Todd Wagner Movies

The Girlfriend Experience stars adult film actress Sasha Grey as Chelsea, a high-priced escort who offers her wealthy clientele the eponymous service. In other words, on their long, often overnight "dates," she assumes the role of a temporary romantic partner, attending highbrow cultural events, engaging in intellectual discourse, and eating at hip and expensive restaurants, all while expressing an interest in the client's life and work. She keeps a detailed journal about her clients. Chelsea's live-in boyfriend, a personal trainer (Chris Santos, who previously worked as a personal trainer in the real world), struggles with trying to earn a fair share of the upscale business he brings into his gym. Chris is conflicted when a wealthy client invites him on a weekend trip to Vegas. The couple faces further problems when Chelsea finds herself sincerely attracted to one of her clients, a married screenwriter. Over the course of the film, Chelsea is interviewed by a journalist (played by real-life journo Mark Jacobson, whose reporting on Frank Lucas inspired the film American Gangster), and visits "The Erotic Connoisseur," a sleazy blogger who reviews escort services (portrayed by film critic Glenn Kenny). Director Steven Soderbergh shot The Girlfriend Experience (under the pseudonym Peter Andrews) using the same high-definition camera he used on Che. The script is by the writing team David Levien and Brian Koppelman (Rounders), who previously worked with Soderbergh on Ocean's Thirteen. The Girlfriend Experience was shown at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. As with Soderbergh's Bubble, it was released theatrically and on pay-per-view on the same date. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A depressed young man moves back in with his parents and finds his life turned upside down as he struggles to choose between the beautiful daughter of a close family friend and the scintillating but volatile next-door neighbor whose passion helps to reignite his lust for life. The third screen outing for writer/director James Gray and actor Joaquin Phoenix following We Own the Night and The Yards, Two Lovers co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, and Vinessa Shaw. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on author Laura Kasischke's novel The Life Before Her Eyes, House of Sand and Fog director Vadim Perelman's provocative study of memory, morality, and conscience stars Uma Thurman as the guilt-ridden survivor of a harrowing, Columbine-like high-school shooting. To any outsider, Diana (played as a young girl by actress Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen (Eva Amurri) were polar opposites; Diana was always questioning authority, while Maureen quietly went about fulfilling the expectations of her devoutly religious family. Yet it was precisely theses differences that drew the two girls to one another and found them gradually growing to become best friends. As with any anxious high-school student, Diana and Maureen both existed in that strange grey zone between childhood and adulthood that found them constantly pondering the endless possibilities that awaited them in the outside world. Flash forward years later, and Diana's (played as an adult by Thurman) life isn't anything like she imagined it would be as a young girl. As Diana's traumatic past gradually comes into focus, it soon becomes obvious that she was profoundly affected by a pivotal event that occurred just prior to her high-school graduation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Filmmakers Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart explore the last gasp of the sexual revolution with this profile of Plato's Retreat -- New York City's most notorious, 1970s-era sex club. The year was 1977: the city was in the suffocating grip of a heat wave, nerves were rattled due to the energy crisis, and the social unrest was growing. But when the sun went down over the city, the nightlife flourished. The discos were packed, cocaine was all the rage at Studio 54, and over at CBGB the punks were smashing it up. Inspired by the open sexuality in gay clubs all across town, Larry Levenson hatched the idea to open a club where people could have sex freely, without shame or threat of lawful consequences. On the surface Levenson appeared to be just your average family man, but by night he would leave his wife at home to live it up at local swingers clubs. It was with the help of some particularly shady investors, as well as his girlfriend Mary and a series of steamy public-access commercials, that Levenson made his dreams of opening an extravagant, heterosexual sex club a reality. There were no inhibitions at Plato's Retreat, as highlighted by the numerous vintage clips showing the swingers paradise in its heyday. But while the city ultimately failed in their efforts to pass ordinances that would close Plato's Retreat, the club flourished until the closing of its doors on New Year's Eve, 1985, an erotic casualty of the growing AIDS crisis. Interviews with Melvin Van Peebles, Ed Koch, as well as other journalists, celebrities, and actual club employees paint a vivid image of the carefree era before sexuality was a matter of life and death. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Inspired by the personal memoirs of Hollywood producer Art Linson, Barry Levinson's fictional showbiz comedy stars Robert De Niro as a struggling movie producer who has just suffered through his second divorce, and slowly finds his soul being ground up in the machinations of the Hollywood machine. Ben (De Niro) is an aging producer whose career was already on a downward turn when his personal life went straight into the toilet. Not only is Ben juggling two ex-wives and a daughter who seems to have grown up overnight, but his colleagues seem to take pleasure in watching him suffer while he attempts to complete his latest film on an impossible schedule.

"Fiercely" was supposed to be the visionary movie that revived Ben's career, but drug-addicted director Jeremy (Michael Wincott) has clashed with uncompromising studio chief Lou (Catherine Keener) following a disastrous test screening, and now it appears as if not even Sean Penn's presence in the film will be enough to make it a box-office hit. Meanwhile, Ben's ex-wife Kelly (Robin Wright Penn) can't seem to decide if she loves him or hates him, and his teenage daughter, Zoe (Kristen Stewart), has gone from playing with Barbie dolls to flirting with boys in the blink of a heavily mascaraed eye. As if that wasn't enough for one man to take in, screenwriter Scott (Stanley Tucci) is trying to broker a deal with Ben while simultaneously making a play for his former wife, and nebbish agent Dick (John Turturro) is so terrified of his own clients that he can't even ask Bruce Willis to shave his scraggly new beard for an upcoming role. It's all just another day in the world of runaway egos, treachery, betrayal, and deceit that is Hollywood, and if Ben can just make it to Cannes with a finished film under his arm and his sanity in tact, everything might just work out after all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Brian De Palma turns his lens on the Iraq War with this "fictional documentary" about the experience of U.S. soldiers involved in the conflict. Based on a news item about the rape of an Iraqi schoolgirl by wayward grunts assigned to patrol a checkpoint, the film depicts a scenario not unlike the one De Palma covered in Casualties of War. Shot on high-definition video, Redacted also addresses the ever-evolving manner in which war is covered by the media by focusing on such journalistic innovations as blog coverage and web reporting. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

As the political revolt, consciousness expansion and calls for racial equality that dominated the late 1960's gave way to the apathy, drug abuse and materialism that would define much of the 1970's, Nicky Barnes was a man who seemed to symbolize this time all too well. Born and raised in a troubled household, Barnes grew up with few desires other than getting rich, and he did just that. Barnes was a drug dealer who promoted himself as the man with the best heroin and cocaine in New York City, and between 1970 and 1975 he became the wealthiest and most powerful illegal drug dealer in America. Heading an underground organization known as "The Council," Barnes had a handful of top drug peddlers working under him, and shrewdly aligned himself with Mafia-connected drug importers, cutting out middlemen and offering himself a measure of protection at the same time. The booming market for heroin and cocaine (drugs Barnes himself used with enthusiasm) made Barnes a multi-millionaire, but as pride comes before a fall, Barnes' certainty that the police could not catch up with him let to his downfall, as one of his underlings unwittingly gave him up to authorities. In time, Barnes went into the FBI's Witness Protection Program, and obtained his freedom by informing on the associates who helped make him a success. Barnes co-authored an autobiography in 2007, and filmmaker Marc Levin persuaded Barnes to tell his story on camera (though without revealing his face); Levin's interviews formed the basis of Mr. Untouchable, a documentary on Barnes rise, fall and disappearance into Middle America. Barnes' story was also featured in another 2007 release, American Gangster, a fact-based drama which portrays both Barnes and another powerful drug kingpin, Frank Lucas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

As far as raw eccentricity is concerned, few American families could top the Paskowitzes. The patriarch, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, began life on a commendable, even enviable course, with an M.D. under his arm, rippling sandy-haired good looks, and experience almost single-handedly teaching the country of Israel how to surf. But in the years to follow, bitterness and inveterate disappointment ensued as Dr. Paskowitz tried to settle into a conventional existence. Two broken marriages and a medical career that Dorian would later describe as "miserable" left him clawing his way out, desperate for an "alternative" lifestyle. He soon met, courted, and married his third wife, a ravishing, sexy young woman named Juliette; these two free spirits jointly decided that they would live life, budding family in-tow, on the open road, in a series of low-budget trailers. As one child after another cropped up over the course of a decade, the family toured the country winning one surfing competition after another, and Dr. Paskowitz accepted low-rent medical jobs for the poor that reeled in little to no income.

In theory, this all seemed idealistic, even utopian; in reality, Dorian Paskowitz was reportedly a severe disciplinarian who denied his children the benefits of school and financial security, forced everyone to stick to an almost unbearable diet of a gruel-like substance, and -- even more alarmingly -- felt comfortable having open and noisy sex with his wife, with the children only a few feet away. In time, as one child after another grew up, left the clan, and attempted to survive, they found it difficult, if not impossible to function in the day-to-day world without the education, social skills, and monetary know-how that so many young adults take for granted. With his documentary Surfwise, filmmaker Doug Pray tells the Paskowitzes' strange, bewildering, and ultimately heartbreaking story via incisive interviews with family members, still photographs, and telling archival footage. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Tonya Neely (Viola Davis) is a neighborhood activist on the south side of Chicago, trying to get her community to rally to tear down Eden Court, the dangerous housing project where she lives. After a family tragedy, she sent her youngest daughter, Cammie (Serena Reeder), off to live with friends in a middle-class neighborhood, where she could go to a better school. Leo Waters (Anthony LaPaglia), the architect who designed Eden Court many years ago, lives a seemingly idyllic life with his wife, Julia (Isabella Rossellini), his teenage daughter, Christina (Hayden Panettiere), and his son, Martin (Sebastian Stan), who has just returned home after dropping out of college. Leo's family is on the verge of a crisis. Julia's unhappiness with their marriage leads her to clean the house obsessively. Christina is only 15, but she is eager to explore her budding sexuality. Martin is understandably cynical about his home life, and confused about his own desires. When Tonya contacts Leo, hoping to convince him to sign the petition to tear down Eden Court, it sets a chain of events in motion that will force both families to confront the issues that they've tried so hard to avoid. The Architect, which also features performances by Paul James, Walton Goggins, Tijuana Ricks, Lauren Hodges, and Malcolm Goodwin, was directed by Matt Tauber, adapted from a play by Scottish playwright David Greig. The film had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A single mother from Queens becomes unwittingly embroiled in international espionage in director Hal Hartley's sequel to the critically acclaimed Henry Fool. Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is determined to raise her 14-year-old son, Ned (Liam Aiken), so he won't be like his father, Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan), who disappeared seven years ago after accidentally murdering a vicious neighbor. As Fay's brother, Simon (James Urbaniak), serves time in a prison cell for aiding Henry in his daring escape, he gradually begins to suspect that the man who inspired him to take up writing in the first place is not the louse he appeared to be, but instead the keeper of some potentially explosive government secrets that, if made public, could prove quite dangerous. As Simon begins to explore the possibility that Henry's autobiography, "Confessions," contains coded references to a wide variety of international atrocities committed by governments around the world, the CIA contacts Fay to inform her that her husband was killed in a hotel fire in Sweden shortly after fleeing America, and that the French government is currently in possession of two notebooks containing drafts of "Confessions." Convinced that the notebooks contain information that could endanger the security of the United States, CIA agent Fulbright (Jeff Goldblum) convinces Fay to travel to Paris and retrieve Henry's property before the information falls into the wrong hands. Now trapped in the middle of a cross-continental con and thrust deep into the world of international espionage, Fay is about to find out that her ex-husband is not only still alive, but in more trouble than he could ever imagine. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

John Stockwell's thriller Turistas begins when vacationers end up stranded in a little Brazilian village after a bus accident wipes out their transportation. Although many in the group are experienced when it comes to unusual travel destinations, none of them are able to get a handle on this strange village. They soon come to realize that they are stranded somewhere with something much more dangerous than they could have imagined. Josh Duhamel, Melissa George, and Olivia Wilde co-star. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Ordinary music soars to extraordinary heights as gifted keyboardist Herbie Hancock joins forces with a variety of well-known music superstars to offer a completely original listening experience. As Hancock collaborates with such artists as Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, Sting, and John Mayer, the cameras are permitted into the studios and behind-the-scenes to show just what happens when some of the greatest music minds of a generation converge. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide