Ron Bottitta Movies
Three women struggle with the joys and sorrows of love in this three-part drama from writer and director Kyle Schickner. Teenaged Elizabeth (Kate Siegel) has been raised in a conservative, deeply religious household, and when she goes away to college she revels in her first taste of freedom. Elizabeth falls into a relationship with Niala (Reshma Shetty), an attractive and free-spirited bisexual, and is introduced to the heady pleasures of sex. However, while Elizabeth is deeply in love with Niala, she soon discovers that Niala puts little stock in exclusive relationships. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) is in her mid-forties and has lost nearly everything in a messy divorce, including full custody of her son, who now spends half his time with his father and his new (and younger) wife. Laurie is so filled with resentment and anger that she can scarcely get through the days until she meets her son's soccer coach, who wastes no time letting Laurie know he's smitten with her. And Doris (Ruby Dee) is an elderly woman who is deep in mourning after the death of her husband. While friends and volunteers from her church try to help Doris break out of her funk, she seems inconsolable until she meets a man her own age who lost his wife. The two bond over their shared loss and fall in love, but while they're eager to marry, the man's son is convinced Doris' motives are not pure. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruby Dee, Ally Sheedy, (more)
Two friends who've convinced themselves they would never make a good couple discover they might just be wrong in this romantic comedy. Oliver (Ashton Kutcher) and Emily (Amanda Peet) first met when they were college students sharing a flight from California to New York; Emily spontaneously seduced Oliver on the plane, and they spent the next few days together in the city. When they parted, however, Emily decided not to pursue a relationship with Oliver, even though he was obviously interested. Over the next several years, circumstances kept putting them in one another's paths, and over the years Oliver and Emily became close friends and confidantes. Both are still certain, though, that they're entirely wrong for each other on a romantic level. However, after nearly a decade, with both Oliver and Emily edging into their thirties, they begin to wonder if they've allowed a great opportunity to pass them by. A Lot Like Love also stars Kathryn Hahn, Ali Larter, and Kal Penn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet, (more)
- 2005
The police chief has decided to shelve the seizure policy, and Monica (Glenn Close) goes to Aceveda (Benito Martinez) to try to work out a deal to save it. Vic (Michael Chiklis) and his team are staking out Tretiak (Michael Khmurov), the Russian mobster who allegedly ordered the two cops killed. They find out that he's getting shipments of C4 sent to a local warehouse, and make a bust. They try to scare one of Tretiak's underlings by wiring Tretiak to a load of explosives, but things go horribly awry. They do learn, however, that another man was with the two Nigerians when they murdered the cops. A sting involving Taylor (RonReaco Lee) nabs the third man, Jason Porter (La Monde Byrd), a college student who has no criminal record. His involvement becomes a bit more understandable when Vic learns that he's Antwon's (Anthony Anderson) stepbrother. Dutch (Jay Karnes) and Claudette (CCH Pounder) investigate a homicide involving Bumper (Faleolo Alailima), a disabled man. Joanna Faulks (Rebecca Pidgeon) returns to The Barn looking for Dutch. She's being harassed and threatened because her husband was the "Cuddler Rapist," and she asks Dutch to help her get a carry permit for her gun. Dutch angrily confronts Billings (David Marciano) about the pranks that are being played on him by his fellow officers. Aceveda gets a subpoena to testify in Juan Lozano's (Kurt Caceres) appeal. Juan threatens to testify that he sexually assaulted Aceveda if Aceveda doesn't find a way to spring him. Aceveda turns to an unlikely ally for help in resolving the matter. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Now that Hurley's (Jorge Garcia) CD player has finally "died," neither the survivors nor the viewers will be treated to those pop music snatches that have capped the previous episodes of Lost. This does not mean, however, that Hurley's importance to the series has diminished: in fact, this episode is all about him -- or rather, his fascination with the Frenchwoman who has been transmitting radio messages from the jungle interior of the island. Also, an extended flashback finally explains why Hurley had popped up on Korean TV in a prior episode's flashback. A boon of good luck had recently drastically changed Hurley's life; however, things were not as fortunate as they at first seemed, and Hurley had set off on a quest to determine the meaning of it all. And in another development, Locke (Terry O'Quinn) commits another act of largesse, with Claire (Emilie de Raven) and her baby as the recipients. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mira Furlan, Lillian Hurst, (more)
A middle-aged man finds a callow twentysomething usurping his professional life and worming his way into his family in this alternately funny and poignant comedy drama. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a middle-aged man who has spent 20 years as the head of advertising sales for Sports America, a leading athletics magazine. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger) and has a college-age daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson), whom he dotes on, but Dan's comfortable life is given a major shake-up when a large multimedia firm buys the magazine. Seen as a bit long in the tooth to be truly competitive, Dan is demoted to second in command of advertising, and his position is handed over to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a 26-year-old who talks a good game about sales but has no practical experience in the field. Dan's wounded ego makes working with the arrogant Carter an uphill battle, but when he learns that Ann is expecting another baby, Dan is in no position to quit. Before long, Dan becomes aware of Carter's intense insecurities about his new job as the younger man reaches out to him for guidance, but this doesn't make Dan any less angry when Carter begins a romance with Alex after his marriage to Kimberley (Selma Blair) crashes and burns. In Good Company marked the solo directorial debut of Paul Weitz; he previously worked in collaboration with his brother Chris Weitz, who serves as producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, (more)
