Peter Salett Movies
- 2009
A family struggles to come to terms with their differences and their many emotional shortcomings in this powerful documentary from director Samantha Beck. After learning that she's pregnant with her first child, Sharon decides she needs to settle her quarrels with her family before she can start a family of her own, and returns with her husband to her hometown of Buffalo, New York for a visit and some fence-mending. However, while there's still plenty of bad blood between Sharon and her mother, it doesn't take long to see that the real family crisis involves Sharon's sister Karen. Karen is single and already has two children, one of whom has a rare and untreatable illness that should claim her life in three years, and Karen has discovered she's expecting a third child. Adding to her mother's anxieties, Karen's current boyfriend and the father of her unborn child is a small-time drug dealer who often abandons her and seems like a poor candidate for responsible parenthood. While Sharon is as appalled as her mother at the poor choices Karen has made, as they spend some time together they're reminded of how much they share, and that their situations aren't as dissimilar as they seem on the surface. 21 Below received its world premiere at the 2009 Hot Docs International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Decades before Siegfried and Roy were thrilling audiences with their breathtaking live act, husband-and-wife team Ron and Joy Holiday were performing alongside some of the most majestic felines ever to take the stage. In the 1960s Ron and Joy would establish themselves as the world's first exotic cat entertainers. Later, in the 1980s, the duo found their act expanding into a three-person show with the addition of charismatic performer Chuck Lizza. As the years wore on the trio would endure tragedy, heartbreak, and loss while constantly striving to deliver one of the most unique stage shows around. Though the laughter and the tears, filmmaker Harris Fishman keeps his lens trained on these captivating and fearless performers to tell a story that's as inspirational as it is original. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ron Holiday, Joy Holiday, (more)
Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Penned by co-star Rogen in collaboration with former Da Ali G Show co-writer Evan Goldberg, the semi-autobiographical SuperBad was produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Greg Mottola -- who previously helmed episodes of Undeclared and Arrested Development. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, (more)
A romance between a teenage girl and a thirtysomething drifter takes the young woman down a dangerous and unexpected path in this independent drama. Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood) is a pretty 18-year-old whose father, Wade (David Morse), is the sheriff of a town in California's San Fernando Valley. Tobe is driving to the beach with some friends when she stops at a filling station and meets gas jockey Harlan (Edward Norton), who dresses like a cowpoke and claims to have recently relocated to Los Angeles from South Dakota. Harlan is immediately and obviously taken with Tobe, and when she asks him to tag along for the day, he impulsively quits his job to follow her. Tobe and Harlan soon become a couple, but Wade is convinced Harlan is not all he claims to be, and Tobe begins to wonder if her father might be right when Harlan takes her horseback riding and their date is cut short after police inform them the horses have been stolen from an rancher (Bruce Dern) whom Harlan claims is a friend - and who promptly turns up with a gun to confront both of them, insisting that he has never seen Harlan before. Tobe's suspicions grow when Harlan offers to teach her little brother, Lonnie (Rory Culkin), how to shoot using a pair of real .45 revolvers, as his actions become less charming and more worrisome. Leading man Edward Norton also served as producer on this project. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, (more)
1980s teen comedies finally get the parody they so richly deserve with Wet Hot American Summer, the first feature film from writer/director David Wain and co-screenwriter Michael Showalter, formerly of the sketch comedy troupe the State. It's the last day of the summer season at Camp Firewood, and as camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo) prepares to wrap things up, the staff of teenage counselors realize this is their last chance to do something about the summer romances that have been brewing for the past three months. Sweet but shy Coop (Michael Showalter) is crazy about pretty Katie (Marguerite Moreau), but there's the problem of her severely moody boyfriend Andy (Paul Rudd). Meanwhile, Victor (Ken Marino) is trying to score with sexy Abby (Marisa Ryan), who is known to make friends easily, and McKinley (Michael Ian Black) and Ben (Bradley Cooper) attempt to keep their hot and heavy relationship a secret. Meanwhile, arts and crafts teacher Gail (Molly Shannon) turns to her students for comfort as her marriage falls apart, drama coach Susie (Amy Poehler) tries to whip the talent show into shape with Ben's help, and camp chef Gene (Christopher Meloni) deals with his unique sexual quirks with the help of a talking can of vegetables (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin). Beth even finds time for romance with socially inept astrophysicist Henry (David Hyde Pierce), but first Henry has to save Camp Firewood from a large piece of space junk about to re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Like Wain and Showalter, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, and Joe Lo Truglio (who appears in a small role) were also members of the State; fellow State alumnus Kerri Kenney was cast in a supporting role in the film, but her character didn't appear in the final cut. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, (more)
