Paul Ganus Movies
A woman discovers that a part of her family history may be more complicated -- and more famous -- than she ever imagined in this comedy. Thirtysomething Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), who has spent most of her adult life in New York City, is flying home to California with her long time boyfriend, Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), for the wedding of her annoyingly perky younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari). While Sarah and Jeff have recently announced they're engaged to be married, Sarah has been having second thoughts, and she isn't excited about the prospect of spending time with the family where she's always felt like the odd duck. As Sarah tries to decide what she should do with her personal and professional lives, she turns to her sharp-tongued and still youthful grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), for advice, and Katharine shares a little-known bit of family history -- that Sarah's now-deceased mother left her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), a few days before their wedding and ran off with another man for several days before coming back and marrying Earl. However, after hearing this Sarah is also treated to some long-simmering local gossip about a young man who ran off with a bride-to-be after he was seduced by her mother...and that the story became the basis for the hit movie The Graduate. Sarah begins to wonder, was Katharine the real-life Mrs. Robinson of this story? And if it's true, who was the man who had affairs with Sarah's mother and grandmother? Was it dashing and wealthy family friend Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), who has also turned Sarah's head? Rumor Has It... was produced from an original screenplay by Ted Griffin; Griffin was originally set to direct the film, but shortly after production began he was replaced, with Rob Reiner taking over the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, (more)
- 2004
Suffering from double vision and horrible nightmares, 16-year-old Dan (Scott Mechlowitz) traces the source of his problem to injuries sustained during a Lacrosse match. As usual, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) has other ideas, first diagnosing Dan with MS, and then declaring that the boy is being sexually abused. By the time House has figured out the real reason (maybe!) and has scheduled Dan for brain surgery, the boy disappears from the clinic--and the chase is on. Elsewhere, House is annoyed by a ditzy mom (Kylee Cochran) who refuses to let her baby be vaccinated, and by a patient (Alex Skuby) with an ugly abscess in his knee who is threatening to sue everyone within earshot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After fate conspires to make a man into an outlaw, he struggles to protect his child, the only thing he has left in life, in this drama. Pablo Hernandez (Jesus Nebot) was a professor of literature in Honduras when a hurricane descended on his city and wiped away nearly everything he had. While his young daughter, Cristina (Chelsea Rendon), managed to survive the disaster, his wife, his home, and his school were all destroyed. With nowhere to go, Pablo smuggles himself and Cristina into the United States, where he is able to find work as an undocumented laborer. But Pablo's bad luck comes back with a vengeance when, after borrowing his boss' truck, he accidentally runs into a child playing in the street; Pablo flees the scene of the crime, and after collecting his daughter, tries to stay one step ahead of police detective Bryan (Vernee Watson-Johnson), who has been assigned to bring the driver to justice. Needing to flee the country, Pablo finds a benefactor in Soid (Lindsay Price), a renegade documentary filmmaker who offers to give him and his daughter a lift to Mexico. However, Soid's help comes with a price -- she wants to make a film about Pablo's flight from the law, and she's eager to milk the incident for as much publicity as possible. Leading man Jesus Nebot also wrote and directed the film in collaboration with Julia Montejo. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesus Nebot, Chelsea Rendon, (more)
- 1996
A thespian's greatest role becomes a tragic parallel to real life in this drama. Gilberto Cortes (Alberto Estrella) is a Mexican actor who is raising a young son, Mario (Imanol), on his own. After years of struggle, Gilberto is beginning to achieve success in a play called "The Black Flag," in which he plays a father trying to spare his son's life after the young man is sentenced to death. While Gilberto's star begins to rise, Mario is emotionally scarred after he falls victim to a child molester, and the boy is never the same again. After leaving home in his teens, Mario (now played by Abraham Ramos) relocates to Texas, where he begins attending college. Difficult circumstances befall Mario, and he is convicted of a crime that carries the death penalty in Texas, and Gilberto finds he must reenact in real life the role he perfected on stage -- that of a father pleading for the life of his son. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alberto Estrella, Arcelia Ramirez, (more)
- 1993
When a college football star (Cylk Cozart) comes between him and Jackie (Tyra Banks), Will (Will Smith) goes to great lengths to prove he's as "macho" as anyone. Unfortunately, this proof consists of drinking himself unconscious, at which point his prankish frat brothers haul Will out to the middle of a cemetary! As Will suffers the torments of the darned, his cousin Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) learns a sobering lesson about truth and beauty. This episode marks the final series appearance of Tyra Banks, not to mention a rare sitcom guest turn by popular Howard Stern cohort Robin Quivers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- R
If you've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know what a "monolith" is. What it is not is exclusively an extraterrestrial entity, as was apparently assumed by the producers of the 1993 melodrama Monolith. The story concerns two eternally bickering cops (Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost), who stumble onto a government secret. It seems that a huge, malevolent monolith has come hurtling to Earth-and it's growing bigger and nastier with each passing day. Making matters worse, the evil being is invisible (thereby saving a fortune in special effects). Along with stars Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost, Monolith fails to fully utilize the talents of supporting actors John Hurt and Louis Gossett Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Lindsay Frost, (more)
Superstars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover return with director Richard Donner for Lethal Weapon 3, the third in the phenomenally successful action series. In this film, Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is only eight days away from retirement and his partner Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) once again manages to get them both into hot water with the both LAPD and the bad guys, who this time are Jack Travis (Stuart Wilson) and a gang of hoodlums selling armor-piercing bullets. Joe Pesci returns as the fast-talking schmuck Leo Getz. A new addition to the cast is Rene Russo as Lorna Cole, a sergeant from internal affairs sent to investigate Riggs and Murtaugh, but who ultimately ends up falling in love with the caffienated Riggs. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, (more)
A man undergoes a scientific experiment that causes him to wake up after 50 years without aging a day in this romantic science-fiction tale. In 1939, Daniel (Mel Gibson) is a test pilot who is brave in the air but lacks the nerve to ask his girlfriend Helen (Isabel Glasser) to marry him, even though he loves her deeply. When Helen is hit by a truck and is taken to the hospital in a coma, Daniel is despondent, and he approaches his best friend Harry (George Wendt). Harry is a scientific researcher working with the military who has been experimenting with cryogenic suspension; Daniel asks Harry to have him frozen for a year rather than go through the hell of waiting to see if Helen lives or dies. Harry reluctantly agrees, but after the pilot is put on ice, Harry's experiments are shut down, and Daniel is forgotten. In 1992, two young boys, Nat (Elijah Wood) and Felix (Robert Hy Gorman) are playing in an abandoned military warehouse and find a freezing unit. They open it and find Daniel, who before long is all thawed out and physically not much worse for wear. However, the world is a very different place than it was in 1939; the boys bring their discovery home, where their single mother Claire (Jamie Lee Curtis) looks after Daniel and helps him adjust to his new world. A friendship between them begins to grow into something deeper, until Daniel discovers that his beloved Helen is still alive. Forever Young also features Joe Morton, Rob Morrow, and Vanessa Williams. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
Music video director Amy Goldstein made her feature film debut in this revenge thriller that plays like a knockoff of La Femme Nikita and Ms. 45. Lynette Walden stars as Angel, a woman from the streets dressed up in leather togs, who has been programmed to kill all men who get their kicks exploiting women. She receives her assignments through a video arcade game called "Silencer" in an upscale Los Angeles bar. After Angel receives her marching orders, she efficiently dispatches a collection of low-life pimps and batterers and spends her downtime with Tony (Paul Ganus), a man obsessed with Christian iconography. But a cog is thrown into Angel's smooth-running death machine by George (Chris Mulkey), an ex-lover who stalks her as she performs her killings. Clearly, a confrontation with George is at hand. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynette Walden, Chris Mulkey, (more)
- 1990
Set in the year 2030, the film concerns a rebel movement led by Lathan Hooks (Ralph Waite), who is dedicated to the riddance of the conservative corporate machine which rules America. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Ganus, Megan Ward, (more)
- 1990
Diana Canova guests as Maggie McCauley, former student of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) and now the producer of a TV police show. Shortly after a heated argument between Maggie and the network programmer who is planning to cancel the series, the programmer turns up murdered. With herself under suspicion, Maggie draws upon the deductive skills gleaned from her mentor Jessica to find the real killer. Actor-turned-network executive Dwayne Hickman is quite cleverly cast in this episode!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Police dispatcher Carol Lane (Dorothy Lyman) is approached by several shady characters who threaten dire consequences to her son Bobby (Christopher Stone), who is heavily in debt to a gambling ring. In order to save Bobby's life, Carol agrees to delay reports of a burglary in progress--and as a result two men end up dead. Guilt-ridden over her complicity in the crime, Carol insists upon bringing the criminals to justice herself...while Hunter quietly remains a step or two behind, just in case of trouble! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
In this film, a bereaved man wants to exact his revenge from the bank robber who was responsible for his wife's untimely death. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh McCloskey, Joe Dallesandro, (more)
High school student Alan Boyce has it all: looks, charm, popularity, excellent grades, a promising future. So why does Boyce abruptly commit suicide? As the shock waves of the boy's death reverberate through the halls of his school, the other students--particularly Boyce's best friend Keanu Reeves--ask themselves if they, too, are capable of self-destruction. As for the adults, Boyce's suicide is one more of a myriad of mysteries concerning "Generation X" (though it was not yet so labelled in 1988). While the film offers no easy answers, either for the characters or the audience, Permanent Record ultimately demonstrates that there are ways to cope with the pressures of life other than taking one's own life. An added bonus: the teenagers in the film act like genuine teenagers, not like TV sitcom wisecrackers or oversexed cretins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Boyce, Keanu Reeves, (more)
- 1987
Buddy Hackett and Steve Lawrence guest star as Murray Gruen and Mack Howard, a famous comedy team that has been dissolved for years because of a bitter feud between the two men. In a true "Romeo and Juliet" situation, Murray's daughter Corrie (Beth Windsor) and Mack's son Kip (a decidedly pre-ER George Clooney) fall in love. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) hopes to use the wedding of Corrie and Kip as an opportunity to patch up the differences between Gruen and Howard--but this proves rather difficult when one of the two aging comics is stabbed to death! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
