Jay Paulson Movies

Three women on a camping trip find their fireside bonding interrupted by a group of psychotic veterans in this survival thriller from writer Mark Duplass and his wife, first-time director Katie Aselton (who also stars). As young girls, Sarah (Kate Bosworth), Lou (Lake Bell), and Abby (director Aselton) used to spend much of their spare time on a secluded island just off the coast of Maine. Years later, Lou and Abby have grown estranged after the former slept with the latter's boyfriend, and Sarah hopes to see them reconnect by taking a nostalgic trip to their favorite childhood haunt. As dusk falls, the ladies encounter an old classmate named Henry (Will Bouvier) trekking through the woods with his friends Derek (Jay Paulson) and Alex (Anslem Richardson). Armed with rifles, the men reveal they are on a hunting trip after returning from their tours of duty in the Middle East. Later, as the two groups gather around a fire for dinner, the booze begins to flow, and Abby's inhibitions fall away. Before long, Abby and Henry are all over each other. But the situation turns critical when Henry gets too rough, and Abby accidentally kills him while attempting to break free. Upon learning that their brother in arms is dead, Derek and Alex vow that the women won't get out of the woods alive, setting the stage for a bloody life-or-death struggle between the battle-hardened soldiers, and the terrified female trio. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A shocking and tragic event causes the members of a quietly dysfunctional family to reexamine themselves and their lives in this drama. Ben and Sandy Travis (Jeff Daniels and Sigourney Weaver) are a couple whose troubled family begins to crumble when their eldest son, star college athlete Matt (Kip Pardue) commits suicide. Sandy's naturally cynical nature becomes all the more prickly, and while she tries to bond with her surviving teenaged son, Tim (Emile Hirsch), they seem closest when they discover a shared fondness for marijuana. Ben also tries to reach out to Tim, but the young man is never able to shake the feeling that he's never quite been the son his father wanted. Tim has a girlfriend, Steph (Suzanne Santo), but their relationship has been going through a rocky patch, and Tim finds himself questioning his feelings about women and men when his friendship with next-door neighbor Kyle (Ryan Donowho) evolves into something more intimate. Imaginary Heroes was written and directed by Dan Harris, best known for his work as a screenwriter on the blockbuster comic-book adaptation X-Men and projected remakes of Superman and Logan's Run. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The stoner road movie Rolling Kansas is the writing and directing debut of actor Thomas Haden Church (Lowell from NBC's Wings). The story concerns the Murphy brothers: Gas station attendant and local pot dealer Dave (Jay Paulson), paraplegic student Dink (Sam Huntington), and recently divorced Dick (James Roday). Just when Dick is about to lose his T-shirt-selling business in Texas, the brothers find a treasure map leading to special forest of marijuana in Kansas. Left to them by their late hippie parents, a plentiful supply to sell could answer their various financial problems. This sends the three brothers on a road trip in a junky car, accompanied by Dave's upbeat co-worker, Kevin (Charlie Finn), and Dink's useful roommate, Hunter (Ryan McDow). Rip Torn makes a cameo as a horticulturist while Church appears as a cop and a DEA agent (along with comedian Kevin Pollak). Rolling Kansas premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

One of several direct-to-video movies to make their American TV bows on the Lifetime cable channel, Total Stranger was filmed under the title Stranger in My House. Having just emerged from a nasty divorce, and with her daughter off at college, lawyer Patti Young (Lindsay Crouse) decides to make financial ends meet by taking in a younger female tenant, a student named Lara (Zoe McLellan). What Patti does not suspect--until it is too late--is that the deceptively sweet-natured Lara is a "serial invader", who has a habit of taking over the houses and lives of the people who trust her. The problem: Patti cannot get anyone to believe that Lara is sinister as Patti knows she really is. Also starring Jay Thomas and Dan Lauria, this psychological thriller made its cable-TV debut several years after filming wrapped in 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Abby (Paige Turco) has been shot, and her lover, Cathy, is dead. Much to his dismay, Medavoy (Gordon Clapp), the surrogate father of Abby's child, must handle her interrogation. Elsewhere, Simone (Jimmy Smits) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) investigate when the charred body of a murdered woman is found in an abandoned car; the suspect at first slips through their fingers, then offers an outrageous "excuse" for his gruesome act. And having finally announced her pregnancy, Gina (Lourdes Benedicto) must take time off when complications arise. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi