Craig Baumgarten Movies

A former MMA star (Michael Jai White) trains four young fighters to compete in The Beatdown, a brutal tournament from which only the strongest will emerge victorious. Todd Duffee, Scottie Epstein, and Lyoto Machida co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An outsider teen acclimating to a new school finds a home in a reclusive teenaged fight club in this drama from Cry_Wolf director Jeff Wadlow. Jake Tyler (Sean Faris) has just moved with his family to Orlando, FL. While Jake isn't exactly comfortable being the new kid in town, his younger brother, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), is an aspiring professional tennis star who might just have what it takes to break big. But Charlie isn't the only talented athlete in the family, because Jake used to be something of a hotshot on the gridiron -- at least back home. Here in Orlando, Jake is considered something of a hothead thanks to his penchant for brawling. In an attempt to better fit in with his new classmates, Jake accepts flirtatious classmate Baja's (Amber Heard) invitation to a raucous party. There, the short-fused newcomer is lured into a fight and badly beaten by local bully Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet). But a beam of hope shines through the humiliation when a classmate who sees potential in the defeated fighter informs Jake of a local MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) program run by Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou). Despite Jake's preconceived notions regarding MMA, he quickly discovers that it's not just another form of street fighting but a rich new art form that he longs to master. As Roqua takes Jake under his tutelage, it soon becomes apparent that in order to become a true MMA champion, Jake will have to learn patience, discipline, willingness, and reason. This isn't just a quest for revenge, but an opportunity for Jake to finally find out what kind of man he truly is. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This made-for-cable drama is based on the true story of Marilyn Gambrell, a former parole officer determined to give the children of habitual criminals the opportunity to live the decent and worthwhile life that had been denied their parents. Jamie Gertz stars as Gambrell, who has signed on a social worker at Houston's Smiley High School, where virtually every one of the students has a least one parent in prison. Inaugurating a "No More Victims" program, Gambrell and her colleague Perry Beasley (Ernie Hudson) dedicate themselves to mentor those students at highest risk of following the same crooked paths as their parents. Unfortunately, the school's budget has been stretched to the breaking point--and Gambrell and Beasley have been given only one year to prove that their program can be successful. When originally telecast by the Lifetime channel on August 22, 2005, Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story was followed by a specially filmed public service announcement featuring both Jamie Gertz and the real Marilyn Gambrell. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Oscar-winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland writes and directs the religious thriller The Order. Heath Ledger portrays a priest from a secret religious order called The Carolingians. He's sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of the head of the Carolingians, whose body was found with strange marks on its chest. While in Rome, he asks for help from an old friend (Mark Addy) and an elusive artist Shannyn Sossamon to help solve the murder. The priest ends up at the Vatican, where he learns of a sect that may be responsible for many mysterious deaths. Peter Weller and Benno Fürmann round out the cast. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

What happens when you realize that your new girlfriend isn't going to be the love of your life -- but she doesn't happen to agree? Seth Winnick (French Stewart) is a television writer attending the wedding of his close friends Larry (Bill Bellamy) and Holly (Tyra Banks), where he meets a strikingly beautiful woman named Chelsea (Bridgette Wilson). Seth falls in love with Chelsea, and she feels the same way. But before long, Chelsea wants a more permanent commitment; and the more Seth backs off, the more Chelsea makes clear that she's not giving him up. Before long Seth is desperate to get away -- and Chelsea is not about to let that happen. Love Stinks marked the first leading film role for comic actor French Stewart, best known for his work as Harry, the chronically puzzled alien on the television series Third Rock from the Sun. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This crime film, in the tradition of Bonnie and Clyde, is the directorial debut of writer John Ridley, scripter of Oliver Stone's U Turn. The neo-noir tale begins as Jude (Kelly Lynch) and Ned (David Caruso) attempt a getaway with $250,000 worth of stolen diamonds, leaving three dead back at the jewelry store. Ned is captured, makes an escape, and is in the process of tracking Jude when he makes the mistake of picking up hitchhiker Bec (Stacey Dash). Bec talks on about the sexual abuse she received from her alcoholic father and then pulls a gun on Ned, who manages to disarm her. Other characters, including a grifter known as T (Chris Noth) and a fence named Cokebottles (Pruitt Taylor Vince of Heavy), surface before different double-crosses lead to the final road rendezvous. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

US Marshal Mickey Dane is sent back to his native Prague to investigate the assassination of a Cuban UN ambassador. The prime suspect is professional hit woman Simone Rosset, the lesbian co-owner of a posh restaurant there. The other owner is Simone's girl friend. Mickey catches Simone, but then she escapes. He and his partner CIA-agent Alex Reed, catch her again and take her into the countryside until they can sneak her back into the States. As time passes, Mickey begins suspecting that she is innocent of the crime. Simone swears that she has retired and hasn't left the Czech Republic in over five years. Finally convinced, he and she head back for Prague only to find themselves even more deeply entangled in a complex conspiracy, treachery and violence. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This low-rent Disney comedy mines the Home Alone territory for labored laughs. Brian Bonsall stars as the eleven-year-old Preston Waters, who is low-kid on the family totem pole -- his father Fred (James Rebhorn) lectures him on saving his money, while his older brothers, Ralph (Michael Faustino) and Damian (Chris Demetral), are pushy bullies. The final insult arrives when Preston is invited to a friend's birthday party -- held at an amusement park -- and Preston doesn't have enough money to go on any of the good rides. Preston wishes to the gods in heaven that he had his own money. At that point, on-the-lam criminal Quigley (Miguel Ferrer) takes his cue and runs over Preston's bike with his car. Eager to leave the scene before the cops arrive, Quigley hurriedly gives Preston a half-written check and vamooses. Preston looks down at the check and notices that the amount has not been filled in, so he obligingly completes the transaction by adding six zeroes and a one -- for a million dollars in cold cash. This amount, by a strange coincidence, happens to be the exact amount that Quigley has deposited in a money-laundering bank run by his partner-in-crime Biderman (Michael Lerner). Preston goes to the bank, cashes the check, and purchases a neighborhood mansion with all the toys he has ever dreamed of owning. But Quigley and his gang want the money back, and they are on their way to Preston's new home for a housewarming he will never forget. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren play archenemies from beyond the grave in this action film. During the Vietnam War, Luc (Van Damme), hoping to be sent home, comes upon blood-crazy Scott (Lundgren), who is starting a one-man genocide program. When Luc tries to stop Scott's carnage, Scott fights back and they end up killing each other. But now the government gets involved, cryogenically freezing their corpses and using their bodies in a secret government project call "UniSols" --turning the dead men into android fighting machines. Luc and Scott are now metallic fighting members of a robot SWAT team. But Luc begin to have flashbacks to the final moments of his life in Vietnam, as does Scott, who recalls that one of his final thoughts was to kill Luc. Meanwhile, a snoopy reporter named Veronica (Ally Walker) stumbles upon the secret of the UniSols, and soon Luc is trying to save both himself and Veronica from the wrath of Scott, who is trying to kill them both. All of the action culminates in a wild chase between a prison bus and a UniSols van, racing around hairpin turns on desert precipices. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Ann Margret looks too healthy to portray Blanche DuBois, the physically and mentally fragile Southern-belle protagonist of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, but we forget this discrepancy five minutes into her marvelous performance. This TV-movie version of Streetcar costars Treat Williams as faded aristocrat Blanche's rude 'n' crude brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski; Williams is persuasive, though he tries so hard not to be Marlon Brando that he comes off as a bit mechanical. The 1984 Streetcar is more realistically staged than the near-impressionistic 1951 Vivien Leigh/Marlon Brando filmization. The storyline, concerning the battle of wills between the earthy, pragmatic Stanley and the delusional Blanche, remains the same in both films, as does the script's tendency to avoid the homosexual elements that were so important to Williams' original play. The newer film's photography is bathed in an ambler tint throughout, conveying both nostalgia for the era in which it is set (the late 1940s) and a visual literalization of Blanche's "yellowed with antiquity" former lifestyle. The 1984 Streetcar Named Desire is less a remake of the 1951 version than a companion piece--a praiseworthy alternate version of the same sturdy material. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi