John Milius Movies

Oscar-winning character actor Ben Johnson was never as well known as other stars, and yet for many industry insiders, he was the epitome of cowboy actors. Of Cherokee and Irish heritage, Johnson was born in Oklahoma and became a cowboy at age eleven. He grew up to become the only movie cowboy to win both an Oscar and a rodeo championship. This documentary tells the fascinating, colorful story of his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The true story of the formation of the Texas Rangers provides the backdrop for this youth-oriented Western. In 1875, after the Civil War, Leander McNelly (Dylan McDermott) organizes the Texas Rangers to battle the outlaws terrorizing Texas, notably crime kingpin John King Fisher (Alfred Molina). With a team of experienced gunmen (Robert Patrick and Randy Travis) and enthusiastic but green recruits (James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond, and Ashton Kutcher), McNelly and his Rangers bring law and order to the wild Texas plains; McNelly must also keep order among his charges when two rangers fall in love with the same woman, Caroline Dukes (Rachael Leigh Cook). Tom Skerritt and Vincent Spano are also featured in the supporting cast; the screenplay, adapted from a script by John Milius, was at one time set to be filmed by Sam Peckinpah, shortly before the legendary Western director's death in 1984. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based upon Peter Biskind's book of the same name, this BBC-produced documentary traces the rise of a generation of Hollywood filmmakers who briefly changed the face of movies with a more personal approach that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable onscreen. Influenced by such European directors as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Federico Fellini, the movement kicked off in the mid-'60s with two films directed by Arthur Penn: Mickey One and Bonnie and Clyde. (The latter had been offered to both Godard and Truffaut before it wound up with producer/star Warren Beatty and Penn.) What really kicked it into gear was the unexpected success of Easy Rider, a biker-road movie that became that rare film phenomenon: acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival and a huge commercial success. Film school graduates, the first generation brought up with movies as their main cultural reference, flooded the studios (whose own regimes were changing) with production chieftains such as Robert Evans of Paramount and David Picker at United Artists; they approved risky-looking projects and allowed relatively untested filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola to take on heavyweight movies such as The Godfather or Hollywood newcomers like Britain's John Schlesinger to make quirky stories like Midnight Cowboy. Enriched by success with their TV show The Monkees, producer Bert Schneider and director Bob Rafelson formed a company that produced not only Easy Rider but seminal '70s films such as Five Easy Pieces and the Oscar-winning Vietnam War documentary Hearts and Minds. Another godfather to the new movement was producer Roger Corman, who gave early career opportunities to Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, and Jonathan Demme on low-budget projects that allowed them to learn their craft.

Two things brought this movement to an end: Some individual filmmakers' personal excesses (such disastrous flops as Dennis Hopper's follow-up to Easy Rider, appropriately titled The Last Movie, and Scorsese's New York, New York), and the studios growing fascination with special effects-driven B-movies. An outgrowth of two box-office and marketing juggernauts -- Jaws and Star Wars -- the resulting films became entertainments rather than personal statements of the directors. Narrated by William H. Macy, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls features vintage clips of Coppola, Scorsese, Beatty, George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, and Pauline Kael. It also includes original interview material with Penn; Corman; Bogdanovich; Hopper; Picker; writer/directors John Milius and Paul Schrader; actresses Karen Black, Cybill Shepherd, Margot Kidder, and Jennifer Salt (the latter two shared a house in Malibu, a social center for young filmmakers); actors Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, and Richard Dreyfuss; producers Jerome Hellman, Michael Phillips, and Jonathan Taplin; editor Dede Allen; production designer Polly Platt; writers David Newman, Joan Tewksbury, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck; cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond; agent Mike Medavoy; and former production executive Peter Bart. Among the films discussed are Rosemary's Baby, The Wild Bunch, Mean Streets, American Graffiti, The Rain People, Midnight Cowboy, M*A*S*H, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Last Picture Show, Shampoo, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. (Three interviewees -- cinematographer Gordon Willis, critic Andrew Sarris, and writer-director Monte Hellman -- listed in the Variety review of this film, were not included in this version from a screening on Bravo.) ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Attmpeting to shatter the image of Hollywood as a liberal haven, filmmaker Jesse Moss profiles a number of Red-Staters who call La-La Land home in this 2004 Documentary. Among the right-leaning interviewees are comedian Drew Carey, gameshow hosts Pat Sajak and Ben Stein, sitcom star Patricia Heaton, and controversial actor/director Vincent Gallo. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Mark Antony (James Purefoy) is running things in Rome while Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) chases down Pompey (Kenneth Cranham) and his allies in Greece. But soon, word reaches Antony that the battle has turned against Caesar, who orders Antony and whatever troops he can muster to join him in Greece in what seems a hopeless cause. Pompey sends a messenger to Antony (living in Pompey's house) to let him know that Pompey will reward him if he sits out the battle, while Atia (Polly Walker) tries to convince Antony to marry her and seize power in Rome. Antony bides his time reaching a decision. Meanwhile, Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) is having problems at home. Lyde (Esther Hall), Niobe's (Indira Varma) sister, is worried over her missing husband, and has moved in with the couple. Niobe seems more concerned about her well-being than the state of her marriage. After listening to the frustrated, lovelorn, drunken Vorenus complaining through the night, Pullo (Ray Stevenson) tells Lyde that he's heard that her husband was murdered, and pointedly tells her, in front of Niobe, to get on with her life. Pullo, assigned with schooling Octavian (Max Pirkis) in the "manly arts," takes the young man to an upscale brothel. Atia, concerned that she'll be on the losing side of the battles in Greece, gets Ocatvian out of town, and sends Octavia (Kerry Condon) to Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) with some "gifts" as a gesture of friendship. Servilia sees through the ploy, but treats Octavia kindly, telling the girl she's blameless for what her mother has done. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi