Paul DiFranco Movies
- 2009
- PG13
- Add Bring It On: Fight to the Finish to QueueAdd Bring It On: Fight to the Finish to top of Queue
An East Los Angeles high school cheer squad captain finds her hopes of winning the upcoming Spirit Championships dashed when her mother remarries and their family relocates to Malibu, where the current cheer squad isn't quite up to snuff. With their fiery fusion of Latin and hip-hop moves, Lina Cruz (Christina Milian) and her best friends Gloria (Vanessa Born) and Treyvonetta (Gabrielle Dennis) are about to lead the East L.A. high school cheer squad to victory at one of the most prominent competitions in the nation. But just as the crew is about to take the world by storm, Lina's mother remarries and the family makes the move to Florida. Once there, Lina quickly realizes that the Malibu Vista High Sea Lions aren't anywhere near as talented as her old cheer squad. Now, in order to transform the Sea Lions into a championship team, Lina must teach them the moves needed to knock the award-winning Jaguar cheer squad and their trash-talking captain Avery (Rachele Brooke Smith) out of the top spot. When Lina and Avery's brother Evan (Cody Longo) becomes romantically involved, the competition between the two girls really begins to heat up. With the stakes higher than ever before, Lina hatches a scheme to take her team all the way to the top and prove that they have what it takes to become true champions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Milian, Vanessa Born, (more)
Jonathan Silverman, Oscar Nunez, Cesar Millan, Rhea Perlman, and Eddie Griffin headline this installment of the popular film series featuring everyone's favorite fun-loving St. Bernard. Animal handler Eddie (Silverman) may deal with some of the best beasts in the business by day, but when it comes to his personal life there are no pets allowed. So strict is Eddie in enforcing this policy that when his young son Billy discovers a stray dog named Beethoven and his young litter of puppies, he insists that the boy find another place for the homeless pooches to live. But when dog-nappers make off with the canine star of the latest film that Eddie is working on, producers start to turn up the pressure for Eddie to find a replacement. Now, the harried father's only hope is to replace the missing canine with Beethoven, a natural star if there ever was one. Of course it doesn't take long for Beethoven to win Eddie's heart, and take Hollywood by storm, in the process proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks after all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Silverman
Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Queen Latifah, and Terrence Howard star in a film concerning a young girl who implores a department-store Santa to find a new husband for her divorced mother for Christmas. Single mother of three Nancy (Union) has been putting the needs of her three children ahead of her own for as far back as she can remember, and lately her youngest daughter, Emily (Khail Bryant), has become acutely aware of her mother's palpable sadness. As Christmas draws near, Nancy takes her kids to the mall for a cheerful visit with jolly old Saint Nick. When it comes time for Emily's turn to sit on Santa's lap and make her Christmas wish, she selflessly remembers her mother's recent comment that a compliment from a man would be the best gift of all. Determined to make her mother happy again even if it means sacrificing her own wish, Emily relays the message to Santa (Chestnut), not realizing that the man beneath the beard is actually an office-supply salesman and ambitious singer/songwriter named Benjamin. Recognizing the daughter's love for her mother and sensing something truly special in Nancy, Benjamin cheerfully obliges the young girl, setting into motion a series of events that promise to make this the most memorable holiday in quite some time. Lance Rivera directs a film produced by Shakim Compere and Latifah through Flavor Unit Entertainment. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, (more)
Four college students take a trip to the Florida Everglades in hopes of earning some extra credit for biology class, and instead find themselves locked in a battle to the death against a genetically modified super-eel created by their own professor. They thought they were going out into the field to conduct some standard research on the common eel, but what these students didn't realize is that their scheming professor has been playing God behind closed doors. Now, in order to make it out of the wilderness in one piece, these students will have to capture and kill the perfect predator. But as the hunt gets underway, the desperate group realizes that an old friend of the professor's is also on the hunt for the very same fish. As if dueling scientists weren't enough to contend with, the local sheriff shows up gunning for two escaped convicts who will stop at nothing to ensure they remain free men. As the struggle for survival gets underway, it quickly becomes apparent that mankind may have just moved down a peg on the food chain. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen LaGue, Doug Swander, (more)
- 2005
- R
- Add American Pie Presents: Band Camp to QueueAdd American Pie Presents: Band Camp to top of Queue
The "Stiffmeister" legacy lives on in this installment of the wildly popular teen comedy series that finds Steve Stifler's younger brother Matt (Tad Hilgenbrinck) sentenced to a summer at band camp after a wild school prank goes awry. It seems that mischief runs in the family, and when Matt is told that he has to spend the entire summer surrounded by trombones and clarinets, he plans a serious of outrageous pranks in a bid to make the best of his nerdy new surroundings. As the summer and the hormones heat up, Stifler sets up a series of hidden cameras in hopes of catching some revealing images of the nubile "bandies." When Stifler reconnects with his long-lost childhood sweetheart, Elyse (Arielle Kebbel), while serving out his sentence, the blossoming romance between the pair forces the perpetual prankster to consider the prospect of curbing his bad-boy ways. Original American Pie star Eugene Levy returns to offer some helpful advice for the band-camp bound Stifler sibling. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tad Hilgenbrinck
- 2000
The titular "final ascent" in this made-for-cable thriller begins as a group of inexperienced backpackers are shepherded through a particular treacherous stretch of the Rockies by an experienced pair of guides. Among the "greenhorns" is a pack of thieves who are searching for money they had stolen and lost. Once the villains are revealed, it becomes obvious that they aren't about to allow the guides or the other tourists to return from the mountain alive, and thus a deadly cat-and-mouse game develops between two of the main characters, played by Antonio Sabato Jr. and Patrick Muldoon. The striking similarities between this film and the Sylvester Stallone theatrical feature Cliffhanger are underlined by a subplot involving a climber who cannot get over the fact that he caused the death of his daughter in previous ascent. Hampered by too much dialogue and too many blatantly obvious studio "exteriors", Final Ascent was first telecast November 11, 2000 on the Lifetime network, where it has since been rerun under the all-purpose title Final Descent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- PG13
An ordinary man find out that he's been turned into a weapon in this sci-fi thriller. Robert Dean (Michael Dudikoff) is an engineer with Gencom, a multi-national technology firm. Dean enjoys an ordinary life with his wife and family, until he suddenly begins losing most of his memory. As Dean tries to figure out what is happening to him, he makes the shocking discovery that Gencom has actually been programming him to commit violent crimes for their benefit, and then forget what he's done. Now Dean must find out who is responsible and how to stop them before he can kill again. Directed by cult favorite Fred Olen Ray, The Fugitive Mind also stars Michele Greene, Heather Langenkamp, David Hedison, and Ian Ogilvy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Heather Langenkamp, (more)
- 1998
- NR
In this documentary, filmmakers Odette Springer (former music supervisor for Concorde-New Horizons) and Joanna Demetrakas take a look at the exploitative world of grindhouse gore, and trashy slasher films. Trained in classical music, Springer turns self-analytical in this movie memoir, asking herself, "How did I go from Beethoven to 'B' movies?," examining her own S&M leanings and possible abuse when she was a child. Clips include Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, and Angel of Destruction. Interviews include Roger Corman, American International's Samuel Z. Arkoff, Edward Albert Jr., director Jim Wynorski, Julie Strain, Maria Ford (Stripped to Kill II), and Catherine Cyran (Slumber Party Massacre 3). Made in 16mm and video, the 82-minute film was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Ford, Julie Strain, (more)
Aside from the fact of his disability and the possession of a nickname, what does Tony "Ole" Olezniak (Vincent D'Onofrio), a bitter, blinded, football player have in common with wheelchair-bound Bernard "Bern" Lemley (Gregory Hines)? Absolutely nothing until Bern enthusiastically convinces Ole to join him in a whitewater rafting adventure as part of the first step in Bern's plan to offer this and other extreme sporting adventures to other disabled people. During their arduous journey, the disparate duo learn more about themselves and each other, and in so doing, become real friends. This film features appearances by sports-greats Joe Theismann and Roy Firestone as themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent D'Onofrio, Gregory Hines, (more)
- 1993
Kickboxing champ Jerry Pelt (Jerry Trimble) is the One Man Army of the title. Not that he dons khaki or anything, it's just that Jerry proves more than a match for a batalion of bad guys. It seems that a small-town bigwig has arranged for the murder of Jerry's grandfather. With the law on the villains' side, Jerry has no recourse but to kick, poke and jab away. There's hardly an original moment in One Man Army, but who goes to these movies for their plots? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
