Lynette Howell Movies

The true story of painter Margaret Keane's life in obscurity while her husband gleaned the notoriety for being the face of her work is brought to the screen by Tim Burton and his Ed Wood screenwriters, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz star. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Vacationing college students fight a shiver of sharks after traveling to an island getaway and being surrounded by the ferocious man-eaters in this sun-soaked shocker from director David R. Ellis (Final Destination 2, Snakes on a Plane). The moment Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends arrive at her parent's Louisiana lake house, the party is in full gear. Everyone is swimming in the salt-water lake and having a blast until Malik (Sinqua Walls) loses his arm in what initially appears to be a tragic wake-boarding mishap. Determined to get him to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible, Malik's friends fire up the speedboat and hit the water full throttle. It isn't until they're far from shore that the reality of the situation finally dawns on them -- the lake is teeming with hungry sharks, and a tiny speedboat isn't about to stop them from getting their next meal. Suddenly, a severed arm is the least of their worries. As the feeding frenzy begins, Sara and her pals realize that their only hope for survival is to swim for their lives and reach the beach without becoming fish food. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Chris Kentis and Laura Lau (Open Water) return to terra firma for this remake of the "real time" Uruguayan thriller La Casa Muda. Their summer cottage vandalized by squatters during the off-season, Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen), her father, and her uncle begin the laborious process of cleaning the place up when noises from within hint they are not alone. Now the deeper Sarah ventures into the derelict building, the further the secrets of her dark past are dragged out into the light. As with La Casa Muda, Silent House was shot in one continuous take, a production style that allows the viewer to experience the swelling tension of Sarah's horror firsthand as she unlocks a diabolical mystery. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An act of violence has a powerful impact on the friendship of two young men in this independent drama. Qalli (Josiah Patkotak) and Aivaaq (Frank Qutuq Irelan) are two 17-year-old boys growing up in the Inupiaq community of Barrow, Alaska. While Barrow is at first glance an old-fashioned community cut off from major urban centers and a place where men still hunt seals and walruses to put food on the table, the town shows a few signs of big-city life; the teenagers like to race snowmobiles and listen to hip-hop, and there's also a growing crystal-meth problem. Qalli and Aivaaq have known each other since early childhood and are as close as siblings, but they come from very different households -- Qalli has a tight-knit family and has plans to attend college, while Aivaaq is the son of a single mom and has a pregnant girlfriend to look after. One day, Qalli sees Aivaaq in a fist fight with his friend James (John Miller); both are high on meth, and Aivaaq loses control and accidentally kills James. Rather than report the matter to the police, Aivaaq comes up with a plan to hide the body and let folks believe James has gone missing. Qalli agrees to help out of loyalty, but soon his guilt over the cover up begins to take a heavy toll. On The Ice was the first feature film from writer and director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A relationship is charted from its promising beginning to its sad collapse in this independent drama from Derek Cianfrance. Dean (Ryan Gosling) meets Cindy (Michelle Williams) when they're in their late teens; he's working for a moving company, she's a college student visiting her elderly grandmother at a home for the elderly. Cindy is dating Bobby (Mike Vogel), her boyfriend from high school, but as she gets to know Dean better, a mutual attraction grows between them. Years later, Dean and Cindy are married and have a daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka), but they're clearly not as happy as they once were; Dean loves his daughter but feels distant from his wife, they have to look after an elderly relative (John Doman), and when Cindy bumps into Bobby while running errands, it's clear he still holds a grudge against her. Dean and Cindy go away for a weekend together at a hotel, but it doesn't take long for them to realize that the magic isn't coming back. Blue Valentine received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Felicity Huffman, Elle Fanning, and Patricia Clarkson star in director/screenwriter Daniel Barnz's illuminating tale of parenting and growth concerning an exceptional young girl whose troubling retreat into fantasy draws the concern of both her dejected mother and her unusually perceptive drama teacher. Phoebe (Fanning) is a talented young student who longs to take part in the school production of Alice in Wonderland, but whose bizarre behavior sets her well apart from her carefree classmates. Her mother (Huffman) is an aspiring academic who is beginning to feel like she has not only failed in her professional career, but as a parent as well. Though Phoebe's gifted drama teacher (Clarkson) has no doubts about the young girl's talent and capacity for learning, the frustration of seeing such a promising student slowly slip ever further away from reality soon becomes a growing concern both at home and at school. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A frightened and irresponsible girl and an emotionally conflicted woman are brought together under tragic circumstances in this independent drama. Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl who while on a school-sponsored ski trip collapses in a puddle of blood; a medical examination reveals that Stephanie has recently given birth, and in a nearby bathroom a newborn child is found dead, flushed down a toilet with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. While Stephanie insists the child was stillborn and she had no idea she was pregnant, she is charged with killing the infant, and court-appointed psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is assigned to interview the teenager. Lydie has her own issues with possible parenthood; she's been struggling to have a child after a recent stillbirth, and the matter is taking a toll on her marriage, with her husband, Paul (Timothy Hutton), seeking solace in the arms of another woman. As Stephanie shares with Lydie her feelings about her relationship with her parents, how she lost her virginity, and her growing conviction that God gave her a child as a form of punishment, Lydie finds herself dealing with her own feelings about the child she lost. Meanwhile, Right to Life and Pro-Choice groups threaten to turn Stephanie's trial into a media circus. Stephanie Daley premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi