Raoul Trujillo Movies

Based on the graphic novel by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Cowboys & Aliens is set in 1800s Arizona, where the local cowboys, headed by gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), and the indigenous Apache tribe have been feuding fiercely for quite a while. Their skirmish is interrupted, however, by the appearance of a spaceship, commanded by an alien creature that's bent on enslaving the human race. It's time for a six-gun shoot-out between these cattle rustlers and space invaders, and there might even be a temporary peace between the cowboys and Indians as they both take aim at these extraterrestrial uninvited guests. Jon Favreau directs from a script by Star Trek scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, with help from Lost's Damon Lindelof. Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, and Sam Rockwell fill out the headlining cast. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

As the foundation of the Mayan civilization begins to crumble, one man's previously idyllic existence is forever changed when he is chosen as a sacrifice needed to appease the gods in director Mel Gibson's mythic, end-times adventure. The Mayan kingdom is at the absolute height of opulence and power, but leaders are convinced that unless more temples are constructed and more human sacrifices made, the crops, and ultimately the people, will suffer. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is a peaceful hunter from a remote forest tribe whose life is about to be changed forever. When Jaguar Paw's village is raided and he is prepared as a sacrifice that the Mayan deities have demanded, the brave young hunter is forced to navigate a horrific new world of fear and oppression. Fearlessly determined to escape his captors and save his family from a harrowing demise, Jaguar Paw prepares to risk it all in one final, desperate attempt to preserve his dying way of life. However, few who have seen the sacrificial alter of the Mayans have managed to live to see another day. Now, in order to rescue his pregnant wife and young son, Jaguar Paw will have to elude the most powerful warriors of the Mayan kingdom while using his vast knowledge of the forest to turn the tables on those who would rather see him dead than set free. Inspired by such ancient Mayan texts as the Popul Vuh, Apocalypto marks a comprehensive collaboration between director Gibson, Cambridge-educated screenwriter Farhad Safinia, and world-renowned archeologist and Mayan culture expert Dr. Richard D. Hansen -- whose services as a special consultant on the film lent the production an unprecedented degree of historical accuracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Terrence Malick, the universally acclaimed American filmmaker responsible for the key 1970s features Badlands and Days of Heaven, returns for a rare directorial outing with the sweeping period piece The New World -- an epic dramatization of Pocahontas' relationships with John Smith and John Rolfe. Malick's story opens at the dawn of the 17th century, just prior to the colonization of the United States -- when the North American population consisted of an interconnected series of native tribes. In April 1607, three maritime vessels approach the unfamiliar continent, with 103 sailors on board. As members of the Virginia Company, these adventurers carry a royal charter to mount a society on the edge of the new continent. John Smith (Colin Farrell) sits chained below one of the decks. He is a 27-year-old loose cannon, who, for his persistently rebellious acts, has been sentenced to death by hanging as soon as the ships dock. Nevertheless, Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer) acknowledges Smith's ability to aid with exploration and consents to pardon him as a result. Upon landing, Smith seeks assistance from local Native American tribes with colonization, but runs into the unexpected -- he falls desperately in love with Pocahontas, or "Playful One" (Q'orianka Kilcher), the daughter of the omnipotent Chief Powhatan (August Schellenberg). Needless to say, this does not sit well with Powhatan or the rest of the tribe. Moreover, the oft-bellicose Smith enters a head-to-head conflict with his fellow Britons when he finds his tempestuousness calmed by the tranquility of the new landscape, as the anger and violence of his shipmates concurrently build in the face of the Native Americans. Later, Smith temporarily returns to England; believing that Smith is dead, Pocahontas accepts the hand of plantation owner John Rolfe in marriage (with her father's blessing) and follows Rolfe back to the old country. When Smith returns to America, his intended is nowhere to be seen, and the entire community teeters on the brink of a British-Indian war. Malick shot the production on location in Virginia; it co-stars Jonathan Pryce, John Savage, and David Thewlis. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Filmmakers Phillip B. Kunhardt III, Nancy Steiner, and Peter W. Kunhardt explore the eternal struggle for liberty in America while simultaneously illuminating the hypocritical underlying factors that undermined the colonist's bold "experiment in freedom," in a revealing documentary featuring the voices of Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Michael Caine, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins , Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford and many more. As the newly arrived British subjects staged the revolution that would cut loose their ties to Great Britain and give birth to a new era of freedom, a new hope for liberty emerged - but how then does one justify the presence of slavery in a society founded on the claim of all men being "created equal?" A blight on the quest for liberty and freedom that literally divided a struggling young nation right down the middle, slavery would be the last true obstacle in ensuring that the land of the free would truly live up to the ideals set forth by the founding fathers. As the north and the south set the stage for a bloody four-year war that would go down in history as one of the most brutal internal struggles ever waged, the resulting Civil War showed the willingness of Americans to actually stand up and fight to protect the rights of others as stated in the Constitution. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In this documentary, dance master Jacques d'Amboise explores the truth of the maxim "to dance is to live." Dance is the most direct and immediate of the arts, using the body itself as the form of expression. The film surveys some of the world's dancers, from Eastern mystics to a Russian performance troupe to American vaudevillians. Dance and its integral partner music have been used since the beginning of time to communicate the full range of human emotions. Ballet legend d'Amboise, who teaches children the joys of dance at his National Dance Institute, points out that babies have an impulse for rhythm, that humans are attuned to the music of the heartbeat and breath at birth. Dance is used to strengthen the body, to tell stories, to communicate with the spiritual world, and to express joy. Mr. d'Amboise helps the viewer rediscover this birthright of dance. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, Rovi

Canadian defense attorney Gina Antonelli (Lolita Davidovitch) takes on her most unusual case--and her biggest professional challenge--when she agree to defend Pauloosie (Paul Gordon), a 19-year-old Inuit living in a remote Arctic village. Accused of sexual assault of a minor, Pauloosie has by the standards of his people alrady done penance for his crime (which in his eyes was not a crime), pleading unconditional guilt and offering a gift of atonement to the girl's family. But ambitious prosecutor Daniel Metz (Henry Czerny) intends to make an example of Pauloosie by demanding the maximum sentence under Canadian law, a move that has divided the region's political interests straight down the middle. It is up to Gina to burrow through a maddening maze of cultural conflicts and arrive at a legal decision that will satisfy both the government and the natives--and also will assure the fairest amount of justice for the stoic Pauloosie. Produced for Canadian television in 1994, Trial at Fortitude Bay first aired in the US over the Lifetime cable network on March 15, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

From the eight-part series Dancing, comes Dancing: Lord of the Dance, a look at the spiritual significance of the art of dance. Hosted by Raoul Trujillo, the film explores the relationship between religion and dance from the perspective of Christianity, Hinduism, and the Yoruba of Nigeria. It examines cultural beliefs, which have molded traditions of both secular and sacred dance, including sects which consider dance divine and those which view dance as pagan. ~ Sally Barber, Rovi

Lucy, a writer of erotic novels who is uninspired unless she gets some new sexual experience, plunges into a torrid affair with Sloan, an arrogant bisexual, who has written a novel about a serial killer and whom Lucy's husband, a publisher, has introduced to her. Lucy either fantasizes or recalls a sultry affair that she had once in Paris with a hood named Minter, who introduced her to the ultimate in sexual satisfaction. Lucy's husband discovers his latent homosexuality, guided by his business associate William, who also has an affair with the sexually indiscriminate Sloan. This pretentious, would-be artsy film combines black-and-white and color sequences but ultimately is derivative and boring. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

The Dancing series studies how various cultures throughout the centuries have used the artistry of dance as a means of self-expression, entertainment, and the control of others. This volume focuses on some of the world's royal courts and the role that dancing has played in helping those in power maintain control. Some believe that dancing still serves this same purpose in the modern form of European ballets and the dancing movements of African Asante kings. Additional segments look at the Javanese Bedoyo and Japan's Bugaku. ~ Elizabeth Smith, Rovi

A modern cop meets a mythical figure in this action-fantasy. It all begins when a muscle-bound detective is assigned to find the purloined sword of Alexander the Great, which is said to have been a gift to the conqueror from Apollo. As he searches for the perpetrator, a Greek tycoon, the gumshoe begins experiencing strange flashbacks set over 2,000 years in the past in which Alexander battles his envious cousin Herodotus. He seems to get most of these strange visions after handling homicide victims. Eventually he begins to realize that the visions are related to the missing sword. He finally meets his nemesis during fencing practice and ends up getting involved in the magnate's highly illegal swordplay competition using real blades. As he progresses to the finals, the detective finally figures out that he is a reincarnation of Alexander the Great and that the murderous magnate is Herodotus. The only way the detective will be able to stop the visions is to kill the tycoon, but will he be able to do it? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Deftly blending Native American mysticism with ecological consciousness, suspense and graphic violence Clearcut is a powerful drama of vengeance and ultimately a lesson well-learned. Set in the Canadian woods, the tale begins during a heated conflict between an Indian tribe and an avaricious paper mill that is systematically destroying the land. When it looks as if all else will fail, a militant Indian leader abducts the owner of the mill and takes him on a Deliverance style wilderness odyssey and a harsh crash-course in tribal culture. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi