Daniel Faraldo Movies

Defying the wishes of her father, Jack (Victor Garber), Sydney (Jennifer Garner) insists upon pumping her KGB-agent mother, Irina (Lena Olin), for information necessary to topple SD-6 -- and, incidentally, to allow Syd to quit the spy game for good. On other fronts, a rattled Sloane (Ron Rifkin), convinced that he has seen his wife (whom he was ordered to kill) alive and well, sends Dixon (Carl Lumbly) to investigate; the Rambaldi music box containing the vital numerical equation is now secreted at Sark's (David Anders) Falkland Islands retreat; a clue to the location of "The Bible" containing information on Irina's former cartel has been traced to a Moscow military library, which Sydney must infiltrate; and Will's ongoing exposé of SD-6 is aided by drug-addled conspiracy theorist Rebecca Martinez (Marisol Nichols). And topping things off, Vaughn (Michael Vartan) comes face to face with his father's murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Israeli-born director Isaac H. Eaton spins this thriller about a Mephistophelean writer luring an impressionable young man into L.A.'s seamy underside. Stuart Chappell (Peter Weller) persuades gas station attendant Michael Holloway (Balthazar Getty) to abandon the straight and narrow and accompany him on a prowl of increasingly kinky haunts -- including stripclubs, S&M dungeons, fight clubs, and Russian roulette joints. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Martial arts hero Steven Seagal developed, co-wrote, co-produced, choreographed, and debuted in this thrill ride -- a cop film with more attitude, and more plot, than its star had duties on the set. Seagal is Nico Toscani, an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist, and unorthodox Chicago policeman. He is as committed to his job as he is to his personalized brand of justice: expert and thorough bone-crushing. When the FBI orders his squad to ignore the mysterious shipment of military explosives they seized from a notorious narcotics dealer, Nico defiantly pursues his own investigation. With the help of his partner Jax (Pam Grier), he sifts through a tangled web of Catholic priests, illegal immigrants, and trained assassins to uncover a drug cartel run directly out of the CIA by an official named Zagon Henry Silva. Nico remembers the man from his CIA days in Vietnam, when Zagon used the agency (and the war) as a front for smuggling opium. At the time, Nico was too outranked to thwart him, but he will no longer let Zagon abuse his position to remain immune from prosecution -- especially now that the official has plans to murder a U.S. senator. Zagon may be above the law of most men, but he is certainly not above Nico's. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

In the conclusion of Magnum, P.I.'s two-part Season Seven opener (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), Magnum is still in Los Angeles, still trying to solve the murder of comedienne Marti Jensen with the help of sexy entertainment lawyer Cynthia Farrell (Dana Delaney). Along the way, Magnum and Cynthia have fallen in love--and thus are both in the crosshairs of the well-connected drug cartel which ordered the murder. And back in Hawaii, teenage murder witness Kenny (Alfonso Ribeiro) continues to elude Magnum's friends, who are trying to prevent him from becoming the next victim. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

To paraphrase 1930s wit Wilson Mizner, Fear City is like a trip through a sewer in a glass-bottom boat. In exploitation-flick fashion, the film exposes the seedy "nether world" of contemporary Manhattan. Unsavory Matt (Tom Berenger) and Nick (Jack Scalia) run a topless bar/booking agency, in direct competition with equally scuzzy Goldstein (Jan Murray). It's hard to imagine anyone lower than these low-lives until we're apprised of a serial killer who dutifully keeps a record of his murders in a diary. The killer's victims are all exotic dancers and hookers, prompting Matt to suspect that Goldstein is behind the crimes, and vice versa. Once they've decided that it's better to unite against a common enemy than to throw volleys at each other, Matt and Goldstein arrange between themselves to insure the safety of the women in their employ. Meanwhile, Matt's ex-girlfriend Loretta (Melanie Griffith), saddened by the murder of her lesbian lover Leila (Rae Dawn Chong), resumes her drug habit, while a dispirited Matt begins harking back to his own sordid past. The one redeeming aspect of Fear City is the ultimate triumph over the odds by Loretta, who by process of elimination emerges as the most likeable character in the bunch. For a film of this nature, Fear City boasts an unexpectedly strong cast, including the aforementioned actors and Billy Dee Williams, Rosanno Brazzi, Joe Santos and Michael V. Gazzo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this pseudo-farce, the heroine Mickey (Margot Kidder) takes two weeks off work to go to Malta and write a mystery novel and finds herself caught up in a series of real-life murders that she weaves into her progressing story. Caught between a parody, a children's film, and a who-dunnit, the overplayed Disney charm of Trenchcoat wears thin very quickly. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

James Toback wrote and directed this typically intense and idiosyncratic satiric thriller. Byron Levin (Ray Sharkey) is an investment planner who has grown tired of his job and is bored by his relationship with his girlfriend Vicky (Susan Heldfond). When Frederick Stockheinz (Klaus Kinski), an international business magnate, approaches Byron about helping him establish a new firm in a small South American nation, he gladly accepts the offer. It isn't long before Byron discovers that he's gotten involved in something far more complicated than he ever imagined. The country has rich reserves of silver, but it is also in a state of political upheaval, and Byron is dealing with dictators and fending off revolutionaries as often as he minds the bottom line. Byron also encounters Frederick's wife Catherine (Ornella Muti), a beautiful woman with whom he begins having a very dangerous affair. Love and Money also features legendary director King Vidor in a small role as Byron's father; it was his first acting role in a film, and his last (he died nine months after the film's release). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Two women find their friendship tested when one rises from obscurity to success in this glossy remake of Old Acquaintance. Liz Hamilton (Jacqueline Bisset) and Merry Noel (Candice Bergen) are close friends who met while they were freshmen at Smith College in the 1950s. Liz has become a highly respected novelist, while Merry wed Doug Blake (David Selby) and raised a family. While Merry is happy, she can't help but envy Liz for her glamorous career as an author. Merry decides to write a novel of her own, and with Liz's help, the book soon finds a publisher. While Merry's trashy potboiler earns few positive reviews, it's a massive best-seller, and Merry's fame and wealth soon outstrips that of Liz, leading to jealousy between the old friends and problems in Merry's marriage. Rich and Famous was the final picture directed by Hollywood legend George Cukor; the guest list at the party sequences include such literary and cinematic notables as Christopher Isherwood, Ray Bradbury, Paul Morrissey, and Roger Vadim. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this drama, a Chicano gang member falls in love with a beautiful, wealthy Anglo girl. She tries to get him to leave the gang, but the young man is too deeply involved in being macho to listen. Then his grandmother dies and he travels to Mexico for the funeral. There his mother decides to introduce him to his estranged father, a boozy Anglo-American neer-do-well. Seeing his father causes the boy to take a good look at himself. He decides he wants a better life. He tries to leave the gang and they end up beating him senseless. Still he persists, and soon he is reunited with the girl he loves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This sentimental tearjerker is also a slice-of-New York-life melodrama directed by John G. Avildsen as his follow-up to the career-high smash success of Rocky (1976). Paul Sorvino stars as Lou Friedlander, a Manhattan newspaper columnist who is instantly smitten by Sarah Gantz (Anne Ditchburn, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her debut performance). A ballerina who's just moved into Lou's apartment building after a breakup with her boyfriend, Sarah soon gets the news that she is terminally ill and should quit her strenuous dancing career. Despite the medical advice, she continues anyway, and Lou begins writing a piece for his employer about her valiant struggle. As he assembles the article, he and Sarah begin to fall in love. At the same time, Lou is also nurturing a story about an orphaned Hispanic kid who's a junkie but is managing to rise above the harshness of life on the city's ghetto streets. The Friedlander character was reportedly inspired by and loosely modeled upon writer Jimmy Breslin. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi