Thomas Jane

A newly married couple experiences a honeymoon from hell in actor Thomas Jane's directorial debut from Hyde Park Entertainment and Stage 6 Films. The high-definition picture, whose cast includes Ron Perlman and Lauren German, is scheduled for separate 2-D and 3-D engagements. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Steampunk aesthetics inform this story of a dystopic future in which humankind wages an explosive last stand against the demonic NecroMutants, who would see the entire human race brutally annihilated. Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman, Devon Aoki, and John Malkovich star in this effects-heavy sci-fi action thriller from director Simon Hunter (Dead of Night). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Frequent Stephen King collaborator Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) teamed with the celebrated horror author once again for this tale of terror concerning a small town engulfed by a malevolent mist, based on a story originally published in King's 1985 horror anthology Skeleton Crew. When a thick fog descends upon a rural community and claims the lives of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught outside, a small band of survivors seeks refuge in a local grocery store. Now trapped in a darkened cloud of pure horror, the frightened denizens of the town are forced to fend off an advancing horde of murderous monsters. Punisher star Thomas Jane heads up an ensemble cast that includes Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, William Sadler, and Marcia Gay Harden. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An ordinary lawman goes outside the law to carry out his own brand of justice in this dark-themed thriller. Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is an FBI agent who deeply loves his wife and son, but is also strongly devoted to his work. Castle's investigation of a powerful crime cartel leads to a gunfight which claims the life of a young boy, whose father is underworld kingpin Howard Saint (John Travolta). Furious and eager for revenge, Saint arranges for Castle and his family to be murdered in retaliation. However, while Castle's wife and son are killed, he somehow survives, even though he's believed to have perished. Bent on stopping Saint once and for all, Castle remakes himself as The Punisher, a ruthless and heavily armed killing machine who will not rest until Saint and his crew have been wiped clean from the Earth. Based on a Marvel Comics character first introduced in 1974, The Punisher also stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Laura Elena Harring, Roy Scheider, and Kevin "Big Sexy" Nash. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A lawman fed up with the corruption in Apartheid-era South Africa takes to robbing banks in this gritty crime drama from writer/director Bronwen Hughes. The title Stander refers to Andre Stander (Thomas Jane), an ambitious second-generation policeman whose strategies and experience make him the perfect candidate for commander. But when the privileged Stander is chosen to direct the police force against a brutal, majority-led uprising in Soweto, he becomes so disgusted with his actions that he decides to undermine his own authority as an officer. His means for doing so is to moonlight as a bank robber, partly out of disgust for the force and partly as an adrenalin-fueled act of deception. After pulling more than two dozen heists, Stander is caught -- but it isn't long before he breaks out of jail, and fortified by two hardened-criminal pals, Lee (Dexter Fletcher) and Allan (David Patrick O'Hara), he resumes his anti-authoritarian crime sprees. Stander premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A lonely man's search for companionship soon takes him to dangerous and unexpected places in this erotically charged drama. Luis Antonio Vargas (Antonio Banderas) is a successful coffee salesman living in Cuba in the 1880s. Luis has had little luck finding love among the women of his native island, and he sends away to America for a mail-order bride. To his pleasant surprise, his fiancée from the United States, Julia Russell (Angelina Jolie), turns out to be not only beautiful but passionate and devoted. But Luis' happiness proves to be short-lived when he learns that Julia is not the person he imagined her to be, and detective Walter Downs (Thomas Jane) appears, trying to get to the bottom of Julia's mysterious past and possibly deadly secrets. Original Sin is based on the novel Waltz Into Darkness by Cornell Woolrich, which Francois Truffaut previously adapted for the screen as La Sirene du Mississippi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Although mako sharks are among the fastest and deadliest predators in the ocean, they're not as smart as humans -- at least, they weren't. However, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has been using mako sharks as her test subjects for research on the regeneration of human brain tissues. McAlester has altered the DNA of several sharks, raising them close to the level of human intelligence; the sharks have also become faster and stronger in the process. While these DNA experiments have yielded fascinating results, they're also of questionable ethics and legality, earning her the distrust of several members of her crew, including shark authority Carter Blake (Thomas Jane and cook "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J). The financial backers of these experiments have also expressed skepticism, so when McAlester is ready to perform some major tests, financier Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives for the occasion. McAlester and her team are delicately extracting brain tissue from one of the altered makos when the animal regains consciousness - and becomes very angry. The shark not only attacks the researchers but also damages the floating lab, leaving the crew aboard a literally sinking ship, with the makos eager to go a few rounds - in an arena that favors sharks. Deep Blue Sea was directed by Renny Harlin, and filmed in Mexico at Fox Studios Baja in the underwater filming facilities created for James Cameron's Titanic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Elisabeth Shue stars in this drama as Molly McKay, a mentally challenged woman who has suffered from autism since childhood. Institutionalized since the age of three, Molly is released at age 28 into the custody of her brother Buck (Aaron Eckhart), whom she hasn't seen since childhood. While Buck cares for his sister, she is in many ways a stranger to him, and he's having enough problems in his life at the moment. When Buck is told by doctors of a risky experimental surgery that could cure Molly, he gives his consent. The operation is a success, and Molly emerges with the emotional walls of autism removed, revealing her to be a genius. But the autistic personality's intense concentration remains, and Buck finds the new Molly nearly as challenging as the old one. Molly's supporting cast includes D.W. Moffett, Jill Hennessy, and Thomas Jane; it was the first credit for screenwriter Dick Christie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Dan Ireland directed this romantic comedy-drama (adapted by James Still from his own play) about a romantic triangle. Doughnut shop waitress Mary Carmen (Salma Hayek) is the girlfriend of bisexual porn star Valentino (Vincent D'Onofrio), but she's frozen out after Valentino gets a look at Midwestern hunk Gary (Thomas Jane). Rivalries end, and the three become close after Valentino succumbs to the AIDS virus. Shown at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

While set within the milieu of the Los Angeles adult film industry, Boogie Nights is less a film about pornography than the serio-comic story of a group of misfits, losers, and lost souls who are embraced by Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds), a director who makes "adult films, exotic motion pictures." In 1977, while hanging out at a disco, Jack spots Eddie (Mark Wahlberg), the new busboy at the club, and tells him he's convinced "there's something wonderful inside those jeans waiting to get out." Jack knows his business well and his expert eye has not betrayed him; Eddie is a pornographer's dream -- good looking, remarkably endowed, and willing and able to do as many takes as might be needed. The product of a woefully dysfunctional upbringing, Eddie is not terribly bright but is very ambitious and eager to prove he has a "special something" to share with the world. Eddie changes his name to Dirk Diggler and quickly becomes the biggest star in hardcore. Working alongside "Dirk" in Jack's films are Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), a porn actress who applies her misplaced maternal instincts to anyone who needs nurturing; Rollergirl (Heather Graham), a cheerful but blank-faced high school drop-out who never removes her roller skates; Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly), a none-too-bright actor, aspiring magician, and failing songwriter; Buck (Don Cheadle), a black actor fascinated with cowboy iconography who wants to open a stereo shop; Scotty J (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a stocky and awkward soundman infatuated with Dirk; Little Bill (William H. Macy), Jack's assistant director, who has trouble dealing with his wife's brazen infidelity; and Colonel James (Robert Ridgely), Jack's backer, who has a weakness for young girls. In the brief, late-'70s moment when porn was chic and sex films seemed poised to break into the mainstream, Dirk becomes a star and Jack a respected name. But a few years later, drugs and pride have taken their toll on Dirk and many of his friends, while the advent of the VCR radically changes the adult movie business; Jack goes from being a "filmmaker" to manufacturing and wholesaling videocassettes, a wealthy but emotionally broken man. In his second film, wunderkind director Paul Thomas Anderson juggled a broad range of characters in a manner reminiscent of Robert Altman's ensemble films, making Boogie Nights a sad but funny story of a makeshift family of damaged people and what happens before and after their brief moment in the sun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It is said that when a man dies wrongfully, a crow may bring him back to life to seek vengeance upon his killer. Like the first Crow, this revenge saga is set in a fantastical urban nightmare and is based upon the dark comic book stories of artist James O. Barr. The first film was set in a horrifying Detroit. The second is set in a similar version of Los Angeles. This time, the crow flies on behalf of Ashe, a motorcycle mechanic who was murdered along with his young son after they have witnessed a murder. After rising from the dead, Ashe dons the traditional black garb and funereal white pancake make-up that marks the crow's chosen one. While getting his violent revenge, Ashe is befriended by Sarah, a tattoo expert with great knowledge of the crow legend. Together, they defeat the vile criminals Curve and Kali. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set in a WW III-decimated 21st-century Los Angeles in which humans compete with cyborgs, this low-budget special-effects laden thriller chronicles the attempts of a heroic fellow to clean up the town and keep the androids from taking over what's left of the planet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide