Shane West Movies

A group of U.S. soldiers encounter a powerful supernatural force in this taut psychological horror film from Dead Birds director Alex Turner. Afghanistan, present day: a U.S. military unit is dispatched to secure a strategic road. During the course of their mission, the soldiers notice an ancient stone statue nestled deep in a narrow gorge. When one of the soldiers takes a shot at the sculpture, a vengeful supernatural spirit is awakened from its centuries-long slumber. Now, as the ancient entity unleashes hell on the unsuspecting soldiers, a simple mission turns into a desperate struggle against a force that won't rest until the entire squadron is dead. Shane West and Leonard Roberts star in a desert-bound shocker featuring J.K. Simmons and Callum Blue. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The true-life story of Darby Crash, who became a Los Angeles punk icon before taking his own life in 1980, provides the background for this gritty musical biopic. Not long after getting kicked out of an experimental high school in Los Angeles, charismatic misfit and major David Bowie fan Jan Paul Beahm (Shane West) announces that he wants to form a rock band. With his best friend Georg Ruthenberg (Rick Gonzalez), Beahm creates a group called the Germs, mainly because their first choice, "Sophistif--k and the Revlon Spam Queens" costs too much to put on a T-shirt. Beahm appoints himself lead singer, Ruthenberg becomes guitarist even though he has no command of the instrument, and Beahm creates new stage names for them -- George becomes Pat Smear, and Jan is now Bobby Pyn. After a few less-than-impressive attempts to putting Beahm's "five-year plan" into action, the Germs begin to click with the addition of sweet but musically inexperienced Lorna Doom (Bijou Phillips) on bass and Arizona transplant Don Bolles (Noah Segan) on drums. Bobby Pyn gives himself another new name, Darby Crash, and the Germs become the talk of the Los Angeles punk scene with their reckless but literate songs and Darby's aggressive performance style. The Germs become big fish in the small pond of L.A. punk, but when hard drugs enter into the picture, Darby begins alienating those closest to him, and after the Germs' collapse, he's at a loss for how to bring his grand scheme to the next level. The real Pat Smear served as a music producer for What We Do Is Secret, recreating the sound of the Germs and other seminal L.A. punk groups for the soundtrack, while the surviving members of the Germs played a series of reunion dates following the production of the movie, with Shane West standing in as lead singer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the comic book miniseries by Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes place in an alternate universe where the characters of several literary classics exist in reality. As if that weren't enough, they've been assembled together in 1900 by Queen Victoria as a team of evil-fighting heroes. Among them are Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines; Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) from Bram Stoker's Dracula; Tom Sawyer (Shane West) from several works by Mark Twain; Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend) from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; The Invisible Man (Tony Curran) from H.G. Wells book of the same name; and several others. Working together, the odd assortment of characters must combine their powers to defeat a mysterious villain and save the world from certain destruction. Directed by Stephen Norrington (Blade), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen also stars Jason Flemyng, Tom Goodman-Hill, and David Hemmings. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Despite having been burned by unhappy previous marriages, architect Rick Sammler (Billy Campbell) and online company worker Lily Manning (Sela Ward) have tied the matrimonial knot and are reasonably happy as husband and wife as the third and final season of Once and Again gets under way. Unfortunately, the pressures of living under the same roof are causing friction between Rick's son, Eli (Shane West), and daughter, Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood), and Lily's daughters, Grace (Julia Whalen) and Zoe (Meredith Deane). Also working against the newlyweds' peace of mind are the woes brought about by Lily's mom's losing her battle with Alzheimer's, and the ongoing challenges posed by Lily's mentally challenged brother, Aaron (Patrick Dempsey). Things aren't much rosier for Rick's ex-wife, Karen (Susanna Thompson), who is seriously injured in a traffic accident. On the plus side, Lily finds a measure of personal success as host of a radio talk show; Lily's sister, Judy (Marin Hinkle), has a new boyfriend named Samuel Blue (Steven Weber), who happens to be Rick's co-worker; Lily's ex-husband, Jake, becomes a father again, thanks to girlfriend Tiffany (Ever Carradine), and by season's end has married Tiffany; Rick's daughter, Jessie, has formed a strong and supportive bond with new friend Katie Singer (Mischa Barton); and Karen meets the love of her life in the form of Henry (DB Woodside), the physical therapist who has helped her recover from her injuries. More good news comes Lily's way when her radio program is picked up for national syndication, and she discovers that she's pregnant. But dark clouds begin a-forming when Rick opts to accept a lucrative architectural assignment in Australia -- without making provisions to take Lily along with him. Through the series' three-year run, the characters have occasionally paused, stared straight at the camera, and delivered pithy "confessionals," expressing their innermost hopes and fears. The final episode of Once and Again takes this "nouvelle vague" cinematic technique one step further by having the actors drop character and express their real feelings about what has occurred during the past three seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A girl with powerful dreams for her future may not have the chance to live them out in this drama based on the novel by Davida Wills Hurwin. Samantha (Shiri Appleby) and Juliana (Larisa Oleynik) are a pair of high-school students who have been close friends for years. Both girls share a love of dancing, but while the more introverted Samantha sees dancing as a hobby and little more, the outgoing and upbeat Juliana has a genuine gift and dreams of attending Julliard. Determined to achieve her dreams, Juliana sets her sights on her Julliard audition while removing all distractions from her life -- including her boyfriend Eli (Scott Vickaryous). Juliana's life is turned upside down, however, when she learns she's contracted cancer, but while she wants to attend Julliard as if nothing has changed, her parents (Peter Coyote and Patricia Kalember) are vehemently opposed to the idea. Meanwhile Samantha worries about what her isolated life will be like without her best friend. A Time for Dancing was the first dramatic feature from cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Peter Gilbert. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

At last divested of her insensitive husband, Jake (Jeffrey Nordling), Lily Manning (Sela Ward) is certain that she can devote her full time to her budding romance with divorced architect Rick Sammler (Billy Campbell) as Once and Again enters its second season. Alas, Rick is suddenly socked with a major crisis of his own: his work on the lucrative Atlantor architectural project comes to a screeching halt thanks to the legal duplicity of developer Miles Drentell -- a scabrous character introduced on Once and Again creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick's previous series thirtysomething, with David Clennon repeating his role herein. When it turns out that the only way Rick can extricate himself from this dilemma -- and a possible prison term -- is to rely upon the largesse of his spiteful ex-wife, Karen (Susanna Thompson), Lily despairs, reasoning that she has now struck out twice in the love department. Happily, however, things manage to smooth out sufficiently for Lily and Rick to finally march down the aisle near the end of season two -- and the couple's respective children, so resistant to their union in season one, have (temporary) smiles on their faces during the ceremony. Even so, the smile comes a bit hard for Rick's son, Eli (Shane West), whose best friend Carla (Audrey Anderson), a heap of neuroses throughout the season, is compelled to leave town. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Writer/director Barry Levinson returns to his home town of Baltimore, where he previously set three nostalgic features (Diner, Tin Men, and Avalon) for this story of two brothers growing up in the tumultuous days of 1954, as rock 'n' roll, the atom bomb, and the civil rights movement changed the way teenagers looked at the world. One of the brothers has fallen in love with a beautiful girl who, to the chagrin of his family, is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Protestant, while the other has an even bigger shock for his folks: his new girlfriend is black. Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth play the parents, with Adrien Brody, Vincent Guastaferro, Orlando Jones, David Krumholz, and Kiersten Warren also topping the cast. Tom Waits wrote several original songs for the film, while Andrea Morricone (daughter of Ennio Morricone) wrote the score. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Something fishy's going on at Sunnydale High -- the swim team is winning meets. Everyone at school is hyped up about the team's success. Even Principal Snyder (Armin Shimerman) asks Willow (Alyson Hannigan) -- still teaching Jenny's (Robia La Morte) computer class -- to give a swimmer a better grade. One student, however, is not so happy with the team -- Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar). After a swimmer tries to grope her while on a date, her slayer sense is sparked. Her suspicions are magnified when two swimmers end up being skinned alive. Meanwhile, another swimmer, Gage (Wentworth Miller), is bitten by Angel, who spits out the blood in apparent disgust over its taste. Everyone suspects the swimmers of using steroids. Later, after Gage transforms into a fish-man or "gill monster," the truth about the swim team is clear. Also, Willow is made a permanent computer teacher for the rest of the season. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi