Philip Friend

The hard-ball gamesmanship and casual character assassination of American politics sets the stage for this thriller from writer and director Rod Lurie. When the Vice President of the United States unexpectedly dies, all eyes in Washington D.C. are on President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) as he chooses a new VP. Sen. Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), a respected career politician enjoying a new swell of popularity after a well-publicized attempt to save a drowning woman, is expected to be Evans' choice, but instead he picks Sen. Laine Hanson (Joan Allen), a decision that raises eyebrows on both sides of the political fence. Veteran power broker Shelly Runyon (Gary Oldman) is vehemently opposed to Hanson's appointment, in part because the Democratic senator was once a Republican, and vows to do everything in his power to prevent her from being confirmed. Runyon and his staff start digging for dirt on Hanson, and soon make a surprising discovery her personal morality is called into question when it's alleged that she took part in a group sexual liaison while she was a college student. The Contender also stars Mike Binder as one of Hanson's advisors, Mariel Hemingway as an old friend with a surprising secret, Christian Slater as an ambitious congressmen assisting Runyon, and Philip Baker Hall as Hanson's father; it was the second feature from former film critic Rod Lurie.

When Marcus wakes up with blood on his hands, he is startled to hear that a close friend has been found stabbed to death. Marcus struggles with parasomnia, a rare sleep disorder, and he fears he could have killed his friend while sleepwalking to hide a dark secret. The police close in as Marcus frantically investigates his own nocturnal activities, desperate to figure out what happens when he goes to sleep. His journey to uncover the truth leads him to a shocking discovery. Philip Winchester (Strike Back, Camelot), Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past), and Abigail Spencer (Mad Men, Cowboys & Aliens) star in this award-winning movie that The Hollywood Reporter hails as ?a sexy, well-made thriller!?

Academy-Award -winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (CAPOTE) and Academy-Award -nominee Amy Ryan (GONE BABY GONE) star in this humorous tale of love, betrayal, and friendship that The New York Post calls Dryly Hilarious . The story centers around Jack, a limo driver with vague dreams of landing a job with the MTA and an obsession with reggae that has prompted him to begin a half-hearted attempt at growing dreadlocks. He spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend and fellow driver Clyde (John Ortiz of AMERICAN GANGSTER) and Clyde's wife Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega of Broadway's RENT). When Clyde and Lucy introduce him to Connie, however, things change. Being with Connie inspires Jack to learn to cook, pursue a new career, and take swimming lessons so he can give her the romantic boat ride of which she dreams. But as Jack and Connie cautiously circle commitment, Clyde and Lucy's marriage begins to disintegrate.

A character-driven drama seething with underworld decadence, Montana is set in the final days of an unraveling crime organization. The Boss (Robbie Coltrane) is losing control over his underlings, while Claire (Kyra Sedgwick), his best lieutenant and most loyal operative, is determined to put him back in the driver's seat. But Claire is left out in the cold when she and her partner, Nick (Stanley Tucci), are set up by Duncan (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the Boss's financial genius, for a murder they didn't commit. On the run and stuck with Kitty (Robin Tunney), the Boss's cocaine-sniffing mistress, Claire seeks refuge with one of the Boss's shady business associates (John Ritter). But when he turns out to be foe rather than friend, Claire finds herself heading for a final violent confrontation.

April 21: TODAY s Meredith Vieira talks to James Kehoe, a college friend of Philip Markoff, the man charged with the murder of 26-year-old masseuse Julissa Brisman at a Boston hotel.

The Philanthropist: Season 1: Episode 7 -- Teddy (James Purefoy) and Philip's (Jesse L. Martin) college friend, Rhada Shivpuri (guest star Sarita Choudhury), asks for their help to delicately negotiate with both the Indian and Pakistani governments in an attempt to rebuild the region's water system and reopen the 'The Line of Control' which divides the ancient land of Kashmir in two.

The Philanthropist: Season 1: Episode 3 -- On a business trip to Paris with Teddy and Philip, Olivia runs into an old friend, Isabelle. Reminiscing is short lived, as Isabelle soon admits to being in debt to Bejan, a high powered Parisian man running a sex trafficking ring out of her hotel.

Coward received a special Oscar for writing, scoring, co-directing and starring in this World War II story about men on a British warship during battle. Co-directed by David Lean.

Philip Markoff's friend alleges she had a violent encounter with him, Daniel Sieberg reports. Julie Chen spoke with Professor Casey Jordan about Markoff's trophies from his alleged victims.

In November, 1959, Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the author of Breakfast at Tiffany's and a favorite figure in what is soon to be known as the Jet Set, reads an article on a back page of the New York Times. It tells of the murders of four members of a well-known farm family?the Clutters?in Holcomb, Kansas. Similar stories appear in newspapers almost every day, but something about this one catches Capote's eye. It presents an opportunity, he believes, to test his long-held theory that, in the hands of the right writer, non-fiction can be as compelling as fiction. What impact have the murders had on that tiny town on the wind-swept plains? With that as his subject?for his purpose, it does not matter if the murderers are never caught?he convinces The New Yorker magazine to give him an assignment and he sets out for Kansas. Accompanying him is a friend from his Alabama childhood: Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who within a few months will win a Pulitzer Prize and achieve fame of her own as the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Though his childlike voice, fey mannerisms and unconventional clothes arouse initial hostility in a part of the country that still thinks of itself as part of the Old West, Capote quickly wins the trust of the locals, most notably Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who is leading the hunt for the killers. Caught in Las Vegas, the killers?Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino)?are returned to Kansas, where they are tried, convicted and sentenced to die. Capote visits them in jail. As he gets to know them, he realizes that what he had thought would be a magazine article has grown into a book, a book that could rank with the greatest in modern literature. His subject is now as profound as any an American writer has ever tackled. It is nothing less than the collision of two Americas: the safe, protected country the Clutters knew and the rootless, amoral country inhabite