Ari Gold Movies
Director/co-writer Mike Cahill (Boxers + Ballerinas) teams with producer/co-writer Brit Marling to challenge our concepts of reality and redemption with this romantic sci-fi drama about a radiant astrophysics student who endeavors to travel to Earth 2, a newly discovered mirror of our own home planet. Rhoda Williams (Marling) was driving in her car and listening to the radio when the DJ announced the discovery of Earth 2, which had just appeared from the other side of the sun. Gazing out her window at the newly discovered planet, Rhoda neglectfully careens into a minivan carrying a small family. Everyone but the father is killed instantly, and Rhoda is sentenced to four years in prison. Upon emerging, the repentant reckless driver finds herself drawn to the lone survivor. Meanwhile, Rhoda learns of an essay contest to win a seat on a civilian space shuttle to Earth 2. Perhaps, on that strangely familiar planet, an alternate version of herself exists -- one that has made different choices, and followed a different life path. The only way she will ever find out is to win the contest and secure her seat on a ride into the great unknown. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brit Marling, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, (more)
- 2007
The most fabulous drag queen of them all turns up the kitsch for this over-the-top blaxploitation spoof. When supermodel/secret agent Starrbooty learns her niece has been kidnapped, she goes undercover as a streetwalker to rescue the girl and bring the perps to justice. The only problem is that Starrbooty is sure to blow her cover if she doesn't do absolutely everything that the other prostitutes do. On top of those stresses, our heroine then learns a secret about her past that rocks her ultra-high platform heels to their foundations. Silly and saucy no matter how dangerous the situation, Starrbooty is sure to high-kick her way into a happy ending. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
- Starring:
- RuPaul, Lahoma Van Zandt, (more)
Three young people try to make their way through a world in crisis in this independent drama. Hope (Mackenzie Firgens) is a twenty-something woman trying to find an outlet for her political idealism and desire to change the world in the midst of the political crisis of the war in Iraq. Hope also wants to find like-minded people, as her best friend Francine (Lauren Fox) spends much of her time trying to distance herself from reality with sex, drugs and decadence. Hope thinks she may have found a soul mate when she meets Frankie (Samuel Child), a political activist who wants to take an active role in changing the world around him. Hope joins Frankie in his bid to upend the status quo through direct action, but his plans soon take her deeper into the underground than she expected. Featuring an original score by acclaimed singer and songwriter Jonathan Richman, Revolution Summer received its world premiere at the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- MacKenzie Firgens, Samuel Child, (more)
A twentysomething misfit dedicates his life to giving the drummer some, even when the drums are only imaginary, in this comedy written and directed by comic Ari Gold. Power (Gold) grew up in a small mining town in New Mexico, where his father (Michael McKean) always imagined his son would one day join him in digging copper from the earth. But Power has a dream of playing the drums, and since he doesn't have a drum kit, he's become a master of "air drums," flailing his arms in the manner of Neil Peart or Keith Moon against a huge but nonexistent set of traps. Power's desire to become the world's greatest air drummer doesn't earn him much respect at home, so he travels to Mexico, where he learns of an air-drumming competition in Newark, NJ. Power hits the road for the garden state and meets Carlos (Steven Williams), a master air drummer who becomes his guide in the art of not really playing. Power also gets some much-needed encouragement from Annie (Shoshannah Stern), a sweet born-again girl living upstairs from him. But when Power learns that his father back home is leading a strike to save jobs for the employees at the local copper mine, winning the title becomes a matter of defending the honor of his family and his hometown, and he dedicates himself to defeating arrogant country music star Dallas Houston (Adrien Grenier), who is favored to win. Adventures of Power also stars Jane Lynch, Travis Johns, and Jimmy Jean-Louis. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ari Gold, Michael McKean, (more)
- 2006
- Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to Queue Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to top of Queue
Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, (more)
Writer-director Loren Marsh's black comedy Invitation to a Suicide - an official selection at the AFI Fest and HBO Comedy Festival - concerns the plight of Kaz Malek, a witless young man raised in a Polish enclave of Brooklyn. In a (very) misguided attempt to escape from his dead-end life as a baker's son, Kaz slyly lifts $10,000 from a Russian mobster, but is promptly caught. The mobster threatens to kill Kaz's father if he can't come up with the payola. To escape from this plight, Kaz devises a wild yet workable scheme: he'll publicly hang himself and sell tickets for the show, thus raising the money to pay off his creditor but dying in honor instead of living in shame over his father's death. To his utter shock, everyone - his father and the Mafioso included - wholeheartedly applauds the idea. But it remains unclear whether Kaz will follow through and off himself. Marsh pulled influence for the film from such classic films as Harold and Maude and King of Hearts. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- 2002
Written and directed by Edward S. Barkin, Unforseen takes place in a lonely New York City hospital room where a once rich and purportedly happy young man named Derek (Steve Parlavecchio) currently resides. In a series of flashbacks, Derek tells the story of his own ruin; a prenuptial agreement gone wrong and a dishonest ex-wife were the key factors in his financial and mental downfall. Spiraling downwards into his own psyche, Derek becomes obsessed with vengeace. Unforseen also features Lisa Lawrence, Ari Gold, and David Heymann.
~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Parlavecchio, Lisa Lawrence, (more)
An actor and filmmaker meditates on the nature of parenthood as he searches for the father he's never known in this documentary. Best known for his work on the HBO series Entourage, Adrian Grenier grew up in New York City, raised by his single mother Karesse. Karesse rarely spoke of Adrian's father, and he knew little about him until he turned twenty-three and decided it was time he got closer to his dad. Karesse met Adrian's father during a period when she was living on a commune, and the child was the product of a relationship that was never meant to be long term. As Adrian follows a sketchy path to Ohio in search of his dad, he stops along the way to ask any number of people (including baseball fans attending a game at Yankee Stadium on Father's Day) about what fatherhood means to them, if one parent can really assume both roles in a child's development, and how this belated reunion could impact both men's lives. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Following other indie films about the kinetic, drug-saturated rave culture such as Go (1999) and Human Traffic (1999) comes this ensemble movie, set in San Francisco. At the film's opening, the main characters are introduced at breakneck speed, including Leyla (Lola Glaudini) who recently arrived from New York, Neo-hippie Harmony (MacKenzie Firgens), who is celebrating her birthday with her boyfriend Colin (Denny Kirkwood), and Colin's nerdy brother David (Hamish Linklater), who would much rather read than rave. As the film charts David's first taste of chemically-induced ecstasy and his budding romance with Leyla, who serves as his trip guide, it also includes a small vignette of the tattoo and piercing set, including blissed-out drug dealers and their attempts at scamming on chicks, a skinhead looking for trouble, and a gay couple who just can't quite figure out where the blasted rave is. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lola Glaudini, Denny Lee Kirkwood, (more)
This deliberately broad and overwrought gay-themed comedy-drama concerns a handful of young Hispanics living in Brooklyn whose myriad sexual obsessions are matched only by their fascination with the "telenovela" (Latin-American soap opera) Dos Vidas. Justin (Irwin Ossa) is a mild-mannered assistant to a photographer who specializes in Hispanic beefcake with campy flourishes. Justin is strongly attracted to his cousin Angel (John Bryant Davila), who has arrived in town to do some photo sessions with his boss, but while Justin is tentatively out of the closet, Angel wavers between the gay and straight worlds, and he sets his sights on Andrea (Jenifer Lee Simard), a flamboyantly sexy woman whom he meets at a dance club. Braulio (Alexis Artiles), Andrea's closest friend, is involved with Carlos (Mike Ruiz), who is flagrantly unfaithful and doesn't put much stock in safe sex. Carlos puts the moves on Justin, who reluctantly succumbs to his advances, but when Brauilo learns of Carlos' latest infidelity, he finds himself drawn into the tales of jealousy and revenge from Dos Vidas and is driven to violent retribution against his lover. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Irwin Ossa, John Bryant Davila, (more)
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