Tony Calabretta Movies
A female car thief becomes the target of a notorious serial killer after stealing his mint-condition '66 Dodge Charger in this made for cable thriller from director Kari Skogland (Zebra Lounge, The L Word). Sage Rion (Taryn Manning) is a car thief who's so proficient at her profession that she's earned the nickname Banshee in certain criminal circles. Her skill for stealing cars is unmatched, and when she stumbles across the Dodge Charger of her dreams the temptation proves too powerful to deny. Unfortunately this particular muscle car belongs to a genuine "Badass" (as indicated on the license plate), a fact that Sage discovers all too late after arriving home and finding her boyfriend's severed ear along with a threatening note. Should Sage fail to return the car to its rightful owner by midnight, her recently-hearing impaired boyfriend will meet a grisly demise. But Sage isn't up against your typical murderous madman, because this particular psycho (Christian Campbell) is a popular local DJ who records the screams of his victims, mixes them with the sound of his accelerated hearbeat, and uses the resulting sounds to keep local clubbers on their feet all through the night. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Taryn Manning, Romano Orzari, (more)
- 2005
- PG
Roy Dupuis stars as the first professional hockey player to score 50 goals in one season in director Charles Biname's docudrama tracing the life of Canadian sports legend Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. As a 17-year-old boy, Quebec native Richard labored the day away in a Montreal factory before lacing up his skates and hitting the ice. Richard's dream was to someday play on the national hockey league, and after years of hard work he eventually made that fantasy a reality. But Richard would accomplish much more than simply earning a spot on the biggest league in the country; his passion for the game eventually propelled him to become one of the most beloved players in hockey history. In 1955, when Richard was suspended for deliberately injuring another athlete on the ice, the outrage that erupted would culminate in the notorious riot at the Montreal forum. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Dupuis, Stephen McHattie, (more)
- 2004
Five years ago, the husband of Jean Brooks (Mädchen Amick) purportedly committed suicide. Thus, Jean is startled when ex-cop-turned-private eye Eddie Fate (Andrew Walker) shows up with the news that her husband has been alive all these years -- and has only recently been murdered. A trip to Chicago opens Jean's eyes to her husband's motives for his deception (which didn't start out as sinister, but sure ended up that way) -- and places her own life in peril, courtesy of an insane sister-in-law and some slimy-looking drug dealers. Filmed in 2004 under the title Jean's Fate, Lies and Deception was first seen on Canadian TV a few weeks before its April 25, 2005, American cable debut on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mädchen Amick, Andrew Walker, (more)
A boy learning the lessons of the Torah wonders if they can be used to avenge an attack on his best friend in this drama based on the novel by Pete Hamill. Michael (Peter Tambakis) is an 11-year-old boy growing up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1947. While looking for a place to get out of the weather in the midst of a freak snowstorm, Michael meets Judah Hirsch (Stephen Rea), a rabbi from Czechoslovakia, and the two become unlikely friends. Judah fascinates Michael with tales from Jewish folklore, and Michael gives Judah a crash course in the finer points of baseball. But not everyone in Michael's neighborhood is as open-minded as he is, and Judah is attacked by a gang of anti-Semitic toughs. As Judah's life lies in the balance, Michael wonders if Judah's tales of magic and mysticism might hold a key to getting justice for his friend. Snow in August also features Lolita Davidovich as Michael's mother. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Rea, Lolita Davidovich, (more)
When their young daughter is killed in a tragic car accident, a devastated couple goes to extreme measures to bring love back into their lives in a heart-rending family drama starring Adam LeFevre, Valerie Mahaffey, Mary Beth Hurt, and Bridget Fonda. Chris (LeFevre) and Virginia Hytner (Mahaffey)'s once idyllic world has been shattered by the untimely death of their beloved daughter, and now, in order to let go of the past and find happiness once again, they choose to put their future in the hands of Dr. Amanda Gordon (Hurt) of the Center for Reproductive Medicine. Since Virginia is now over forty and the couple's chances of an uncomplicated pregnancy are slim, they have opted to attempt the unprecedented feat of cloning their deceased daughter. When a minor league reporter looking for a major league story (Fonda) transforms the Hytner's desperation into a sensationalistic headline, the firestorm of controversy that follows forces the couple and their doctor into the underground as it compromises the safety of their unborn child. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bridget Fonda, Mary Beth Hurt, (more)
"Chop Chop" Frankie Carbone (Armand Assante) has made a career out of stealing cars for the mob in Chicago. An attempted assassination by a mob boss goes badly and Frankie retaliates, only to wind up in the hands of the Feds. Frankie agrees to testify against the mobsters and his life is suddenly worthless -- unless he submits to going into federal protection. The FBI gives him a new name -- Howard Akers -- and relocates him to a sleepy middle-class suburb in Little Rock, AR. Howard catches the attention of his lovely neighbor, Leigh (Angela Featherstone), a bored fund-raiser for a non-profit zoo whose husband, Dennis (David Lipper), is having an affair -- and she knows it, but she doesn't know it's with her hot-blooded sister, Bootsie (Dina Meyer). Leigh becomes friends with the enigmatic Howard, but Dennis and Bootsie see an opportunity to earn the million-dollar bounty the mob has put on his head by turning him in to the mob. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armand Assante, Angela Featherstone, (more)
Two men on the wrong side of the law find their shifting alliances put them in grave danger in this crime drama. A.K. (Casper Van Dien) and Ray (Rick Fox) are a pair of strong-arm men collecting debts in New York City for a powerful gangster based in New Orleans. But they soon discover there is plenty of high-stakes action in New York, as they get sidetracked from their original assignment by a project of their own. As A.K. and Ray try to outrun Hackman (Daniel Pilon), a top New York Police Department detective, and Bailey (Catherine Oxenberg), a beautiful but ruthless cop with an agenda of her own, they find that they're also under the gun of their boss' other enforcers. Star Casper Van Dien and leading lady Catherine Oxenberg wed the same year The Collectors was released; they also starred in another film together that same year, The Omega Code. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Rick Fox, (more)
