Reed Diamond Movies

Bennett Miller's adaptation of Michael Lewis' non-fiction best seller Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, a one-time phenom who flamed out in the big leagues and now works as the GM for the Oakland Athletics, a franchise that's about to lose their three best players to free agency. Because the team isn't in a financial position to spend as much as perennial favorites like the Yankees and the Red Sox, Beane realizes he needs to radically change how he evaluates what players can bring to the squad. After he meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), an Ivy League economics major working as an executive assistant for scouting on another team, Beane realizes he's found the man who understands how to subvert the system of assessing players that's been in place for nearly a century. However, as the duo begin to acquire players that seem too old, injured, or inept to play major-league baseball, they face stiff resistance from both the A's longtime scouts and the team's manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who outright refuses to allow Beane's more-nontraditional acquisitions to play. Moneyball screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

George Clooney pays homage to one of the icons of American broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, in this fact-based drama, which was Clooney's second feature film as a director. In 1953, Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) was one of the best-known newsmen on television as host of both the talk show Person to Person and the pioneering investigate series See It Now. Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, was generating no small amount of controversy in the public and private sectors with his allegations that Communists had risen to positions of power and influence in America, and an Air Force pilot, Milo Radulovich, had been drummed out of the service due to McCarthy's charges that he was a Communist agent. However, Radulovich had been dismissed without a formal hearing of the charges, and he protested that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Murrow decided to do a story on Radulovich's case questioning the legitimacy of his dismissal, which was seen by McCarthy and his supporters as an open challenge to his campaign. McCarthy responded by accusing Murrow of being a Communist, leading to a legendary installment of See It Now in which both Murrow and McCarthy presented their sides of the story, which was seen by many as the first step toward McCarthy's downfall. Meanwhile, Murrow had to deal with CBS head William Paley (Frank Langella), who was supportive of Murrow but extremely wary of his controversial positions, while Murrow was also trying to support fellow newsman Don Hollenbeck (Ray Wise), battling charges against his own political views, and working alongside Fred Friendly (George Clooney), the daring head of CBS News. Good Night, and Good Luck also stars Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Patricia Clarkson, and Robert John Burke; the film won Best Film honors after its world premiere at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based upon a true story, Madison is a father-son drama based on the highly publicized efforts in Madison, IN, during the hydroplane racing season of 1971. Jim McCormick (James Caviezel) has left behind his life of hydroplane boat racing to settle down and start a family and take a job as an air-conditioner repairman. Though he tries to embrace his new life, he still longs for his racing days, and the boat has become the town laughing stock. The town has also experienced harsh financial strain and the rich corporate sponsors of Jim's competitors have stolen the spotlight again and again. The town of Madison is suddenly asked to host the prestigious Gold Cup championship, and Jim cannot resist, though the town is far less supportive. Jim rallies the community for support in an attempt to bring the pride back to it, though his wife, Bonnie (Mary McCormack), is eager to move to the big city and out of the doldrums of Madison, and his son, Mike (Jake Lloyd), has become disillusioned with the idea of the boat races and watching the larger contenders win every time. But Jim stubbornly presses on and soon is permitted to play again with the big boys. The film also features veteran actors Bruce Dern, Brent Briscoe, and Paul Dooley. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Some six months after the cancellation of the popular, hard-hitting TV cop series Homicide, most of the cast members were reunited for a two-hour TV movie, which deftly (and somewhat surprisingly) combines stark, raw realism with Sartre-esque flights of fantasy. Several members past and present of the Baltimore Police Department's homicide squad are brought back together when their former skipper and current mayoral candidate, Al "G" Giardelli (Yaphet Kotto), is gunned down by a would-be assassin. As former partners Frank Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Tim Bayliss (Kyle Secor) conduct their own personal search for the perpetrator, the comatose "G" discovers that not all police review boards are conducted by the living. Like its weekly predecessor, Homicide: The Movie was co-produced by Baltimore native Barry Levinson. The film made its first NBC network TV appearance on February 13, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

There's quite a shakeup at Baltimore PD's homicide division as Homicide: Life on the Street begins its sixth season. Detective Kay Howard and videographer J.H. Brodie are gone, while the others are rotated. Paul Falsone (Jon Seda) has moved to homicide from auto-theft, and former beat cop Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety) has been promoted to detective. Also new to the force is Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne), a homicide detective from Seattle. And gone beyond recall is former squad member Beau Felton, whose headless body has been discovered. The season's first story arc involves the ethical dilemma faced by Lt. Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) when he is obliged to probe a murder involving highly respected community activist Felix Wilson (James Earl Jones). Other plot threads involve the investigation into Det. Kellerman's (Reed Diamond) highly suspicious shooting of drug kingpin Luther Mahoney, which also sparks a long campaign of vengeance masterminded by Mahoney's grim and unforgiving sister Georgia Rae (Hazelle Goodman); and Falsone's seemingly endless court battle over the custody of his son. Individual episodes of note include "Baby It's You," the conclusion of a rape case that began on the NBC series Law & Order; "Mercy," in which Alfre Woodard recreates her St. Elsewhere role as Dr. Roxanne Turner; and "Subway," a tour de force for guest star Vincent D'Onofrio, which inspired a behind-the-scenes special on PBS. Season six ends with the tragic consequences of the Luther Mahoney affair: an all-out bloodbath between Luther's sister and the detectives which leaves three of the principal characters seriously wounded. ~ Rovi

In the first episode of Homicide: Life on the Street's two-part season six finale, Judge Gibbons, who presided over the Mahoney wrongful-death suit, is found murdered -- and before long, three cops are killed in drive-bys that may be related to Gibbons' death. The FBI joins the homicide unit to crack the case, with all evidence pointing back to the drug-dealing empire of Georgia Mae Mahoney, which is now self-destructing in a deadly turf war. As Kellerman (Reed Diamond) broods over the likelihood that his public chastisement of Gibbons may have brought about the man's death, Georgia Rae's son Junior Bunk (Mekhi Phifer) is brought in for questioning -- whereupon Junior grabs a gun and begins firing, seriously wounding two of the series' main characters! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two prominent members of the same exclusive country club have apparently committed suicide. Ballard (Callie Thorne) and Munch (Richard Belzer) investigate one of the deaths, while Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Andre Braugher) investigate the other -- whereupon both teams unearth evidence of a blackmail-murder plot. Meanwhile, Lewis (Clark Johnson) is off suspension and back on duty; another member of the Mahoney crime operation turns up dead; and even though the civil suit against the police is dismissed, Kellerman (Reed Diamond) can't leave well enough alone, launching into a public tirade that may very well seal the doom of one of the key players in the suit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A pager number is the only clue in the death of a "perfect" high school athlete. While chasing down the wrong path to find a possible suspect, Bayliss (Kyle Secor) stumbles upon details of another crime -- one that will ultimately earn him and Pembleton (Andre Braugher) a commendation. Meanwhile, it looks as though the Mahoney drug empire is imploding, as several of Georgia Rae Mahoney's henchmen end up murdered. And the judge who made the questionable ruling in Georgia Rae's wrongful-death lawsuit gets his just desserts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Falsone (Jon Seda) is the primary investigator when a four-year-old boy is abducted from a merry-go-round right under his mother's nose. Before long, the precinct gets a call from a man claiming to be the kidnapper -- and another call from the publicity-conscious host of the crime-solving TV show "This Week's Wanted." The key to the solution of this case ends up in the hands of a professional hypnotist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The department swings into action when an old man is apparently killed by his grandson's three pit bulls -- who are now on the loose. Kellerman (Reed Diamond) smells something fishy when the judge presiding over Georgia Rae Mahoney's wrongful-death suit insists that the case go before a jury. And with all of this occurring, the detectives still find time to go to the Watefront Bar to swap "stupid criminal" stories. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi