Musetta Vander Movies
- 2009
- R
A disgraced criminal defense attorney uncovers evidence of corruption within the police department while attempting a career comeback in this crime drama from director Jeff Celentano (Under the Hula Moon, Say it in Russian). Before his career was sidelined by drug addiction and a family tragedy, Steven Luisi (Tom Berenger) defended some of the worst criminals in the city. These days he's sober and determined to get his career back on track. When Luisi catches wind of a sordid, well-publicized murder case, he decides to pursue it despite the knowledge that it may steer him down a dark path. Before long Luisi has formed a partnership with Richard "Beanz" Allen (Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones). A former star athlete who has since fallen back to the streets, Beanz has all the dirt on local drug dealer/gang leader Al Bowen (Busta Rhymes). But in order to bring Bowen to justice and expose his connection to the police department, Luisi will have to open himself up to some intense scrutiny. As the stakes get higher, Luisi and his unlikely ally take their fight for truth and justice from the streets to the courtroom. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Berenger, Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones, (more)
An L.A. matchmaker and an unemployed actress forge an unlikely romance in this comedy starring Susan Priver and Sally Kirkland. Scarlet Zabrinski (Priver) may be a born cupid, but when it comes to her own love life things aren't going too well; her mother Ruth (Kirkland) insists on setting her up, despite repeated pleas by the put-upon daughter to kindly relent. When Scarlet's mistakenly sets up her unemployed pothead brother with a porn star, family ties quickly begin to fray. Then, one day, while driving along and enjoying the sunshine, Scarlet is rear-ended by homeless foreign actress Sabrina Fisser (Musetta Vander). Feeling bad for the vagabond, Scarlet offers Sabrina a place to stay for the night. But one night quickly stretches into another, and then a week, leaving Scarlet to wonder whether she will ever get her privacy back. Then, just as Scarlet starts to feel like she's completely helpless, her brother hits on Sabrina and everything starts to change. Is Scarlet simply being protective of her new roommate, or could her growing affection for Sabrina be a sign of true love? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Priver, Sally Kirkland, (more)
Immaturity and poor sportsmanship once again find their firmly established place in children's athletics (at least among the adults) in this sports comedy. Phil Weston (Will Ferrell) is a tightly wound suburban father who had a competitive streak worn into him by his father, Buck (Robert Duvall), who never seemed to feel that his son measured up. When Phil's son joins a Little League soccer team, Phil signs on as coach, only to learn that Buck -- who also has a ten-year-old son these days -- will be coaching a team in the same league. Determined to show his father he can do the job, Phil impresses upon his young charges that winning is the only important thing, and soon gains a few enemies as he humiliates not only the kids on his own team, but their opponents as well. Directed by Jesse Dylan, Kicking & Screaming also features Kate Walsh and legendary football coach Mike Ditka. The screenplay was authored by Steve Rudnick and Leo Benvenuti (The Santa Clause) prior to the latter's death in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall, (more)
Forbidden Warrior is structured loosely on a popular Asian myth. The story concerns Seki, an attractive woman who discovers that she can utilize an ancient book of spells in order to accomplish just about anything. She must master these spells before the book falls into the hands of those who mean to do some serious damage with it. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Matiko, Kang Sung, (more)
In the wacky Canadian family comedy Spymate, a superspy named Mike Muggins ($Chris Potter boasts a most unusual sidekick: a gun-toting chimp in a three-piece suit named Minkey, who operates as one of the country's best undercover agents. Mike and Minkey must team-up to foil the baddies when a sinister villain, Dr. Farley (Richard Kind) kidnaps Mike's twelve-year-old daughter Amelia (Emma Roberts), a scientific wunderkind. When Farley plans to use an expanded version of Amelia's invention -- a groundbreaking chemical drill -- to take over the world, only Mike and his furry companion can thwart Farley's fiendish plot. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Potter, Richard Kind, (more)
- 2000
Responding to a message that has apparently been issued by his mentor Bra'tac, Teal'c (Christopher Judge) is unexpectedly reunited with his lost love Shan'auc (Musetta Vander). She claims to have found a way to communicate with her Gou'ald symbiote, and hopes to use her enhanced knowledge to destroy the Goa'uld once and for all. Skeptical at first, Teal'c is eventually convinced of Shan'auc's sincerity--but both he and Sha'auc may be victims of a deadly deception. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this science fiction thriller, child psychiatrist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) has developed a technique that allows her to travel through the minds of her patients. When Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), a multiple murderer who methodically drowns his victims and performs bizarre rituals with their bodies, falls into a coma, FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) asks Deane to enter the killer's psyche, in the hope of finding a missing girl whom Stargher has kidnapped; if she's not soon found, in all likelihood she'll die in his torture cell. However, once Deane enters the bizarre world of Stargher's mind, she finds getting out to be a very difficult matter. The Cell was the first feature from director Tarsem, who previously made award-winning commercials and music videos, including the video for R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." The supporting cast includes Catherine Sutherland, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dylan Baker, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, (more)
- 2000
Barry Sonnenfeld resurrects the retro hip '60s show Secret Agent Man and adapts it into a slick New World Order context. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Costas Mandylor, Dina Meyer, (more)
The writing, directing, and producing team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen created this picaresque comedy (inspired in part by Homer's The Odyssey) set in the Deep South during the Depression. Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), dim-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and easily-excitable Pete (John Turturro) are serving time together on a prison chain gang. Everett knows where $1.2 million is hidden that's theirs for the taking, and the three manage to escape; however, a stranger soon warns them that they'll find treasure, but not the sort they're looking for. As Everett and his partners hit the road, they happen upon a gluttonous bible salesman, Big Dan Teague (John Goodman); meet up with Baby Face Nelson (Michael Badalucco) as he robs a bank; encounter three Sirens doing their washing; run into Everett's estranged wife Penny (Holly Hunter), who has told everyone her husband was killed in a train wreck; find themselves in the middle of a heated campaign between political boss Pappy O'Daniel (Charles Durning), and reformist candidate Homer Stokes (Wayne Duvall); and even find time to make a hit record as The Soggy Bottom Boys. Noted songwriter T-Bone Burnett helped compile the songs (combining vintage country blues tunes with originals in the same style), while Carter Burwell composed the background score. Incidentally, the title O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reference to the classic Preston Sturges comedy Sullivan's Travels, in which a director plans to make a serious "message picture" with that name. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, John Turturro, (more)
- 2000
Taking her newborn baby, Eve, on a visit to her mother, Xena (Lucy Lawless) enters the village of Amphipolis. Here Xena, Eve, and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) are surrounded by the armies of the warrior Athena (Paris Jefferson), who intends to kill Eve to appease the Olympian Gods. To extricate herself from her present dilemma, Xena must pull the wool over the eyes of war god Ares (Kevin Smith), who is a notoriously bad sport whenever someone tries to deceive him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, (more)
Elisabeth Shue stars in this drama as Molly McKay, a mentally challenged woman who has suffered from autism since childhood. Institutionalized since the age of three, Molly is released at age 28 into the custody of her brother Buck (Aaron Eckhart), whom she hasn't seen since childhood. While Buck cares for his sister, she is in many ways a stranger to him, and he's having enough problems in his life at the moment. When Buck is told by doctors of a risky experimental surgery that could cure Molly, he gives his consent. The operation is a success, and Molly emerges with the emotional walls of autism removed, revealing her to be a genius. But the autistic personality's intense concentration remains, and Buck finds the new Molly nearly as challenging as the old one. Molly's supporting cast includes D.W. Moffett, Jill Hennessy, and Thomas Jane; it was the first credit for screenwriter Dick Christie. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, (more)
Yet another TV series is revived for the big screen, as Will Smith and Kevin Kline join forces as James T. West and Artemus Gordon, the most sophisticated government agents of the 1860's, in the film adaptation of The Wild Wild West. West and Gordon represent two opposite ends of the personality scale: West is a smooth-talking charmer and man of action who prefers to shoot first and ask questions much, much later; while Gordon is intensely methodical and cerebral, with a genius for gadgets and mechanical innovations. They're brought together by no less an authority than the President of the United States to track down an evil genius named Dr. Arliss Loveless (Kenneth Branagh). Loveless was once an honored military leader and inventor until one of his schemes went awry and left him paralyzed from the waist down. Driven mad by the experience, Loveless is determined to get revenge on the United States by assassinating the President, using a 60-foot tall mechanical spider. Assisting Loveless is a team of beautiful female criminals, Miss East (Bai Ling), Amazonia (Frederique Van Der Wal), Munitia (Musetta Vander) and Miss Lippenreider (Sofia Eng). As the initially suspicious West and Gordon learn to work together, they also find themselves helped by an attractive woman, Rita Escobar (Salma Hayek), who has her own bone to pick with Loveless. Wild Wild West reunites star Will Smith with director Barry Sonnenfeld, who previously worked together on the hit Men In Black (1997). Wild Wild West features a hip-hop theme song from one-time Fresh Prince Smith, along with a more traditional Western score from composer Elmer Bernstein. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Kevin Kline, (more)
In this crime drama, New York journalist Jake Bridges (William Petersen), off on a bender in Atlantic City, gets into a bar confrontation with Lew Collins (Meat Loaf) but is rescued by gregarious Frankie McGregor (Michael Wincott), a member of a gang headed by Irishman Lange (Michael Byrne), a sadist in a wheelchair. After Bridges gets an eyeful of Frankie's girlfriend, nurse Melissa (Diane Lane), he finds excuses to drop by the hospital where she works. Admiring Bridges's credentials as a writer, Frankie cultivates his companionship in order to upgrade his schooling in literature. Jake gives him a reading list, while Frankie draws Jake into the gang. Shown at the 1998 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William L. Petersen, Michael Wincott, (more)
- 1997
As in past years, the final four episodes of Babylon 5's 1996-97 season were broadcast in the United Kingdom before making their first American TV appearances. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Between the Darkness and the Light" is a surprisingly low-key episode, despite all that occurs within its 48-minute timeframe. Captured by the Mars Resistance, Garibaldi tries to convince Franklin and Lyta that he was not entirely responsible for his previous actions. As plans are drawn to rescue Captain Sheridan from President Clark's minions, Ivanova, armed with vital information, launches her own counterratack against Clark --- with devastating results. "Between the Darkness and the Light" made its American TV debut during the week of October 6, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
Just when you thought the game was over, along comes the second movie inspired by the popular video game Mortal Kombat. While Liu Kang (Robin Shou) led his warriors Princess Kitana (Talisa Soto), Sonya Blade (Sandra Hess), Rayden (James Remar), and Johnny Cage (Chris Conrad) to victory, and the safety of the world seemed certain, no one counted on the treachery of Shao-Kahn (Brian Thompson), the evil Emperor of the Outerworld, who has a new plan to overtake the Earth. Shao-Kahn has discovered a portal between Earth and Outerworld, and if it stays open for seven days, the two worlds will merge, with Shao-Kahn controlling both planets. Rayden and Sonya set out to find his colleague Jax (Lynn Red Williams), while Liu Kang and Kitana are on the trail of Nightwolf (Litefoot) as they race against time to defeat Shao-Kahn, who has brought Kitana's mother Queen Sindel (Musetta Vander) back from the grave to aid his evil scheme. Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation marked the directorial debut of cinematographer John R. Leonetti. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Shou, Talisa Soto, (more)
On the wild desert planet of Oblivion, a man called Sweeny comes to search for a corporate saboteur. Though deceptively dressed as a greenhorn city dude, Sweeny is the most effective bounty hunter in the galaxy. He stays in the town where she (he knows nothing about her) is supposed to reside. He finds plenty of suspicious women and even gets romantically involved with the widow Mattie Chase, stealing her away from her steady beau Marshal Adams. Like its predecessor, this feature attempts to create a fresh new genre by combining science fiction and western with comic elements. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meg Foster, Maxwell Caulfield, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this sci-fi thriller, a collision between a space station and a derelict ore freighter leads to a terrifying discovery. Listed as lost in space 25 years before, the ore freighter Siberia appears out of nowhere and despite the efforts of the communications station that is trapped in orbit around Mars, the two crafts run into each other. Curious as to what happened to the ore freighter, the space station crew boards her and discovers that her crew is dead. Unfortunately, they also discover that the reason for the mass deaths, an alien, is still aboard the craft and looking for more victims. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Bottoms, Christopher Atkins, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this comedy thriller, a couple living in Cactus Gulch, dream of escaping the desert and moving to Hawaii. Their little house trailer has become a monument to Hawaii, filled with plastic palms and pink flamingos. The two, Buzzard Wall and his tacky wife Betty, believe that Buzz's new invention, a fail-safe sunscreen lotion, is going to get them to the tropics, but then their application for a government product-funding grant is rejected and their dreams are dashed. The impoverished duo encounter further trouble when Buzzard's murderous half-brother breaks out of prison, pays them a call, and ends up taking Betty hostage. Buzz then teams up with a seductive reporter, who has the hots for him, and together they take off across the desert to find his beloved Betty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Baldwin, Emily Lloyd, (more)
- 1995
Needing a one-time-only date, Cory (Ben Savage) convinces a hypersensitive girl named Wendy (Jessica Wesson) that he is seeking a long-term relationship. This proves to be a mjaor blunder when Wendy begins eagerly making plans for her future life with Cory--and when our panicky hero tries to break up with the girl, she gets so overemotional that he hasn't the heart to do it! Ultimately, the "romance" comes to an abrupt end, and a sadder-but-wiser Cory learns another valuable life lesson. Meanwhile, Eric (Will Friedle) is forbidden from going on dates until his grades improve...so how will he be able to squire the sexy Dominique (Musetta Vander? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The purchase of Manhattan's venerable Larkin's Department Store by a nasty corporate raider (Harley Venton) gets off to a bad start when the accountant who brokered the deal is murdered. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) enters the picture when she finds out that the store's former owner Floyd Larkin (Peter Donat) has been forced to renege on his agreement to donate the original Larkin's building to a new cultural museum. Things get worse when another of Jessica's acquaintances, Bill Maguire (Martin Milner) is accused of knocking off the accountant--but that's only the beginning of this sordid tale of doublecrossing, book-juggling and masked murderers! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
What do you get when you combine a Western with a Science Fiction film? You might get this shoot'em up in space. It is set in the distant town of Oblivion (it was actually filmed in Romania). Though it's a high tech town, it has the feel of an old fashioned Western outpost from the 1800's. The town is being terrorized by the snakelike, power-mad Redeye who is also out for the contents of local mines. He shoots the sheriff and disarms Stell Barr, his cyborg deputy. Enter Zack Stone, son of the late Sheriff Stone. Zack is of a rare breed, the empaths. Because he feels the pain of others, he walks a path of non-violence. Can he remain pacifistic in the face of Redeye's terrifying reign? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Joseph Paul, Jackie Swanson, (more)
- 1993
- R
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
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Lindsay Frost, (more)
