Linda Larkin Movies
Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga star in director George Ratliff's uncomfortable psychological thriller Joshua, as Brad and Abby Cairn, an affluent young stockbroker and his wife, raising children in New York City. Their firstborn, the nine-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan) is a frighteningly intelligent child - to such a degree that he thinks and acts decades ahead of his age. Nearly always clad in formal wear and demonstrating limitless brilliance as a pianist - with a marked predilection for "dissonant" classical pieces - Joshua gravitates toward his gay aesthete uncle (Dallas Roberts) as a close friend, but distances himself from his immediate kith - particularly when Abby brings a newborn baby sister home from the hospital and unwisely alienates the young tyke. As the days pass, one at a time, the mood at the house regresses from healthy and happy to strange, unsettled and disorienting; meanwhile, bizarre events transpire. As the baby's whines drive an already strained Abby to the point of a nervous breakdown, Joshua devolves from eccentric to downright sociopathic behavior, discarding all of his toys, disemboweling a stuffed animal, and killing off pets. One at a time, family members also begin to suffer tragic fates - but are they Joshua's fevered and psychotic doings or merely the result of happenstance? ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, (more)
Writer/director Mike Sargent makes his feature debut with this witty romantic comedy about looking for a lover in the newspaper pages. New York reporter Keith Parker (Malik Yoba) neglects his day job to tend to his two girlfriends. His carefully balanced world comes crashing down when he gets canned from work and dumped by both of his honeys. Keith resolves to get his life back in order by placing some personal ads both under his real name and under his cheesy pen name. Much of the rest of the film details Keith's adventures on the town with a diverse array of women including an angry black militant (Angela Bullock) who denounces Whoopi Goldberg, a depressive poet (Joie Susannah Lee), and a forthright businesswoman who seeks the right man to impregnate her. Personals was screened at the 1999 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malik Yoba, Stacey Dash, (more)
After a long lonely period of involuntary celibacy, Marty Sachs decides that he has had enough of New York and wants to pack up and run the family business in Maine. Yet before he leaves, he meets two available, attractive women, both named Nina. Nina Cohen shares many of the same eccentric interests as Marty, but she has grow gun-shy from one too many bad relationships. Blonde bombshell Nina Harris literally knocks Marty off his feet in an ill-fated attempt at snagging a cab. Two Ninas was screened at the 1999 Boston Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cara Buono, Amanda Peet, (more)
Andy Warhol was a phenomenon who warrants a lot of explaining: a completely colorless mega-star celebrity, and a kind of LaBrea Tarpit for a vivid and talented collection of oddballs in the New York scene. He fostered their continued degeneration into weird lifestyles and heavy drug use; and at the same time acted as their mentor, agent, and sponsor. One artist who came to be part of Warhol's "scene" was Jean Michel Basquiat, an antisocial street-bum who went from writing graffiti on alley walls to being the toast of New York City's art world. This film biography chronicles the progression of Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) and his progression from living in cardboard boxes to penthouses, his romances, his drug use, and his death in 1988 at age 27. Along the way, he never stopped detesting the rich, including art agent Bruno Bischofberger (Dennis Hopper), and he never lost his naivete. Warhol (David Bowie) picks up some of the pieces as Basquiat lurches through the art scene. Cameo appearances by Tatum O'Neal and Courtney Love add spice to this interesting film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, (more)
- 1996
In Disney's second straight-to-video sequel to Aladdin, Aladdin (voice of Scott Weinger) and Princess Jasmine (voice of Linda Larkin) have finally decided to marry, but when the big day finally arrives, the ceremony is thrown into chaos by the unexpected arrival of the Forty Thieves, who are searching for the enchanted Hand of Midas, a charm that will turn all it touches into gold. Aladdin makes the shocking discovery that his father (voice of John Rhys-Davies), long believed dead, is actually the leader of this infamous band of thieves, and when his father falls into peril, Aladdin must rescue him -- with the genie of the lamp (voice of Robin Williams) on hand to help. Robin Williams, whose voice work was considered a key factor in the success of the original Aladdin, returned to the franchise for this film after bowing out of the first sequel, The Return of Jafar, due to a financial dispute (in The Return of Jafar, the genie was voiced by Dan Castellaneta). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- G
Return of Jafar is a spin-off from the television Aladdin cartoon series, which was a spin-off of the hit Disney animated movie. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, (more)
- 1993
After much foot-dragging, Lowell (Thomas Haden Church) concludes that the time has come to finalize his divorce from his wife Bunny (Laura Innes). However, within 24 hours the couple has landed back in the sack and are comporting themselves like giggling newlyweds. Alas, Bunny is still as faithless as ever, waiting until after their nocturnal rendezvous to inform Lowell that she has a new fiancé! Elsewhere, Antonio (Tony Shalhoub) and Fay (Rebecca Schull) find themselves long-distance "witnesses" to a extramarital affair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Robin Williams's dizzying and hilarious voicing of the Genie is the main attraction of Aladdin, the third in the series of modern Disney animated movies that began with 1989's The Little Mermaid and heralded a new age for the genre. After a sultan (Douglas Seale) gives his daughter, Jasmine (Linda Larkin), three days to find a husband, she escapes the palace and encounters the street-savvy urchin Aladdin (Scott Weinger), who charms his way into her heart. While the sultan's Vizier, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), weaves a spell so that he may marry Jasmine and become sultan himself, Aladdin discovers the Genie's lamp in a cave, rubs it, and sets the mystical entity free, leading the Genie to pledge his undying loyalty to the dazzled youth. Aladdin begins his quest to defeat Jafar and win the hand of the princess, with the Genie's help. Monsters, Disney's trademark talking animals, and a flying carpet all figure into the ensuing adventures, but Williams' Genie, who can change into anything or anybody, steals the show as he launches into one crazed monologue after another, impersonating figures from Ed Sullivan to Elvis Presley. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Kane, Scott Weinger, (more)
- 1991
While dining out in Boston, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) and Seth (William Windom) are witness to a mob "hit." The victim is a member of the powerful Abruzzi crime family, who despite Seth's efforts to save him does not survive. Enter the dead man's vengeful son Michael (Vincent Irizarry), who kidnaps both Seth and Jessica--meaning that it is literally a matter of life and death for Jessica to find out who ordered the elder Abruzzi's assassination and prove to Michael that Seth was not responsible for his dad's demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The sequel to Zapped!, this comedy follows the wacky events that occur when a mysterious formula endows a geeky high school boy with telekinetic abilities. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Todd Eric Andrews, Marie McCann, (more)
