Roberto Sanchez Movies

Carlos (Manny Perez) is a talented artist who draws comics for a living. He's desperate to move out of his Washington Heights neighborhood. His girlfriend, Maggie (Andrea Navedo) feels more connected to the neighborhood. She's not so eager to leave. Carlos's best friend, Mickey (Danny Hoch), works as a super in the building his father owns, but he dreams of being a professional bowler. He's scheming to raise three grand to enter an open tournament in Las Vegas. Carlos's father, Eddie (accomplished Cuban-born actor Tomas Milian, who starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's Indentificazione di una donna), owns a neighborhood grocery store, and is well-liked in the neighborhood for his friendly way of doing business. Despite his advanced age, he's also a ladies' man, and was so even before Carlos's mother passed away. His philandering ways account for a lot of the tension between father and son. Carlos wants to draw his own comic book, but his boss, David (David Zayas) tells him that while he's got technical ability, his work is soulless. But Carlos's plans for the future are disrupted when Eddie is shot and critically wounded during a robbery at the store. Carlos resentfully takes care of his ailing father, and runs the store until Eddie can go back to work. Carlos's growing understanding of his community, and his father's importance to it, is reflected in his work, and he has a creative breakthrough. Meanwhile, Mickey's moneymaking schemes get him into trouble with Angel (Bobby Cannavale), Maggie's gangster brother. Washington Heights was directed by Alfredo De Villa, who wrote the script with Nat Moss. Novelist Junot Diaz (Drown) wrote additional dialogue. The film was shown at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival, and at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival, where it received a Special Mention. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Vin Diesel opted to not appear in the sequel to the film the shot him to stardom in the first place, The Fast and the Furious. With the character of Dominic Toretto out of the picture, 2 Fast 2 Furious concentrates exclusively on the latest exploits of undercover agent Brian O'Connor, played by Paul Walker. In addition, with director Rob Cohen passing, producers have added a dash of credibility to the sequel by hiring John Singleton to helm. What does completely remain from the first film is the presence of fast-living underground street-racing gangs. Moving from Los Angeles to Miami, O'Connor is looking to redeem himself after the events of the first movie, so he again goes undercover to infiltrate another group of thuggish car enthusiasts. This time around he's enlisted the help of ex-con Roman Pierce (Tyrese) and fellow agent Monica Celemente (Eva Mendes) to bring down Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), an importer/exporter who heads up a massive drug trafficking operation. Heading up the supporting cast are hip-hop stars Ludacris and Fabolous. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Two out-of-work do their best to find a job and make the rent in this comedy starring Godfrey and James Leary, and featuring Tiny Lister. It's been well over a decade since Jamal and Dex hit the audition circuit in search of that career-boosting breakthrough role, and neither has managed to land so much as an onscreen speaking role. Now fresh out of cash and facing eviction, Jamal and Dex begin pounding the pavement in search of a job despite a rather serious lack of experience, skill sets, and ambition. If they could just catch a break before the end of the day, perhaps these two lovable losers can manage to keep a roof over their heads long enough to land the audition they've been waiting for. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young woman who has lived a life of purpose gets a taste of the pleasures of sloth, American-style, in this independent comedy drama from director Mike Ott. Rintaro (Rintaro Sawamoto) and Atsuko (Atsuko Okatsuka) are two siblings from Japan visiting the United States for the first time. They've come to California to see Manzanar, where their Japanese-American grandfather was interned during World War II, but while driving through the desert, their rental car breaks down and they find themselves stranded in a small town called Littlerock. Rintaro doesn't speak English well and Atsuko doesn't know the language at all, but fortunately the two are befriended by a well-meaning slacker named Cory (Cory Zacharia). Though Cory dreams of moving to Los Angeles and becoming an actor, in the meantime he spends his days drinking beer, smoking pot, and hanging out with his friends. While Rintaro is eager to get out of town, Atsuko finds she likes the freedom of a life without goals and responsibilities, and it doesn't hurt that one of Cory's friends is clearly infatuated with her. When the car is running again, Rintaro is ready to hit the road, but Atsuko decides to stay on in Littlerock, only to discover Cory's life is a bit more complicated than she imagined. Littlerock was an official selection at the American Film Institute's 2010 AFI Fest. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi