Bette Gordon, who made her directorial debut in 1983 with Variety, returned 15 years later with this adaptation of Scott Bradfield's novel {~The History of Luminous Motion} about an alcoholic mother. Only two things mattered to me -- being with my mom and being in motion, says ten-year-old Phillip (Eric Lloyd), who teaches himself physics and biology as he's driven about by his mother Margaret (Deborah Kara Unger). After a car crash, they settle down with Hackensack hardware store owner Pedro (Terry Kinney). Phillip receives letters and phone calls from his dad (Jamey Sheridan). Eventually, mother and son leave Pedro to live on Staten Island -- where the boy meets some strange teens (James Berland, Paz De La Huerta), Pedro appears as a ghostly figure, and Phillip's father turns up. Shown at the 1998 {~Locarno Film Festival}. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide.

Independent Canadian filmmaker Carl Bessai directs Emile, the final entry in his identity trilogy that started with Johnny and Lola. Ian McKellen plays Emile, a retired university professor who travels from England to his hometown in Canada in order to accept an educational honor. Visiting the family farm in Saskatchewan, he recalls his childhood relationships with brothers Freddy (Tygh Runyan) and Carl (Chris William Martin). He stays with his grown-up niece, Nadia (Deborah Kara Unger), who still hasn't forgiven him for his misdeeds of the past. Trying to make up for abandoning her, Emile develops an emotional bond with her daughter, Maria (Theo Crane). Emile premiered at the {~2003 Toronto Film Festival}. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide.

Three women living in Toronto find themselves confronting emotional crises regarding the men in their lives in this drama. Olivia (Sophia Loren) is a woman who spends her days looking after her husband, John (Pete Postlethwaite), who is confined to a wheelchair. Olivia has long aspired to a career as an artist, but John, not emotionally generous, refuses to hear of her wasting her time on such things. However, Olivia does find encouragement from an unlikely source -- Max (G rard Depardieu), an eccentric French gardener. Natalia (Mira Sorvino) is a news photographer who, while on assignment in Angola, took a memorable portrait of a crying child orphaned by war. Her father, Alexander (Klaus-Maria Brandauer), also a well-known photojournalist, is understandably proud of Natalia when her photo is used on the cover of a major news magazine, but she is haunted by the knowledge that while she made the child famous, she couldn't save its life. And Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger) is a woman whose father, Alan (Malcolm

The feature film debut of producer and TV director D.J. Caruso, this pulpy noir mystery is a dark tale of redemption set among southern California crystal methamphetamine tweakers. Val Kilmer stars as Danny Parker, a former trumpet player who has become a tattooed speed freak living in a cesspool of murderous dealers and hardcore addicts near the desert lake of the title. Danny's fall from grace is the result of a hidden agenda, however -- he's seeking answers about the murder of his beloved wife. He's also working undercover for a pair of brutal narcotics cops (Anthony Lapaglia and Doug Hutchison), while trying to rescue his beautiful neighbor Colette (Deborah Kara Unger) from an abusive situation and her own demons. As he and his slacker buddy Jimmy the Fin (Peter Sarsgaard) are antagonized by the sadistic, noseless dealer Pooh Bear (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his henchman, Danny draws closer to the truth about his wife's death, but the crime's solution isn't quite what he expected. Produced by Frank Darabont,

Porter (Mel Gibson) is pulled into a heist by his old friend, Val (Brian De Palma regular, Gregg Henry). As they're stealing $130,000 in laundered drug money from Chinese Triads, no one is going to call the police. Everything goes smoothly until Porter's wife, Lynn (Deborah Kara Unger), shoots Porter in the back. After Val had shown Lynn a photo of Porter in the arms of another girl (Maria Bello), the two planned the double-cross together to pay off Val's mob debts so he could return to The Syndicate. They didn't plan well enough, though, because five months later Porter's back, a complete sociopath who wants his $70,000. Brian Helgeland, the screenwriter for L.A. Confidential and Conspiracy Theory, makes his directing debut with this adaptation of the novel {-The Hunter} by Donald E. Westlake writing under the pseudonym, Richard Stark. The same novel served as the basis for John Boorman's Point Blank starring Lee Marvin. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide.

Bobby Long (John Travolta) is a washed up former literature professor with a voracious drinking habit. He lives in a rundown house in New Orleans with Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht of The Recruit), his former star pupil, also an alcoholic. Lawson is allegedly writing a novel about Bobby. Their depressive little corner of the world is disrupted when Lorraine, the beloved eccentric singer who owns their house, dies. Her teenage daughter, Pursy (Scarlett Johansson), who hasn't seen her mother in years, arrives in town too late for the funeral, and crashes at the house. Afraid of being thrown out on the street, Bobby convinces Lawson to tell Pursy that the house has been left to all three of them. Pursy, having little else to do, decides to move in, and starts cleaning up the place, making it her own. Lawson is involved with Georgianna (Deborah Kara Unger), who works at the local bar, but he quickly develops a crush on the comely Pursy. The cantankerous Bobby seems determined to drive the girl away. As Pursy settle

A man searching for the truth about his wife's killer learns more than he wanted to know about her own private story in this powerful drama. Harry Cain (John Turturro) works as a security guard at a large shopping mall in Wisconsin. Harry's life takes a sudden and disturbing left turn when his wife, Kate (Deborah Kara Unger), is shot to death in the mall's parking facility. Devastated by his wife's passing, Harry begins combing over every scrap of evidence he can find in hopes of tracking down the gunman and reviewing hours of videotape from the mall's surveillance system. One night, Harry has a vision in which he sees Kate walking out of the house across the street; he breaks into the abandoned home to investigate, and finds some photographs that may lead him to his wife's murderer. However, the more Harry learns about Kate, and as he travels to Montana in search of a possible culprit, Harry begins to learn just how much he never knew about Kate and her life. Renowned novelist Hubert Selby Jr. co-wrote the s

Candian filmmaker Peter O'Brian directs the comedy Hollywood North, set in Toronto during the late '70s. Matthew Modine stars as Bobby Mayers, a stressed-out Canadian producer trying to make an action film called Flight to Bogota. The production is inevitably troubled by numerous problems with the cast, crew, and finances. Alan Bates stars as crazed Hollywood actor Michael Baytes, the leading man who takes over the set. Jennifer Tilly plays Gillian Stevens, the nymphomaniac leading lady who seduces her younger co-star Frankie Candido (Fabrizio Filippo). Meanwhile, filmmaker Sandy Ryan (Deborah Kara Unger) is trying to capture the whole thing for a making-of documentary. Hollywood North premiered at the {~Toronto Film Festival} in 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide.

After the murder of his wife, Danny (Val Kilmer), a man in search of redemption, is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. He befriends slacker Jimmy (Peter Sarsgaard), tries to rescue his neighbor Colette (Deborah Kara Unger) from her own psyche, and gets entangled in a web of drug-fueled deceit. -

Bobby Long (John Travolta) is a washed up former literature professor with a voracious drinking habit. He lives in a rundown house in New Orleans with Lawson Pines (Gabriel Macht of The Recruit), his former star pupil, also an alcoholic. Lawson is allegedly writing a novel about Bobby. Their depressive little corner of the world is disrupted when Lorraine, the beloved eccentric singer who owns their house, dies. Her teenage daughter, Pursy (Scarlett Johansson), who hasn't seen her mother in years, arrives in town too late for the funeral, and crashes at the house. Afraid of being thrown out on the street, Bobby convinces Lawson to tell Pursy that the house has been left to all three of them. Pursy, having little else to do, decides to move in, and starts cleaning up the place, making it her own. Lawson is involved with Georgianna (Deborah Kara Unger), who works at the local bar, but he quickly develops a crush on the comely Pursy. The cantankerous Bobby seems determined to drive the girl away. As Pursy settle