Andrew Gurland Movies
A movie maker unwittingly gets a bit too involved with his subjects in this darkly comic mockumentary. Andrew (Andrew Gurland) is a documentary filmmaker who wants to make a picture about modern-day mail order marriage. Andrew thinks he's found the perfect subject for his film when he meets Adrian (Adrian Martinez), a stocky snake enthusiast from Queens, NY, who earns his living as a doorman and has never had much luck with women. Adrian wants choose a bride from a professional marriage broker's agency called Paradise Girls, and Andrew agrees to foot the bill in exchange for the rights to make a movie about him. Adrian soon weds Lichi (Eugenia Yuan), an attractive Burmese woman, but Andrew is less than pleased to discover what Adrian really wants from his relationship is a woman who will feed mice to his pet python, make chili just the way he likes it, and keep the house spotless while occasionally indulging some of his odder sexual fantasies. Lichi isn't happy either, and at Andrew's urging she leaves Adrian and moves into Andrew's apartment until she decides what to do next. Andrew falls for Lichi, and before long he asks for her hand in marriage; however, her relationship with Adrian has stripped Lichi of her illusions, and she becomes a very demanding bride who loudly speaks her mind and has accumulated a large and expensive collection of pig-related nick knacks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrian Martinez, Eugenia Yuan, (more)
Co-director of the controversial 1998 documentary Frat House, Andrew Gurland attempts to follow in the teen-comedy footsteps of his partner on that film, Todd Phillips (Road Trip), with Cheats. The film centers on Handsome (Trevor Fehrman) and Sammy (Elden Henson), a scheming pair of best pals who cheat their ways through elementary school and junior high. Once in high school, the duo meets Victor (Matthew Lawrence) and Applebee (Martin Starr) and prove that in cheating, four heads are better than two. But when their principal catches them, they are put on probation. With that in mind, the gang must decide whether to pull off one final, grandiose cheat at the risk of being caught and having their college dreams squelched. Although intended for a theatrical release, Cheats had its premiere on Cinemax before being released on home video and DVD. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trevor Fehrman, Elden Henson, (more)
- 1998
Documentary co-directors Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland, after profiling publisher Al Goldstein in Screwed (1997) moved on to this study of college fraternity hazing practices, gaining cooperation as long as frat houses and universities were not named. Activities at "Beta Chi" included excess alcohol consumption and licking substances from a nude dancer. After three weeks, however, the Beta brothers had second thoughts, and the filmmakers took off after receiving threats. At their next site, the filmmakers were only allowed to film if they participated in scheduled events, including being locked in a dog-cage and doing push-ups in vomit. One of the filmmakers was hospitalized with stomach pains. Filmed in 16mm for HBO, this hour-long documentary was shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Al Goldstein, the publisher of the notorious hard-core pornographic magazine Screw, provides the subject for this documentary that is a low-brow answer to Milos Forman's glittery 1996 biopic of pornographer Larry Flynt, The People versus Larry Flynt.. Like Flynt, Goldstein helms a pornographic media empire and he considers himself an outlaw dedicated to upholding the First Amendment. Most telling about Goldstein, his profession and his regard for fans and peers is his comment that the porno industry is "a self-hating business of losers." In addition to interviews with Goldstein himself, the documentary also features interviews of his biggest fans most of whom aptly illustrate his comment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
