John Pruitt Movies
Alfred Kinsey was an entomologist who taught at Indiana University and had a keen interest in an area of human behavior that had seen little scholarly research -- human sexuality. While the courtship and reproductive patterns of animals had been carefully documented, Kinsey believed that most "established facts" about human sexual behavior were a matter of conjecture rather than research and that what most people said about their sex lives was not born out by the evidence (a subject that had personal resonance for him given the troubles he and his wife Clara Kinsey had in the early days of their marriage). After introducing a course in "Marriage" at Indiana University which offered frank and factual information on sex to students, Kinsey began an exhaustive series of interviews with a wide variety of people from all walks of life in order to find out the truth about sex practices in America. When he published Sexual Behavior and the Human Male in 1948, his findings were wildly controversial, indicating that most men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than most people imagined, including a number of practices commonly thought to be dangerous or perverted (including pre-marital sex, same-sex contacts, and masturbation). An even greater outcry greeted Kinsey's next volume, Sexual Behavior and the Human Female, which contradicted common notions than most women went into marriage sexually inexperienced. Kinsey is a film biography written and directed by Bill Condon which examines Kinsey's life and work from his strict childhood until his death in 1956. Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, and Laura Linney co-stars as Kinsey's wife and colleague Clara. John Lithgow highlights the supporting cast as Kinsey's repressed and moralistic father, while Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Timothy Hutton play members of Kinsey's research team and Tim Curry appears as an IU faculty member at odds with Kinsey's teachings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, (more)
This exercise in patriotic, high-tech action centers on a select group of Navy commandos and their battles against a Middle East terrorist group. This particular squadron is led by a pair of rivals: cocky, fiery Hawkins (Charlie Sheen) and stoic, unflappable Curran (Michael Biehn). When an anti-terrorist mission goes awry, allowing an enemy leader to escape with a supply of stolen American missiles, both men are certain that, given another chance, they can redeem themselves and the squad. Their rivalry plays out against a background of high-powered amphibious battles, allowing the film to revel in dangerous stunts and advanced weaponry. Joanne Whalley-Kilmer provides brief romantic relief as a journalist with important information, but the focus remains on the macho interplay between Hawkins and Curran. Co-written by former Navy Seal Chuck Pfarrer (with Gary Goldman), the film presents authentic details about the elite unit, but the bulk of Navy Seals tends to rely on familiar combat film conventions. Viewers seeking rapidly paced action sequences will not be disappointed, though other viewers may be less likely to overlook the predictable storyline and routine characters. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, (more)
To save his son from ruthless gangsters, a streetwise ex-con finds himself coerced into performing a series of crimes in this gritty thriller. Waist Deep features Tyrese Gibson as O2, a young father and recent parolee whose life on the outside is upended when his young son Junior is taken hostage after an auto-theft gone wrong. After learning that his boy is in the hands of a mob boss named Meat (The Game), O2 is forced to break the law once again to satisfy his demands, and teams up with Coco (Meagan Good), a hooker with ties to Meat, to get into the gangster's inner sanctum and save his son. Waist Deep marked the acting debut of rapper The Game. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrese Gibson, Meagan Good, (more)
