Actor James Woods (1947)

The American crime drama TV series Ray Donovan (2013–2020), created by Ann Biderman, debuted on Showtime on June 30, 2013. The show follows Liev Schreiber as the lead character, who works as a ‘fixer’ for the prestigious law firm Goldman & Drexler in Los Angeles, representing wealthy and famous clients. However, his life is thrown into turmoil when his father Mickey Donovan is unexpectedly released from prison. After seven seasons, Showtime announced the cancellation of the series on February 4, 2020. However, a feature-length film to wrap up the story was ...

In the action-packed film White House Down (2013), directed by Roland Emmerich and written by James Vanderbilt, U.S. President James Sawyer stirs up controversy with his proposal to sign a peace agreement that would remove military forces from the Middle East. John Cale, a divorced Capitol Police officer, strives to impress his daughter Emily by interviewing for the Secret Service and getting them tickets for a White House tour. However, his college acquaintance and interviewer Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge Carol Finnerty deems him unfit for the job. As chaos erupts in Washington, D.C. with a bomb detonating at the United States Capitol, Finnerty takes Speaker of the ...

Too Big to Fail (2011) is an American biographical drama that aired on HBO. Directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Peter Gould, the film was based on Andrew Ross Sorkin’s non-fiction book of the same name. It received multiple nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. The plot revolves around the 2008 mortgage industry crisis and the sale of Bear Stearns to JPMorgan Chase with Federal guarantees. As news of this spreads, short sellers shift their focus to another investment bank, Lehman Brothers. Despite trying ...

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), an American animated superhero film directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu with writing from Dwayne McDuffie, tells the story of an alternate universe where a heroic version of Lex Luthor and Joker, known as the Jester, steal the ‘Quantum Trigger’ device from the Crime Syndicate’s headquarters. In order to allow Luthor to escape, the Jester sacrifices himself when an alarm goes off. Luthor successfully flees to the Justice League’s Earth using a device ...

Surf’s Up (2007) is a humorous animated film created by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and then distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It follows the story of Cody Maverick, a teenage northern rockhopper penguin living in Shiverpool, Antarctica with his mother Edna and older brother Glen. Since first meeting the renowned surfer emperor penguin Zeke ‘Big Z’ Topanga, Cody has been determined to become a professional surfer. So when talent scout shorebird Michael Abromowitz visits Shiverpool to find participants for the Big Z Memorial surfing competition on Pen-Gu Island, Cody eagerly joins in. On the way to the contest, Cody makes ...

Be Cool (2005) is an American crime comedy film based on Elmore Leonard’s novel of the same name. It serves as the sequel to Leonard’s 1990 novel Get Shorty, which was also adapted into a film in 1995. The story centers around Chili Palmer, a mobster who becomes disenchanted with filmmaking and turns to the music industry following the public murder of his friend Tommy Athens, who owned a struggling record label. Chili offers to help Tommy’s widow, Edie Athens, revive the business which is in debt to hip-hop producer Sin LaSalle for $300,000. ...

The American thriller drama film, John Q. (2002), was written by James Kearns and directed by Nick Cassavetes. In the movie, a motorist driving recklessly on a freeway is fatally struck by a truck. Prior to this tragic event, John Quincy Archibald and his wife Denise were struggling financially in Chicago. Despite their challenges, they remained devoted parents to their young son Michael, who collapses at his baseball game one day after church. At the hospital, they receive devastating news from cardiologist Dr. Raymond Turner and administrator Rebecca Payne – ...

True Crime (1999) is an American mystery thriller film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on Andrew Klavan’s same-titled novel from 1995. The story follows Steve Everett, an Oakland journalist who is recovering from alcoholism. He is assigned to cover the execution of Frank Beechum, a convicted murderer, after his colleague Michelle Ziegler, who had originally been tasked with the story, passes away. Interested in the case, Everett delves into Beechum’s background and begins to question his guilt in the murder of Amy Wilson. With permission from his ...

Directed by Oliver Stone, Any Given Sunday (1999) follows the struggles of fictional American football team, the Miami Sharks. The once-dominant team is struggling to secure a spot in the 2001 AFFA playoffs, under the leadership of long-time coach Tony D’Amato. However, tensions arise between D’Amato and young team owner Christina Pagniacci, as well as his expected successor Nick Crozier, who serves as offensive coordinator. In a pivotal game during the thirteenth week of the season, both starting quarterback Jack ‘Cap’ Rooney and backup player Tyler Cherubini are injured and unable to play. In ...

Sofia Coppola’s film, The Virgin Suicides (1999), follows a group of men in Grosse Pointe, Michigan as they reflect on their memories of the enigmatic Lisbon sisters. These five teenage girls are a point of fascination and longing for the neighborhood boys, who remember them from their youth. The Lisbon sisters, Therese, Mary, Bonnie, Lux, and Cecilia, were unattainable due to their strict Catholic parents and were often the subject of the boys’ conversations and dreams. After Cecilia’s suicide attempt, her therapist suggests that she could benefit from more social interaction with boys her age. ...

The American mystery thriller film, The General’s Daughter (1999), was helmed by director Simon West. During his time in Georgia, undercover agent Chief Warrant Officer Paul Brenner from the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command assumes the identity of First Sergeant Frank White to orchestrate a forbidden weapons exchange with a rebel leader. While at Fort MacCallum, Brenner experiences car trouble and receives assistance from Captain Elisabeth Campbell, who serves as a psychological operations officer and is also the daughter of Lieutenant General Joseph ‘Fighting Joe’ Campbell, ...

Oliver Stone’s American epic historical drama film, Nixon (1995), follows the events of the Watergate scandal. In 1972, members of the White House Plumbers break into The Watergate and are arrested. A year and a half later, Richard Nixon’s Chief of Staff, Alexander Haig, provides Nixon with audio tapes regarding the scandal. As they discuss the chaos that ensued from Watergate and the passing of J. Edgar Hoover, Nixon expresses his anger towards John Dean, James McCord, and others involved in the scandal. He even questions why he has not been given a pistol to end his own life like an honorable soldier. Most ...

Casino (1995) is an epic crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on Nicholas Pileggi’s nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. In the movie, sports handicapper and Mafia associate Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein is enlisted by the Chicago Outfit to run the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas alongside frontman Philip Green. With Sam at the helm, the casino sees a significant increase in profit, thanks in part to some unaccounted-for cash skimmed from the count room and delivered to the Midwest Mafia bosses. To ensure protection for Sam, the ...

The Specialist (1994), an American action thriller directed by Luis Llosa, follows the story of Ray Quick and Ned Trent, two CIA operatives with expertise in explosives. During a mission to destroy a car carrying a South American cocaine dealer, they discover that there is also a young girl inside. Despite Ray’s objections, Ned proceeds with the detonation, resulting in the death of both the dealer and the child. Enraged by Ned’s actions, Ray confronts him and reports him to their superiors before leaving the CIA. Years later in Miami, Ray works as a freelance hitman and often communicates with his potential ...

Roger Donaldson’s film, The Getaway (1994), is an American action thriller based on Jim Thompson’s novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Walter Hill and Amy Holden Jones. As Doc McCoy and his wife Carol practice shooting, Rudy approaches them with a proposal to break a Mexican drug lord’s nephew out of jail for a payment of $300,000. The job is successful, but it turns out that the drug lord wanted his nephew freed in order to kill him. ...

The film Chaplin (1992) tells the story of iconic English comedian and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Robert Downey Jr., the movie follows an aging Chaplin as he reflects on his life in a conversation with George Hayden, a fictionalized version of his autobiography editor. Growing up in poverty-stricken Victorian London, Chaplin finds solace in the world of variety shows. When his mother Hannah loses her voice onstage, five-year-old Charlie steps in to perform instead. As ...

Directed by Joseph Ruben, True Believer (1989) is an American courtroom drama that follows burnt-out attorney Eddie Dodd on a new case. Dodd has abandoned his civil rights work and now defends drug dealers, but with the help of idealistic legal clerk Roger Baron, he takes on the case of Shu Kai Kim. Kim, a young Korean man who has spent eight years in prison for a gang-related murder in New York’s Chinatown, has killed another inmate in self-defense. Despite his troubled past, Kim’s mother strongly believes in her son’s innocence. Dodd and Baron’s investigation uncovers a conspiracy involving ...

Salvador (1986) is a war drama film, co-written and directed by Oliver Stone. Richard Boyle, a seasoned photojournalist with two decades of experience, has had his fair share of success. However, struggles with substance abuse and an air of arrogance have damaged his reputation and made it hard for him to find work. One day, he discovers that his wife has left him and taken their child. With no money or job prospects, Boyle turns to his friend Doctor Rock, a former radio host also facing unemployment. Together, they decide to venture to El Salvador, where Boyle believes he can freelance during the country’s ...

The film Cat’s Eye (1985), directed by Lewis Teague and written by Stephen King, is an American anthology horror thriller that consists of three tales. While the first two are based on short stories from King’s 1978 collection Night Shift, the third is a unique addition to the film. Each story revolves around a traveling cat, as well as Drew Barrymore, who has minor roles in the first two and a major role in the third. The stray tabby cat finds refuge in ...

Once Upon a Time in America (1984) is an epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. In 1933, three thugs scour the city for a man known as ‘Noodles’ to extract information from him through violent means. They eventually end up at a wayang theater, where the owners lead them to a secret opium den within the establishment and warn Noodles of their presence. However, Noodles is not bothered by their threats as he is under the influence of drugs and reading a newspaper detailing the deaths of bootleggers Patrick Goldberg, Philip Stein and Maximilian Bercovicz. He remembers ...