Richard Bright

Five people cross paths in New York City over the course of a day marked by violence in this independent drama from writer and director Jay Anania. Judy (Judy Kuhn) is a singer who is busy in a recording studio working on an album of British folk songs with jazz keyboardist John Medeski. Shira (Alyssa Sutherland) is a successful fashion model doing a photo shoot. Najia (Carmen Chaplin) is a journalist from Palestine who is in the United States working on a piece on treating victims of wartime violence, and she's arranged an interview with a well-respected doctor, Dr. Mary Wade (Olympia Dukakis). And Walter (Martin Donovan) is a quiet man who enjoys spending time in the park observing others. When a Palestinian suicide bomber sets off an explosive charge on a busy Manhattan street corner, all five characters are forced to deal with the physical and emotional wreckage of its aftermath. Day on Fire was screened as part of the "Visions" series, devoted to challenging works from new filmmakers, at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Craig Richardson directed this drama that begins with computer graphics recalling Nazi Germany. Taxidermist Kate (Rica Martens) is quizzed by documentary filmmaker Bill (Bray Poor), who then heads to upstate NY for an interview with taxidermy experts Sam (George Bartenieff) and Iris (Jacqueline Bertrand). Poking about, Bill begins to suspect Sam and Iris of past Nazi associations. How else to explain the couple's puppet theater in which their stuffed creatures re-create the era of the Third Reich? ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Brandon Cole directed this romantic comedy-drama with a revenge angle. Schoolteacher Rachel (Lili Taylor) leaves her car at the O.K. Garage run by small-time crook Yannick (Olek Krupa) who rips off his customers. Rachel's oddball neighbor Sean (Will Patton) likes lizards. Sean hangs with his pal, welder Johnny (John Turturro), who can't overcome his shyness to secure what he envisions as "the perfect relationship." However, a meeting with Rachel puts Johnny in a gentleman-caller mode and opens the doors to a restrained romance of sorts. Sean is curious, since there are no women in his life apart from his mother (Gemma Jones). Meanwhile, with Rachel's car eating up her savings, the trio decides to get revenge during a final showdown at the O.K. Garage. Shown at the 1998 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this film, there is a popular television game-show called "A Smoking Gun," whose purpose is to solve murders on the air. Nolan (Sam Trammell) is an intern with this show. His job is to investigate the claims of would-be contestants. In this case, he goes to a resort island off the Massachusetts/Rhode Island coasts. Lucille, a woman living in one of the island's hotels has been writing the show for months, claiming that several murders were committed where she lives, and that she knows because she helped commit them. Nolan, a good-spirited lad who wishes to believe the best of everyone, is misled from the beginning by various members of the local community, who claim that Lucille is making things up. Gus (John Randolph), the hotel caretaker, seeks to fulfill his great dream of becoming the owner of the hotel. To that end, while Nolan is busy courting a local girl, Gus reluctantly murders several more people (including Lucille) directly under Nolan's increasingly inattentive nose. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This unflinching and straightforward look at a middle-class man's descent into drug addiction was based on the diaries of an addict named Angel. Found in a Bronx apartment, the diaries were made into a film by screenwriter Lee Drysdale and director Gary Winick. Angel (Michael Imperioli) is a Wall Street functionary who lives modestly with his wife Monika (Mira Sorvino) and their young children. One day, an old friend from the Marines, Raymond (Paul Calderon), offers Angel a hit on a pipe of crack cocaine and a chance to get in on dealing drugs. Monika reluctantly agrees to the plan, and they set a limit of a couple of months in which they hope that Angel will make a quick killing and get out. The movie then flashes forward three years. Angel has become a hopeless crack addict, while Monika has become enamored of designer clothes. As Angel becomes more unreliable, Raymond kicks him out of the business. Monika achieves independence, gets a job, and finally kicks Angel out. Angel gets more desperate, even trying to sell his wife's jewelry, and finally hits bottom. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Caroline and Lloyd (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) are a married couple constantly at each other's throats, masters at crafting acid-tongued barbs at the other's expense. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop -- not even at gunpoint. Such is the premise of the acerbic comedy The Ref, which shows what happens when this quarrelsome duo is taken hostage. The gunman is Gus (Denis Leary), a thief on the run from the police, who kidnaps the couple as an insurance policy, planning to use their home as a hideout. But their incessant bickering proves more than Gus bargained for, forcing him -- for the sake of his own sanity -- into the unenviable role of peacemaker. To make things even worse for Gus, he discovers that he has taken the couple hostage the night of their big Christmas party, and the guests are already on the way. Not wanting to leave Lloyd and Caroline unattended, Gus opts to attend the party, pretending to be the couple's marriage counselor. This naturally leads to a series of comic confusions, as the hostage crisis and marital tensions head towards their inevitable conclusion. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

The authorities receive an anonymous tip that a wealthy man has been murdered by his wife (Caroline Lagerfelt). But the dead man's doctor insists that his patient died of heart failure, and is successful in blocking a police autopsy. Can there be a coverup and conspiracy afoot? The episode's highlights include a heated argument between detective Logan (Chris Noth) and his new boss, Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). Also, watch for an appearance by co-star Noth's then-girlfriend Beverly Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story is a made-for-cable adaptation of James Neff's Mobbed Up, a real-life account about Teamster president Jackie Presser. Brian Dennehy plays Presser, who was Jimmy Hoffa's successor as president of the Teamsters. Like Hoffa, Presser was caught between the Mafia, the FBI, and his own ambitions, and the film follows his rise to power, as well as all the trials and tribulations that arose while he was president of the Teamsters. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

After a break of more than 15 years, director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo returned to the well for this third and final story of the fictional Corleone crime family. Two decades have passed, and crime kingpin Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now divorced from his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), has nearly succeeded in keeping his promise that his family would one day be "completely legitimate." A philanthropist devoted to public service, Michael is in the news as the recipient of a special award from the Pope for his good works, a controversial move given his checkered past. Determined to buy redemption, Michael and his lawyer B.J. (George Hamilton) are working on a complicated but legal deal to bail the Vatican out of looming financial troubles that will ultimately reap billions and put Michael on the world stage as a major financial player. However, trouble looms in several forms: The press is hostile to his intentions. Michael is in failing health and suffers a mild diabetic stroke. Stylish mob underling Joey Zaza (Joe Mantegna) is muscling into the Corleone turf. "The Commission" of Mafia families, represented by patriarch Altobello (Eli Wallach) doesn't want to let their cash cow Corleone out of the Mafia, though he has made a generous financial offer in exchange for his release from la cosa nostra. And then there's Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate and equally temperamental son of Michael's long-dead brother Sonny. Vincent desperately wants in to the family (both literally and figuratively), and at the urging of his sister Connie (Talia Shire), Michael welcomes the young man and allows him to adopt the Corleone name. However, a flirtatious attraction between Vincent and his cousin, Michael's naïve daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) develops, and threatens to develop into a full-fledged romance and undo the godfather's future plans. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a taciturn law-enforcement officer from Russia. James Belushi co-stars as a wise-lipped Chicago cop. Though they go together like caviar and White Castles, they are forced to team up to collar the Soviet Union's most notorious drug lord. Thus does director Walter Hill recycle his 48 Hours formula for another unlikely star team. Unfortunately, Red Heat isn't half as enjoyable as the earlier film, owing to a lack of rapport between the two leading men and an overall lack of inspiration infecting the whole project. The one notable aspect of Red Heat is that it was the first commercial American film to stage scenes in Moscow's Red Square. Watch for Laurence Fishburne (still billed as "Larry") in a secondary role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A hardened Chicago cop transfers to a Houston precinct where he is teams up with a relaxed cop causing problems between their differing work attitudes. ~ All Movie Guide

Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first of playwright Neil Simon's unofficial "autobiographical trilogy" (it was followed by Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound). Jonathan Silverman repeats his stage role as Simon's teenaged alter-ego Eugene, who lives in 1937 Brooklyn with his parents (Blythe Danner and Bob Dishy), older brother Stanley (Brian Drillinger), aunt (Judith Ivey) and female cousins (Stacey Glick and Lisa Waltz). Much is made of Eugene's burgeoning sexual self-awareness and his father's efforts to support his huge extended family on his meager salary. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tony Richardson, who in his days of prominence directed the Oscar-winning Tom Jones (1963), demonstrated in 1986's Penalty Phase that the intervening years did not dim his talent in the least. Peter Strauss stars as a liberal judge, in the midst of a re-election campaign. Strauss has been under fire from his enemies for being too soft on criminals. He intends to prove otherwise while presiding over the case of a vicious mass murderer and rapist (Richard Chaves). Shortly after a guilty verdict is reached, Strauss is tipped off anonymously that the defendant right's may have been violated during interrogation. While the jury enters "the penalty phase" wherein they must decide on proper punishment, Strauss undergoes a profound moral dilemma: Should he honor the letter of the law, thereby incurring public wrath and losing all hopes for being re-elected? Scripted by former lawyer Gail Patrick Hickman, the made-for-TV Penalty Phase was originally telecast November 18, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide