Dylan Kussman Movies
- 1998
Scott Storm made his directorial debut with this intense psychological thriller. Screenwriter Ben Sharpe (Randall Slavin), is attempting to conquer a writer's block when former friend Tom Rice turns up with a completed manuscript and solid publisher connections. Ben pretends to be pleased for his one-time pal, but in truth he harbors much envy and resentment, a situation that worsens when he eavesdrops on Tom's lovemaking with publisher's daughter Amanda (Andrea Roth). At the typewriter, he pecks out a fiendish plot to gain the upper hand on Tom -- with Amanda becoming a pawn in the game. Synthesized music score by Joe Kraemer. Shown at the 1998 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randall Slavin, David Hayter, (more)
Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, (more)
- 2005
At the height of a meningitis outbreak, House (Hugh Laurie) must figure out how to properly treat a 12-year-old girl (Skye McCole Bartusiak) who has all the symptoms of the disease, but not the disease itself. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) insists that House has no time for individual treatment of any patient, but that doesn't stop him from taking stabs at several diagnoses--each one more inaccurate than the last, and all because the girl won't tell him the whole truth. Meanwhile, Cuddy seeks a replacement for the departed Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), but the prospects are a pathetic lot indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- PG
Sho Kosugi stars (as well as produced) this picturesque and exciting swashbuckler, directed by Gordon Hessler. Kosugi plays Mayeda, a 17th-century Japanese samurai whose clan, headed by Lord Ieyasu (Toshiro Mifune), is waging a bloody battle with a rival clan. The rival clan has the advantage of using punk-burning muskets, which work fine unless it rains, rendering the firearms useless. Ieyasu sends Mayeda to Spain to one-up the rival clan by arranging the purchase of flintlock rifles, which are immune to rain. Mayeda is accompanied on his journey by Ieyasu's young heir Yorimune (Kane Kosugi), along with a traitor -- the clan's Catholic spiritual advisory Father Vasco (Norman Lloyd), who has made a deal with the rival clan to kill Mayeda and Yorimune and to make sure that the flintlock rifles never reach their destination. However, the plot fails. In the process, the gold to pay for the rifles falls overboard, and Mayeda arrives in Spain penniless at the court of King Philip (Christopher Lee). King Philip refuses to give Mayeda the rifles, until Mayeda saves his life during an attack of rebels. But even though Mayeda now has the king on his side, he has earned the wrath of his advisor Don Pedro (David Essex) by falling in love with his fiancee Cecilia (Polly Walker). Mayeda and Don Pedro eventually tangle in mortal combat. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sho Kosugi, David Essex, (more)
- 1989
Outraged that Peggy (Katey Sagal) is making more than he is as a Patty-Girl Makeup representative, shoe clerk Al (Ed O'Neill) takes on a second job. This proves to be a less than exhilarating experience when Al reports for work at a theme restaurant called Burger Trek ("Whoosh!"). The estimable Pauly Shore appears as Al's Captain Kirk wannabe boss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
After witnessing a Chinese mob killing, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is placed in protective custody by Federal Agent Grooms (Josh Stamberg) and bundled off to a remote woodland cabin. Unable to sleep so far away from his natural habitat, Monk becomes oversensitized to the Sounds of the Night--including what seems to be a cry for help. The next morning, Monk's new neighbor Martin Willowby (Glenn Morshower) turns up missing, and Willowby's wife Melora (Faith Prince) is acting in a most peculiar fashion. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) is apprised of a new danger facing Monk when he reads a Chinese fortune cookie! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As the clock counts down the final minutes of what will likely be the last morning of Larry Taylor's life, events unfolding simultaneously at another location detail precisely how what seemed to be a typical home invasion may in fact be something far more sinister. Larry Taylor was jet-lagged when he awoke to find two strangers in his bedroom, and in the next ten minutes he will be forced to make some important decisions that could mean the difference between life and death. Only by acknowledging the events unfolding elsewhere at precisely the same moment can it be determined who these men are and what they truly want, and as the connection between the two events slowly begins to come into focus, so, too, does the truth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfonso Freeman, Rick Wasserman, (more)
- 1986
The acronymic B.R.A.T. Patrol originally aired as a 2-hour entry on The Disney Sunday Movie. The appropriately named title characters are the children of a group of Marine non-coms. Running roughshod around a UMC base, the "patrol's" reputation is so bad that no one believes the kids' story about overhearing a plot to steal valuable government equipment. In true Disney fashion, the kids take on the baddies themselves. Sean Astin is cast as the head BRAT, while Brian Keith (the ostensible "star," though he's billed fifth) does his usually over-loud overacting as the General. The B.R.A.T. Patrol first assembled for inspection on October 26, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this suspense thriller, two small-time crooks make a bid for the big time with disastrous results. Robin (Juliette Lewis) is carrying a child as a surrogate mother for a wealthy couple, Hale and Francesca Chidduck (Scott Wilson and Kristin Lehman) when she's kidnapped by Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro), who believe that the adoptive parents will pay a large ransom to ensure the safety of both mother and baby. The kidnappers soon discover that they're out of their league when they're confronted by Mafia-connected lawyer Joe Sarno (James Caan) and a pair of hired killers, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt); at the same time, Parker finds himself increasingly attached to Robin. The Way of the Gun marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, whose script credits include The Usual Suspects and Public Access. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, (more)
Based on a true story, Disney's family film Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken follows the adventures of a 1920s teenager named Sonora Webster (Gabrielle Anwar), who runs away from her foster home to join a carnival. At the carnival, she gets a job as a stunt rider who leaps with her horse into a tank of water 40 feet below. Along the way, she has plenty of adventures, eventually falling in love with the son of one of the show's cowboys. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabrielle Anwar, Cliff Robertson, (more)
When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry) try and locate the assassin, Cyclops (James Marsden) and Xavier (also known as 'Professor X') seek answers from their old foe Magneto (Ian McKellan) in his glass cell...Little do they know they're walking into a trap set by the villainous William Stryker (Brian Cox), a mysterious governmental figure that figures into Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) secretive past, along with information about the X-Men's operation, supplied by Magneto through a mind-controlling agent. Meanwhile Wolverine, just home from a failed mission to regain his memory, is in charge of the students when a crack-commando team led by Stryker infiltrates the school by order of the President. With a mansion full of young, powerful mutants and the ferocious Wolverine in babysitter mode, can he defend the school against the one man who can answer his questions? What roles do the sinister Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) have in all of this? Why does Stryker want Professor X and his Cerebro machine? With the war between humanity and mutants escalating to extremes, can the rest of the X-Men trust their old foes to help them? Director Bryan Singer returns and raises the stakes in this sequel to the highly lauded 2000 adaptation of Marvel Comics' X-Men. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, (more)
