Jill Ritchie Movies

California is at the epicenter of a political and environmental disaster that threatens to destroy the world in this ambitious fusion of comedy, drama, dystopian science fiction, and music from writer and director Richard Kelly, his first film after gaining a cult following with Donnie Darko. In the year 2005, a nuclear attack wipes out part of the state of Texas, and three years later America is a virtual police state, with the government taking control of nearly every part of people's lives, supposedly for their own good. A German firm has found a way to generate energy using seawater, but both public and private concerns are desperate to prevent the new technology from being introduced in the gasoline-starved United States. A Marxist underground based on the West Coast is determined to bring down the federal government through violent revolution.

In this midst of this chaos, we follow a number of stories that continually return to three principle characters. Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock) is an actor famous for his role in action films; he's trying to secure financing for a new project, but reality keeps mirroring the events in his script and he struggles to hold on to his identity following a bout with amnesia. Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a porn star who is reinventing herself as a television pundit offering her views on politics, contemporary culture, and teenage sex. And Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott) is an L.A. police officer whose identity has mysteriously split in two, and he struggles to track down his other half. Featuring a massive supporting cast which includes Mandy Moore, Miranda Richardson, Wallace Shawn, Jon Lovitz, Kevin Smith, Amy Poehler, and Justin Timberlake, Southland Tales received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival; director Kelly also created an accompanying series of three graphic novels that chart these events and characters prior to this story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Darwinian plight of a small Arizona town's youthful but aimless population leads to a series of strange confrontations in Lansdown director Tom Zuber's slacker-themed slice of life. While trim-and-tidy outward appearances give Little Athens the illusion of calm tranquility, a look at the life of the post-high school populace struggling to make ends meet betrays first impressions. Over the course of 24 hours, a revealing look at the population of Little Athens reveals a paranoid EMS worker named Heather (Erica Leerhsen), whose suspicions that her boyfriend is cheating drive her to drastic measures; a debt-ridden pizza delivery buy named Jimmy (John Patrick Amedori), who has turned to dealing drugs as a means of restoring his financial stability; an STD-infested teen whose boyfriend is itching for revenge; and a pair of pool-cleaning roommates (DJ Qualls and Jorge Garcia) whose fledgling business doesn't turn enough coin to cover the rent. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man who writes the book on ending a romance runs into rough sledding while starting a new one in this comedy. Quincy (Jamie Foxx) is a magazine editor whose life takes an unexpected turn for the worse when his fiancée, Helen (Bianca Lawson), decides to give him some interesting news at their engagement party -- she's breaking up with him. A few days later, Quincy's boss, Phillip (Peter MacNicol), gives him the task of cutting manpower in his department by 15 percent; too emotionally beaten to fire anyone, Quincy responds by quitting his job. Deeply depressed, Quincy begins writing a letter to Helen to explain his feelings, but as he analyses his emotions, his notes take a different turn, and Quincy decides to write a book about how to painlessly break up with someone. The book becomes a smash best-seller, and Quincy's friends begin turning to him for advice on the subject of getting out of relations. Quincy's cousin Evan (Morris Chestnut) is eager to call things off with his girlfriend, Nicky (Gabrielle Union), and asks him to do the dirty work for him; however, Evan begins to have second thoughts when he discovers Quincy has fallen for her. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide