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"Somebody left the door open and the wrong dogs came home."
After making a name for himself as the star of Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns, Clint Eastwood returned to America with enough money, clout and know-how to make his own Leone-inspired Westerns. His first attempt, High Plains Drifter, was a smash it at the box office, as well as a critical favorite, and remains one of the all-time great American Westerns.
The movie opens with the arrival of a dusty stranger (Eastwood) to the cloistered desert mining town of Lago. Immediately beset upon by three gun-wielding brigands, the Stranger shoots them down and then has his way with a local woman of ill repute. Instead of being arrested, the Stranger is asked to protect the townsfolk — and the mining company's gold — from three notorious gunfighters who were recently released from jail and are sure to riding to Lago looking for retribution against those that double-crossed them. The Stranger accepts the offer, but his services might prove to be more costly than the people of Lago are willing to pay. Tune in tonight for double-barreled frontier justice with a touch of the supernatural. Only on ReelzChannel.
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watch the trailer >> Posted 01.26.13 by BrentJS -
"Do what you do best."
During the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone's popularity was at an all-time high, with the actor-writer-director having already made four Rocky movies and two Rambo movies and was well on his way to creating another franchise with Beverly Hills Cop. Stallone had written a less comedic, action-oriented script for the movie, but, only a couple weeks before shooting, Stallone was out and Eddie Murphy was in, and the script had a radical rewrite with Murphy in mind. Meanwhile, Stallone took his Beverly Hills Cop script and changed it into 1986's Cobra.
Stallone plays Lieutenant Marion "Cobra" Cobretti, a Los Angeles police officer and member of the "Zombie Squad" division. Along with his partner (Reni Santoni), Cobra must protect a model (Brigitte Nielsen, who was then married to Stallone) from a Neo Fascist group that were causing acts of violence all over town. However, as the poster states: "crime is a disease" and Cobra "is the cure."
watch the trailer >> Posted 01.20.13 by Ryan -
"Vengeance would not be out of place. Not anymore."
The Civil War effectively ended in April 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, but another civil war was already brewing out west. The "Western Civil War of Incorporation" found Americans at odds with one another yet again, only this time the battle lines were drawn between rich capitalists and settlers. In the spirit of such classic movies as The Virginian, Shane and True Grit, tonight's MovieMovie is based on one of the most notorious conflicts of this war, the Wyoming Range or Johnson County War of 1892 in which large corporate ranchers hired gunmen to intimidate and kill any independent ranchers or settlers that defied them.
A Hallmark original movie directed by David Cass (Uncorked), Johnson County War is based on the novel Riders of Judgment by Frederick Mandred, a fictionalized account of the conflict told from the perspective of the settlers (unlike The Virginian). Tom Berenger, Luke Perry and Adam Storke star as a trio of brothers torn apart over the love of a woman who must band together if their small ranch is going to survive against the wealthy and powerful corporate ranchers. Burt Reynolds, Rachel Ward and Michelle Forbes also star.
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watch 2 preview clips >> Posted 01.19.13 by BrentJS -
"I know who you are."
The 1990s were a good decade for Harrison Ford, even without playing a character named "han" or "Indiana." After taking over as Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan for 1992's Patriot Games, Ford followed with 1993's The Fugitive, which became one of the biggest hits of Ford's career. Not even 1997's Air Force One could eclipse The Fugitive's box office receipts, though it came close.
Ford finished out the decade with 1999's Random Hearts, which saw Ford play Washington, D.C. police officer William "Dutch" Van Den Broeck, who learns that his wife was unfaithful only after losing her in an airplane crash. The incident forces Dutch to cross paths with Congresswoman Kay Chandler, whose husband was having the affair with his wife and was on the same plane. Based on the novel of the same name by William ADler (War of the Roses, Random Hearts was the penultimate movie for director by Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie), who passed away in 2008.
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watch the trailer >> Posted 01.13.13 by Ryan -
"I may be crazy, but I'm not crazy enough to marry you twice!"
Francis Ford Coppola is mostly known for directing movies like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, but in the 1980s, he spent a good amount of time making movies about the 1960s, such as 1983's The Outsiders and 1986's Peggy Sue Got Married.
Coppola's biggest box office success since Apocalypse Now, Peggy Sue Got Marries follows Kathleen Turner in an Academy Award–nominated performance as Peggy Sue Bodell, whose has just separated from her high school sweetheart-turned-husband Charlie (Nicolas Cage), a fact she is forced to relate while attending her 25th high school reunion with her daughter (Helen Hunt). After fainting during the reunion, Peggy Sue finds herself back in the 1960s, where she is given the opportunity to relive her senior year and see if she can change things with her husband-to-be. Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins), in one of his earliest roles, and Joan Allen (The Bourne Ultimatum) co-star.
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watch the trailer >> Posted 12.30.12 by Ryan -
A mysterious package. A variety of interested parties. And only one man stands in their way.
After enjoying a few action movie hits at the box office, Steven Seagal started appearing in a string of straight-to-video action flicks after 2003's Half Past Dead was panned by critics and mostly ignored at the box office. The movies kept Seagal working and his fanbase (mostly) satisfied, and started with 2003's The Foreigner.
Seagal stars as Jonathan Cold, a former deep cover agent, or "foreigner," who now works freelance delivering high-risk packages. When Jonathan is hired to take a mysterious package from France to Germany, he soon learns that there is a swarm of different factions that want to get their hands on it. Shot entirely in Poland, The Foreigner is one of the few of Seagal's "strictly home entertainment"-era movies to get a sequel — 2005's Black Dawn.
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watch the trailer >> Posted 12.23.12 by Ryan -
"I am a prosecutor. I have spent my life in the assignment of blame."
Rozat "Rusty" Sabich may not immediately come to mind when you're asked to name a character Harrison Ford has played on the big screen — Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan and Dr. Richard Kimble top our list — but Ford delivered one of the best performances of his career as the philanderous prosecuting attorney in tonight's MovieMovie, the 1990 crime thriller Presumed Innocent.
The movie was written (with Frank Pierson) and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Alan J. Pakula (Sophie's Choice) and is adapted from Scott Turow's best-selling novel of the same name. The intricate plot revolves around the rape and murder of a young woman (Greta Scacchi) and the innocent prosecutor (Ford) who used to be her lover who is being fingered for the crime. Ford plays Sabich's grief over the loss of his lover and the paranoia that follows with quiet, controlled intensity, but also reveals the passionate side of the character in flashback sequences recalling the affair. With a supporting cast of veteran actors that includes Brian Dennehy, John Spencer and Raul Julia, Presumed Innocent is an overlooked gem in Ford's filmmography and a great alternative to schmaltzy holiday fare. Uncover the mystery tonight at 8PM ET/ 5PM PT.
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watch the trailer >> Posted 12.22.12 by BrentJS -
"They only understand one thing — that's blood. If that's what they want, then we communicate in blood."
Movie audiences are no doubt familiar with Don Vito Corleone, the mafia patriarch played by Marlon Brando in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, but may not be as aware of the Bonanno Family, one of "Five Families" of organized crime in New York, which served as the inspiration by the book on which the movie was based. Don Corleone is an amalgam of influences, but his origins are not too far from Joseph Bonanno, aka Joe Bananas, the boss of the Bonanno Family until he retired to Arizona in 1968. Bonanno was born in Sicily before permanently immigrating to America, where he joined the mafia and eventually took over for mob boss Salvatore Maranzano, making him one of the youngest bosses ever in the mafia. Bonanno's son, Bill Bonanno, later joined the "family business" despite Joseph's protestations — not unlike Corleone's son Michael, played by Al Pacino.
Bonanno's life is chronicled in Bonanno: The Youngest Godfather, based on Bonanno's autobiography A Man of Honor and his son Bill's autobiography Bound By Honor. The cast includes Martin Landau as an elder Joseph Bonanno, Edward James Olmos as Maranzano, and Robert Loggia as Don Ciccio.
watch the trailer >> Posted 12.16.12 by Ryan -
"You've got to appreciate what you have... while you still have it."
In the spirit of the movie awards season, which kicked off on Thursday with the announcements of the nominations for the Golden Globes, tonight's movie is one with a fine awards pedigree of its own. Co-written and directed by two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants), About Schmidt was AFI's Movie of the Year in 2002 and garnered numerous other awards and nominations, including Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar nominations for Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates, who have a trio of Oscars between them.
The movie stars Nicholson as Warren Schmidt, a man in the later years of his life who is desperately looking for purpose. Forced to retire from his position as an actuary for an insurance company in Nebraska, Schmidt finds himself lost and alone when his wife, who he had long since lost affection for, dies suddenly from a blood clot. Schmidt decides to take a trip, visiting places from his past on his way to Denver, where he intends to break up the wedding of his daughter (Hope Davis) to a man (Dermot Mulroney) and into a family that he does not approve of. Though Schmidt has a hard time communicating with others, he pours out his heart and soul in rambling letters he writes to a small Tanzanian boy named Ndugu Umbo that he sponsors. The movie is an excellent character portrait and some of Nicholson's finest acting. Watch it tonight at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.
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WATCH THE TRAILER >> Posted 12.15.12 by BrentJS -
Watch the Mayan epic before the Mayan prophecy (possibly) comes true.
Yesterday's MovieMovie saw Mel Gibson co-star alongside Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2, while today's MovieMovie concentrates on Gibson's directing career. Following a re-airing of both Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2 is Apocalypto, Gibson's controversial 2006 follow-up to The Passion of the Christ.
Co-written with Farhad Safinia (Starz' Boss), Apocalypto was Gibson's attempt to "shake up the stale action-adventure genre" with a story set entirely in the Maya civilization. The bloody epic drew complaints from those that felt the Maya were depicted as too savage, but whether you agree with that assessment or not, Gibson admitted that he had other motives than simply commenting on Mayan culture. "What I'm doing is creating an action adventure of mythic proportions," Gibson told The LA Times in 2005. "I'm hoping that by focusing on this civilization we're able to be introspective about ourselves."
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watch the trailer >> Posted 12.09.12 by Ryan