Randy Ostrow Movies

Grammy-nominated classical violinist Philippe Quint and singer/songwriter Nellie McKay star in this tale of a Russian immigrant torn between the music of the streets and a career on the stage while attempting to live up to his father's high expectations. Trained by his cellist father Vadim since he was just a young boy, Russian violinist Sasha (Quint) earns a scholarship to Julliard, and begins training to become a classical musician. Meanwhile, Vadim and Sasha's cousin Arkady face deportation when their visas expire, prompting the talented young violinist to fear that he, too, may be in the U.S. on borrowed time. Now, as the recital that could launch Sasha's career draws close, a chance meeting with talented street performer Ramona (McKay) shows him a side of the music he's never known. Sensing that his heart is leading him down a different path than the one carved out for him by his domineering father, Sasha joins Ramona's band and realizes that he'll never be his own man until he finds the courage to break free from his father, and embrace the music that truly moves him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A teenage girl is drawn into the path of the unknown in this tale of terror. Heather (Agnes Bruckner) is a teenage girl whose father (Bruce Campbell) and mother take little interest in her. Heather's parents enroll her in a private boarding school for girls located deep in a remote forest; Heather isn't happy with this turn of events, and she doesn't get along well with her classmates or the head mistress, Ms. Traverse (Patricia Clarkson). As she struggles to make the best of her situation, Heather notices that slowly but surely the other students at the school have been vanishing, and there seems to be a mysterious force in the nearby woods which has been claiming the lives of the young women -- and will soon be coming after Heather. The Woods was the first major-studio feature from director Lucky McKee, who earned enthusiastic notices for his independent film May. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, a young boy learns lessons about life and God during a trying year of discovery in fifth grade at a Catholic boys' school. As the school year opens, Joshua Beal (Joseph Cross) is despondent over the recent death of his grandfather (Robert Loggia). On his first day at school, Joshua is harassed by the class bully. Because his grandfather played football, Joshua tries out for the school team, over the objections of his parents (Dana Delaney and Denis Leary), two physicians who don't like the risk of injury. But Joshua is inept athletically and does not make the team. Joshua continues to seek answers from God about his grandfather, so his teacher, Sister Terry (Rosie O'Donnell), advises him to approach a cardinal who is coming to visit the nearby girls school. Joshua meets a young girl at the school and falls for her. As the year goes by, Joshua continues his quest for spiritual answers and finds them in unexpected places, such as a winter snowstorm. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls to being the toast of New York City's art world. This film biography chronicles the progression of Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) and his progression from living in cardboard boxes to penthouses, his romances, his drug use, and his death in 1988 at age 27. Along the way, he never stopped detesting the rich, including art agent Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper), and he never lost his naivete. Warhol (David Bowie) picks up some of the pieces as Basquiat lurches through the art scene. Cameo appearances by Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love add spice to this interesting film. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Albert Hughes and his brother Allen Hughes followed their striking debut Menace II Society with this ambitious look at the social and political lives of the African-American community in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) is a young man coming of age in the Bronx in 1968. Working two part-time jobs -- one as a milkman's helper and another for local numbers runner Kirby (Keith David) -- Anthony is torn between doing the right thing and trying to get by in a environment that offers few opportunities to young black men. After graduating from high school, Anthony decides to join the Marines, news that is not well-received by his parents, who want him to go to college, or his girlfriend Juanita (Rose Jackson), with whom Anthony recently lost his virginity. After serving a horrific tour of duty in Viet Nam with his friends Skip (Chris Tucker) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez), Anthony finds himself back home in 1973, where Juanita has been raising the child he fathered before he shipped out, drugs and crime have crippled his community, and honest job prospects are practically nil. Eventually, Anthony falls in with Kirby, Skip, and Jose, who have teamed with Juanita's sister Delilah (N'Bushe Wright), a Black Power activist, and Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine), in a scheme to rob an armored truck taking worn greenbacks ("dead presidents") to a mint to be destroyed. Martin Sheen and Seymour Cassel appear unbilled in small roles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this drama, based on the best-selling novel by John Grisham, Mitch McDeer (Tom Cruise) is a young man from a poor Southern family who has struggled through Harvard Law School to graduate fifth in his class. Mitch is entertaining offers from major firms in New York and Chicago, but when Memphis-based Bendini, Lambert, & Locke offer him a 20 percent higher salary than the best offer he's received, in addition to an enticing variety of perks and fringe benefits, he decides to sign on and remain in the South. Mitch's wife, Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn), warns him that the deal sounds almost too good to be true, but it's not until after several weeks of working with Avery Tolar (Gene Hackman) that Mitch discovers that the vast majority of BL&L's business is tied to organized crime, with crime boss Joey Morolto (Paul Sorvino) using the firm to launder Mafia money. FBI agents Wayne Tarrance (Ed Harris) and F. Denton Voyles (Steven Hill) try to blackmail Mitch into helping them make a case against the firm, while BL&L's "security director" William Devasher (Wilford Brimley) is blackmailing him to do as he's told after Mitch foolishly allows himself to be seduced by a prostitute hired by the firm. The Firm was adapted for the screen by acclaimed playwright David Rabe and features performances by Hal Holbrook, Holly Hunter, and Gary Busey. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Joe Pytka's comedy stars Richard Dreyfuss as Trotter, a cab driver who gets a hot tip on a horse race and soon finds himself on the gambling hot streak of his life. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

A grieving mother tries to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed her 12-year-old son in this well-performed drama. Dinah Middleton (Kerrie Keane) is divorced from husband Max (Daniel Pilon). The couple's skateboarding son Alex (Leif Anderson) is hit by Owen Hughes (Saul Rubinek), a New York businessman and later dies in the hospital. After the driver is tracked to the U.S., manslaughter charges are dismissed on a technicality, and Dinah learns the treaty between Canada and the United States will make extradition nearly impossible. The differences and attitudes of the two countries toward each other becomes part of the story in addition to Dinah's search for justice. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Best known for his 1978 film The Deer Hunter or perhaps the less-successful Heaven's Gate, director Michael Cimino turned to this fast-paced actioner set in an authentic (back lot) Chinatown. This thriller stars a rogue Polish-American cop (Mickey Rourke) out to not only keep Chinatown safe for the local consumers, but to dismantle its deep-rooted crime and drug cartels as well. No one backs the crusading cop in the latter objective, and as he faces a suave and wily crime boss (John Lone of The Last Emperor) and a libidinous newscaster (Ariane), he may be taking on more than he can handle. At least his wife thinks so, and the guys at City Hall think so -- but mayhem and murder will strew the streets with corpses before the smoke clears and the dust settles, and a vague, unresolved future sets in. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi