Sandy Daley Movies
A pair of siblings are forced to set aside their discomfort with one another for the sake of their father in this low-key comedy drama from writer/director Tamara Jenkins. Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) is a struggling playwright living in New York City who works a day job to support herself and can't shake the feeling that she's failed as an artist. Wendy isn't especially happy about her love life either, gaining little self-esteem from her on-and-off affair with oversexed, married neighbor Larry (Peter Friedman). Wendy's anxieties about her writing career are intensified by the success of her brother, Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who teaches theater history at a college in Buffalo, NY, and has published a number of books. While Jon's life seems fine on the surface, a case of writer's block has stalled work on his latest project, and he's deeply upset that his girlfriend is soon to leave the United States to return to her native Poland. Wendy and Jon don't get along and prefer not to see one another, but an unfortunate circumstance brings them together -- their father, Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco). Elderly Lenny has began showing signs of dementia, and shortly after he takes to smearing his feces on the walls of his Arizona home, his ailing long-term girlfriend suddenly dies. Wendy and Jon have little choice but to fly to Arizona and see what can be done for Lenny, but their long-simmering animosity makes it hard for them to deal with the realities of Lenny's condition. The Savages received its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, (more)
- 2002
- Add Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives to QueueAdd Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives to top of Queue
Among the tasks undertaken by the WPA's Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s was to transcribe the memories of those former African-American slaves who were still living. The result was a massive collection of notes, documents, and recordings, all of which found their way into the Library of Congress. Co-produced by the Library and the HBO cable channel, Unchained Memories: Readings From the Slave Narratives features a truly impressive array of black actors and actresses verbally recreating the reminiscences of those who lived under the yoke of slavery. The performers themselves appeared in modern dress, standing before a neutral background as they read from the transcripts, while directors Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon complemented the words with vivid and disturbing images culled from contemporary photographs of the years 1850-1935. Tied in with a traveling museum exhibit of photos and recordings, Unchained Memories was telecast during Black History Month, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Actor-director Clarence Williams III guest stars as Lateef Miller, a former member of the militant Black Panther party. A prominent 1960s activist, Miller again makes headlines when he is accused of murdering a white police detective. Media coverage of the subsequent trial serves as a forum for the personal attacks leveled by Miller against arresting detective Eddie Green (Jesse L. Martin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
A Harlem community leader is beaten to death with a baseball bat. In addition to building a case against the likeliest suspect, struggling college student Jerome Warren (Avery Kidd Waddell), the D.A.'s office must also deal with a chaotic and potentially dangerous racial situation. "Haven" was originally telecast in tandem with another Law & Order episode, "Hunters," on February 10, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Documentary veteran Christene Browne directs this coming of age drama, reportedly the first feature by a black Canadian female. Cassandra Jones (Sandy Daley) is a teen hailing from Toronto. While she tries to explore her African roots, her mother compulsively plays the lottery as her brother deals drugs. Later, she finds her ideals tested while working on a Quebecker farm, when she meets a worker from Mali (Tiemoko Simaga). Another Planet was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandy Daley, Kevin White, (more)
- 1995
The detectives discover that a young junkie found dead in the yard of a day-care center was the daughter of a wealthy family. Further investigation reveals that the woman was taken to her final "resting place" as she was dying. The question: Is it possible that someone very close to the victim would have allowed her to perish in so ignominious a fashion? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
