Elias Koteas Movies
Stone-jawed and puppy-eyed, Elias Koteas has the enviable ability to call on both his distinctive looks and talent to portray a variety of complex, often troubled characters. Koteas is one of Canada's most prominent and well-respected actors, and during the late '90s, he began to amass international critical attention for his work in a number of high profile films, including David Cronenberg's Crash (1996) and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).Koteas, who is of Greek ancestry, was born in Montreal on March 11, 1961. His father was a mechanic for the Canadian National Railways and his mother worked as a hatmaker; Koteas himself planned to be an architect until his teenage introduction to acting changed his plans. He was particularly inspired by Nick Nolte's performance in the TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; little did Koteas know that two decades later, he would be starring opposite Nolte in The Thin Red Line.
After beginning his education at Montreal's Vanier College, Koteas left to study at New York's prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1981. Following his graduation, he went to New York's Actors Studio, where he studied under Ellen Burstyn and Peter Masterson. The actor made his film debut in the Mary Steenburgen drama One Magic Christmas in 1985 and went on to do supporting work in a variety of films that included Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone (1987), Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and She's Having a Baby (1988). In 1989, he earned a Genie Award nomination (Canada's equivalent of the Oscar) for his portrayal of the title character of Malarek: A Street Kid Who Made It; two years later, he earned additional acclaim for his performance as a voyeuristic insurance adjustor in Atom Egoyan's The Adjuster. It was for his portrayal of an embittered DJ in another of Egoyan's films, Exotica (1994), that Koteas garnered his second Genie nomination; following this critical success, he began to appear in an increasing number of high profile productions.
Koteas was subsequently featured to great effect as the creepy Vaughan in David Cronenberg's controversial Crash (1996), and he invested his brief but pivotal role as Holly Hunter's mystery man in the acclaimed Living out Loud (1998) with memorable charisma. In The Thin Red Line, he managed to stand out from his accomplished co-stars -- who included Nolte, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Ben Chaplin -- as Captain Storos, an alienated, idealistic soldier who refuses his superior's orders to send his men on a suicidal attack plan. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
A socially isolated woman still haunted by the disappearance of her three-year-old daughter 15 years ago obsesses over the prospect that a troubled young woman whom she has recently befriended may in fact be her long-lost daughter in The Lake House director/screenwriter David Auburn's affecting psychological drama. Sigourney Weaver stars as the long-grieving mother, and The Devil Wears Prada's Kate Bosworth stars as the mixed-up teen who becomes the object of the dejected woman's hopeful fixation. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth, (more)
A notorious Hollywood bad boy (Golden Globe winner Julian McMahon) is captured by a mysterious Jailer (Elias Koteas) while scouting a decrepit, abandoned prison for an upcoming film in co-directors David Alford and Robert Archer Lynn's unforgiving thriller. Derek Playto is a volatile visionary whose controversial reputation has earned him more than his fair share of enemies in the entertainment industry. In preparation for his upcoming feature film -- a violent prison drama -- Playto sets out to find the perfect surroundings in which to tell his brutal tale. Upon discovering a dilapidated prison that was once a notorious house of pain, it appears that Playto has found just such a location. But Playto isn't alone in this crumbling penitentiary, and upon being captured by the Jailer, the director's only hope for escape is to answer a series of increasingly intimate questions concerning his art and his life. With every unanswered question, Playto moves one step closer to the electric chair, yet as every answer reveals a telling piece of the filmmaker's deplorable past, the prospect of death becomes more of a welcome release than an unjustified punishment. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian McMahon, Elias Koteas, (more)
- 2007
- Add Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows to QueueAdd Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows to top of Queue
While his name was known to only the most obsessive film fans during the course of his career, Val Lewton produced a handful of low-budget horror movies in the 1940's that had a revolutionary impact on the genre. Working within a special production unit at RKO Pictures, Lewton's films were mood pieces that created an atmosphere of anxiety rather than aiming for blunt shocks, and used shadowy camerawork and careful pacing to infer more than the audience actually saw. Several of Lewton's productions became minor hits, most notably Cat People, and a number of others (including Isle Of The Dead, I Walked With A Zombie, Curse Of The Cat People, The Seventh Victim and The Body Snatchers) are cult favorites to this day. Lewton also discovered a number of directors who would become major players later on, including Robert Wise, Mark Robson and Jacques Tourneur, but Lewton's efforts to move on to bigger budget projects fared poorly, and poor health claimed his life in 1951, six years after his last picture for RKO. Film critic and archivist Kent Jones traces the story of Val Lewton's life and career while paying homage to the films that made his name in the documentary Val Lewton: Man In The Shadows, which features highlights from Lewton's best films while sharing the memories of those who knew and worked with him. Originally produced for the Turner Classic Movies cable network, Val Lewton: Man In the Shadows is narrated by filmmaker and lifelong film fan Martin Scorsese. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Corman, Glenn Gabbard, (more)
- 2006
Don't you just hate days that start like this? While working on a patient with a grotesquely swollen tongue (and, as we will soon learn, several other nauseating symptoms), House (Hugh Laurie) is confronted by Jack Moriarty (Elias Koteas), the husband of one of his previous patients. Before anyone quite knows what's happening, Moriarty pulls out a gun and shoots House--and the motivation for this horrifying act turns out to be almost as perplexing as the act itself! Despite the blood and the pain, House insists upon continuing the job at hand, while his behavior takes a more bizarre turn than ever before. Before long, House finds it impossible to separate reality from fantasy...and that's the state of affairs as this final episode of House's second season reaches its cliffhanger climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Inspired by the themes of Steven Soderbergh's Academy Award winning 2000 film of the same name, Traffic: The Miniseries focuses on a group of people involved in the highest levels of illegal trafficking; dealing with the sale and trade of chemicals, weapons, and even people. DEA agent Mike McKay (Elias Koteas) goes missing in Afghanistan while at home, his son treads dangerously close to addiction. Meanwhile, different storylines follow Fazal (Ritchie Coster), whose wife and child die during illegal transport to the US, and Ben (Balthazar Getty), whose father's shipping company is being used to transport illegal immigrants into the country. The seemingly unconnected lives of the characters eventually begin to converge, illustrating the interconnected nature of issues surrounding the war on illegal transport. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Curtis, Martin Donovan, (more)
This gripping drama is based on the real-life story of Mikal Gilmore, a respected journalist whose brother Gary Gilmore was a felon convicted of murder. In 1977, after he was sentenced to death, Gary Gilmore generated international controversy when he demanded that his lawyers call off all attempts to appeal his sentence and requested that his execution be carried out as quickly as possible. As activists for and against the issue of capital punishment debated Gilmore's demand, his brothers Frank and Mikal stepped forward to request a stay of execution, in hopes of forestalling their brother's death despite his public requests. Based on the book of the same name by Mikal Gilmore, Shot in the Heart examines the close, if uneasy, bond between the Gilmore brothers, and the family history of abuse and violence that Mikal believed helped shape his brother into a killer. Shot in the Heart stars Giovanni Ribisi, Eric Bogosian, Lee Tergesen, Amy Madigan, and Sam Shepard; produced for the premium-cable service HBO, Shot in the Heart first aired on October 13, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Giovanni Ribisi, Elias Koteas, (more)
Howard Himelstein's crime thriller Power of Attorney stars Danny Aiello as mob kingpin Joseph Scassi. In order to escape from a variety of serious charges, Scassi hires Paul Dell (Elias Koteas), seducing him into a life full of quick riches. Scassi turns the tables on Dell, but Dell has a plan to bring the bad guy down once and for all. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1992
A dreary and depressing tale despite the excellent assemblage of talent, this is the story of a Depression-era family where sibling rivalry and tragedy seem to be the watch words of their home life. A period piece set in 1930s Texas. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Written and directed by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, The Adjuster is an examination of the sexual quirks of a married couple. Starring such Egoyan regulars as Elias Koteas, Arsinée Khanjian, Maury Chaykin, and Don McKellar, the film focuses on Noah Render (Koteas), an insurance adjuster who enjoys sleeping with his clients, and his wife, Hera (Khanjian), a film censor who finds excitement in making copies of the most explicit parts of the movies she's assigned to review. When they invite Bubba (Chaykin) into their house to make a movie, the Renders find their lives becoming even more complex. McKellar plays a young film censor who works with Hera. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elias Koteas, Arsinée Khanjian, (more)
- 1990
Not to be confused with the oft-filmed Fannie Hurst yarn Back Street, Backstreet Dreams is a contemporary drama of Humanity vs. the Streets. Jason O'Malley plays a New York hoodlum who doesn't trust his wife Sherilyn Fenn as far as he can throw her (and for good reason). The only person O'Malley truly cares for is his autistic son Shane, played by twin children Joseph and John Viezzi. Brooke Shields (who's better than you might think) enters the scene as a PhD candidate who hopes to get through to Shane. Now it is the unfaithful Fenn's turn to seethe with jealousy as Shields applies her "force holding" theory to Shane, she and O'Malley draw closer together. O'Malley is so taken by Shields' compassion that he severs his mob ties--but Big Boss Burt Young won't let him off so easy, and uses Shane as a "bargaining chip." Backstreet Dreams appears at times to be three films jumbled together; every time a story element starts rolling, it is exiled to the back burner in favor of another gratuitous subplot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Jason O'Malley, (more)
Part One of this four-hour TV movie adaptation of Peter Evans' biography suggested that Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis spent every waking hour commiserating in bed with lovers of all sexes. Part Two of Onassis: The Richest Man in the World hunkers down to the Main Event: The showdown between Onassis' longtime lover Maria Callas (Jane Seymour, who screamed and tantrummed her way to an Emmy) and his future spouse Jackie Kennedy. We then move onward (but not upward) to the tragic death of Onassis' daughter; our tepid journey through the cesspools of the Rich and Famous ends with the public bickering over the tycoon's will after his own 1975 demise. As ill-suited as Raul Julia is for the starring role of Aristotle Onassis, Francesca Annis' portrayal of Jackie Kennedy is even worse. Onassis: The Richest Man in the World was originally foisted upon the TV viewing public on May 1 and 2, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Siblings Eric Roberts and Julia Roberts appear in this old-fashioned saga about oppressed Sicilian wine-growers in 19th-century California. Giancarlo Giannini stars as Sebastian Collogero, the robust Italian patriarch who is battling with railroad mogul William Bradford Berrigan (Dennis Hopper) to prevent his land from being taken over by the rail company. Sebastian's spirited son, Marco (Eric Roberts), is in love with Angelica (Lara Harris), the daughter of a rival wine-grower's clan. Marco is not very concerned about the warfare about to erupt between the wine-growers and the railroad until Berrigan's thugs torture and kill Sebastian in front of his daughter Maria (Julia Roberts). Marco then gets his friends together and organizes a revolt against Berrigan and his railroad empire. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini, (more)
- 1985
The "magic" in One Magic Christmas is often (and surprisingly) of the "black" variety. Like Jimmy Stewart before her, worn-out wife and mother Mary Steenburgen wishes that she'd never been born. And like Stewart, Steenburgen is visited by a guardian angel, in this case the western-garbed Harry Dean Stanton. Instead of granting Steenburgen's wish, Stanton shows her what life would be like without Christmas--and that vision is as grim as anything you're ever likely to see in any Holiday film. Throughout the horrendous tragedies heaped upon Steenburgen, we are comforted in the knowledge that Stanton is working in concert with Steenburgen's young daughter. Steenburgen learns her lesson of course, but what a ride! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, (more)
A naïve playboy investigating the suspicious death of his wealthy father finds his charmed life as owner of the hottest nightclub in town suddenly spiraling into disaster in this shadowy film noir fever dream from director Rachel Samuels. Gabriel Mann, Bijou Phillips, Izabella Miko, and Elias Koteas headline the film, which features music by Aaron Neville, Etta James, Dr. John, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, and more. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Mann, Bijou Phillips, (more)
A depressed young man moves back in with his parents and finds his life turned upside down as he struggles to choose between the beautiful daughter of a close family friend and the scintillating but volatile next-door neighbor whose passion helps to reignite his lust for life. The third screen outing for writer/director James Gray and actor Joaquin Phoenix following We Own the Night and The Yards, Two Lovers co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, and Vinessa Shaw. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
A top Marine sniper who previously abandoned the military after a routine mission gave way to tragedy is double-crossed by the government after reluctantly being pressured back into service in Training Day director Antoine Fuqua's adaptation of Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact. There was a time when Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) was the best trigger-man in the military, but after growing disillusioned with the system, he disappeared without a trace. After being located at his remote mountain retreat by high-profile government officials following an extensive search, Swagger is coerced back into service in order to stop a determined assassin from taking out the President of the United States. In the process of carrying out his mission, however, Swagger suddenly realizes that he has been betrayed when he becomes the subject of a nationwide manhunt. Now wounded and desperate to reveal the culprits behind the conspiracy before it's too late, Swagger sets into motion a revenge plan that will send shockwaves rippling to some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world. Danny Glover, Rhona Mitra, and Ned Beatty co-star in this conspiracy-driven action thriller that asks what it truly means to serve one's country. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Michael Peña, (more)
The true story behind the murders that many crime scholars believe to be the most perplexing series of unsolved crimes in modern history comes to the screen in chilling detail as Fight Club and Seven director David Fincher steps behind the camera to tell the mysterious tale of the infamous Zodiac killer. A relentless serial killer is stalking the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area, leaving citizens locked into a constant state of panic, and baffled authorities scrambling for clues. Though the killer sadistically mocks the detectives by leaving a series of perplexing ciphers and menacing letters at the crime scenes, the investigation quickly flatlines when none of the evidence yields any solid leads. As two detectives remain steadfast in their devotion to bringing the elusive killer to justice, they soon find that the madman has control not only over their careers, but their very lives as well. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, (more)
Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan explores his Armenian heritage, and how the country's tragic history has touched several generations of the nation's expatriates, in this ambitious drama. Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznavour), a veteran filmmaker of Armenian descent, is in Toronto shooting a film about the Siege of Van, in which invading Ottoman armies forced the evacuation of Armenian communities in 1915, leading to the genocide of over a million Armenian people at the hands of Turkish troops. Twenty-one-year-old Raffi (David Alpay) has been sent to Turkey to shoot background footage for the film; Raffi's mother Ani (Arsinee Khanjian), an author and historian, is also involved in the project as a consultant. Lately Raffi and Ani have been at odds; Raffi has been dating Celia (Marie-Josee Croze), Ani's stepdaughter, who is convinced that Ani is somehow responsible for the death of her father. Ani's first husband, who was Raffi's father, is also dead, after taking part in an assassination attempt on a Turkish political leader. As Raffi attempts to re-enter Canada with cans of exposed film, he's detained by David (Christopher Plummer), a suspicious customs official who has his own tenuous link to Saroyan's film -- David is struggling to come to terms with the gay lifestyle of his son Philip (Brent Carver), whose lover Ali (Elias Koteas) is playing the villain in the picture. Ararat also features Eric Bogosian and Bruce Greenwood. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, (more)
This action-adventure, that features a terrorist plot from The Fugitive (1993), saw its October 2001 release date moved back four months as a result of real-life terrorist attacks on the United States. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Gordon Brewer, a Los Angeles firefighter who witnesses the deaths of his wife and child, innocent victims of a terrorist attack on a motorcade carrying Colombian dignitaries. Responsibility for the deadly explosion belongs to Claudio "The Wolf" Perrini (Cliff Curtis), a terrorist and rebel in Colombia's decade-long civil war. When times passes with no suspect being brought to justice, Brewer rejects the advice of FBI agent Peter Brandt (Elias Koteas) and travels to the jungles of Colombia to find and take revenge upon his family's murderer himself. Encountering a complex web of death squads, right-wing military officials, guerrillas, terrorists and drug-lords, Brewer is aided in his dangerous quest by an unlikely ally, the beautiful Selena Perrini (Francesca Neri), his quarry's wife. Collateral Damage (2002) co-stars John Leguizamo and John Turturro. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elias Koteas, (more)
In this darkly comic film noir from writer/director David Atkins, Steve Martin revisits dentistry -- an occupation he'd explored 15 years prior, in the camp musical Little Shop of Horrors. Novocaine casts Martin as a much more mild-mannered D.D.S., Dr. Frank Sangster. Engaged to a prim and delicate hygienist, Jean (Laura Dern), Sangster leads a placid, upper-middle class existence, save for the occasional visit from his deadbeat artist brother Harlan (Elias Koteas). But Sangster finds his life turned inside out from the moment the alluring Susan (Helena Bonham Carter) plops down in his reclining vinyl chair: Complaining about her molars, she's really more interested in the refrigerator of narcotics the good dentist keeps on hand for his patients in pain. Once they manage to get Sangster's guard down, Susan and her brother (Scott Caan) rob him blind -- and worse yet, frame him for the theft. When a dead body turns up in Sangster's sleek suburban home, he finds that clearing his name will be a difficult proposition indeed. Novocaine marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Atkins, who first made his mark with the script for Emir Kusturica's oddball cult favorite Arizona Dream (1993). ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
French director Elie Chouraqui adapts the novel of the same name into this drama, that, although set in 1991, became tragically topical in the weeks before its release due to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Andie MacDowell stars as Sarah, a photo editor for Newsweek and the happily married wife of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Harrison Lloyd (David Strathairn). Harrison has been reconsidering his career of covering the world's war zone "hot spots" in order to spend more time with his family, and is accused by his colleague, Kyle (Adrien Brody), of playing it too safe in his risky profession. Harrison elects to accept one more combat assignment to cover the simmering tensions in Croatia, a conflict that quickly erupts into a full-scale, genocidal Civil War. Informed that Harrison is believed to have been killed in the fighting, Sarah refuses to accept her husband's death and becomes convinced that she's seen him, alive, in a news broadcast. She travels to Croatia on a quest to find him, and is eventually aided by Kyle, as well as two of Harrison's other colleagues, Yeager (Elias Koteas) and Stevenson (Brendan Gleeson). The group, armed with cameras instead of weapons, witnesses the horrors and atrocities unfolding in the region, while tracing the elusive path of Harrison, who may well be dead already. Harrison's Flowers was distributed by Universal Focus, the art house division of Universal Pictures that previously released Mulholland Drive (2001) and Billy Elliott (2000). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andie MacDowell, David Strathairn, (more)
A woman who has survived the touch of ultimate evil must now save one man from the same fate in order to protect the world in this supernatural thriller. Maya Larkin (Winona Ryder) is a devout Catholic who is said to have been possessed by a demon as a child; she now works with Father Lareaux (John Hurt) and John Townshend (Elias Koteas), fellow believers who perform exorcisms on troubled souls they believe are controlled by Satan. While performing an exorcism on a mass murderer, Henry Birdsong (John Diehl), Maya, and her cohorts come in contact with Peter Kelson (Ben Chaplin), a journalist and noted authority on the criminal mind who believes the notion of "evil with a capital E" is absurd. Peter is an agnostic despite being raised by a Catholic priest; his uncle, Father James (Philip Baker Hall), raised Peter after the death of his parents while he was still a child. During their failed exorcism, Birdsong tells Maya that Satan will return to Earth, inhabiting the body of a man in order to reclaim this world. As Maya attempts to unravel the code of who the devil's victim will be, she comes to the awful realization that the most likely candidate is Peter Kelson. Lost Souls marked the directorial debut of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, whose camera credits include Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, and Jerry Maguire. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Ben Chaplin, (more)
The personal lives of five exotic dancers go under the microscope in this drama, the first American feature from director Michael Radford. Eddie (Robert Wisdom) is the manager of a strip club in suburban California known as the Blue Iguana, where he keeps an eye on the women who make their living dancing for his customers. Stormy (Sheila Kelley) is an attractive, thick-skinned woman who is getting old enough to realize her days as a dancer may be numbered. Jo (Jennifer Tilly) likes to think of herself as the Blue Iguana's star attraction, though her career may hit a detour now that she's learned she's pregnant. Angel (Daryl Hannah) is a sweet, but immature woman, who tries to deal with her fear of being unloved by adopting a child. Jasmine (Sandra Oh), an aspiring poet, tries not to get settled into a career as a stripper, while being encouraged in her writing by coffeehouse owner Dennis (Chris Hogan), who features spoken word performers. And Jesse (Charlotte Ayanna), the youngest of the performers, expresses her desperate need for approval in her desire to please the customers. Dancing at the Blue Iguana received its world premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Ayanna, Daryl Hannah, (more)
Bryan Singer directed this Brandon Boyce adaptation of Stephen King's novella about teenager Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro), who discovers Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen) living in his California hometown. Fascinated with Dussender's wartime atrocities, Bowden blackmails the former death-camp commandant by promising to keep his identity a secret in exchange for Holocaust horror tales, or, as Todd puts it, "everything they're afraid to show us in school." Dussander complies, and as the weeks pass, their tense confrontations become increasingly malevolent. This is the third film to derive from King's 1982 book of four novellas, Different Season. The others are Stand By Me (1986, from "The Body") and The Shawshank Redemption (1994, from Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, leaving only one remaining unfilmed tale in the book ("The Breathing Method"). Signet felt King's "Apt Pupil" to be so intense and horrifying that editors asked him to leave it out of the 1983 paperback. A 1987 attempt to film "Apt Pupil" (with Rick Schroder and Nicol Williamson) ended when funding ran out. Shown at numerous 1998 film festivals (Venice, Toronto, Chicago, Sitges, Tokyo). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, (more)
