Taylor Nichols Movies

Monk's shrink Dr. Kroger (Stanley Kamel) is having trouble with his son Tony (Cody McMains), who has been hanging out with the wrong crowd. Thus, when Tony and two of his friends approach Monk with a treasure map which they claim is part of a school project, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) agrees to help them go treasure-hunting, thinking that this is a swell way to keep the boy out of trouble. What Monk doesn't know is that the kids stole the map from the body of a dead man--and that the decedent had been involved in a bank robbery. Before the final fadeout, Monk's well-meaning efforts to straighten Tony out have resulted in a perilous predicament wherein the notoriously claustrophobic detective is buried alive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Darwyn (Michael Ealy) watches Ray's funeral from a distance. Thanks to Gayle (Melissa Sagemiller), Darwyn's now being watched by an overzealous LAPD detective, Moss (Michael Cudlitz of Band of Brothers). The LAPD talk to one of Darwyn's fellow inmates, who eventually manages to get word back to Farik (Oded Fehr) that the police are interested. SA Patrice Serxner (Sonya Walger) takes over as Darwyn's handler, and immediately rubs him the wrong way by criticizing Ray's work. She also upbraids him for going to Ray's funeral, but Darwyn. Ignoring her, Darwyn pays a consoling visit to Ray's widow. Moss gets a warrant and has Darwyn's apartment searched while he's out, and the cops are sloppy enough that Darwyn knows someone was there. He confronts Serxner about it, and she eventually discovers that the LAPD is watching Darwyn. She tells them to terminate their investigation. They think it's about turf, so they don't listen. Farik finds out that it was Gayle who put the cops on Darwyn, and uses a cattle prod on Darwyn to find out what he told her. Darwyn convinces Farik that he didn't tell her anything, but Farik still pays a visit to Gayle. Later, as Farik and the crew are meeting with a gang of white supremacists, dealing Afghan heroin in exchange for explosives, the LAPD decides to move in. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Director Joe Johnston takes over the creative reins from Steven Spielberg for this third installment in the thriller franchise. Sam Neill returns as Dr. Alan Grant, a scientist who's tricked by wealthy couple Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) into a fly-over of Isla Sorna. The object of their sightseeing tour is one of the Costa Rican islands populated by ferocious, genetically bred dinosaurs and the "site B" setting of Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World (1997). After their plane crash-lands, it's revealed that the Kirbys are actually seeking their teenage son, lost on the island after a paragliding accident. Trapped on Isla Sorna, Grant and his companions discover some painful truths the hard way. Among their discoveries: some of the scaly monsters possess more advanced communicative abilities than previously believed, the dreaded Tyrannosaurus Rex has a larger and more lethal competitor, and flying Pteranodons pose an even graver threat than some of their land-locked brethren. Jurassic Park III is the first in the series not to be based upon a novel by original author Michael Crichton. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this drama that explores greed and corruption in American business, Giovanni Ribisi plays Seth Davis, an intelligent and ambitious college dropout who runs a casino in his apartment. Eager to show his father that he can succeed, Seth lands a job with a small stock brokerage firm. He is given a space in the company's "boiler room," where he makes cold calls to prospective clients. As it turns out, Seth has a genuine talent for cold calling, which gains him the approval of his superiors, the admiration of his father, and the attentions of one of his co-workers, Abby Hilliard (Nia Long). However, the higher up the ladder Seth rises, the deeper he sinks into a quagmire of dirty dealings, until he's breaking the law in order to keep his bosses happy and his paychecks coming. The Boiler Room also features Tom Everett Scott, Scott Caan, Jamie Kennedy, Nicky Katt, and Ben Affleck in a cameo as the headhunter who brings Seth into the firm. Ribisi and Scott also appeared together in That Thing You Do; Ribisi was the drummer replaced by Scott, who then led The One-Ders to fictional pop stardom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man convinces his wife to participate in one of his sexual fantasies and lives to regret it in the farcical comedy The Sex Monster. Marty (Mike Binder) is a building contractor who is married to a beautiful woman named Laura (Mariel Hemingway). While reasonably happy in his marriage, Marty has always had a fantasy about having a menage a trois, and when he starts to feel his sex life with Laura is getting stale, he suggests they bring in another woman and give it a try. Laura is reluctant at first, but Marty refuses to drop the subject and eventually she relents, and a second woman is introduced to the bedroom. However, Marty is soon too tired to continue with the fun, and Laura and her new friend go on without him. While she's coy about it at first, it quickly becomes obvious Laura enjoys adding another woman to the mix a lot more than Marty does, and she starts aggressively pursuing new female companions. While Laura doesn't mind if Marty joins in, she and her partners seems to be enjoying themselves enough that's he feels like a fifth wheel, since Laura seems to have much clearer ideas about female eroticism than he does. Mike Binder wrote and directed The Sex Monster, as well as playing the male lead; Stephen Baldwin also appears in a supporting role. Despite its subject matter, this film features little nudity, with the sexual escapades discussed or inferred rather than shown. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Fay decides to sell off the possessions of her three late husbands, all of whom were named George. In consequence, the ghosts of the three Georges return to haunt Fay and give her what-for her act of "selfishness." Elsewhere, Brian (Steven Weber) and Casey (Amy Yasbeck) go out on a Valentine's Day date despite their breakup, and customer Russell Meany (Taylor Nichols) hires Sandpiper Air to stage a spectacular marriage proposal -- to a girl who can't stand the sight of him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A group of teens find themselves surrounded while robbing a bank. They take everyone hostage and begin a standoff with the authorities. ~ All Movie Guide

While going through a manuscript from a prestigious author, junior book editor Erin Garman (Tracy Middendorf cannot help but notice similarities between the book's plot and her own life: It seems that, as a child, she was kidnapped, and still cannot recall the particulars of the situation. As Erin pursues the matter, she finds that the police have no intention of re-opening the case. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) comes to the girl's aid when the intrigues surrounding her long-ago abduction lead to suicide and murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This earnest, intelligent, and well-written romantic comedy is enjoyable and optimistic in classic Hollywood style, even if its idealism doesn't seem quite so credible against the cynical political backdrop of the Nineties. President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), an unabashedly liberal Democrat, is just gearing up for re-election when he meets an attractive and sharp environmental lobbyist named Sydney Wade (Annette Bening). The two fall in love and the President must soon deal with the political repercussions (Sydney is trying to get legislation through Congress), as well as the cynical machinations of Republican opponent Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), who attempts to paint Sydney as a radical and use "family values" rhetoric to smear Shepherd. With the attacks affecting his standings in the all-important polls, and his love's legislation causing him headaches in the Capitol, Shepherd must decide whether he can risk continuing his relationship. A rich supporting cast, solid characterizations by Douglas and Bening, and an articulate approach make this an appealing, if not particularly weighty, study of the tensions between public and private life. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Good gorillas meet bad gorillas while human beings search for treasure in this jungle advnture saga. R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker) is the ruthless head of Travi-Com, a telecommunications firm on the cusp of a major breakthrough in laser communications technology. However, Travis needs diamonds to finish the project, so he sends a group of men to Zaire, where he's told that a large supply of the gems can be easily found. When the men go missing, Travis sends his trusted assistant Karen Ross (Laura Linney), a one-time CIA associate, into the jungle to find both his staff and the jewels. Hoping to keep her mission a secret, Karen travels to Zaire in the company of Peter (Dylan Walsh), a researcher on primate development who is hoping to return Amy, a gorilla who has been taught sign language and can "speak" English with the help of a glove-controlled computer device. Also travelling with them is Herkermer (Tim Curry), a Romanian with a secret agenda: he's convinced that Amy can guide him to the Lost City of Zinj, where he believes that King Solomon's Mines are located. Upon arrival, the group is met by Monroe Kelly (Ernie Hudson), a self-described "great white hunter who happens to be black," and they discover that the jungle holds a menace that they weren't counting on: a tribe of bloodthirsty gray gorillas. Congo was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The second film from writer/director Whit Stillman, Barcelona is a smart, urbane comedy of manners set in Spain at the tail end of the Cold War. Taylor Nichols stars as Ted, an American salesman living in Barcelona. Out of the blue, he is visited by his acidic cousin Fred (Chris Eigeman), a U.S. Navy officer sent abroad to work damage control on rising anti-American sentiment. The textbook "Ugly American," Fred travels through the city in full military regalia, impervious to the constant taunts of "Fascist!" Like the similarly self-absorbed Ted, who has become involved with political activist Monsterrat (Tushka Bergen), Fred also finds romance, with a party girl played by Mira Sorvino. A brittle fish-out-of-water comedy, Barcelona is literate and sophisticated, a knowing essay on cultural identity and perception. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

While attending a celebrity-studded party held by the editor of a Beverly Hills gossip magazine, Jessica (Angea Lansbury) begins formulating the plot of her next mystery novel. The principal ingredients include a trendy florist with a roster of A-list clients who is secretly helping an unscrupulous writer dig up dirt for a series of scandalous articles. The florist soon turns up dead, and virtually every member of the Beverly Hills "in crowd" falls under suspicion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide