Judy Jean Berns Movies
Jeffrey Blitz's seriocomedy Rocket Science proves that many a handicap can be overcome, no matter how daunting the obstacle at hand may initially seem. Newcomer Reece Thompson plays Hal Hefner, a 15-year-old high-school student with a minor yet socially alienating (and painful) disability: he stutters uncontrollably. Determined to work through the problem, Hal opts for an extreme route -- he joins the school debating team, which sends him on a headfirst plunge into breakneck speech competitions -- and offers a much-needed boost toward correcting the problem. Blitz, like his onscreen alter ego, struggled with a stammer as a young man -- a disability he eventually surmounted -- which imparted him with a lifelong interest in speech and storytelling. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reece Daniel Thompson, Anna Kendrick, (more)
This long-delayed science fiction thriller from director Gary Fleder was actually filmed prior to his box-office hit Don't Say a Word (2001), which preceded it in theaters by several months. Based on a 1953 short story by Philip K. Dick, the film shares that schizophrenic author's long-running obsessions with concealed identity and humanity's potential inferiority to alternative life forms. Gary Sinise stars as Spencer John Olham, a respected government scientist in the year 2079 trying to devise a secret weapon that will help his fellow humans win a decade-long war with invading aliens that are cloning human subjects and using the replicas as walking time bombs. Suddenly, Olham is accused of being an alien spy and a nationwide manhunt to capture him ensues. With even his doctor wife (Madeleine Stowe) unsure that she can trust him, Olham must uncover the truth on his own, even as he's relentlessly pursued by Hathaway (Vincent D'Onofrio), a federal agent charged with destroying the clones. Imposter has a complicated history, originally produced in early 2000 as a 30-minute short to be included in an anthology entitled "The Light Years Trilogy," a project that never got off the ground. So impressed was Dimension Films with the completed piece, however, that the footage was incorporated into a new feature version. That film was then shuffled around the release schedule for more than a year as effects were completed, reshoots were ordered, and the film was recut for a PG-13 rating instead of its original R. The R-rated "director's cut" was later released on DVD. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, (more)
- 2000
With Weaver on suspension, the prickly Romano (Paul McCrane) is in charge of the ER. Carter (Noah Wyle) goes ballistic when he suspects that his patient is faking an injury. Abby (Maura Tierney) treats a woman with five children, who doesn't want the sixth baby on the way. Finch (Michael Michele) and Corday (Alex Kingston) exchange heated words over the treatment of a 16-year-old accident victim (Matt Doherty). And while Greene (Anthony Edwards) struggles to cope with his father's terminal illness, a remembrance of the late Lucy Knight unexpectedly materializes at the ER. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is invited to speak at an exclusive club where only men are permitted as members. Despite her gender, Jessica is asks by the club's governing committee to help them solve a mystery involving the murder of a "rogue" member. This proves difficult when it becomes apparent that the killer may himself be on the committee. This episode is chock full of sly science-fiction and fantasy references--no surprise, inasmuch as it was written by J. Michael Straczynski, a guiding force behind the popular series Babylon 5. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
