Avi Lerner Movies

A man becomes the unwitting last barrier between terrorists and nuclear holocaust in this action thriller. Rod Armstrong (Frank Zagarino) is a former Navy SEAL who travels to Moscow with his old friend Bob (Charles Napier) and Bob's wife Susan (Kimberly Kates) on a vacation. However, Armstrong soon discovers fun and games is not the first thing Bob and Susan have in mind; it seems that the happy couple is also working with U.S. Intelligence, and they've been sent to Russia to crack open a ring of illegal arms dealers selling stolen nuclear weapons to terrorists with cash in hand. However, shortly after Bob reveals this secret to Armstrong, he is killed. Now Armstrong and Susan are on the run from the Russians as they try to find the kingpin and bring him to justice before terrorists with nuclear weapons can destroy the world. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This well-wrought Canadian direct-to-video actioner (in large part a knock-off of the Die Hard series) stars Dolph Lundgren as a maverick American Air Force pilot who during a flight disobeys orders and drops a large shipment of food for a starving group of Middle Eastern refugees. Too embarrassed by the publicity to discipline him formally, the Air Force gives him a new assignment: he is to carry the President's black bag, a special briefcase loaded with a computer that the Executive in Chief can use to launch a nuclear war. Following a press conference, the former pilot and the president (Roy Scheider) return to their hotel. Later, the floor on which they stay is overrun by terrorists who want to use the black bag to launch an attack on Washington D.C. During the scuffle, the pilot manages to escape, but not before the bag is grabbed by the terrorists. Later the hostage takers demand that the President commit suicide on television. If he refuses, then they will blow up the capitol city. Assisted by the only other man to survive the terrorist's initial attack, the pilot must somehow stop them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this tough contemporary noir drama, Frankie (Dennis Hopper) is a low-level "mechanic" working for second-rate mobster Sal (Michael Madsen). Frankie dreams of rising into the upper echelons of organized crime and commiting a series of bloody reprisals against those who have wronged him. He also has ambitions of starting a new career as a screenwriter, but he realizes that he's a nobody and likely to stay that way. Through Sal's connections with the porn industry, Frankie meets Joey (Kiefer Sutherland), a former film student who now cranks out by-the-numbers sex films, and becomes infatuated with Joey's leading lady, Margaret (Daryl Hannah), a drug-addicted "actress" who has seen better days. Joey, addicted to gambling, is deep in debt with Sal and is forbidden to visit the racetrack; Frankie is eager to get on Joey's good side and offers to place his bets for him while he searches for a way to rescue Margaret from the hell she's created for herself. Screenwriter Dayton Callie appears as Vic, one of Sal's strong-arm men. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tim Hunter, the director of River's Edge, returned with another powerful story of troubled teenagers struggling to find their way out of moral and legal limbo. High school senior Josh Minell (Jonathan Rhys Myers) has strong academic skills, but he spends his nights hanging out with a group of delinquents sniffing glue, committing petty theft, and wondering if his life is ever going to get better. His best friend is Bella (Fairuza Balk), a girl with a fondness for cheerleaders; Josh's own infatuations are for Emily Peck (Mary-Louise Parker), a female police officer. Josh's strong grades would make him a good bet for college, but on his 18th birthday, Walter Schmeiss (Matthew Modine) arrives at Josh's door with startling news -- he's Josh's older brother, who left home ten years earlier. Walter makes his living as a thief, and he want to test Josh to see if he can handle the job himself. Screenwriter Rand Ravich co-produced the film and appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Also known as Hello, She Lied, this made-for-cable drama stars Kathy Ireland as Marsha Thomas, a professional con artist with a conscience and a surprisingly strong sense of scruples. Be that as it may, Marsha is heavily in debt to a crooked lawyer who had saved her brother Frankie (Shareef Malnik) from a prison term, thus she reluctantly agrees to participate in a scheme to cheat an innocent young woman out of a multimillion-dollar inheritance. As luck would have it, the "innocent" in question is a blonde striptease artist named Jean Ivers (Audie England) -- and in order to learn all she can about Jean to impersonate her for the purposes of the scheme, Marsha is obliged to get a job at the same strip club where Jean works. Rather surprisingly, Kathy Ireland doesn't bare all in this R-rated opus, though we see plenty of co-star Audie England and the rest of the "peelers." Miami Hustle premiered July 21, 1996, on the Showtime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alex (Anne Heche) is a corporate banker who refuses to prostitute herself for the company but has house payments to make so she becomes a call girl on her own terms. After hooking with bad-boy criminal Bruno Buckingham (Christopher Walken), she is then approached and raped by FBI-agent Tony who is posing as Bruno's driver. Alex is caught in a squeeze where she has to keep seeing Bruno, working with the FBI. Her first job as Bruno's new girl is to set up an account for Bruno's wife, Virginia (Joan Chen), at her bank. Suddenly Alex discovers she's a lesbian as she falls for Virginia and the two have a sexual encounter. Together, Alex and Virginia attempt to send up Bruno and leave the country together. The story for this soft-core crime film is as loose as the characters, most of it feeling like it was improvised. The entire plot seems to take back seat to the sexuality and works as little more. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide

Martin Mirkhein (Griffin Dunne) is a failed entrepreneur trying to figure out how to pay a huge tax bill to the State of Florida when he gets a brainstorm -- Daniel Strong, the inspirational men's movement novel by New Age philosopher Luther Waxling (Dennis Hopper), would make a great film. Never mind that Mirkhein doesn't know a thing about making movies -- he decides that this film is his destiny, and he heads out with his girlfriend/personal assistant/aspiring screenwriter Marie (Illeana Douglas) to visit Waxling's representatives, who don't react with much enthusiasm when Mirkhein suggests that he'd like them to give him the film rights as well as the money to produce the movie. In search of financing, Mirkhein finds himself working with Kim Ulander (Christopher Walken), a businessman who doesn't mind if people think he's a gangster (and boy, is he something at karaoke night!), and Ron (John Turturro), a second-rate hood with a severely impaired fashion sense. The first directorial effort from artist David Salle, Search and Destroy was executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who also plays a small role as a tax agent. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by William Boyd (who also wrote the film's screenplay), this darkly witty drama explores the political, social, and sexual gamesmanship of a group of British and African politicians. Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels) is a British diplomat who, for the past three years, has been assigned to the British High Commission of Ninjana, an African nation slowly divesting itself of colonial rule. Leafy is an arrogant and frequently confused alcoholic romantically involved with an African woman named Hazel (Jackie Mofokeng). Arthur Fanshawe (John Lithgow), a new High Commission appointee who wants nothing more than to be promoted and moved out of Africa, brings some interesting news to Leafy: massive reserves of oil have been discovered in Ninjana, and if the British want to reap the full profits of this windfall, they will want to stay on the good side of Sam Adekunle (Louis Gossett Jr.), who in all likelihood will be the next president of Ninjana. However, something of a diplomatic crisis has come up; a native woman was struck by lightning in the courtyard of the High Commission's compound, and the locals insist that she cannot be moved until certain time-honored rituals have been performed. At a loss for advice, Leafy turns to Dr. Alex Murray (Sean Connery), a Scottish doctor who has been in Africa for 23 years and is one of the few people equally at ease with both the British colonials and the natives. However, Leafy doesn't seem so eager to seek out assistance in his romantic problems; while he's involved with Hazel, Leafy also finds himself dallying with Adekunle's wife Celia (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) and Fanshawe's wife Chloe (Diana Rigg). By the way, don't bother looking for Ninjana on a map -- it doesn't really exist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This action film is a sequel to 1993's Cyborg Cop. This time officer Jack Ryan, known for his itchy trigger finger, comes up against Jesse Starkraven, the psychopathic brother of a man Ryan killed during the last movie. In the first scene, the two are involved in a shoot-out in a warehouse. After Starkraven is captured, he is hauled off by the ATG (Anti-Terrorist Group), a secret government agency, where they turn him into a cyborg. Unfortunately, the lose control of Starkraven and he leads a cyborg revolt. He wants to destroy the human race. It is up to Ryan and the ATG chief to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Burly British actor John Rhys-Davies forsakes the good-guy motions he'd gone through in Raiders of the Lost Ark and TV's The Untouchables to play the villain in 1993's Cyborg Cop. If you've guessed that this is Robocop redux, you're on the money. The title character has been converted from man to machine on a remote Caribbean island. Unfortunately, Cyborg Cop is as evil as his mentor (Rhys-Davies), so it's up to the mechanical man's DEA-agent brother to straighten him out. Lovely scenery, some exciting scenes, lots of grade-A ham from the redoubtable Rhys-Davies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A contemporary version of the masterpiece by Edgar Allan Poe follows a photographer (Michelle McBride) as she spies on a soap-opera star at a party in Bavaria. She must solve the crimes when several guests are murdered by someone in a skull mask and red coat. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This, the third issue in the American Ninja series, stars karate expert David Bradley who goes to Japan for ninja training so he'll be able to avenge his father's murder. Once trained, he enters in an international karate contest held by some no-goods who'd like to get their hands on the world's toughest fella so they can try out a new artificial disease they've created. (They figure the best way to test the disease is upon the toughest guy they can find.) Most action occurs on a Caribbean island. ~ All Movie Guide