Donna Powers Movies
- 2003
This limited-run cable series starred Eric Stoltz as screenwriter Mark Colms and Felicity Huffman as his wife and writing partner, Lorna. While working on an inconsequential movie project, Mark began entertaining notions of cheating on his spouse for the first time in their 16-year marriage and dallying with either his next-door neighbor Annie (Justine Bateman) or sexy soccer mom Danni (Kim Dickens). Meanwhile, Lorna, who suffered from chemical depression, did her best to keep working though beclouded by booze and medication. The fine line between reality and fantasy was constantly blurred as Mark, who saw his life as a never-ending movie, addressed the audience (whom he referred to as his "jury") and went off on flights of illusion and delusion, much of it R-rated in nature. William H. Macy, husband of series co-star Huffman, played Lorna's erstwhile drinking partner, washed-up Hollywood producer Steven, while director Peter Bogdanovich was seen as Mark and Danni's obnoxious boss. Created by the genuine husband-and-wife writing team of Wayne and Donna Powers, the weekly, 60-minute Out of Order was launched with a two-hour premiere on June 1, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Felicity Huffman, (more)
- 2003
Mark (Eric Stoltz) is summoned to get feedback on his life from "creative executives," who suggest he end on a bang, not a whimper, and tie up his loose ends. He and Lorna (Felicity Huffman) celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary. At the party, Mark's mother (Iris Quinn) asks him to check in on his younger brother (Peter Flemming), who recently quit his job to sail around the world. Mark catches Lorna in the bathroom doing coke, but she swears it's her first time. While visiting his brother, Mark gets two important phone calls from Lorna. First she calls to tell them their movie is "a go," and later she calls to say, "There's been an accident." Mark returns home to find Steven (William H. Macy looking after Lorna, with Walter (Dyllan Christopher) staying at a friend's. Steven finally tells Mark that the mysterious "Teddy" (Malcolm Scott) is Lorna's coke dealer. Mark gives Lorna an ultimatum. He'll leave her if she doesn't check into rehab. With Lorna away, Mark faces temptation from Annie (Justine Bateman). He reluctantly calls Danni (Kim Dickens), who gives him some important news that could change both of their lives. Uncertain about which direction to go in, Mark kicks out the execs and attacks the film crew before sitting down to write his story. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
Lorna (Felicity Huffman) comes home with some pot she bought from Steven (William H. Macy). Mark (Eric Stoltz) complains about the way Steven treats him, and wonders what Lorna gets out of spending time with him. "A break," she explains. "You make me feel unproductive." "You are unproductive," Mark responds. Lorna goes out again that night, but promises to be home early because they have a meeting with a director, Zach (Peter Bogdanovich), the next day. Annie (Justine Bateman) ends up driving a drunken Lorna home late that night. Mark gives Annie a ride home. When he mentions his upcoming birthday, she offers him oral sex. He demurs again. Mark goes to meet Zach alone the next day. Zach suggests making one of the characters in their script an ecstasy addict, so Mark decides to celebrate his birthday with the drug, for "research." Lorna agrees to invite Danni (Kim Dickens) and her husband. At the party, the drug goes over well. Mark has an intimate moment with Danni in the pool, and spends a lot of time fantasizing about it afterward. They go out for coffee, and Danni warns him that it was a fluke, and that she's not the person he thinks she is. He agrees again to settle for friendship. Mark finds out that Zach rewrote their script, and they've been fired. He blames Lorna for the fact that they were so slow in writing. They argue, and later, she goes to visit Steven. Steven brings her back late, and Mark's distaste for the man escalates to violence. The next day, Lorna misses Walt's (Dyllan Christopher) class play, and a disheveled, unhappy Mark runs into Danni at the supermarket. In his desperation, he convinces her to go to a motel. This episode was originally shown together with the first episode. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
Mark (Eric Stoltz) is increasingly worried about Lorna (Felicity Huffman), who has begun sleepwalking, a side effect of all the meds she's taking. He continues to see Danni (Kim Dickens), who tells him that she's going to see a divorce lawyer, because Brock (Adam Harrington) is distant and controlling, and Mark has shown her how good things can be. She asks Mark to think about what he really wants, and he does. He flashes back to his reconciliation with Lorna after their separation. That night, he dreams that he's 12, sleeping in his bed with a hamster, when a rat runs through the room and into a hole in the wall. He tells his imaginary shrink (himself) about this recurring dream, and the shrink suggests he follow the rat next time. The rat leads him to his past, when his mother was thinking of running off with another man. Mark thinks he convinced her to stay, but his "shrink" challenges his memory of the events, and Mark discovers that his fears are rooted in his lack of control, and his worry that something bad will happen to Lorna. Mark decides to break it off with Danni, who is heartbroken, but handles it pretty well. Later that night, Lorna gets some ecstasy, and rewards Mark for his faithfulness by joining forces with Annie (Justine Bateman) to show him a wild time. This episode was directed by Roger Kumble (Cruel Intentions). ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
Mark (Eric Stoltz) explains in the opening narration that he's always viewed his life as a movie, so it's only natural that he's asking us, the audience, to judge him for some as yet unnamed crime. Mark imagines that his family's pets, and even the plants, are talking to him, demanding to be fed. At 11:30 a.m., he wakes up Lorna (Felicity Huffman), his wife. She's been sleeping late a lot. She's dealing with severe depression, and trying to come to grips with a childhood trauma. Mark takes Walt (Dyllan Christopher) to soccer practice, where he runs into Danni (Kim Dickens), an attractive young "soccer mom." Mark explains to us the process by which he comes to sit next to her and engage her in conversation. "What's up with the belly ring?" he asks her. At the next week's soccer practice, he invites Danni to the grocery store with him to get drinks for the team. And chocolate. During their trip, Danni explains that she and her husband have just reconciled after a separation. She admits that she's been with other people, and says she doesn't feel that monogamy is "natural." Mark, Lorna, and Walt go to Thanksgiving dinner at Lorna's parents, where she has a cathartic confrontation with her stepfather (Lane Smith) about his abuse, and with her mother (Celia Weston) about her ignoring Lorna's sexual assault at the hands of a family friend when she was seven. Mark imagines it as a scene from Raging Bull, and fantasizes about seeking revenge. Lorna seems better, but begins hanging out with a washed-up producer, Steven (William H. Macy), who spends his days boozing and smoking pot. Steven's wife, Annie (Justine Bateman), propositions Mark, but he demurs. Later, Mark calls Danni with a proposition of his own. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
Mark (Eric Stoltz) shows us how his film (i.e. his life) would go over with a focus group. The group doesn't condemn Mark for cheating on Lorna (Felicity Huffman) with Danni (Kim Dickens). Mark also tells us that he first fell in love with Lorna at U.S.C., when he heard her play the piano. He convinces her to play for Annie (Justine Bateman), Danni, and their husbands at a dinner party. The party goes well, and Lorna controls her drinking. Afterward, she tells Mark that she's seeing a new psychological coach, and that her problem is impulse control, not alcoholism. Later, Zach (Peter Bogdanovich) meets with the couple. It turns out that he's not taking credit for their script. He didn't fire them; he just made a few changes. The studio put the project in turnaround, but Zach wants them to pitch it to a well-heeled producer, Ryan (Adrian Holmes). Zach suggests adding a scene with a psychic, so they make plans to see one, for research purposes. Lorna convinces Mark to apologize to Steven (William H. Macy). Steven isn't mad because Mark hit him, but because he called him "a has-been who never was." Mark apologizes. Steven intimates that there are things going on with Lorna that Mark doesn't know about. Mark visits Danni and they listen to the song "Frank Mills," from the Hair soundtrack. She warns Mark that he must never lie to her. Mark flashes back to his separation with Lorna, sparked by Lorna's miscarriage. He discovers that Lorna has been making phone calls to a mysterious "Teddy." Lorna later reveals that her shrink has diagnosed her as bipolar. She's taking lithium, and can no longer play the piano because her hands shake too much. This episode was directed by Henry Bromell (Panic). ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- 2003
Mark (Eric Stoltz) remembers going to church as a kid after seeing The Godfather, the movie that made him want to be a filmmaker. He prayed to God to let him get out of New Hampshire, and promised to be a good Catholic. He and Lorna (Felicity Huffman) are visited by Steven (William H. Macy) one night. Lorna has been avoiding him, and Steven responds by throwing a potted plant through their bedroom window, and drunkenly begging Lorna to run away with him. Mark calmly drives an apologetic Steven home. Steven makes a cryptic reference to the mysterious "Teddy," and later reveals that his wife has left him. Danni (Kim Dickens) again warns Mark about lying to her. He wonders if he should tell her that while he and Lorna were separated, he called an escort service. Mark imagines meeting with a shrink, played by himself, who asks him why he can't be with Lorna when she needs him. Mark gets a letter from his great uncle Mordecai, who tells him that his grandfather was beaten to death by anti-Semites in Hungary just before WWII ended. Mark is surprised to learn of his Jewish ancestry. He imagines talking to Jesus himself about it. Later, Mark and Lorna give Danni a ride to a party for Zach (Peter Bogdanovich). Lorna gets drunk and goes home early, and Mark and Danni steal away and have sex again. He tells her that he doesn't want to be "just friends" with her. The next morning, feeling guilty and confused, Mark asks God for a sign. He takes his family to church, where it turns out to be World Marriage Day, and he and Lorna end up renewing their marriage vows. This episode was directed by Tim Hunter (River's Edge). ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
A team of high-class thieves avenge their mentor's death -- with the help of his own daughter -- in this big-budget remake of the 1969 British caper classic. The Italian Job stars Mark Wahlberg as Charlie, the mastermind of a daring Venice heist overseen by John (Donald Sutherland), a lifelong criminal who plans to retire from the fold with the earnings from his most recent take. Basking in the glow of a job well done at a secluded retreat in the Alps, the thieves -- including the aptly-named Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), tech-geek Lyle (Seth Green), and hearing-impaired quipster Left Ear (Mos Def) -- are ruthlessly double-crossed by one of their own, the taciturn, calculating Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton). Time passes and each member of the group finds himself pursuing other opportunities in the States, until Charlie rallies them together for a revenge-motivated scheme designed to bilk Steve of all his misbegotten earnings. In order to cinch the deal, he even enlists John's reluctant safecracking-prodigy daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), for an elaborate, incognito Los Angeles heist. But the paranoid Steve proves himself to be one step ahead of them at just about every turn, and Charlie finds that he'll have to make some daring last-minute changes to their plan if the team is to succeed. The Italian Job marked director F. Gary Gray's second 2003 release after the Vin Diesel vehicle A Man Apart. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, (more)
The novel of the same name by author Tom Savage becomes this horror film starring Marley Shelton as Kate Davies. Kate's in a troubled relationship with journalist Adam Carr (David Boreanaz), a problem drinker, but she receives support from her best friends, the same four girls she's known since grade school: Paige Prescott (Denise Richards), Dorothy Wheeler (Jessica Capshaw), Lily Voight (Jessica Cauffel), and Shelly Fisher (Katherine Heigl). When Shelly is murdered and the other girls begin receiving gruesome Valentine's Day cards signed "JM," they begin to speculate that the killer could be an awkward schoolmate named Jeremy Melton, whom they once teased mercilessly at a school dance, leading to his beating and humiliation. Dorothy in particular is afraid that a false accusation she made against Jeremy might be causing him to seek bloody retribution, but the macho detective (Fulvio Cecere) assigned to investigate Shelly's murder has some other suspects in mind. As the body count is racked up and Dorothy's lavish Valentine's Day party approaches, Kate begins to suspect that the true identity of Jeremy, who likely underwent plastic surgery to alter his appearance, could hit very close to home. Valentine is the second slasher flick from Urban Legend (1998) director Jamie Blanks. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Boreanaz, Denise Richards, (more)
- 2000
- R
Single father Will Reed (Treat Williams) and his teenaged son Seth (Jonathan Jackson) have increasingly uncomfortable conflicts that go beyond the usual coming-of-age difficulties. Seth has grown reclusive and mysterious as his father does his best to communicate with him. Seth's binge drinking and drug use get him in trouble with his girlfriend Robin (Schuyler Fisk) and her family, and his unwelcome advances on Tina (Linda Hamilton), a co-worker of Will's who has a crush on Will, make things even more unsettling. Will is hardly prepared for what comes next: Seth begins giving his father items of clothing as gifts -- items that may be evidence of a series of murders in their small New Hampshire town. Each time Will confronts Seth with the evidence, a very calm Seth has an innocent answer. Even the police think Will is going too far. Is Seth a serial killer, or is Will losing his mind?
~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Linda Hamilton, (more)
Although mako sharks are among the fastest and deadliest predators in the ocean, they're not as smart as humans -- at least, they weren't. However, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has been using mako sharks as her test subjects for research on the regeneration of human brain tissues. McAlester has altered the DNA of several sharks, raising them close to the level of human intelligence; the sharks have also become faster and stronger in the process. While these DNA experiments have yielded fascinating results, they're also of questionable ethics and legality, earning her the distrust of several members of her crew, including shark authority Carter Blake (Thomas Jane and cook "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J). The financial backers of these experiments have also expressed skepticism, so when McAlester is ready to perform some major tests, financier Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives for the occasion. McAlester and her team are delicately extracting brain tissue from one of the altered makos when the animal regains consciousness - and becomes very angry. The shark not only attacks the researchers but also damages the floating lab, leaving the crew aboard a literally sinking ship, with the makos eager to go a few rounds - in an arena that favors sharks. Deep Blue Sea was directed by Renny Harlin, and filmed in Mexico at Fox Studios Baja in the underwater filming facilities created for James Cameron's Titanic. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, (more)
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