Trieste Dunn Movies

Created by Dave Erickson and co-produced by actor Denis Leary, the weekly, 60-minute legal drama Canterbury's Law starred Juliana Margulies as Elizabeth Canterbury, a tough, ruthless Providence (R.I.) attorney who specialized in defending such "controversial" clients as accused child murderers and pedophiles. Yelling at everyone within earshot and playing fast and loose with ethics, Elizabeth was not by any stretch of the imagination an admirable character, but her abrasive personality was somewhat justified by the fact that she sincerely believed in the innocence of her clients. One of many "flawed" TV heroines of the early 21st century (vide The Closer), Elizabeth battled innumerable personal demons and an alcohol problem which partially stemmed from the loss of her son, who had disappeared without a trace a year or so before the series got under way. Other regulars included Ben Shenkman as Elizabeth's legal partner Russell Krauss, who'd been passed over for a D.A.'s job after clashing with his corrupt boss; Keith Robinson as cocky attorney Chester Grant, a congressman's son who had turned his back on his dad's conformist politicis; Trieste Dunn as fearless attorney Molly McConnell, one of the few people who could stand up to Elizabeth without emerging bloody and bowed; and Aidan Quinn as Elizabeth's college-professor husband Matt Furey, on whom the restless Ms. Canterbury cheated shamelessly. Originally intended as a series about a male attorney, Canterbury's Law switched genders once Juliana Margulies signed onto the project. Though the pilot was filmed in early 2007, the series itself was not added to the Fox network lineup until March 10, 2008, having shed a couple of the original regulars (Jocko Sims as Chester, Linus Roache as Matt) along the way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two young men are haunted by similar events from their past, though the effects manifest themselves in very different ways, in this powerful drama from independent filmmaker Gregg Araki. In the summer of 1981, Brian (George Webster) and Neil (Chase Ellison) are both eight years old and playing on the same little league baseball team in a small Kansas town. One day, after a game, Brian blacks out after getting caught in a rainstorm, and five hours later he finds himself sitting in his basement with his nose bleeding and no memory of what happened to him. Over the years, the event -- particularly the missing five hours -- weigh heavily on his mind, and he becomes convinced that he was kidnapped by space aliens. Teenaged Brian (now played by Brady Corbet) becomes friends with Avalyn Friesen (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens on several occasions, and she urges him to look to his dreams for patterns that might suggest what happened to him. Meanwhile, during the same summer, Neil developed a powerful crush on their little league coach (Bill Sage), who appeared to have also taken a shine to Neil. Neil's mother (Elisabeth Shue), seeing nothing wrong with their friendship, lets the coach look after Neil while she's off on one of her many dates, and before long Neil begins sexually experimenting with the older man. Neil's introduction to sex inspires him to become a hustler when he grows into his teens, and after burning his bridges in his hometown, Neil (now played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his close friend Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) move to New York, where he continues to cruise for a living but under significantly more risky circumstances. One day, Neil is contacted by Brian, who after seeing one of their team photos from their days in little league suspects he might have some clues as to what happened to him in 1981. Mysterious Skin was based on the novel by Scott Heim, and marked the first time Gregg Araki made a film that did not originate with one of his own screenplays. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide