Tony Markes Movies

Tony Markes' second film, Getting Hal, was funded by auctioning off acting jobs and the executive-producer credit. Dixie (Delicia Lanza) wants revenge on her boyfriend Hal (Brad Rowe), who has stolen from her money she planned on using to buy a roller skating rink. She strikes a deal with a detective (Brian Doyle-Murray), who uses her case as a teaching tool for his detective-class students. Many of the students were winners of the auction. Getting Hal was screened at the 2003 Santa Monica Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Film director Adam Rifkin spoofs Hollywood's star machine in concocting this fictional "mockumentary" about a director (Rifkin playing himself) who wants to make a documentary film about a rising young star. Anton Markwell (Tony Markes, who co-directed the film) is the object of Rifkin's inquiring camera. Rifkin, fancying himself a star-maker, advises Markwell to change his name to Nick Decker. Decker is actually the second choice for the project. Rifkin originally selects David Lake (David Andriole), but Lake signs a film contract and his studio won't cooperate with Rifkin's documentary. Rifkin has no better luck with Decker, until his protégé lands a guest role on the popular television series Baywatch. But while filming on the set, Decker steps on a sting ray and ends up in the hospital, ending his chance for quick notoriety. Meanwhile, Lake continues to beat out Decker for plum roles. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Writer/director Adam Rifkin's The Dark Backward is set in a dark, grimy, garbage-strewn urban netherworld, where a company named "Blump's" apparently owns everything. Marty Malt (Judd Nelson of The Breakfast Club) is an unhappy garbageman who moonlights as an atrociously unfunny standup comic. His best friend and fellow trash collector, Gus (Bill Paxton), is the only one who laughs at his jokes, and his sincerity is questionable. The obnoxiously exuberant Gus plays an accordion, which he always carries with him. Marty is seeing Rosarita (Lara Flynn Boyle), a waitress, but she doesn't seem too interested in him, either. One day, Gus convinces a talent agent, Jackie Chrome (Las Vegas circuit staple Wayne Newton), to check out Marty's act. Jackie isn't impressed. Marty's luck seems to take a turn for the worse when a large lump starts growing on his back. He goes to a quack doctor (James Caan), who calls him a wimp and puts a Band-Aid on the lump. The lump continues to grow, eventually becoming a full-sized arm. While Gus uses Marty's newfound freakishness to impress his obese girlfriends, a horrified Rosarita breaks up with Marty, and he gets fired from the club where he does his act. Marty is despondent until Gus brings him to see Jackie, who, it turns out, has always dreamed of finding a real three-armed comic. Re-christened "Desi the Three-Armed Wonder Comic," and with Gus now providing musical accompaniment, Marty gets a fresh start on his career. The Dark Backward received devastating reviews upon its initial release, but has since developed a minor cult following. The film also stars Rob Lowe and King Moody, who was the original Ronald McDonald. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Mickey (D.B. Sweeney) is a reformed thief who works construction. He's saved up his money to move out of his small town and get away his criminal past. Before he leaves town, he proposes to Claudi (Bridget Fonda), a friend he's secretly loved for ages. Claudi has a reputation in town and she's also eager to escape. Their plans are spoiled by Dobbs (Cary Elwes), a mutual friend and gang leader who Mickey used to run with. After a botched robbery that ends in murder, Dobbs and his crew are pursued by a Vietnamese gang led by Tron (Craig Ng). But Dobbs still tries to disrupt his friends' wedding plans by telling Mickey that Claudi is a whore. Then, at Mickey's going away/bachelor party, Dobbs hires a couple of strippers (one played by former porn star Ginger Lynn) to entice Dobbs. Things get more complicated when Tron and company crash the party and shoot up the place, shooting Dobbs and killing several members of his gang. Mickey, Dobbs, Claudi, and Big Steve (Chris Penn) hit the road, heading to L.A. to evade the other gang. Along the way, secrets are revealed that change all of their lives, and they find that escaping the past is not so easy. The film was written and directed by Lee Drysdale, who would later write the script for Sweet Nothing. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Lionel Chetwynd's film documents the horrific struggles that faced American POWs held in the North Vietnamese prison Hoa Lo -- more infamously known as the Hanoi Hilton -- between 1964 and 1975. Williamson (Michael Moriarty) leads a group of American servicemen who are prisoners at the detention camp. He assumes command after Cathcart (Lawrence Pressman) is dragged off to be tortured. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A satiric romantic comedy, Martha Coolidge's Valley Girl is a testimony to the short-lived Southern California '80s craze. Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a good-natured teenager following a swarm of pastel pink valley girls, who utter "gag me" at every opportunity. To her friends' dismay , Julie breaks up with her egotistical boyfriend, Tommy (Michael Bowen), while shopping at the mall. All the valley kids go to a party that night, and Tommy immediately tries to bed one of Julie's friends. Randy (Nicolas Cage), a bad boy from Hollywood, shows up and crashes the party. Open-minded Julie flirts with him before he is literally thrown out, presumably just for looking different. Smitten with Julie, Randy sneaks back into the party to talk to her again. Julie drags a whimpering valley friend with her to spend the night cruising with Randy in Hollywood. After an extended courtship, Randy is in love with Julie, and she must choose between him and Tommy, who wants her back. Her friends refuse to accept Randy, who makes many exaggerated attempts to win back her love. Finally, after she has a heartfelt talk with her dad (Frederic Forrest), love triumphs at the prom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi