Vinny Argiro Movies

To paraphrase 1930s wit Wilson Mizner, Fear City is like a trip through a sewer in a glass-bottom boat. In exploitation-flick fashion, the film exposes the seedy "nether world" of contemporary Manhattan. Unsavory Matt (Tom Berenger) and Nick (Jack Scalia) run a topless bar/booking agency, in direct competition with equally scuzzy Goldstein (Jan Murray). It's hard to imagine anyone lower than these low-lives until we're apprised of a serial killer who dutifully keeps a record of his murders in a diary. The killer's victims are all exotic dancers and hookers, prompting Matt to suspect that Goldstein is behind the crimes, and vice versa. Once they've decided that it's better to unite against a common enemy than to throw volleys at each other, Matt and Goldstein arrange between themselves to insure the safety of the women in their employ. Meanwhile, Matt's ex-girlfriend Loretta (Melanie Griffith), saddened by the murder of her lesbian lover Leila (Rae Dawn Chong), resumes her drug habit, while a dispirited Matt begins harking back to his own sordid past. The one redeeming aspect of Fear City is the ultimate triumph over the odds by Loretta, who by process of elimination emerges as the most likeable character in the bunch. For a film of this nature, Fear City boasts an unexpectedly strong cast, including the aforementioned actors and Billy Dee Williams, Rosanno Brazzi, Joe Santos and Michael V. Gazzo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film, a bereaved man wants to exact his revenge from the bank robber who was responsible for his wife's untimely death. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a divorced dad fights for visitation rights with his daughter after she and her mother are relocated to an unknown locale as part of the Federal Witness Protection program. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Howard Franklin wrote and directed this film noir character study based on the famed New York Daily News photographer Weegee. Joe Pesci plays a character named Bernstein, a freelance photographer for the New York City tabloids of the 1940s. His life is dedicated to his work; with a police radio under the dashboard of his car and a darkroom in his trunk, he quickly and efficiently races to the scene of crimes, accidents and murders to snap photographs of gangsters, politicians, cops, and prostitutes, which he promptly delivers to the newspapers. His knack for arriving at a crime scene before the police earns him the nickname the Great Bernzini. The trouble begins for Bernstein when he agrees to look up a gangster for Kay (Barbara Hershey), the sexy owner of a fancy Manhattan nightclub. After making inquiries, Bernstein traces the man Kay is looking for, but he turns up dead. When he informs the police, he becomes a suspect in the murder; it also turns out that the FBI is interested the case. Bernstein then uncovers an elaborate conspiracy concerning gas rationing, the mob, and the government. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A series of mysterious malfunctions plague the Enterprise's computer. The source of this high-tech nightmare turns out to be the holodeck, where a trainload of Orient Express passengers has suddenly appeared. These fabricated strangers may well hold the fate of the Enterprise in their hands, as the starship slowly develops a deadly intelligence of its own. Veteran character actor David Huddleston guest stars as the holodeck-generated train conductor. First telecast May 14, 1994, "Emergence" was scripted by Joe Menosky, from a story by Brannon Braga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Denzel Washington stars in this adaptation of the novel by African-American crime author Walter Mosley, the first of his stories to reach the screen. Ezekiel Rawlins (Washington), known to his friends as "Easy," has just lost his job at an aircraft plant in post-WW II Los Angeles, a time when good-paying jobs for black men are hard to come by. He's wondering how to make his mortgage payment when he's approached by De Witt Albright (Tom Sizemore), who describes his job as "doing favors for friends." It seems that a woman named Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals) has gone missing; Daphne is the former girlfriend of wealthy mayoral candidate Todd Carter (Terry Kinney) and a known habitué of the black jazz clubs and night spots on L.A.'s Central Avenue. Albright offers Easy $100 to help him find Daphne, and while he doesn't have any detective experience, the price is right, so Easy agrees. After a passionate affair with a friend of Daphne's, Coretta James (Lisa Nicole Carson), leads to that woman's murder, Easy enlists the help of his friend Mouse (Don Cheadle), who seems to know just a bit too well how to use a gun, which gives Easy all too clear a look at the lower depths of L.A.'s upper crust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Created by William Finkelstein of Civil Wars fame, the made-for-TV feature On Seventh Avenue was intended as the pilot for a weekly series. Wendy Makkena stars as Nadine Jacobs, the owner of a high-profile fashion business established by her father (played by actor-director Gene Saks). In order to keep her business afloat in a sea of cutthroat competitors, Nadine recklessly cuts several deals with a major investment firm--and with the Mob. In typical "pilot" fashion, the film ends with several loose plotlines still dangling and unresolved; guess we'll never know what happened now (sigh!) On Seventh Avenue was telecast by NBC on June 10, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of elderly career criminals may have ended their old lives before they can start a new one in this streetwise drama. Tommy (Donnie Montemarano) and Mic (Vinnie Argiro) are a pair of aging wiseguys who used to work on the fringes of the New York mob. Now in their mid-sixties, Tommy has just been sprung from prison after spending seven years behind bars, and Mick has offered to put him up at his place -- a room in a seedy Los Angeles flophouse called the Golden Eagle, which is overrun by junkies, streetwalkers, and bums with no where else to go. While Tommy's been in stir, Mick has been living the straight life; he's gotten a legitimate job, quit drinking, stopped doing business with prostitutes, and has saved up enough money that he and his best friend can head to Las Vegas and start new lives with real jobs there. However, Tommy isn't so sure he wants to live quite so clean, especially on his fight night out of the joint. Tommy meets another resident of the Golden Eagle, Amber (Natasha Lyonne), an attractive young woman who happens to be a hooker. Not having been with a woman for seven years, Tommy is eager to retain Amber's services, but Amber is working for Rodan (Vinnie Jones), a brutal and short-tempered pimp. Tommy's treatment of Amber manages to anger Rodan, and now Mick and Tommy have to get away from the pimp if they have any hope of getting to Las Vegas (and out of Los Angeles) alive. A low-budget labor of love for director Adam Rifkin, A Night at the Golden Eagle's supporting cast includes James Caan, Ann Magnuson, Sam Moore (of the popular singing group Sam and Dave), Fayard Nicholas (of the legendary dance team the Nicholas Brothers), and Francesca 'Kitten' Natividad. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide