James D. Stern Movies

Rooney Mara stars as Emily Taylor; her husband Martin (Channing Tatum) is a young businessman who, as the film opens, is soon to be released from prison after serving a few years for financial fraud. Overcome with stress, the mentally fragile Emily performs a quasi-suicide attempt and is put in the care of Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law), a workaholic psychiatrist who convinces Emily to see him once a week for therapy. Jonathan is intrigued enough by Emily's story to seek counsel from her former therapist, Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones). One night Emily commits a horrific act that she claims not to remember because she was taking the medication prescribed to her by Jonathan, leading to a very public legal battle that leads to Jonathan taking a major public blow to his reputation. This turn of events prompts the chastened doctor to look deeper into Emily's past. Directed by Steven Soderbergh from a script by his regular collaborator Scott Z. Burns. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In February 2012, the New York Knicks were having a truly unremarkable season and seemed unlikely to see post-season play when a star emerged from their ranks -- Jeremy Lin, a point guard who sparked a seven-game winning streak that galvanized fans and gave the Knicks an unexpected shot at a playoff spot. While the Knicks' sudden turnaround seemed like something out of a movie, Lin was the unlikely hero -- a player of Taiwanese and Chinese heritage who was one of the few Asian-Americans playing in the NBA, and an athlete whose promising career had known more than a few setbacks, causing him to wonder if he might be cut from the Knicks' lineup before he finally clicked. Filmmaker Evan Jackson Leong had been following Lin's career before he became a fan favorite in early 2012, and in the documentary Linsanity, he presents the full story of Lin's life on and off the court, including his relationship with his family, his college career at Harvard, his stint with the Houston Rockets, how he deals with racism in a sport where few Asians excel, and his strong Christian faith. Linsanity received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An arrested adolescent hell-bent on good times decides to throw a different sort of bash in this comedy. Eric (Jason Sudeikis) is in his early thirties, but he hasn't changed much since his high school days -- the guy lives to party with a handful of his old friends, and the crazier the get-together, the better. Every summer, Eric throws an epic-scale theme party at his parents' home in the Hamptons, as he and his pals get crazy at the "White Trash Bash" or a "Star Wars vs. Star Trek" throwdown. However, this grand tradition is about to end, as Eric's dad (Don Johnson) has announced he's selling the house. Eric decides he should save the biggest party for last, and tells his friends he's hosting an orgy. While Eric and his male friends are just thick-headed enough not to see the problems inherent in having group sex with some of their best friends, the gals in their social circle are more hesitant, but most decide to sign on, at least in principle. However, Eric has become infatuated with Kelly (Leslie Bibb), the attractive real-estate agent who is selling the house, and decides to invite her to the big blowout without telling her just what kind of party she can expect. Also starring Will Forte, Tyler Labine, David Koechner, Lake Bell, and Lindsay Sloane, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy was the first directorial project for Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who previously served as writers and producers on the television comedies King of the Hill, The Larry Sanders Show, and Frasier. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A suburban London teen finds her traditional education replaced by something slightly more sinister when an older, more worldly suitor sweeps her off of her feet while placing her future in jeopardy. London, 1961: 16-year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is smart, attractive, and eager to start her adult life. She's grown tired of the familiar adolescent routine, so when urbane newcomer David (Peter Sarsgaard) appears in town, Jenny senses a rare opportunity to shake things up a bit. Quickly falling under David's spell, the impressionable Jenny begins accompanying her newfound beau to classical concerts, art auctions, crowded pubs, and dinners that stretch into the small hours of the night. But Jenny is brighter than most kids her age, and her parents always dreamt of getting their exceptional daughter into Oxford. These days it seems like she's headed in a different direction -- will David ultimately be her undoing, or the person who helps her finally realize her true potential? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The central premise of the Kirkwood-Dante-Kleban-Hamlisch Broadway musical A Chorus Line is by now overly familiar, examining as it does the 17 actors auditioning for spots in a chorus line on the Great White Way. Recalling Donn Pennebaker's Moon Over Broadway and other similar efforts, documentarians Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern's film Every Little Step travels behind the scenes of the auditions for 2006 revival of A Chorus Line to investigate the goings-on and the interplay among the hopefuls. The film thus establishes a neat corollary between the events of the play itself and the offstage experiences of the aspiring tryouts. On top of this, Stern and Del Deo work in a layer that pertains to the original genesis of the show, and its evolution from an idea by Michael Bennett, who recorded an ensemble of dancers speaking confessionally and used that as the basis for everything else. Here, the filmmakers play those original tapes back, on-camera, thus resurrecting old ghosts; score composer Marvin Hamlisch also turns up and revokes the past, courtesy of a revealing and racy little nugget about the history of the tune "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three." Above all else, the film works in extensive footage of the auditions themselves, on songs such as "At the Ballet" and "I Can Do That" -- thus interweaving an aura of suspense throughout the narrative over who will eventually wind up in the production itself. The title of the documentary, of course, is a reference to the lyric of the seminal tune "One" ("One singular sensation, every little step she takes"). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Director Todd Haynes' unconventional biopic of the legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan features different actors playing the part of the Minnesota native at various stages of his remarkable career. Among the actors playing the singer are Cate Blanchett, who portrays the man during his Don't Look Back era incarnation; Heath Ledger, as an actor playing one of the fictional Dylans in a movie within the movie; Christian Bale, as the Dylan beginning to chafe at being associated so strongly with political causes; Richard Gere, portraying the post-motorcycle accident period; and Marcus Carl Franklin as the young Dylan who passed himself off as the second coming of Woody Guthrie. Each section of the film not only has a different lead actor, but offers different looks that reflect various aspects of popular culture at the time. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

In the 2004 presidential election, Ohio became the state that decided who would lead the nation for the next four years; throughout the campaign, both George W. Bush and John Kerry realized it was a key "swing state" which could go to either candidate, and they devoted much of their time and resources to bringing in the vote in the Buckeye state. The controversies of the 2000 election led many to suspect that voter fraud could be a possibility, and many were watchful for tampering of voting machines or registration rolls. Filmmakers James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo brought their cameras to Ohio for the final weeks of the election, and ...So Goes the Nation is a documentary which offers a detailed look at both Bush and Kerry's campaign staffs as they make the final push toward victory or defeat. While examining the possibilities of election tampering, ...So Goes the Nation primarily concerns itself with the differences between the campaign styles of the candidates and how their behind-the-scenes staffs struggles to swing voters to their man, with Kerry concentrating on domestic issues of economics, health, and security while Bush spoke of the war on terror and Kerry's alleged "flip flopping" and service record in Vietnam. ...So Goes the Nation received its World Premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A lovelorn man setting out to find his way in life finds his heart captured by the striking, soon-to-be-bride that he senses is his true soul-mate in this romantic comedy starring Stuart Townsend, Seth Green, and Amy Smart. Soon after causing some ripples in the publishing world with his first novel, emerging writer Olly Pickering (Townsend) wanders wayward and is forced to accept a dead-end position as a lowly assistant. Though it initially appears as if he has entered into a downward spiral from which he isn't likely to emerge anytime soon, Olly finds his luck taking a turn for the better upon meeting the lovely Sarah (Smart) at the engagement party of a close friend. After discovering that Sarah is in fact the fiancée of his philandering friend and the pair have requested that Olly serve as the best man in the upcoming wedding, the dejected writer determines to convince the unsuspecting Sarah that she is about to marry the wrong man. With a little help from his wacky roommate Murray (Green), Olly may be able to put the breaks on the impending nuptials and prove his undying love for Sarah before she makes a mistake she is likely to regret for the rest of her life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

One of the oldest epic poems in the English language gets a robust visual interpretation in this historical epic shot on location in Iceland. Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård) is a Danish king who murders a troll that has been terrorizing his countryside. But Hrothgar spares the life of the troll's strange young son, who with the passage of years grows to become Grendel (Ingvar Sigurdsson), a fearsome warrior intent upon avenging his father's death. As Grendel begins his slaughter of the king's closest confidants, Hrothgar realizes his life is in danger, and he calls upon the brave and fearless Beowulf (Gerard Butler) to track down and kill Grendel. As Beowulf and his band of warriors search for the vicious and elusive Grendel, he crosses paths with Selma (Sarah Polley), a beautiful and sensuous witch whose alliances are divided between Beowulf and his archenemy. Produced by Canadian, British, and Icelandic concerns, Beowulf & Grendel was a major box-office success in Canada before crossing south to American theaters in the summer of 2006. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A woman who has come to a strange land is torn between the life she knows and the new life around her in this epic-scale historical drama. In 1854, New Zealand's indigenous Maori tribes were engaged in an ongoing battle to drive away European settlers eager to establish colonies in the nation's wilderness, which the Maori saw as a threat to their way of life. However, some outsiders had made a home in New Zealand with the cooperation of the Maori, and an Irish settlement had been established, with Francis (Stephen Rea), the colony's doctor, bringing his daughter Sarah (Samantha Morton) with him to this new land. Sarah becomes acquainted with the son of one of the Maori leaders, and in time their friendship grows into something deeper. When Sarah discovers she's pregnant with the chief's son's child, the father has been called off to fight against the Europeans, and by the time her son is born, his father is dead. Sarah raises her child, whom she simply calls "Boy," but when Boy reaches the age of six, he's abducted by his father's family, who believes he should grow up among the Maori. Fearing further reprisals, Francis returns to Ireland, but Sarah stays behind to care for the sick and look for her son. Years later, while in search of Boy, Sarah encounters Wiremu (Cliff Curtis), a Maori warrior whose father Te Kai Po (Temuera Morrison) is ill. When Wiremu learns that Sarah is well versed in medicine, he makes an offer -- if she will treat Te Kai Po and return him to health, he will find Boy. Sarah is able to cure Te Kai Po's ailment, and Wiremu returns the now-teenaged Boy (David Rawiri Pene) to his mother. Boy is not eager to leave behind the Maori people who have become his family, and he and Sarah stay with Te Kai Po's tribe for a while, but in time she is drawn back to the Irish colony, where she finds herself torn between Doyle (Kiefer Sutherland), the soldier who loves her and wishes to protect her, and Wiremu, who she has grown to love. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The true story of two performers whose careers were changed forever by a shift in gender roles on the British stage comes to the screen in this adaptation of the play Compleat Female Stage Beauty by Jeffrey Hatcher. In London, in the latter half of the 17th century, Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is a noted star of the legitimate theater with an unusual specialty -- at a time when it was considered unseemly for women to work as thespians, Kynaston specialized in female roles, and was described by one writer as the most beautiful woman on the London stage. With the help of his faithful dresser, Maria Hughes (Claire Danes), Kynaston can turn himself into a striking actress in front of the footlights, and is starring opposite Thomas Betterton (Tom Wilkinson) in a production of Shakespeare's Othello when, while still in costume after a performance, he is propositioned by theatrical impresario Sir Charles Sedley (Richard Griffiths). The sexually open-minded Sedley isn't discouraged to learn Kynaston is a man, but he is bitterly angered by the actor's flip rejection of his advances. Sedley takes revenge against Kynaston by hiring a gang of criminals to beat him up. With Betterton's production of Othello closed while the leading "lady" recuperates, Hughes sees an opportunity and stages an underground version of the play, casting herself as Desdemona. While she lacks Kynaston's dramatic skills, the daring of her appearance on-stage creates a sensation, and King Charles II (Rupert Everett), a noted theater buff, is so taken with Hughes that he declares women should play women from now on. But as Hughes' star rises, Kynaston's quickly falls, and he becomes a bitter, forgotten man. When the novelty of Hughes' gender wears off and her failings as an thespian become obvious, she turns to her former friend Kynaston, hoping he can teach her to be as good an actress as he was. Stage Beauty's supporting cast includes Ben Chaplin, Edward Fox, and Hugh Bonneville. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

While the traditional American stereotype of people from China portrays them as short, studious, and not especially athletic, Yao Ming turned that image on his head -- standing seven foot six, Yao became the most talked about player in professional basketball when he signed to play with the Houston Rockets in 2002, the first Chinese émigré to play in the NBA. Yao was largely unknown when he first suited up with the Rockets, and many were skeptical about his abilities, especially when he displayed an unsure command of the American style of basketball in his early games. But Yao soldiered on, and by the end of the season he was proving his detractors wrong, among them player-turned-sportscaster Charles Barkley, who once on air promised to kiss the rear end of one of his fellow television commentators if Yao ever scored 19 points in a game -- and had to make good on the pledge when Yao managed the feat. The Year of the Yao is a documentary (produced in part by the NBA) which looks at Yao Ming's first season with the Rockets, how he adapted to American basketball, his relationship with his family and teammates, and what his success means to fans in the United States and China. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Deep in the heart of New York City, at an undisclosed location, eight of the city's most talented freestyle rappers gather for the ultimate lyrical battle. After an all night session in which the skilled rhymers fell one by one, only the Battle Slams champion was left standing - microphone clenched confidently in hand. In this release, hip-hop fans are offered a front row seat to this remarkable rhyme-off, inter-cut with some of the most spectacular street-ball footage ever captured on camera. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi