Jonathan Katz Movies

Originally created as part of ESPN's 30 For 30 documentary series, The Fab Five looks back on the University of Michigan men's basketball team that became one of the most popular and galvanizing squads of their time. Freshmen Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson came to campus in the fall of 1991 and were widely considered one of the best recruiting classes the school had ever seen, and the anticipation led to them being dubbed "The Fab Five." The filmmakers sit down for interviews with not only the players themselves (except Webber, who refused to participate), but also with many of their opponents, including members of Duke. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Two fathers get a crash course in caring for kids other than their own in this family-friendly comedy. Charlie Hinton (Eddie Murphy) is an advertising executive whose job monopolizes his time, making it difficult for him to stay in touch with his young son, Ben (Khamani Griffin). However, after Charlie and his partner, Phil (Jeff Garlin), are given their pink slips in the wake of a disastrous campaign for a new breakfast cereal, Charlie's wife, Kim (Regina King), goes back to work, and with the family budget tighter than before, Charlie becomes a stay-at-home dad. After pulling Ben out of an expensive and exclusive daycare center run by the humorless Gwyneth Harridan (Anjelica Huston), Charlie comes up with a brainstorm -- since he and Phil watch their own children every day, how much harder could it be to watch a few more kids and open their own day care center? Charlie and Phil discover there's much more to running a daycare center than they ever imagined, but after a very rough start, with the help of likable slacker Marvin (Steve Zahn) their new business becomes a success -- so much so that Harridan finds herself losing customers to the upstart fathers, and she starts searching for a way to shut them down. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Imaginary Z-grade 1960s exploitation film producer Morty Fineman (Jerry Stiller), who was responsible for such faux-works as Buddy Cops V: Hayseed and Toughnut, sci-fi blaxploitation flick The Foxy Chocolate Robot, and, of course, Heil Titler , is the focus for this mockumentary co-written and directed by Stephen Kessler). While Fineman struggles to make his latest effort, Ms. Kevorkian, about a gun-toting babe who's passionate about assisted-suicide, the bank wants to foreclose on his hallowed studio and sell his film archive for $8 a pound. In absolute desperation, he reaches out to his estranged daughter Paloma (Janeane Garofalo), who grudgingly agrees to be the president of his production company in spite of numerous moral qualms. Along the way, the film features interviews with such real-life luminaries as Peter Bogdanovich, Roger Corman, and blaxploitation stalwart Fred Williamson, that paints a picture of a relentlessly gung-ho producer whose work somehow manages to rise above nothing budgets and lackluster talent. They also highlight Fineman's penchant for hitting on his leading ladies; Karen Black recalled one incident by noting, "It helped to be drunk." This film was screened at the 2000 South By Southwest Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Two episodes of political humorist Michael Moore's seminal weekly TV series are included here, comprising such memorable segments as the search for good real estate in New York's Love Canal and the investigation of cab drivers who pass up African-American riders -- in favor of convicted Caucasian felons. Karen Duffy and Steven Wright are among Moore's correspondents. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

The third film written and directed by playwright David Mamet, this combination of crime drama and character study stars several of Mamet's stock players. Joe Mantegna stars as Bobby Gold, a detective with a gift for negotiation who, along with his partner Tim Sullivan (William H. Macy), accidentally stumbles upon a crime scene -- the murder of an elderly Jewish woman in her corner store. When it turns out that the victim was politically well-connected and Jewish, Bobby's superiors assign him the case because he's also Jewish. The problem is that Bobby isn't very religious and he resents being taken off a higher profile drug investigation involving a dealer, Randolph (Ving Rhames). Bobby's also highly skeptical when the murdered woman's family claims that her death was not a simple robbery but an anti-Semitic hate crime. As he gets deeper into his case, however, Bobby discovers that a larger conspiracy may be afoot, and he begins to question his own ethnic roots. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In his directorial debut, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet creates a stylish cinematic puzzle of games within games, as con men are joined by a psychologist in creating the perfect caper. Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse), the writer of psychological self-help books, meets Mike (Joe Mantegna) as she attempts to help a patient who owes heavy gambling debts. When she herself is the victim of a con, she becomes intrigued by the psychological drama of the con game and joins in a complicated scam involving a suitcase of cash. Mamet directs his extremely complicated plot with skill and complete control until it is impossible to tell who is the con and who is the victim. The suspense builds to an amazing surprise ending which is both reasonable and believable but completely unpredictable. Crouse and Mantegna are outstanding as are all the supporting performances. Mamet and his cinematographer Juan Ruiz-Anchia create a visually stunning, compelling film that does justice to Mamet's superbly written screenplay ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi