Evan Handler Movies

Oscar-winning director Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, L.A. Confidential) adapts author Andrew Ross Sorkin's penetrating expose of the 2008 Wall Street financial crisis in this made-for-HBO docudrama featuring an all-star cast. As the U.S. economy hits the skids, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt) finds himself caught up in a critical battle of wills between the key players on Wall Street, and the powers that be in Washington, D.C. With just weeks to go before the country plunges into the most devastating financial crash since the Great Depression, the powerbrokers on both sides scramble to pull the failing economy back from the brink of disaster. Ed Asner, Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Cynthia Nixon, James Woods, Tony Shalhoub, and Topher Grace co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The stars of the hit HBO series reunite with original writer/producer/director Michael Patrick King to deliver this sequel that finds the ladies venturing outside New York City for the adventure of a lifetime. Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) are all married now, but they're still up for a little fun in the sun. When Samantha (Kim Cattrall) gets the chance to visit one of the most extravagant vacation destinations on the planet and offers to bring them all along, they surmise that a women-only retreat may be the perfect excuse to eschew their responsibilities and remember what life was like before they decided to settle down. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The hit cable series Sex and the City catwalks its way onto the big screen in this feature-film continuation that fans all over have been clamoring for. Sarah Jessica Parker returns once again as Carrie Bradshaw, the style-maven journalist whose romantic exploits were the key focus of the show. Also reprising their roles are Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon, with the series' executive producer Michael Patrick King taking on writing and directing duties. Several years have passed since viewers last saw Carrie and company, though she's still involved with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and completely consumed by her obsession for name-brand accessories. Meanwhile, Miranda is adjusting to married life and motherhood, Charlotte is still clinging to her dreams, and Samantha and handsome, steely eyed TV star Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) are now living together out in L.A. Of course, when the girls all come together, it's just like old times. Dreamgirls' Jennifer Hudson co-stars as Carrie's assistant. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

One of the two NBC series debuting in the fall of 2006 which took place backstage at a Saturday Night Live-style comedy show (the other was 30 Rock), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was the brainchild of The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin. This weekly, hour-long dramedy concerned itself with the million-and-one intrigues behind the hallowed walls of the fictional "NBS" network, where ambitious new president Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet) was determined to pump fresh blood into the network's anemic Prime Time schedule. Over the objections of imperious NBS chairman Jack Rudolph (Steve Weber), McDeere rehired writer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and director Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), who had been fired from the staff of the network's weekly ensemble-comedy offering "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" two years before. It was hoped that Albie and Danny could save the flagging property from cancellation, a formidable task in that "Studio 60" was already collapsing from within thanks to a surfeit of egotism and ill-will. For head writer Matt Albie, the challenge was doubly difficult: it so happened that "Studio 60"'s star Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson) was his former lover. Fortunately, Matt and Cal worked together so harmoniously that it would seem that Jordan McDeere's strategy for rescuing her network from oblivion was sheer brilliance. . .maybe. Other regulars included D.L.. Hughley and Nathan Corddry, respectively, as popular "Studio 60" cast members Simon Styles and Tom Jeter. Filled to overflowing with smart-and-savvy inside references to the state of network TV in the first decade of the 21st century (many of the "jokes" were at the expense of the series' host network NBC), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip premiered September 18, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the first of three Friends appearances, Dermot Mulroney guest stars as Gavin, the Ralph Lauren employee who's been covering for Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) during her maternity leave. Showing up at the office with baby Emma in tow, Rachel immediately gets the impression that Gavin is jockeying for her job on a permanent basis -- which may explain why, a few days later, she's back at work, watching her back all the while. Meanwhile, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) wishes he'd never invited Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) to appear as an extra on Days of Our Lives. ~ Rovi

The detectives investigate when the co-owner of a clothing store is murdered. The chief suspect heads to Israel; to avoid extradition, he invokes the "Law of Return," which decrees that every Jew on earth is automatically a citizen of Israel. To crack this case, the DA's office must enter into a tense series of conferences with an impartial group of New York rabbis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A frenetic, bloody look at mass murder and the mass media, director Oliver Stone's extremely controversial film divided critics and audiences with its mixture of over-the-top violence and bitter cultural satire. At the center of the film, written by Stone and Quentin Tarantino, among others, are Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis), a young couple united by their desire for each other and their common love of violence. Together, they embark on a record-breaking, exceptionally gory killing spree that captivates the sensation-hungry tabloid media. Their fame is ensured by one newsman, Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.), who reports on Mickey and Mallory for his show, American Maniacs. Even the duo's eventual capture by the police only increases their notoriety, as Gale develops a plan for a Super Bowl Sunday interview that Mickey and Mallory twist to their own advantage. Visually overwhelming, Robert Richardson's hyperkinetic cinematography switches between documentary-style black-and-white, surveillance video, garishly colored psychedelia, and even animation in a rapid-fire fashion that mirrors the psychosis of the killers and the media-saturated culture that makes them popular heroes. The film's extreme violence -- numerous edits were required to win an R rating -- became a subject of debate, as some critics asserted that the film irresponsibly glorified its murderers and blamed the filmmakers for potentially inciting copy-cat killings. Defenders argued that the film attacks media obsession with violence and satirizes a sensationalistic, celebrity-obsessed society. Certain to provoke discussion, Natural Born Killers will thoroughly alienate many viewers with its shock tactics, chaotic approach, and disturbing subject matter, while others will value the combination of technical virtuosity and dark commentary on the modern American landscape. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Based on an autobiographical novel by Jack Eisner, this wartime drama of survival covers almost too much territory within its short telling, often giving the impression that something has been left out. Jacek, who is Jewish, miraculously manages to survive World War II in Nazi-occupied Poland. Director Moshe Mizrahi brings forward the reality of the Warsaw ghetto, the deportation of Jews to death camps, and the terror that reigned for the war years in Poland by placing Jacek at crucial points in the narration as the observer of key historical events. As a subplot to Jacek's story, which also involves a love affair with Haling (Kyra Sedgwick) and German soldiers' repeated attempts to kill him, is a tale of how young kids in the Warsaw ghetto devise their own method of fighting oppression. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

When an exclusive military school is threatened with demolition by a rapacious real-estate company, the students, headed by Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), take drastic action. Utilizing every bit of military know-how at their disposal, the boys take over the school, arm themselves to the teeth, and prepare to do battle against the "invading" developers. General Bache George C. Scott, the head of the academy, tries to quell the rebellion, but soon he too is swept up by the students' to-the-death determination when the Army is called in to rout the boys. Based on Devery Freeman's novel Father Sky, Taps features early appearances by Sean Penn (in his movie debut) and Tom Cruise as two of the cadets. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi