Dominic Marcus

Nola (Emmy Rossum) is a Kansas teen who runs away to New York City to escape an abusive stepfather. Once she gets to the big town, she sets about looking for a job and for her father, whom she's never met. She attacks both tasks with fierce determination, but has little success, until she stumbles upon a greasy spoon near Union Square where the eccentric owner, Gus (Sam Coppola), immediately takes a liking to her. Soon, she's waitressing at the diner and crashing in a room upstairs with the handsome fry cook, Ben (James Badge Dale), who also goes to law school when he feels like it. Nola spends her spare time using the phone book in an effort to track down the man she knows only as "Hutch." Things look up for Nola when she meets the sassy owner of the diner, Margaret (Mary McDonnell), who also runs a very classy escort service. Margaret sees something in Nola, and hires the girl as her assistant. As Nola's relationship with Ben gets more intimate, she tells him about her dream of being a successful songwriter. But things take an ugly turn when one of Margaret's escorts, a transsexual named Wendy (Michael Cavadias) offends a rich and powerful client, Niles (Thom Christopher). Niles is determined to have his revenge, and tries to use his media contacts to have an exposé written about Margaret's business. But the reporter assigned to the story, Leo (Steven Bauer), turns out to be an old friend of Margaret's. Nola, the feature debut of writer/director Alan Hruska, a former trial lawyer, had its world premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

A diamond dealer is kidnapped in broad daylight, with the assailants leaving two dead men -- a jeweler and a banker -- in their wake. The detectives' subsequent investigation leads to a family-controlled "diamond dynasty," which in turn is linked with a civil war in a faraway country. Originally scheduled to air October 17, 2001, this episode was moved forward to October 24. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The D.A.'s office has quite a full docket in this episode. Vital ingredients include an assault on a former attorney, a messy divorce, the death of a patient during a routine operation, charges of criminal negligence leveled against two doctors, and a significant name spoken in passing. As A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael, actress Angie Harmon provides most of the episode's dramatic intensity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A dissatisfied Manhattan sportswriter finds more than he expected when he searches for the biological mother of his adopted child in Woody Allen's comedy. Writer-director Allen also plays Lenny, a slightly more relaxed incarnation of his usual neurotic screen persona. Lenny is trapped in a bad marriage to high-strung art dealer Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter), but he finds solace in his relationship with his adopted young son. Indeed, he grows so fond of the boy that he decides to track down the boy's real mother, expecting to discover a brilliant professional. Instead, he finds Linda (Mira Sorvino), a ditzy prostitute and porno star who mingles casual vulgarity with disarming innocence. Despite his initial disillusionment, Lenny soon develops a fondness for Linda and decides to play matchmaker, setting her up with a handsome young boxer (Michael Rapaport) who is equally good-hearted and scatterbrained. While the contrast between the free-spirited Linda and the uptight Lenny provides the bulk of the laughs, hints of Allen's more literary humor are also present, particularly in the scenes involving a roaming Greek chorus commenting upon Lenny's fate. Sorvino received a supporting Oscar for her title role in a well-received movie that is nevertheless not at the level of Allen's best-known classics. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

When the sadomasochistic sexual fantasies of a Manhattan psychiatrist's disturbed patient begin leaking into the troubled doctor's subconscious, a heated love affair leads to a series of shocking murders in this erotic thriller from Off Limits director Christopher Crowe. The confessions of a sexually obsessed patient are slowly working their way into the dreams of psychiatrist Ann Heckler (Annabella Sciorra), and though the practical advice of her university mentor, Dr. Leo Green (Alan Alda), does little to quell her erotic visions, a torrid affair with handsome pilot Doug McDowell (Jamey Sheridan) at least provides a satisfying momentary distraction. When one of Ann's patients is discovered murdered and all evidence suggests that her new lover is the culprit, Ann must make a choice to put her trust in Doug or escape with her life while she still can. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom made his American movie debut with this romantic comedy, starring Holly Hunter as Renata Bella, an aimless Bostonian thirtysomething who attends a seminar for aspiring condo salespersons. Here she meets hotshot salesman Sam Sharpe (Richard Dreyfuss), who immediately falls in love with her. After the marriage, Sam's well-meaning but obnoxious insistence on insinuating himself into every aspect of Renata's life rubs the rest of her family the wrong way. Though the script occasionally veers into both cliché and sentimentality, Once Around ends up a thoroughly charming experience, thanks to Hallstrom's knowing direction and the marvelous chemistry between Hunter and Dreyfuss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adventurous viewers not repelled by the title of this horror exploitation-comedy from Frank Henenlotter (director of the splatter cult classic Basket Case) will find a fair share of laughs on display, thanks to Henenlotter's typically energetic devil-may-care brand of gruesome humor. James Lorinz tears up acres of scenery as Jeffrey Franken, a neurotic electrician and aspiring mad scientist, who goes completely 'round the bend after his slightly pudgy girlfriend (former Penthouse pet, Patty Mullen) is shredded by his latest invention, a remote-control lawn mower. Preserving her head in his mom's freezer, he sets out to acquire shapely female parts to rebuild the rest of her, focusing his search on the city's red-light district. After watching a news feature on crack addiction among local prostitutes, Franken hits on the solution and invents a formula for "supercrack," which triggers the spontaneous detonation of anyone who smokes it. After blowing apart a hotel roomful of unfortunate ladies, he spirits their scattered limbs home to his garage laboratory, where his patchwork creation is eventually brought to life in a hilarious lift from The Bride of Frankenstein. Apparently, her brain spent too much time bobbing in the same preservative bath used for the hooker-parts, since she is instantly compelled to peddle her assets on every street corner in town, resulting in the high-voltage deaths of several johns (who are not entirely dissatisfied with their choice of demise). Her exploits reach the attention of sadistic pimp Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez), who, obsessed with finding the person responsible for blowing up his women, tracks her back to Franken's lab for the inevitable (and quite disgusting) confrontation. Basically a collection of crude but hilarious sight gags (Franken's predilection for plunging a power drill into his own skull; the pimp knocked senseless by flying severed limbs) and goofy throwaway dialogue, this may offer guilty pleasures for fans of Henenlotter's comic theater of the absurd. Frankenhooker is available on video in R and unrated versions, some featuring a suitably tacky slipcase, which, when pressed, screeches the words "Wanna date?" ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide