Bill Shively Movies

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas star Johnny Depp returns to the wild world of Hunter S. Thompson in writer/director Bruce Robinson's adaptation of the Gonzo journalist's "lost" autobiographical novel of the same name. Dejected over life in New York City and at bitter odds with the Eisenhower-era conventions of the 1950s, nomadic journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) flees to Puerto Rico, where he quickly lands a job as a reporter for a San Juan newspaper. Drawing inspiration from author Ernest Hemingway's popular theory about "The Lost Generation," the newly liberated journalist develops a taste for rum as he becomes slowly entangled in the lives of American beauty Chenault (Amber Heard) and her shady husband, Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a wealthy real-estate developer. Later, as Sanderson's underhanded business dealings begin to emerge, Kemp's principles come into focus, and his writing style begins to mature in ways he never dreamed possible. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Hopper, Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb, and Deborra-Lee Furness star in a family drama detailing the efforts made by an 12-year-old girl to come to terms with her mother's abandonment. Tara's (Robb) mother, Joleen (Theron), just can't seem to get her life together. Her boyfriend has recently been arrested for growing marijuana, and rather than attempting to create a stable living environment for her daughter, Joleen instead places Tara in foster care before vanishing without a trace. Joleen's brother, James (Stahl), isn't exactly the picture of equilibrium, yet he does feel sympathetic toward his niece and obligated to help her though such difficult times. After breaking Tara out of foster care, James and his newly freed niece set out on the open road together. Destination: nowhere. But every road has an end, and before long James and Tara find themselves at James and Joleen's father's farm. James has always avoided thinking about his violent childhood, though he realizes that in order to break the vicious cycle of dysfunction that the family has fallen into he must finally confront the demons of his past. Now, as Tara begins to understand why her missing mother has lived such a tumultuous life, James prepares for the confrontation that could bring his family closer together than ever before, if it doesn't destroy them first. William Maher, who served as visual effects supervisor for the 2005 Sundance film The Chumscrubber, makes his feature directorial debut with a film based on an original screenplay by that film's scribe, Zac Stanford. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An innocent man visiting a friend in New York City becomes embroiled in a dangerous series of events after being mistaken for the very man he has come to the city to see in director Paul McGuigan's labyrinthine murder mystery. Upon arriving at the empty apartment of his old friend Nick, the unassuming Slevin (Josh Hartnett) is troubled to hear the voice of his missing friend's next door neighbor Lindsay (Lucy Liu) expressing concern as to Nick's safety and whereabouts. When Slevin ventures into Lindsay's apartment only to be greeted by the uninviting fist of a thuggish mob henchman, he quickly realizes that Nick is indeed in grave danger. Soon summoned by the big boss and accused of being the deeply indebted Nick, Slevin's attempts to prove his identity are foiled by the fact that his wallet had been stolen upon arrival in the city. With time running out and a complex plot to assassinate one of the city's most powerful crime bosses slowly coming into focus, the arrival of a notorious hit-man named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) forces Slevin to step up his desperate search and reclaim his identity before he's forced to pay a debt that could cost him his life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A teenage girl learns that reaching for your dreams isn't always easy in this heartfelt drama with music. Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) is a small-town girl with a great love of music and a fine singing voice. Already one of the lead vocalists in her church choir, Terri has also appeared at local nightspots with some help from her older brother. When he tragically dies in an auto accident, Terri becomes all the more determined to make the most of her talent, and she's elated when she's accepted as part of a summer study program at one of California's most prestigious music schools; however, Terri attends over the stern objections of her father. As she tries to hold together her relationship with her family, she finds herself falling for one of her fellow students, Jay (Oliver James), and competing for attention against dozens of kids whose talent rivals her own. Raise Your Voice also features Jason Ritter, Rebecca De Mornay, Rita Wilson, David Keith, and John Corbett. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A modernized retelling of William Shakespeare's Othello, O changes its setting to an elite private school in the American South. Odin (Mekhi Phifer) is the only black student at Palmetto Grove and also the star basketball player, with hopes of reaching the NBA. A popular student, he is dating Desi Brable (Julia Stiles), the daughter of the school's dean (John Heard), and they are deeply devoted to each other despite their different backgrounds. His best friend Hugo (Josh Hartnett) is a starter on the basketball team, and the son of the hard-driving coach Duke Goulding (Martin Sheen), who considers Odin as much his son as Hugo. Hugo is jealous of Odin's widespread popularity, so he hatches a scheme to ruin Odin's reputation with the help of Roger (Elden Henson), his rich roommate who will do anything to be popular and get Desi's attention. Through carefully planned revenge, he begins to make Odin believe that Desi is carrying out an affair with teammate Michael (Andrew Keegan). As Odin begins to receive merely coincidental signs to prove it, he begins to slowly lose his grounding and turns to Hugo for help, not knowing that he is being set up. As the basketball season comes to a close, Odin's jealousy begins to consume him, resulting in the loss of everything he cares about the most. O was sometime actor Tim Blake Nelson's directorial follow-up to his well-received debut Eye of God. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi