Conrad Palmisano Movies

In this third installment of the popular action comedy franchise, LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) and Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) book a flight for Europe and prepare to clean up the streets of Paris after discovering that Chinese triads have extended their criminal influence to the City of Lights. Chinese Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) is in Los Angeles and about to reveal the details of a clandestine triad conspiracy to the World Criminal Court when an assassin takes aim and pulls the trigger. Though Carter has been demoted to directing traffic at the time of the shooting, Lee is acting as a bodyguard to Han when the bullets begin to fly. Lee quickly gives chase, but hesitates when he realizes that the gunman is Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), his old friend from the orphanage. When triads steal an envelope containing vital information regarding the conspiracy from Soo Yung's (Zhang Jingchu) Chinatown kung fu studio, Carter and Chief Inspector Lee race to reach Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir), an underground entertainer who could prove the key to bagging the bad guys. During the course of their investigation, however, triads clash with the French police, threatening to turn the romance capitol of Europe into an explosive hotbed of crime and violence. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A handful of kids stranded without their parents is determined to make the most of a bad situation in this comedy. It's Christmas Eve, and Oliver Porter (Lewis Black), the passenger relations manager at a busy airport in the Midwest, is looking forward to spending Christmas in Hawaii with his wife after 15 years in a row working on the busy Yuletide holiday. However, fate conspires against him when a massive snowstorm sweeps in and all flights are canceled. Porter suddenly has to deal with a number of stranded passengers, including six tween-age kids who are each flying unaccompanied from one divorced parent to another -- spoiled little rich girl Grace (Gina Mantegna), geeky but likable Spencer (Dyllan Christopher), his pesky little sister Katy (Dominique Saldana), plus-size comic book fan Beef (Brett Kelly), grumpy tomboy Donna (Quinn Shephard), and bright but mischievous Charlie (Tyler James Williams). With his hands full and determined to make his way to the islands, Porter puts his assistant Zach Van Bourke (Wilmer Valderrama) in charge of the kids. Zach doesn't care for this assignment and the kids don't care for him, and before long they've escaped from the basement conference room where he's stashed them and turned the airport into their playground. Unaccompanied Minors also features Paget Brewster, Rob Corddry and Teri Garr. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A decorated Coast Guard search and rescue specialist still haunted by the death of his teammates during a disastrous mission off the coast of Alaska is charged with the task of training the next generation of Coast Guard rescue swimmers in director Andrew Davis' ocean-bound adventure drama. Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) was the best swimmer of his graduating class, but upon surfacing as the sole survivor of an Alaskan rescue mission attempted during a Category Three storm, his outlook on life has grown increasingly jaded. Now, as hotshot young swimmer Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) arrives at Coast Guard rescue school looking to accomplish something meaningful with his life, he will be forced to endure the rigorous training methods of a man who expects nothing less than the very best in order to become a member of one of the most elite rescue squads on the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this caper movie from director Brett Ratner, two brilliant criminals are lured out of retirement...or are they? Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) is a master jewel thief who, with the help of his accomplice and lover Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek), has stolen two of the three Napoleon diamonds, among the most valuable gems on Earth. Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson) is an FBI agent who has been on Burdett's trail for years and is especially eager to bring him to justice after a humiliating incident in which Max swiped one of the Napoleons out from under Stanley's nose. But word has it that Max and Lola have abandoned their lives of crime, and they've taken up residence on an idyllic island in the Bahamas, where they're living the good life on their ill-gotten fortune. Lloyd is not convinced they're out of the game for good, and when he learns that the third Napoleon diamond will be on display aboard a cruise ship headed in Max's direction, Lloyd joins forces with Sophie (Naomie Harris), a Paradise Island police detective, to catch Max and Lola red handed. Henry Moore (Don Cheadle), an expatriate American gangster who also lives on the island, doesn't believe Max has gone straight either and tries to rope him into stealing the jewel for him. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jeannie Epper and Zoe Bell are two women who get hurt for a living -- they're Hollywood stuntwomen, who take the falls and dodge the punches while taking the place of glamorous stars. Epper's big break came when she was hired to stand in for Lynda Carter on the Wonder Woman television series in the 1970s, while Bell made a name for herself doing Lucy Lawless' stunt work for Xena: Warrior Princess. Double Dare is a documentary which looks at the lives and careers of these two women, as well as their friendship. Epper, in her early sixties, finds herself dealing with ageism in the entertainment industry, just as she's dealt with sexism much of her life, as she struggles to stay in the game, while Bell learns from her older friend not only the nuts and bolts of stunt work but the trails Epper and her compatriots had to blaze to be respected in their profession. Double Dare also features appearances by Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A surprise box-office smash spawns this inevitably action-packed buddy comedy follow-up that reunites director Brett Ratner with stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Chan is Chief Inspector Lee of the Royal Hong Kong Police, who travels back to China with his American colleague, Los Angeles detective James Carter (Tucker). The men intend to take some vacation time but are quickly pulled into the case of two murdered U.S. customs agents, who were investigating an illegal counterfeiting scam involving Ricky Tan (John Lone), one of the most powerful Triad gangsters in Asia and an old enemy of Lee's. Lee and Carter are soon embroiled in a dangerous mystery that also involves a sexy secret-service agent (Roselyn Sanchez), a billionaire hotel owner (Alan King), a dangerous femme fatale (Zhang Ziyi) and a finale set in a lavish Las Vegas casino. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

One of the most popular superhero teams in comic book history finally comes to the screen in this big-budget adaptation of the long-running Marvel Comics series. Psychic Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) leads a school of skilled mutants called X-Men, a peacekeeping force to safeguard the world against a race of genetically mutated humans known as Homo Sapiens Superior. However, Magneto (Ian McKellen), a mutant with a powerful magnetic charge, has also begun to organize a team to strike first against what he believes to be a threat from humanity. When he kidnaps Rogue (Anna Paquin) from the X-Men's compound, Xavier and his forces must rescue her, even as they continue to vie with Magneto for the fearsomely strong mutant battler Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Both Xavier and Magneto also have to contend with Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison), a heartless political leader who wants a final solution against mutants on both sides. Fighting for the forces of virtue with the X-Men are Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, Halle Berry as Storm, and James Marsden as Cyclops; Rebecca Romjin-Stamos as Mystique, Ray Park as the Toad, and Tyler Mane as Sabretooth are the minions of Magneto. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is a New York City cab driver who seems to have absorbed every bit of crackpot information passed along as "suppressed news" that's surfaced on talk radio or the Internet in the past 20 years. Anti-United Nations militia men who are actually U.N. operatives? NASA scientists engineering earthquakes? Oliver Stone's secret life as a government agent discrediting conspiracy theorists? Jerry's heard 'em all and believes most of them, and even publishes his own journal of forbidden information, with a subscription list that now totals five people. In short, Jerry seems like just another New York City lunatic, and while he spends a fair amount of his spare time following Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), a government attorney, Alice regards him as harmless; he once intervened while she was being mugged, and he's been acting like her benign if whacked-out protector ever since. However, one day Jerry is kidnapped and worked over by CIA operatives; he is convinced that one of the theories he uncovered must be for real -- but he has no idea which one. He tries to get Alice to help him, and before long both are drawn into a dangerous web that leads to a startling revelation of just how Jerry got this way. Mel Gibson gives a fine comic performance, and those with a taste for alternative media will have fun dissecting which of the theories Jerry spouts are "real" (or at least appeared before this film was made) and which were the invention of the screenwriters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Franklin Lazlo (Tom Arnold) is desperate. His carnival is on the skids and he hasn't got the money to make his next payroll. He tries robbery, with little result except to have the police, some professional robbers, and a meter-maid (Rhea Perlman) chasing him. On the way, he takes uptight and harried children's carpool father Daniel Miller (David Paymer) and a van full of children hostage. Franklin and the children get up to some wild hijinks all over town, and gradually the starchy Daniel begins to loosen up. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Two unlikely friends -- a boy and a killer whale -- are reunited under potentially dangerous circumstances in this sequel to the successful family adventure Free Willy. Jesse (Jason James Richter) has finally found stability and contentment with his foster parents Glen and Annie Greenwood (Michael Madsen and Jayne Atkinson), but he is confronted with a new emotional challenge when his birth mother (a drug addict who abandoned him when he was young) dies, and his troubled half brother Elvis (Francis Capra) comes to live with the Greenwoods. Jesse also deals with new feelings when he develops a serious crush on Nadine (Mary Kate Schellhardt), the goddaughter of Randolph (August Schellenberg), an animal trainer at the theme park where Jesse helps out. But a much bigger problem is on the horizon when the safety of Willy, the killer whale he befriended and helped return to the wild, is threatened. An oil spill spoils the ocean environment where Willy and his family now live, and an unscrupulous owner of an oceanarium, Wilcox (M. Emmet Walsh), attempts to capture Willie and put him back into captivity as a performing attraction. While Free Willy featured Keiko, a trained whale who (ironically) was living in captivity when the film was shot, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home instead utilized mechanical models and digital animation to bring "Willy" to life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man from the future fights to survive in a society thrown back to the dark ages in this sci-fi adventure set in 2022. Capt. Robbins (Ray Liotta) is a military man who, after he's convicted of the murder of his superior officer, is sentenced to a high-tech prison ruled by the Warden (Michael Lerner), a cruel taskmaster who enjoys torturing his inmates. After a scuffle with the Warden, Robbins is transferred to a primitive island penal colony known as Absalom, where the civilization is dominated by two groups, the Insiders, a peaceful tribe led by the Father (Lance Henriksen), and the Outsiders, a pack of violent misfits led by Marek (Stuart Wilson). Robbins runs afoul of the Outsiders and is injured in a skirmish; he escapes to the Insiders' camp, where he plots his revenge. No Escape was based on the novel The Penal Colony by Richard Herley. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this action comedy, director Gregg Champion relies on the premise that, indeed, "country boys can survive," as Sonny (Kiefer Sutherland) and Pepper (Woody Harrelson, always game) head off to the Big Apple in order to rescue a mutual friend's daughter from the clutches of an evil sweatshop owner. Naturally, there are lots of encounters highlighting the two fishes out of water; there are opportunities to lasso bad guys; there's even a chase on horseback through the city streets after Sonny and Pepper steal a pair of NYPD horses. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide