David St. James Movies

Based on a true story, My Sister's Keeper stars Kathy Bates as Christine, who since childhood has suffered from a debilitating mental illness. Spending most of her life in and out of various institutions, Christine has long yearned for independence, but is unable to wrest free of her controlling mother, Helen (Lynn Redgrave). Upon Helen's death, her other daughter, Judy (Elizabeth Perkins), a successful, self-absorbed art director who has deliberately distanced herself from her family, is appointed trustee of the troubled Christine. The rest of the film chronicles Judy's frustrated efforts to balance her sister's needs with her own, and Christine's ongoing ambition to stand on her own two feet. Though the filmed studiously avoids false sentiment and pathos, it still manages to touch even the hardest of hearts. Adapted from a book by Margaret Moorman, My Sister's Keeper was first seen as a CBS "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation on January 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man returns to his hometown determined to find out the truth about a 20-year-old crime in this drama. Harry Porter (Roy Scheider) is the mayor of a city that, while once quiet and peaceful, has since become a hotbed of vice and corruption. Russell Stark (Robert Patrick), one of the top men in the city's police department, has made it his job to keep any evidence of wrongdoing from sticking to Porter, but that may change with the return of Michael Daniels (Dana Ashbrook). Michael's twin brother Jessie disappeared under suspicious circumstances two decades ago, and his body was never found; Michael is now a trained forensic pathologist who has landed a job with the police department, and in his spare time he's been running tests on a number of "John Doe" bodies at the coroner's office, determined to find out what happened to Jessie. Angels Don't Sleep Here also features Kelly Rutherford and Kari Wuhrer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy-drama, two people whose lives were touched by the same tragedy find love. Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck) is a successful L.A. advertising executive who has a way with the ladies, but inside he longs for a meaningful long-term relationship. One day Buddy sells his seat on a sold-out airline flight to a stranger; he's shocked when the jet crashes and the man is killed. A year later, still haunted by the incident, Buddy looks up Abby Janello (Gwyneth Paltrow), the victim's widow, who is now selling real estate to support her children. Buddy soon finds himself attracted to Abby, and the feeling is mutual, but while he's interested in marriage, he isn't sure how (or if) he should tell her that he was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. Bounce was written and directed by Don Roos, who made a splash with his independent debut The Opposite of Sex; supporting Affleck and Paltrow are Natasha Henstridge, Jennifer Grey, David Paymer, and Joe Morton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This powerful HBO biographical drama recounts the rise and fall of Walter Winchell, a gossip columnist and reporter who changed the face of news reporting. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The search for life outside our solar system becomes a personal and spiritual quest for a young researcher. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is a scientist who lost her faith in God after her parents died when she was a child. However, Ellie has learned to develop a different sort of faith in the seemingly unknowable: working with a group that monitors radio waves from space, Ellie hopes that some day she will receive a coherent message from another world that will prove that there is a world beyond our own. Ellie's hard work is rewarded when her team picks up a signal that does not appear to be of earthly origin. Ellie decodes the message, which turns out to be plans for a space craft, which she takes as an invitation for a meeting with the aliens. Ellie and her fellow researchers soon run into interference from a White House scientific advisor, David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), who cuts off their funding and tries to take credit for their achievements. However, Ellie receives moral support from Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), a spiritual teacher who advises President Clinton and tries to persuade her to accept the existence of a higher power, and financial backing from S.R. Hadden (John Hurt), a multi-millionaire willing to fund her attempts to contact the source of the message. Contact was based on a novel by Carl Sagan, who advised director Robert Zemeckis during the film's production until his death in 1996. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling novel by James Ellroy and directed by Curtis Hanson, this award-winning crime drama explores both the dark side of the Los Angeles police force and Southern California's criminal underbelly in the early '50s, when Hollywood was still seen as America's capital of sophistication, glitter, and glamour. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) is the head of the LAPD and is loyal to his officers and eager to turn a blind eye to violence or corruption within his department, as long as it's the "bad guys" who are getting hurt. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is a police detective whose violent and cynical nature is often at war with his basic sense of decency and justice. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is a beat cop-turned-detective whose strict by-the-book philosophy and willingness to blow the whistle on other officers is balanced by a shrewd and opportunistic understanding of the internal politics of the department. And Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a flashy "Hollywood" detective who serves as technical advisor for the TV series Badge of Honor. He is also in cahoots with Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito), publisher of the scandal sheet Hush Hush, who throws kickbacks to Vincennes in exchange for being brought along when showbiz figures get busted. White, Exley, and Vincennes find themselves drawn into a tangled and sticky web of violence and betrayal following a multiple murder at a coffee shop that is believed to be part of an effort by Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle) to consolidate his hold on organized crime in L.A. This lead appears to be connected to the discovery of a bizarre pornography and call-girl ring operated by Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn), whose women are given plastic surgery so that they more closely resemble well-known movie stars. White's role in the investigation is complicated when he falls for Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), one of Patchett's prostitutes, who is the spitting image of Veronica Lake. L.A. Confidential was nominated for nine Academy Awards and netted two, with Brian Helgeland honored for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Kim Basinger taking home a statuette as Best Supporting Actress. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his home with some startling information -- while nearly everything at his Jurassic Park had been destroyed, engineers were also operating a second site, where other dinosaurs, resurrected through DNA cloning technology, had been kept in hiding. Hammond has learned the dinosaurs on the second island are alive and well and even breeding; Hammond wants Malcolm to observe and document the reptiles before Hammond's financiers can get to them. Malcolm declares he had enough of the dinosaurs the first time out, but decides to make the trip when he finds out that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is already there. However, Ian and Sarah aren't the only visitors expected on the island; a camera crew led by ecological activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) is on the way, as is Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), a world-class wild game hunter who is supposed to round up the dinosaurs and who hopes to bag a prehistoric trophy for himself in the process. This sequel to Jurassic Park boasted even more impressive special effects than the first film, though the acting and screenplay aren't always at the same level. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor Billy Crystal co-wrote, directed, and starred in this romantic comedy. Forty-something couple Andy (Joe Mantegna) and Liz (Cynthia Stevenson) are about to be married, and as they gather with their friends for dinner not long before the wedding, they are told the story of their mutual friends Mickey (Billy Crystal) and Ellen (Debra Winger) as a cautionary tale of where a relationship can go wrong. Mickey is a top referee with the NBA who has traveled to Paris to bury his father, who wanted to be laid to rest with his Army buddies from World War II. The body is somehow lost in transit, and Mickey has an argument with Ellen, who works for an American airline in France. However, she likes his sense of humor, he is taken with her, and after a few days together in Paris, they decide to marry. However, once they return to Mickey's home in the United States, things get complicated; she's not so sure that she cares for his bachelor apartment ("a shrine to watching ESPN"), or juggling her career against his, while both have problems with their respective families. Several major basketball stars and sports figures appear in Forget Paris as themselves, including Charles Barkley, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Marv Albert. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

If you've seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know what a "monolith" is. What it is not is exclusively an extraterrestrial entity, as was apparently assumed by the producers of the 1993 melodrama Monolith. The story concerns two eternally bickering cops (Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost), who stumble onto a government secret. It seems that a huge, malevolent monolith has come hurtling to Earth-and it's growing bigger and nastier with each passing day. Making matters worse, the evil being is invisible (thereby saving a fortune in special effects). Along with stars Bill Paxton and Lindsay Frost, Monolith fails to fully utilize the talents of supporting actors John Hurt and Louis Gossett Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide