Matthew Myers Movies
- 2008
- R
- Add The Ministers to Queue
A New York City Homicide Detective unwittingly becomes involved with one of the men who murdered her father thirteen years prior in this thriller starring John Leguizamo and Harvey Keitel. It's been over a decade since Celeste Santana (Florencia Lozano) lost her father in a violent shooting. The only evidence discovered at the scene of the crime was a pamphlet for a mysterious religious order dubbed "The Ministers." Upon crossing paths with the man she believes responsible for her father's untimely demise, Detective Santana prepares to ensure that justice is served. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Leguizamo, Harvey Keitel, (more)
Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt makes her feature directorial debut with this adaptation of Elinor Lipman's best-selling novel about a Philadelphia schoolteacher (Hunt) whose long-lost birth mother (Bette Midler) reappears at the very moment her daughter is careening into a midlife crisis. Abandoned by her husband (Matthew Broderick) and still grieving the death of her adoptive mother, the emotionally fragile teacher enters into a relationship with the father of one of her students just as her biological mother, an eccentric talk-show host, appears on her doorstep attempting a reconciliation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, (more)
- 2006
Loosely based on the controversial Terri Schiavo case that made headlines back in 2005, filmmaker Jeffrey Stanley's satirical short film stars Sarita Choudhury as a tormented lawyer attempting to resolve a bitter family feud over a peculiar family heirloom. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarita Choudhury, John Lordan, (more)
Joe Maggio's second film, Milk & Honey, is a tale of a marriage with problems. Rick (Clint Jordan) and Joyce (Kirsten Russell) go their separate ways into the night after a disastrous appearance together at an office function. The apparently mentally unstable Rick ends up offering money to a stranger if that person will kill him. Shot on digital video, Milk & Honey was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Jordan, Kirsten Russell, (more)
Award-winning short filmmaker Jessica Sharzer makes her feature debut with the teen drama Speak, based on the young-adult novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Kristen Stewart stars as high school freshman Melinda, who has lost her ability to speak. Ever since a traumatic event that occurred at a party over the summer, she has chosen to remain silent. She's abandoned by her friends, while her mother Joyce (Elizabeth Perkins) is too wrapped up in her own problems to notice. By recalling the details of the past situation, it becomes clear that a date rape occurred. Yet no one has offered her support in order to deal with the psychological consequences. Eventually her art teacher Mr. Freeman (Steve Zahn) reaches out, helping her develop ways to express herself. Also starring Hallee Hirsh and Eric Lively. Speak premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the American Spectrum competition. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristen Stewart, Eric Lively, (more)
In this stark independent drama, Virgil (Clint Jordan) is a small-time thief with a bad temper and poor social skills who winds up in prison for armed robbery. But Virgil wants to make something better of his life, and when he makes parole, he's determined to get (and keep) a decent job, hoping to someday find a good woman and start a family. While living in a halfway house, Virgil meets Ruby (Kirsten Russell), a drug addict who sometimes turns tricks to support her habit. While Rudy isn't quite the sort of woman Virgil was dreaming of, they share a genuine affection for each other, and Virgil moves in with Ruby after getting a job as a janitor. Like Virgil, Ruby wants to straighten out her life, hoping to someday regain custody of her son, but both Ruby and Virgil find that a lifetime of emotional abuse and years of bad judgement are not simple things to overcome. Shot on digital video, Virgil Bliss had its premier at the 2001 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Jordan, Kirsten Russell, (more)
Stephen Kinsella directs this family comedy-drama about a single mom looking for a job and her son's slow slide to the streets. Rita Ronaldi (Callie Thorne) ekes out a living as a waitress until she is unceremoniously canned. Tough-minded but unskilled, she faces an uphill fight to find a job to support her and her teenaged son Matt (Rufus Read). Pudgy, bespectacled, and asthmatic, Matt is struggling himself, especially after he comes under the sway of local riff-raff Bret (Noah Fleiss), who loves sex, drugs, and leading helpless teens astray. Soon Matt worships Bret, and he descends into a life of criminality. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- P.J. Brown, Anthony de Sando, (more)
Hal Hartley directed this French-produced comedy about the Second Coming of Christ (Martin Donovan), with Thomas Jay Ryan in the role of Satan. While a gambler (David Simonds) and a waitress (Miho Nikaido) talk with Satan in a hotel bar, Jesus arrives at JFK airport with Magdalena (PJ Harvey). Jesus has been sent down to end the world by breaking the Seven Seals on a computer disk in a bowling alley locker room. Made in digital video blown up to 35mm, this film is part of the French "Collection 2000 Seen By" television series of one-hour films about the Millennium (and the only one by an American director). Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Donovan, PJ Harvey, (more)
