Douglas Curtis Movies

Rap star and actor Ice Cube produces, co-writes, and stars in this comic crime thriller that reunites him with his Next Friday (1999) co-star Mike Epps in the 48 Hrs. (1982) mold. Cube plays Bucum Jackson, a Miami bounty hunter for Martinez Bail Bonds who's tired of his dangerous, unprofitable profession and wants to start his own private investigation firm. Lacking stake money, Bucum is forced to hunt down a small-time grafter named Reggie Wright (Epps), a fast-talking confidence man who's crossed his path before. Except that this time, Wright tries to avoid his pursuer by hiding in a van being driven by a pair of murderous diamond thieves who've just made off with 20 million dollars worth of stones. They're in the employ of lethal crime lord and yacht broker Williamson (Tommy Flanagan), someone that neither Reggie nor Bucum is anxious to cross, but it seems that Reggie left his wallet in the van, a wallet containing a winning lottery ticket worth 60 million dollars. The hunt is on for big money as the mismatched duo tries to outfox a wily syndicate for both the ticket and the precious gems. The directorial debut of music video director Kevin Bray, All About the Benjamins (2002) co-stars Eva Mendes, Carmen Chaplin, Valarie Rae Miller, Jeff Chase, Roger Guenveur Smith, Anthony Michael Hall, and Lil' Bow Wow. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A thin thread of electronic data may be the only thing that can save a women and her family in this thriller. Jessica Martin (Kim Basinger) is a biology teacher who is kidnapped by Ethan (Jason Statham), a vicious criminal who has threatened to murder her husband and son if he doesn't get what he wants. Ethan destroys the only working telephone in the cabin where she's held, but Jessica manages to put enough of the pieces together to send out a call that's picked up by Ryan (Chris Evans), a college student, on his cellular phone. Jessica manages to convince Ryan of the gravity of her situation, but she has no idea of where she's being held, leaving his cell phone as the only link to her whereabouts -- and his batteries are starting to wear out. Cellular was scripted by Larry Cohen, the exploitation film auteur who enjoyed a major comeback with his script for another telephone-based story, Phone Booth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The gang from Friday and Next Friday are back in this urban comedy, in which Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) have finally moved out of their respective parents' homes and gotten an apartment together. However, a bogus neighborhood Santa Claus (Rickey Smiley) decides to help Craig and Day-Day share the wealth by robbing their apartment, and when he rips off their stereo, he also makes off with their rent money, which was hidden in the speaker cabinets. Desperate to make rent and have some money for Christmas presents, Craig and Day-Day land jobs at a local strip mall, where their fathers, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon) and Uncle Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry), have gone into business together running a barbecue joint. Craig and Day-Day are installed as security guards, and while Craig tries to make time with Donna (K.D. Aubert), a saleswoman at the Pimp N' Ho's Boutique, and keep things orderly at Holy Moly's Doughnut Shop, Day-Day attempts to transform himself into a master of crime-fighting, which causes a lot more problems than it solves. Friday After Next is the first feature film from director Marcus Raboy, who previously directed music videos for Sting, Li'l Kim, Staind, and Friday After Next star Ice Cube. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this sequel to the urban comedy Friday, rap music star Ice Cube returns as Craig Jones, a streetwise man from South Central Los Angeles who has a knack for getting into trouble. This time out, Craig is still trying to outsmart neighborhood bully Debo (Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.); after Craig gets the better of Debo in a fist fight, Debo is determined to flatten Craig in a rematch. Looking to stay out of Debo's way, Craig decides that it would be a good time to visit his cousin (Mike Epps) and uncle (Don "DC" Curry), who have recently won the lottery and moved into a spacious new home in the suburbs. Like Friday, Next Friday was written by Ice Cube and his frequent musical collaborator DJ Pooh; music video director Steve Carr made his feature debut with this film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this taut thriller, a determined defense attorney (Melanie Griffith) launches an investigation to prove her latest client, a popular rap singer, is innocent of killing his girlfriend. Her search leads the lawyer to another murder victim, this time a member of a politically powerful family. Her discoveries put her life in grave danger. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Clive Owen stars in this gritty, over the top action thriller as Mr. Smith, a gun-toting badass with a hair trigger and an unknown past. He's far from a doctor and farther from a parent, but when he unwittingly discovers an innocent woman delivering a baby right in the middle of a gunfight, Smith enters the fray to save her and though the woman expires, he is the one left in care of the orphaned child. He thinks that the killers were after the woman, but soon he realizes that they had a far more unlikely target: the baby. Smith's regular company is a seedy underworld full of unsavory characters, so he takes the child to the closest thing he knows to a mother: a sultry prostitute played by Monica Bellucci, who specializes in clientele with a mommy fetish. Teamed with his hot but unlikely partner, Smith unloads barrel after barrel to protect the mysterious baby from Mr. Hertz, a ruthless criminal mastermind played by Paul Giamatti. Smith plans to figure out why Hertz and his thugs are after the baby, but if he can't uncover the truth, he'll settle for leaving them all dead in the process. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This ominous apocalypse thriller sports a fairly ambitious but ultimately confusing plot involving a prophecy which proclaims that the return of Satan will be precipitated by the arrival of eighteen physically-perfect angelic beings. In order to fulfill the prophecy, a secret sect of Etruscan monks conspire with an obsessed geneticist to artificially manufacture the requisite number of perfect specimens, with the only setback being the lack of a suitably beautiful face for each of the eighteen clones. To complete the equation, the monks devise a plan by which they can obtain faces from unsuspecting "donors." The last of the potential candidates is lovely model Rachael Leigh Cook who, after a bizarre series of events beginning with her mother's death, finds herself in the monks' evil clutches. Decent production design gives some class to this direct-to-video production, together with good performances and a pervasive sense of doom. The film ultimately falls short of cult-classic status due to an excessive amount of irrelevant and frequently unresolved subplots -- particularly one involving the family cat. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This science fiction thriller was inspired by a mythical real-life event, the WWII era disappearance of an entire naval vessel during a radar-cloaking test. In 1943, David Herdeg Michael Pare and Jim Parker Bobby DiCicco are sailors stationed aboard a Virginia battleship. Their vessel is undergoing an experiment conducted by brilliant scientist Dr. Longstreeet (Eric Christmas), who is attempting to render Allied craft invisible to radar. The ship becomes briefly invisible, but the test is a disaster and most of the crew are horribly killed. However, two crewmen are missing. In 1984, Herdeg and Parker emerge in the Nevada desert, having somehow traveled through time. Longstreet, still trying to perfect the device after 40 years, is running another experiment that pulls the missing sailors into the present. Realizing what's occurred, Herdeg and Parker flee, fearing for their lives. Fugitives, they befriend a skeptical modern woman, Alison Hayes (Nancy Allen). An effect of time pulls Parker back into 1943, leading to a bizarre reunion between Herdeg, still trapped in the future, and Parker, now a senior citizen. The film was followed by a sequel nine years later. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this horror film, after his recent divorce, Jason (David Naughton) takes up residence in a converted railroad car with the intention of finishing up his college education. His plans are soon disrupted, however, when the ghost of a vengeful railroad conductor begins to haunt and slay Jason's visitors. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi