Robert La Sardo Movies

The Transporter star Jason Statham takes the wheel in director Paul W.S. Anderson's remake of the Roger Corman classic about a hyper-violent cross-country race that breaks all of the traditional rules of the road. The time is the not-so-distant future, and as America's prisons begin overflowing with violent criminals, the powers that be devise a grisly game that will free up space in the cells and entertain the masses at the same time. Jensen Ames (Statham) is a three-time speedway champion with a dark past. A survival expert and ex-con whose sordid history comes back to haunt him when he is framed for a murder he didn't commit, Ames is forced to choose between donning the metallic mask of a mythical racer known as Frankenstein or languishing away on Terminal Island -- America's most notorious penitentiary. Over the course of the next three days, this unlikely champion will get behind the wheel of a nightmare machine outfitted with machine guns, grenade launchers, and flamethrowers in a desperate attempt to outrun some of the most violent criminals ever imprisoned. Should Ames be the first to cross the checkered flag, he will win his freedom; should he come in second, however, death would be preferable to a grim future in a cramped concrete cell. Co-stars include Joan Allen, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, and Tyrese Gibson, who takes over the role of Machine Gun Joe, made famous by Sylvester Stallone in the original. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Sex. Seduction. Liposuction. Find them all in the fearless Nip/Tuck, the award-winning series that's the scalpel's edge of entertainment...and the spark for debate about what cosmetic surgery can or cannot bring to a patient's life. Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon play plastic surgeons/best friends whose glamorous South Beach practice is a revolving door for Season 4's hot-button issues (including a terrifying story arc about an organ-harvest ring) and human foibles (a ventriloquist wants to look like his dummy). Guest stars include Jacqueline Bissett, Larry Hagman, Alanis Morissette, Mo'Nique, Rosie O'Donnell, Brooke Shields and more. Thrills, surprises, shocks, stars abound in this 5-Disc Set. And all it takes is a little Nip/Tuck.

For their 200th assignment together, Monica (Roma Downey) and Tess (Della Reese) were supposed to bring hope and faith into the heart of embitteredt DMV instructor Kelly (Lesley Warren). But when Tess is "disqualified", angel-in-training Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) takes over. On surface, Kelly is a standard-issue assignment, a woman who has soured on life after spending 14 years caring for a streetwise orphan named Jessie (Edwin Hodge) in a crime-ridden Chicago neighborhood. But there is a whole different dimension to this case: Kelly is herself an angel, who since going AWOL from Heaven has evolved into a human being...with far more than her share of human failings. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two brothers who've taken divergent paths in life are thrown into a crisis that forces both of them to examine their lives in this drama. John (David White) is a small-time criminal who, upon his release from prison, is met by his former partner, Rome (Eric Roberts). Rome wants John to join him in a counterfeiting scheme that could earn them $20 million. John is trying to go straight, but he needs to raise money for a real estate project he's trying to get off the ground, so he agrees, despite his misgivings. Rome trusts John with $50,000 in front money, but John double-crosses Rome and runs off with the cash; Rome is not at all amused and is determined to get revenge on John. On the run and with few options, John seeks out his estranged twin brother Jeremiah (also played by White), a novice minister who long believed his brother was dead. But John soon discovers that Rome has mistaken Jeremiah for John and has taken him hostage. Jeremiah tries to play along in hopes of saving his brother's life, while John tries to stay undercover by posing as Jeremiah -- and even tries to fool his brother's girlfriend Samantha (Cynthia Watros) into believing he's a man of the cloth. Produced by a Christian film production firm, Signal Hill Pictures, Mercy Streets also features Stacy Keach, Lawrence Taylor, and Robert Lasardo. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A pair of corrupt police officers discover the hard way that crime really doesn't pay in this action drama. Divinci (James Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur) are two New York undercover cops with serious money problems: Rodriguez owes a huge gambling debt, while Divinci wants to retire to Hawaii but lacks the cash. To stretch their paychecks, the partners pose as drug dealers, using narcotics confiscated as evidence; they sell the dope, and after receiving payment, they kill the buyers in carefully arranged drive-by shootings, always collecting the drugs afterward so that they can be sold again. The men try to morally justify their actions by claiming that they only kill people who need to be taken off the street anyway. Divinci's girlfriend, an exotic dancer named Cynthia (Lela Rochon), helps set the cops up with their latest victim, but after they've made the transaction, Divinci and Rodriguez discover the tables have been turned -- the purchaser is actually an undercover DEA agent. The DEA man winds up dead, and Divinci and Rodriguez are assigned to investigate the killing. Needing a fall guy, they try to frame a homeless man for the murder, but before long, their web of deception begins to collapse like a house of cards. Gang Related was the final film completed by rapper-turned-actor Tupac Shakur; he himself was the victim of a still-unsolved shooting in Las Vegas 13 months before the film was released. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This action-packed crime drama features one of the more interesting motives in the genre: the crooks plan a $1million caper to pay for a another young crook's liver transplant. The mayhem begins as Dexter is yet again hauled to jail after the police catch him attempting to snatch a purse. There Dexter shares his latest scheme with his pal Colin. On New Year's Eve, he is going to rob an exclusive nightclub and steal a cool million. Unfortunately, cocky young James Little overhears the plot and tells his big brother Rupert, also a petty crook about it. Later, Collin shoots James, seriously wounding him in the liver. Rupert, figures the only way to save his little brother is to knock-off the nightclub and so begins to assemble assorted crooked characters to assist him. Unfortunately, professional crook Dexter and his boys are also going through with their original plan and when the pros meet the amateurs fists fly, guns blaze and the blood begins to flow. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

After an in-depth investigation of a seductive murder suspect turns personal, a police detective finds his life and career in jeopardy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

As visually stylish as it is graphically violent, this thriller directed by Luc Besson concerns Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age: her family lives in a slum and her abusive father works for drug dealers, cutting and storing dope. Mathilda doesn't much care for her parents, but she has a close bond with her four-year-old brother. One day, she returns from running an errand to discover that most of her family, including her brother, have been killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents, led by the psychotic Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Mathilda takes refuge in the apartment of her secretive neighbor, Leon (Jean Reno), who takes her in with a certain reluctance. She discovers that Leon is a professional assassin, working for Tony (Danny Aiello), a mob kingpin based in Little Italy. Wanting to avenge the death of her brother, Mathilda makes a deal with Leon to become his protégée in exchange for work as a domestic servant, hoping to learn the hitman's trade and take out the men who took her brother's life. However, an affection develops between Leon and Mathilda that changes his outlook on his life and career. Besson's first American film boasted a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman. Léon was originally released in the U.S. in 1994 as The Professional, with 26 minutes cut in response to audience preview tests. Those 26 minutes were restored in the director's preferred cut, released in 1996 in France as Léon: Version Intégrale and in the U.S. on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Hoping to trap a suspected murderer, Kelly (David Caruso) tries to get the suspect to confess to a recent string of cab robberies. A topless dancer (Ginger Lynn Allen) helps Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) nail one of the Mob's top moneymen. Laura (Sherry Stringfield) is saddled with an unethical law partner while prosecuting the Giardella murder case. And the squad is shaken up by the arrival of sexy administrative aide Donna Abandando (Gail O'Grady, in her first series appearance). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The husband of high school teacher Jenna Kealey (Ashley Crow) is killed in what seems to be a hit-and-run accident. Eventually, however, it becomes obvious that the man was murdered, possibly as the result of a conspiracy between Jenna and Roy Pack Jr. (David Seaman), the teenaged student with whom she is having an affair. The D.A.'s office is in for a heap of frustration when Jenna claims that Roy was solely responsible for the killing -- and vice-versa. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Penn & Teller are magicians who are known for putting on a jet-black, fake blood-soaked comedy magic show. This inky comedy is imbued with their off-beat humor as it chronicles Penn's newest scheme to have a fan try to kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set in the Manhattan street milieu that served him well in West Side Story, Robert Wise's Rooftops tells the story of T, a quiet, soft-spoken teen-ager who has left his broken home and is living in a makeshift shelter in an old water tower on top of an abandoned tenement building. There are other kids like him, including Squeak, a talented graffiti artist who joins T after an altercation involving his mother's boy friend. T and Squeak manage to scrape together what little money they need through minor sins (stripping cars, etc.), and at night all these street inhabitants get together in a vacant lot to "combat" dance, in which they use a combination of karate and dancing to force an opponent off of a platform. Into this mix comes Lobo, a drug dealer who moves into T's building and turns it into a crack house. Lobo's beautiful cousin Elana serves as his lookout – not because she wants to, but because her father's heart attack has left her family in dire financial straits. T and Elana become interested in each other, but T and Lobo are at odds with each other – which fact leads to a showdown in which T must put his "combat" skills to good use. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi