Jim Kouf Movies
An inept cop suddenly gets a new partner in the person of a cabbie with attitude in this high-rolling comedy. Washburn (Jimmy Fallon) is a police officer who becomes the laughingstock of the department after a series of traffic accidents cause him to lose his driver's license. One day, Washburn gets an urgent call to head out to the location of a bank robbery; unable to drive himself there, he hails a cab. As it happens, the taxi is being driven by Belle (Queen Latifah), a single mom who, after making a name for herself as the fastest pizza delivery person in New York, has moved up to driving a hack. What begins as a wild ride to the scene of the crime gets even wilder as Washburn and Belle become unexpected allies while following the trail of a team of beautiful but reckless female bank robbers led by Vanessa (Gisele Bundchen). Adapted from a popular French action comedy with the same name, Taxi was Jimmy Fallon's first big-screen vehicle after leaving the cast of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, (more)
A man sets out to steal a lost fortune in order to save it in this adventure drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) is an archeologist who is from the eighth generation of a family who has shared an unusual quest. As Gates-family legend has it, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin hid a massive cache of gold during the waning days of the Revolutionary War and left clues as to its whereabouts in the original drafts of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. With no firm proof that it actually exists, Gates sets out to crack the code that will lead him to the fortune, which, as a member of the Gates clan, he is sworn to protect from wrongdoers. National Treasure also features Sean Bean, Harvey Keitel, Justin Bartha, and Jon Voight. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, (more)
Two Oscar-winning actors add a family-oriented comedy to their resumes with this Disney-produced arctic adventure. Snow Dogs stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as Ted Brooks, a Florida-dwelling dentist with a successful chain of offices and a comfy, poolside lifestyle. All this changes, however, when he finds out that he was actually adopted as a child, and that his birth mother has died and left him an inheritance in her home state of Alaska, of all places. After arriving in the snow-bound clime, Ted learns that he has been willed a pack of cutely named sled dogs: Demon, Diesel, Dutchess, Nana, Mack, Scooper, Sniff, and Yodel. Problem is, the town's premiere sled-dogger, Thunder Jack (James Coburn), wants the pack for himself, and encourages Ted to go back to his tropical environs. But with a major sled-dog race looming, Ted's inspired to learn the ropes, as it were, and prove himself worthy of his birth mother's inheritance -- any way he can. Snow Dogs was directed by Jingle All the Way's Brian Levant and features some animatronic dog effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop; the script was very loosely adapted from popular author Gary Paulsen's nonfiction book Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cuba Gooding, Jr., James Coburn, (more)
- 2001
Despite their estrangement from Angel (David Boreanaz), Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), Wesley (Alexis Denisof), and Gunn (J. August Richards) work on the same case as their boss. It seems a ring of renegade zombie cops is cracking down on street crime -- and even innocent street people -- using methods more than a little reminiscent of the real-life Rodney King case. Cordy and the boys learn of this from one of Gunn's old crew, who don't hide their displeasure that Gunn seems to have forsaken them to work with Angel Investigations. As Gunn and company team up with homeless-shelter manager Anne Steele (Julia Lee) (see "Blood Money") to protect her young charges from the violent pigs, Angel also becomes aware of the brutality. He works behind the scenes with Detective Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Rohm) to determine the source of the undead law-enforcement officials, eventually locating a police captain with a taste for voodoo and an obsession with law and order at any cost. After mortally wounding Wesley with a handgun, the zombies close in on the gang and the kids they're protecting. But just in time, Angel manages to undo the police captain's spell, stopping the cop monsters in their tracks. Angel has saved his former co-workers, and they don't even know it. Originally broadcast February 13, 2001, on the WB network, "The Thin Dead Line" marked season two, episode 14 of the supernatural comedy drama. In a brief subplot at the start of the episode, a woman named Francine Sharp (Marie Chambers) turns to Cordy and the gang for help removing a demonic third eye that has sprouted on the back of her daughter's head. This case will resurface in the next two episodes, "Reprise" and "Epiphany." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2000
When his cousin Lester (Dwayne L. Barnes) asks Gunn (J. August Richards) for help extricating himself from a deal to participate in a museum robbery, Gunn agrees. He poses as Lester, while Angel (David Boreanaz) kills and impersonates Jay-Don (Michael Hagy), a flashy Vegas vampire also in on the heist. The dynamic duo then pretend to work with a cabal of demons and criminal humans as they steal the Shroud of Rahmon, a supernatural totem dyed with the blood of seven virgins and capable of inducing madness in those who come into contact with it. Unfortunately, the madness envelops even the heroes; during the chaos, Angel apparently sucks the blood of Detective Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Rohm) when she arrives on the scene for a sting operation. Eventually, it turns out Angel was only pretending to have reverted to evil in order to keep from blowing his cover. By making the others think Kate was already dead, he saved her life. This comes in handy for Wesley (Alexis Denisof), who was apprehended by the authorities after being found standing over Kate's inert body. The criminals are finally defeated and the shroud destroyed, while Kate and Angel separately reminisce about his biting her. Meanwhile, everyone else adjusts to the short, choppy new hairdo Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) is sporting. Originally broadcast November 21, 2000, on the WB network, "The Shroud of Rahmon" marked season two, episode eight of the supernatural comedy drama. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Christian Kane, who appeared as an unnamed Wolfram & Hart attorney in "City of Angels," makes the first of several return appearances here; his character's name is revealed to be Lindsey McDonald. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Brett Ratner directed this action-comedy that found box-office success by teaming Chris Tucker with Jackie Chan -- performing his own stunts as per his earlier films. As the story begins, Hong-Kong supercop Lee's (Chan), detective savvy leads to the confiscation of $500 million in weapons, drugs, and Chinese art. When Hong Kong Chinese Consul Han (Tzi Ma), is sent on a diplomatic mission to Los Angeles, his 11-year-old daughter, Soo Young (Julia Hsu), is abducted by an international criminal mastermind. The FBI assures Han they will find the kidnappers and return her safely, yet Han only trusts his longtime friend and ally (also his daughter's beloved martial arts teacher) Inspector Lee, who immediately flies in to help. Unwilling to have an outsider interfere in their investigation, the FBI assigns rogue LAPD detective (and buffoon) James Carter (Chris Tucker) to the case. Hoping to impress the FBI, Carter enthusiastically reports for work but is dismayed to discover his real mission is only to keep Lee away from the case (read b-a-b-y-s-i-t-t-e-r). The arrogant Carter reacts by embarking on a one-man crusade to solve the case, but he must first distract Lee. It doesn't take Carter long before he realizes he has greatly underestimated his Hong Kong counterpart, who sees what's going on and slips away. Impatient FBI agents try to cast off these unwanted misfit cops, but with an assist from LAPD bomb expert Tania Johnson (Elizabeth Pena), Carter and Lee eventually confront the bad guys in a full-tilt action sequence. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, (more)
A pair of corrupt police officers discover the hard way that crime really doesn't pay in this action drama. Divinci (James Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur) are two New York undercover cops with serious money problems: Rodriguez owes a huge gambling debt, while Divinci wants to retire to Hawaii but lacks the cash. To stretch their paychecks, the partners pose as drug dealers, using narcotics confiscated as evidence; they sell the dope, and after receiving payment, they kill the buyers in carefully arranged drive-by shootings, always collecting the drugs afterward so that they can be sold again. The men try to morally justify their actions by claiming that they only kill people who need to be taken off the street anyway. Divinci's girlfriend, an exotic dancer named Cynthia (Lela Rochon), helps set the cops up with their latest victim, but after they've made the transaction, Divinci and Rodriguez discover the tables have been turned -- the purchaser is actually an undercover DEA agent. The DEA man winds up dead, and Divinci and Rodriguez are assigned to investigate the killing. Needing a fall guy, they try to frame a homeless man for the murder, but before long, their web of deception begins to collapse like a house of cards. Gang Related was the final film completed by rapper-turned-actor Tupac Shakur; he himself was the victim of a still-unsolved shooting in Las Vegas 13 months before the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, (more)
Former war hero Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is sentenced to eight years in prison when he accidentally kills a man in a barroom brawl while defending his pregnant wife. When his release comes through, he's eager to see the daughter he's never met. However, Poe's original flight is delayed, so he's put aboard a flight transporting ten of the most dangerous men in the American penal system to a new high-security facility. One of the criminals, Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich), is a serial killer and insane genius who has hatched a diabolical plot: with the help of several other hoods, including Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames), Johnny 23 (Daniel Trejo), and Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi), Cyrus and his men will hijack the plane and fly to a neutral nation where they can live as free men. Poe finds himself stuck in the middle; he has to find a way to get home, keep himself alive, look after his cellmate Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), who will die without proper medicine, and try to help the cops on the ground, including agent Vince Larkin (John Cusack). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's first film after the death of his partner Don Simpson, Con Air shows he learned well how to assemble the formula all by himself, with plenty of action, stunts, and special effects and not a lot of story to get in the way. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, (more)
