Dion Johnstone Movies
- 2008
- PG13
- Add The X-Files: I Want to Believe to QueueAdd The X-Files: I Want to Believe to top of Queue
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with this long-delayed big-screen continuation that revives the series six years after it headed off the air in 2002. Creator Chris Carter returns to direct, co-writing the script with series veteran Frank Spotnitz for 20th Century Fox. Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and rapper Xzibit co-star in the stand-alone sequel. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, (more)
An unlikely band of scientists and soldiers join forces to save the world from certain destruction in this action-drama. As the world is struck with a variety of inexplicable phenomena -- attacks by enormous swarms of birds in London, the explosion of the Colosseum in Rome, a potentially deadly malfunction which forces the Space Shuttle into a Los Angeles riverbed, and the simultaneous deaths of 32 people with pacemakers in Boston -- a team of top scientific minds from around the globe is assembled to determine what has thrown the world into such a frenzy. Dr. John Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) makes the startling discovery that the Earth's electromagnetic forces have begun to collapse, thanks to a sudden lack of movement of the molten ore at the center of the Earth. If the planet is to be saved, the core of the Earth needs a jump start, and Keyes assembles a team to burrow to the center of the planet and bomb the insides back into action. Joining Keyes on this dangerous, last-chance mission are the brilliant but arrogant Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), French arms expert Dr. Serge Levesque (Tchéky Karyo, maverick researcher "Brazz" Brazzleton (Delroy Lindo), geeky computer genius Rat (DJ Qualls), and two no-nonsense military types, Commander Richard Iverson (Bruce Greenwood) and Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank). However, as the crew digs deeper into the Earth, the more they discover what they haven't been told about their mission and what's really been causing the worldwide chaos. The Core was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2002, but the movie didn't reach theaters until the spring of 2003 as special-effects experts perfected the film's more spectacular scenes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, (more)
Four men are changed forever by an act of mercy -- changes which have a profound impact many years later -- in this blend of horror and science fiction based on a novel by Stephen King. Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Henry (Thomas Jane), Pete (Timothy Olyphant), and Beaver (Jason Lee) were four friends who, as schoolboys, rescued a boy with Down's Syndrome, Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), from a savage beating at the hands of bullies. Their experience with Duddits left the boys profoundly changed, as they discovered they had developed psychic powers which allowed them to wordlessly communicate with one another, read the minds of others, and see events in the future. The four remained close friends into adulthood, and meet every year for a weekend get-together at a remote hunting lodge. However, one year Jonsey is approached by the spirit of Duddits, which leads him into a severe auto accident, though his wounds heal with mysterious speed and are gone by the time he and the guys get together a few months later. As the guys drink and swap stories, a desperately ill hunter makes his way into the cabin, whose body has become the host for a horrible wormlike creature, which breaks free and soon goes on a killing spree, leaving only Henry alive. In the wake of this attack comes a massive snowstorm, and Henry learns that these events are the first signs of a major attack by a powerful alien force which can assume any form it wishes. As duplicitous military leader Col. Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman) comes in to quell the menace, Henry finds himself in communication with the late Jonsey, whose previous near-death experience gives him an unexpected advantage in stemming the alien tide. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, (more)
- 2002
Season One of Monk begins with this first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "TV" movie). On psychiatric leave from the San Francisco PD since the unsolved 1997 murder of his wife Trudy, former police detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) returns as a private eye to help the department solve two seemingly unconnected murders. The first victim is a woman named Nicole Vasquez; the second is a professional bodyguard killed during an assassination attempt on mayoral candidate Warren St. Claire (Michael Hogan). Monk determines that the link between the two murders may well by St. Claire's wife Miranda (Gail O'Grady), but his efforts to solve the crimes are impeded every inch of the way by the emotional "tics" he has developed since his wife's death: Namely, an obsessive-compulsive streak to end all obsessive-compulsive streaks, and a veritable laundry list of phobias including fear of the dark, of heights, of crowds, and especially of milk! Although most of the Monk trademarks are established in this opening episode (the lead character's obsessive-compulsiveness, his photographic memory, et.al.), there are a few significant departures from the weekly series proper: For one, the character played by Jason Gray-Stanford is named Lt. Deacon rather than Lt. Disher; and for another, the role of Sharona's son Benjy is played by Kane Ritchotte instead of Max Morrow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
On an archeological expedition to the planet P3X 888, Jackson (Michael Shanks) discovers an ancient, primordial Goa'uld symbiote. But before he can return to the complex with this artifact, Jackson is captured by a Unas (Dion Johnstone), a huge, primitive creature. The SG-1 team would like to rescue Jackson, but their efforts are stymied by an unexpected threat. (The name of Jackson's Unas captor will undoubtedly bring a smile to the lips of anyone familiar with the 1970s Saturday-morning adventure series Land of the Lost). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
In the year 2020, hardbitten, hard-drinking ex-cop Sam Ryan (William Devane) continues to guiltily grieve over the murder of his father twenty years earlier. With the help of a newly developed time machine, Sam is given the chance to return to 2000 in hopes of preventing his dad's murder. Alas, he arrives a few second too late--and before he quite knows what is happening, he is accused of committing the crime himself. Forced to go on the run, Sam now dedicates himself to clearing his name and tracking down his father's killer, with only a few hours left before the time machine whisks him back to the future. In this pursuit, he is aided and abetted by "himself"--that is, by the younger Sam Ryan, played by Rob Estes. Filmed in Vancouver, the made-for-cable The Man Who Used to Be Me debuted over the Fox Family Channel on July 16, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Devane, Rob Estes, (more)
- 1999
Upon returning to the Stargate Complex, the SG-1 crew is injected with sedatives and imprisoned--apparently on the orders of their own commander, General Hammond (Don S. Davis). Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal'c (Christopher Judge) subsequently discover that the complex has been taken over by aliens possessing the power of metamorphosis. In their attempts to escape, the crew members are stymied by the fact that the cannot tell their friends from their enemies--even among themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
The scene is a offworld military camp, where young warriors are trained to impersonate Stargate Command personnel, then sent to infiltrate earth. Captain Rogers (Aaron Craven), head of the camp, assumes that the SG-1 team are new recruits, and drills them to be lean mean fighting machines on behalf of the dreaded Goa'uld. In an effort to save his comrades--and, by extension, the earth--O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) must convince the other trainees that their noble mission is both futile and wrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
