Gary Barber Movies
- 2011
When an American tourist (Johnny Depp) realizes that a female Interpol agent (Angelina Jolie) is using him to flush out the elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair, the stage is set for a game of international intrigue that threatens to turn deadly in this Spyglass remake of Jérôme Salle's 2005 thriller. ~ Leo Charney, All Movie Guide
- 2010
Filmmaker Peter Berg adapts Radical Publishing's comic series Hercules: The Thracian Wars for Universal Pictures with this big-screen adventure. Ryan Condal provides the script, with Berg handling producing duties. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing) adapts the beloved Hasbro G.I. Joe toy line with this Paramount Pictures production that pits the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity against the evil forces of the organization known as Cobra. Dennis Quaid and Channing Tatum star as General Hawk and Duke Hauser, respectively, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marlon Wayans leading the rest of the cast, including Sienna Miller, Ray Park, Rachel Nichols, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Asian film star Lee Byung-hun. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, (more)
- 2009
Narc and Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan teams with actress Reese Witherspoon for this remake of the 1965 Otto Preminger thriller concerning the mystery that unfolds when a woman reports her daughter missing and the police investigation reveals that no such girl ever existed. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Doug Wright (Quills) rewrites his own script in collaboration with Carnahan for a film produced by Spyglass partners Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber, Mark Gordon, and Type A partners Witherspoon and Jennifer Simpson. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Lady in the Water director M. Night Shyamalan puts PG-13 suspense on pause to tell this grim apocalyptic tale about a family fleeing a natural disaster that poses a grave threat to the whole of humanity. Philadelphia high-school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) is discussing the disappearance of the bees with his students when the staff is summoned to the theater and briefed about a mysterious event that is currently unfolding in New York City. According to reports, citizens in the vicinity of Central Park have suddenly and inexplicably begun seizing up just before killing themselves by whatever means are at their disposal. As the phenomena begins to spread and talk of terrorism fills the airwaves, Elliot, his wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel), their friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), board a train bound for the presumed safety of the country. When the train screeches to a halt before arriving at its final destination, however, the frightened passengers are forced to fend for themselves as each consecutive news report paints an increasingly grim picture of the situation in more urbanized areas. Theories abound on what could be causing the unexplainable rash of suicides, but the only thing that everyone seems to agree on is that it's some kind of airborne contagion that is carried in the wind. It would appear that humankind's reign on planet Earth has come to an end, but perhaps if this small band of survivors can find a safe place to lie low until this all blows over, all hope for survival of the species might not be lost just yet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, (more)
Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear star in director David Koepp's fantasy comedy concerning Bertram Pincus, a dentist who gains the ability to communicate with the dead after momentarily dying during a routine medical procedure. When the dearly departed begin requesting favors from Dr. Pincus, the self-absorbed dentist finds that living with ghosts isn't easy. Fortunately, recently deceased businessman Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) agrees to keep the dead at bay if Dr. Pincus will just agree to prevent his widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), from tying the knot to humorless human rights lawyer Richard (Billy Campbell). According to Frank, Richard is just another morally corrupt gold-digger out to take the wealthy Gwen for all she's worth. At first Dr. Pincus agrees to go along with the ruse, though it isn't long before he begins to question his supernatural sidekick's true motivations. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, (more)
Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov helms his first English-language feature film with this big-screen adaptation of Mark Millar's action-packed graphic novel. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac whose uneventful life has become a mundane blur of terminal boredom. Repeatedly humiliated by his boss and constantly cuckolded by his cheating girlfriend, weakling Wes seems to be living right down to everyone's expectations that he would never amount to anything in life. However, upon discovering that the father he never knew has been brutally murdered, the spineless, clock-punching pushover is recruited into a secret society of assassins known as the Fraternity. During the course of his training, the man who was once an office-bound wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity courtesy of his skilled mentor Fox (Angelina Jolie). Upon completing his training, Wes is assigned the task of dealing out death to the mythological Fates, who possess the ability to alter the lifelines of mortal men. It isn't long before the nebbish nerd-turned-agile assassin is erasing the bad guys with surprising efficiency, yet as Wes begins to carry the mantle passed down to him by his father, he gradually begins to suspect that his wise tutors are not the crime-fighting enforcers they present themselves to be. Now, with everything he ever wanted in life finally within his grasp, Wes is about to find out that the only thing more difficult than ending the lives of others is summoning the courage to take control of his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, (more)
A crafty couple run the Christmas Day gauntlet by racing to visit their divorced parents' four separate households in this Vince Vaughn/Reese Witherspoon comedy that proves the holidays are no time for relaxing. Brad (Vaughn) and Kate (Witherspoon) have made something of an art form out of avoiding their families during the holidays, but this year their foolproof plan is about go bust -- big time. Stuck at the city airport after all departing flights are canceled, the couple is embarrassed to see their ruse exposed to the world by an overzealous television reporter. Now, Brad and Kate are left with precious little choice other than to swallow their pride and suffer the rounds. Along the way, they perform in a church nativity play at the behest of Kate's mother's (Mary Steenburgen) pushy pastor Phil (Dwight Yoakam), contend with Brad's gruff father, Howard (Robert Duvall), and bullying brothers, Dallas (Jon Favreau) and Denver (Tim McGraw) -- a pair of trained UFC fighters -- and pay a visit to Brad's spacy, New Age mother, Paula (Sissy Spacek), who recently made waves in the family circle by marrying her son's childhood friend. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, (more)
- 2008
David Cronenberg's unnerving psychological thriller The Brood gets the remake treatment with this Spyglass Entertainment production scripted by Cory Goodman. The story follows a doctor who specializes in radical therapies in which patients externalize their anger, resulting in lesions, burns, and in one case, the manifestation of a group of mindless mutants that carry out acts of vengeance at the subject's command. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Greg Kinnear stars in director Marc Abraham's man-against-the-system docudrama Flash of Genius as inventor Robert Kearns, the visionary who developed the modern intermittent windshield wiper. Kearns submitted the invention to each of the big three auto companies, each of which promptly rejected it; the companies then turned around and put the device to use. The enraged inventor spent several decades attempting to collect on his patent, and mounting lawsuits that traveled all the way to the Supreme Court; he eventually collected over 30 million dollars for his obsession. Abraham co-authored the script with Scott Frank and Phillip Railsback, adapting an article by John Seabrook that originally appeared in The New Yorker. Dermot Mulroney plays Kinnear's best friend, with Lauren Graham rounding out the supporting cast. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham, (more)
Austin Powers trilogy star Mike Myers collaborates with writer Graham Gordy for this comedy concerning a self-help guru named Pitka (Myers) who devotes his life to unknotting the romantic entanglements of troubled couples. As a young child, Pitka is abandoned at the gates of an ashram in India and taken in by kindly gurus. An American by birth, Pitka absorbs the lessons taught to him by his teachers and later returns to the United States to become a leading authority on spirituality and self-help. While Pitka's methods are decidedly unorthodox, they may be the only means of ensuring that the Toronto Maple Leafs win the coveted Stanley Cup. Maple Leafs star Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) is in trouble. His estranged wife has recently begun dating L.A. Kings star Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake) in a vengeful effort to send her husband's career into a tailspin, and when Roanoke starts to falter on the ice, the whole team starts to suffer. As their visions of leading the Maple Leafs to the Stanley Cup are quickly going up in flames, team owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer) enlist the aid of the world's best-known relationship expert in restoring the peace between Roanoke and his wife, and getting their team back on track to the championships. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, (more)
A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous television talk show begins to question his path in life when he returns home to attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the company of his famous fiancée -- a reality television star -- in this crisis-of-conscience comedy starring Martin Lawrence. RJ Stevens (Lawrence) is a television talk-show sensation who has transcended his modest Southern beginnings to become the most popular self-help guru ever to grace the small screen. His show, "Team of Me," is a ratings juggernaut, his fiancée is a beautiful reality television star, and his pockets are always lined with large bills. There are few Tinseltown dreams that RJ hasn't already achieved, so when his parents announce their 50th wedding anniversary, the family-oriented television star immediately drops everything and sets his sights on Georgia. As a boy, RJ was always the target of ridicule within his family, but these days things are different; not only does RJ have a ten-year-old son, but his bride-to-be is admired by countless viewers all across the globe on a weekly basis. But RJ's egotistical West Coast attitude simply doesn't fly in the South, and when his lovable but relentless family refuses to cut him any slack due to his current superstar status, he must finally pause and take stock of the man he has become. Louis C.K., Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Clarke Duncan, and James Earl Jones co-star in a Southern-flavored family comedy written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Margaret Avery, (more)
Based on the novel by A Simple Plan author Scott Smith, director Carter B. Smith's Yucatan-set thriller follows four American tourists as they unwisely venture off the beaten path while vacationing in Cancun. When a friendly German tourist implores the Americans to help search the jungle for his missing brother, the group becomes hopelessly trapped in a nightmare scenario that seems too strange to be true. Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, Jena Malone, and Shawn Ashmore star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, (more)
A single woman who has served as a bridesmaid a shocking 27 times wrestles with the prospect of supporting her sister at the altar on number 28, despite having fallen helplessly in love with her smitten sibling's handsome husband-to-be. Jane (Katherine Heigl) has the kind of altruistic traits that everyone looks for in a friend, yet lately the perennial bridesmaid has begun to feel as if something is missing in her life. One night, local newspaper reporter Kevin (James Marsden) spots the devoted bridal attendant racing between receptions in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and quickly surmises that her quirky tale may be just the story to get him off the bridal beat and into the big time. Immediately suspicious of the cynical reporter's motivations, Jane butts heads with Kevin just as her younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) shows up in town. While Jane has always put the needs of friends and family before her own wants and desires, she's suddenly prompted to reevaluate her priorities when her boss -- with whom she is secretly in love -- falls for her younger sister Tess. When Tess and Jane's boss George (Edward Burns) make plans to marry, the smitten younger sibling mistakenly assumes that her lovelorn older sibling will be happy to take part in the wedding. For as far back as Jane can remember, she has sacrificed her own happiness for the sake of those she holds dearest, but now that her heart has been broken, she's finally found the courage to be honest with herself. Now, as Jane finally comes to terms with her true feelings, her life begins to change in ways she never expected. Judy Greer and Melora Hardin co-star in a romantic comedy scripted by The Devil Wears Prada screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna and directed by Anne Fletcher (Step Up). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, (more)
A severely beaten teenager, trapped in a walking purgatory between life and death, must help authorities to the location of his broken body before it's too late in this remake of the 2002 Swedish thriller Den Osynlige. Graduating senior Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) has plans to attend a prestigious writing workshop in London, despite the protests of his widowed mother (Marcia Gay Harden). In the days before his departure, he gets into a cafeteria brawl with a delinquent classmate, Annie Newton (Margarita Levieva), while defending his friend from her extortion attempts. Annie and her crew track Nick down on the night he's planning to leave, mistakenly thinking he ratted her out to the police regarding a smash-and-grab burglary committed the night before. When the subsequent beating goes too far, the assailants dump the body in the woods in a panicked attempt to dispose of it. Only, Nick isn't dead -- he's walking invisible among his classmates, friends, and family, desperately trying to alert them that he's still alive. Robbed of the traditional forms of communication, Nick must figure out supernatural methods of manipulating his environment -- and he soon realizes the very girl who attacked him may be the only one who has the power to save him. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, (more)
40-Year-Old Virgin star Steve Carell reprises his role as preening newscaster Evan Baxter in this heavenly sequel to the 2003 Jim Carrey comedy hit. Shortly after television anchorman-turned-U.S. congressman Evan Baxter (Carell) relocates his family from Buffalo to Northern Virginia, God (Morgan Freeman) reveals to him that a devastating flood is coming and the planet is about to be cleansed once again. Later, when Baxter accepts the responsibility of building a great ark and his rapidly changing physical appearance begins to draw media attention, his skeptical family attempts to discern if his actions are driven by delusion or divine intervention. John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, Jonah Hill, and Molly Shannon co-star in a divine comedy of truly epic proportions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, (more)
A disgraced former ping pong champion is drawn back into the world of high-stakes table tennis to carry out a top-secret mission in the feature directorial debut of Reno 911! writer/director Ben Garant. Far removed from the rigidly regulated world of professional sports, clandestine ping pong tournaments offer thrilling competition where only the strong survive. There was a time when the mere mention of the name Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) was enough to make even those most hardened ping pong player cower in fear, but these days Randy has fallen out of favor with ping-pong fans. The former champ soon receives a much-needed shot at redemption, however, when he is recruited by a determined FBI agent named Rodriguez (George Lopez) to win a coveted spot in the upcoming underground table tennis tournament and ferret out the nefarious Feng (Christopher Walken), whose thriving criminal empire has transformed him into a true menace to society. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, (more)
Bestowed with superpowers when a lab experiment goes unexpectedly awry, an average beagle becomes the savior of Capitol City as everyone's favorite canine do-gooder embarks on his first-ever live-action adventure. The maniacal Dr. Simon Barsinister (Peter Dinklage) was on the verge of a revolutionary discovery when a sudden mishap gave birth to Underdog (voice of Jason Lee). Not only can this remarkable mutt now leap tall buildings in a single bound, be he can let his "best friend" know precisely what's on his mind in no uncertain terms as well. When Dr. Barsinister and his overgrown crony Cad (Patrick Warburton) threaten to destroy Capitol City, Underdog must leap into action in order to protect the frightened citizens and ensure that no harm comes to pretty Polly Purebread (voice of Amy Adams). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Belushi, Peter Dinklage, (more)
A former high-school hockey star handicapped in a tragic car accident becomes an unlikely ally to a crack team of determined bank robbers in this thriller starring Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When his promising career on the ice is suddenly cut short, former athlete Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt) goes to work as a janitor in a local bank. Cleaning floors soon gives way to criminal enterprise when the onetime puck-slinger is recruited to help clean out the very bank that employs him. Screenwriter Scott Frank (Out of Sight and Minority Report) makes his directorial debut, working from his own original screenplay. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeff Daniels, (more)
A group of teens discover that the next generation of survival horror games are more realistic than they thought when they begin dying in the same manner as their pixilated counterparts in director William Brent Bell's bloody tale of video games gone bad. In the days following the mysterious death of an old friend, a young group of gaming enthusiasts comes into possession of a chillingly realistic game based on the exploits of a 17th century noblewoman who earned the name "The Blood Countess" for her murderous exploits. Their curiosity piqued by the fact that they were obviously not supposed to come into possession of the grisly game, the teens soon give in to temptation and begin doing battle for high score. When the chilling events of the game begin to bleed over into the real world and the real-life deaths of the players begin to mirror the deaths of their in-game characters, the race is on to defeat the murderous Blood Countess and ensure that other curious gamers don't fall into the same deadly trap that they did. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Foster, Samaire Armstrong, (more)
Eight brave sled dogs search for the master who is looking for a way to rescue them in this adventure drama. An American geologist (Bruce Greenwood) flies to Antarctica to participate in a project at the United States Research Base, where he teams up with arctic guide Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) and his best friend, Cooper (Jason Biggs). The scientist soon discovers that Shepard also has eight other valuable friends -- a pack of sled dogs he's worked with for years, who have rescued him from a number of tight spots. As the three men explore a frozen mountain region, an unexpected accident coupled with a massive storm front forces them to fly to safety, leaving the dogs behind. Shepard is determined to rescue his canine friends, but he has to wait until the weather will allow him to travel back to the mountain, while the dogs struggle against the elements to survive as they attempt to make their way back home. Eight Below was inspired by a true story involving Japanese researchers exploring the Antarctic in 1957; the story was made into the film Nankyoku Monogatari. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
A cocky teenager learns some important lessons about playing by her own rules in this comedy drama. Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym) is a gifted 17-year-old gymnast with a strong rebellious streak -- strong enough that she walked away from her teammates on the eve of a major international tournament because she'd had enough of the rigid regimentation of Team U.S.A. After experiencing a scrape with the law with her extreme-cycling friends, Haley is given an unusual sentence -- attending the Vickerman Gymnastics Academy, a world-class training facility run by Burt Vickerman (Jeff Bridges), who has led some of the world's greatest gymnasts to championship status. Haley makes no secret of her dislike of life at Vickerman's, and her fellow athletes aren't about to forgive her just yet for letting down her teammates. But while Vickerman makes clear things are to be done his way, he respects Haley's talent, and together she shows him and her new teammates how to follow the rules while still expressing your individuality. Also starring Tarah Paige and Vanessa Lengies, Stick It was the first directorial credit for Jessica Bendinger, who wrote the critically praised teen comedy Bring It On. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, (more)
This film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden, unfolds from the perspective of Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi), a girl who, at the age of nine, is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in the early 1930s. Here, she learns that becoming a geisha can be the single path to wealth and independence for a woman. The head geisha of her house, however, Hatsumomo (Gong Li), is bitterly jealous of Chiyo and abuses her at every opportunity. Eventually Chiyo is taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's rival, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), by far the most famous and successful geisha in their district. Under Mameha's tutelage, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the most legendary geisha in the nation, skilled in all areas, from conversation to dance, and sought after by seemingly every man alive...except for the one whom she has secretly longed for since she began her training, The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) -- a man who showed her kindness at a time when her view of the world had turned the most bleak. Now as World War II approaches, Japan stands at the brink of a new era and Sayuri must confront the possibility that history will leave all that she has worked for behind. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, (more)
The toughest man in the American military faces a new kind of challenge -- looking after four kids in soccer-mom suburbia -- in this family-friendly comedy from Walt Disney Pictures. Shane Wolf (Vin Diesel) is a former Navy SEAL who was assigned to protect a scientist working on a top-secret defense project for the government. Despite Wolf's efforts, however, an assassin slipped past him and murdered the man he was guarding. The inventor's project is still being stored in his home, so Wolf has now been assigned to protect Julie (Faith Ford), the scientist's widow, as well as her four children, Zoe (Brittany Snow), Seth (Max Thieriot), Lulu (Morgan York), and baby Peter (Kegan Hoover and Logan Hoover). Wolf has had years of military experience in some of the most dangerous places on Earth, but he doesn't know much about raising kids, and he soon discovers his new job demands he be a nanny as much as a bodyguard. The Pacifier also co-stars Brad Garrett, Lauren Graham, and Carol Kane. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lauren Graham, Vin Diesel, (more)
The legendary Mexican hero returns to the screen in this swashbuckling sequel to the 1998 box-office hit The Mask of Zorro. It's 1850, and the people of California, eager to improve their difficult lot in life, have launched a campaign to become part of the United States. Don Alejandro de la Vega (Antonio Banderas) has become aware of a plot by moneyed Europeans to block the campaign for statehood through nefarious means, and it looks as if Alejandro's heroic alter ego, Zorro, may have to return to duty. However, Alejandro's wife, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), has grown weary of his secret life, and she demands that he choose between his family and his clandestine career as a champion of the people. This leads to a rift between Alejandro and Elena, and the couple separates, with Alejandro moving out while Elena continues to care for their son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). A few months later, Alejandro finds that Elena is already being wooed by Armand (Rufus Sewell), a suave French nobleman who wants her hand in marriage. However, Alejandro also learns that Armand is actually part of a plot to prevent California from attaining statehood by tampering with an upcoming election; meanwhile, there may be more to Elena's involvement with Armand than romantic courtship. Zorro must come to the rescue of the people of California and perhaps his beloved Elena as well before they both fall into dangerous hands. The Legend of Zorro was directed by Martin Campbell, who performed the same duties on The Mask of Zorro. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
