Joey Dedio Movies
- 2008
- PG
Providence-St. Mel, a private school in Chicago, is celebrated nationwide for its remarkable success rate: for nearly 30 years, 100 percent of its students have gone on to attend college. As the nation faces an ongoing crisis in public education, many administrators and activists have begun turning to the Providence model to boost test scores and student confidence. This documentary chronicles the school's unique history, and offers testimonies from generations of Providence-St. Mel teachers and alumni. ~ All Movie Guide
- 2008
- R
A woman will go to any lengths to protect her wayward son in this thriller from South African filmmaker Darrell James Roodt. Stephanie (Melissa Leo) is a middle-aged woman living in Tennessee, where she waits tables to help her family make ends meet. Her son Steven (Renier Basson) has fallen in with a gang of ruthless drug dealers, and while she's still willing to do anything for her son, he often takes advantage of her unconditional love for him. Stephanie hasn't heard from Steven for several months when she gets a call from T-Boy (Joey Dedio), a dope dealer and pimp living in Johannesburg; T-Boy is holding Steven hostage, and won't set him free unless someone pays him off. Scraping together the last of her life's savings, Stephanie flies to South Africa to come to Steven's rescue. Stephanie discovers the go-between in the payoff is Steven's girlfriend Tina (Lisa Marie Schneider), who is also a prostitute in T-Boy's stable. As Tina makes Stephanie jump though hoops before leading her to T-Boy and her son's captors, Stephanie refuses to give up or give in until she sees that Steven is safe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Leo, Joey Dedio, (more)
- 2004
Life on the streets is never easy, and when a disparate group of homeless teens attempt to mold a hopeful future from nothing more than cardboard and food dredged out of the local dumpster a street-smart counselor does her best to ensure that their efforts aren't made in vain. Genevieve Bujold, Joey Dedio, Burt Young, and Domenica Scorsese star in a gritty urban drama set in a world where every move you make could be your last. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joey Dedio, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
A young man with a troubled past expresses himself through street art in this independent drama. Anthony (Mark Webber) is a 19-year-old kid living in New York City who was introduced to "bombing" -- graffiti art sprayed on public walls when the cops aren't looking -- by his older brother. When his brother died, Anthony took up bombing himself, and with the help of his pals Justin (Gano Grills) and Kevin (Jade Yorker) he does murals under the street name "Blest," while struggling to avoid the NYPD's anti-graffiti Vandal Squad. Anthony's mother (Donna Mitchell) is after him to quit bombing and attend art school, while his girlfriend (Jaclyn DeSantis) wants to get out of New York, and would like him to join her. However, it takes a run-in with Bobby Cox (Al Sapienza), a Vandal Squad cop with a hair-trigger temper, to push Anthony into making a decision about his life. Bomb the System was the first feature film from writer and director Adam Bhala Lough, who was only 23 years old when the picture was made. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Webber, Gano Grills, (more)
Rick (Vin Diesel) is a gang boss who deals drugs and commits petty crimes by day, and at night drowns himself in sex and drugs to wipe his daytime activities out of his mind. Rick longs for a quieter, more stable way of life, and when he meets the refined Heather (Susanne Lanza), he falls in love. Heather falls for Rick as well, but Rick finds that changing himself and getting out of the outlaw world are not as simple as he may have hoped. Strays also stars Joey Dedio, Darnell Williams, and Mike Epps. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The birth of the gay rights movement gets a fictionalized treatment in this drama based loosely on the acclaimed documentary of the same name by Martin Duberman. In 1969, Matty Dean (Fred Weller) arrives in New York City's Greenwich Village hoping that life there will provide the sexual liberation forbidden to him by his small town upbringing. Matty falls in love with LaMiranda (Guillermo Diaz), a cross-dresser who introduces him to the regulars at the infamous Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar. He is shocked, however, to learn that the NYPD regularly raids the Stonewall, harassing the clientele and closeted owner Vinnie (Bruce MacVitte). After one such incident, Matty ends up in jail, where he's attracted to Ethan (Brendan Corbalis), a gay activist preaching a moderate policy of conformity and peaceful protest. The latter is not possible, however, when police storm the Stonewall yet again and, led by Vinnie's lover Bustonia (Duane Boutte), enraged drag queens fight back in a riot of historical significance. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guillermo Diaz, Frederick Weller, (more)
- 1994
At first, it appears that a wealthy woman's death was the result of suicide. But as the detectives and the lawyers dig deeper, it becomes obvious that the woman was murdered. This time the suspects include the dead woman's teenaged daughter and the victim's husband -- or, in this case, husbands. Prominent among the supporting cast are such powerhouse performers as Sarah Paulson and Victor Raider-Wexler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Marc Rocco's gritty drama Where the Day Takes You stars Dermot Mulroney as King, a street-smart hustler who acts as a father figure to a motley collection of young runaways. Among the people in his sphere are the young self-destructive drug addict Greg (Sean Astin), self-hating gay prostitute Little J (Balthazar Getty), and newcomer Heather (Lara Flynn Boyle). The film is structured as a series of flashbacks triggered by King's conversations with a prison psychologist (Laura San Giacomo). Included in the impressive cast are such soon-to-be-famous names as Will Smith and Ricki Lake, and the already established Kyle MacLachlan, Christian Slater, and Alyssa Milano. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Astin, Lara Flynn Boyle, (more)
