Karen Montgomery Movies
Documentarist Christopher Monger's Special Thanks to Roy London profiles famed acting coach London (1943-93), a man with resounding professional success (including a litany of former pupils who graduated to A-list Hollywood triumph) but a rocky and notoriously complicated personal life. In this program, Monger examines London through the eyes of many of the said pupils, including Jeff Goldblum, Hank Azaria, Garry Shandling, Geena Davis and Patrick Swayze. The title, of course, refers to the "special thanks" mention to fall in the end credits of many a feature film. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Jon Bon Jovi and Bai Ling star in this culture-clash romance about a down-and-out ex-con and a lonely Chinese immigrant. Just out of Riker's Island for taking the fall for his thuggish brother Gil (William Forsythe), Jamey (Bon Jovi) lands low-paying work as a door to door census taker. On the job, he happens upon Chun Hua (Ling) who lives with her baby, her grumpy middle-aged husband, and her meddlesome mother-in-law. Taking advantage of her poor English, Jamey asks a series of increasingly personal questions under the guise of official necessity, learning that Chun Hua is desperately lonely in her unhappy arranged marriage. A slow, hesitant relationship develops between the two. Later, Gil stumbles back into Jamey's life, up to his neck in debt with a blood-thirsty Chinese gangster. As a result, Jamey finds himself and especially Chun Hua in danger. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Bon Jovi, William Forsythe, (more)
- 1991
- R
Kenneth Pressman adapted his play Insider's Price for this turgid and morally-bankrupt motion picture entertainment. Forest Whitaker stars as Dekker, a hit man fed up with his profession and ready to quit -- right after one last job. This last job proves to be the looniest and most gruesome one of all -- an ex-gangster named Zidzyk (Lewis Smith) hires him for a hit. Zidzyk has found God and has set up his tabernacle in a porno parlor. He wants Dekker to ice his wife Jain (Sherilyn Fenn) and their infant child and requests that Dekker bring back a body part to him as proof of purchase. Dekker agrees to the terms and goes to visit Jain, who engages in an extending monologue that captures the heart of Dekker -- if not the audience. When Zidzyk realizes that Dekker is a softy, he hires a second hit man to do the job. Dekker knows his business and is ready to defend Jain and face the second killer. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forest Whitaker, Sherilyn Fenn, (more)
- 1988
The Enterprise lands on Angel One, a planet ruled entirely by women. The crew comes across four male survivors of a Federation Freighter crash, now fugitives because of their opposition to the female status quo. Picard's efforts to rescue the men are stymied by a virus which holds the Enterprise in thrall. Perhaps significantly, "Angel One," which originally aired January 30, 1988, was written by a man, Patrick Barry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The 1987 portmanteau comedy feature Amazon Women on the Moon lampoons several film genres in general and the 1954 sci-fi cheapie Cat Women of the Moon in particular. Other sketches in Amazon Women include an opening bit with Arsenio Hall; a vignette titled "Son of the Invisible Man" wherein a naked Ed Begley Jr. runs around in full view of the nonplussed supporting cast; the It's Alive parody "Hospital", which offers the spectacle of Michelle Pfeiffer giving birth to Mr. Potato Head; and a Siskel & Ebert takeoff, featuring Arche Hahn as a TV viewer whose entire life is given a "thumbs down." Directed by several hands, including Joe Dante, Carl Gottleib, Peter Horton, John Landis, and Robert K. Weiss, Amazon Women on the Moon also features a satire of the Kroger G. Babb school of "sex hygiene" exploitation cheapies, with syphilis victim Carrie Fisher being counseled by unctuous doctor Paul Bartel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Ralph Bellamy, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Comedy falls as flat as a blowout in this film by Joseph Sargent about a down-to-earth trucker (Robert Blake) and the rich and looney witch (Dyan Cannon) he is forced to take on a haul from New York to L.A. Madie (Cannon) is running away from her money-grubbing husband who is conniving to get the most inexpensive divorce he can. Charlie (Blake) the trucker is under pressure from a ruthless creditor and is in desperate need of cash. As the mismatched duo continues in a stressful journey across country, sparks fly but fail to ignite much of anything along the way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dyan Cannon, Robert Blake, (more)
- 1980
- R
Director Paul Mazursky's follow-up to his 1978 hit An Unmarried Woman found this filmmaker creating a feature-length homage to the François Truffaut classic Jules and Jim. Willie and Phil begins with Jewish intellectual schoolteacher Willie (Michael Ontkean) meeting gregarious Italian-American fashion photographer Phil (Ray Sharkey) at a screening of Jules and Jim. The two hit it off immediately and soon find their circle of two expanding to three when they meet Jeanette (Margot Kidder), a free-spirited Southerner who has moved to New York City to figure out her life. Jeanette soon moves in Willie, but the three find themselves in a romantic triangle that constantly shifts over the next nine years as each of the three struggles to find their destiny while honoring the love they feel for each other. Mazursky would later remake another foreign classic (Boudu Saved From Drowning) into his hit Down and Out in Beverly Hills ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ontkean, Margot Kidder, (more)
Joe (George Burns), Al (Art Carney), and Willie (Lee Strasberg) are three senior citizens who share a small apartment in New York City. They live off social security checks and spend their days sitting on a park bench, reading newspapers, feeding pigeons, and fending off obnoxious children. It's a dull life, and finally Joe is driven to suggest something radical to break the monotony; why not go on a stick up? None of them have a criminal history (though Joe claims he "did some stealing during the war"), but just planning the bank robbery puts a new spring in their step. Al surreptitiously borrows some pistols from the collection of his nephew, Pete (Charles Hallahan), and the trio, disguised with novelty Groucho Marx-style glasses, pulls off their heist to the tune of 35,000 dollars. Unfortunately, the excitement is too much for Willie, who suffers a fatal heart attack the same day. At his funeral, Joe and Al decide to give the bulk of the dough to Pete and his family, and attempt to blow the rest of it on a whirlwind excursion to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the eccentric robbery has become a colorful news story for the media and the police are closing in on the amateur criminals. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, Art Carney, (more)
