William Sadler Movies

Robert De Niro and Paul Dano headline writer/director Paul Weitz's adaptation of Nick Flynn's memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. The story concerns a struggling writer named Nick (Dano), who is working at an inner-city homeless shelter when his estranged father Jonathan (De Niro) shows up looking for a place to rest his head. Dale Dickey, Lili Taylor, Olivia Thirlby, and Julianne Moore co-star in a film produced by Depth of Field in association with Tribeca Productions and Corduroy Films. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man posing as a writer arrives in a lakeside Michigan city to investigate a bizarre series of murders, only to learn that he may be next when all of his informants begin dropping like flies. One year ago, insurance-fraud investigator Bryan Spikes was implicated as the man responsible for a vicious murder spree, but he was quickly killed before he could speak out. Just as local fervor surrounding the case begins to die down, Alex Forrester (Mark Bierlein) arrives in town claiming to be a writer researching the case. Before long it becomes apparent that Bryan was permanently silenced as he prepared to make a startling revelation. Now everyone who talks to Alex gets a one-way ticket to the morgue. It seems the only people Alex can trust are his amiable neighbor (Tom Arnold), an ex-sharpshooter, and Heather (Mena Suvari), Bryan's former girlfriend. But even they seem frustratingly elusive. Later, when Alex finds himself in the crosshairs and learns that Heather has been targeted as well, he steps up his investigation and learns that this quaint city harbors a very dark secret. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Frustrated fast food employee Joe (D.J. Qualls) eschews his plan to seek revenge against his sadistic boss (William Sadler) after exchanging glances with pretty customer Stephanie (Nikki Reed), and kidnapping her on a whim. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Dark Castle Home Entertainment and Warner Premiere collaborate for this shocker about a film fanatic whose quest to procure a print of a notorious slasher movie leads him and two friends on a trek into the backwoods where the film was originally shot. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Estranged from his parents by circumstance and nudged toward a foster family, a young boy seeks out his long-lost folks and discovers prodigious musical talent in this family-oriented drama from Disco Pigs director Kirsten Sheridan. In the aftermath of a passionate night together above New York's Washington Square, a charismatic Irish guitarist named Louis (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and a reserved cellist named Lyla (Keri Russell) are forced apart by fate. Despite the fact that they do not remain together, however, their fleeting union has created something amazing that neither could have ever anticipated -- a baby. Unfortunately, just after the child's birth, the mother is misinformed that the infant has died. Cut to 11 years later, when the child, Evan, is living in a Gotham-area boys' home and has developed an acute ability to listen to the sounds of the outside world -- hoping against all hope that his biological mother and father will turn up to claim him, while those in charge try to encourage him to open himself up to the possibility of adoption. Unduly rejecting these bids, Evan runs away into the city. Out on the streets, the child falls into the clutches of a manipulative, untrustworthy street person named Wizard (Robin Williams), who renames Evan "August Rush" and opens the boy up to the depth and breadth of his own musical talent even as he smells the opportunity to grow rich off of the foundling. Meanwhile, Evan/August's hope persists that he will be reunited with his folks, and Louis and Lyla, unable to forget their initial night of love, feel themselves being drawn back together by fate. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Frankie L. Faison, Hill Harper, and Zoe Saldana star in director Pete Chatmon's tale of an emerging African American actor who embarks on a frantic race to prevent the love of his life from marrying another man. After being ejected from a casting call for a tempestuous outburst, told by his mother that he will soon be homeless in the city, and discovering that his one-time fiancée is set to be married in just thirty-eight hours, the lovelorn thespian sets out to get his act together and convince his would-be bride that the pair were always meant to be together. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A pair of violent young lovers armed with a video camera and plenty of attitude take flight as directors Jon Schroder and Randall K. Rueben instill Natural Born Killers sentiment with a heaping helping of Blair Witch Project style. Judy (Rachael Bella) is a high school outcast who just can't seem to shake her bullies. Jimmy (Edward Furlong) is a recently de-institutionalized suburbanite with a serious video camera obsession. Though Judy is at first unimpressed by Jimmy's reckless rebel attitude, her option soon shifts when the unstable newcomer captures himself on camera delivering a little vigilante justice to her unrelenting tormentors. Tragedy soon strikes, however, when the increasingly unpredictable Jimmy accidentally kills a cop, and the frightened pair are send fleeing into a remote commune presided over with Manson-like fervor by the malevolent Uncle Rodney (William Sadler). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Launched in March 2004 as a mid-season replacement, this supernatural comedy drama suffered a death as quick as its premise was quirky. Thanks in part to a punishing Friday-night time slot, Wonderfalls managed only four episodes before Fox pulled the plug. Less than a year later, however, the offbeat series found new life on DVD, where all 13 completed installments were released to brisk sales and critical acclaim (see Wonderfalls -- The Complete Series). The brainchild of veteran director Todd Holland (Twin Peaks, My So-Called Life) and Dead Like Me creator Bryan Fuller, Wonderfalls chronicles the misadventures of Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a Niagara Falls, NY gift-shop employee whose snarky world view gets shaken up when inanimate objects -- a wax lion, a stuffed chameleon -- begin ordering her around. Convinced she's cracking up, Jaye nevertheless follows the animals' instructions and unwittingly helps a broad range of unusual characters: an elementary-school Romeo, a stuttering stalker, a faithless nun, a mysterious housekeeper, etc. Her partners in crime on these assignments include sardonic pal Mahandra (Tracie Thoms), buttoned-up lesbian sister Sharon (Kate Finneran), and overeducated, underachieving brother Aaron (Lee Pace). Though unaware of their daughter's peculiar conversations with stuffed animals, Jaye's stuffy parents Karen (Diana Scarwid) and Darrin (William Sadler) also figure prominently in her adventures. So does Eric (Tyron Leitso), a hot, heartbroken bartender whose honeymoon was recently cut short when he caught his bride servicing the hotel bellhop. As Jaye flirts with Eric, fights with her family, and struggles to maintain her ironic detachment, she comes reluctantly closer to understanding the nature of her unorthodox destiny. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

On a Saturday afternoon, Roseanne makes a bet with Dan that he can't finish repairing his truck. If he wins, she has to do all the snow shoveling; if she wins, he has to clean the oven. Dan has his friends over to help him with a tune up while Rosanne and the girls discuss Jackie's love life. Guest star Bill Pentland (Roseanne's real-life first husband) appears as neighbor Fred Meeker. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi