Carla Gugino Movies

Shelly Long stars in this comedy as a spoiled Beverly Hills wife who decides--wanting to prove her husband's accusation of her selfishness wrong--to become the leader of her daughter's wilderness group. Though taking them on outings at the mall rather than in the woods, she later must prove her worth as a legitimate troop leader. After some zany incidents, all parties learn lessons of teamwork and selflessness. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this film, the small town of Clyde, Ohio is buzzing with excitement when it is said that the famous Roxy Carmichael is leaving her luxurious Hollywood life to return to her old hometown. Her return causes upheaval in the lives of family-man Denton Webb (Jeff Daniels), her old boyfriend, and an angst-ridden teen, Dinky Bossetti (Winona Ryder), who is convinced that Roxy Carmichael is her natural mother. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Adapted from Robert Sam Anson's fact-based book Best Intentions, Murder without Motive stars Curtis McClarin as Harlem teenager Edmund Perry. A brilliant student, Perry is transferred from the inner city to an exclusive prep school principally attended by whites. Ten days after graduating with honors, the 17-year-old Perry is killed by a white undercover policeman, who claims he was attacked by Perry and his younger brother Jonah (Guy Killum). Though unsparing in its indictment of racism and police brutality, the Murder without Motive attempts to be fair to both sides, showing the many external pressures which led both killer and victim to their fatal meeting in the spring of 1985. This made-for-TV film was first shown January 6, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama set in the mid-1950s, Alexi (Balthazar Getty) is a typical teenager who loves rock & roll. Unfortunately, he lives in the U.S.S.R., where rock music is looked at as a degenerate fad of the decadent West. Luckily, Alexi's Uncle Dimitri (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is a music salesman who sometimes travels outside the country; he smuggles in some rare Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley singles for his nephew, and before long, the aspiring classical musician is ready to rock until the break of dawn. Alexi and his buddies Sasha (Jason Kristofer), Yuri (Hugh O'Conor), and Vlad (Colin Buchanan) dream of becoming the first garage band to play the big beat behind the Iron Curtain, and Sasha begins bootlegging the cream of Alexi's record collection for an eager audience of fellow Soviet hepcats. Alexi also teaches some Jerry Lee and Fats Domino licks to Valentina (Carla Gugino), a pretty girl whom he's tutoring in piano, but her father Kirov (Donald Sutherland) is not at all amused and wants to know how the new scourge of America's youth has made its way into Russia. Red Hot was the feature-film debut for director Paul Haggis, best known for his work on the TV series thirtysomething. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A retired soldier (Gerald McRaney) is driving his family from Texas to California. As they cross the desert, they are terrorized by a gang of heroin-dealing bikers who kidnap his teenage daughter and take her across the Mexican border. He follows them to their hideout and devises a plan to rescue his daughter. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

The discovery of marital troubles in her family causes a young woman to question her own upcoming nuptials in this clever romantic comedy. Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Gwyn, a bright, slightly neurotic advertising copywriter who is initially thrilled when her boyfriend Matt (Gil Bellows) finally proposes. Soon afterwards, however, she learns that her mother Nina (Mia Farrow) is indulging in an extra-marital affair with a handsome Latin stud (Antonio Banderas). This is only the first of several shocking revelations, as Gwyn soon learns of infidelity by her father (Paul Mazursky), brother (Kevin Pollack), and even newlywed sister (Carla Gugino). These indiscretions make Gwyn question the validity of the entire institution of marriage and doubt her own future. Director David Frankel, who also penned the screenplay, follows in the footsteps of Woody Allen in using introspective dialogue to detail the romantic troubles of a wealthy, neurotic Jewish family; practiced performances and a colorful use of Miami locations give the film its own personality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

A young woman, Megan (Carla Gugino), is discovered naked and lying unconscious on a beach. Immediately, it is presumed that Megan was raped and a local detective (Aida Turturro) begins investigating the presumed crime. As the investigation digs deeper, it is discovered that Megan was raped by two women, which presents the local authorities with a legal dilemma: is it possible to convict women of raping other women? ~ All Movie Guide

Jeremy Collier (Emilio Estevez) is the army veteran who returns home after his harrowing experiences in battle. His father Bob (Martin Sheen) is the emotionally detached parent who insists Jeremy put his unpleasant memories behind him and get on with his life. His mother (Kathy Bates) is the unusually cheerful woman who pretends nothing is wrong. The troubled Jeremy finds almost as much fighting at home as he did in the military in this powerful drama of a young veteran's adjustment to civilian life. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Brian DePalma directed this taut thriller, set in Atlantic City, where a corrupt cop investigates a political assassination. Outside an Atlantic City arena-hotel-casino, a TV news reporter stands in a pre-hurricane storm to report on the heavyweight boxing match about to begin inside. A transition to the stadium interior focuses on Atlantic City homicide Detective Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage), a father with a wife and son, yet also a dishonest cop who maintains a mistress and cheerfully accepts bribes. DePalma's Steadicam follows Santoro on a fast-paced tour of the stadium as the laughing, yelling detective travels stairs and hallways, talks to a gal with a between-rounds placard, visits the dressing room of champ Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw), rides down an escalator to squeeze money from a small-time hood, enters the arena of 14,000 fight fans, talks on his phone with his girlfriend and wife, and sits ringside next to his lifelong buddy, Navy Cmdr. Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise). Behind Dunne, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabiani) is seated alongside billionaire casino owner Gilbert Powell (John Heard). As the fight gets underway, Dunne abandons his position protecting the defense chief to pursue a suspicious redhead. From his ringside vantage point, Santoro has a close view of the champ, curiously conscious despite taking a kayo punch. At that moment, an assassin fires at Kirkland. Santoro immediately concocts a good cover story for his pal (to explain why Dunne left his post protecting Kirkland). Just after the shooting, Dunne kills a Palestinian extremist, the apparent killer, and Santoro orders the stadium doors locked, hoping he can locate other suspects among the fleeing crowd. One such is Julia Costello (Carla Gugino), an injured woman in a blond wig who spoke with Kirkland seconds before the gunfire. After a video replay reveals the champ took a fall, going down to the floor from a punch that never touched him, Santoro becomes more curious and suspicious, comparing witness accounts, and he attempts to locate Julia, convinced she's the key to truth behind the assassination. As it all comes to a head, Santoro peels through successive layers of corruption, ultimately confronting himself in a self-examination of his own values. Filmed at Montreal's old Forum. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The Yuletide Season is anything but merry for Emily (Carla Gugino), who is forced to take charge of her nephew J.T. (Evan Sabara) and niece Alanna (Mae Whitman) when their drug-addicted mother (Laura Dern) O.D.'s and the kids are dispossessed. When it looks as though the kids will be sucked into the merciless maelstrom of the foster-care system, Emily packs them up and heads out of her home state, ending up in a little town that happens to be named Bethlehem Even though the authorities have been temporarily left behind, Emily will need a miracle to keep her family together. Enter a versatile guardian angel (Patty Duke), who assumes a variety of earthly guises to save the day for Emily, J.T. and Alanna--and also orchestrates a romance between Emily and a sympathetic local cop (David Conrad). Based on a novel by Marilyn Pappano, A Season for Miracles first aired as a CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation on December 12, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A couple running a rideshow discover the find of a lifetime, only to realize it could well be the death of them in this horror story. Angus Shaw (Rufus Sewell) and his wife, Lillian (Carla Gugino), run a travelling carnival which barnstorms the countryside in the early 1900s. The Shaws' circus includes a sideshow which promises much in the way of monsters and human oddities, but for the most part delivers second-rate actors dressed up in costumes or using smoke-and-mirrors effects to fool the customers. Lillian herself offers the most spectacular illusion, posing as a fake mermaid. One night, Angus offers a helping hand to an aging sailor (Aubrey Morris), and the old salt offers to show Angus and Lillian something truly amazing -- a real, honest-to-Pete mermaid (Rya Kihlstedt). Astounded by what he's seen, Angus decides the fortune he could make exhibiting a real mermaid is too great to resist, and he steals the creature from the sailor. Angus and Lillian waste no time booking passage to the United States with their find, but en route to America they discover this mermaid is hardly a benign creature -- she has a taste for human blood, and soon the ship's crew is shrinking at an alarming rate. Lillian also finds herself developing a strange psychological bond with the mermaid, a connection more powerful than her vows to her husband. She Creature was produced for the Cinemax premium cable service as part of a series of "Creature Features" produced by special effects wizard Stan Winston and former American International Pictures head Samuel Z. Arkoff, most of which were inspired by horror films AIP made in the 1950s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this digitally shot feature from acclaimed director Wayne Wang) (The Joy Luck Club), the boundaries of sexual relations are put to the test by two individuals. Richard (Peter Sarsgaard) is a dot-com entrepreneur who, despite earning millions of dollars, feels little connection to the outside world. After frequenting a strip club, he offers Florence (Molly Parker), a sometime-stripper who also works as a drummer, $10,000 dollars to accompany him to Las Vegas for a short stay. She makes him a list of rules that must be followed: no kissing on the mouth, no penetration, and each will stay in separate bedrooms and only convene during the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Staying in adjoining rooms, they stick to the plan as laid out until they develop a fondness for each other -- still, Florence tries to maintain the order of their agreement. Despite Richard's declarations that he is in love with her, she is forced not to let herself get too involved, even when their sexual relationship begins to increase after the arrival of Florence's hooker friend Jerri (Carla Gugino), who after a brutal fight with a man, immerses herself in the sexual lives of Richard and Florence. The film also features Balthazar Getty and Shirley Knight in small supporting roles. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide

Following up on his directorial debut, Joe the King, actor-turned-sometimes director Frank Whaley made this gritty character study of a man consumed by anger. Working as a clerk at a supermarket, Jimmy (Whaley) makes it a practice to steal anything and everything he can get away with, usually cases of beer. At home, he supports his neglected wife (Carla Gugino), his infant daughter, and his foul-tempered invalid grandmother, whom he has been caring for since he was a teen. A compulsive complainer, Jimmy is vitriolically bitter about his lack of a childhood. His latest dream, one in a series of failed schemes to make it big, is to be a standup comedian. Yet Jimmy's idea of a schtick is less one-liners and gags than a prolonged confessional rant about his marriage, the loss of his parents, and his grandmother. As the film progresses, Jimmy's monologues grow darker and ever more sinister. This film was scheduled to be screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide