George Shapiro Movies
- 2010
This side splitting release from comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Colin Quinn captures a live stand-up performance by the funnyman, recorded live at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York City, and featuring all the trademark sarcastic observations that Quinn is known for on such topics as history, reality TV, buying in bulk. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
- 2003
The first original cartoon special from the TV Land cable channel, The Alan Brady Show spotlights the fictional star of the series-within-the-series on the classic The Dick Van Dyke Show. Producer/director Carl Reiner lends his voice to a new 3D-animated version of his devilish doppelganger, the egotistical and witheringly sarcastic TV superstar Alan Brady. The premise: With the 50th anniversary of his television debut rapidly approaching, Alan's long-suffering staff of writers is ordered to put together a celebratory special. Although the writers simply want to concentrate on highlights from past Alan Brady Shows, their vainglorious boss insists upon showing that he has kept apace with the times by headlining a new reality series, "Who Wants to Marry Alan Brady?" The comic tone of the proceedings is implicit in the name of Alan's new trophy girlfriend -- she's known simply as Trophy. Familiar Reiner associates Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie make guest voice appearances, as do Gary Owens and Carol Leifer. The Alan Brady Show first aired August 17, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, (more)
- 2002
The uplifting documentary The Bronx Boys chronicles the 2001 reunion of fifteen men, all born in the Bronx and all friends since starting kindergarten together in 1936. The friends are an eclectic mix of professionals, including several prominent and celebrated members of the entertainment profession: Seinfeld co-producers (and managers of the late Andy Kaufman) George Shapiro and Howard West (also producers of the film), screenwriter John Herman Shaner (The Last Married Couple in America), and clothing designer Lenny Lauren (brother and business partner of Ralph Lauren). Also in the group are a sociology professor, a jeweler, and an engineer. With the enthusiasm and energy of schoolboys, the buddies come together to celebrate their 70th birthdays over the course of a long summer weekend. They trade reminiscences and jokes about each other, hash out the old teachers they loved to hate, and recall the girls they had crushes on during their schoolboy days. A highlight of the film is an extended sequence in which the septuagenarians relive some of their favorite schoolyard games such as stickball, basketball, football, marbles, and chestnuts. The Bronx Boys was created by film and television director/editor Benjamin Hershleder and hosted by Bronx native Carl Reiner. The film was selected as a winner in the 2002 DV Awards and received a Bronze Telly Award and a Silver Remi Award from WorldFest Houston that same year. It aired on Cinemax's Reel Life series in 2003 and was scheduled for release by PBS in Fall 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Comedian Andy Kaufman gave performances that were bizarre and difficult to categorize, in which he might do or say almost anything: show cartoons, impersonate Elvis Presley, play conga drums while singing children's songs, read aloud from The Great Gatsby, or take the audience out for milk and cookies. Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski and directed by Milos Forman (the team behind The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)), this biopic takes an in-depth look at Kaufman's life and art, with Jim Carrey as Kaufman, who could (and would) be any number of different people onstage: the quiet and childlike man, the little foreign guy, the overbearing showbiz "professional," the violently obnoxious wrestler, or the world's worst lounge singer. As Kaufman rose from comedy clubs to guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and a spot on the TV sitcom Taxi, his performances became more complex and dangerous -- so much so that when word got out in 1984 that he was suffering from lung cancer, many fans and associates thought it was just another bizarre stunt; the disease took his life later that year. Man on the Moon features Danny De Vito as Kaufman's manager George Shapiro, Courtney Love as his girlfriend Lynne Margulies, Paul Giamatti as his friend Bob Zmuda, and David Letterman, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Carol Kane, and Christopher Lloyd as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, (more)
Carl Reiner directed this situation comedy about a neglected wife who, in frustration, has her first affair, with humiliating consequences. Kirstie Alley plays Marjorie, the ignored housewife of Harry Turner (Scott Bakula), an obnoxious member of a family of physicians. Marjorie's sister Jeanine (Jami Gertz), sensing her frustration, suggests she have an affair. Marjorie meets a ramrod-handsome man (Sam Elliott) in the check-out line at the local super market. They look into each other's eyes and soon they're having an afternoon of passionate lovemaking. Actually a bit too passionate -- after round five, Marjorie's lover dies from a heart attack. A kind-hearted salesman named Nicholas Meany (Bill Pullman) quickly comes to Marjorie's aid, trying to make the death look like a suicide. Complications compound as Marjorie tries to hide the incident from Harry and his family, but instead she keeps sinking deeper and deeper into a hole of deceit. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley, Bill Pullman, (more)
- 1989
- R
Tony award-winning British musical comedy star Robert Lindsay makes his first important American film appearance in Bert Rigby, You're a Fool. Lindsay, of course, plays the title character, a coal miner who dreams of becoming a big showbiz star. Only problem is, there's very little demand for Bert Rigby's impersonations of Buster Keaton and Gene Kelly. Undaunted, Bert heads to Hollywood, where, while working as a butler in the household of movie mogul Jim Shirley (Corbin Bernsen), he must fend off the advances of Shirley's hot-to-trot wife, Meredith (Anne Bancroft). Befitting the old-fashioned nature of Bert Rigby's behavior and tastes in entertainment, director Carl Reiner adopts a "retro" approach to his material; at times, the film looks as though it was made in 1939 rather than 1989, despite its R-rated sex, profanity, and body-function jokes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Lindsay, Cathryn Bradshaw, (more)
On the eve of his Hawaiian vacation, irresponsible high school teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is forced into teaching a summer-school class. His students are all malcontents and layabouts with the standard repertoire of teenaged hang-ups and hostilities (two of the kids, who can't see enough slasher movies to suit them, are hilarious precursors to Beavis and Butt-Head). Harmon would rather spend his time with history teacher Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley), but she doesn't think much of his laziness and lack of dedication. Shoop finally begins to take his job seriously when he realizes his students' problems are not all of their own making. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, (more)
This routine comedy is about a series of misadventures during a family vacation at the beach and stars John Candy (who died of a heart attack while filming in Mexico in 1994) as John Chester and Karen Austin as his long-suffering wife Sandy. When the family leave for what turns out to be a pretty decrepit shack on a public beach, Jack eventually locks horns with the owner of this dubious piece of real estate, and their conflict terminates in a boat race in which Jack and his motley crew are at first glance, and even second, no match for the others in the race. In the meantime, there are plenty of skits with Jack dressed as anything from an ample, unintentional likeness of a geisha to the normal tourist dude in a Hawaiian shirt. His wife and daughter tackle their own problems, related to sex in one way or another, mostly another. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Candy, Rip Torn, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Comedian Marty Feldman directed and co-wrote this satire of the less-scrupulous side of organized religion. Brother Ambrose (Marty Feldman) is a monk who has spent nearly his entire life within the walls of his monastery and knows little of the outside world. However, when he learns that the monastery has fallen on economic hard times and may be forced to close, he takes it upon himself to raise the funds to save his home. Ambrose ends up on Hollywood Boulevard, where he solicits donations from passers-by and gets a crash course in life in the fallen world from Mary (Louise Lasser), a smart-mouthed hooker. Ambrose and Mary soon encounter Armageddon T. Thunderbird (Andy Kaufman), a fire-and-brimstone televangelist who agrees to help Ambrose by making him a partner in his house of worship, The Church of the Divine Profit. However, Thunderbird's methods don't agree with Ambrose, and eventually he turns to God Himself (Richard Pryor) for help. In God We Trust was Feldman's second and last directorial assignment; the supporting cast also includes Peter Boyle, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Severn Darden. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Marty Feldman, (more)
