Actor Ray Liotta (1954)

Marriage Story (2019), a drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach, also produced by David Heyman. The play, helmed by Charlie Barber, successful theater director of Exit Ghost in New York City, stars his wife Nicole who used to be an actress but is now content with not acting. However, their marriage is suffering as they seek mediation and are advised to write down what they appreciate about each other. Despite agreeing to go through the process together, Nicole declines to read her words aloud and they decide to skip counseling altogether. Later, Nicole receives ...

Killing Them Softly (2012) is an American neo-noir crime film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. It is based on George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel, Cogan’s Trade. Against the backdrop of the 2008 American financial crisis and presidential election, Johnny ‘Squirrel’ Amato devises a plan to rob a Mafia poker game. To help him carry out the heist, he turns to Frankie, a former colleague, and Russell, an Australian expatriate with a heroin addiction who makes money by ...

The film The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), directed by Derek Cianfrance and written by Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder from a story by Cianfrance and Coccio follows the journey of Luke Glanton, a motorcycle stuntman with a traveling carnival. In Schenectady, he reconnects with his former lover Romina Gutierrez, who is now in a relationship with Kofi Kancam. To his ...

Battle in Seattle (2007), a political action-thriller, marks Stuart Townsend’s directorial debut. The movie loosely revolves around the protest activity during the WTO Ministerial Conference in 1999. Thousands of activists gather in Seattle, Washington to demonstrate against the conference, as they believe the World Trade Organization is exacerbating the wealth divide and contributing to global issues such as hunger and disease. However, the WTO argues that it is working towards reducing these disparities and improving global conditions. During those five days in 1999, the film ...

Smokin’ Aces (2006) is a thrilling American action film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. Infamous Las Vegas magician and aspiring criminal, Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel, finds himself holed up in a Lake Tahoe hotel while his agent negotiates for him to receive immunity from the FBI. With mob boss Primo Sparazza offering a million-dollar reward for Israel’s heart, various hitmen have been summoned to collect the bounty: master of disguise Lazlo Soot, contract killers Sharice Watters and Georgia Sykes (hired by Sparazza’s right-hand man), mercenary Pasquale Acosta, and three merciless neo-Nazis ...

Revolver (2005), an action thriller film co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie, has two different versions. The following plot synopsis pertains to Ritchie’s preferred Directors Cut. Set in an unnamed city, the story follows Jake Green, a cockney gangster and gambler who is released from a seven-year solitary confinement sentence for an unspecified crime. During his time in prison, Jake developed claustrophobia, causing him to feel great distress in confined spaces and elevators. Two years later, Jake and his brother Billy visit Dorothy Macha’s casino. As a gang boss involved in illegal gambling throughout ...

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 – ...

Blow (2001) is an American biographical crime drama film directed by Ted Demme, centered around an American cocaine kingpin and his global network. George Jung, alongside his parents Fred and Ermine, reside in Weymouth, Massachusetts. At the age of 10, Fred declares bankruptcy and attempts to show George the importance of values beyond money. As an adult in the late 1960s, George moves to Los Angeles with his close friend ‘Tuna’, where they meet Barbara – a flight attendant who introduces them to Derek Foreal, a marijuana dealer. With Derek’s assistance, George and Tuna amass a substantial amount ...

Hannibal (2001), an American crime thriller directed by Ridley Scott and adapted from Thomas Harris’s novel, follows FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling. A decade after catching serial killer Jame Gumb, Starling is blamed for a failed drug raid that cost five lives. She is approached by Mason Verger, the lone survivor of cannibalistic murderer Hannibal Lecter who has been on the run since escaping custody. Verger, a wealthy predator who was left paralyzed and disfigured by Lecter, has been plotting revenge against him and enlists Starling’s help to capture him. ...

James Mangold wrote and directed Cop Land (1997), a neo-noir crime drama. Garrison, New Jersey is the home of several police officers from the 37th Precinct of the NYPD: Lt. Ray Donlan, Det. Leo Crasky, and officers Gary Figgis, Jack Rucker, Frank Lagonda, and Joey Randone. Taking advantage of a department regulation loophole by becoming ‘auxiliary transit cops’, Donlan and his group are shielded from the scrutiny of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs division. Sheriff Freddy Heflin also protects them, making them virtually untouchable. Heflin has always aspired to join the NYPD but was unable to do so due to ...

Goodfellas (1990) is a biographical crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. Set in Brooklyn during the mid-1950s, the film follows Henry Hill as he becomes infatuated with the Mafia lifestyle in his Italian-American neighborhood. Working under caporegime Paulie Cicero and alongside his fellow delinquents Jimmy ‘the Gent’ Conway and Tommy DeVito, Henry starts off as a fence for Jimmy and gradually progresses to more serious crimes. The trio spends their evenings at the Copacabana nightclub, indulging in their glamorous lifestyle surrounded by women. Despite initial concerns about Henry’s criminal ...

Field of Dreams (1989) is an American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe. Ray Kinsella resides with his wife, Annie, and daughter, Karin, on their corn farm in Dyersville, Iowa. Struggling with his strained relationship with his deceased father John, a devoted baseball enthusiast, Ray is afraid of not accomplishing anything meaningful in his life. One evening while strolling through the cornfield, he hears a voice whispering, ‘If you build it, he will ...