Stefanie von Pfetten Movies
An adman who puts career success ahead of ethics has the tables turned on him in this thriller. Eddie Schneider (Til Schweiger) is an ambitious and talented young executive at a top advertising agency. Eddie is on the fast track to the top at his firm, aided by the fact his fiancée Judy (Stefanie von Pfetten) happens to the daughter of CEO Russel Birk (Art Hindle), though he has a habit of bedding other women when he thinks he can get away with it. Angelina (Lauren Lee Smith) is an old friend of Eddie with a job at the same company; one night she's assaulted by Anthony (Sebastien Roberts), Judy's deranged brother, but rather than come to the aid of a friend, Eddie sides with Judy and testified on Anthony's behalf in court. When Anthony is found not guilty, Angelina snaps and murders him in revenge, while Eddie's perjury turns out to be worthless when Judy learns of his infidelity and her father takes away his job. Soon Eddie is charged with killing Anthony, and he realizes the friend he betrayed is the only one who can clear his name. One Way was the first English-language project for German leading man Til Schweiger, who also co-produced the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Casper Van Dien stars in Meltdown: Days of Destruction as a Los Angeles cop who leads a team of science experts in an effort to save the Earth after an asteroid knocks the planet out of its regular orbit, causing a number of meteorological disasters. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Venus Terzo, (more)
Matt Hastings' science-fiction film Decoys concerns a freshman at college who discovers a pair of beautiful, sexually aggressive female students who are actually aliens sent to engage in sex with humans before they move in and overtake the human race. The young man takes it upon himself to save the world. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Literally "torn from today's headlines," this made-for-cable drama recounts the sordid story of Max Factor heir Andrew Luster (here played by Jason Gedrick), who, over a period of several years, used the "date-rape" drug GHB to render several impressionable young woman unconscious, at which point he raped them while a video camera recorded his assaults. Galvanized by Luster's first victim, herein identified only as Connie Doe (Marla Sokoloff), two other girls who had been drugged and ravished by the wealthy predator joined Connie in bringing about legal action against him. Although the girls were forced to relive their horrendous experiences during testimony, their combined efforts so moved the jury that Luster was convicted on 86 criminal charges and sentenced to 124 years in prison. At the time this film went into production, the real-life Luster was fugitive from justice; escaping from house arrest and skipping off to parts unknown, he was tried and convicted in absentia. In June of 2003, one week before filming on A Date With Darkness wrapped, Luster was recaptured in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, by bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (played in the film by an uncredited stunt man). This necessitated a hasty rewrite of the film's final scenes and an equally hasty refilming (as evidenced by the patently false beard on the face of actor Jason Gedrick). In its final form, A Date With Darkness: The Trial and Capture of Andrew Luster debuted August 11, 2003, on the Lifetime Network; the telecast was followed by an impassioned warning against the dangers of GHB, delivered by the film's co-star, Marla Sokoloff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Gedrick, Marla Sokoloff, (more)
Following memorable roles in the military action-adventures Pearl Harbor (2001) and Black Hawk Down (2001), young actor Josh Hartnett is propelled to romantic leading man status with this semi-autobiographical comedy from screenwriter Rob Perez. Hartnett stars as Matt Sullivan, a young man smarting over the bitter breakup of his most recent relationship. With Lent approaching, Matt decides to observe the 40-day tradition by abstaining from all sexual contact, including self-gratification. Once his odyssey of discipline has begun, he meets the girl of his dreams, while his ex begins campaigning to get him back. Co-starring Shannyn Sossamon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Vinessa Shaw, 40 Days and 40 Nights inspired another round of controversy between distributor Miramax and the Catholic League, which accused the film of being a "vulgar parody" of Lent. The League previously protested the company's releases of Priest (1994) and Dogma (1999). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, (more)
Katie Tallo's drama Posers concerns a group of teenage girls who, after a hard night of partying, have to figure out what happened to their leader. A night of drinking and drugging comes to a head when someone not in their group dies, but when the leader of the group goes missing the others grow more paranoid abut what might happen to them. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2002
The wealthy designer of the world's first fully computer-automated jetliner summarily fires one of his engineers, a disgruntled computer hacker. In retaliation, the engineer "kidnaps" the high tech jetliner from a hidden location on the ground, and threatens to destroy the plane during its maiden flight. The lives of the passengers, which include a prominent politician and his daughter, rests in the hands of a troubled ex-war hero. First broadcast on Spanish television in an R-rated version in October of 2002, Cabin Pressure "officially" premiered on November 15, 2002, courtesy of the American PAX network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
The obsessions of two disturbed people cross paths in this thriller, created with the interactivity of the DVD format in mind. Jane (Stephanie Von Pfetten) is a beautiful but neurotic artist who keeps her distance from others, preferring to deal with the outside world through her work. When Jane moves to a new city, she finds herself becoming increasingly obsessed with Frank (Chris Bradford), a handsome musician who's apartment is across the alley from her loft. Jane begins creating increasingly sexual paintings and drawings of Peter and herself, and in time decides she should meet him. However, an attempt to arrange a date through personal ads puts Jane in contact with Peter (Paul Jarrett), a strange man with an unpleasant past. However, police detective Edwards (Christopher Shyer) has his eye on Jane as well, since it seems her own past is significantly more troubling than she lets on. Director David Wheeler created the DVD edition of Point of View to explore the interactive possibilities of the format. Each chapter ends with a quiz that allows the moods and attitudes of the viewer to shape the story and a number of plot points can be shifted by inputting different information, and, as a result, a great number of different versions of the film can be assembled by the viewer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefanie von Pfetten
- 2001
In this made-for-cable action-drama, Oliver Sloan (Parker Stevenson) is the son of a Las Vegas resort magnate whose showplace hotel has just been given its grand re-opening. However, Sloan's board of directors is not happy with the hotel's profitability, and he knows he's about to be replaced. One evening, a fire breaks out on the 20th floor of the hotel; it soon becomes evident that the sprinkler systems in the hotel are not working, and Sloan begins to suspect that the fire did not happen by accident. Meanwhile, a number of guests are trapped as the fire rages out of control, including Jim (Meat Loaf), an engineer working for the hotel who tries to figure out a route to safety for himself and the guests, and Evans (William McNamara), a TV reporter who begins broadcasting live from the burning building. Trapped also features Callum Keith Rennie and Suki Kaiser. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parker Stevenson, Meat Loaf, (more)
