Alexandra Castillo Movies
- 2009
- PG13
- Add 2012 to Queue
Disaster movie maven Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) crafts this apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, divorced writer and father Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) joins the race to ensure that humankind is not completely wiped out. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, and Oliver Platt round out the cast of this end-of-the-world thriller co-scripted by the director and his 10,000 B.C. writer/composer, Harald Kloser. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Amanda Peet, (more)
Fear rises from the depths when a government scientist travels to a remote fishing village in order to investigate rumors of a massive underwater beast with a frightful taste for human flesh. Panic has spread through the fishing village where locals have lived off of the sea's bounty for centuries, and as word of an aggressive leviathan reaches the powers that be, an investigator is dispatched in order to confirm or refute the frightening rumors. Government scientist Dan Leland (James Van Der Beek) is a man of logic, but he's about to cross paths with a creature that seems born straight out of his worst nightmares. In this instance at least, the rumors are well founded, and by the time Dan comes eye-to-eye with the source of all the panic it already be too late for him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Van Der Beek, Alexandra Castillo, (more)
James Mangold's Walk the Line tells the life story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing primarily on the long courtship he had with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). The film is structured as an extended flashback opening with Cash readying to take the stage at his historic Folsom Prison Concert. The film touches on his childhood, relating a horrific early incident from his life and establishing the troubled relationship he would have with his father (Robert Patrick). Cash joins the military and leaves home. During his time in the armed services he begins writing songs and romances a hometown girl (Ginnifer Goodwin). After the end of his duty he settles down and attempts to begin a music career, but his wife has trouble adjusting to his dreams. Cash auditions for Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts), signs to Sun Records, and soon finds himself on tour with a roster of young soon to be legends that includes Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). On this tour he meets June Carter, the daughter of the famous Carter family, and they take a liking to each other although she refuses any serious advances from him. Cash gains world wide fame thanks in part to the inspiration he gets from June, but eventually his marriage crumbles and he develops a serious drug addiction. The film is based on Cash's autobiographies. Phoenix and Witherspoon performed all of their own singing in the movie, just as Sissy Spacek and Beverly D'Angelo did in Coal Miner's Daughter a quarter-century before. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Oliver James, (more)
Directed by Alexander Payne, Sideways follows Miles (Paul Giamatti), who is distressed about his lack of success as a novelist, and Jack (Thomas Haden Church), an equally unsuccessful actor with a rapidly approaching wedding. In a last-ditch effort to sow their wild oats, Jack and Miles take off on a final road trip to California's wine country the week prior to Jack's wedding. Both men have goals for the vacation -- Miles wants to turn Jack on to the art of wine tasting, while Jack is concerned with exploiting his last days as a bachelor -- but when the two men come across two fascinating women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh), the duo is forced to examine their morality, and if maturity isn't such a depressing prospect -- at least, for one of them. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, (more)
- 2003
Envisioning the death of his prizefighter friend Danny Avila (Greg Serano) during an upcoming heavyweight title bout, Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) goes public with his psychic premonitions. Alas, Johnny's announcement does not cancel the match as he had hoped; instead, the value of the fight has been enhanced as a big-time, pay-per-view attraction, and even the boxing commission has succumbed to the greedy excitement. Desperately, Johnny tries to figure out a way to allow Danny to go through with the fight and survive -- and to do this, he needs the unwitting assistance of Danny's opponent (Jay Winston Kramer). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John L. Adams, Nicole deBoer, (more)
