Erica Steinberg Movies
Prime Suspect 4 and Inspector Morse director John Madden comes back to the world of crime after a brief foray into romance with Shakespeare in Love and Captain Corelli's Mandolin with this adaptation of pulp icon Elmore Leonard's novel concerning a real estate agent and her husband (Thomas Jane) who become the targets of two relentless mafia hitmen. When real estate agent Carmen Colson (Diane Lane) catches a glimpse of a hitman named the Blackbird (Mickey Rourke) as he carries out a job, a subsequent request for her to testify against the aging gun for hire soon lands both Carmen and her husband, Wayne (Thomas Jane), in the Witness Protection Program. Blackbird isn't a man who likes to leave loose ends when it comes to his work, though, and now as the seasoned assassin and his psychotic partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) attempt to catch the couple in their crosshairs, Carmen and Wayne are going to need much more than a few federal agents to make it out of increasingly deadly situation alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Mickey Rourke, (more)
A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache," Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, (more)
- 2007
- R
Kill Bill director Quentin Tarantino and Sin City director Robert Rodriguez join forces to offer a cinematic tribute to the blood-soaked exploitation epics of yesteryear with this hyper-violent coupling of two full-length features punctuated by a collection of outrageous trailers. The first segment, directed by Rodriguez and entitled Planet Terror, details the violent struggle between a ravenous army of zombie-like humanoids who have taken control of the planet and the remaining survivors who refuse to go down without a fight. Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, and Rose McGowan headline a cast that also includes Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, and Tom Savini. In Death Proof -- director Tarantino's take on such peddle-to-the-metal shockers as White Line Fever -- Kurt Russell stars as an engine-revving psychopath who prefers to take out his beautiful victims at 200 mph. With a list of potential roadkill candidates that includes Rose McGowan, Jordan Ladd, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Ferlito, Death Proof takes viewers on an adrenaline-infused drive that's as sexy as it is shocking. Its tantalizing title borrowed from the term frequently used to describe the seedy, 1970s-era inner-city movie theaters that screened excessive, low-budget independent films containing copious amounts of violence and nudity as a means of offering counter-programming to the decidedly more restrained big-budget studio films, Grindhouse takes its love for these unabashedly sleazy efforts one step further by offering a jaw-dropping collection of fake exploitation trailers from such directors as Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and Edgar Wright. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, (more)
In Death Proof -- director Tarantino's take on such peddle-to-the-metal shockers as White Line Fever -- Kurt Russell stars as an engine-revving psychopath who prefers to take out his beautiful victims at 200 mph. Originally released into theaters on a double bill with Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror under the Grindhouse banner, Death Proof finds a group of ladies out on the town pitted against a mysterious figured named Stuntman Mike (Russell), whose vintage automobile has been partially modified to withstand even the most extreme auto collision. Though the maniacal driver himself always comes out relatively unscathed, the same certainly can't be said for the poor young lass in his passenger seat -- or anyone unfortunate enough to be on the road when the urge to kill strikes for that matter. With a list of potential road-kill candidates that includes Rose McGowan, Jordan Ladd, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Ferlito, Death Proof takes viewers on an adrenaline-infused drive that's as sexy as it is shocking. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, (more)
Maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez details the violent struggle between a ravenous army of zombie-like humanoids who have taken control of the planet and the remaining survivors who refuse to go down without a fight. A dangerous government experiment has unleashed an abominable contamination that turns normal people into murderous mutants. Now, as an infinitely multiplying horde of frenzied psychotics flood the Texas plains, a dangerous outlaw named Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), a sexy stripper named Cherry (Rose McGowan), an unscrupulous smuggler named Abby (Naveen Andrews), and the curiously incapacitated Dr. Dakota Block (Marley Shelton) must try and make their way to the helicopter that could provide their only means of escaping to a place untouched by this nightmarish scourge that threatens to wipe out all of humankind. This nonstop action-horror hybrid originally was released as part of Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's ambitious Grindhouse double bill. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, (more)
When seed and sod entrepreneur Daltry Calhoun's (Johnny Knoxville) abandoned ex-girlfriend shows up on his doorstep with the daughter he never knew he had, the reformed ladies' man finds out that you can never truly escape your past -- even when it seems you may have no future. Calhoun is a local celebrity and self-made entrepreneur who made a name for himself by selling locally produced turf that blankets many of the nation's most exclusive golf courses, and his quirky television spots have won the hearts of television viewers across Ducktown, TN. When Daltry's ex-girlfriend May (Elizabeth Banks) arrives unannounced with talented teenage daughter June (Sophie Traub) in tow, she confides that her terminal illness has forced her to seek him out in hopes that he can care for their daughter after she is gone. Despite the early success of Daltry's business and the popularity of his kitschy commercials, things have been looking rather grim lately and Daltry has begun liquidating his assets in hopes of keeping his head above water. Though smitten shopkeeper Flora (Juliette Lewis) has offered financial help to Daltry, the kindly offers have fallen on deaf ears. Now, with the odds weighing heavily against him, Daltry vows to make up for lost time by doing right in the eyes of his family and community and caring for his daughter while getting his business back on track. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Knoxville, Juliette Lewis, (more)
Quentin Tarantino's sprawling homage to action films of both the East and the West reaches its conclusion in this continuation of 2003's ultra-violent Kill Bill Vol. 1. Having dispatched several of her arch-enemies in the first film, The Bride (Uma Thurman) continues in Kill Bill Vol. 2 on her deadly pursuit of her former partners in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, who, in a furious assault, attempted to murder her and her unborn child on her wedding day. As The Bride faces off against allies-turned-nemeses Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), she flashes back to the day of her deadly wedding, and we learn of how she was recruited to join the DiVAS, her training under unforgiving martial arts master Pai Mei (Liu Chia-hui), and her relationship with Squad leader Bill (David Carradine), which changed from love to violent hatred. Originally planned as a single film, Kill Bill grew into an epic-scale two-part project totaling more than four hours in length; as with the first film, Kill Bill Vol. 2 includes appearances by genre-film icons Sonny Chiba, Michael Parks, Larry Bishop, and Sid Haig; Wu-Tang Clan producer and turntablist RZA and filmmaker and composer Robert Rodriguez both contributed to the musical score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, David Carradine, (more)
Perhaps the most highly anticipated film of 2003, Kill Bill Vol. 1 marked the return of renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino after a six-year hiatus. Re-teaming the director with Uma Thurman for the first time since 1994's Pulp Fiction, the film was originally the first half of what was to be a three-hour-plus movie before being split into two films. Thurman stars as The Bride, one-fifth of a team of assassins called DiVAS. When The Bride opts to leave the outfit for a life of marital bliss, it doesn't sit well with her boss, Bill (David Carradine), so he has her former cohorts, played by Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Michael Madsen, show up at the nuptials, leaving behind a blood bath. Miraculously, The Bride survives a bullet to the head and, four years later, she sets out for revenge against her four assassins and their employer. The story is concluded in Kill Bill Vol. 2, released six months later. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, (more)
