J. Mackye Gruber Movies
Created by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, the 60-minute supernatural drama series Kyle XY was set in Washington state. Matt Dallas headed the cast as 17-year-old orphan Kyle, designated a "savant" because, although he possessed heightened intelligence, he was completely bereft of such normal human emotions as anger, joy, and love. Adopted by paranormal psychologist Nicole Trager (Marguerite MacIntyre), Kyle came to live with Nicole's family, including husband Stephen (Bruce Thomas) and children Lori (April Matson) and Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau). Each episode revealed a bit more about Kyle's unique abilities on a "need-to-know" basis, and also a few tantalizing clues concerning his hitherto mysterious background. There were also hints aplenty that Kyle was not "of this world" -- for example, he was apparently born without a navel (and his real name wasn't Barbara Eden!). Moreover, Kyle's voice-over narration was peppered with Biblical references and hark backs to famous science fiction films, further deepening the mystery and heightening the audience's fascination with this most enigmatic of TV heroes. First telecast by cable's ABC Family service on June 26, 2006, Kyle XY was also seen on that channel's sister over-the-air network ABC beginning June 30. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Final Destination 2 screenwriters Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber make their directorial debut with the sci-fi thriller The Butterfly Effect. Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher with facial hair) wants to free himself from his disturbing childhood memories. As a kid, he often blacked out for long periods of time and tried to detail his life in a journal. As a young adult, he revisits the journal entries to figure out the truth about his troubled childhood friends Kayleigh (Amy Smart), Lenny (Elden Henson), and Tommy (William Lee Scott). When he discovers he can travel back in time in order to set things right, he tries to save his beloved friends. However, he finds out that relatively minor changes can make major problems for the future. The Butterfly Effect also stars Eric Stoltz, Ethan Suplee, and Melora Walters. The title was inspired by the story A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, (more)
A thin thread of electronic data may be the only thing that can save a women and her family in this thriller. Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) is a biology teacher who is kidnapped by Ethan (Jason Statham), a vicious criminal who has threatened to murder her husband and son if he doesn't get what he wants. Ethan destroys the only working telephone in the cabin where she's held, but Jessica manages to put enough of the pieces together to send out a call that's picked up by Ryan (Chris Evans), a college student, on his cellular phone. Jessica manages to convince Ryan of the gravity of her situation, but she has no idea of where she's being held, leaving his cell phone as the only link to her whereabouts -- and his batteries are starting to wear out. Cellular was scripted by Larry Cohen, the exploitation film auteur who enjoyed a major comeback with his script for another telephone-based story, Phone Booth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Chris Evans, (more)
Death lurks, and two teenage girls try to figure out where he's heading, in this sequel to the unexpected teen horror hit Final Destination. As Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), the only surviving passenger of the ill-fated Flight 180, waits in a mental institution, certain Death will claim her, Kim (A.J. Cook), who has begun to display precognitive powers, is driving along the highway when she sees a terrible accident in which several cars crash into a logging truck. Moments later, the horrible vision is gone, but Kim is certain she saw an accident that was supposed to happen but didn't...and now Death will track down the souls he meant to take that day who slipped through his fingers. A police officer, Thomas Burke (Michael Landes), believes there's a germ of truth in Kim's story, and teams her up with Clear in hopes that together they can help prevent Death from snuffing out any more of the people involves in the accident that wasn't. Tony Todd also returns from the first film as Mr. Bludworth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, (more)
