Etchie Stroh Movies
- 2009
Horror veteran Tobe Hooper brings another one of Stephen King's haunted car tales with From a Buick 8, the story of a man whose tragic loss of his father during the line of duty leads him to a mysterious Buick that might be the doorway to another dimension. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
A group of American fortune hunters enlist the aid of an American ex-patriot and ex-Army officer in seeking out a priceless treasure in the mountains of China, only to find their mission complicated by forces beyond their comprehension. The story begins in the 1930s, when the Soviets were cracking down on religion. A Buddhist artifact known as the Tangka was smuggled across the border into China, and secretly hidden deep in the mountains. The diamonds decorating the gold-inlaid textile alone are rumored to be worth $50 million, prompting a team of fearless fortune hunters to travel halfway around the world for an adventure that could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. But these adventurers are going to need some help if they hope to recover the Tangka and make it back home alive, so they travel to inner-Mongolia in search of an experienced American ex-patriot named Xander Ronson (Dolph Lundgren). Ronson has served his time in the military, and now all he wants is to fade into obscurity while indulging in drink and women, and participating in the occasional bare-knuckle brawl. But Ronson is no fool; he realizes that if her were to find the Tangka he would never have to work another day, and he aggress to help the mercenaries track down their treasure for a healthy finder's fee. What the treasure hunters have failed to realize, however, is that Ronson is being tracked by a group of violent Russian mercenaries, and that the Tangka is protected by a sinister force with seemingly unlimited power. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren
Love and war conspire to create a romantic triangle in this lavish historical epic from director Chen Kaige. A young girl who has lost her parents to the violence of war bravely refuses to obey the orders of a warrior's son, and is approached by a spirit who offers her a life of wealth and power as a reward, but with a catch -- she will never know the love of a man unless she learns how to bring the dead back to life by turning back time. Two decades later, the orphaned girl has become Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung), the adopted daughter of The King (Cheng Qian), and her nation is yet again in the grip of war. During a long and bloody battle, Kunlun (Jang Dong-gun), a slave who has been ordered to fight, proves his skill and bravery in combat, and his commander, General Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada), rewards him by making him his personal assistant. When Guangming learns that the King is in danger, he and Kunlun set out to rescue him. Kunlun is disguised as Guangming as they prepare to fight the enemy leader Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse), who is out to assassinate the King, but when they arrive, they find that the strong-willed Qingcheng is in greater danger than the potentate as her father and his soldiers struggle to verbally and physically cut her down to size. Kunlun and Guangming impulsively rescue Qingcheng instead of the King, and as they look for a safe haven for the princess, both men fall in love with her, while both the King's forces and Wuhuan are determined to find them. Budgeted at 30 million dollars, Mo Gik (aka The Promise, Master of the Crimson Armor, and Wu Ji) was a major box-office success in China before receiving an international release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hiroyuki Sanada, Jang Dong-gun, (more)
Following up on his innovative work Timecode, which featured four stories being told in real time simultaneously, Mike Figgis returns to a modified form of his technique in this film about the tourists, the prostitutes, the tour guides, a killer, and a film crew who frequent the Hungarian Palace Hotel in Venice, Italy. A corrupt Eastern European politician and his moll are visiting the city to complete a shady business deal while Sophie is a high-priced call girl who makes an office in one of the hotel's suites. The film crew is attempting to shoot a Dogma 95-style adaptation of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi only to run into one problem after another. Magic is a professional assassin with a very odd kink -- he must have sex immediately after completing a job. Quintus, who abandoned his attempts to get fame and fortune as an actor, is a tour guide with an unusual secret. And then there is maid who not only has the skeleton key to the hotel, but also a habit of snooping. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rhys Ifans, Saffron Burrows, (more)
The personal lives of five exotic dancers go under the microscope in this drama, the first American feature from director Michael Radford. Eddie (Robert Wisdom) is the manager of a strip club in suburban California known as the Blue Iguana, where he keeps an eye on the women who make their living dancing for his customers. Stormy (Sheila Kelley) is an attractive, thick-skinned woman who is getting old enough to realize her days as a dancer may be numbered. Jo (Jennifer Tilly) likes to think of herself as the Blue Iguana's star attraction, though her career may hit a detour now that she's learned she's pregnant. Angel (Daryl Hannah) is a sweet, but immature woman, who tries to deal with her fear of being unloved by adopting a child. Jasmine (Sandra Oh), an aspiring poet, tries not to get settled into a career as a stripper, while being encouraged in her writing by coffeehouse owner Dennis (Chris Hogan), who features spoken word performers. And Jesse (Charlotte Ayanna), the youngest of the performers, expresses her desperate need for approval in her desire to please the customers. Dancing at the Blue Iguana received its world premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Ayanna, Daryl Hannah, (more)
Robert Altman directed this bittersweet ensemble piece about an eccentric and entangled group of family and friends living in the Deep South. Jewel Mae "Cookie" Orcutt (Patricia Neal) is the widowed matriarch of a small-town Mississippi family, which includes her nieces Camille (Glenn Close), a pretentious would-be artist staging an amateur production of Salome at a local church, and Cora Julianne Moore), her less than enthusiastic leading lady. Willis (Charles S. Dutton), the caretaker of Cookie's rambling mansion, tries to persuade her sweet but aimless grand-niece, Emma (Liv Tyler), to move in with her, but she's more interested in her on-again, off-again romance with local cop Jason (Chris O'Donnell). Typical of Altman's work, Cookie's Fortune weaves together a number of different plot lines with relaxed grace, and features an impressive cast, including Ned Beatty, Lyle Lovett, and Courtney B. Vance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, (more)
A group of friends discover that they don't know one of their fellows nearly as well as they imagine in this unusual horror tale. Jared (Mackenzie Astin) shows up at the home of his best friend Austin (Todd Field), wounded and bloody and telling a horrible story of a strange man killed in his apartment. Hoping to calm down their hysterical friend, Austin and Jared, with their friends Violet (Natasha Gregson Wagner) and Emma (Dina Meyer) in tow, head back to Jared's apartment to survey the damage. They soon discover, however, that there is more to the story than Jared led them to believe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- MacKenzie Astin, Todd Field, (more)
August Strindberg's once-controversial play is brought to the screen in this adaptation directed and co-written by Mike Figgis. Miss Julie is set on the estate of a wealthy Swedish family in 1894, where the servants live a life of uncomfortable poverty while the masters of the house enjoy their riches. On Midsummer's Eve, the servants and the local peasants have gathered for their traditional celebration, while one of the household cooks, Christine (Maria Doyle Kennedy), is waiting for her fiancé, a footman named Jean (Peter Mullan). However, Jean is intercepted by Miss Julie (Saffron Burrows), whose family owns the estate (and pays Jean's salary). She instructs Jean to change into a formal suit (which Miss Julie has borrowed from her father) and dance with her. Jean has little choice but to accept, and he finds himself slipping into an affair that both questions and affirms the traditional relationship between mistress and servant. This was the third screen translation of Miss Julie, following versions released in 1951 and 1972; it was also Figgis's second film of 1999, following the release of his experimental feature The Loss of Sexual Innocence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Saffron Burrows, Peter Mullan, (more)
In this comedy, teamwork takes on a new meaning when four friends fall in love with the same woman. Four guys with an interest in competitive rowing -- ad executive Scott (Jason Lewis), architect Michael (Chris Rydell), stockbroker Bob (Sean Astin), and college professor Walter (Robert Mailhouse) -- decide their crew needs some help. They learn that the daughter of an Olympic rowing champion lives in town, and she's no slouch at the sport herself. The four approach Kimberly (Gabrielle Anwar) and discover that she happens to be a very beautiful woman; for the sake of the team, all four make a solemn vow not to make any romantic overtures to Kimberly while they're in training, but predictably the flesh is weaker than the spirit and all four end up dating her at one time or another. The real dilemma comes when Kimberly becomes pregnant, and she isn't sure which one of the four men is the father. Rather than fight, all four take turns guiding Kimberly through pregnancy and childbirth as she continues to guide the rowing team. The supporting cast includes appearances by Patty Duke as a doctor and Molly Ringwald as Walter's significant other. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabrielle Anwar, Sean Astin, (more)
In this thriller, a detective stalks a multiple murderer whose methods are as peculiar as they are deadly. Vincent Swan (Dennis Hopper) is a veteran police investigator obsessed with catching a serial killer making his way down the West Coast. When the killer begins doing his grisly work in Los Angeles, Swan leaves Seattle for L.A., though the local police regard him as a loose cannon and aren't so sure they want his help. The murderer enjoys playing cat and mouse with Swan, calling him to discuss his crimes, but his modus operandi becomes even more bizarre, and the murders turn into a strange game, with Swan desperate to piece together the killer's clues before he strikes again. The Prophet's Game also stars Robert Yocum, Stephanie Zimbalist, Joe Penny, and Sondra Locke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Stephanie Zimbalist, (more)
- 1998
- PG
Actor Timothy Hutton's directorial debut is set in rural New Hampshire of the mid-'60s. Divorced motel owner Mrs. Frankovitz (Cathy Moriarty) has two daughters -- Gwen (Mary Stuart Masterson), who is preoccupied with various boyfriends, and troubled 10-year-old Harriet (Evan Rachel Wood). One day Harriet finds a playmate -- retarded Ricky Schroth (Kevin Bacon) -- after the car driven by his terminally ill mother Leah (Marian Seldes) breaks down while taking him to be institutionalized. When Mrs. Frankovitz dies in an auto accident, Harriet has to take orders from Gwen (revealed to be Harriet's real mother), so Harriet tries to run away from home. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
- 1998
- NR
In this drama, a lawyer puts his career and life on the line after he falls in love with a dangerous woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Amber Smith, (more)
David Fox and Lea Moreno star in this family adventure about a boy named Manling, who after getting lost in the jungle, was raised by animals and came to understand their ways and their languages. When men arrive to rob the jungle of its treasure, Manling must protect the home of those he holds dear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
