Wade W. Danielson Movies
Ten Inch Hero follows the love lives of several young adults who work together at a sandwich shop, The Beach City Grill, owned by a child of the sixties who adheres to the surfing lifestyle. The characters include Piper, who searches for the child she gave up for adoption; Tish, a sexually voracious woman who needs to learn about love; Priestly, the guy who dishes out relationship advice to everybody; and Jen, the wallflower who receives counsel from her outgoing workmates. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jensen Ackles, Sean Patrick Flanery, (more)
The tragic court case that forever altered the course of American jurisprudence is dramatized for the screen in this courtroom docudrama starring Timothy Hutton, David Straithairn, Leelee Sobieski, Anthomy Mack and Bill Sage. The year is 1931, and nine black hobos have been accused of raping two white women on an Alabama freight train. The accused, who all range in age from twelve to twenty-three, are quickly sentenced to death in the electric chair by an all-white jury fueled by racism and vengeance. But as news of the convictions spreads, something remarkable happens: the plight of the so-called Scottsboro Boys inadvertently ends up fueling the fires of socialism across the globe and the case is quickly appealed to the United States Supreme Court. As each of the nine defendants prepare for their retrials in a Decatur, Alabama courtroom, self-assured New York defense attorney Samuel Liebowitz (Hutton) accepts the formidable task of representing the accused in the trial that will hold an entire nation spellbound. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, David Strathairn, (more)
- 2001
- PG
The site of James Dean's legendary, fatal car crash is the setting for this reflective, eccentric drama about idolatry, lost hopes, and aging. Max Harris (John Mahoney) owns and operates a diner/service station in the small, deserted town of Cholame, CA, just down the street from the James Dean Memorial. His placid existence is disrupted by the appearance of a slick movie crew, eager to shoot a quickie flick in the area that references Dean's life. Max is nonplused, although his employees (Ian Gomez and Virginia Madsen) are smitten with the flashy production. Even more aggravating to Max is the emergence of a reporter (Linda Emond) who suspects that he has a long-buried secret regarding the fallen idol. Almost Salinas premiered at the USA Film Festival before making the rounds of the country's second-tier fests. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Neil Grieve directed this sly, comic low-budget contempro conspiracy commentary. Stuart Bliss (Michael Zelniker), who devises ways to promote surplus military materials, is currently concocting a way to market Geiger counters as an ordinary household item. Arriving home early, he catches his wife Janet (Dea Lawrence) leaving on a mysterious trip. Stuart's suspicions verge on paranoia. Is he being watched? What causes the Geiger counters to react? Should he trust co-worker Ted (Derek McGrath)? Why do other people somehow know personal things about Stuart? Why does company assistant Katerina (also Dea Lawrence) resemble his wife? Shown at the 1998 L.A. Independent Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Zelniker, Dea Lawrence, (more)
This independent comedy-drama concerns George (David Morse), who works as a janitor cleaning up at a bar in a small town. While no one's sure if George is retarded, he doesn't seem to live in the same world as the rest of them; if he's not unintelligent, he is unfortunately gullible and trusting and lacks the ability to dodge around people's emotions in conversation. George has always thought of his birthday as his good luck day, so one year he decides to celebrate by taking a trip to Reno, and for a change George's hunch is right on the money -- he wins big and comes home with enough money to buy his own house and start his own cleaning business. George finds he's lonely in his new home, and he asks Angela (Nina Siemaszko), a young woman who works at a discount store, to move in with him. Angela doesn't care for her job and is desperate to get away from her harridan mother, so she agrees, though life with George proves to be both funny and troubling. George B. was shown in competition at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Robyn, an LA postal worker and aspiring comic, has taken it upon herself to help an agoraphobic, heavily sedated and grouchy young hermit who has spent the last seven years hiding in his ratty apartment, escape his self-created prison. This lively comedy-drama chronicles the interesting conversations between the two. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
This action thriller tells the story of Jonah, a daring cop with a hair trigger finger who finds himself suspended by Internal Affairs after he shoots a psycho-killer. His girlfriend Lisa is also in trouble as she tries to deal with the constant harassment of her boss, a dishonest city councilman. When her boss accepts a bribe for $3 million from the mob, Lisa decides to get her revenge and steal it. Jonah readily agrees to assist in the heist. Also involved is Dr. Chandler, a man with a genius for electronics. Problems ensue when Lisa finds herself attracted to Chandler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Michael Rooker, (more)
In this youthful drama, Tom, a 14- year-old who's parents have just divorced, is abruptly uprooted from his wealthy Chicago home and sent to the strange land of LA to live in the far-out beach bungalow of his aunt, an aging hippie still stuck in a by-gone era. He is unhappy with the new arrangement and finds his new bohemian lifestyle strange and the activities of his new peers, stupid. His life begins to change a bit when he befriends a young surfer named Fin. At first he thinks of the fun-loving Fin as a real dolt, but later he admits he was wrong. Like the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn characters on which they are loosely based, the two new friends soon find themselves having a series of adventures, some of them dangerous; by the summer's end, Tom finds himself wiser, accustomed to California, and a lot more grown up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landes, Brian Austin Green, (more)
