Simon Templeman

The Young Unknowns -- The title refers to the twenty something ruling underbelly of Los Angeles. A stylish film hailed as a 21st Century 'Less Than Zero'.

The Russia House -- Alcoholic book editor from a bargain-basement publishing house in Great Britain, 'Barley' Scott Blair (Sean Connery), would rather be drinking in Lisbon than attending a book dealers' show in Russia. To his surprise his boozy holiday ends early when CIA agent (Mac McDonald) pays him a visit. It seems that through a book show intermediary the CIA has received a package from Russian book editor Katya (Michelle Pfeiffer) that contains remarkably detailed notebooks written by a cynical Russian physicist named 'Dante' (Klaus-Maria Brandauer). The notebooks illustrate the jocularity of Russia's nuclear threat: Russian rockets 'suck instead of blow...and can't hit Nevada on a clear day,' in the harsh words of CIA Agent Russell Sheridan (Roy Scheider). Unsure of Dante's motives in sending the notebooks to Blair and questionable about the end of the nuclear arms race the British Secret Service decides to send Blair to new Russia to meet Katya. His objectives: to assess new Russia's involvements in the old Cold War and to verify the authenticity of the notebooks.

Charlie just shot his first commercial and is looking forward to a relaxing day with exotic girlfriend Paloma, the kind of girl a young, hip director should have. Charlie's wild best friend, Joe, invites himself over along with companion du jour Cassandra, and the "fun" begins. This day, however, will not go as planned, as each of his friends and his always absentee "voice-on-the-phone" father, play another kind of card, resulting in disaster. Based on Wolfgang Bauer's stage play, "The Young Unknowns" is a harsh look at the L.A. lifestyle of the rich and not-so-famous, embodied by spoiled but self-destructive Charlie (Devon Gummersall from "Roswell," "My So Called Life") intelligent but self-destructive Paloma (Arly Jover from Blade, John Carpenter's Vampires), hedonistic and self-destructive Joe (Eion Bailey from Band of Brothers, ER), and beautiful but self-destructive Cassandra (Leslie Bibb from Iron Man, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Crossing Jordan). First time feature-filmmaker and screenwriter Catherine Jelski's unflinching portrait of emotional abuse is remarkably enthralling, impossible to look away from, one of the new breed of pseudo-cinema"it" films that started with 1997's "In the Company of Men." The film has an exhibitionist quality to it, as if the audience is seeing something it really shouldn't be. With excellent photography and first-rate performances by its cast, "The Young Unknowns" packs a daring punch that should not be missed.

The title refers to the twenty something ruling underbelly of Los Angeles. A stylish film hailed as a 21st Century 'Less Than Zero'.