Actress Joan Allen (1956)

Based on Stephen King’s 2006 novel of the same name, Lisey’s Story (2021) is an American psychological horror drama miniseries. It features Julianne Moore in the title role, with King as the writer, Pablo Larraín as the director, and J. J. Abrams as the producer. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on June 4, 2021, following Lisa “Lisey” Landon’s journey. Lisey is the widow of renowned fiction writer Scott Landon, who passed away two years prior to ...

Director Peter Askin brought to life a thrilling American film A Good Marriage (2014) based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name from the collection Full Dark, No Stars. Bob and Darcy Anderson are happily married with two grown children. One evening while Bob is away on business, Darcy goes into the garage to search for batteries and stumbles upon pornographic magazines filled with sadomasochistic images. Digging deeper into Bob’s belongings, she discovers a hidden compartment behind the garage’s baseboard containing ID cards belonging to ...

The Bourne Legacy (2012) is a fast-paced action-thriller directed by Tony Gilroy. It is the fourth film in the series based on the popular Jason Bourne novels by Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader. After narrowly escaping from Russia, former CIA agent Jason Bourne’s absence catches the attention of Operation Outcome, leading agent Aaron Cross to be sent on a training mission in the harsh Alaskan wilderness as punishment for his unauthorized actions. As he treks through unforgiving terrain, Cross finds ...

The action-thriller film, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), directed by Paul Greengrass, has an entirely different plot than the 1990 novel of the same name by Robert Ludlum. After being pursued by Kirill, Jason Bourne must evade Moscow police while wounded and confront more memories of his time in Operation Treadstone. Six weeks later, CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy reveals a taped confession from Ward Abbott, the former head of Treadstone, to Director Ezra Kramer. Meanwhile, journalist Simon Ross from The Guardian discovers information about Bourne and Operation Blackbriar ...

The romantic comedy-drama film The Upside of Anger (2005), written and directed by Mike Binder, opens with Terry Wolfmeyer, her four daughters, and their friend Denny Davies attending a funeral. However, the story quickly flashes back to three years earlier when Terry’s heavily intoxicated confession to her daughters revealed that their father, Grey, had left the family for his secretary in Sweden. Terry turns to alcohol to deal with her anger and heartbreak, causing her daughters to resent her. She finds solace in her neighbor Denny, a retired baseball player and fellow heavy drinker who hosts a radio talk show. ...

Nick Cassavetes directed a romantic drama film called The Notebook (2004). At a nursing home, an old man named Duke reads a love story from a notebook to a female patient. The story takes place in 1940 at a carnival on Seabrook Island in South Carolina. A lumber mill worker named Noah Calhoun meets 17-year-old heiress Allison ‘Allie’ Hamilton and they fall in love. Despite the initial approval from Noah’s father Frank Calhoun, Allie’s parents disapprove of their relationship. One night, Noah takes Allie to an abandoned plantation and promises to restore it for them to live in. However, their ...

The Bourne Supremacy (2004) is an action-thriller film featuring Robert Ludlum’s popular character, Jason Bourne. While the title is derived from the second novel in the series (1986), the film’s plot is completely unique. We find Bourne and his partner Marie Kreutz living peacefully in Goa, India where he continues to struggle with memory loss. To piece together his past as a CIA assassin, Bourne records flashbacks in a notebook. Across the globe in Berlin, CIA agent Pamela Landy authorizes $3 million to be paid to a Russian source for important documents known as the Neski files, detailing the theft of $20 ...

Mad Love (1995), directed by Antonia Bird, is an American teen romantic drama set in Seattle. Matt Leland is a responsible high school senior living with his hardworking father and 9-year-old twins, assuming the parental role for his absent mother. His interest is piqued by the girl across the lake who he observes through his telescope jet skiing at night. After discovering her name is Casey Roberts and she’s new to their high school from Chicago, Matt asks her out to a concert. At first, Casey is angered by Matt’s use of the telescope, but after he apologizes, the two opposites begin a passionate ...

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 ...

Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) is a biographical comedy-drama movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Detroit’s Preston Tucker harbored a passion for car-making since his youth. During the Second World War, he created an armored vehicle for the military and earned profits producing gun turrets for planes in a small workshop near his Ypsilanti residence. With the unwavering support of his extended family, especially his wife Vera, children Preston Jr., Noble, and Marilyn Lee, Tucker embarks on a mission to create the ‘car of tomorrow’. The ‘Tucker Torpedo’ boasts groundbreaking safety ...

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), an American fantasy comedy-drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola, follows the story of Peggy Sue Bodell. She attends her 25-year high school reunion in 1985, accompanied by her daughter Beth instead of her high-school sweetheart and husband, Charlie. They married soon after graduation when Peggy Sue became pregnant but have since separated due to Charlie’s infidelity. At the reunion, she reconnects with her old high school friends Maddy and Carol while ignoring Charlie’s unexpected arrival. The emcee then announces the reunion’s “king and queen”: Richard ...

Manhunter (1986) is an American thriller film directed and written by Michael Mann, based on the 1981 novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Will Graham, a former FBI criminal profiler who captured cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, has since retired following a mental breakdown. At his Florida home, Graham’s former boss, Jack Crawford, asks for help with a new serial killer case. Despite promising his wife he will only search for evidence and not put himself in harm’s way, Graham agrees to visit the most recent crime scene in Atlanta. ...