Joe Cobden Movies

Veteran Canadian filmmaker Anne Wheeler spins this lighthearted romantic comedy about finding love in odd places. Jackie York (Wendy Crewson) is middle-aged author whose books regularly top the bestseller lists but whose romantic life consists mostly of bad choices from the cutout bin. Though the odd male groupie entertains her now and again, Jackie finds herself particularly interested in a fledgling writer whom she's been corresponding with online. Intelligent, witty, and very talented, this mysterious man seems to be everything she has always looked for in a man. The only trouble is that the guy, Patrick McKeating (Joe Cobden), is all of twenty years old. Though her first reaction is one of fear, Jackie's initial reservations give way to passion as the two slide into her large hot tub. While Jackie is more than happy in private, she has lots of qualms about appearing in public with a boyfriend half her age. To make matters worse, her filmmaker ex-boyfriend (Peter Coyote) is snooping around, and asking questions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Chuck Barris is best known to most Americans as the guy who used to host The Gong Show. He was also the creator and producer of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and a handful of other successful game shows in the 1960s and 1970s. But was he also a hired killer working with the CIA? That's the take-it-or-leave-it premise of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the memoir of the same name by Chuck Barris. Barris (Sam Rockwell) grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney), a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia (Julia Roberts). As he hops the globe, killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marked the directorial debut of actor George Clooney, working from a screenplay adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Barris' book. Dick Clark, Dating Game host Jim Lange, frequent Gong Show panelist Jaye P. Morgan, and Gene Gene Patton appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Directed by Roland Emmerich, this mega-budget, special-effects-laden epic revolves around the onset of an international series of crises brought on by the long-term results of the greenhouse effect. At the eye of the storm is paleoclimatologist (a professor dedicated to the study of weather patterns throughout the ages) Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), who voluntarily takes on the preservation of the world in the dawn of the next ice age and all the disaster that comes along with it -- violent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, massive floods, etc. Hall must also contact his son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal), who was in the middle of an academic competition in New York City when the chaos begun. In addition to facing the largest-scale onslaught of natural catastrophes in the history of humankind, Jack, in his journey north, must contend with the masses fleeing south in an attempt to resettle in a warmer climate. The Day After Tomorrow also features Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Joe Cobden. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A husband endeavors to win back his new bride's heart after she loses her memory in a tragic car accident in this romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi