Denney Pierce Movies

A lonely stretch of highway leads to a date with terror in this thriller. Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) and Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) are a young couple in the midst of a long-distance road trip when, during a rainstorm, they take pity on a hitchhiker, John Ryder) (Sean Bean), and give him a lift. Jim and Grace soon come to regret their benevolence when Ryder reveals himself as a violent madman determined to see them dead. Luck is with Jim and Grace, and they're able to throw off Ryder and get back on the road, but as it happens their troubles are just beginning. Ryder has already killed a handful of people and is planting evidence that suggests Jim and Grace are the murderers; now the couple is on the run from the law as they search for Ryder in a bid to clears their names. The Hitcher is a remake of the 1986 cult horror classic of the same name; the new version was produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller, who previously produced remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Amityville Horror. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) returns to the screen for another round of supernatural adventures on the high seas in this spirited sequel to the 2003 Disney hit, which re-teams original director Gore Verbinski with original screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. As Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) prepare to exchange vows at the altar, their wedding plans hit rough waters with the arrival of sea-bound scallywag Jack Sparrow. It seems that Sparrow owes a substantial blood debt to half-octopus sea captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), and that the only way for the flamboyant sea rover to elude the wrath of his otherworldly pursuer is to seek the aid of mysterious and powerful voodoo priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), whose ability to resurrect the dead and gaze into the future may provide just the advantage needed to avoid a waterlogged fate in the locker of his legendary nemesis. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An inept cop suddenly gets a new partner in the person of a cabbie with attitude in this high-rolling comedy. Washburn (Jimmy Fallon) is a police officer who becomes the laughingstock of the department after a series of traffic accidents cause him to lose his driver's license. One day, Washburn gets an urgent call to head out to the location of a bank robbery; unable to drive himself there, he hails a cab. As it happens, the taxi is being driven by Belle (Queen Latifah), a single mom who, after making a name for herself as the fastest pizza delivery person in New York, has moved up to driving a hack. What begins as a wild ride to the scene of the crime gets even wilder as Washburn and Belle become unexpected allies while following the trail of a team of beautiful but reckless female bank robbers led by Vanessa (Gisele Bundchen). Adapted from a popular French action comedy with the same name, Taxi was Jimmy Fallon's first big-screen vehicle after leaving the cast of the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former X-Files writer James Wong makes his sophomore feature as a director at the helm of this science fiction thriller that's reminiscent of Timecop (1994). In the near future, a technology called "quantum tunneling" allows human beings to travel between parallel universes. The abuse of this ability by criminal elements has led to the formation of the Multi-Verse Authorities or "MVA," an agency of quantum traveling cops who apprehend violators of inter-dimensional laws. The MVA faces its greatest crisis when a former agent named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) goes renegade, traveling between one universe and the next, murdering his own parallel selves and gaining enormous power with each slaying. It is believed that when Yulaw has become "the one," the only version of himself to exist, he will be omnipotent, but the final Gabriel Yulaw exists in our plane of existence (the "magna universe") and is also becoming stronger, though he doesn't understand why. Hot on the evil Yulaw's trail are his former partner Harry Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Harry's new colleague Evan Funsch (Jason Statham). Created with Wong's longtime writing and producing partner Glen Morgan, The One (2001) co-stars Carla Gugino. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Anxious for revenge against the corporation that has refused to promote her, an ambitious secretary beguiles a naive stockbroker into helping her enact a deadly plan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Class of 1999, Part 2: The Substitute was (surprise!) a sequel to 1989's Class of 1999--which was itself a sequel of 1982's Class of 1984. Once again, the setting is an embattled high school, where no mere mortal teacher dare walk the corridors. To keep the homicidally-inclined student body in line, a fleet of android teachers are put on the faculty. The robots went ballistic in Class of 1999, inspiring their students to new heights of mayhem. In the sequel, rogue android Sasha Michael, though trained to kill, attempts to try less drastic means to get through to the students. Michael is shadowed by a sinister stranger, who will not be satisfied unless the android does what he (it?) is ordered to do. Like its predecessor, Class of 1999, Part 2: The Substitute is a very hard "R." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

R&B star Janet Jackson made an impressive film debut in Poetic Justice as Justice, a hairdresser at a small salon in South Central Los Angeles. Justice uses her poetry to deal with her grief after her boyfriend is killed in a shooting incident at a drive-in. Hired to work at a hair stylists' event in Oakland, Justice is stranded when her car breaks down, until she remembers that her friend Ieasha (Regina King) was going to hop a ride down to Oakland with her boyfriend Chicago (Joe Torry), a postal worker who is heading there with a truck full of mail. Justice tags along to discover that Chicago's driving partner is Lucky (Tupac Shakur), the postman who delivers mail to her shop and keeps asking her out. Ieasha and Chicago have to deal with their own rocky relationship while Justice has to decide if she's ready for a new love -- and if Lucky is the man she's waiting for. Along with strong work from Jackson, Poetic Justice features a surprising turn from Shakur, whose nuanced performance as Lucky is in strong contrast to his "Thug Life" public persona. Justice's poems were written by Maya Angelou, who also appears in a small role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Loosely based on a short story by Stephen King, The Lawnmower Man was the first film to explore virtual reality technology and boasts a dazzling collection of computer-animated sequences. The story concerns the slightly-mad scientist Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan), who as part of a secret government agency called Cybertech has been experimenting with something termed "intelligence enhancement." By using drugs and virtual reality technology, Angelo has managed to boost the IQ of experimental chimps. But he also makes them more aggressive and, bit by bit, they go insane. When one of his animal subjects goes on a rampage, Angelo decides to go for a human guinea pig instead -- Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a slightly retarded man who cuts his lawn. Not only do Jobe's intelligence and sex-drive improve thanks to Angelo's regimen, but he also develops extrasensory perception. As Jobe's mental and emotional state keeps increasing, so does his strength. As he gains more power, Jobe becomes angrier and more vindictive until he vows to get even with all the town's people that patronized him and treated him badly. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A sequel to the sci-fi action thriller that made him and star Arnold Schwarzenegger A-list Hollywood names, writer/director James Cameron upped the ante with this follow-up by employing a more sweeping storyline and cutting-edge special effects. Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, now a single mother to rebellious teen John Connor (Edward Furlong), during the late nineties. Having been informed by a time-traveling soldier in the first film that John will one day grow up to become humanity's savior from a computer-controlled Armageddon, Sarah has responded by becoming a muscle-bound she-warrior bent on educating John in survival tactics and battle strategies. Her ranting about humankind's future has landed Sarah in an insane asylum and John in the foster care system. The rebellious John has responded to his situation by getting into scrapes with the law. When a new and improved Terminator android called the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) arrives from the future to eliminate John, an older model T-800 (Schwarzenegger) is sent to protect the boy. The T-1000, however, has the ability to morph itself into any shape it desires, allowing it chameleon-like powers and near indestructibility. The T-800 saves John's life and helps break Sarah out of the institution. Staying only one step ahead of the dogged T-1000, Sarah leads her son and the T-800 to the headquarters of Cyberdyne Systems, the company that will invent a robotic intelligence that will eventually take over the world. There, they attempt to convince inventor Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) to help them stop the future from ever occurring by destroying his work. Dyson sacrifices himself in an explosion to save the world, leading to a final showdown between the two Terminators at a steel foundry. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which won four Oscars in technical categories for its groundbreaking effects, was followed by a short sequel filmed exclusively as an attraction for theme parks, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time (1996). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This light comedy is a contemporary--and wacky--version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this version, a malformed young man hangs out in the bell tower of a California college campus and has to face a number of prejudices when he is brought out into the light. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide