Michael Costigan Movies

Director Ridley Scott re-teams with his American Gangster scribe Steve Zaillian to adapt David Peace's series of novels concerning political corruption during a string of child abductions with this Columbia Pictures production. The books were previously adapted in a British TV miniseries, which boasted an ensemble cast including Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan and Sean Bean. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

A young woman (Mia Wasikowska) gets an unexpected visit from her uncle (Matthew Goode) soon after her father passes away in this Fox Searchlight production from acclaimed director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy). Nicole Kidman, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, and Lucas Till co-star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Robert De Niro and Paul Dano headline writer/director Paul Weitz's adaptation of Nick Flynn's memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City. The story concerns a struggling writer named Nick (Dano), who is working at an inner-city homeless shelter when his estranged father Jonathan (De Niro) shows up looking for a place to rest his head. Dale Dickey, Lili Taylor, Olivia Thirlby, and Julianne Moore co-star in a film produced by Depth of Field in association with Tribeca Productions and Corduroy Films. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Their relationship steadily deteriorating in the eight years following their daughter's untimely death, a married couple unable to break the cycle of grief gets a second shot at love thanks to a scrappy, underage prostitute in this family drama starring James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo, and Kristen Stewart. Ever since the death of their daughter Emily, Doug (Gandolfini) and Lois Riley (Leo) have been drifting apart. As Lois wrestles with a suffocating sense of guilt over her daughter's death, Doug copes by entering into an affair with Vivian, a local waitress. Lately, Lois hasn't even been able to muster the courage to venture outside, summoning hairdressers to her home in order to maintain appearances and communicating with few people other than her sister Harriet and the local pastor. When Vivian dies and Doug finds himself in a Baton Rouge strip club during a business trip, he realizes he's come to a dangerous crossroads in life. Turning down an offer for a private dance by 16-year-old stripper Mallory, Doug instead accompanies the girl home and makes a most unusual proposition: if Mallory will allow him to stay in her run-down apartment long enough to straighten himself out, he will pay her $100 a day for her trouble. For Mallory, who isn't used to getting money for nothing, it seems like a great deal. She accepts, and Doug phones Lois to tell her he won't be coming home. As time passes, Doug and Mallory settle into an unconventional kind of domesticity. Meanwhile, back home, Lois realizes that she'll have to act fast in order to save her marriage, even if that means venturing well outside her comfort zone for the first time in nearly a decade. Most days she can't even make it to the mailbox, but after a couple attempts, Lois manages to start up her car and get on the freeway heading south. When Lois arrives in Louisiana and discovers that her husband is living with a foul-mouthed, underage hooker, she is at first horrified. Like Doug before her, however, Lois quickly warms to Mallory, due in part to her striking similarities to Emily. Before long, Lois, too, has moved in, and the three form something of an unconventional family. But when Lois attempts to steer Mallory from the path of self-destruction, the young girl bristles. Later, Mallory is hospitalized after being badly beaten by a client, and Doug and Lois rush to be by her side. Could this be the thing that pulls them back together? When Lois admits to Doug how their daughter really died, his kind understanding gives hope for a new beginning. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Betty Thomas turns her comic eye toward Dallas, the big-screen adaptation of the glitzy TV drama that follows oil tycoon J.R. Ewing and his ostentatious family. The film version has endured many bumps in its production history, with Bend It Like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha most recently attached to direct before Thomas was brought in with her more comedic take, thus adding to the ranks of talent that once circled the project, including Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson, Shirley MacLaine, and most notably, John Travolta. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A teacher who prides herself on being different meets a student who matches her nonconformist nature in this period drama. It's 1934, and Miss G (Eva Green) is a teacher at a private school for girls near the eastern coastline of England. While most of the teachers at the school are severe and straight-laced women who reinforce its reputation as a repressive environment, Miss G is more youthful and glamorous than her colleagues, and enjoys dropping hints of a free-spirited past to her young charges. Miss G encourages her students to challenge conventional norms of the day, and organizes a diving team at the school, which she oversees with great interest. Miss G also sees a danger in the cliques that dominate the school, and she tries to undermine them, much to the annoyance of Di (Juno Temple), who holds a high place in the school's pecking order. But things change for both Miss G and her students when Fiamma (Maria Valverde) enrolls at the school. Fiamma is from Spain and has a strong independent streak; she doesn't look to her peers for approval and insists on doing things her own way, which makes her all the more exotic and appealing to the other students. Fiamma also earns the approval of Miss G, but before long rumors begin to spread that the teacher's interest in her new student is more than academic. Cracks was the first feature film from director Jordan Scott, whose father is the noted filmmaker Ridley Scott. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A New York City subway dispatcher draws on his extensive knowledge of the subway system in order to outsmart a dangerous criminal mastermind who's hijacked a subway train in this remake of the 1974 thriller inspired by John Godey's best-selling book. Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) is drifting through his daily routine when he receives word that a heavily armed gang of four has hijacked a subway train and is holding all of the passengers hostage. Led by cunning master thief Ryder (John Travolta), the gunmen will begin executing everyone aboard should the authorities fail in delivering ten million dollars in the space of just one hour. With the tension in the tunnels rising, Walter races to save the hostages before the shootings start. But through it all, there's one part of Ryder's plan that Walter can't quite comprehend: even if the thieves do succeed in getting their money, how could they possibly get out of the tunnels undetected? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Fresh off of their success with director Martin Scorsese's The Departed, star Leonardo DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan team with director Ridley Scott for this screen adaptation of David Ignatius' novel Body of Lies. When CIA operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) uncovers evidence indicating that a major terrorist leader may be operating out of Jordan, he enlists the aid of CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) in infiltrating the elusive saboteur's vast underground network. During the course of his dangerous mission, Ferris gradually comes to question how much he can trust his presumed allies -- who include not just Hoffman, but the outwardly helpful head of Jordanian intelligence as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When the spirit of Christmas compels a small-town New Englander to decorate his home with enough lights to make it visible from space, much more is set to be decked than just the halls in this holiday comedy featuring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as two warring neighbors determined to outdo each other in creating the best lighting display on the planet. Christmas is without question the most wonderful time of the year for Cloverdale, MA optometrist Steve Finch (Broderick). Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Steve's wife, Kelly (Kristin Davis), and the pair's two children, Madison (Alia Shawkat) and Carter (Dylan Blue). Despite Steve's annual holiday zeal, the rest of the Carters have grown to resent the seemingly endless family rituals leading up the Winterfest carnival over which their terminally cheerful patriarch presides. Though it seems that nothing in the world could dampen the spirits of the local "King of Christmas," Steve soon finds his royal status challenged when used-car salesman Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) moves in next door and covers his house with enough festive lights to make it visible from the deepest crater of the moon. His Yuletide thunder effectively stolen, Steve resorts to desperate measures in regaining his crown when Buddy's lavish decorations make him a local celebrity, his wife strikes up a warm friendship with the neighbor's outspoken better half, Tia (Kristin Chenoweth), and even the kids seem to warm to the car salesman's air-headed twin daughters, Ashley and Emily (Sabrina and Kelly Aldridge). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi