Russell Andrews Movies
An ordinary lawman goes outside the law to carry out his own brand of justice in this dark-themed thriller. Frank Castle (Thomas Jane) is an FBI agent who deeply loves his wife and son, but is also strongly devoted to his work. Castle's investigation of a powerful crime cartel leads to a gunfight which claims the life of a young boy, whose father is underworld kingpin Howard Saint (John Travolta). Furious and eager for revenge, Saint arranges for Castle and his family to be murdered in retaliation. However, while Castle's wife and son are killed, he somehow survives, even though he's believed to have perished. Bent on stopping Saint once and for all, Castle remakes himself as The Punisher, a ruthless and heavily armed killing machine who will not rest until Saint and his crew have been wiped clean from the Earth. Based on a Marvel Comics character first introduced in 1974, The Punisher also stars Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Laura Elena Harring, Roy Scheider, and Kevin "Big Sexy" Nash. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Jane, John Travolta, (more)
Lots of people have misgiving about their in-laws, but in this offbeat comedy, a man discovers that his new son-in-law's father is significantly stranger than he's able to deal with. Jerry Peyser (Albert Brooks) is a well-meaning but slightly anal-retentive podiatrist who doesn't much care for surprises in his life. When his daughter Melissa (Lindsay Sloane) announces she's going to marry her boyfriend, Mark Tobias (Ryan Reynolds), Jerry figures that helping his wife plan the wedding and getting through the ceremony is as much excitement as he needs or wants. However, when Jerry and his wife, Katherine (Maria Ricossa), meet Mark's father for the first time, Steve Tobias (Michael Douglas) ends up taking Jerry on the ride of his life. Both Mark and Steve's ex-wife, Judy (Candice Bergen), seem to have a decidedly ambivalent attitude about Steve, and Jerry finds out why -- Steve is actually an undercover agent for the CIA. In the guise of doing Steve a favor, Jerry gets dragged into a strange and dangerous episode involving international arms dealers, French super-villains, heavily armed men's room attendants, and a stolen private jet belonging to Barbra Streisand, as well as several less-than-pleasant encounters with Angela (Robin Tunney), Steve's colleague in espionage who doesn't trust Jerry. The In-Laws was adapted from the memorable 1979 comedy of the same name, in which Alan Arkin and Peter Falk played the mismatched fathers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Douglas, Albert Brooks, (more)
- 1998
The date is November 23, which holds special significance for a number of reasons. To begin with, the date marks the five-year anniversary of Casey (Peter Krause) and Dan's (Josh Charles) working relationship -- an event that seems to hold more importance to Dan than to Casey. When Casey fails to remember this milestone, Dan becomes passively hostile toward Casey -- which in turn angers Casey. In frustration, Casey asks the Sports Night crew why November 23 is an important date and Jeremy (Joshua Malina) announces that the date marks the anniversary of the first spoken performance by the ancient Greek actor Thespis, who is universally accepted as the first actor. Furthermore, Jeremy elaborates, Thespis is now a ghost who enjoys haunting any type of production that occurs on November 23rd, and that the crew should be prepared for a night filled with unexpected mishaps. Isaac (Robert Guillaume), in the meantime, is fretting over an argument he had with his wife just prior to her departure for California to be with their nearly full-term pregnant daughter -- only to later learn that his daughter has gone into early labor due to some unexpected and potentially serious complications. Dana (Felicity Huffman) is also worked up over her impending duties as host for her family's Thanksgiving Day festivities, since this is her first attempt at hosting and she'd rather not have to deal with what she believes her mother's reaction will be. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1997
As dozens of commuters look on in horror, John Langer (Vincent D'Onofrio) falls between the cars of a subway train. No one, however, is quite certain whether Langer fell accidentally, jumped, or was deliberately pushed. But the homicide detectives on the scene are certain about one disturbing fact: If any attempt is made to move Langer, he will probably die on the spot. As the grimly philosophical Langer awaits the inevitable, the detectives search for two people -- one of whom may be a killer. "Subway" was the episode profiled on the PBS documentary Anatomy of a 'Homicide: Life on the Street' (originally telecast November 4, 1998). The episode was also nominated for two Emmys: one for D'Onofrio as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, the other for James Yoshimura for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andre Braugher, Clark Johnson, (more)
