Hans Howes Movies
A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer in a high-stakes emotional drama from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson and Munich screenwriter Eric Roth. When his personal problems threaten to distract him from what could be his biggest win ever, seasoned poker pro Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) finds comfort in the company of singer Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). Upon preparing for the biggest card game in the country, however, Huck soon realizes that his problems have only just begun when he finds that his opponent at the table will be none other than his estranged father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), a poker legend whose mythical reputation makes him a more than worthy opponent for his troubled son. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, (more)
For his sophomore effort, director Gary Ross re-teams with Tobey Maguire and William H. Macy, stars of his directorial debut Pleasantville, for this depression-era sports drama about the legendary racehorse, Seabiscuit. Unlike 1949's fictionalized The Story of Seabiscuit starring Shirley Temple, this version attempts to present a factual account of the story, which centers around the three men who saw the famed horse to victory. Jeff Bridges stars as Charles Howard, an entrepreneur who owns the unlikely racehorse. Howard teams with partially blind boxer-turned-jockey Red Pollard (Maguire in his first performance since annihilating the 2002 box-office in Spider-Man) and horse trainer Tom Smith (Chris Cooper fresh off his best-supporting actor Oscar for Adaptation). Together, the three work to help the famed horse to several symbolic victories that helped to inspire a downtrodden 1930s America. The supporting cast, headed by Macy, includes Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man) and real-life jockeys Gary Stevens and Chris McCarron. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, (more)
- 1995
As the Sipowicz-Costas nuptuals approach, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) expresses a desire to get married quickly in a Maryland civil service, while Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence) wants a big, fat Greek Orthodox Wedding. Back on the job, Sipowicz and Simone (Jimmy Smits) investigate an execution-style multiple slaying at an upstate restaurant. And in the midst of a rape investigation, Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) expresses jealousy when his partner Lesniak (Justine Miceli) is reunited with her high-school friend Paul (Tom Verica), who happens to be the doctor tending to the elderly rape victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Party-hard skydiving teacher Ditch Brodie (Charlie Sheen) has a knack for getting himself into trouble, but his booze-babes-and-planes shenanigans hardly prepare him for an international plot that pits Brodie and a mysterious KGB agent against a post-Cold War Russian villain called Kerr (Chris McDonald) and an American heavy named Ben Pinkwater (James Gandolfini). Aerial set pieces alternate with tongue-in-cheek flirtation and conspiracy-theory suspense as Brodie meets a beautiful new student, Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski), then must try to explain to the authorities how he allowed her to fall out of a plane to her death. Soon Brodie -- on the run from both Kerr and the police -- begins to realize that in espionage, as in romance, often nothing is as it seems. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Nastassja Kinski, (more)
- 1991
- R
A spoiled rich girl leaves her pop's protection and gets a job in an L.A. bar where she meets and falls for an unknown musician. She's out to prove to daddy, that she can cut it on her own. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Schoelen, Don Michael Paul, (more)
Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Robert Guillaume, (more)
- 1990
In this made-for-cable chiller, a psychopath provides himself with a veritable smorgasbord of victims by masquerading as a member of the California Highway Patrol and bedeviling the residents of a small desert town during his vacation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Michael Parks, (more)
An officer of the law becomes a wanted man while trailing a killer in this crime drama. Jack Murphy (Charles Bronson) is a police detective who helped to put Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), a psychotic murderer, behind bars ten years ago. However, Joan is now back on the street and determined to get revenge on Jack. She kills Jack's ex-wife and her new husband, and she cleverly frames the detective for the crime. Jack is arrested and taken into custody handcuffed to Arabella McGee (Kathleen Wilhoite), a rough-and-ready young hoodlum picked up for theft. Jack is able to escape, and has to track down Joan in order to clear his name with Arabella as his unwitting accomplice. Murphy's Law also features Lawrence Tierney and Richard Romanus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, (more)
Ralph Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy takes place shortly after the Ice Age. The evil queen Juliana (voice of Eileen O'Reill) plots to conquer the world and raises her son Nekron (Sean Hannon) as a master of sorcery and arcane mental powers. Together the two conquer the Ice Kingdom, and from their stronghold Nekron commands massive glaciers to destroy everything between them and their ultimate goal: Fire Keep, ruled by the wise and powerful King Jarol Leo Gordon. Nekron's latest advance destroys a Northern village, leaving Larn (Randy Norton) the sole survivor, bent on revenge; it also exhausts Nekron, who resorts to sending emissaries to coerce Jarol into surrendering. When words fail, they resort to kidnapping Jarol's daughter Teegra (Cynthia Leake), who escapes and accidentally hooks up with Larn. Aided by the mysterious masked warrior Darkwolf (Steve Sandor), they attempt to return to Fire Keep and mobilize their warriors to bring the fight to Nekron. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Tyrrell, Maggie Roswell, (more)
