Sarah Halley-Finn Movies

On New Year's Eve, no one wants to be alone. On this night in 1981, several different groups of young desperate people begin a journey from around New York City to a big party hosted by Monica (Martha Plimpton) and new friend Hillary (Catherine Kellner). As the hours pass and no one shows, Monica begins to unravel. She must bribe Hilary to stay with the promise of a clear shot at Monica's old boyfriend, Eric (Brian McCardie). Eric, at that moment is drinking in a nightclub with his new girlfriend, Bridget (Nicole Parker) and her friend Caitlyn (Angela Featherstone). When Bridget learns the host of the party is Eric's ex-girlfriend, she moves in on the bartender (Ben Affleck). Another group consists of two teenagers from Long Island, Monica's cousin Val (Christina Ricci) and Stephie (Gaby Hoffmann). The two get lost on the way when they run into a pair of punk rockers, Tom (Casey Affleck) and Dave (Guillermo Diaz). In a nearby diner, Lucy (Courtney Love) commiserates with her best friend Kevin (Paul Rudd) who has just been dumped by performance artist Ellie (Janeane Garofalo) so she could move in with her therapist. As they bar hop it slowly dawns upon the two that they could be more than friends. Elsewhere, new acquaintances Jack (Jay Mohr) and Cindy (Kate Hudson) are celebrating more than the new year. Cindy lost her virginity to Jack the night before, though is afraid Jack is with her out of sense of obligation. Now if only everyone can get to the party by midnight. Linking the different stories is the disco cabbie (Dave Chappelle) in whose cab the party never stops. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide

If wealthy men keep giving her the luxurious lifestyle that she has grown accustomed to, Alexa will give them any pleasures of the flesh that they care to experience. But she has to come to grips with her true feelings about her ways when she agrees to let playwright Tony explore the depths of her mind for a play he's writing. ~ All Movie Guide

Move over, Gidget -- a new breed of female surfers with style, guts and attitude hit the screen in this feature, which combines romance with a sports drama. Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) is a young woman living in Hawaii who has been surfing since she was a little girl, and over the past year has been training for the prestigious Pipe Masters surfing competition. But Anne Marie is still dealing with emotional baggage that's holding her back -- her mother abandoned her years ago, leaving her to raise her younger sister Penny (Mika Boorem) while having to guide herself through adolescence, and Anne Marie nearly drowned while trying to surf the famous Maui Pipeline three years ago, and has yet to shake the anxieties of this traumatic event. Anne Marie and Penny share a house with Anne Marie's friends Lena (Sanoe Lake) and Eden (Michelle Rodriguez), both fellow surf enthusiasts, and the three friends work as maids at a hotel, a job which offers them flexible hours for riding the waves. When a pro football team checks into the hotel, Anne Marie meets Matt (Matthew Davis), a promising quarterback who has his eye on her. Anne Marie is just as attracted to Matt as he is to her, but will Anne Marie have to choose between the man of her dreams and the recognition as a surfer she's worked for years to receive? Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sanoe Lake did all their own surfing in Blue Crush; Bosworth and Rodriguez went into training to learn the sport before shooting began, while Lake, a native Hawaiian, was already a confirmed surf enthusiast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Issues of race and gender cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and emotionally collide in this drama from director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. Graham (Don Cheadle) is a police detective whose brother is a street criminal, and it hurts him to know his mother cares more about his ne'er-do-well brother than him. Graham's partner is Ria (Jennifer Esposito), who is also his girlfriend, though she has begun to bristle at his emotional distance, as well as his occasional insensitivity over the fact he's African-American and she's Hispanic. Rick (Brendan Fraser) is an L.A. district attorney whose wife, Jean (Sandra Bullock), makes little secret of her fear and hatred of people unlike herself. Jean's worst imaginings about people of color are confirmed when her SUV is carjacked by two African-American men -- Anthony (Chris Bridges, aka Ludacris), who dislikes white people as much as Jean hates blacks, and Peter (Larenz Tate), who is more open minded. Cameron (Terrence Howard) is a well-to-do African-American television producer with a beautiful wife, Christine (Thandie Newton). While coming home from a party, Cameron and Christine are pulled over by Officer Ryan (Matt Dillon), who subjects them to a humiliating interrogation (and her to an inappropriate search) while his new partner, Officer Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), looks on. Daniel (Michael Pena) is a hard-working locksmith and dedicated father who discovers that his looks don't lead many of his customers to trust him. And Farhad (Shaun Toub) is a Middle Eastern shopkeeper who is so constantly threatened in the wake of the 9/11 attacks that he decided he needs a gun to defend his family. Crash was the first directorial project for award-winning television and film writer Haggis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man and his young daughter face almost impossible odds as they struggle to help an injured horse return to the racetrack in this family-friendly drama. Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) is a horse trainer whose career has gone into a bit of a slump, and after years as his own boss, he's signed on to work for Palmer (David Morse), a breeder whose wealth and success has given him a certain degree of arrogance. While Ben has learned to keep his mouth shut around his boss, he forgets himself when one of his favorite horses, Sonador, breaks its leg during an important race. Palmer insists that the horse should be put down on the spot, but Ben doesn't have the heart to kill the animal, especially since his young daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), is in the stands watching. Ben and Palmer have harsh words with one another, and Ben is fired, but is allowed to take Sonador with him when he leaves. Ben has a hard time convincing anyone that the injured horse has any potential, especially his father, Pop (Kris Kristofferson), a fellow trainer who rarely sees eye to eye with his son. But Cale loves the horse, and Ben believes that Sonador can make a comeback with the right care, and together with stable men Balon (Luis Guzman) and Manolin (Freddy Rodriguez), he sets out to put the filly on the road to recovery. As its subtitle suggests, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story was based on the story of Mariah's Storm, a filly who broke a leg during a race in 1993, but a year later came back to win the Arlington Heights Oaks, and in 1995 won the Turfway Breeder's Cup. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One man goes above and beyond the call of duty (and possibly the limits of the law) to give a good friend the final send-off he wanted in this comedy drama, which was inspired by a true story. Phil Kaufman (Johnny Knoxville) is a self-described "road mangler" and "executive nanny" who minds the day-to-day business of a number of rock musicians, including the man he considers his best friend, country rock pioneer Gram Parsons (Gabriel Macht). Kaufman and Parsons share a deep love of the strangely beautiful deserts of California's Joshua Tree Park, and the two made a solemn pledge that whichever man outlived the other would take his dead friend's remains to Joshua Tree and release his spirit by setting fire to the body. When Kaufman gets word that Parsons has died of a drug overdose, he hops on his motorcycle to make good on his promise, but it doesn't take long for matters to get complicated -- Barbara Mansfield (Christina Applegate), one of Gram's many ex-girlfriends, arrives claiming to have a will declaring her the heir to his estate, and she isn't about to let Kaufman get in her way, while Stanley Parsons (Robert Forster), Gram's father, simply wants to pick up his son's body and take him back to New Orleans for burial. Not about to go back on his word, Kaufman has to scramble to claim Gram's body, and is forced to enlist the aid of Larry Oster-Berg (Michael Shannon), a slightly scrambled hippie who owns a hearse. Grand Theft Parsons features a cameo appearance from the real Phil Kaufman, whose autobiography Road Mangler Deluxe provided the basis for the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Greed turns an idyllic vacation into a nightmare in this action drama. Jared Cole (Paul Walker) makes his living salvaging wreckage from ships off the coast of the Bahamas. He shares a rattle-trap trailer home with his girlfriend, Samantha "Sam" Nicholson (Jessica Alba), a shark expert who works at a nearby resort. While both are happy with their lives in the islands, Jared dreams of finding a major score and living the high life. One day, Jared and Sam are paid a visit by Bryce Dunn (Scott Caan), a childhood friend of Sam's who is now doing very well as a lawyer. Bryce and his girlfriend, Amanda (Ashley Scott), have come to the Bahamas for a few days of diving and fun, and Sam and Jared show them the waters while making use of his yacht. While diving with Sam, Bryce, and Amanda, Jared discovers the wreckage of a plane used to smuggle drugs, and thinks he may have found the big score he's always dreamed of. While Sam persuades Jared that the cargo is too risky to move, Bryce and Amanda think there's a fast buck to be made, and team up with Primo (Tyson Beckford), a local underground entrepreneur, to fence the contents of the plane. However, Bryce and Amanda have underestimated just how dangerous Primo and his henchmen can be, and now Sam and Jared must come to their rescue. Into the Blue was directed by John Stockwell, who previously took filmgoers to the seashore with the surfing drama Blue Crush. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Gavin O'Connor directs the sports drama Miracle, based on the true story of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. Kurt Russell stars as hockey coach Herb Brooks, who assembles a U.S. team of underdogs. No one thinks they can make it, as they are up against the previously undefeated Soviet hockey team. Despite the odds, Brooks leads the U.S. team to victory. As the 1980 Winter Olympics happen to coincide with the Cold War, the event is interpreted as patriotic. Also starring Eddie Cahill and Patricia Clarkson, Miracle was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Four wacky guys take on a pack of rich stuffed shirts (does this premise sound at all familiar?) in this broad comedy. Rick (Jason London) is a slobby but good-natured snowboarder who is mending a broken heart after splitting up with Anna (Caroline Dhavernas), a girl he met while on vacation in Mexico. Rick has headed back to Bull Mountain, AK, where he and his buddies Luke (Zach Galifianakis), Anthony (Flex Alexander), and Pig Pen (Derek Hamilton) spend their days riding the slopes and their nights partying hard. Rick and his pals hope to someday open a hangout for fellow boarders, but after Papa Muntz, the city's founder and largest landowner, passes on, his son Ted (Willie Garson) sells most of his property to John Majors (Lee Majors), a wealthy but pompous developer who wants to convert Bull Mountain into Snownook, an upscale ski resort catering to yuppies. Determined to keep Bull Mountain safe for like-minded burnouts and radical skiers, Rick and the gang declare war against Majors and his associates, though Rick feels a bit conflicted by the fact that John is Anna's father -- and his daughter is tagging along with her father as he relocates to Alaska. Anna, however, has a rival for Rick's attention, as Jenny (A.J. Cook), a cute ski bum, has shown her interest in him. Out Cold was the first feature film from sibling directorial team Brendan Malloy and Emmett Malloy, who previously worked in television commercials and created several snowboarding videos. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the Babe tradition of talking animatronic animals, this comedy adventure gets underway when animal-research-lab janitor Misha (Tony Shalhoub) expresses concern for a Blue-crown Conure parrot named Paulie (voice of Jay Mohr) caged in a dank basement. Misha settles back as Paulie tells his life story, seen in flashback: When Paulie was owned by little Marie (Hallie Kate Eisenberg), the parrot helped the little girl get rid of her stutter. After Marie tried to teach Paulie how to fly, he wound up in a pawnshop owned by Artie (Buddy Hackett), where he got an education in one-liners. Paulie and Ivy (Gena Rowlands) learn Marie's family is in LA, so Ivy agrees to drive Paulie cross-country in her RV. However, Marie goes blind and dies. Paulie is forced to fly to LA, where small-time entrepreneur Ignacio (Cheech Marin), with an eye for talent, talons and tacos, puts Paulie to work as a dancer at his taco-stand, where Paulie gets a birds-eye view of a female parrot with pretty plumage. Unfortunately, researcher Dr. Reingold (Bruce Davison), convinced Paulie can bring him academic recognition, steps in with a false promise to link the parrot up with Marie. Betrayed, Paulie refuses to speak anything other than the standard "want-a-cracker" lines, resulting in solitary confinement. Misha, who knows why the caged bird talks, hopes to free Paulie for an eventual reunion with Marie. Animal stunt coordinator Boone Narr and Stan Winston animatronics brought Paulie to life. For another fine-feathered film, see Dean Riesner's Bill and Coo (1947); the film's all-bird cast (dressed in human clothing) brought a "Special Award" for producer Ken Murray during the 1948 Oscar ceremony. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A simple case of assumed identity snowballs into a romantic mix-up of epic proportions in director Andy Fickman's contemporary teen take on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) has good reason for wanting to conceal her identity upon arriving at Illyria Prep school, and with her twin brother Sebastian (James Kirk) skirting school in an attempt to break into the London music scene, Viola sees her sibling's well-timed absence as the perfect opportunity to assume his identity. When Viola is assigned a shared dorm room with campus cool guy Duke (Channing Tatum), her façade slowly begins to crumble as she begins harboring a deep-rooted crush on her unsuspecting new roommate. The situation begins to take a turn for the worse, however, when Duke reveals his affection towards campus knockout Olivia (Laura Ramsey), who in turn seems increasingly drawn toward the sensitive imposter known as Sebastian. The problem is, the real Sebastian has decided to cut his London trip short, and upon arriving on campus two days earlier than expected, Viola's elaborately executed ruse hits an unexpected hitch that sends the entire situation spiraling into chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The second sequel to the 1984 sci-fi action classic, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is the first film without the involvement of director James Cameron. Instead, Jonathan Mostow, the man behind Breakdown and U-571, has stepped in to fill the shoes left vacant by Cameron. In addition, the role of John Connor from the second film has been recast, with In the Bedroom's Nick Stahl taking over for Edward Furlong. Set ten years after the events of 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the film finds Connor living on the streets as a common laborer. Sarah Connor, his mother, has since died, and their efforts in the second film have not stopped the creation of SkyNet artificial intelligence network. As he will still become the leader of the human resistance, Connor is once again targeted by a Terminator sent from the future by SkyNet. This new Terminator, T-X (Kristanna Loken), is a female and is more powerful than any of her predecessors. To protect Connor, the human resistance sends a new T-101 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back from the future. Also starring Claire Danes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines had its world premiere when it showed out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide