Joel Nagle Movies
- 1990
Boston (Michael McNeill) seems to have his romantic wires crossed, because he is forever winding up with screwy women, and the girl of his dreams won't even look at him. In this independently made romantic drama, the young man turns to women who are as needy as he is, and wonders why he does so. Eventually, he discovers that the women in his life are like that because he himself is. Even his dream girl has problems of her own, as he discovers before the end of the film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez). Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Spike Lee, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this spoof, a young girl is convicted of a crime she didn't commit and sentenced to serve time in Loch Ness Penitentiary. It is up to a reporter to don the disguise of a woman to enter the prison and prove her innocence. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Devon Jenkin, Jeff Eagle, (more)
Former boxer Jake LaMotta stars Hangmen along with Rick Washburn and Doug Thomas. The scene is New York's East Side, which according to this film is a hotbed of intrigue. An elite corps of ex-CIA agents form a covert terrorist team known as The Hangmen. When the hero (Washburn) finds out about this, he is targeted for elimination, but the villains forget that he's been trained by the CIA as well. Hangmen later received a home-video release due to the presence of Sandra Bullock as the heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Washburne, Jake LaMotta, (more)
