Ryan McDonald Movies
- 2009
- PG13
- Add 2012 to Queue
Disaster movie maven Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) crafts this apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, divorced writer and father Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) joins the race to ensure that humankind is not completely wiped out. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, and Oliver Platt round out the cast of this end-of-the-world thriller co-scripted by the director and his 10,000 B.C. writer/composer, Harald Kloser. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Amanda Peet, (more)
A competitive figure skater with Olympic aspirations turns her back on the sport by escaping to Canada in director Bruce Sweeney's border hopping family drama. Celia (Rebecca De Mornay) is an uncompromising coach determined to push her daughter Jenna (Jane McGregor) towards an Olympic gold metal. After Jenna's routine in the national figure skating finals proves less than stellar, the dejected young girl decides to escape her demanding mother by fleeing to Vancouver. Though Jenna's father is diligent in keeping his daughter's current location a secret from the fierce Celia, the gun-toting mother's determination ultimately proves too powerful to deny and she is soon off to collect her daughter. Upon attempting to cross the border, Celia begins to get a taste of just how different life in Canada is when the border guards take possession of her registered firearm. It seems that Jenna too has grown weary of living in a land where aggression does not stand, leaving both mother and daughter adrift in some strange land that neither can truly call home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rebecca De Mornay, Jane McGregor, (more)
Inspired by a play that has been presented dozens of times to middle- and high-school students throughout the United States, Bang, Bang, You're Dead ponders the possible reasons that outwardly "normal" teenagers periodically resort to Columbine-style violence. The focus here is on Trevor Adams (Ben Foster), an intelligent but hypersensitive high schooler whose troubled past has designated him "at risk." Feeling persecuted by those stronger and more popular than himself, Trevor has already run afoul of classmates and teachers alike by making death threats against the school football team. Now he has aligned himself with a group of fellow "outsiders" who call themselves the Trogs. Indulging in prankery that runs the gamut from merely irritating to potentially dangerous, Trevor and the Trogs plan an all-out deadly assault against their so-called enemies. Although the script points out that peer pressure and bullying has gone beyond the point of harmlessness in today's society, it is careful not to blame any one person or group for what ultimately happens to Trevor; even Trevor himself is shown to be comprised of equal parts villain and victim. First screened at the Seattle International Film Festival, Bang, Bang, You're Dead formally premiered October 13, 2002, over the Showtime cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cavanagh, Ben Foster, (more)
Based on the best-selling books by Catherine Marshall, the original TV series Christy focused on 19-year-old Christy Huddleston, an idealistic schoolteacher who left a life of wealth and comfort behind to accept a job in the backward mountain community of Cutter, NC, in 1912. First telecast as a two-part, four-hour PAX Network miniseries on May 13 and May 14, 2001, Christy: Return to Cutter Gap picks up where the weekly series left off. Lauren Lee Smith replaces Kellie Martin as Christy, while Stewart Finlay-McLennan repeats his series role as the community's agnostic, Scottish-born doctor Neil McNeill. In part one of Return to Cutter Gap, titled "A Change of Seasons," the year is 1913, and Cutter Gap is in the throes of a deadly typhoid epidemic. The superstitious mountaineers believe that the illness has been brought on by such "outsiders" as Christy Huddleston and the community's new minister, Rev. David Grantland (James Waterston). Dr. McNeill realizes that the real cause of the epidemic is Cutter Gap's brackish water and squalid living conditions, but he is unable to convince the locals of his findings. Meanwhile, Christy suffers a crisis of faith when one of her closest friends dies of the fever, and on another front, she finds herself romantically torn between McNeill and Grantland. Part two, "A New Beginning," takes place three months later. This time, the community is literally torn apart by a raging storm. As the rest of the citizens head to the highest point in Cutter Gap, Christy and Dr. McNeill are stranded in a tiny hunter's shack. Shocked when McNeill declares his love for her, Christy rushes into the deluge, contracting a deadly fever. Also complicating matters is the presence of attractive aviatrix Harriet Quimby (Claudette Mink), who has apparently set her cap for McNeill. The story concludes with a wedding -- but which man does Christy choose for her life partner? Filmed in British Columbia, Christy: Return to Cutter Gap was originally telecast under the title Christy: Choices of the Heart). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Lee Smith, Diane Ladd, (more)
Actor-turned-director and producer Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic, Addicted to Love) teams up with scenarist Dirk Wittenborn for the slice-of-life ensemble drama Fierce People. As summer encroaches, 16-year-old Manhattanite Finn Earl (Anton Yelchin) would love nothing more than to trek off to South America and spend the year's sun-drenched months near the equator, embarking on thrilling adventures with his estranged archaeologist father, whom he's never met. Alas, the bonds of family rein in tight when Finn's booze- and coke-addled mother, the masseuse Liz (Diane Lane), cries out for help -- and, in the process, unwittingly gets Finn arrested. In a dramatic attempt to reverse circumstances and sort out the complications in both of their lives, Liz insists on taking custody of Finn for the summer. Both, she insists, will live in the home of one of her former massage clients, the aging billionaire Ogden C. Osborne (Donald Sutherland) -- with whom she may be amorously involved. Though Finn agrees begrudgingly at first, in time he finds the environment welcoming -- as he develops a crush on Ogden's gorgeous granddaughter (Kristen Stewart) and befriends Ogden's grandson. But when an unforeseen and shocking act of violence erupts, it estranges Finn and Liz from their posh surroundings and provides a sobering, harrowing reminder of the socioeconomic differences between the Earls and their new friends. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, (more)
Emerging from hiding to avenge the murder of his former mentor, Agent Neil Shaw (Wesley Snipes) inadvertently stumbles onto a lethal trail of betrayal and corruption. Though Agent Shaw is determined to set the record straight while working under the auspices of his longtime friend and Senatorial candidate, he begins to surmise that he's being set-up after a number of dead bodies turn up and he's singled out as the killer. Now, in order to crack the assassination conspiracy that's been pinned on him by the powers that be, Agent Shaw will turn up the political heat while unleashing a lethal torrent of martial arts mayhem. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Athena Karkanis, (more)
A young woman kept at arm's length from the world finds it suddenly appearing on her doorstep in this drama. In the 1960s, Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) was a political radical and environmental activist who organized a self-sustaining commune on a small island off the East Coast as an alternative to what he saw as an ugly and destructive way of life. In 1986, the commune is down to two members -- Jack and Rose (Camilla Belle), his 16-year-old daughter from a marriage that ended with his wife's death. Educated by her father and isolated from "corrupting" outside influences, Rose is very close to her father, and keeps a close eye on his emotional needs as well as his health, which has been compromised by heart disease. Jack has an on-and-off relationship with Kathleen (Catherine Keener), a divorced mother of two teenage boys who lives on the mainland, and one day to Rose's great surprise, Jack announces that Kathleen and her boys will be moving in with them. Startled and betrayed by Kathleen's arrival, Rose is also disoriented by the sudden presence of outside influences and a sudden rush of adolescent lust. Rose first attempts to seduce sweet but stocky Rodney (Ryan McDonald), who opts instead to cut her long hair; she then takes up with moody Thaddius (Paul Dano), who takes her virginity. Before long, emotional war breaks out in the household with Rose battling Jack on all fronts; Jack, meanwhile, is taking a more direct tack on dealing with a developer (Beau Bridges) putting up buildings on nearby wetlands, attempting to chase him off with a shotgun. The Ballad of Jack & Rose was written and directed by Rebecca Miller, whose husband is leading man Daniel Day-Lewis and whose father was playwright Arthur Miller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Camilla Belle, (more)
- 2009
- R
Rebecca Miller (The Ballad of Jack & Rose) adapts her own novel with this comedy drama about a woman who begins a second life after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder, Alan Arkin, Monica Bellucci, Maria Bello, and Keanu Reeves headline the Plan B Entertainment production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Wright Penn, Blake Lively, (more)
