Michael Becker Movies
After his 13-year-old sister is abducted by sex traffickers, a determined Mexican teen travels from the barrios of Mexico City to a run-down stash house in New Jersey in a desperate attempt to rescue the frightened girl before she is swallowed whole by one of the criminal underworld's darkest secrets. Jorge's (Cesar Ramos) adolescent sister, Adriana (Paulina Gaitan), has been kidnapped and thrust into a lucrative underground trade in which young girls are bought and sold to the highest bidder. Now, as the terrified youngster is herded through a complex network of underground tunnels leading into the United States, her only ally is a Polish woman named Veronica (Alicja Bachleda), who has been tricked into the trade by the same nefarious gang. After circumventing immigration officers and eventually working his way across the border, the desperate Jorge comes into contact with a Texas lawman named Ray (Kevin Kline), whose own devastating personal loss to sex traffickers causes him to join the search for Adriana. In the dark days that follow, Jorge and Ray form a close bond as they witness the horrors of a secret Internet sex slave auction and discover just how far the depths of human depravity can plunge while attempting to maintain hope that brother and sister will one day be reunited. In the world of international sex trafficking, however, innocent victims disappear without a trace every day and few who fall prey to these reprehensible predators are ever seen again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos, (more)
The rousing, true-life story of a single dad who went from living on the streets to owning his own brokerage firm is brought to the big screen by superstar Will Smith, appearing for the first time opposite his real-life son Jaden Smith. Set in early-'80s San Francisco, the film charts the hard times and eventual comeback of Chris Gardner, a suddenly single salesman who has custody of his son, but finds that providing for the two of them is a challenge in the increasingly unstable economic climate. He struggles to work his way from unpaid intern at Dean Witter to something more substantial, even as life continues to offer him setbacks. Making his Hollywood debut, Italian director Gabriele Muccino was championed by Will Smith for the project. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Jaden Smith, (more)
Four generations of an American family are brought together by difficult circumstances while facing some unpleasant truths in this drama. Henry (Michael Caine) is an elderly man in failing health living in a small town in the Southwest, where he's cared for by his live-in nurse (Glenne Headly). As Henry's condition grows worse, he's joined by his son Turner (Christopher Walken), his grandson Jason (Josh Lucas), and his great-grandson Zach (Jonah Bobo). As the four men deal with Henry's illness, they also try to come to terms with a lifetime's worth of differences between them. Around the Bend is the first feature film from writer and director Jordan Roberts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Josh Lucas, (more)
Once a symbol of '60s counterculture and psychedelic drug use, Ram Dass has since become a renowned speaker and author on the topics of aging, spirituality, and overcoming the mistakes of the past. This documentary chronicles his journey from his affiliations with LSD advocate Timothy Leary to his endeavor to continue remaking himself after his stroke in 1997. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
The jazz band Steps Ahead perform live at Copenhagen's Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in this release from Storyville DVD. Part of the Jazz Legends series, Steps Ahead: Copenhagen Live includes renditions of such songs as "Islands," "Skyward Bound," "Northern Cross," "Duo (in Two Parts)," "Both Sides of the Coin," and three others. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Mainieri, Michael Brecker, (more)
- 1993
Detective Sharon LaSalle (Wendy Makkena), who'd attended Police Academy with Kelly (David Caruso), joins the unit. Before long, LaSalle's ex-cop husband is killed, and Kelly and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) are assigned to investigate. Elsewhere, detective Medavoy (Gordon Clapp), having left his wife, discovers that his feelings toward Donna (Gail O'Grady) are mutual. And a drunken woman turns out to be more than "just talk" when complaining about her husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Kalin directed this cool and aloof black-and-white study of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, a case told before in two previous films -- Rope and Compulsion. In 1924, in Chicago, Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, two 18-year-olds, kidnapped and murdered the 13-year-old Bobby Franks, immediately killing him and then stuffing his naked body up a culvert. The motive for the crime was simply that they wanted to prove to themselves that they were smart enough to get away with it. The previous film versions downplayed Leopold and Loeb's homosexuality, but Kalin's version plays it up into a psychosexual motif. Loeb (Daniel Schlachet) is the calculating intellectual, while Leopold (Craig Chester), the amateur ornithologist, is the emotional and weak one. In love with Loeb, Leopold is willing to do anything for him, and when Leob uses the withholding of sex as a prompt, Leopold is even willing to commit murder to have his sexual desires satisfied by Loeb. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Schlachet, Craig Chester, (more)
- 1990
- R
Ray Sharkey plays Detective Vince Capra of the LAPD whose job it is to discover the identity of a serial killer who has been murdering rich single ladies when the rain falls. He's saddled with an FBI agent who's supposed to assist him in solving the crime, but tends to get in his way. There are several twisting turnabouts to this film that keep the viewer guessing who the killer is, and when they find out who the killer is, the next question is: Who will be the next victim? ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Sharkey, David Beecroft, (more)
- 1989
Based on a true story, The Preppie Murder begins on August 26, 1986. This was the day that 18-year-old Jennifer Levin (Lara-Flynn Boyle) was strangled to death in Central Park. The prime suspect, Jennifer's 19-year-old boyfriend Robert Chambers (William Baldwin), confesses to the crime. The well-to-do young man insists that the killing was accidental; he claims that it occurred during a "rough sex" session that Jennifer had inaugurated. The ensuing media frenzy forces the old "she asked for it" defense to rear its ugly head. The Preppie Murder's attempts at fairness caused a great deal of critical turmoil when the film first aired on September 24, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
This muddled attempt at creating a new supernatural serial killer franchise (in the mode of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series) features perennial movie thug Brion James as sadistic mass murderer Max Jenke, who hacked up more than 100 victims with a meat cleaver before his eventual capture by dedicated cop Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen). Unwilling to cease his homicidal spree after his death, Jenke had been conducting bizarre experiments in soul-transference prior to his capture; his execution in the electric chair subsequently transforms his evil essence into electrical current. In this new form, the seemingly unstoppable maniac launches a supernatural siege against McCarthy and his family until the tormented cop finally faces him down on his own nightmare turf. Originally conceived as another House sequel, this film consists of long periods of tedium punctuated by outbursts of graphic gore and surreal effects. This condition is partially the result of footage being shot by two separate directors; it seems as if neither of them knew what the other was doing. James is amusingly sleazy as the cackling madman, but his one-note material is not compelling enough to merit a recurring character. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Henriksen, Brion James, (more)
- 1986
A young woman has difficulty setting up a school in the Australian outback in this drama. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1972
This free-wheeling sex spoof features the Warhol "factory" personality, transvestite Holly Woodlawn. At the time this film was made, Warhol was not so interested in making films and was turning his attentions to producing the magazine, Interview. His film celebrities and the sensibility they served found new outlets, such as this one. Told in a series of vignettes, the story concerns a country girl (Woodlawn) who comes to the big city hoping to become a star. Colorful characters abound in this low-budget film, as do sexual situations. One character is a cab-driving nun, another is a midget wrestler. The names of these characters poke fun at famous movie and theater roles. One is named "Blanche Dubois," another is "Mary Poppins," yet another is "Rhett Butler," and so on. One highlight of the film is a scene which parodies Busby Berkeley musicals. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- R
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This musical documentary concerns the Rolling Stones and their tragic free concert at Altamont Speedway near San Francisco in early December 1969. The event was all but destroyed by violence that marked the end of the peace and love euphoria of the 1960s. The night began smoothly, with the supercharged Flying Burrito Brothers opening up for the Rolling Stones and performing the truck-driving classic "Six Days on the Road" and Tina Turner giving a sensually charged performance. But on this particular evening, the Stones made the fateful (and disastrous) decision to hire the Oakland chapter of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang as bodyguards and bouncers. It was a foolhardy, careless choice that turned the night into an unmitigated disaster; halfway through the Stones' act, the Angels killed one black spectator, and injured several others who were present (including Jefferson Airplane's lead singer Marty Balin). In the film, we watch Mick Jagger -- ere an ebullient, charismatic performer of bisexual charm -- reduced to standing on stage like a frightened child with his finger in his mouth in wake of the violence. Unsurprisingly, the Grateful Dead refused to perform after the violence erupted; the picture ends on a despairing note, with the Stones repeatedly watching a film of the murder. Celebrated documentarians Albert and David Maysles directed and Haskell Wexler shot the film, with heightened instinct and control; as a result, this film is considered one of the greatest rock documentaries ever made. Stones songs performed include "Brown Sugar," "Under My Thumb," and "Sympathy for the Devil." ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
In the late '60s and early '70s, seemingly every major rock festival and a number of top rock bands had become the subjects of documentary films, so it was probably just a matter of time before someone decided to take a look at the backstage scene in the wild world of heavy rock. For Groupies, filmmakers Ron Dorfman and Peter Nevard spent several months on the then-thriving rock ballroom circuit, filming a few notable bands, but spending most of their time with the women who'd devoted their time to following and "getting to know" their favorite rock stars (as well as a handful of young men who try, with little success, to share their affections with members of Ten Years After). Ranging from young unknowns new to the music scene to the royalty of the groupie community (including Miss Pamela -- aka Pamela Des Barres, who wrote an entertaining book on her experiences -- and Cynthia Plaster Caster, who preserved the "instruments" of a number of well-known rockers in plaster of Paris), Groupies follows these women and attempts to explain how they came by their decadent lifestyle. If nothing else, Groupies offers your only opportunity to hear several women onscreen debate the pros and cons of sleeping with Luther Grosvenor from the band Spooky Tooth. Groupies also features onscreen performances from Joe Cocker, Ten Years After, and Terry Reid. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ten Years After, Joe Cocker, (more)
