Jeff Pinkner Movies
- 2014
The web-slingin' wall-crawler hits the screens once again in this follow-up to Marc Webb's 2012 reboot of the series. Andrew Garfield once again returns as Peter Parker, who squares off against the villainous Electro, played by Jamie Fox. Emma Stone heads up the rest of the starring cast, which includes Paul Giamatti, Dane DeHaan, Shailene Woodley, and Chris Cooper. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Andrew Garfield
- 2008
The lines between science fiction and reality blur as J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman, the team behind Star Trek and Alias, regroup to craft this mind-bending series that begins as an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport with everyone of the passengers and crew members brutally murdered. When FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and her partner Special Agent John Scott (Mark Valley) are called in to investigate, a mysterious, near fatal mishap prompts Special Agent Dunham to seek out the assistance of famed genius Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble). Dr. Bishop has a reputation as our generation's Einstein, but due to the fact that he's been institutionalized for the past twenty years, the only way of contacting him is by going through his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson). Later, Special Agent Dunham's investigation leads her into the lair of unscrupulous corporate schemer Nina Sharp (Blair Brown, who may hold the key that reveals the incident on Flight 627 as a small piece in a much larger, and frighteningly sinister, conspiracy. Only with the assistance of fellow FBI agents Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo), and Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) will Agent Dunham and her partner have any hope of uncovering the twisted truth behind the crime that seemed too strange to be true. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Torv, Mark Valley, (more)
Teleportation. Mind control. Invisibility. Astral projection. Mutation. Reanimation. Phenomena that exist on the Fringe of science unleash their strange powers in this thrilling series, co-created by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), combining the grit of the police procedural with the excitement of the unknown. The story revolves around three unlikely colleagues - a beautiful young FBI agent, a brilliant scientist who's spent the last 17 years in a mental institution and the scientist's sardonic son - who investigate a series of bizarre deaths and disasters known as "the pattern." Someone is using our world as an experimental lab. And all clues lead to Massive Dynamic, a shadowy global corporation that may be more powerful than any nation.
- Starring:
- Anna Torv, Mark Valley, (more)
Despite its late start in January of 2005 after a hiatus of eight months, the fourth season of Alias more than made up for lost time with a plethora of trials, tribulations, jaw-dropping revelations, big-time betrayals, and near-death experiences for the series' secret-agent heroine, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). Reeling from the disillusionment and embarrassment of her demotion, Sydney quits the CIA flat; however, it turns out that this is part of a master plan hatched by new CIA director Hayden Chase (Angela Bassett) to arrange Sydney's membership in Authorized Personnel Only (APO), a top-top secret black-ops organization. Sydney's co-workers at APO include several longtime associates: her father, Jack (Victor Garber); her partner and sometime lover, Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan); her steadfast previous partner Dixon (Carl Lumbly) -- and, much to our heroine's surprise, her duplicitous ex-chief, Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who has proven time and again that he can't be trusted. For her first APO assignment, Sydney is sent to Rio, where she has a fateful encounter with her latest adversary, Tamasaki (Rick Yune), a self-styled 21st century samurai. Previously a recurring character, Sydney's half-sister, Nadia Santos (Mía Maestro), becomes a full regular this season, the better to throw a monkey wrench into Sydney's volatile relationship with her father, Jack -- and to share with Jack a startling secret about Sydney's supposedly dead, supposedly traitorous mother. At the same time, Vaughn has a great deal of difficulty overcoming the treachery of his former wife, Lauren, and an equal amount of difficulty assimilating new and disturbing information about his own father. Major developments this season include a huge revival of interest in the Rambaldi code, which when broken may spell the doom of humankind; the surprising temporary recruitment of another of Sydney's longtime enemies, Julian Sark (David Anders), for a special APO mission; a grim prognostication that Sydney and Nadia are destined to duke it out to the death; and the resurrection of a long-presumed-dead central character, who will reveal anew to Sydney that she can never completely rely upon anyone or believe in anything, not even the evidence of her own eyes. Though the season ends with the good news that Sydney and Vaughn are engaged, any hopes for lasting happiness are dashed by still another shocking revelation -- and a spectacular car crash. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
- 2003
Marshall (Kevin Weisman) explains the full significance of the Rambaldi manuscripts, thereby revealing a 500-year-old prophecy of the Apocalypse. To prevent this, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) and Dixon (Carl Lumbly) must track down a Panamanian named Di Regno (James Carraway) -- but Dixon, determined to avenge the murder of his wife, Diane, at the hands of Sloane (Ron Rifkin), may not be up to this crucial assignment. The outcome of the story -- and the fate of the world -- may hinge upon a startling confession made to Sloane by a repentant monk named Conrad (David Carradine). And in a less somber development, new NSA special ops agent Carrie Bowman (Amanda Foreman) develops a crush on Marshall. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2003
Convinced that Alliance counterintelligence head Ariana Kane (Faye Dunaway) plans to frame him on a murder-extortion rap, Jack (Victor Garber) is forced to rely upon Irina (Lena Olin) to turn the tables on Kane and clear his name. Meanwhile, while on assignment in France to retrieve the prototype for the Triad's missile-guidance system, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) and Vaughn (Michael Vartan) decide to take time out for a romantic rendezvous. Their passion is rudely interrupted by two of Ariana Kane's henchmen, who know that Vaughn is a CIA operative -- and intend to kill him on the spot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
As season three of the ABC espionage series gets under way, secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) has still not entirely adjusted to the startling revelation that she has somehow lost track of two years in her life -- and that her partner and erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) is now married to Lauren Reed (Melissa George). Also, she is informed that her double-agent father, Jack (Victor Garber), who thought Sydney was dead, has been jailed -- in solitary confinement -- for a year, and her duplicitous boss, Sloane (Ron Rifkin), has disavowed his evil ways and "gone straight." But just as in previous seasons, what seems true on the surface is a different story as Sydney digs deeper into the mystery of her missing years. Placed back on active duty, Sydney tortuously tries to put the pieces back together, with Vaughn at her side and Lauren agonizing over the likelihood that her marriage is doomed. Various links to Sydney's past include her old nemesis Julian Sark (David Anders), who has hatched a scheme to cripple the nation's satellite system; and freelance thief Simon Walker (Justin Theroux), whose team is involved in stealing a dirty weapon. There are also unexpected encounters with Sydney's old friend Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), newly dragged from the bowels of the Witness Protection Program, and the redoubtable Allison Doren (Merrin Dungey), the evil doppelganger of Sydney's murdered roommate, Francie. Throughout, there is a concerted effort to prevent Sydney's memory from coming back -- an effort engineered not only by her enemies, but by those who know that she is harboring a terrible secret that will destroy her once she knows all. In the mid-season episode "Full Disclosure," Sydney finally receives the whole shocking story about those lost two years, and her complicity in the murder of a Russian diplomat. Thereafter, we're back to the basics, with Sydney and Vaughn collaborating on a variety of top-secret missions, several tied in with the ubiquitous Rambaldi code, which when broken will lead to a super-weapon capable of wiping out all of humankind. And in the time remaining in season three, the scorned Lauren is at the center of a startling betrayal -- and, ultimately, Sydney is slapped with a bitter disillusionment that makes all past disillusionments in her life pale in comparison. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Cunningly presaged by the cliffhanger at the end of season one, the first episode of Alias' second season confirmed what heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) -- college student by day, counterespionage agent the rest of the time -- had feared most: that "The Man," the evil leader of a vast criminal cartel, was no man at all, but instead Sydney's supposedly dead mother, former KGB agent Irina Derevko (played by new series regular Lena Olin). Though Irina would eventually claim to have reformed and insisted that she was looking out for Sydney's best interests, her actions -- which included innumerable double-crosses, sellouts, and betrayals -- would seem to indicate otherwise. Even so, nothing that was ever "indicated" on Alias was ever quite what it appeared on the surface. Meanwhile, both of the spy organizations for which Sydney worked, the CIA and the more sinister SD-6, were dedicated to destroying the cartel formerly run by Irina and now in the hands of her mercurial lieutenant, Sark (played by another new series regular, David Anders). The two rival agencies also continued their search for the missing Rambaldi fragments, which when assembled would become a terrifying weapon of mass destruction, as well as "The Bible," the operations manual used by Irina's old criminal empire.
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
- 2002
Now convinced that Jack (Victor Garber) was telling the truth about her mother Irina's treachery, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is warned by Vaughn (Michael Vartan) that even Jack can't be trusted. With this in mind, the rest of the episode -- involving Sydney's efforts to stop the activities of a vice cartel called the Triad in Budapest -- takes on several extra layers of significance. Upon discovering that the Triad is training children to be enemy sleeper agents, Sydney is shocked to learn the identity of the person who thought up this insidious method of indoctrination in the first place. "The Indicator" was originally scheduled to air on October 26, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2002
Hoping to get his hands on a vital missing page of the Rambaldi document -- and to beat the evil Mr. Sark (David Anders) and his confederates to the punch -- Vaughn (Michael Vartan) prevails upon Sydney (Jennifer Garner) to insinuate her way into the home of sinister SD-6 chieftain Sloane (Ron Rifkin). But Syd is none too keen on this assignment, since it will force her to take cruel advantage of her friendship with Sloane's terminally ill wife, Emily (Amy Irving, in her first series appearance). Meanwhile, Will continues his efforts to expose SD-6 to the public -- and must pay a terrible price in the process. Series producer/director Ken Olin appears unbilled as David McNeil. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Viewers who tuned into the premiere episode of ABC's espionage series Alias did so already knowing the basic premise: Heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) lived a double life, as a "typical" college undergraduate and as an uncover agent for a government organization which she assumed to be the CIA. Sydney never told either her fiancé, Danny Hecht (Edward Atterton), or her roommate, Francie Calfo (Merrin Dungey), about her covert off-campus activities, not out of any great fear of blowing her cover, but merely because she assumed no one would believe her. Then came the fateful day that Sydney let slip her secret to Danny -- who turned up murdered not long afterward. It was then that Sydney began to suspect that her CIA bosses were not all they seemed to be -- and indeed, the truth came out that she wasn't working for the CIA at all, but for a rival agency, SD-6, one of several such organizations gathered together in a rather sinister group known as the Alliance of Twelve. The cruel ruthlessness with which SD-6 went about its business was personified by Sydney's boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), an enigmatic character who was obviously very fond of Syd and the other agents, but who would not hesitate to sell anyone out who got in his way. Sloane was particularly nasty when dealing with those who would dare prevent him to carry out his obsessive, lifelong search for the fragments of the Rambaldi device, a doomsday weapon concocted some 500 years before by a Renaissance artist who happened to possess a Nostradamus-like gift of prophecy. Other perplexing facets of Sloane's personality were revealed in his curious relationship with Sydney's father, veteran SD-6 operative Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), as well as in an ongoing subplot involving Sloane's terminally ill wife, Emily (Amy Irving) -- who happened to be very close to Syd.
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
- 2001
Back from searching for a missing Rambaldi artifact at Oxford University, Sydney (Jennifer Garner) is forced to take a polygraph test by Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who is determined to expose the mole working for SD-6. A later counterespionage assignment takes Sydney and her reluctant partner, Dixon (Carl Lumbly), to Mexico, this time to locate an ancient timekeeping device that may prove to be another piece in the Rambaldi puzzle. And although Will (Bradley Cooper) now knows the truth about "retired" SD-6 agent Eloise Kurtz (the last person to see his friend David alive), he can't make his findings public -- at least not just yet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2001
The weekly, hour-long TV adventure series Alias wasted no time in establishing a high level of suspense. Its first episode, "Truth Be Told," ran a full 65 minutes, with no commercial interruptions -- and be assured that few viewers were willing to leave their seats for the duration. Jennifer Garner starred as college student Sydney Bristow, who during her senior year was recruited into SD-6, the shadowy "special operations" division of the CIA of which her father, Jack (Victor Garber), was a top functionary. Given a crash course in martial arts and high technology, Sydney still did not quite appreciate the gravity of her mission in life until she inadvertently caused the murder of her fiancé. Thereafter, she kept her profession a secret from everyone she knew -- and did her best to stay at least one step ahead of whatever enemy happened to be after her during a given episode. Created by Felicity's J.J. Abrams, Alias made its ABC network debut on September 30, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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