Boris Krutonog Movies
- 2003
On the night of her prom in 1994, teenager Freya McAllister (Navi Rawat) suddenly begins hearing strange voices. As a result, Freya is diagnosed as schizophrenic and squirreled away in a mental hospital, where she remains for the next eight years. Along comes psychologist Michal Welles (Peter Horton), who while treating Freya calmly informs her that she is not insane, but instead telepathic: the voices she'd heard were the thoughts of the people around her. What Dr. Welles doesn't tell Freya--at least not at first--is that he is in the employ of the National Security Agency, which hopes to use Freya's special talents to hunt down potential terrorists! Something of a cerebral La Femme Nikita, Thoughtcrimes may have been intended as the pilot for a television series, but was released on home video before making its USA network TV bow on October 15, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A team of high-class thieves avenge their mentor's death -- with the help of his own daughter -- in this big-budget remake of the 1969 British caper classic. The Italian Job stars Mark Wahlberg as Charlie, the mastermind of a daring Venice heist overseen by John (Donald Sutherland), a lifelong criminal who plans to retire from the fold with the earnings from his most recent take. Basking in the glow of a job well done at a secluded retreat in the Alps, the thieves -- including the aptly-named Handsome Rob (Jason Statham), tech-geek Lyle (Seth Green), and hearing-impaired quipster Left Ear (Mos Def) -- are ruthlessly double-crossed by one of their own, the taciturn, calculating Steve Frezelli (Edward Norton). Time passes and each member of the group finds himself pursuing other opportunities in the States, until Charlie rallies them together for a revenge-motivated scheme designed to bilk Steve of all his misbegotten earnings. In order to cinch the deal, he even enlists John's reluctant safecracking-prodigy daughter, Stella (Charlize Theron), for an elaborate, incognito Los Angeles heist. But the paranoid Steve proves himself to be one step ahead of them at just about every turn, and Charlie finds that he'll have to make some daring last-minute changes to their plan if the team is to succeed. The Italian Job marked director F. Gary Gray's second 2003 release after the Vin Diesel vehicle A Man Apart. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, (more)
Roger Spottiswoode directs Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, and Liev Schreiber in the political satire Spinning Boris. The film takes place during the Russian elections of 1996 that ended with Boris Yeltsin becoming the head of the country. The trio of lead actors play political consultants who use their knowledge of American style campaigning to get Yeltsin the victory. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia, (more)
- 2002
Sydney (Jennifer Garner) returns to America with her ex-lover and fellow SD-6 agent Noah (Peter Berg), who offers her a way out of the spy game once and for all. But Sydney has to take care of unfinished business: Now convinced that her mother, KGB agent Irina Derevko, is still alive, she will not rest until she finds the woman. Meanwhile, Vaughn (Michael Vartan) puts a tail on an assassin known as "The Snowman" in hopes of tracking down the elusive Khasinau, who may or may not be "The Man" behind all the skullduggery occurring in previous episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Roger Donaldson teams up with star Kevin Costner for another political thriller (after their 1987 pairing, No Way Out), only this time with a film based on the actual events surrounding the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, taking place during the titular thirteen days wherein the U.S. and the Soviet Union nearly engaged in full-scale nuclear war. After President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) is shown photographs from a spy plane detailing the presence of missiles in Cuba capable of obliterating massive areas of the U.S., he must immediately decide the most effective course of action for the country. With the aid of best friend and special assistant Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) and brother Robert (Steven Culp), the President must avoid a dire chain of events that could be dictated by General Curtis LeMay (Kevin Conway), who would rather take immediate action and invade Cuba. After initial reticence about leaking the information to the nation, President Kennedy eventually tells of the conflict, leading to widespread panic and a blockade of Cuba. With the aid of Robert McNamara (Dylan Baker) and Adlai Stevenson (Michael Fairman), the leaders must find a way to alleviate the tension of the situation. Thirteen Days also features Walter Adrian as Lyndon Johnson. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
The 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer romance Love Affair, remade with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, became a vehicle for real-life couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in this 1994 rendition. The well-worn story remains the same, as a man and a woman, both engaged to other people, fall madly in love while traveling, indulge in a brief but intense affair, then agree to part and sort out their feelings. They are to meet again at the top of the Empire State Building if their feelings persist, but a series of unfortunate circumstances threatens to keep the lovers apart. Despite polished visuals and a time-tested narrative, this variation suffers in comparison to its two predecessors, not to mention the previous year's Sleepless in Seattle, which had drawn on An Affair to Remember for several of its most memorable sequences. It does features Katherine Hepburn's first film appearance in 13 years. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, (more)
- 1994
- R
An enthusiastically brain-damaged outing from Charles Band's prolific B-Movie outfit Full Moon Entertainment, this cult-move manqué, directed by Oingo Boingo co-founder Richard Elfman (brother of composer Danny Elfman) is weird even by Full Moon's unique standards. The demented plot begins with a modern-day Bowery Boys-type bunch foiling a street gang's robbery scheme only to bring down the wrath of hilariously butch crime boss "Big Mo" (Meg Foster, complete with Elvis pompadour), who commands her chief axe-man to rub them out. Thanks to the voodoo skills of newsstand vendor Sumatra (Julius Harris), the three boys' severed heads are reanimated (it is never specified why this is all Sumatra could salvage) as tiny airborne mini-zombies with assorted super-powers. This leads to the inevitable blow-out between the Heads and Big Mo's legions, as well as one of the weirdest romantic subplots on record. Initially an abortive bid for midnight-movie infamy (much like the director's Forbidden Zone), this wacko twist on the basic comic-book superhero scenario has a playful nature that distances it from cult-horror territory but gives it a certain kooky charm; it features a main-title theme by the director's big-shot brother. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meg Foster, Julius Harris, (more)
- 1993
- R
If you've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know what a "monolith" is. What it is not is exclusively an extraterrestrial entity, as was apparently assumed by the producers of the 1993 melodrama Monolith. The story concerns two eternally bickering cops (Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost), who stumble onto a government secret. It seems that a huge, malevolent monolith has come hurtling to Earth-and it's growing bigger and nastier with each passing day. Making matters worse, the evil being is invisible (thereby saving a fortune in special effects). Along with stars Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost, Monolith fails to fully utilize the talents of supporting actors John Hurt and Louis Gossett Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Lindsay Frost, (more)
- 1991
- PG
- Add Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to QueueAdd Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to top of Queue
The plot involves a peace conference between the Federation of Planets and the troublesome Klingons. The Klingons are hoping to perform a little damage control after triggering a mining disaster on one of their moons; their spokesman is the seemingly contrite General Chang (Christopher Plummer). All negotiations abruptly cease when a Klingon vessel is attacked, and Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are accused of the crime. As they stand trial for murder, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Vulcanian trainee Lt. Valeris (Kim Cattrall) try to locate the real culprits. It turns out that Kirk and McCoy are victims of a conspiracy to foment further hostilities between the Good Guys and the Klingons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
The first of several films based on Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan" technothrillers, Hunt for Red October stars Alec Baldwin as eccentric CIA analyst Ryan and Sean Connery as Soviet submarine commander Marko Ramius. Ramius sets the plot in motion when he murders his political adviser, burns his orders, and steers his sub Red October towards American waters, hoping to defect. The CIA, aware that the Red October was about to embark on an evasive mission to demonstrate its ability to avoid detection and fire its nuclear missiles upon U.S. installations, believes that Ramius is insane, and that he plans to start World War III. To cover their own behinds, the Russians back up the CIA's suspicion. Only Jack Ryan believes that Ramius' mission is not as apocalyptic as it seems -- and it is Ryan who is assigned to infiltrate the Red October to prove his theory. The sort of film that in an earlier era would have been called a "thinking man's thriller," The Hunt for Red October ushered in a new series of Hollywood-produced post-Cold War adventure films, including 1995's Crimson Tide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1990
- Add Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring, Part 1 to QueueAdd Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring, Part 1 to top of Queue
The true story of American turncoat John Walker, Jr. is related blow-by-blow in this made-for-TV movie. Powers Boothe stars as Walker, a Navy petty officer who spends half of his career selling secrets to the Soviets. At first the soul of discretion, the hard-drinking, philandering Walker eventually becomes careless enough in his activities to arouse the suspicions of his in-the-dark wife Barbara (Lesley Ann Warren). With the skill and aplomb of the true sociopath, Walker also manages to convince his own son (Andrew Lowry) to join the "family business." The spy ring is ultimately smashed through the joint efforts of the FBI and Walker's embittered ex-wife. Based on the books Family of Spies by Pete Earley and I Pledge Allegiance by Howard Blum, Family of Spies: The Walker Spy Ring was originally telecast in two parts on February 4 and 6, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
