Andrew S. Karsch Movies

This documentary explores the life and career of drummer Ginger Baker, a well-respected musician who famously discovered Fela Kuti's Afrobeat during a trip to Nigeria. After a period of addiction and self-destruction, Baker moved to South Africa, where he remarried and cares for a number of polo ponies. Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Carlos Santana are interviewed. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

As children, Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) and her brother, Kenny (Sam Rockwell), survived bad parenting and poverty by leaning on each other for support. Kenny grows up to be something of a troublemaker, eventually being convicted for a murder he swears he didn't commit. His sister believes him and, without even a high-school diploma, sets about going to law school in order to figure out a way to free him. She gets a GED, then graduates law school with the help of her only friend (Minnie Driver). She eventually gets the attention of O.J. Simpson defense attorney Barry Scheck (Peter Gallagher), who runs an organization devoted to overturning wrongful convictions by analyzing DNA evidence with tests that were unavailable at the time the cases were tried. When he agrees to help her -- if she can find the old blood evidence -- Betty plows her way through the legal complications that stand between her brother and his freedom. Tony Goldwyn directs this drama inspired by a true story. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

A cop trying to clear the name of a woman he loves falls deep into a morass of corruption in this crime thriller. Ford Cole (Ray Liotta) is the district attorney in a crime-ridden town where he's contemplating a run for mayor in a bid for greater power. Cole is also having an affair with one of his assistants, Nora Timmer (Jolene Blalock), though he tries to keep that a secret. One evening, while Cole is chatting with journalist Trippin (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Timmer arrives with startling news -- she claims to have been sexually assaulted by Isaac Duparde (Mekhi Phifer), a clerk at a nearby music store who broke into her apartment. Making matters more complicated is the fact that Duparde is currently dead in her flat, leaving Cole to find a way to protect Timmer while not staining his own reputation. Cole realizes this may be harder than he imagined when Luther Pinks (LL Cool J) arrives on the scene to tell him that Timmer actually lured Duparde back to her apartment on purpose, in an effort to get information on a well-connected organized crime figure. Slow Burn was the first directorial effort from screenwriter Wayne Beach. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A dedicated teacher learns some important lessons about himself years after he retired from the classroom in this drama. William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is an instructor at St. Benedict's School for Boys, an exclusive private academy on the East Coast where Hundert drills his charges on the moral lessons to be learned through the study of Greek and Roman philosophers. Hundert is fond of telling his students, "A man's character is his fate," and he strives to impress upon them the importance of the ordered and examined life. In 1976, however, Hundert finds himself with an especially challenging group of students -- party-minded Fred Masoudi (Jesse Eisenberg) , introverted Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), bright but mischievous Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta), and most notably, openly rebellious Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch). The son of a powerful politician, Bell pointedly runs against the current of Hundert's example, questioning the importance of the material, flouting the school's rules, talking out of turn in class, and devoting as much time to his interest in girls as in his studies. However, Hundert sees the possibility of great things in Bell, and encourages him to take part in the school's annual academic competition for the title of Mr. Julius Caesar. Hundert even goes so far as to bend the rules in scoring to favor Bell in the early stages of the contest, but his faith is betrayed when Bell is discovered cheating during the contest finals. Years later, Hundert is reunited with his students, where they learn the years have taught them all a great deal about their virtues and weaknesses. The Emperor's Club also features Harris Yulin, Rob Morrow, and Edward Herrmann. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Actor-turned-filmmaker Griffin Dunne directs this mockumentary about the lives of struggling thespians. The film focuses on Lisa Picard (Laura Kirk), a fledgling actress about to burst on the scene thanks to a bit part in a made-for-TV movie. She is followed around by Dunne as she makes her publicity rounds with her friend Tate Kelley (Nat DeWolf), a writer/actor/militant gay activist. Famous is populated with several direct-to-camera interviews featuring the likes of Penelope Ann Miller, Charles Sheen, and Mira Sorvino. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Loosely based on an actual incident, this family-friendly British comedy is also a sly satire of class consciousness. Phoebe Cates stars as a woman who appears in the English countryside of 1817 wearing exotic garb and speaking gibberish. Delivered to a nearby manor, the mystery woman is sheltered by the Worralls (Wendy Hughes and Jim Broadbent), who are then persuaded by their suspicious Greek butler Frixos (Kevin Kline, Cates' real-life husband) to have the drifter tried for vagrancy and begging, capital crimes. At the hearing, however, the woman persuades the magistrate through pantomime that she is a princess of Javanese origin named Caraboo, escaped from pirate kidnappers. The Worralls welcome Caraboo back into their home, lavishing upon her the deference due a royal. A society sensation, Caraboo wins over a linguist (John Lithgow), the prince regent (John Session), and even Frixos. Only an Irish reporter, Gutch (Stephen Rea), remains skeptical about Caraboo's origins. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A teen sex comedy derived from the arch debut novel of author Martin Amis by debut director Damian Harris (son of actor Richard Harris). Dexter Fletcher stars as Charles Highway, a 19-year-old computer nerd in London who has created a program that will allegedly guide him through the process of seducing a girl. Charles is determined to win over a beautiful, older woman before he enters Oxford University as a freshman. Then he meets 20-year-old American girl Rachel Noyce (Ione Skye), who unfortunately has a boyfriend named DeForest (James Spader). Since Rachel is a bit of a free-spirited swinger, however, Charles might have a chance, but her complexity dooms his ill-conceived "Master of Seduction" computer program. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi