Confidential to QueueAdd Art School Confidential to top of Queue
Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff and comic artist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes, who collaborated for the acclaimed 2001 comedy-drama Ghost World, team up once again for this offbeat satire. Jerome (Max Minghella) is an aspiring artist who arrives at a prestigious East Coast art institute to study. While Jerome enjoys daydreams of becoming the best-respected painter on Earth and winning the hearts of his female classmates, he soon learns the sad truth -- his "cool artist" act is old hat in the big city, and as he's surrounded by every art school cliché on Earth, practically nothing about him stands out. Determined to be recognized whatever the consequences, Jerome maps out a bizarre plan to become famous that has some unexpected consequences. Loosely adapted from a story in Clowes' comic book Eightball, Art School Confidential also stars John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, and Sophia Myles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Max MinghellaSophia Myles, (more)
2006  
PG13  
Add The Fountain to QueueAdd The Fountain to top of Queue
Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky switches gears from drug-induced urban malaise to abstract science fiction with this time-tripping symbolic tale of a man's thousand-year quest to save the woman he loves. Moving between representational stories and images, this meditation on life and death focuses on the concept of the mythical Tree of Life that is said to bestow immortality to all who drink of its sap. In one of the film's allegorical timelines, a 16th century Spanish conquistador played by Hugh Jackman sets out to find the tree in order to save his queen (Rachel Weisz) from the Inquisition. Another conceptual story finds Jackman centuries later, struggling with mortality as a modern-day scientist desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi. The third and most abstract concept finds Jackman as a different incarnation of the same character-idea, this time questing for eternal life within the confines of a floating sphere transporting the aged Tree of Life through the depths of space. Still more avant-garde than his breakthrough film Pi, The Fountain finds Aronofsky almost completely abandoning conventional story structure in favor of something more cinematically abstract. Though the film was originally slapped with an R by the MPAA, Aronofsky & co. re-edited it to conform to a PG-13 rating. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Hugh JackmanRachel Weisz, (more)
2006  
 
Add The Year Without a Santa Claus to QueueAdd The Year Without a Santa Claus to top of Queue
Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr.'s 1974 animated classic comes to vivid life for a whole new generation of viewers in this live action holiday adventure starring John Goodman, Chris Kattan, Eddie Griffin, Ethan Suplee, and Carol Kane. When a depressed Santa Claus (Goodman) announces plans to take the year off after becoming convinced that the masses have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, loyal elves Jingle (Suplee) and Jangle (Griffin) make it their mission to prove their boss wrong. Saving Christmas is going to be no easy task though, because in order to truly show Santa that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well Jingle and Jangle will first have to settle a longstanding feud between Mother Nature (Kane)'s tempestuous sons Heatmiser and Snowmiser. Perhaps, with a little luck and a bit of help from Mother Nature's notoriously disagreeable siblings, Jingle and Jangle may be able to lift Santa's spirits in time to get his sleigh in flight by the time the sun goes down on the biggest night of the year. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
John GoodmanChris Kattan, (more)
2005  
 
Add Neo Ned to QueueAdd Neo Ned to top of Queue
Ned (Jeremy Renner of Dahmer) is a proud member of the Aryan Brotherhood who has been admitted to a mental institution for his involvement in a racially motivated murder. Dr. Magnuson (Cary Elwes) and Johnny (Ethan Suplee) have trouble keeping Ned in line. Boisterous and belligerent, he's prone to childish tantrums when things don't go his way. Still, the other inmates, like Joey (Eddie Kaye Thomas) seem to look up to him. Ned's life at the facility is upended with the arrival of Rachael (Gabrielle Union of Bring It On), a beautiful young black woman who's brought in shouting German, and seems to believe that she's possessed by the spirit of Adolf Hitler. At first, Ned mocks her, and attempts to provoke her, but soon, his feelings toward Rachael turn surprisingly tender. Eventually, Ned and Rachael open up to each other, revealing the past traumas that left them in such a screwed up state. Ned, still reluctant to give up the accoutrements of skinhead life, tells Rachael about his imprisoned father and his unhappy foster care experiences, and Rachael tells him about being sexually abused, and reveals that she has a young daughter. When Ned is released from the hospital, he convinces Rachael to leave with him, but the couple finds life together on the outside difficult. Neo Ned also stars Steve Railsback and Sally Kirkland. It was written by Tim Boughn and directed by Van Fischer (Blink of an Eye, aka Urban Jungle). It had its world premiere in the Narrative Feature Competition of the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Jeremy RennerGabrielle Union, (more)
2005  
 
Add My Name Is Earl: Season 01 to QueueAdd My Name Is Earl: Season 01 to top of Queue
Karma is a funny thing. Just ask Earl (Jason Lee), who's learning the hard way that when you do something bad, it has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass! Hoping to turn his life around, Earl's got a lengthy list of detestable deeds to make up for. Also starring Jamie Pressly, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Steeples and Nadine Velazquez, My Name Is Earl is wildly offbeat and hilariously irreverent - the #1 new comedy of the season!

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Starring:
Jason LeeEthan Suplee, (more)
2005  
 
Add Bad Trip to QueueAdd Bad Trip to top of Queue
In this off-the-wall road comedy, John (Ethan Suplee) and Sam (Kevin Connolly) are a pair of close friends who are in need of a vacation, so they hit the road from their hometown of Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, hoping to check out the action at Mardi Gras. Along the way, however, they manage to run over someone with their car; their victim, Tyrone (Coolio), is an escaped convict who dies shortly after the accident. The wreck attracts the attention of the police, and the guys are soon dealing with unfriendly attention from the law, a cadre of drug dealers, and Tyrone's identical triplet brothers, Jerome and Cherone (also played by Coolio). Bad Trip was shot in 1999 under the title Tyrone, but wasn't released until 2005. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Ethan SupleeKevin Connolly, (more)
2004  
R  
Add The Butterfly Effect to QueueAdd The Butterfly Effect to top of Queue
Final Destination 2 screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber make their directorial debut with the sci-fi thriller The Butterfly Effect. Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher with facial hair) wants to free himself from his disturbing childhood memories. As a kid, he often blacked out for long periods of time and tried to detail his life in a journal. As a young adult, he revisits the journal entries to figure out the truth about his troubled childhood friends Kayleigh (Amy Smart), Lenny (Elden Henson), and Tommy (William Lee Scott). When he discovers he can travel back in time in order to set things right, he tries to save his beloved friends. However, he finds out that relatively minor changes can make major problems for the future. The Butterfly Effect also stars Eric Stoltz, Ethan Suplee, and Melora Walters. The title was inspired by the story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Ashton KutcherAmy Smart, (more)
2004  
PG13  
Add Without a Paddle to QueueAdd Without a Paddle to top of Queue
Just as the old saying goes, a trio of hapless city-dwelling friends (Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, and Dax Shepard) find themselves spiraling out of control up a very brown river in this raucous comedy from Little Nicky director Steven Brill. Heading out for a weekend canoe trip in search of an elusive 200,000-dollar treasure, the trio must contend with everything from raging rapids to backwoods mountain men if they're ever going to uncover the secret of the missing booty. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Seth GreenMatthew Lillard, (more)
2002  
R  
Add Vulgar to QueueAdd Vulgar to top of Queue
Kevin Smith co-produced this bizarre (and sometimes very dark) comedy from his high school friend and occasional acting colleague Bryan Johnson. Will Carlson (Brian O'Halloran) is a second-rate children's entertainer who barely scrapes out a living appearing as Flappy the Clown at children's parties. Determined to make a living and support his harridan mother through clowning, Will gets the idea to change his act, and starts hiring himself out as Vulgar the Clown, a cross-dressing gagman who performs at adults-only functions. Vulgar's debut performance, however, proves worse than disastrous; hired to appear at a bachelor party, Vulgar is gang-raped by three subnormal rednecks who were expecting something quite a bit different. Will's life seems to have hit rock bottom when he stumbles into the middle of a police standoff with a deranged father holding his children hostage. Will, in full Flappy the Clown regalia, accidentally saves the day, and soon the story of the heroic clown is all over the local media. A television producer gets the idea of building a children's television show around Flappy, and it looks like Will may have finally hit the big time. But just when things begin to look up, Will is informed that someone videotaped him being raped at the bachelor party, and a blackmailer threatens to release the tape and destroy his new career if Will doesn't pay up. Vulgar features supporting performances from several members of Kevin Smith's stock company and production team, including Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier, and Smith himself. The film underwent several attempts to secure an "R" rating from the MPAA. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Brian O'Halloran
2002  
PG13  
Add John Q. to QueueAdd John Q. to top of Queue
A national health care crisis in the United States yields this tense drama from screenwriter James Kearns and director Nick Cassavetes, who experienced a real-life dilemma with his daughter's congenital heart disease that mirrors the one in this film. Denzel Washington stars as John Q. Archibald, a factory worker facing financial hardship as a result of reduced hours in his workplace. When his young son, Michael (Daniel E. Smith), is stricken during a baseball game, John and his wife, Denise (Kimberly Elise), discover that their child is in need of an emergency heart transplant. Although the Archibalds have health insurance, they are informed by hospital administrator Rebecca Payne (Anne Heche) that their policy doesn't cover such an expensive procedure. Unable to raise the money himself, John persuades the hospital's compassionate cardiac surgeon, Dr. Raymond Turner (James Woods), to waive his lofty fee, but is still left with too much of a financial burden to bear. With no recourse but to take his son home to die, John snaps and holds the staff and patients of the hospital's emergency room hostage at gunpoint. John is soon a media hero, the focus of intense news coverage, even as police chief Gus Monroe (Ray Liotta) and hostage negotiator Frank Grimes (Robert Duvall) try to resolve the situation before it leads to bloodshed. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Denzel WashingtonRobert Duvall, (more)
2002  
PG13  
Add The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest to QueueAdd The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest to top of Queue
Hotshot marketing executive Andy Caspar (Adam Garcia) gives up his steady job to join a high-tech research and development center where he's teamed with three misfits, including socially-unacceptable Darrell (Jake Busey), to create a far-fetched and highly unlikely product -- a 99-dollar desktop computer. The company wants them to fail, but they succeed against all odds and come up with a PC that doesn't use a monitor or keyboard (it's holographic, and all of the memory is stored on an Internet server). A greedy competitor, Francis (Enrico Colantoni), sabotages their project and steals their idea as his own. Meanwhile, Andy's relationship with lovely neighbor Alisa (Rosario Dawson) hits the skids. Can Andy get the PC -- and the girl -- back? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Adam GarciaRosario Dawson, (more)
2001  
PG13  
Add Evolution to QueueAdd Evolution to top of Queue
The spirit of the mega-hit Ghostbusters (1984) is intentionally recalled with this effects-heavy sci-fi comedy from the same director, Ivan Reitman, co-starring Dan Aykroyd and debuting on the 17th anniversary of the earlier film's release. When a meteor bearing single-celled organisms crashes to the Earth, the life forms are initially confined to a cave. Before long the creatures are evolving at an exponentially rapid rate, resulting in fearsome aliens running amok and possibly spelling mankind's doom, or at least the end of man's domination over life on Earth. Investigating the phenomenon is a community college professor, Ira Kane (David Duchovny), his geologist friend Harry Block (Orlando Jones), wannabe fireman Wayne Green (Seann William Scott), and government scientist Allison Reed (Julianne Moore). Evolution also stars Ted Levine, Ethan Suplee, and Katharine Towne. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
David DuchovnyOrlando Jones, (more)
2001  
R  
Add Blow to QueueAdd Blow to top of Queue
Following the life of cocaine-trafficking pioneer George Jung in a way that recalls Martin Scorsese's Casino, Blow recounts the man's days from his 1950s childhood in Boston to his downfall in the 1980s. George (played by Johnny Depp) begins his life as the son of Fred (Ray Liotta), an earnest breadwinner, and Ermine (Rachel Griffiths), who frequently walks out on them in pursuit of a more fulfilling life. When George moves west to California in the late '60s, accompanied by best pal Tuna (Ethan Suplee), he becomes an entrepreneur in the marijuana business, which soon spreads to the East Coast as well, with girlfriend Barbara (Franka Potente) smuggling the product during her stewardess shifts. George is arrested in 1972 -- at which time Barbara dies of cancer -- but George finds a new ally in Diego (Jordi Molla), who proposes the idea that he become the American conduit for Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis). George flourishes in the heyday of the disco era, and falls for Mirtha (Penelope Cruz), a self-serving bombshell who eventually has a daughter with him. Trouble escalates as the FBI threatens to bring George and his crew down, while he desperately tries to be a stable parent to his young offspring. Blow also features Paul Reubens and Max Perlich in featured roles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Johnny DeppPenélope Cruz, (more)
2000  
 
Add Track Down to QueueAdd Track Down to top of Queue
Follow a skilled computer hacker and a determined computer-crimes expert on a thrilling, cat-and-mouse race through cyberspace in this high-tech tale of intrigue from Halloween 6 and prolific television director Joe Chappelle. Based on actual events, this thriller follows top cyber-schemer Kevin Mitnick (Skeet Ulrich) as he uses the latest technology to break into sensitive websites and glean valuable information. Realizing that top computer cop Tsutomu Shimomura (Russell Wong) is hot on his tale, Kevin quickly utilizes his cyber space expertise to cover his tracks and elude the electronic arm of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Skeet UlrichRussell Wong, (more)
2000  
R  
Add Road Trip to QueueAdd Road Trip to top of Queue
In this raunchy comedy, Josh (Breckin Meyer), a student at a college in Ithaca, NY, videotapes his one-night stand with beautiful sorority girl Beth (Amy Smart). A few days later, Josh discovers that one of his friends accidentally mailed the homemade porn tape to his girlfriend, Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard), who is spending some time with her family in Austin, TX. Josh and his friends Barry (Tom Green), Kyle (D.J. Qualls), E.L. (Seann William Scott), and Rubin (Paulo Costanzo) borrow a car and hit the road in a desperate bid to intercept the tape before Tiffany loads it into her VCR; Beth, however, wants Josh for herself and has her own plans to track down Tiffany. Road Trip is the first fiction feature from director Todd Phillips, noted for such edgy documentaries as Hated: G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies, Screwed, and Frat House. The cast also includes Fred Ward and Andy Dick. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Breckin MeyerSeann William Scott, (more)
2000  
PG  
Add Remember the Titans to QueueAdd Remember the Titans to top of Queue
A high school football coach finds himself fighting for stakes much higher than the State Championship in this drama based on actual events. In 1971, a court order forces three high schools in Alexandria, Virginia (two white, one African-American), to integrate their student bodies and faculties for the first time. As a result, Coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), longtime head coach of the T.C. Williams High School football team, is asked to step down, and Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is appointed to replace him as the school's first black faculty member. The new coach is hardly welcomed with open arms, either by the school's staff or the students, and the newly integrated team is full of players (both black and white) who have little trust or respect for one another. But Boone is determined to put a winning team on the field -- it's how he approaches the game, and his future depends on it. Against long odds, Boone helps his team overcome distrust and misunderstanding of their coach (and each other) as they become a gridiron force to be reckoned with. Remember the Titans also features Nicole Ari Parker, Kate Bosworth, and Jerry Brandt, and was produced by action-film kingpin Jerry Bruckheimer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Denzel WashingtonWill Patton, (more)
1998  
R  
Add Dante's View to QueueAdd Dante's View to top of Queue
A cold-blooded jewel thief seduces an innocent Death Valley girl longing to escape her bleak surroundings in this thriller, which proves temptation can come in all forms. In the aftermath of a jewel heist gone awry, Samantha leaves her dying boyfriend at the scene of the crime. Later, when Samantha's truck breaks down in the scorching heart of Death Valley, young, innocent June approaches her and the pair strikes up a fast friendship. Though June is immediately drawn to Samantha's free spirit, it doesn't take long for the murderous thief's dark side to emerge and plunge the pair into a harrowing journey from which there may be no return. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Barry Del ShermanBrett Harrelson, (more)
1998  
 
It's Graduation Day, and although Cory (Ben Savage) does not want Topanga (Danielle Fishel) to go off to Yale, he hides his true feelings and tells her that it's okay. Meanwhile, Shawn (Rider Strong) feigns indifference to the whole graduation process, and Eric (Will Friedle) tries to persuade Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) to give up his retirement plans. In addition to offering return visits by former series regulars Blake Soper (Joey), Ethan Suplee (Frankie) and Lee Norris (Minkus), this fifth-season cliffhanger finale of Boys Meets World is highlighted by an unexpected proposal of marriage--all the more surprising when one considers the person who is proposing! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1998  
R  
Add American History X to QueueAdd American History X to top of Queue
Tony Kaye made his feature directorial debut with this dramatic exploration into the roots of race hatred in America. In a shocking opening scene, teen Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong) races to tell his older brother, neo-Nazi Derek (Edward Norton), about the young blacks breaking into his car in front of the house, whereupon Derek gets his gun and with no forethought shoots the youths in their tracks. Tried and convicted, Derek is sent away for three years in prison, where he acquires a different outlook as he contrasts white-power prisoners with black Lamont (Guy Torry), his prison laundry co-worker and eventual pal. Meanwhile, Danny, with a shaved head and a rebellious attitude, seems destined to follow in his big brother's footsteps. After Danny writes a favorable review of Hitler's Mein Kampf, black high-school principal Sweeney (Avery Brooks) puts Danny in his private "American History X" course and assigns him to do a paper about his older brother, who was a former student of Sweeney's. This serves to introduce flashbacks, with the film backtracking to illustrate Danny's account of Derek's life prior to the night of the shooting. Monochrome sequences of Derek leading a Venice, California gang are intercut with color footage of the mature Derek ending his past neo-Nazi associations and attempting to detour Danny away from the group led by white supremacist, Cameron (Stacy Keach), who once influenced Derek. Director Tony Kaye, with a background in TV commercials and music videos, filmed in L.A. beach communities. Rated R "for graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity." ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Edward NortonEdward Furlong, (more)
1998  
R  
Add Desert Blue to QueueAdd Desert Blue to top of Queue
Morgan J. Freeman directed this comedy-drama that takes place in the desert town of Baxter Beach, California, where the locals, lookers, visitors and slackers include dreamer Blue (Brendan Sexton III), pipe-bomb babe Ely (Christina Ricci), all-terrain-vehicle champ Pete (Casey Affleck), nerdy Sandy (Sara Gilbert), TV star Skye (Kate Hudson), and chubby Cale (Ethan Suplee). Blue's dad, who had hoped to bring water to the town, died mysteriously in a hotel fire, leaving an abandoned water slide, and Blue hopes to fulfill his father's dream by completing the water slide attraction. Actress Skye is just passing through with her father, a pop-culture prof. (John Heard), but they're forced to stay in town after a truck-spill leads to a quarantine and the presence of both an FBI agent (Michael Ironside) and an EPA agent (Aunjanue Ellis). Skye gets caught up in local fun and games (orange baseball, potato cannon salvos), while her dad reminisces about the '60s with UFO fanatic Caroline (Lucinda Jenney). Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Kate HudsonChristina Ricci, (more)