Kiril Efremov Movies
Director Brian De Palma returns to the helm for the first time since 2002's Femme Fatale with this stylish screen adaptation of James Ellroy's novel detailing one of the most notorious unsolved murders in Hollywood history. Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) was a struggling actress looking to make a name for herself in 1940s-era Tinseltown. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, it was her grim fate that would ultimately overshadow anything she would accomplish during her short and tragic career. When police discover Elizabeth's body cut clean in half and with all of her organs missing, ex-pugilist detectives Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) are the men charged with cracking the case and apprehending the killer. This isn't your average murder case, however, and as Blanchard's marriage to Kay (Scarlett Johansson) begins to suffer due to his obsession with the sensational crime, his partner Bleichert discovers a troubling link between the victim and the mysterious Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a prominent socialite and the daughter of one of the town's most connected key players. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, (more)
In this made-for-cable sequel to Pythons, the U.S. Army's Colonel Jefferson (Marcus Aurelius) has successfully neutralized the horrific 12-ton, 57-foot python that had been developed as a jungle weapon by a top-secret intelligence organization. Unfortunately, still another synthetic "Beta Snake" has escaped from Sub-Basement 9 of the Russian-American Joint Military Operations -- and this one is 85 feet long, and even meaner and more invulnerable than the original python prototype. When the slimy predator slithers into the Ural Mountains, it is up to disgraced ex-ballplayer Dwight Stoddard (Dana Ashbrook) and his Russian wife Nadia (Simone Jade McKinnon) to capture and kill the monster. Alas, mysterious American Greg Larson (Billy Zabka), who claims to be a "biotechnician," proves to be the real snake in the grass in this melodramatic Bulgarian-American coproduction. Pythons II was first telecast in the U.S. by the Sci-Fi Channel on August 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Zabka, Dana Ashbrook, (more)
