John Branagan Movies

A handful of heroes become superheroes under unlikely circumstances in this action drama adapted from the long-running Marvel comic book series. Four astronauts are on a mission aboard a new experimental spacecraft when they are unexpectedly exposed to a massive dose of gamma rays. The accident causes strange and unexpected transformations in all four. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), top scientist and leader of the mission, can now stretch his body like elastic and is dubbed Mr. Fantastic. His partner and sweetheart, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), develops the ability to become invisible at will, and becomes known as The Invisible Girl. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm (Chris Evans), is renamed The Human Torch for his new talent of being able to summon up fire from his body when he chooses. And Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis), pilot for the journey, mutates into a monstrous creature with super-human strength and muscles like stone, known as The Thing. Together, the travelers become known as the Fantastic Four, and they set out to use their unusual skills to fight crime, quickly gaining a nemesis in another altered hero who uses his talents for evil, Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). A long-gestating project that had been talked about by a number of filmmakers since the early '90s, Fantastic Four was previously the basis for a pair of animated television serials, and was made into a feature film in 1994 by producer Roger Corman, though that film was never officially released. (Fantastic Four creator Stan Lee has said the 1994 film was made only so that the producers could hold on to the rights to the characters, and that it was never intended to be distributed to the public.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels play the title roles (though viewers may find themselves debating which is which) in this genially low-brow comedy. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) are two intellectually-challenged best friends who share an apartment so messy that gangsters aren't sure how to trash the place; the guys also have a certain problem (not difficult to understand) holding on to jobs. Lloyd is working as a limo driver in Rhode Island when he picks up a beautiful and wealthy woman named Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) who is being taken to the airport. Lloyd immediately falls head over heels in love with Mary, and when she leaves a briefcase at the airport, he's determined to return it in hopes of impressing her. Lloyd isn't able to get aboard Mary's flight (though not for lack of trying). Harry has a van decorated to look like a dog (to promote his failing dog-grooming business), and the pair hop in the Poochmobile to find Mary in Aspen. What Lloyd and Harry don't know is that the briefcase is full of money, which Mary deliberately left at the airport as a ransom payment to save the life of her kidnapped husband. Incidentally, Lloyd's chipped front tooth happens to be real; while Jim Carrey had the injured tooth capped many years ago, he thought a broken smile would suit Lloyd's character and had the cap removed for the duration of filming. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jake Jacobs, Chip Campbell and Michele McNeil star in the exceedingly unpleasant Driven to Kill. The title refers to the emotional state of a man who is bedeviled at every turn by punks and mobsters. He decides to get even, one tormentor at a time, in a most deadly fashion. The story's potential is undermined by director John Gazaran's funereal pacing. Numbering among the supporting players in Driven to Kill are the relatives of several prominent Hollywoodites. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two hapless psychics unwittingly aid a criminal in his quest to obtain a mystic relic in this farcical adventure. Street smart beauty-school dropout Sylvia Pickel (Cyndi Lauper) navigates life with the counsel of a spirit named Louise, while genteel Nick Deezy (Jeff Goldblum) has the ability to "read" an object's past just by holding it. Harry Buscafusco (Peter Falk) is the treasure hunter who brings them together for a trip to Ecuador to find his missing son. Nick and Sylvia don't get on at first, their animosity only amplified by various slapstick escapades that find them posing as siblings and hobnobbing with monied jet-setters. Eventually, Buscafusco's missing-child premise turns out to be a ruse; his true intentions envelop Nick and Sylvia in serious peril just as they're beginning to let down their guard and fall for one another. The action climaxes in a special effects-laden jungle sequence. Vibes marked the screen debut of pop singer Cyndi Lauper, whose single "Hole in My Heart (All the Way to China)" graces the closing credits. Despite the poor box-office results of Vibes and the generally poor reviews for her performance, Lauper would go on to earn an Emmy award for a guest stint on TV's Mad About You and appear with Christopher Walken in the indie drama The Opportunists. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Harvey Fierstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit was adapted for the screen by Fierstein himself. The playwright also repeats his stage role of female impersonator Arnold Beckoff, aka nightclub entertainer "Virginia Hamm." The three-part plotline, whittled down to accommodate the film's 117-minute running time, concerns Arnold's seriocomic efforts to find a lasting relationship. We first meet Arnold in 1971, when his heart is broken by his bisexual lover (Brian Kerwin). Next we find Arnold in 1973, enjoying short-lived happiness with his true love (Matthew Broderick). The final act takes place in 1980: Arnold, still grieving over Broderick's sudden death and struggling to raise the young boy that the couple had adopted, has a long-anticipated showdown with his uncompromising mother, superbly played by Anne Bancroft. A witty film that is by turns touching and outrageous, Torch Song Trilogy works well despite its somewhat soft-pedaled approach to the material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Any film with a cast that runs the age-and-experience gamut from Ione Skye to Maureen O'Sullivan is certainly worth at least one look. Stranded casts Ione as a lonely 17-year-old, living in a remote farmhouse with her grandmother, O'Sullivan. Late one evening, five space aliens crash-land near the farm. Holding Skye and O'Sullivan prisoner, the extraterrestrials run afoul of the law when one of them impulsively kills Ione's boyfriend, who happens to be the son of local hothead and rabblerouser Michael Greene. Despite the aliens' laser weaponry, sheriff Joe Morton intends to treat the incident as a standard hostage crisis, but Greene wants to storm the farmhouse, with no consideration of Skye and O'Sullivan's safety. In true "Stockholm syndrome" fashion, the hostages befriend the more likeable aliens--one of whom is played by Flea, bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. A curious blend of several genres, Stranded has true cult-classic potential, should any distributor want to give it a second chance on the midnight-movie circuit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a sex-and-violence film that emphasizes the physical abuse of young women, director Joan Freeman may raise the shackles as well as the hackles of her distaff viewing audience. Cookie (Melissa Leo) is a young runaway who arrives in New York City with her brother in tow and ends up working as a prostitute for the apparently easy-going Duke (Dale Midkiff). Everything seems fine, at least as much as can be expected, until one of Duke's streetwalkers threatens to quit, and he nearly beats her to death. Sickened and shocked, Cookie runs away with an infuriated Duke hot in pursuit and unsparing of anyone who gets in his way. The murders, the beatings, the stabbings, and other forms of mayhem weigh heavily in the plot's sequences. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide