David Pressman Movies

Ben Stiller's satirical look at Hollywood, Tropic Thunder concerns the production of an epic Vietnam War film that quickly derails thanks to the giant egos of everyone involved in the production. Stiller stars as Tugg Speedman, an action hero trying to segue out of that genre. Jack Black plays Jeff Portnoy, a drug-addicted fat comic also attempting to change his image by taking on such a serious film. They star alongside Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.), one of the world's most awarded actors, and a man who insists on immersing himself totally in a role. In this case, that means Lazarus has had his skin dyed in order to portray an African-American soldier. After their outrageous behavior lands the film's director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), in very hot water with producer Les Grossman (Tom Cruise), Cockburn takes the advice of grizzled Vietnam vet Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte); in order to gain control of his performers, Cockburn drops the actors off in the jungle, planning to film the movie guerrilla-style with hidden cameras. When the group stumbles upon a heroin production camp, the actors are unaware that they are in very real danger. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A crate of soft drinks has fallen off a cargo plane and nearly destroyed the Hodes home. While Dean (Andy Milder) deals with the insurance adjuster, Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), who recently learned she has breast cancer, visits with a faith healer. Celia's bout with cancer seems to have given her a devil-may-care outlook on life. She starts giving away her worldly possessions and wearing the satin roller-disco jacket she wore as a girl. Doug (Kevin Nealon) spends an afternoon getting high and watching porn with Andy (Justin Kirk), and leaves behind papers for Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) to sign to start the process of buying the bakery. Silas (Hunter Parrish) is being pressured by a friend to dump "the deaf girl," Megan (Shoshannah Stern). A drive-by shooting at Heylia's (Tonye Patano) place leaves Nancy shaken up. ("White folks get soda pop," Heylia dryly laments. "[We] get bullets.") Nancy's in no mood to hear about Shane (Alexander Gould) getting in trouble at school for writing gangsta rap about gunning down his classmates. She's contemplating getting out of the drug game, and she rejects Andy's offer to use his culinary skills to team up with her in the bakery biz. Andy decides to go into business for himself; he makes a buy and then unwisely mocks the bike cop who stops him for a traffic violation on the way home. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Much of the original cast from the popular television series Police Story reunited for this edgy drama, in which the detectives search for a killer loose on the roads. This entry was one of several TV-movies in the late 1980s to feature the familiar cast in the Police Story format. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is a low-level Los Angeles mob enforcer. His volatile boss, Louis (Lenny Venito), hires Gigli to kidnap Brian (newcomer Justin Bartha), the mentally handicapped younger brother of a federal prosecutor who's about to bring Louis' boss to trial in New York. Gigli gets the kid home without a hitch. Then a beautiful woman (Jennifer Lopez) shows up at his door. She says her name is Ricki, and Gigli soon learns that the nervous Louis has hired her to keep an eye on him. "In every relationship," Gigli soon finds himself expounding to his unwanted partner, "there's a bull and a cow." His efforts to maintain control of the situation are further hampered by the brief appearance of the insane Detective Stanley Jacobellis (Christopher Walken) and a forced visit to his overbearing mother's (Lainie Kazan) house. To make matters worse, when Gigli expresses his attraction to Ricki, he learns that she's a lesbian. She, meanwhile, proves herself considerably more capable than the lunkheaded Gigli, winning their war of words and even scaring off a rowdy group of high school kids. As Gigli and Ricki continue to look after the young, innocent Brian, they find themselves increasingly attracted to one another. But their potential budding romance is put on hold when Starkman (Al Pacino) arrives from New York, angry about how his affairs are being handled. Director Martin Brest, in his first film since 1998's Meet Joe Black, returns to the crime comedy genre that made his reputation. Brest also wrote the script for Gigli, his first since 1979's Going in Style. Stars Affleck and Lopez began a well-publicized romantic relationship on the set of the film. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, and Will Arnett headline this high-concept comedy concerning two male figure-skating rivals aching to compete despite having been banned from the sport. Their medals stripped after getting into a highly publicized fight at the World Championships, star figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) are barred from ever competing in the sport again. Upon discovering a loophole that will allow them to perform together in the pairs figure skating category, the two athletes determine to put their differences aside in order to pursue their gold medal aspirations. Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, Craig T. Nelson, and Rob Corddry co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A group of intrepid humans attempts to save the Earth from vicious extraterrestrials in this extremely popular science-fiction adventure. Borrowing liberally from War of the Worlds, Aliens, and every sci-fi invasion film inbetween, director Roland Emmerich and producer and co-writer Dean Devlin present a visually slick, fast-paced adventure filled with expensive special effects and large-scale action sequences. The story begins with the approach of a series of massive spaceships, which many on Earth greet with open arms, looking forward to the first contact with alien life. Unfortunately, these extraterrestrials have not come in peace, and they unleash powerful weapons that destroy most of the world's major cities. Thrown into chaos, the survivors struggle to band together and put up a last-ditch resistance in order to save the human race. As this is a Hollywood film, this effort is led by a group of scrappy Americans, including a computer genius who had foreseen the alien's evil intent (Jeff Goldblum), a hot-shot jet pilot (Will Smith), and the President of the United States (Bill Pullman). While some critics objected to the film's lack of originality and lapses in logic, the combination of grand visual spectacle and crowd-pleasing storytelling proved irresistible to audiences, resulting in an international smash hit. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Deadbeat dads be damned. Patrick Swayze plays a con man who tries to live up to the ideals of "family values" by kidnapping his son and daughter from the evil clutches of a corrupt orphanage and taking them on a cross-country trip in his vintage convertible. To complicate matters, his daughter has been sexually molested by the head of the orphanage, who fears that she may prosecute if given the opportunity. This family drama is also a zany road movie as the re-united father and children flee the police on a quest to restore their family. ~ Laura Abraham, All Movie Guide

After getting his start as a visual effects artist on the original Star Wars trilogy, Spielberg protege Joe Johnston found success as a director with his debut film, the blockbuster family adventure Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. For his sophomore outing, Johnston helmed this action-adventurer, set in 1930s Hollywood and in the spirit of old pulp comics and adventure serials, and co-adapted from the David Stevens graphic novel by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. Bill Campbell stars as Cliff Secord, an eager young pilot who finds himself in possession of a secret jet-pack that gives him the ability to fly. Cliff soon learns that screen-star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) will stop at nothing to get his hands on the rocket pack so he can give it to the Nazis. As The Rocketeer and with a little help from his mechanic friend played by Alan Arkin, it's up to Cliff to elude Sinclair, defeat the Nazis, and save his girlfriend Jenny (Jennifer Connelly). ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide