Luis Saguar Movies
- 2009
A carpenter buckling under the weight of fatherhood, a crumbling marriage, and an expensive mortgage strives to balance his own wants and needs against that of a struggling friend in this story of an ordinary man suffering through uncertain times. To the casual observer, Wayne has everything a man his age could ever want - a large home, healthy children, and a beautiful wife. But lately Wayne has grown tired of the emotional complexities of adulthood. His wife is becoming less stable and the kids seem to control the entire house, two factors that frequently result in Wayne sneaking out to down beers with his newly divorced drinking buddy Leo. Before long, Wayne starts to feel like he's become a casual observer of someone else's miserable existence. Just when it appears that things can't get any worse for Wayne, however, a violent incident prompts him to reassess his idea of the ever-elusive American Dream. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry McDaniel, Beth Lisick, (more)
Brought together by a curious twist of fate on a dusty California road, a wandering vintner and a struggling winemaker find both their lives, and their careers, forever transformed at a blind Parisian wine tasting that introduced the world to the extraordinary wines of Napa Valley. The year is 1976, and Napa Valley has yet to gain the reputation as one of world's best-known wine regions. Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman) has sacrificed everything in life to realize his dream of creating the perfect Chateau Montelena. Yet despite the fact that Jim's Napa Valley vineyard has great potential, his son, Bo (Chris Pine), doesn't seem to have much interest in the family business. Most days, Jim and Bo can be found trading blows in their backyard boxing ring -- their attempts to knock a bit of sense into one another usually amounting to naught. Meanwhile, in Paris, British expatriate Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) finds necessity dictating that he educate Parisians on the latest wines to come out of California. Steven owns the Académie du Vin, and is eager to travel to the United States in order to ensure that he has conducted his research properly. Little did Steven and Jim realize that they were both on course for a chance meeting that would revolutionize the wine industry while opening up a whole new world of possibilities for wine lovers everywhere. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, (more)
Celebrated writer and director John Sayles turns his eye to politics in America in this drama. The son of respected Colorado politician Senator Jud Pilager (Michael Murphy), Dicky Pilager (Chris Cooper) is a charming but half-bright man with a bad habit of mangling the English language and a decided lack of political correctness. Dicky is also in the midst of a hard-fought campaign to become governor of Colorado. Dicky's campaign manager, Chuck Raven (Richard Dreyfuss), is a ruthless sort who will leave no stone unturned to see that his candidate wins, so when Dicky snags a dead body while fishing during the shooting of a campaign commercial, Raven is determined to find out if his man has been set up. Raven hires Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston), a former journalist turned private investigator, to find out who the dead man is and if he might be connected to Pilager's enemies. But the deeper O'Brien digs into the matter, the more he finds out about the candidate and his family -- and very little of it is flattering. John Sayles assembled a typically impressive cast for Silver City, with the supporting cast highlighted by Tim Roth, Kris Kristofferson, Maria Bello, Thora Birch, Daryl Hannah, Billy Zane, and Mary Kay Place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Huston, Maria Bello, (more)
A pair of lifelong friends whose relationship thrives on their mutual love for graffiti finds their creative passions stifled after being arrested over their illegal art form in director Benjamin Morgan's celluloid commentary on the absurdity of "quality of life" laws. As children living in San Francisco's Mission District, Michael "Heir" Rosario (Lane Garrison) and Curtis "Vain" Smith (Brian Burnam) longed for fame and fortune. Soon convinced that the most viable means of achieving their dreams was to spread their names across the urban landscape, "Heir" and "Vain" soon took to tagging the concrete and steel canvases of the city with their lesser-known monikers. As the years passed and their distinctive form of urban art earned "Heir" and "Vain" the status of anonymous superstars to some, others looking to clean up the streets took a less positive view of the pair's covert artistic exploits. When "Heir" and "Vain" are eventually arrested for violating the city's strict "quality of life" laws, the prospect of serving hard time and having their lives turned upside down for the outwardly victimless crime soon proves devastating for the artistically suffocated urban artists. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lane Garrison, Brian Burnam, (more)
