Will Keenan Movies
The stroke of midnight sets the stage for terror when four vacationing coeds turn the tables on a group of depraved backwoods miscreants. Art student Ilene (Robin Sydney) has a bizarre run-in with eccentric fellow student Caleb (Mark Senter) just before she and roommates Helen (Eryn Joslyn), Mary (Carlee Baker), and Jill (Eve Mauro) head out for a relaxing weekend at a lakeside mountain cabin. Later, as Caleb recalls the encounter to his older brothers, Palmer (Damian DeKay) and Fred (Justin Stone), and the family patriarch, Sir Jim (Frank Birney), the girls get ready to hit the road. On the way to the cabin, the girls stop by a roadside gas station and have a bit of fun with redneck proprietors Cyrus (Mike McKee), Runt (J.D. Brown), and Half Idiot (Luke Y. Thompson). A relaxing afternoon of skinny-dipping in the lake gets the weekend off to a good start, though things take a turn for the worse when Caleb, Palmer, Fred, and Sir Jim unexpectedly show up at the cabin looking for a raunchy good time. Just as things start to get ugly in the cabin, veteran detective Jake (Tim Thomerson) and his rookie partner, Ray (Michael Esparza), stumble into a ritualistic alter while investigating a bloody basement crime scene. Upon finding a newspaper clipping about a mysterious cabin, they race to the country to find another clue. But at this point the clock has just struck midnight, and things are just getting interesting out at the cabin. It seems that the girls have somehow managed to gain the upper hand against their attackers. Have Ilene and company accomplished this by simply outsmarting Sir Jim and the boys, or could it be that these outwardly timid coeds actually possess a deadly and diabolical secret? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlee Baker, Angela Bettis, (more)
- 2008
Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis star in Poor Things, a black comedy that centers on a ring of aging con women. Rosario Dawson co-stars in the Trent Haaga-scripted laugher. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, (more)
A single woman envies the security of her married friends, while they in turn dream of her freedom in this comedy drama. Olivia (Jennifer Aniston) is a single woman in her mid-thirties who feels she's reached a crossroads in her life. Unhappy with her career as a teacher, Olivia quits and takes a job as a maid until she sorts out her feelings. However, Olivia feels as if she could use some support, both personal and financial, from her best friends, all of whom at very least have more in the bank than she does. But that's not to say they don't have problems of their own. Christine (Catherine Keener) and her husband Patrick (Jason Isaacs) are screenwriters who have discovered that collaborating is more stress than they can deal with. Jane (Frances McDormand) is married to Aaron (Simon McBurney); they work together as designers, but while their professional relationship is cordial, they've become numb to one another as lovers and friends. And Franny (Joan Cusack) and Matt (Greg Germann) are a couple who comfortably support themselves and their children thanks to an inherited fortune; while their material needs are met, emotionally they can barely handle marriage and parenthood. Friends With Money was written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, who previously made the acclaimed independent features Walking and Talking and Lovely & Amazing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Joan Cusack, (more)
After making his name directing a number of high-profile music videos and the award-winning Jane's Addiction rockumentary Three Days, filmmaker Carter B. Smith made his feature debut with this ensemble film about several New Yorkers dealing with life in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. With a cast featuring The Sopranos' Drea de Matteo, Love Rome is divided into four vignettes covering different ways average Gotham residents were affected by the tragedy and the ensuing war. Documentary footage of the city fills the gaps between each segment. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
It's hard to be hip and a mother at the same time, as one twenty-something New Yorker discovers in this independent comedy drama. Zelda (Eleanor Hutchins) is a struggling artist who lives with her boyfriend Max (Larry Fessenden), a would-be writer, in a bohemian neighborhood in Brooklyn favored by fellow creative types for the cheap rents and friendly atmosphere. Zelda is also the mother of a two-year-old boy, Little Z (Jonah Leland). Max is the child's father, but doesn't go out of his way to shoulder his share of the labor in caring for him; Zelda says that since she opted to keep the baby, the ultimate responsibility is hers, not his, but it's hard not to sense a hint of resentment in her attitude towards Max. Zelda strives to be a good mother and provide for her son while staying true to her on-the-edge personality, but she's begun to realize that she can't go on being the life of the party and a responsible single parent at the same time; she's also grown tired of sharing an apartment with five other adults, none of whom is holding down a full-time job. As Zelda is arriving at an emotional crossroads, her old friend Natali (Holly Ramos) re-enters her life; Natali has just gotten out of rehab after her latest attempt to wean herself off heroin, but with little to keep her occupied, her self-control is not especially strong, and Natali soon finds herself becoming quite friendly with Max, who is growing weary of his relationship with Zelda. Margarita Happy Hour was shown at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanor Hutchins, Larry Fessenden, (more)
Troma Team Pictures, the company that brought you such classics as The Toxic Avenger, When Nature Calls and Class Of Nuke 'Em High, takes a look inside the making of a "typical" Troma release with Terror Firmer, directed and co-written by Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, who also appears as the director of the film-within-the film. Here, Kaufman (whose character is blind, which would explain a lot about Troma's product) and his crew are making a willfully sleazy horror flick, complete with monsters, gore, gratuitous nudity and loud rock 'n' roll, when a serial killer appears who doesn't happen to be in the script. Terror Firmer is based in part on Kaufman's 1998 book about his career with Troma, All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger, and includes a plug for the upcoming Jane Austen's Schlock and Schlockability (possibly a follow-up to 1996's Shakespeare variant Tromeo and Juliet). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Keenan, Alyce LaTourelle, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
In this inarguably bizarre comedy, Larue Maxwell (Will Keenan) is an unfortunate young man suffering from "compulsive reading syndrome," a neurochemical malady that causes him to furiously read as many books as he can, and then destroy them. Larue is released from the mental institution he's called home for some time against the advice of his psychiatrist, Dr. Noguchi (Yukio Yamamoto), who stresses the importance of Larue taking his medication. Instead, Larue throws his pills away and sets out to see the world; however, he is soon attacked by a trematode, a mutated parasite that has grown to fantastic size and has a habit of burrowing into people's bodies after emerging from their toilets. Dr. Noguchi is aware of the trematode and its effects and is trying to find the creature to prevent it from attacking others. While Larue is consumed by the parasitic super worm, he finds himself at the mercy of a number of strangers, including his neighbor Helen, (Shannon Burkett), and Kali (Kymberli Ghee), a woman who is convinced that an Egyptian deity is her husband. Stuart Gray composed the film's original score and performed it with his rock band Lubricated Goat; another musician of note, Kerri Kenny of the band Cake Like, also appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Keenan
Notorious schlock and psychotronic production company Troma (known for such classics as Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High) hails Tromeo and Juliet, its contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's love tragedy, a "thrill-a-minute, body-piercing, computer sex, sapphic, car-crashing extravaganza." Set in New York City, the tale centers on the Ques and the Capulets. The bitter feud begins when father Capulet steals father Que's Silky Films production company. As enemies, the two warring clans are always doing horrible things to each other. Tromeo Que is a computer nerd who spends much time fondling himself in front of his favorite sexy CD-ROMs until he falls in love with lovely Juliet and proposes to her while she sits upon a toilet. The film, seemingly aimed at adolescent boys, features violence, considerable gore, profanity, vulgar situations (featuring buckets of fake vomit), and the graphic depiction of body piercing. (Of course, if it didn't, it wouldn't be a Troma film.) ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Jensen, Will Keenan, (more)
