Stephen Spinella Movies
Actor Stephen Spinella grew up in sunny Glendale, AZ, and fell in love with theater by witnessing a performance in a high school play. In an effort to realize his life's calling, the blossoming thespian moved to Manhattan in 1979 and sustained himself for years with a lengthy series of odd jobs while tackling theatrical roles in off-Broadway and regional productions. Spinella finally broke through to widespread acclaim in the early '90s, via a shattering performance as the AIDS-stricken Prior Walter in a two-play series by Tony Kushner: Angels in America Part I: The Milennium Approaches, and Angels in America Part II: Perestroika. For the dazzling evocation, Spinella won two consecutive Tony Awards for Best Actor: one in 1993 and another in 1994. That, in turn, opened the floodgates to a lengthy series of film roles, with the openly homosexual Spinella frequently gravitating (though not always) to gay-themed material onscreen. Contributions in this arena included a substantial role in HBO's groundbreaking miniseries And the Band Played On (1993); the seriocomedy Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997), adapted for the big screen from Terrence McNally's popular play; and Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic Milk (2008) as attorney Rick Stokes. Additional features to showcase Spinella's talents include Virtuosity (1995), Great Expectations (1998), and House of D; he is best known to many, however, as Miles on the fifth season of the small-screen thriller 24. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
The old saying about "this is where the rubber meets the road" takes on a new and sinister meaning in this black comedy from filmmaker Quentin Dupieux. An old tire appears in a California desert, and under its own power it begins rolling down the road, stopping and starting as it pleases. The notion that the tire can operate under its own power isn't half as remarkable as its other talent -- the tire has telekinetic abilities and can make things explode at will, including human heads. The evil tire goes on a killing spree after its affections for a beautiful woman (Roxane Mesquida) are thwarted, and local lawman Lt. Chad (Stephen Spinella) steps forward to investigate. Meanwhile, a handful of people aware of the tire and its actions are watching it from a safe distance until they're poisoned by a mysterious villain; one of them (Wings Hauser) manages to survive, and is looking for some revenge of his own. Rubber was an official selection at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick, (more)
Academy Award winner Sean Penn takes the title role in Gus Van Sant's biopic tracing the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the ill-fated politician and gay activist whose life changed history, and whose courage still inspires people. When Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, he made history for being the first openly gay man in American history to be voted into public office. But the rights of homosexuals weren't Milk's primary concern, as tellingly evidenced by the wide array of political coalitions he formed over the course of his tragically brief career. He fought for everyone from union workers to senior citizens, a true hero of human rights who possessed nothing but compassion for his fellow man. The story begins in New York City, where a 40-year-old Milk ponders what steps he can take to make his life more meaningful.
Eventually, Milk makes the decision to relocate to the West Coast, where he and his lover, Scott Smith (James Franco), found a small business in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. Empowered by his love for the Castro neighborhood and the success of his business, Castro Camera, Milk somewhat unexpectedly begins to emerge as an outspoken agent for change. With a growing support system that includes both Scott and a like-minded young activist named Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the charismatic Milk decides to take a fateful leap into politics, eventually developing a reputation as a leader who isn't afraid to follow up his words with actions. In short order, he is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, though this seeming triumph is in fact the catalyst for a tragedy that starts to unfold as Milk does his best to forge a political partnership with Dan White (Josh Brolin), another newly elected supervisor. Over time it becomes apparent that Milk and White's political agendas are directly at odds, a revelation that puts their personal destinies on a catastrophic collision course. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Eventually, Milk makes the decision to relocate to the West Coast, where he and his lover, Scott Smith (James Franco), found a small business in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. Empowered by his love for the Castro neighborhood and the success of his business, Castro Camera, Milk somewhat unexpectedly begins to emerge as an outspoken agent for change. With a growing support system that includes both Scott and a like-minded young activist named Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the charismatic Milk decides to take a fateful leap into politics, eventually developing a reputation as a leader who isn't afraid to follow up his words with actions. In short order, he is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, though this seeming triumph is in fact the catalyst for a tragedy that starts to unfold as Milk does his best to forge a political partnership with Dan White (Josh Brolin), another newly elected supervisor. Over time it becomes apparent that Milk and White's political agendas are directly at odds, a revelation that puts their personal destinies on a catastrophic collision course. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, (more)
By conceiving a child via artificial insemination, hip, modern and thoroughly independent magazine writer Julie Davidson (Vanessa Williams) managed to trim the messy nuptial relationship strings so often attached to starting a family. Imagine her shock, then, when her now-six-year-old son, Jason, demonstrates his growing need for a paternal role model by misbehaving in school. Thus begins Richard Schenkman's gentle romantic comedy And Then Came Love. Julie soon sets out on a quest to find the original sperm donor - youngish, self-effacing actor Paul (Kevin Daniels) - hoping he will take some responsibility for Jason's awry behavior. Father and son do indeed forge a strong relationship; but in Julie's wildest imagination, she never expected to fall in love with this new acquaintance. And Then Came Love reached theaters (in extremely limited release) circa mid-June 2007, and received video distribution almost immediately after. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Williams, Kevin Daniels, (more)
- 2006
Workaholic Cristina (Sandra Oh) feels stiffed when the hospital "celebrates" the New Year by imposing a mandatory work limit. Back at Seattle Grace, patient Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan in his first series appearance) looks forward to receiving a heart transplant--and to express his ardor for Izzie (Katherine Heigl). Other patients include a disgruntled novelist who literally eats his words, and a 14-year-old hemaphrodite girl frustrated over her inability to reach puberty. Meanwhile, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) pays a visit to Meredith's mother Ellis (Kate Burton)--without telling Meredith (Ellen Pompeo). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The threat to the United States in Season 5's white-knuckle day is Russian separatists armed with weaponized nerve gas and led by Vladimir Bierko (Julian Sands). Inciting their ire is an arms and mutual defense treaty that Russian president Yuri Suvarov (Nick Jameson) plans on signing with the U.S. and duplicitous president Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin). As Day 5 begins, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), who faked his own demise at the close of last season, is working at an oil refinery in California under the name Frank Flynn. He returns from his self-imposed exile to fight the good fight after an assassination rocks the nation and he finds himself framed for it and several other crimes. Jack is also reunited with former love interest Audrey Raines (Kim Raver), but tumult continues to follow them. Meanwhile at CTU, there's a new man brought in to oversee operations, Lynn McGill (Sean Astin), and once again, there's a mole in the ranks. A significant subplot centers on Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller), Jack's mentor-turned-nemesis who has information that can help Jack thwart the Russians. Another thread follows First Lady Martha Logan (Jean Smart), who grows increasingly disdainful of her husband's actions in office. ~ Fred Mitchell, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland
Actress and writer Nia Vardalos, who became an overnight sensation with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, returns to the big screen with this gender-bending comedy. Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) are best friends who've shared the same dream ever since they were teenagers -- making a name for themselves in the musical theater. However, after years of treading water on Chicago's dinner theater circuit and playing bottom-of-the-barrel nightclubs, the two are facing middle age with minimal career success. One evening after a performance, Connie and Carla have the misfortune of witnessing the murder of nightclub owner Frank (Michael Roberds) by low-level Mafiosi; the gals are seen by the shooters, and they hit the road in fear for their lives. Connie and Carla end up in Los Angeles, where they struggle to create new identities for themselves. After witnessing a drag review at a nightclub, they realize that even they have more talent than most of the men performing that evening, and they decide to pose as female impersonators in hopes of landing a gig. Connie and Carla's new act is an immediate hit, and soon they're the toast of L.A.'s gay community. But the women discover it's difficult to keep on fooling people into believing they're men, and things become even more complicated when the Mobsters discover that Connie and Carla are in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Connie finds herself falling for Jeff (David Duchovny), a regular guy looking for his cross-dressing brother who can't understand why he's developing a crush on a drag queen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, (more)
Actor David Duchovny made his debut as a director and screenwriter with this coming-of-age drama, in which a grown man looks back at his adolescence. It's 1973, and Tommy (Anton Yelchin) is a 13-year-old boy living in New York's Greenwich Village with his mother (Téa Leoni), who is still coming to terms with the death of her husband. Tommy's best friend is Pappass (Robin Williams), a mentally challenged man who is in his thirties, but is at the same emotional age as Tommy; Pappass delivers meat for a local butcher, and Tommy helps him out. Tommy has discovered women, and has a crush on Melissa (Zelda Williams), a cute girl in his class, but Pappass isn't much interested in the opposite sex, and can offer little advice on the subject. Tommy's lone confidante on this issue is Lady Bernadette (Erykah Badu), a woman locked up in the nearby Women's House of Detention who offers advice shouted from her window. When Pappass begins to realize that Tommy is falling for Melissa, he's convinced he's losing his best friend, and in a moment of anger he steals a bicycle. Tommy tries to protect Pappas by claiming he was the thief, leading to a series of serious repercussions. Years later, Tommy (now played by Duchovny) is a grown man who leaves his home in Paris, France, to pay a visit to the old neighborhood and come to terms with the life he left behind. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anton Yelchin, Téa Leoni, (more)
Originally assembled by actress Joanne Woodward at Connecticut's Westport County Playhouse (where she served as artistic director), this highly praised 2002 revival of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 play Our Town enjoyed a brief Broadway stay that same year, and it was during its New York run that the production was videotaped for the Showtime cable network. The revival's principal attraction was Woodward's husband, Paul Newman, in the role of the avuncular Stage Manager, who narrates the action and occasionally converses with the characters on-stage and with members of the audience. Covering a period from 1901 to approximately 1917, the play is set in the New England community of Grover's Corners (conveyed with a bare minimum of sets and props, as dictated by Wilder's original staging notes). The focus is on the romance between Emily Webb (Maggie Lacey), daughter of the town's newspaper editor, and George Gibbs (Ben Fox). The play's three acts run the full gamut of Emily and George's relationship, from courtship, to marriage, to early death. In addition to Newman, the cast of Our Town is full of familiar TV and movie faces, among them Jeffrey DeMunn, Jane Curtin, Mia Dillon, Travis Walters, Stephen Mendillo, and Jake Robards, grandson of Jason Robards Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Maggie Lacey, (more)
- 2002
Sydney (Jennifer Garner) returns to America with her ex-lover and fellow SD-6 agent Noah (Peter Berg), who offers her a way out of the spy game once and for all. But Sydney has to take care of unfinished business: Now convinced that her mother, KGB agent Irina Derevko, is still alive, she will not rest until she finds the woman. Meanwhile, Vaughn (Michael Vartan) puts a tail on an assassin known as "The Snowman" in hopes of tracking down the elusive Khasinau, who may or may not be "The Man" behind all the skullduggery occurring in previous episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Jake Gyllenhaal, the young star of the critically well-received October Sky (1999), follows up that film with this offbeat comedy. Gyllenhaal stars as Jimmy Livingston, a teenager with an immune system deficiency who has spent his entire life living in a plastic bubble under the doting, overprotective care of his mother (Swoosie Kurtz). Jimmy is in love with his next-door neighbor Chloe (Marley Shelton), so when he learns that she has left for Niagara Falls in order to be married, he's devastated. He quickly assembles a portable "bubble suit" and sets out on a 2,755.8-mile odyssey in order to stop her and proclaim his affection. Along the way, Jimmy experiences a number of adventures, including encounters with freaks, bikers, rock stars, and a cult. Bubble Boy is a comic riff on the classic TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976), which starred a young John Travolta. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Swoosie Kurtz, (more)
- 2000
A college coed who has been moonlighting as a stripper is found murdered. The detectives collar a pair of punkish drug dealers, who insist that the owner of the club where the dead girl worked ordered the killing. All of this somehow links up with a former porn star, a high-profile business executive, and an illegal insider-trading scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In 1847, many Americans made the journey across our continent in search of gold. Many failed to complete the journey or see their dreams come to light. Capt. John Boyd (Guy Pearce) found his way here thanks to an act of cowardice during the Mexican-American War; he has been banished to a desolate military outpost in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Upon his arrival, he is greeted by a rag-tag group of soldiers manning the fort: Hart (Jeffrey Jones), the despondent commanding officer; Toffler (Jeremy Davies), the company chaplain; Knox (Stephen Spinella), the drunken doctor; Reich (Neal McDonough), the only real soldier of the group; and Cleaves (David Arquette), the heavily medicated camp cook. One day, Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) stumbles into their camp. The half-starved Scotsman had been traveling with a group of settlers until they were snowbound. Unable to move forward, they took refuge in a cave, where once they ran out of food, they were forced to resort to cannibalism. Colqhoun barely escaped the madness -- or did he? Boyd and the soldiers hear of the old Indian legend of the Wendigo, which states a man who tastes the flesh of another steals that man's strength, spirit and essence. His hunger, however, will become an unstoppable craving. Like a vampire, the more he eats, the more he wants, and the stronger he will become, with death the only escape from the madness. The soldiers are soon drawn into the frenzy and Boyd is soon left with the choice of eating or being eaten. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, (more)
- 1998
Bernard Salzmann made his directorial debut with this comedy-drama set in West Hollywood where a wake is held for community center founder Christopher Cavatelli, who leaves behind his lover Doug (Stephen Spinella), his ex-wife Melissa (Lea Thompson), friend Gaetano (Danny Nucci), and his macho heterosexual twin brother Frank Cavatelli (Vincent Spano). After Frank arrives from New York, this offbeat group sets out to distribute Chris' ashes and fulfill his last wish -- a five-day, 450-mile charity trip up the California coast on an AIDS bike-a-thon. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival and the 1998 San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lea Thompson, Vincent Spano, (more)
This 64-minute documentary, winner of the "Audience Award" at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, details the hurdles that determined teenager Kelli Peterson had to confront when she decided to organize a Gay-Straight Alliance at her Utah high school in 1996. After both the school board and the state legislature made efforts to bar the Alliance from the school, the teens drew national attention as they continued to fight for their rights. Peterson, her family, and friends are interviewed by filmmaker Jeff Dupre, who put the situation in perspective with five historical segments, presented chronologically yet intercut with the modern-day Utah conflicts -- the secret diary of 17th-century Puritan clerk Michael Wigglesworth; the 19th-century "marriage" in Boston of novelist Sarah Orne Jewett and socialite Annie Fields; the 1924 organization in Chicago of the first American gay rights group; Bayard Rustin and his role in the Civil Rights movement; and the work of activist Barbara Gittings during the '50s and '60s. Actors Stephen Spinella, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cherry Jones, Edward Norton, and Leland Gantt deliver the narration for these historical segments through readings of letters and diaries. Filmed in 16mm color and black-and-white, Out of the Past was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Spinella, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
Alfonso Cuaron (The Little Princess) directed this Mitch Glazer screenplay, a modernization of the 1860-61 classic by Charles Dickens. Some situations in the film are presented as memories -- the way the central figure, Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke) recalls events many years later. At a Florida fishing village, eight-year-old orphan Finn Bell (Jeremy James Kissner), talented at art, is left in the care of his sister and her husband, Joe (Chris Cooper). One day, Finn helps a chained, escaped convict who appears in the surf. On other days, he visits Paradiso Perduto, where he plays with young Estella (Raquel Beaudene), niece of the mansion's colorful, flamboyant, and extremely wealthy owner, Ms. Dinsmoor (Anne Bancroft), who parallels the novel's tragic Miss Havisham, a woman jilted at the altar and left emotionally scarred and mentally imbalanced. As Ms. Dinsmoor watches Finn draw a portrait of Estella, she plots to mold Estella into a hard woman capable of destroying men. In a flash forward to the '90s, Finn (Hawke) and Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow), now in their late teens, re-create the water-fountain kiss of their childhood, but Estella vanishes, breaking Finn's heart to such a degree that he doesn't draw or paint for seven years, choosing to eke out a marginal existence with his uncle Joe (after Finn's sister abandons the two). Then Manhattan art representative Jerry Ragno (Josh Mostel) turns up with a startling offer -- if Finn will return to painting and relocate in New York, Ragno will give him a one-man show. With an apparent assist from Ms. Dinsmoor, Finn makes the move and begins his new life with great expectations and a deadline of 10 weeks to complete the necessary paintings. When Finn next encounters Estella, she has a wealthy boyfriend, Walter (Hank Azaria). As Finn once again becomes entranced by Estella, he also begins to question exactly how his life is being manipulated. Francesco Clemente did the paintings and drawings seen in the film. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, (more)
- 1997
- PG
Scripter Robert W. Lenski adapted G.D. Gearino's novel What the Deaf-Mute Heard for this Hallmark Hall of Fame comedy. It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, by director John Kent Harrison. During the '40s, single mother Helen (Bernadette Peters) boards a bus for Barrington, Georgia, with her 10-year-old son Sammy (Frankie Muniz). She tells him not to say a word. The two are separated when she exits the bus and is carried away, leaving the sleeping Sammy to travel to Barrington by himself. Because Sammy won't speak, bus-station manager Norm assumes he's mute and deaf. Norm gives Sammy a cot in the back of the station, and he's fed by widower Norm's friend Lucille (Judith Ivey), owner of the adjacent cafe.
Years pass, but the grown Sammy (Matthew Modine), working as a handyman, still remains silent. Well-to-do widow Tynan (Claire Bloom) orders him about when she has him clean porch furniture. Her snobbish son Tolliver (Jake Weber), who steals church money, treats Sammy with contempt. Tolliver's sister Tallasse (Anne Bobby) likes Sammy, and she confides in Sammy, thinking he can't hear what she's saying. Her father and Sammy's mother, they learn, both loved the Weill-Gershwin song, My Ship. Throughout Barrington, the locals have learned to trust Sammy, but eventually, joyful junkman Thacker (James Earl Jones) stumbles onto Sammy's secret. Bernadette Peters is heard singing My Ship during the closing credits. What the Deaf Man Heard first aired November 23, 1997 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
Years pass, but the grown Sammy (Matthew Modine), working as a handyman, still remains silent. Well-to-do widow Tynan (Claire Bloom) orders him about when she has him clean porch furniture. Her snobbish son Tolliver (Jake Weber), who steals church money, treats Sammy with contempt. Tolliver's sister Tallasse (Anne Bobby) likes Sammy, and she confides in Sammy, thinking he can't hear what she's saying. Her father and Sammy's mother, they learn, both loved the Weill-Gershwin song, My Ship. Throughout Barrington, the locals have learned to trust Sammy, but eventually, joyful junkman Thacker (James Earl Jones) stumbles onto Sammy's secret. Bernadette Peters is heard singing My Ship during the closing credits. What the Deaf Man Heard first aired November 23, 1997 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Modine, Claire Bloom, (more)
In Moscow, after FBI deputy director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier) and scarred Russian intelligence officer Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora) bring down a key figure in the Russian Mafia, they are threatened by the criminal's powerful brother who swears vengeance on the FBI and immediately hires a professional assassin, the Jackal (Bruce Willis) to kill a leading American political figure. A master of disguises, the Jackal believes in total perfectionism and demands $70 million for the job. The FBI suspects the Jackal is aiming for the FBI director, so they consult with former Basque terrorist Isabella (Mathilda May), in Virginia, and Isabella's former lover, IRA operative Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), serving a prison sentence. Promised leniency, Mulqueen agrees to help. Meanwhile, the Jackal prepares false passports, secures a customized computer system to run his Gatling gun, and heads toward his target in Washington, D.C. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, (more)
In this independent comedy, David Searching (Anthony Rapp) is a would-be documentary filmmaker trying to get a project off the ground. In the meantime, David (who is gay) is looking for love, willing to settle for sex, and searching for some sort of answers in life. He shares his apartment with his good friend Gwen (Camryn Manheim), who doesn't see any reason why her weight problem should prevent her from attracting good-looking men. David and Gwen both go through a number of blind dates and chance meetings as they hope to find the man of their dreams, while David, looking at the world through his video camera, tries to deal with the complexities of funding his latest project and the labyrinth that is PBS. Playwrights John Cameron Mitchell and David Drake appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Eight friends spend three weekends in the country over the course of a summer as they explore their sometimes conflicting attitudes about love, sex, friendship, life, and death in this screen adaptation of Terrence McNally's award-winning play. Gregory Mitchell (Stephen Bogardus) is a successful choreographer whose skills as a dancer have begun to decay as he slips into middle age. He has a handsome summer home in Upstate New York which he shares with his lover Bobby Brahms (Justin Kirk). Gregory and Bobby often invite several of their friends to join them for holiday weekends: Perry Sellars (Stephen Spinella) and Arthur Rape (John Benjamin Hickey) are a pair of yuppies (complete with a Volvo) who have been a couple for 14 years (as Perry jokes, "We're role models -- it's very stressful"). John Jeckyll (John Glover), a musician and composer with a short temper and a witheringly bitter sense of humor, arrives with his latest boyfriend, Ramon Fornos (Randy Becker), a good-looking dancer who often suffers the wrath of John's foul mood. Buzz Hauser (Jason Alexander) is a witty and flamboyant enthusiast of the Broadway theater who describes his greatest fear as a production of The King and I starring Tommy Tune and Elaine Stritch; he's also HIV-positive, though he stubbornly refuses to discuss his condition with his friends. And John's twin brother James Jeckyll (also played by John Glover) is his brother's polar opposite, a kind and forgiving soul who is now living with AIDS. Love! Valour! Compassion! was directed by Joe Mantello, who also directed the original New York stage production; this film also reunites the show's New York cast, with the exception of Jason Alexander, who stepped into the role created by Nathan Lane. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Alexander, Randy Becker, (more)
A hit man discovers the pros and cons of getting to know his victim in this dark comedy. Margaret (Cher) is supposed to be celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary, but she hardly feels like having a party; her marriage is in sad shape, her husband Jack (Ryan O'Neal) has just called to say he's going to be working late (she realizes this means that he's actually with his mistress), and she's sunk into a deep depression that borders on the suicidal. After a long bath, Margaret discovers that she's not alone in the house; Tony (Chazz Palminteri), a hit man, has been hired by Jack to knock her off (Margaret's death would mean a $5 million insurance claim for Jack), and he ties her to a chair, waiting for a call from Jack that signals he's out of town and that it's all right to proceed with the execution. With nothing to do while they wait, Tony and Margaret begin to talk; Margaret starts to feel like death isn't such a good idea after all, while Tony isn't so sure he wants to kill her anymore. Faithful was based on a stage play by co-star Palminteri; Robert DeNiro, who made his directorial debut with A Bronx Tale, written by Palminteri, served as co-producer for this film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cher, Chazz Palminteri, (more)
- 1995
In this drama, a young professional photographer, Diane Di Sorella, must suddenly return to her long- abandoned family home in New Jersey after her mother unexpectedly dies. Once back amongst her fellow Italian-American neighbors she begins to rediscover the heritage she rejected some many years before. She also begins to remember her embittered mother whom she abandoned. This is a tough time for Diane and she finds support with the best friend of her late grandmother who gives her a secret journal kept by Diane's mother. It is in Italian so the woman must read it to Diane. Passages from it are illustrated via live action vignettes and through puppet shows. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In a futuristic, high-tech world run by huge corporations, Parker Barnes (Denzel Washington) is an L.A. policeman serving time for killing the psychotic who murdered his wife and child. Lindenmeyer (Stephen Spinella), a Dr. Frankenstein of the computer era, has created a monster, Sid 6.7 (Russell Crowe), a virtual reality entity which is programmed with the character traits of scores of mass murderers. Sid 6.7 has escaped the control of its creator and is now running amok. The privatized police force in charge of keeping the peace in the city is run by Elizabeth Deane (Louise Fletcher). Barnes has volunteered to test a new criminal tracking system based on a virtual reality device. His job is to find Sid 6.7, with the help of psychologist Madison Carter (Kelly Lynch). Barnes gets out of prison and reinstated to the police force to pursue his dangerous prey. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Kelly Lynch, (more)
The late journalist Randy Shilts' best-selling book on the burgeoning AIDS crisis was adapted for cable TV by Arnold Schulman. In 1981, researchers begin discerning a mysterious new disease that apparently affects only homosexual males (or so they thought at that time). Working independently, and with marked hostility toward one another, an American and a French research team manage to identify and name the dreaded HIV virus. The long-range effects of AIDS is experienced through the first- and secondhand experiences of several unfortunates, including a choreographer (Richard Gere) whose character is said to be based on Michael Bennett. The all-star cast (most of whom eschewed their usual high salaries) includes Lily Tomlin as San Francisco health official Selma Dritz, Matthew Modine as Centers for Disease Control researcher Don Francis, Alan Alda as NIH official Robert Gallo (who emerges as the villain of the piece), Ian McKellan as gay activist Bill Kraus, and Glenne Headley, Steve Martin and Anjelica Huston in cameo roles. And the Band Played On debuted September 11, 1993, on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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