Michael Irby Movies

Packed with explosive action and edge-of-your-seat suspense, The Unit delivers a non-stop blast of spectacular thrills and hard-edged excitement! Risking their lives on deadly undercover missions around the globe, the Unit is a highly skilled, ultra-secret contingent of special forces soldiers operating outside the traditional chain of military command. Now, the hunters become the hunted as the team and their families are targeted by a deadly and far-reaching conspiracy. And, as they are forced to relocate and assume new identities, Season Four follows the complicated day-to-day lives, intricate military operations, and extraordinary heroism of the world's finest counter-terrorism strike force - The Unit!

Prepare to enter a locked and loaded world of danger, secrecy, and edge-of-your-seat suspense when The Unit returns to DVD with its second-season set (2006-7). The series' executive producers -- Pulitzer Prize-winning writer-director David Mamet and The Shield creator Shawn Ryan -- ensure that Season 2 continues the explosive nonstop action. The Unit stars Golden Globe nominee Dennis Haysbert as Jonas Blane, Scott Foley as Bob Brown, and Robert Patrick as Col. Tom Ryan. The titular Unit is a team of elite Special Forces soldiers who execute highly covert operations outside of the normal military chain of command and routinely risk their lives protecting America from its enemies. The team's very existence is a closely held secret -- even the soldiers' wives strictly adhere to fictitious cover stories that are provided for them. The six-disc Unit - Season 2 DVD collection includes all 22 episodes presented in widescreen, plus such bonus features as episode commentaries with cast and crew, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and more.

A woman is forced to prove her own sanity to save the life of her daughter in this taut thriller. Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is a successful aircraft designer who has recently been dealing with the traumatic death of her husband. After traveling to Berlin on business with her six-year-old daughter, Julia (Marlene Lawston), Kyle falls asleep on their flight back to New York, only to discover that her daughter has gone missing. While not knowing where Julia has gone is troubling enough, even more disturbing is the insistence by sky marshal Gene Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) and Captain Rich (Sean Bean) that no records indicate that the child ever boarded the jet. As Kyle becomes increasingly desperate to find her daughter, she must prove to the men in charge that her daughter did in fact board the plane with her, and that this turn of events is not a product of her imagination. But if Julia has gone missing, who has taken her and why? Also starring Erika Christensen and Kate Beahan, Flightplan was the first English-language feature from German director Robert Schwentke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A thief gains an unlikely fan in a security specialist in this independent comedy. Emily (Meredith Bishop) is a young woman who isn't sure what she wants to do with her life; while she has fuzzy goals of becoming an artist, she's most concerned with convincing her mother (Leigh Taylor-Young) and her analyst (Michael Nouri) that everything is just fine. But Emily has discovered a way to take her mind off of her anxieties -- shoplifting. She steals for enjoyment rather than necessity, and her graceful work at a department store has earned her the admiration of Nick (Jsu Garcia), head of the store's security team. Nick is sick of his job and wants to start his own business; however, a seemingly foolproof get-rich-quick scheme has backfired, leaving him deep in debt to a Russian gangster (Henry Czerny). Rather than have Emily arrested, Nick persuades her to go out with him, and as a tentative relationship grows between the two, they decide to team up for a raid on the store after Nick is fired from his job. Klepto was the first feature film from director and screenwriter Thomas Trail. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Miguel Pinero became a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s as a poet, actor, and playwright whose vibrant, often pointed, work spoke directly to the lower classes and to disenfranchised minorities. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, his poetry soon became recognized as a forerunner to rap and hip-hop music. TV screenwriter turned director Leon Ichaso spins this impressionistic biographical look at this artist. Raised in an abusive family, Pinero (Benjamin Bratt) turns to streets for solace. Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe. Though Pinero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A prisoner is murdered while still behind bars. At first, it seems to be an open-and-shut case, with detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) almost immediately collaring the likeliest suspect. But did the perpetrator act on his own volition, or was he merely following orders -- orders that may have been issued from outside prison walls? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) are visibly shaken by their latest investigation, centering around the murder of a retired cop. When it turns out that the victim trafficked in illicit sex and murder, the trail leads to a pair of interior decorators who "moonlight" as prostitutes. Once the ball is in the D.A.'s court, McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Ross (Carey Lowell) must again deal with feminist lawyer Lanie Stieglitz (Elaine Stritch). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide