Michael White Movies
The romance, intrigue, and industry politics of the world's biggest film festival -- which is also the world's biggest film marketplace -- provides the backdrop for this typically understated comedy-drama from director Henry Jaglom. Alice Palmer (Greta Scacchi) is a well-known American actress who has written a screenplay that she'd like to direct, and she arrives a the Cannes Film Festival to look for investors. Alice has her eyes on veteran star Millie Marquand (Anouk Aimee) to play the lead, but while Millie loves the script, she's been offered a better-paying supporting role in an upcoming Tom Hanks project. Meanwhile, Millie's former husband Viktor Kovner (Maximilian Schell) is a director fallen on hard times who is trying to scare up financing for his own film. Producer Rick Yorkin (Ron Silver) wouldn't mind leaving Millie in the lurch if it meant landing Alice for his next project. Kaz (Zack Norman) is a less-than-scrupulous producer hoping to put some sort of package deal together. And Blue (Jenny Gabrielle) is a young woman whose shoestring budget independent film has become an unexpected smash hit. Shot in the midst of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, Festival In Cannes features cameos from such stars as Jeff Goldblum, Holly Hunter, Faye Dunnaway, and William Shatner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny Gabrielle, Greta Scacchi, (more)
The women of a suburban town are suddenly forced to live without men in a feminist comedy that parodies the mood and look of '50s sci-fi thrillers. Lisa LaStrada (Mary Woronov) is a seemingly happy housewife in the quiet desert community of Lacuna. But looks can be deceiving, and not all is well in the LaStrada household; Lisa's husband, Jay (Michael White), the local sheriff, is having an affair with her friend Virginia (Roma Maffia). Lisa's sister, Janet (Jaime Tolbert), has problems of her own, running her grocery delivery business and propping up her marriage to Steve (Matt North). One day, a bizarre lightning storm hits Lacuna, and the next morning, while the women wake up, all the men in the community appear to be in a comatose state. Soon it appears that every man in America has fallen into a deep sleep, and no one can wake them, and the women of Lacuna discover they have wildly different reactions to this crisis -- some are lost without their husbands, some are perfectly happy getting to know one another better, while a few ponder the future of the human race without men, who may never wake up again. The New Women also stars Sandra Kinder, Jane Ray, Amy Hill, Jenny Shimizu, and Cheryl Dunye. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Woronov, Jaime Tolbert, (more)
- 1999
In this low-key urban drama, a young man struggles to make a name for himself as a jazz musician -- much like his father, a well-known pianist. But while he wants to follow his father into the arts, he wants to do so without making the mistakes his father made, which brought so much pain to their family. Vacant Lot was the first feature film from writer and director Sherman "Skee" Skinner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael White
- 1994
This story revolves around piano prodigy Leslie Walden (Jenny Lewis) and her demanding mentor Byron (Ronald Guttman). Believing that Leslie would be nothing without him, Byron bristles at the likelihood that he is losing control of the girl's career. Soon afterward, Byron is found murdered--and it is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to perform a few arpeggios and glissandos (metaphorically speaking, of course) to determine the killer's identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Brian Dennehy plays a Wambaugh-type cop who has flourished as a novelist. At the moment, however, Dennehy is suffering from a profound case of writer's block. Coming to the rescue, as it were, is professional hit man James Woods. Recently dumped by his boss, above-suspicion business executive Paul Shenar, Woods is anxious to tell his life story to Dennehy, in hopes of striking it rich with a tell-all bestseller. Shenar, however, takes a dim view of Woods' indiscretions, and for a while it looks as though it's curtains for both Dennehy and his teenaged daughter Allison Balson. Screenwriter Larry Cohen has claimed that Best Seller was based on Strangers on a Train. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Woods, Brian Dennehy, (more)
- 1986
- R
The beat of "go-go" music -- hip-hop oriented dance music with a heavy emphasis on percussion -- provides the backdrop for this drama about corruption and racism in Washington D.C. There are the good guys who play and promote the music, the bad guys who deal in drugs and crime, the bad racist cop out to close the go-go clubs once and for all, and the powerless reporter (Art Garfunkel) who is caught in the middle. While the script raises interesting points about police persecution of African-American men and journalistic credibility in coverage of issues regarding the black community, music is the dominant force in this film, with performances by Trouble Funk, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers and edds & The Boys. The film also deserves credit for portraying a side of Washington, D.C. not often shown on screen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Garfunkel, Robert DoQui, (more)
In Body Double, director Brian DePalma pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock movies Vertigo and Rear Window, adding a few grotesque touches all his own. Craig Wasson plays Jake, a struggling actor who keeps losing jobs because of his claustrophobia. To make matters worse, his girlfriend has walked out on him, so he has no place to sleep. His pal offers him the use of his apartment for the evening. The apartment happens to be equipped with a huge picture window and telescope, enabling him to spy on his beautiful neighbor Gloria (Deborah Shelton) while she undresses. He also bears witness to her brutal murder. And then he meets a porn star (Melanie Griffith), who has just taken a job posing as the late Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Wasson, Gregg Henry, (more)
