Mike Starr Movies

An amiable gangster who has been targeted for death sets out for one last plate of veal ossobucco, never realizing that it may be the last meal he ever eats. The colds winds are blowing into Chicago, and no one in town has realized that this will be the biggest snowstorm in the history of the Windy City. Jelly Dinotto is a misfit Mafioso who's earned a reputation as a large and lovable thug. Having just received marching orders to go back to Italy, Jelly takes his cousin Nick to nearby Vesuvios Restaurant in order to enjoy one last plate of veal ossobucco before he departs -- never once suspecting that his departure will be more permanent than he ever suspected, and that Nick himself has been charged with orchestrating the dirty deed. As the two cousins sit down for dinner and the snow begins to fall outside, it quickly becomes apparent that the gangsters will be trapped in the restaurant with a pair of underachieving Chicago detectives and the few employees who have stuck around to close up shop. With the snow piling up fast and the prospects for leaving town long gone, Jelly and earthy waitress Megan (Illeana Douglas) strike up a friendly conversation. Unbeknownst to Megan is the fact that Jelly has been carrying a torch for the pretty waitress for quite some time now. But will the meal that Megan has just delivered to Jelly's table be his last, or is there a chance that love will somehow find the power to overcome death as this desperate group sits snowbound in a Chicago restaurant? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Jane Doe:The Wrong Face is one of several Hallmark Channel TV-movies starring Lea Thompson as Simi Valley housewife and mom Kathy Davis (Lea Thompson), who unbeknownst to her neighbors occasionally moonlights as an undercover special agent and "problem solver" for the NSA. Kathy is summoned by her NSA superior Frank Darnell (Joe Penny) to tackle the mysterious kidnapping of Caroline Raphaelson (Roxanna Zal), wife of crusading prosecutor Phil Raphaelson (John Rubinstein). No one ever saw anyone entering or leaving the room in the health spa from which Caroline, who'd been undergoing cosmetic surgery, was snatched. Still, the fact remains that a ransom demand has been made, said demand being that Caroline's husband arrange for the release of Ray Jackson (Michael Bailey Smith), a shady construction executive being held on a money-laundering rap. Complicating Kathy's investigation is Jackson's staunch insistence that he is innocent and that he completely disapproves of the kidnapping, and the subsequent disappearance of the 16-year-old girl who'd impersonated Caroline while the abduction was allegedly taking place. Jane Doe: The Wrong Face) was originally telecast on June 19, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-con who once traded his soul for his freedom is forced to carry out a kidnapping in order to summon the cleansing winds of redemption in director Adam Golomb's fact-based look at the criminal underworld in the Windy City. Nate Maycott (Dean Rabaiov) has just finished serving a four-year prison sentence, and now he's determined to start life anew with his young daughter. Had he paid off the police like most others, Nate may have been able to avoid his stint behind bars altogether, but sometimes the "tax" is too steep even for those who can afford to pay. Now that Nate is back on the outside, the police step up their plans to ensure that he never forgets the past. Instructed to keep tabs on the prostitution practices at the Chicago Uptown Hotel, Nate gradually finds himself backed into a dangerous corner. The streets of Chicago can be an unforgiving place even for the innocent, but for a man with a murder to hide and daughter to protect, they can be downright infernal. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

New York City may be the city that never sleeps, but that means some people have to stay awake all night to look after the folks whose days begin after the sun goes down; this made-for-premium-cable drama looks at a group of cabbies trying to get by while working the night shift. The Lady Luck Cab Company is a taxi service run by Box (Sarita Choudhury), who inherited the failing business from her late father and is struggling to keep it afloat against long economic odds as Lady Luck's drivers work long shifts in some of the Big Apple's less picturesque neighborhoods. Hershey (Danny Glover), one of Lady Luck's drivers, was once a professional boxer, but when his athletic career went south, so did his wife, and now he drives a hack while trying to romance George (Pam Grier), a good-looking waitress who likes Hershey, but is frustrated with his schedule, which rarely allows him a night off. This is bad news for Hershey, since Ralph (Paul Calderon), a regular at the diner where George works, has been making a play for her as well. Another driver, Salgado (Michelle Rodriguez), is a short-fused Latin American woman who is frequently the victim of sexual harassment from her customers, which makes her all the more difficult to be around. Jose (Bobby Cannavale) thinks he's hit the jackpot when he discovers a briefcase full of cash has been left in his cab, though he has reason to believe it's stolen. And Rasha (Sergej Trifunovic), a refugee from Bosnia, is still tormented by the violence that cost his family their lives, and has trouble concentrating on his driving, leading him into more than one auto accident. While the drivers deal with their individual dilemmas, all of them are suddenly wary of their customers, thanks to reports of a serial killer preying on New York's cab drivers. Produced for the Showtime premium cable network, 3 A.M. was screened at the Sundance Film Festival prior to its broadcast debut, where it earned an enthusiastic reception. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Gene Wilder wrote and starred in this detective story produced for the A&E cable television network. Set in 1938, Wilder plays Larry "Cash" Carter, a one-time Broadway theatrical director who has moved to a quiet Connecticut town, where he oversees a community theater group and works as a private investigator. When a local philanthropist with strong anti-Nazi sentiments is murdered, the police ask Cash to help them track down the killer. Cash discovers his little town isn't as quiet as he imagined, with nefarious servants, devious relatives, and an Axis agent all figuring into the deadly puzzle before he can determine the killer's identity. The Lady in Question was the second in a projected series of made-for-cable "Cash" Carter mysteries written by Wilder; the character was introduced in the first film, 1999's Murder in a Small Town. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This crime drama, based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo, follows 20 years in the long reign of powerful Mafia kingpin Don Domenico Clericuzio (Danny Aiello). For years, the Clericuzios have been warring with a rival crime family, the Santadios, which is not helped when Domenico's daughter Rose Marie (Kirstie Alley) decides to marry the son of the head of the Santadio clan. On the night of Rose Marie's wedding, Domenico orders the execution of the entire Santadio family, including his new son-in-law. Rose Marie is pregnant as a result of her brief honeymoon, and her son Dante (Rory Cochrane) grows up to become a hired killer with a bitter hatred of his grandfather. Meanwhile, Pippi De Lena (Joe Mantegna), Domenico's key enforcer who carried out the slaughter of the Santadinos, has been grooming his son Croccifixio (Jason Gedrick) to take over as the Clericuzio's new trigger man. However, after he muffs a crucial execution, Croccifixio is sent to work with the family's operations in Las Vegas, where he becomes involved with starlet Athena Aquitane (Daryl Hannah). Soon Dante makes a risky bid to seize control of the Santadio family's crime empire. Originally produced as a television miniseries, the home video release of The Last Don is 262-min. long and it includes material not used for television broadcast. The video version features adult language and nudity and received an R rating. The Last Don co-stars Robert Wuhl, Penelope Ann Miller, Seymour Cassel, Burt Young, and k.d. lang. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A cab driver is murdered, putting the detectives on a long and circuitous trail of clues. Along the way, such elements as a loan shark, a missing plumber, and a forged check determine the proceedings. Ultimately, the investigation focuses on the dead man's widow, Denise Johnson (Lisa Gay Hamilton) -- and, of course, Johnson's resourceful attorney, Brian Elliott (Michael Beach). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A frozen corpse, dressed in a tuxedo, is found in a dumpster. It soon develops that the dead man was killed five years earlier, and that he was a prominent Broadway producer. The detectives and the DA's office move quickly to prosecute the most likely suspect, the victim's hated show-biz rival. Frank Converse, star of the 1967 "cult" TV series Coronet Blue, appears as Gary Wallace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding the clerk at gunpoint. Megan gets close enough to shoot the gunman, and calls out for him to drop his weapon. He spins the gun toward her, and she unloads her service revolver into his chest. His gun goes flying, and a bystander, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), surreptitiously picks it up and takes it home. Megan's superiors, unable to confirm that the man she shot was armed, suspend her. Eugene, a wealthy commodities broker, becomes obsessed with Megan. He sets up an "accidental" meeting between them and begins dating her, romancing her with fancy restaurants and helicopter rides over Manhattan. He also carves her name into the bullets he uses to gun down strangers in the street. A tough homicide detective, Nick Mann (Clancy Brown of The Shawshank Redemption), gets Megan's gun and badge back so she can help him track down the psycho killer. Eventually, Megan realizes that Eugene is the killer, but he uses his money and influence to elude the law, and he starts coming after Megan's friends and family. Megan's determination to bring Eugene to justice quickly becomes a very personal obsession. This intense cop drama, Blue Steel, was director Kathryn Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark. Bigelow co-wrote both films with Eric Red (The Hitcher). ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Al Capone's imprisonment opened the way for mobster Frank Nitti to become the underworld king of Chicago as related in this true story. (AKA Nitti) ~ All Movie Guide

Felix (George Kranz) is the down-and-out young drummer who obtains a pair of magic drumsticks from a street vendor. He soon finds out the sticks are able to make native New Yorkers dance uncontrollably -- but not visitors to the city. Joe Silver plays a good-hearted pawnbroker, with Kelly Curtis as the pretty music student Shirley. Vibraphone virtuoso Chico Hamilton is also featured. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Director Brian De Palma returns to the helm for the first time since 2002's Femme Fatale with this stylish screen adaptation of James Ellroy's novel detailing one of the most notorious unsolved murders in Hollywood history. Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) was a struggling actress looking to make a name for herself in 1940s-era Tinseltown. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, it was her grim fate that would ultimately overshadow anything she would accomplish during her short and tragic career. When police discover Elizabeth's body cut clean in half and with all of her organs missing, ex-pugilist detectives Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) are the men charged with cracking the case and apprehending the killer. This isn't your average murder case, however, and as Blanchard's marriage to Kay (Scarlett Johansson) begins to suffer due to his obsession with the sensational crime, his partner Bleichert discovers a troubling link between the victim and the mysterious Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a prominent socialite and the daughter of one of the town's most connected key players. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Two men on the run from the mob end up negotiating more than their share of obstacles along the way in this comedy drama from director Harold Ramis. Vic Cavanaugh (Billy Bob Thornton) and Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) are a pair of friends who work for Bill Gerard (Randy Quaid), a mobster with his finger in a number of illegal businesses. Vic runs a pornography distribution outfit for Bill, while Charlie is a lawyer who keeps Bill and his partners out of jail, and between them, Vic and Charlie have stolen over two million dollars in cash from Bill. On Christmas Eve, Vic and Charlie plan to make off with their money and escape Bill's clutches once and for all, but while Vic stays cool and collected, an increasingly nervous Charlie stops off at a topless bar to fortify his courage with a few drinks, and ends up causing a scene with Renata (Connie Nielsen), a dancer he's long had his eye on. It doesn't take long for word about Charlie to get back to Bill, who sends an enforcer out to track him down, but while Charlie tries to make tracks, he ends up having to look after his friend Pete (Oliver Platt), who is much more drunk than Charlie and even more inclined to make a nuisance of himself. The Ice Harvest was adapted from the novel by Scott Philips. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide