Sonia Braga

The celebrated Latino director Gregory Nava (American Family) helmed, scripted, and co-produced (with star Jennifer Lopez) Bordertown - a suspense thriller with an A-list Hispanic cast. Lopez portrays Lauren Adrian, an American correspondent from a Chicago newspaper, who longs to cover the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Instead, Lauren's mentor at the paper, George Morgan (Martin Sheen) reassigns her to Mexico. She is promptly shuttled off to Juarez, a troubled community on the Texas-Mexico border rattled by a series of brutal, unsolved homicides. The victims - all young women, employed in the maquilla plants that manufacture electrical components for exportation to the U.S. - are uniformly found raped and strangled to death. One of those women, Eva, manages to escape her captors (who believe her dead) and flees not to the corrupt police, but to the local newspaper. There, her life intersects with those of Lauren and Lauren's former boyfriend and lover, the reporter Alfonso Diaz (Antonio Banderas). Suddenly, Lauren foresees, in the prospect of reporting Eva's story, an assignment that could bring her closer to Iraq than she ever dreamed possible. Sonia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Maya Zapata and Juan Diego Botto co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Soon after relocating from Texas to New York in a bid to make the big time, a 21-year-old actor enters into a turbulent relationship with a struggling singer/songwriter in writer/director Ethan Hawke's screen adaptation of his own debut novel. William (Mark Webber) is an aspiring actor with dreams of making it big. Upon arriving in New York City, William soon enters into a tenuous romance with Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a talented musician with a winning voice and keen songwriting skills. Love is a fickle thing, though, and in the thriving world of young and talented artists, it isn't always enough to make a relationship last. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Randall Miller's Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School compiles an all-star cast to tell an unabashedly emotional story about life, love, and destiny. Robert Carlyle portrays Frank Keane, a man who has been in a deep depression ever since his wife passed away. One day while driving, Frank sees an accident. He investigates the scene to see if he can help and meets a dying stranger (John Goodman), who tells Frank that he was headed to a dance school in order to reunite with a woman he loved many years before. Frank decides to attend the dance school, and becomes involved with a variety of people. Originally beginning as a short film, Randall Miller's feature-length film was screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A cab driver is murdered, sending Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) on another clue-gathering expedition. The trail leads to a lost book, a brace of authors, and a onetime child prodigy. The story takes a bizarre twist when the suspect demands to be sentenced to death. And, oh, yes, also figuring in the proceedings is the former law school professor and mentor of ADA Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beyond the fact that it was seen on PBS, the dramatic series American Family bore no relation to the classic docudrama series of the 1970s. Created by filmmaker Gregory Nava, the series focused on a "typical" Latino family in East L.A., and as such was the only program on "regular" TV to feature an almost exclusively Latino cast. Edward James Olmos starred as patriarch Jess Gonzalez, a Korean war veteran, barber, and staunch conservative. Jess often found himself at ideological war with his daughter Nina (Constance Marie), a feminist attorney who'd returned to the family home in the wake of a personal tragedy. Also on hand was Jess' semi-estranged wife Berta (Sonia Braga); his older son Esteban (Esai Morales), a recent prison parolee who struggled to maintain custody of his own son Pablito (Austin Noah Marques); younger offspring Cisco, who incessantly videotaped his family and posted his handiwork on his own website; and the family's zany Aunt Dora (Raquel Welch), who, perhaps inevitably, lived next door. According to Gregory Nava, the series' dramatic thrust was that the Gonzalezes were "trying to deal with their identity -- who they are, where they came from, and where they are now." American Family began its 12-episode run on January 23, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As a number of luminaries on the international fashion scene converge for a major show, their personal and professional crises come to a head in this comedy-drama. Lorenzo Mancini (Paul Sorvino) is an internationally famous designer who has learned he has only a short time to live. As Mancini tries to make his peace with both his ex-wife (Sonia Braga) and his long-time companion (Peter Gallagher), he also tries to mend fences with his son (and heir) Mario (Michael Sorvino) while persuading him to not merge the family business with the hip-hop fashion empire of J.B. (Omar Epps. Anthony (Jared Harris), a famous and influential fashion photographer, is having a career crisis as his marriage to Francene (Michelle Forbes) begins to collapse. Cutting-edge designer Roberta (Rita Wilson) is scrambling to complete her latest line as her underlings start leaving her one by one. Camille (Leslie Mann), Roberta's business partner, may be the next to hit the road, as she becomes involved with Jamie (Jeff Goldblum), who works for a firm run by arch-rival designer Phillip (Harris Yulin). And Janice (Joanne Baron), the editor of a leading fashion journal, is facing a deadline when she gets an unexpected visitor -- her daughter Halley (Michelle Williams), whom she hasn't seen in over a decade. Taking an unusual approach, director Michael Rymer and screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson wrote a detailed outline for Perfume and in-depth background sketches for all the characters, but allowed the cast to improvise all the dialogue used in the film. Perfume had its world premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An outlaw who recently defied death by escaping his noose is on the run with his gang and the daughter of his intended executioner in this prequel to the 1996 series original, From Dusk Til Dawn. ~ All Movie Guide

In this drama, a Vegas casino worker's love affair with a beautiful hooker turns dangerous when he allows her to draw him into a gambling scam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Amid the bloody tumult of Communist dictator Ceausescu in 1989 Romania, a hedonistic and morally sidetracked physician, Daniel Pavenic (Michael Gambon), attempts to hold his annual dinner for 12 of his closest friends. Only three such friends are willing to brave the dangerous war-torn streets to go to Pavenic's mansion, where they find themselves investigating the shocking, debauched relationship between their host and a once-beautiful house servant. The more the guests learn about the twisted relationship, the more they find themselves re-entangled in their own dark memories. The book upon which this drama is based, The Two Deaths of Senora Puccini, by Stephen Dobyns, was set in Chile. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

This highly acclaimed made-for-cable movie tells the real-life story of one man's battle to save his land. Raul Julia stars as Chico Mendes, the Brazilian union leader who rallied his people to rise up and fight the exploitation of the rainforest. Mendes called on the locals to protest land developers building a road through the Amazon in an effort to make it more accessible for business. Julia is outstanding in his portrayal of the impassioned worker, who was subsequently assassinated in 1990. Nominated for many awards, the film took the Golden Globe for "Best Mini-series for TV" and several Emmy awards. Raul Julia won the Golden Globe and the Emmy for his inspiring lead performance. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

When a pair of teen-aged boys break away from their summer camp to lose their virginity to an infamous hooker (Sonia Braga), they discover that she's since gone straight to become a rancher. After hiring on as stable boys, they learn about the real meaning of love and sex. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

It's advisable to know from the beginning of The Milagro Beanfield War that "milagro" is the Spanish word for "miracle". The scene is a rundown Hispanic community in New Mexico, bordering a posh housing development. In full control of the local water rights, the powers-that-be are secure in the belief that they'll be able to expand their development without resistance from the locals. No one can foresee that impoverished farmer Chick Vennera, during a burst of frustrated rage, will accidentally open a heretofore hidden sluice, thereby providing free water for his beanfield. At first, the locals are against Vennera's "insurrection", reasoning that the new housing development will provide jobs. But with the help of John Heard, a burned-out 60s activist who now runs the community newspaper, Vennera becomes the hero of the hour, the spiritual leader of an ever-growing "no development" movement. The evil land developers send their minions to intimidate or coerce Vennera; each time, however, he is seemingly protected from harm by Divine intervention. When Vennera is forced to shoot a trespasser on his land, it looks as though his luck has run out. Chased into the hills by private detective Christopher Walken, Vennera is once more rescued in the nick of time by what appears to be a miracle. And there are more wonders to behold before fadeout time! Whimsical yes, but thanks to its hand-picked ensemble cast (including Sonia Braga, Ruben Blades, James Gammon, Daniel Stern, Freddy Fender, M. Emmett Walsh and Melanie Griffith) the film remains totally credible throughout. Adapted by John Nichols and David Ward from Nichols' own novel, Milagro Beanfield War may be the most likeable "liberal-tract" film of the 1980s. Robert Redford's appropriately Capraesque direction is matched by Dave Grusin's vibrant Oscar-winning musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable outing is a loose remake of the Paul Muni film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. Val Kilmer inhabits the Muni role of World War I vet Robert Elliot Burns, whose exploits following his escape from a Southern work camp are detailed in episodic fashion. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide