Lorraine Bracco Movies

HBO split the sixth and final season of its serial mafia drama The Sopranos into two halves, spaced 10 months apart: the first half (episodes 1-12) aired from mid-March through early June of 2006; a hiatus followed between episodes 12 and 13, before the series picked up again for its final nine episodes on April 8, 2007, purportedly thanks to overwhelming audience demand for an extension. As the season begins, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) is plagued by problem after problem at home: though he has made peace with wife Carmela (Edie Falco), and daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is relatively well-adjusted and happy, attending college and living with fiancée Finn De Trolio (Will Janowitz), Tony's son, A.J. (Robert Iler) is a complete slacker and layabout who has just failed out of college and seems hesitant to accomplish anything of merit. Meanwhile, Tony finds himself saddled with a new captain, Phil Leotardo (Frank Vincent) who expresses more hesitation over "working" him than his incarcerated predecessor, Johnny Sacks (Vince Curatola). Complicating matters are two employees: Tony's soldier Eugene Pontecorvo (Robert Funaro), who attempts to buy his way out of the syndicate via an inheritance, and the homosexual captain Vito Spatafore (Joe Gannascoli) who comes out of the closet and ends up being spotted in a leather bar - then is knocked off by a member of the family, which leads to the death of a Lieutenant and sparks a tidal wave of mob violence. In another subplot, aspiring screenwriter Christopher (Michael Imperioli), Tony's cousin, devises an idea for a gangster picture which he describes as "The Godfather meets Saw," and heads off to Hollywood to pitch it to Ben Kingsley. The season cliffhanger, however, involves Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese), an elderly man suffering from extreme senility who mistakenly draws a gun and plugs Tony in the stomach, sending him into a coma - leaving consigliere Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt of The E Street Band) to tend to family business. This, in turn, yields several sequences where Tony wanders around in a dream state, and contemplates his own mortality. The second half of the season has Christopher continuing his strenuous efforts to have his epic (which he entitled Cleaver) produced, the absence of Johnny Sack leaving an ongoing void of power in the syndicate, and Tony again coming to terms with aging and mortality, while he struggles (as ever) to balance personal and professional demands. Guest stars in the 2007 episodes include: Sydney Pollack, Tim Daly, Daniel Baldwin and Geraldo Rivera. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Hip-hop mogul Damon Dash (Paper Soldiers) directs this semi-autobiographical film based on his life as the proprietor of Roc-a-Fella Records. Ebon Moss-Bachrach stars as David Katz, a reporter who, upon interviewing rap producer Damon (Capone), finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the high-class world of hip-hop. Before he knows it, Katz ignites a war within the label that could bring down the operation for good. A bevy of celebrities from all walks of life make appearances, including Riddick Bowe, Lorraine Bracco, Mariah Carey, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Carson Daly, Jay-Z, Chloe Sevigny, James Toback, and countless others. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A young man, David (Shawn Hatosy), struggles in his hospital bed to recall the events leading to his severe injuries to a detective (Lorraine Bracco) who is investigating the disappearance of David's girlfriend Jenny (Rachael Leigh Cook). David's story, told in flashback, involves a romantic triangle with his obsessive, mysterious roommate Alan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) that goes violently awry -- or is David lying? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Being head of the Northern New Jersey branch of the DiMeo crime family is no bed of roses for Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) in Season Three of HBO's The Sopranos. Tony's headaches begin early on with the dangerously unstable, sexually deviant and recklessly profane Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) returns to the organization after a lengthy absence. Though there's no love lost between the two men, Tony arranges for Ralph to take over the illicit business operations of the late Richie Aprile, who'd been bumped off in a fit of rage by Tony's treacherous sister Janice (Aida Turturro) the previous season. Also causing trouble is another new arrival on the scene: Richie's nephew Jackie Aprile Jr. (Jason Carbone), nicknamed "Little Lord F**kpants" because of his pathetic inability to live up to the standards and expectations of his celebrated criminal family. Though Tony tolerates Jackie Jr. and somewhat admires the boy's efforts to live a clean life away from Uncle Richie's influence, things quickly go south when Jackie becomes involved with Tony's daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lyn Sigler)--and also tries to emulate his no-good uncle, turning into a pariah by planning--and bungling--a robbery on his own. Blood kin or no blood kin, Ralph has to "deal" with Jackie Jr., arranging with all-purpose henchman Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli) to handle the dirty details. Elsewhere, Tony's protégé Christopher (Michael Imperioli) has been fully embraced by the Family, despite his ongoing war of wills with veteran capo Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico); Tony's analyst Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) the identity of her rapist a secret from Tony, so that she won't have anyone's murder on her conscience; and the FBI comes a-cropper planting an electronic bug in the Soprano mansion. One of the Season Three story arcs was to involve Tony's spiteful mother Livia, who was to have testified against her son in a federal trial. The death of actress Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) put an end to these plans, but through the magic of CGI Livia makes one final "appearance" to make her son's life even more miserable than usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

New Jersey Mafia boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) continues maintaining the facade of being a respectable suburban husband and father while operating a vast criminal organization from the confines of the Bada-Bing Club during Season Two of The Sopranos. Now that the treacherous Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) has been placed under arrest by the feds, and with his far-from-supportive mother Livia (Nancy Marchand, who died during this season) has been exiled to a nursing home, Tony thinks that his family problems are over. No such luck: Breezing in from Seattle is Tony's seriously disturbed, sexually promiscuous and thoroughly untrustworthy sister Janice (Aida Turturro), the closest thing that any mob family has had to a "black sheep". There's more trouble from the dangerously impulsive Richie Aprile (David Proval), older brother of Tony's predecessor Jackie Aprile Sr., who is resentful that a younger man has taken over the Aprile branch of the DeMeo crime organization. Richie also has a mad-on for Tony's trusted protégé Christopher (Michael Imperioli), whose own prestige within the mob continues to grow by leaps and bounds, especially after he engineers the family's elaborate "pump-and-dump" stock scam. Christopher himself has developed a close relationship with Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), and never mind that she is one of "Uncle" Tony's mistresses. Though the FBI agent within the family's ranks has been whacked, there is still someone feeding information to the feds. It breaks Tony's heart to discover that his trusted torpedo Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore) is the turncoat, but business is business, and Tony is obliged to stage-manage Big Pussy's demise during a now-famous boat trip. Nor is this the end of the intramural carnage: despite having become engaged to her former flame Richie Aprile, Tony's sister Janice settles a bitter argument with Richie in typical Soprano fashion. Result: No wedding, and no Richie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Malkovich and Lorraine Bracco star in this offbeat drama set in women's restrooms. The first half of the film tells of three actresses forced to prepare for their performance in the same bathroom because their dressing rooms are flooded. Veteran actress Gemma (Bracco) is stunned by the anger and pessimism of her younger counterpart. In the second half, Italian Lauren (Veronica Ferres) goes to the opera with her lover Roberto (Malkovich) only to learn his true nature when she runs into his pregnant wife in the ladies room. Ladies Room was screened at the 1999 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

A woman must look past her personal misfortune to uncover a greater tragedy in this thriller. Helen (Lorraine Bracco) is a journalist who is expecting a baby. While working on a story about a police detective (Margot Kidder), Helen is involved in an accident; though she's rushed to the hospital, she is informed upon regaining consciousness that she miscarried. The details don't all add up in Helen's mind, however, and after doing some digging, she suspects that her baby actually survived and was stolen by a black-market adoption ring that sells infants to the highest bidder. John Heard, Jason Gedrick, and R.H. Thomson co-star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Zac is a well-respected French filmmaker who creates a major uproar when for no apparent reason he suddenly vanishes from his posh Parisian apartment leaving behind his lover Helene, a popular star. Marcus, his producer searches for eight months before locating Zac who has since become a homeless street bum in an expensive neighborhood. Marcus sends Zac to a posh hotel. He then sends Daisy, an ambitious secretary and aspiring screenwriter to learn what happened to the great director. It takes a lot of mutual verbal sparring and false turns (which are presented as creatively filmed vignettes that are done using a variety of techniques) from Zac before he finally tells her the truth. The two then decide to turn the story into a film. As they write, Daisy and Zac slowly fall in love. At the same time, Marcus has his hands full trying to avoid some tough Russian Mafiosos who want the money they invested back. In order to make Zac and Daisy's film, the whole production is moved to the relative safety of South Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Very loosely based on the memoir of the same name, The Basketball Diaries transposes the late '60s adolescence of writer/artist Jim Carroll to some unspecified time period at least 15 years later, further confusing the timeframe with three decades of rock music, some by Carroll himself. Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Catholic school chums are on the hottest basketball team in New York, but their friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) languishes in the hospital with leukemia. In-between typically boyish adventures, Jim scribbles in his notebook and experiments with sex and drugs. His group of friends begins to disintegrate after coach Swifty (Bruno Kirby) not only makes a pass at Jim, but also catches him and his pals using drugs on the court and kicks them off the team. Out of school and on the streets, Jim turns tricks, betrays friends, robs stores, and deals drugs to feed his heroin addiction. Not even the efforts of former addict Reggie (Ernie Hudson) can cure Jim. Mark Wahlberg appears as one of Jim's basketball and drug buddies, while Carroll himself makes a memorable cameo as an addict who describes the almost Catholic rituals of shooting heroin. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV crime drama follows the actions of the courageous, determined prosecutor who attempted to put notorious Mafioso John Gotti behind bars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Five fables, each set in a different historical era, make up this quirky comedy from director Bill Forsyth. Each tale features Robin Williams as a basically decent but troubled average man named Hector. Beginning with the Bronze Age, where Hector struggles for survival against barbarians, the film proceeds through Roman times, the Middle Ages, and the 16th century, concluding in the present day, where Hector is a divorced father attempting to reconcile with his children. The film clearly intends to draw parallels between these stories in order to illustrate the universal nature of human experience, though the segments themselves vary widely in tone, from broadly comic to philosophically reflective. Additionally, some may find the film's attempts at creating a fantasy atmosphere rather cloying, while others may be charmed by the project's determined oddness and whimsicality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide