Louis Guss Movies
Long a familiar presence on the New York stage and TV scene, Louis Guss has specialized in blue-collar ethnic roles. Guss' earliest screen credit was as Dominic in Harry and Tonto (1974). His showiest screen portrayal was as Raymond Coppomaggi in the irresistible romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). On network television, Louis Guss was seen as Uncle Bennie on the 1991 sitcom Man in the Family. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two warring families are brought together by love and pizza in this romantic comedy. Vito Rossi (Vincent Pastore) and Frank Bianco (Frank Vincent) are two men who used to work together in the same pizza parlor in Yonkers, NY, but when their mentor Emilio (Louis Guss) retired, he decided to give his secret formula for perfect crust to Vito, and his recipe for the best sauce in town to Frank. Now the two men are bitter rivals, each running their own pizza place and constantly battling over who has the best pie in town. However, Vito's daughter Angela (Robin Paul) recently graduated from business school, and has big plans for shifting the family business into overdrive. Frank, meanwhile, has an idea of his own for getting ahead -- he'll persuade his handsome twenty-something son Tony (Conor Dubin), a budding cartoonist, to romance Angela, and hopefully persuade her to reveal her family's share of the famous pizza recipe. However, something unexpected happens -- Angela and Tony fall in love, despite the bad blood between their families, and have to figure out a way to break the unexpected news to their families. A Tale of Two Pizzas was the first feature film from writer and director Vincent Sassone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent, (more)
- 2000
A writer struggling with his muse finally creates a character so vivid she walks off the page and into the real world in this darkly comic fantasy. Marty (Jeffrey Stubblefield) is a struggling screenwriter living in Los Angeles, where he's gotten used to not having a car and is now having to adjust to not having a girlfriend after his significant other decided it was time to call it quits. Marty has been working on a script for sleazy producer/director Barry Barani (Krikor Satamian) called Hot Pants Returns, but he's suffering from a severe case of writer's block, much to the annoyance of Barry and his partner Andy (Jerry Corley). With the encouragement of his friend Joe (Joe Seely), Marty has been able to start work on a personal project, a screenplay about a poet working as a parking lot monitor who falls in love with a beautiful car thief named Lauren. Marty is a bit surprised when one day a flesh-and-blood Lauren (Melissa Marie Lewis) appears before him, and begins using her feminine wiles to lure Marty into a life of crime. Pedestrian was written and directed by Jason Kartalian; it was his first feature. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Seely
Karyn Kusama makes her debut with this sensitive, subtly told coming-of-age story about boxing and love. Diana (Michelle Rodriguez) is a tough though painfully honest girl living in Brooklyn. Surly, frustrated, and directionless, Diana seems to have a ticket on the express train to expulsion; she repeatedly finds herself in detention and schoolyard fights. At home, her weak though abusive single father Sandro (Paul Calderon) clearly favorites her bookish brother Tiny (Ray Santiago) over her. While running an errand for her father, Diana finds herself in one of New York's more renowned boxing gyms, and she instantly connects to the same. Though traditionally a thoroughly male pastime in Latino culture, Diana perseveres and gains self-worth thanks to the help of gruff Panamanian trainer Hector (Jaime Tirelli). Soon Hector assumes the role of Diana's father from her deadbeat biological progenitor. As Diana gains physical strength and agility in the ring, she finds herself drawn to the dashing boxer Adrian (Santiago Douglas), who is supposedly involved with someone else. Slowly though, the two give into their mutual attraction and fall completely in love. Fate intervenes when the two lovers are scheduled to fight one another in the ring, forcing each to choose boxing or love. Executive-produced by none other than John Sayles, this film received rave reviews at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Rodriguez, Jaime Tirelli, (more)
Raymond De Felitta directs this warm, colorful tale about a blue collar dreamer who gets more than he bargained for after buying a two-family house. Set during the 1950s in Staten Island, the film charts the financial failures of Buddy (Michael Rispoli), a nice-guy entrepreneur who has perpetual bad luck. While he was in the army, he sang songs on stage to bolster troop morale. During one performance, he received a warm reception from none other than Arthur Godfrey, who invited him to audition when he got back to the U.S. After the war, Buddy's crushingly pragmatic wife Estelle (Katherine Narducci,) along with her very traditional parents, dissuade him from a life in showbiz. After a decade of living with Estelle's parents and failing repeatedly at one get-rich-quick scheme after another, Buddy buys a rundown house with the idea of refurbishing the second floor for living quarters and the first for a pizzeria where he can sing. Estelle grudgingly goes along with it, secretly hoping that this plan will fail so disastrously that he will stop dreaming and lead a "normal" life. Not until he finalizes the purchase does Buddy realize that the house has a pair of squatters: Jim (Kevin Conway), a drunken Irish immigrant, and his much younger, very pregnant girlfriend Mary (Kelly Macdonald). Buddy tries to evict the recalcitrant drunkard, but he refuses to leave. Just as matters are about to come to fisticuffs, Mary goes into labor. To the surprise of everyone, the child is of mixed raced -- the product of a brief tryst that Mary had with an African-American man a while back. Disgusted and disappointed, Jim shuffles off never to be seen. Buddy hasn't quite the heart to evict a young single mother, nor the strength to resist his wife's perpetual nagging, so he quietly pays for a room in a neighborhood boarding house. Though Mary is initially very mistrustful of Buddy's intentions, the two slowly realize that they are in fact soul mates. This film was highly praised at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Rispoli, Kelly MacDonald, (more)
Anthony (Vincent Pagano) is a white fledging actor who is in a happy relationship with Alissa (Victoria Rowell), who is beautiful, gainfully employed, and black. In spite of being sharply reminded that it has been 30 years since Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Anthony is reluctant to introduce her to his large traditional-minded family. Yet when Alissa does accompany Anthony home when his grandfather dies, he learns that race is only one of many issues this eccentric family contends with; two of Anthony's cousins are under the mistaken belief that they are wanted by the mob, his uncle talks endlessly about his testicles, and his aunt takes Alissa aside and tells her that the only way to survive in this wacky family is to drink. A Wake in Providence was screened at the 1999 Boston Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Pagano, Victoria Rowell, (more)
- 1999
The murder of an audio installation salesman has links to Jeff Stahl (Joe Piscopo) and Tom Wilder (Mark-Linn Baker), the co-owners of a Manhattan strip club. It turns out that both men are paying protection to the arrogant son (Jeremy Davidson) of Mafia boss Joseph Russo (Ralph Lucarelli). A deal to offer testimony in exchange for police protection is struck by A.D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) -- but as it turns out, not all promises are cast in stone, especially when the Government is involved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A case of mistaken identity goes too far in this made-for-television romantic comedy. Tea Leoni stars as Gina Nardino, a young store clerk who pretends to be an Italian countess in order to impress a rich man of society. Her charade starts to fall apart though when his brother gets wise to her schemes. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Based on the play by Ivan Menchell, this drama concerns three friends, Doris (Olympia Dukakis), Lucille (Diane Ladd), and Esther (Ellen Burstyn). All three live in the same Jewish community in Pittsburgh, are in their mid-to-late 50s, and have become widows within the past few months. Once a week, they gather to visit their husbands' graves and meet at a deli afterward to talk about their lives. Doris remains fiercely devoted to her late husband and takes her responsibilities as a widow seriously. Lucille is eager to get her feet back in the waters of dating, partly as revenge against her late husband, who often cheated on her, and partly because she's very lonely by herself. Esther is also not used to being alone after 39 years of marriage, but she doesn't feel ready to start dating again, at least not until she meets Ben (Danny Aiello), a former cop turned cab driver who gradually but firmly eases his way into her life. Doris is appalled when she discovers that Esther is dating again and loudly protests that she's being disrespectful to her late husband, while Lucille is more than a bit jealous that Esther snagged a good man before she could. Jerry Orbach and Lee Richardson appear in a brief prologue sequence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
Todd Graff wrote the screenplay for this eccentric romantic comedy in the spirit of Moonstruck that exchanges pasta for matzo balls. The film takes place in Queens in 1969, where Pearl Berman (Shirley MacLaine) has just arrived back from the funeral of her husband. As her dysfunctional family kvetches in the living room, the dapper Joe Meledandri (Marcello Mastroianni) arrives. It seems that Joe has admired Pearl from afar for a number of years, ever since he met her husband in a bar and persuaded him to return to his wife. He invites Pearl for coffee, provoking the wisecrack from her mother (Jessica Tandy): "She got picked up at her own husband's funeral." As Pearl is wooed by Joe, she has to deal with her lonely, overweight daughter Bibby (Kathy Bates) and her prettier daughter Norma (Marcia Gay Harden), who suffers from such a lack of self esteem that she assumes the personalities of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Bonnie Parker. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, (more)
- 1991
Detectives Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) seek out Brutus Walker (Jerome Preston Bates), the chief suspect in the rooftop murder of a cop. Even while the detectives put out a dragnet for Walker, the fugitive's lawyer, Simpson (David Margulies), tries to cut a deal with prosecutors Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks). The key to the outcome of this perplexing case may be in the hands of the dead cop's guilt-ridden partner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
American Blue Note concentrates on a Manhattan jazz quintet. Peter MacNichol, Carl Capotorto, Tim Guinee, Bill Christopher-Myers and Jonathan Walker play the five musicians, each with individual crosses to bear. Allotting themselves one year to get booked into a major jazz club or else they'll split, the quintet performs a lot of nickel-and-dime gigs in the meantime. But only one of the five makes it to the band's "Valhalla." Louis Guss, Zohra Lampert and Trini Alvarado appear in peripheral roles. Filmed in 1989, the independently produced American Blue Note didn't get a distributor until 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter MacNicol, Carl Caportoto, (more)
- 1989
In this drama, a distraught Mid-Western housewife is positive that her husband's father, a crime lord, kidnapped her son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Based on the stories by Tama Janowitz, this film follows the relationships and problems of a group of artists struggling to survive in New York City. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernadette Peters, Nick Corri, (more)
Al Capone's imprisonment opened the way for mobster Frank Nitti to become the underworld king of Chicago as related in this true story. (AKA Nitti) ~ All Movie Guide
When there's a full moon over Brooklyn, anything can happen, and everything happens in the neighborhood where widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini (Cher) lives. First, Loretta agrees to marry a man she does not love, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), simply because he knows how to propose properly. Before the wedding can take place, Cammareri must visit his dying mother in Sicily. In his absence, Loretta is supposed to try to patch up the differences between Johnny and his brother, bakery operator Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage). Having never forgiven Johnny for indirectly causing the accident that crippled him, Ronny flies into a rage whenever his brother's name is mentioned. He does, however, fall for Loretta like a ton of bricks. After a torrid affair, Loretta tries to avoid Ronny out of respect to Johnny, but he's just too fascinating to resist. Meanwhile, Loretta's father (Vincent Gardenia) is fooling around with his mistress Mona (Anita Gillette), while Loretta's mother (Olympia Dukakis) is wooed by a college professor (John Mahoney). These brief flings are forgiven and forgotten, but there's still the delicate situation of Loretta being in love with her future brother-in-law. A now-classic romantic comedy, Moonstruck won Oscars for Cher, Olympia Dukakis, and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cher, Nicolas Cage, (more)
The PBS series Great Performances first presented the made-for-TV feature Seize the Day. The time is the success-driven '50s; Robin Williams plays Tommy Wilhelm, a middle-ager who has just lost his salesman's job. Margaret, his wife (Katherine Borowitz), is on the verge of divorce and fully intends to take him to the cleaners whether he has an income or not. Doctor Adler (Joseph Wiseman), Tommy's judgmental father, cannot abide having a failure in the family and refuses to lend his son a single penny. In desperation, Tommy heads to New York City, where his old wheeler-dealer pal Dr. Tamkin (Jerry Stiller) has promised him a job. Even there, however, Tommy is defeated by the cold-shoulder treatment afforded him by the people whose opinions he values most. Seize the Day was adapted by Ronald Ribman from the novel by Saul Bellow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Jerry Stiller, (more)
With the ultimate throw-down, "There can be only one," Highlander captured the imaginations of fantasy fans seeking a well-executed swordplay epic, becoming a cult classic in the process. Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is one of a waning few survivors of a clan of immortals. The breed have been dueling each other for centuries in the quest to be the last one remaining, and hence achieve a supreme enlightenment that would be dangerous in the wrong hands. The immortals can only die by decapitation, so they hunt each other through time and across continents to meet for each decisive duel, which will bring one of them a step closer to ultimate power. In present-day America, the troubled hero MacLeod lives a brooding and lonely existence, having lost his true love centuries ago. The evil Kurgan (Clancy Brown), an immortal who plans to use his power toward unspeakable ends, has fought MacLeod before but is still trying to finish him off. After emerging victorious from a parking garage skirmish with the third-to-last immortal, MacLeod knows that only Kurgan is left, and the two are on a collision path toward the inevitable. In the film's numerous flashbacks to the past, Sean Connery plays Ramirez, the immortal who first tutors MacLeod after the hero survives a mortal battle wound, prompting his fearful village to banish him. Roxanne Hart plays MacLeod's modern-day love interest, who tries to help him while struggling to believe his incredible story. The director's cut runs four minutes shorter. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lambert, Roxanne Hart, (more)
- 1985
- R
In an unusual move, this gangster story features no good guys, telling its tale strictly within the confines of the mob. Steve King (Vince Edwards) is trying to gain control of the cocaine market in one region of his home state of Texas. After borrowing money from a New York mobster, he plans on buying a huge shipment from a druglord named Duval. King's opponents in this underground batle are the mobster Bedford (Billy J. Holman) and a pair of petty criminals (Carey Clark and Gary Lee Love). After the petty thieves steal King's money for the drug buy, Bedford kidnaps Duval, leading to a lot of hard feelings and the inevitable shoot-out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul L. Smith, June Wilkinson, (more)
- 1985
Carroll O'Connor stars as NYPD chief of detectives Frank Nolan in Brass. The script, pseudonymously cowritten by O'Connor and Alvin Boretz, dramatizes two real-life incidents: a sniper attack on Penn Station and a murder in the CBS network parking lot. Though consigned to a desk job, Nolan insists upon hitting the streets to solve the crimes at hand. Vincent Gardenia, who'd previously costarred with Carroll O'Connor on All in the Family as Archie Bunker's next-door neighbor, appears as Chief Mike Maldonato. The director was former actor Corey Allen, best remembered as James Dean's "chicken run" opponent in Rebel Without a Cause. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, Brass debuted September 11, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- R
- Add Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams to QueueAdd Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams to top of Queue
Here, the dope-smoking duo are working on an ice-cream truck, and their specially treated confections are more than just a hit for the kids. Nice Dreams is the third in the series. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, (more)
- 1981
A briefcase left in the back of Bobby's (Jeff Conaway) cab yields an invitation list for a lavish yacht party. Every name on the list is that of a famous celebrity -- and of even more significance, the party is a costume ball. Seizing the opportunity, the cabbies don disguises and masks and pass themselves off as the "beautiful people" who have been invited to the bash. Unfortunately, just having a famous name doesn't automatically make one famous, as our too-eager party crashers learn to their dismay. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Director Paul Mazursky's follow-up to his 1978 hit An Unmarried Woman found this filmmaker creating a feature-length homage to the François Truffaut classic Jules and Jim. Willie and Phil begins with Jewish intellectual schoolteacher Willie (Michael Ontkean) meeting gregarious Italian-American fashion photographer Phil (Ray Sharkey) at a screening of Jules and Jim. The two hit it off immediately and soon find their circle of two expanding to three when they meet Jeanette (Margot Kidder), a free-spirited Southerner who has moved to New York City to figure out her life. Jeanette soon moves in Willie, but the three find themselves in a romantic triangle that constantly shifts over the next nine years as each of the three struggles to find their destiny while honoring the love they feel for each other. Mazursky would later remake another foreign classic (Boudu Saved From Drowning) into his hit Down and Out in Beverly Hills ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder, (more)
- 1979
Beggarman, Thief is the 4-hour sequel to the ratings-busting miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man; both productions were based on the works of novelist Irwin Shaw. For the purposes of the sequel, a new member of the Jordache clan is introduced: filmmaker Gretchen Jordache Burke, played by Jean Simmons. It is Gretchen's task to keep the family together after the murder of her brother Tom (played by Nick Nolte in Rich Man, Poor Man) and the recent disappearance of her other brother Rudy (Peter Strauss, re-creating his RMPM role). Originally presented in two parts, Beggarman, Thief was first telecast November 26 and 27, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Simmons, Glenn Ford, (more)
A standard, mindless teen comedy that is patently geared toward the pre-teen set, H.O.T.S. involves a lot of bouncy females, in this case, sisters in the H.O.T.S. sorority, in hot-blooded competition with the women in another mythical sorority on campus. The objective seems to be to show as many cruel practical jokes, lame-brain jocks, non-stop action, wild orgies, and exaggerated characters as can fit into a 95-minute running time. Added to the pile are the requisite idiot adults who are never able to see what is going on around them, and it becomes apparent (if it was not from the beginning), which age group is meant to be the target audience here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Kiger, Lisa London, (more)
- 1978
Archie fully expects that his bar will make a fortune on Super Bowl Sunday. What Archie hadn't counted on was the fact that two holdup men would likewise covet the contents of the bar's cash register. This is the episode in which virtually the entire cast is stripped to their undies. Written by Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, "Archie and the Super Bowl" originally aired on January 15, 1978, right after CBS' telecast of Super Bowl XII (Broncos vs. Cowboys, in case you need a reminder). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, (more)
