David Stifel Movies
- 2005
After losing the anthrax shipment, Farik (Oded Fehr) gets a warning from his handlers. He'll be killed if he fails again. He's given a new assignment, and assigns each member of the cell a specific task. Darwyn (Michael Ealy) has to get custom-made tires which would be impervious to bullets. Christian (Alex Nesic) has to procure a bunch of dogs. Tommy (Blake Shields) trains to drive a big rig truck, while Farik and Ilija (Henri Lubatti) case a warehouse with a very heavy security system. It turns out that Kenneth Bin Al-Waleed (John Siciliano) is using the space to train fighters for the insurgency in Iraq. But Farik needs the space for his own purposes. He assigns his team to pose as would-be insurgents and train with Kenneth so they can recon the warehouse and get the security codes. Ray (James LeGros) gives Darwyn a lecture about his relationship with Gayle (Melissa Sagemiller), warning him that he's putting her and her son at risk. But Darwyn still joins Gayle and Marcus (Jake Soldera) for dinner at the home of Gayle's sister, Catherine (Eden Rountree), where he gets into an argument with Catherine's bigoted ex-husband. On entering the warehouse for "training," the four cell members are told that they can't have any contact with the outside world for the next month. After a couple of days (during which both Ray and Gayle grow increasingly distressed about Darwyn's lack of communication), Ilija figures out the security codes and contacts Farik. But Kenneth is not prepared to let his base be used as a headquarters for a terrorist group. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Director Ron Maxwell and producer Ted Turner return to the glory and tragedy of the Civil War in this historical drama, a prequel to Gettysburg, which examines the early days of the conflict through the experiences of three men. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) left behind a quiet life and a career as a college professor to become one of the Union's greatest military minds. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) was, like Chamberlain, a man of great religious faith who served in the defense of the Confederacy. And Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall), who led the Confederate army, was a man who was forced to choose between his loyalty to the United States and his love of the Southern states where he was born and raised. As Chamberlain, Jackson, and Lee are followed through the declaration of war and the battles at Manassas, Antietam, Frederickburg, and Chancellorsville, the film also introduces us to the many supporting players in the epic tale of the war between the States, among them the women these men left behind, among them Fanny Chamberlain (Mira Sorvino) and Anna Jackson (Kali Rocha). Based on a novel by Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals also features a new song written and performed by Bob Dylan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Stephen Lang, (more)
- 1997
This first episode of ER's fourth season originally aired live on September 25, 1997, with two separate telecasts for the East and West Coasts. A TV documentary crew follows Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) during a "typical" shift in the emergency room of Chicago's County General Hospital. Still not completely recovered from a brutal beating, Greene is none too happy about being a "TV star," sentiments shared by the ER's attending physician Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), who regards the camera crew as an invasion of everyone's privacy. As it turns out, the documentary makers get more than they bargained for as they record for posterity a gang fight, an out-of-control patient, and a heart attack. In the midst of all this confusion, Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) arrives from England to witness American surgical procedures. The syndicated version of "Ambush" combines scenes from both the East and West Coast broadcasts, expunging a number of conspicuous continuity errors and an embarrassing moment in which a crucial prop is misplaced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
