Andrew Lazar Movies
Andrew Lazar has spent much of his career closely affiliated with Dino DeLaurentiis Communications (DDC) and, as Executive Vice-President of Production in the development and production departments, oversaw such feature films as Army of Darkness (1992) and Body of Evidence (1992). A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of Arts (class of 1989) with degrees in film production and political science, Lazar launched his career working as a development assistant for producer Richard Zanuck during the making of Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Afterward, he joined DDC's business affairs department and then worked in the story department before getting promoted to Executive V.P. In 1996, he went solo and executive produced John Dahl's Unforgettable and the Sylvester Stallone/Antonio Banderas vehicle Assassins. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2011
Katsuhiro Otomo's famed Japanese manga Akira takes the leap into live-action territory with this production from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Leonardo DiCaprio produces the film, with Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey) directing from a Gary Whitta script. Adapted into a successful anime in 1987, the story revolves around a neo-nuclear motorcycle gang that gets caught up in a genetic experiment run amuck, bringing on heat from the police state that controls their expansive city, New Manhattan. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 2011
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as legendary quarterback Joe Namath in this Universal Pictures biopic that will follow the Hall of Famer from his college football days through his celebrity days as quarterback for the New York Jets. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- 2010
1970s-era DC antihero Jonah Hex makes his way to the big screen as Crank co-writers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor team to follow the disfigured gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter on his biggest adventure yet. Supernatural elements combine with Western aesthetics to take viewers on a wild and bloody ride, with Josh Brolin leading the way as Hex and John Malkovich stepping into the villainous role of Turnbull. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, (more)
The epic struggle for control of planet Earth continues in this sequel to the 2001 comedy that had pet owners all across the world looking at their house pets in a whole new light. Chris O'Donnell and 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer head up the cast of the production, with scripting duties being handled by Brother Bear's Ron J. Friedman and Steve Bencich. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A middle-aged man finds love in the last place he was looking -- his psychiatrist's waiting room -- in this dark comedy drama. Alex (William H. Macy) is a man in his mid-forties who is having something of a midlife crisis; he's unhappy with his life; his marriage to Martha (Tracey Ullman) is going through a rough patch; he's worried about his six-year-old son, on whom he dotes; and he wishes he hadn't bucked under to the wishes of his domineering father Michael (Donald Sutherland) and started working in the family business. Making things even more problematic is the family's line of work -- Alex is a killer-for-hire. Alex feels as if he's about to unravel from stress when he begins seeing Josh (John Ritter), a psychiatrist. One day, while waiting for his session with Josh, Alex meets Sarah (Neve Campbell), a sweet, pretty, but severely neurotic young woman with an omnivorous sexual appetite. Alex and Sarah take an immediate liking to one another, and Alex begins to pursue a romance with her, though he knows an affair could create more problems than it solves, especially after Michael informs Alex that Josh is his next target. Panic marked the feature debut for writer/director Henry Bromell, who previously distinguished himself as a novelist and a television producer. The supporting cast includes Barbara Bain as Alex's mother, who helped get her husband started in the business. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William H. Macy, John Ritter, (more)
Tim Hunter, the director of River's Edge, returned with another powerful story of troubled teenagers struggling to find their way out of moral and legal limbo. High school senior Josh Minell (Jonathan Rhys Myers) has strong academic skills, but he spends his nights hanging out with a group of delinquents sniffing glue, committing petty theft, and wondering if his life is ever going to get better. His best friend is Bella (Fairuza Balk), a girl with a fondness for cheerleaders; Josh's own infatuations are for Emily Peck (Mary-Louise Parker), a female police officer. Josh's strong grades would make him a good bet for college, but on his 18th birthday, Walter Schmeiss (Matthew Modine) arrives at Josh's door with startling news -- he's Josh's older brother, who left home ten years earlier. Walter makes his living as a thief, and he want to test Josh to see if he can handle the job himself. Screenwriter Rand Ravich co-produced the film and appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Modine, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, (more)
A lovesick prison inmate (Jim Carrey) goes to great lengths to reconnect with his old cellmate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), in this prison-breakout black comedy from first-time helmers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the screenwriters of Bad Santa. Leslie Mann co-stars in the Europacorp production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 2002
- R
- Add Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to QueueAdd Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to top of Queue
Chuck Barris is best known to most Americans as the guy who used to host The Gong Show. He was also the creator and producer of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and a handful of other successful game shows in the 1960s and 1970s. But was he also a hired killer working with the CIA? That's the take-it-or-leave-it premise of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the memoir of the same name by Chuck Barris. Barris (Sam Rockwell) grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney), a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia (Julia Roberts). As he hops the globe, killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marked the directorial debut of actor George Clooney, working from a screenplay adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Barris' book. Dick Clark, Dating Game host Jim Lange, frequent Gong Show panelist Jaye P. Morgan, and Gene Gene Patton appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, (more)
Danny DeVito steps behind the camera for this darkly funny satire that combines elements of Barney and Friends with the real-life Pee-Wee Herman scandal while recalling the director's previously twisted black comedies Throw Momma From the Train (1987) and The War of the Roses (1989). Robin Williams stars as Randolph Smiley, a popular children's show host known professionally as "Rainbow Randolph." Dismissed from his beloved job when he's caught taking payola, Randolph becomes increasingly mentally unhinged and the target of his delusional revenge fantasies is Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), otherwise known as Smoochy, the fuchsia rhino character that has replaced him and soared to national popularity. Randolph soon learns that his ex-girlfriend and network executive Nora Wells (Catherine Keener) is sleeping with Sheldon, so he sets out to kill Smoochy, egged on by an unexpected ally: corporate president Marion Frank Stokes (Jon Stewart), who should be profiting from Smoochy's rise to fame, except for the fact that he and his cronies are unable to control the idealistic Sheldon's on-air agenda. Death to Smoochy (2002) co-stars Harvey Fierstein, Vincent Shiavelli, and Michael Rispoli. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
While lots of people dream of winning the lottery, one man hatches a more ambitious plan than just buying a ticket and hoping for the best in this satiric comedy. Russ Richards (John Travolta), a weatherman on a local TV station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sells snowmobiles on the side, but both careers are in a rut thanks to an unusually warm winter. Russ's girlfriend Crystal (Lisa Kudrow) appears on the State Lottery's weekly televised drawing, pulling the numbered balls out of the rotating bin. With the help of a few of his less scrupulous friends - among them sleazy strip joint proprietor Gig (Tim Roth), small time hood Dale The Thug (Michael Rappaport), and Crystal's sleazy cousin Walter (Michael Moore) - Russ figures out a way to rig the drawing and have Crystal pull numbers that they happen to own. However, Russ discovers that making the scheme work and keeping everyone quiet about it is more trouble than it's worth. The supporting cast includes Chris Kattan, Ed O'Neill, and Bill Pullman; Nora Ephron, who previously worked with Travolta on the comedy hit Michael, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow, (more)
Science fiction blends with domestic horror in this thriller. Spencer Armacost (Johnny Depp) is an astronaut on a routine mission in space when something goes horribly wrong and it looks as if he's doomed. However, Spencer is rescued at the last moment and returns to earth a hero. He soon announces that he's retiring from space exploration to spend more time with his wife Jillian (Charlize Theron). Jillian has suffered from depression in the past and would like to start a family, so she's initially thrilled with Spencer's decision. Jillian soon finds herself pregnant, but she starts to notice something odd about her husband, as if the man who returned isn't quite the same person who went away. As her pregnancy advances, Jillian's anxieties increase, but has something really happened to Spencer, or have Jillian's old demons merely resurfaced? The Astronaut's Wife marked the directorial debut of Rand Ravich, who previously penned screenplays for such films as The Maker and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Charlize Theron, (more)
Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly nearly set the screen on fire in this clever, female-powered twist on the standard Mob caper film. Gershon is Corky, an ex-con renovating the apartment next door to where Tilly's Violet lives. Violet is the moll of psychotic gangster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who uses the apartment as an occasional location for meetings and beatings, and also uses Violet as an occasional plaything for his Mob cronies. Violet is attracted to the super-sexy Corky, and the two begin an intense affair. Corky hatches a plot to escape with $2 million that Caesar is planning to give to a Mob boss, and the mayhem escalates from there. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, (more)
Iconoclastic director John Dahl used a screenplay by John Geddie as the basis for this far-fetched story of a man -- suspected of killing his wife -- who borrows murder victims' memories to track the real culprit. Ray Liotta plays Dr. David Krane, a Seattle medical examiner charged with murdering his wife Cara (Caroline Elliot). Charges are dropped because a police officer mishandled evidence. Krane has recovered from alcoholism and is obsessed with proving his innocence. While investigating a store shooting, he discovers clues that convince him that the murderer also killed his wife. Krane attends a lecture by researcher Dr. Martha Briggs (Linda Fiorentino), who is studying a technique to transfer memory that involves injecting rats with the spinal fluid of other rats combined with a serum that she has perfected. Krane steals the serum, breaks into a police evidence room and steals his wife's spinal fluid, and injects himself, even though Briggs has warned that the technique may lead to heart attacks in humans. It's not until Krane has injected himself with the fluid of the store shooting victims that he gets a clear picture of the presumed killer, Eddie Dutton (Kim Coates). ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino, (more)
Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner helms this action-adventure yarn in which Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone), a veteran, burned-out hit man for hire who's looking to leave his profession, meets a younger, crazier, more ambitious competitor, Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas), who is out to best Rath and make him a target in the process. Rath signs on for one last hit, but complications ensue when he falls in love with the mark, a beautiful, mysterious woman named Electra (Julianne Moore). Bain sets out to murder Electra as well, and the chase leads the two assassins into a deadly game of wits that takes them from Seattle to Puerto Rico. Critics and audiences both turned away from this thriller, which was co-scripted by Bound writer/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski and L.A. Confidential screenwriter Brian Helgeland. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
- Add Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control to QueueAdd Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control to top of Queue
Bumbling R&D inventors (Masi Oka) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence) get out of the lab and into the field as they search to locate latest invention - which has somehow gone missing. When you're used to spending your day inventing the most cutting edge spy equipment known to man, adapting the stealth and guile needed to become a true secret agent doesn't come naturally. Unfortunately the invisibility cloak that the pair recently collaborated on has disappeared, and in order to ensure that it doesn't fall into the hands of KAOS they will have to master the skills of a true spy. But how exactly does one find an object that's invisible to begin with? As the search gets underway, these brainy inventors are given an eye-opening crash course in high-level espionage. Patrick Warburton and Larry Miller co-star in a feature-length comedy that includes surprise cameos from the stars of the 2008 film Get Smart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, (more)
40-Year-Old Virgin star Steve Carell steps into the telephonic shoes of television's most beloved bumbling detective in this big-screen adaptation of the hit 1960s-era comedy series created by Mel Brooks. The evil geniuses at KAOS have hatched a diabolical plot to dominate every living man, woman, and child on the planet, and their plot gets under way as they attack the headquarters of the U.S. spy agency Control. As a result of the attack, the identity of every agent working for Control has been compromised. Realizing that the only way to thwart KAOS' evil plan is to promote eager but inexperienced Control analyst Maxwell Smart (Carell) to the rank of special agent, the Chief (Alan Arkin) reluctantly teams Smart with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) -- a veteran super-spy whose beauty is only surpassed by her lethality. With no real field experience to speak of and nothing but sheer enthusiasm and a handful of fancy spy gadgets to help him accomplish his deadly mission, Maxwell Smart his new partner, Agent 99, will be forced to faces malevolent KAOS head Siegfried (Terence Stamp) and his loyal army of minions in a decisive fight that will determine the fate of the free world. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, David Koechner, Terry Crews, and Ken Davitian co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, (more)
In this adventure drama, four men passed over by the space program get one last chance to be heroes and live out their dreams. Frank Corvin (Clint Eastwood), Hawk Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones), Jerry O'Neill (Donald Sutherland), and Tank Sullivan (James Garner) were top pilots within an elite Air Force squadron and on the fast track to becoming the first Americans in space in the early 1950s. However, when NASA was established, the pilots were cut out of the loop; Corvin went on to become an aerospace engineer, Hawkins continued on as a freelance pilot, O'Neill became an astrophysicist with a sideline in designing roller coasters, and Sullivan took up preaching as a Baptist minister. Years later, a Russian satellite's guidance system has started to malfunction, and it is expected to crash into the Earth within a matter of weeks. The system is identical to the one Corvin designed for Skylab, so NASA head Bob Gerson (James Cromwell) asks Corvin to help him with the emergency mission to repair the satellite. Corvin agrees under one condition -- that he be sent up to do the repairs himself, with Hawkins, O'Neill, and Sullivan as his crew. Clint Eastwood directed Space Cowboys while also starring as Frank Corvin; his supporting cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Courtney B. Vance, Loren Dean, and William Devane. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, (more)
As Shakespearean adaptations go, it's not quite as odd as moving The Tempest to another planet (as in Forbidden Planet) or Hamlet to a Canadian brewery (the secret subtext of Strange Brew), but it's still safe to say no one was expecting a version of The Taming of the Shrew set in an American high school. But unlike the previously mentioned films, 10 Things I Hate About You at least gives the Bard screen credit for his contribution to the story. In 10 Things I Hate About You, Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) is a tenth grader who has never gone on a date, as her parents have a little rule where Bianca isn't allowed to go out with boys until her older sister gets a boyfriend. The problem is, while her older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) is attractive and intelligent, she's also a mean-spirited misanthrope who rubs nearly everyone the wrong way -- especially boys. But Bianca and the guy she has her eye on, Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan), are eager to get their romance on the road, so Joey fixes Kat up with Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), a new kid in town who may be just bitter and mysterious enough to suit her. 10 Things I Hate About You is the first feature film for director Gil Junger, who previously worked extensively in television, including episodes of Dharma and Greg, Ellen, and Blossom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, (more)
Bart Freundlich directs Catch That Kid, a Fox-financed U.S. remake of the Danish family action film Klatretøsen (2002). Adventurous 12-year-old Maddy Phillips (Kristen Stewart) is an excellent mountain climber. Unfortunately, her father, Tom (Sam Robards), was severely injured on Mount Everest and requires a costly surgery to repair his spine. With the help of her friends (Max Thieriot and Corbin Bleu) and her climbing skills, Maddy develops a plan to rob a bank in order to finance her father's medical bills. Also starring Jennifer Beals as Maddy's mother, Molly, who happens to be the security chief at the bank. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, (more)
This talking-animal action comedy from Lawrence Guterman, the co-director of Antz (1998), follows on the heels of the Babe and Dr. Dolittle films. Unknown to humans, a secret war has been raging between cats and dogs for eons, but a fragile truce has long held the order of the animal kingdom in place. Now the balance of power has tipped, as a researcher, Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum), is about to invent a vaccine that will erase all human allergies to dogs. This is too much for the autocratic Mr. Tinkles (Sean Hayes), a white Persian kitty bent on world domination. The Brody home becomes ground zero for the renewed conflict between feline and canine, with a young Beagle puppy named Lou (Tobey Maguire) caught in the middle as the new point man for his species' cause. Cats and Dogs co-stars Elizabeth Perkins and Alexander Pollock, as well as the vocal talents of Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Jon Lovitz, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Joe Pantoliano. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, (more)
