Mark Gordon Movies

Not bad as far as slasher movies go, Brothers in Arms is set-inevitably-in a remote backwoods community. The title refers to a pair of siblings who don't get along (that's putting it mildly). When the brothers inadvertently venture into looney-land, they are besieged by a religious cult which dotes on ritual murders. Forced to work together, our heroes struggle manfully to avoid being chopped, lopped, sliced and diced. Dedee Pfeiffer, Michelle's sister, shows up in a role that might surprise her Cybill fans. Brothers in Arms is more than a little inspired by Deliverance, with elements of The Most Dangerous Game tossed in for good measure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jack Dobson (James Belushi) is lying down, bleeding and dead, in a deserted clearing in the woods: "Yeah, that's me. No wife, no kid. Just one 9-millimeter bullet lodged in my chest." The voice from the corpse then introduces the audience to the area of his demise --Palm Beach, a town where everyone "leads three lives: public, private, and secret." Dobson is a homicide detective in Palm Beach who takes advantage of his position to bed a variety of women, while his brother Michael (William Russ) prepares to run for public office. One of Dobson's lovers is imported New Yorker Ellen (Lorraine Bracco). She sees Dobson leave a parking lot with a waitress and before long the waitress turns up dead. Dobson investigates the murder and determines that a serial killer is on the loose. When more women turn up dead with connections to Dobson, the finger of guilt points not only to Jack but also to his partner Steve (Tony Goldwyn), Steve's wife Beth (Faye Grant), and even his respectable senatorial candidate brother. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Struggling musicians vie for success in the hard world of the New York hip-hop scene in this gritty urban drama. Rich (Jeffrey D. Sams) is convinced he has a future as a rapper -- so much so that he leaves his wife and family to go to New York and reach for the brass ring. While scuffling for work, Rich meets another MC, I Tick (Ron Brice), whose roughneck style is a contrast to Rich's smooth delivery. The two rhymers begin working together and soon find that they may have a shot at the big time. The supporting cast includes Maura Tierney, Larry Gillard Jr., and Leo Burmester; rapper MC Lyte contributes to the soundtrack. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

If you don't think Speed is the fastest-moving adventure film ever made, we challenge you to find a faster one. Keanu Reeves stars as an LA Bomb Squad specialist whose principal antagonist is elusive bomber-extortionist Dennis Hopper. Seeking vengeance after his latest ransom scheme is thwarted, Hopper presents a personal challenge to Reeves: A wired-for-destruction city bus, which will detonate if the speedometer drops below 50 MPH. Playing the reluctant civilian who is pressed into service as the bus' "substitute driver," leading lady Sandra Bullock became a major star in her own right. Once Speed gets to the meat of its story, the excitement never lets up--not even after the boobytrapped bus is out of the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong director John Woo's second U.S. film (his first was Hard Target) delivers a number of exciting action sequences but is let down by a credibility-straining plot. John Travolta plays Vic Deakins, an Air Force pilot on what is supposed to be a routine night flight mission with his co-pilot, the younger Riley Hale (Christian Slater), whom Deakins constantly kids for lacking the "will to win." Deakins is actually a traitor who crashlands their Stealth Bomber in Death Valley so that he can steal two nuclear warheads onboard and sell them to terrorists who plan to blackmail the government. Deakins meets up with his cohorts, who have been waiting in the park, while Hale survives and teams up with a young, attractive park ranger (Samantha Mathis) to foil Deakins's plans. Plenty of action ensues, with car chases, collapsing mine shafts, fights on burning trains, and even the underground detonation of a nuclear device. Despite the script's implausibilities and inconsistencies, Woo amply displays the expertise with action sequences and man-to-man conflict that has made his Hong Kong films cult favorites. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In Moscow, after FBI deputy director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier) and scarred Russian intelligence officer Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora) bring down a key figure in the Russian Mafia, they are threatened by the criminal's powerful brother who swears vengeance on the FBI and immediately hires a professional assassin, the Jackal (Bruce Willis) to kill a leading American political figure. A master of disguises, the Jackal believes in total perfectionism and demands $70 million for the job. The FBI suspects the Jackal is aiming for the FBI director, so they consult with former Basque terrorist Isabella (Mathilda May), in Virginia, and Isabella's former lover, IRA operative Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), serving a prison sentence. Promised leniency, Mulqueen agrees to help. Meanwhile, the Jackal prepares false passports, secures a customized computer system to run his Gatling gun, and heads toward his target in Washington, D.C. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A mythological creature stalks the halls of a museum during a society fundraiser in this cheap sci-fi horror genre knock-off of Alien (1979). Penelope Ann Miller stars as Dr. Margo Green, an evolutionary biologist at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History who receives a shipment of artifacts from a colleague performing fieldwork in Brazil. Among the contents are leaves containing a rare fungus that, unbeknownst to Green or anyone else, attracts the palate of a rapidly mutating, lizard-like monster called Kothoga that has stowed away on a Brazilian freighter and has found a subterranean route into the museum from Lake Michigan. Before long, several museum employees have become decapitated snack food for the beast, which prefers to dine on human hypothalamuses and pituitary glands. Despite dire warnings from the museum staff, a gruff coroner (Audra Lindley) and the investigating detective, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta (Tom Sizemore), the Windy City's oblivious mayor orders a black-tie museum fundraiser to proceed. During the event, the building's high-tech security system locks Green, D'Agosta, the mayor, and many chi-chi party guests in with the hungry animal, forcing everyone to attempt an escape through an underground waterway with which Kothoga is all too familiar. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologue in which a veteran brings his family to the American cemetery at Normandy, and a flashback then joins Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) and GIs in a landing craft making the June 6, 1944, approach to Omaha Beach to face devastating German artillery fire. This mass slaughter of American soldiers is depicted in a compelling, unforgettable 24-minute sequence. Miller's men slowly move forward to finally take a concrete pillbox. On the beach littered with bodies is one with the name "Ryan" stenciled on his backpack. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall (Harve Presnell), learning that three Ryan brothers from the same family have all been killed in a single week, requests that the surviving brother, Pvt. James Ryan (Matt Damon), be located and brought back to the United States. Capt. Miller gets the assignment, and he chooses a translator, Cpl. Upham (Jeremy Davis), skilled in language but not in combat, to join his squad of right-hand man Sgt. Horvath (Tom Sizemore), plus privates Mellish (Adam Goldberg), Medic Wade (Giovanni Ribisi), cynical Reiben (Edward Burns) from Brooklyn, Italian-American Caparzo (Vin Diesel), and religious Southerner Jackson (Barry Pepper), an ace sharpshooter who calls on the Lord while taking aim. Having previously experienced action in Italy and North Africa, the close-knit squad sets out through areas still thick with Nazis. After they lose one man in a skirmish at a bombed village, some in the group begin to question the logic of losing more lives to save a single soldier. The film's historical consultant is Stephen E. Ambrose, and the incident is based on a true occurance in Ambrose's 1994 bestseller D-Day: June 6, 1944. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In the Babe tradition of talking animatronic animals, this comedy adventure gets underway when animal-research-lab janitor Misha (Tony Shalhoub) expresses concern for a Blue-crown Conure parrot named Paulie (voice of Jay Mohr) caged in a dank basement. Misha settles back as Paulie tells his life story, seen in flashback: When Paulie was owned by little Marie (Hallie Kate Eisenberg), the parrot helped the little girl get rid of her stutter. After Marie tried to teach Paulie how to fly, he wound up in a pawnshop owned by Artie (Buddy Hackett), where he got an education in one-liners. Paulie and Ivy (Gena Rowlands) learn Marie's family is in LA, so Ivy agrees to drive Paulie cross-country in her RV. However, Marie goes blind and dies. Paulie is forced to fly to LA, where small-time entrepreneur Ignacio (Cheech Marin), with an eye for talent, talons and tacos, puts Paulie to work as a dancer at his taco-stand, where Paulie gets a birds-eye view of a female parrot with pretty plumage. Unfortunately, researcher Dr. Reingold (Bruce Davison), convinced Paulie can bring him academic recognition, steps in with a false promise to link the parrot up with Marie. Betrayed, Paulie refuses to speak anything other than the standard "want-a-cracker" lines, resulting in solitary confinement. Misha, who knows why the caged bird talks, hopes to free Paulie for an eventual reunion with Marie. Animal stunt coordinator Boone Narr and Stan Winston animatronics brought Paulie to life. For another fine-feathered film, see Dean Riesner's Bill and Coo (1947); the film's all-bird cast (dressed in human clothing) brought a "Special Award" for producer Ken Murray during the 1948 Oscar ceremony. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Director James D. Stern debuts with this darkly comedic, archly ironic look at America's obsession with guns. The film opens with Helen and Warren Harding (Joan Allen and Jeff Daniels) awaking one night to the sounds of their suburban trophy getting broken into. Warren grabs his trusty handgun and blows away the intruder, only to complain about the blood spots on his newly purchased bathrobe from Sundance. The unlucky guy turns out to be Warren's business partner, and it does not take long for him to wonder out loud if his wife and the dead man were having an affair. Meanwhile, Warren's lawyer Tim (Andre Braugher), whose civil-rights leading father was gunned down when he was a boy, receives a handsome gun from his film fanatic boyfriend Chris (David Schwimmer). Others involved include the young nymphet Annabel Lee (Anna Paquin) and her thuggishly violent brother Sidney (Giovanni Ribisi); Mr. Morgan (Gary Sinise), an eccentric and extremely paranoid Internet tycoon; and Tennel (Josh Brolin), a video store manager turned poet. All of these characters have their own personal axes to grind and all have easy access to guns. The result is as violent as it is senseless. All the Rage was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, the director/producer team responsible for such sci-fi blockbusters as Independence Day, Stargate, and Godzilla, take a step back in time with this drama set during the American Revolution. Farmer Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) was born and raised in South Carolina, and fought bravely during the French-Indian wars. But since the death of his wife, Benjamin has renounced violence and quietly tends his crops, raising his seven children alone. In 1776, over Benjamin's objections, his oldest son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) joins the fight against the British. Gabriel returns from battle seriously wounded, with Lord General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) calling for his arrest. A skirmish breaks out on Benjamin's plantation, and one of his children is killed as Gabriel is captured by Col. Tavington (Jason Isaacs) and sentenced to hang. Benjamin sets aside his vow of pacifism and rescues Gabriel; with the help of his former comrade-in-arms Harry Burwell (Chris Cooper), the father and son form a regiment of Carolina patriots whose cunning and ruthlessness make them heroes among the colonists -- and wanted men by British troops. Loosely adapted from the true story of Francis Marion and filmed on location in South Carolina, The Patriot was the first feature film made with the cooperation of the Smithsonian Institute, who advised the producers on historical accuracy. Joely Richardson also stars as Charlotte, Benjamin's sister-in-law who helps him care for the children. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Antonio Banderas plays the title role in this cable-TV reenactment of a little-known chapter in the life of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. The year is 1914: With Villa's war of rebellion against the Huerta forces going badly, he hits upon a brilliant method to finance his crusade. Actually, the idea is brought to him: American filmmakers D.W. Griffith (Colm Feore) and Harry Aiken (Jim Broadbent), then busy at work on The Birth of a Nation, approach Villa with a request that he sell them the movie rights to his revolution. Acting as Griffith and Aiken's representative, junior executive Frank Thayer (Eion Bailey) tags along with Villa as the rebel leader willingly "directs" the film of his campaign, even going so far as to delay mass executions until early morning so that the cameramen won't "lose the sun." Ultimately, Villa's dreams of cinematic glory are dashed when the American public, goaded on by certain special interest groups, turns against Pancho and his noble cause. By turns comic, tragic, gruesome, and ironic, And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself was first telecast by HBO on September 7, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide