Ehud Bleiberg Movies
A young man is looking for the woman he loves, though he wouldn't know her if he saw her in this teen-oriented comedy. Matthew (Jonathan Tucker) is a college freshman who has not been having much luck with the ladies since he started school. One night, Matthew is taking an elevator downstairs at his dorm when someone dashes in just as the door is closing. Moments later, there's a power outage, and Matthew and his fellow passenger are stuck. He soon discovers that he's stranded on the elevator with a woman, and they strike up a conversation; one thing leads to another, and they end up making love. However, Matthew never gets her name or a good look at her face in the darkness, and the next morning, he awakes to discover the power is back on, and the young woman is gone. Matthew is desperate to find her, certain that she is the love of his life, but all he knows for sure is that she lives in a nearby all-girls dorm -- and that she left behind a pair of panties. Posing as a maintenance man, Matthew sets out to visit every girl in the dorm, hoping to find the girl who matches up to the lingerie. Among the many women Matthew runs across in search of his dream girl in 100 Girls are Larisa Oleynik, Jaime Pressly, Katherine Heigl, Marissa Ribisi, and Emmanuelle Chriqui. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Tucker, Larisa Oleynik, (more)
A young man moves to Los Angeles to make something of himself -- but finds that such a task might take a little more work than he thought -- in this romantic comedy. According to Spencer stars Jesse Bradford as the titular Spencer, an ad agency mail room clerk just-arrived in L.A. and eager to make his presence felt. Renting a room in a run-down mansion, Spencer crosses paths with shady eccentrics Ezra (David Krumholtz) and Feldy (Adam Goldberg), aspiring porn filmmakers who convince him to make inroads as a commercial director -- with little success. But when Spencer serendipitously meets his childhood sweetheart Melora (Mia Kirshner), who's currently stuck in a go-nowhere relationship with the smarmy Craig (Brad Rowe), things begin to look up. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesse Bradford, Mia Kirshner, (more)
Author Yoram Kaniuk's celebrated 1971 novel concerning a charismatic yet questionably sane Holocaust survivor comes to the screen in this dark drama starring Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, and Derek Jacobi. In the years before World War II, Adam Stein (Goldblum) was a Berlin entertainer who thrilled audiences with extravagant circus acts and spectacular magic tricks. Later, when Hitler took power and Europe was plunged into chaos, Stein and his family were locked away in a concentration camp presided over by the sadistic Commandant Klein (Dafoe). The only reason Stein survived those dreadful years was because he managed to become the commandant's personal "dog," entertaining his captors even as his wife and daughter are marched off to die. Flash-forward to 1961, when Stein is a patient at an Israeli mental hospital for Holocaust survivors. Seemingly able to read minds, Stein confounds head doctor Nathan Gross (Jacobi) with the question "Who brought a dog in here?" Despite Gross' vehement denial that any such animal is on the premises, Stein soon tracks the scent to a young boy who has spent his entire youth locked in a basement and chained to a wall. Over time, Stein and the boy see in each other something undeniably familiar, and the two kindred spirits set out on a remarkable journey together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, (more)
- 1995
- R
After a drug deal goes horribly awry, Bebe and Alex (Molly Ringwald and Donal Logue) flee to Baja where they wait for money and passports to arrive. Bebe's father (Corbin Bernsen) sends Bebe's not-yet-divorced ex-husband Michael (Michael Nickles) after her, hoping he can talk some sense into Bebe. While Bebe and Alex get increasingly irritated and Michael searches the streets of Baja, a ill-tempered and cut-throat hitman (Lance Henriksen) shows up and befriends Michael. Eventually, all the characters collide in the desert in an explosive confrontation. Typical Elmore Leonard-type plot situation among criminals, but the lush photography of Baja and the competent performances keep this film taut and fresh looking. Henriksen in particular breathes life into a very cliched character making the audience wish the whole film was about him. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly Ringwald, Lance Henriksen, (more)
As prom gets underway and the dead come out to play, the only hope for saving the day is the mismatched couple that can't seem to agree on anything. As the Cosa High School Senior Prom draws near, the local teens are more preoccupied with getting laid and looking good on the big night. But while local teen Jimmy (Jared Kusnitz) seems completely unfazed by all the infectious enthusiasm that's spreading through the student body, his girlfriend Lindsey (Greyson Chadwick) has thrown herself into the teenage ritual and remains determined to have the perfect romantic evening. But it's kind of difficult to enjoy an intimate dance when your classmates are trying to eat your brains, and when the tux-clad teens begin turning blue and munching on flesh, Jimmy and Lindsey are forced to put their differences aside long enough to extinguish the zombie plague before it spreads beyond campus grounds. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, (more)
An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and it's up to a fearless group of adventurers to save the planet before the human race is wiped out in this raunchy claymation spoof of big-budget disaster films. Scientists have determined that that an asteroid with the potential to obliterate all life on the planet is hurdling through the galaxy right in our direction. As the clock ticks down towards mankind's final hour, Harry Bottoms, Sandy Mellons, and V.D. Johnson must join forces to divert the danger and ensure that modern man doesn't go the way of the dinosaur. With vocal contributions by the members of Motley Crüe, this claymation comedy is an adults-only affair. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Director Danny Lerner weaves this minimalist yarn concerning identity loss and miasma in modern day Tel Aviv. Meow (Anat Klausner) is a nomadic young woman who traverses the streets and nightclubs of Tel Aviv during the day, and seeks shelter in the abandoned apartments of the bustling city when the time comes to turn in for the night. After establishing a tentative online friendship with e-mail chat buddy Alex, Meow soon agrees to meet her new pal in the flesh -- but the meeting was never meant to be. Their scheduled rendezvous is tragically canceled when Alex is rendered comatose in a suicide bombing, and Meow takes advantage of her friend's sudden streak of misfortune by moving into his uninhabited apartment. As the neighbors begin to refer to Meow as Alex and the true identity of the wandering woman begins to fade, the dangerous delusion that follows finds the once carefree woman traveling down an increasingly treacherous path. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anat Klausner, Uli Sternberg, (more)
- 1987
Based on a popular Israeli war novel and set during the country's 1948 War of Independence within besieged Jerusalem, this symbolic, gripping film from noted director Amos Guttman offers an unflinching, reality-tinged look at the trauma and pain of those who suffered to create their country. It is also a strange love story between a pretty volunteer nurse and those in the temporary hospital ward where she works. The "hospital" is actually an abandoned monastery and her ward is located in the belfry. She became a volunteer following the death of her lover, a soldier. Among the injured, the patients have managed to form a hierarchy and two sometimes-rowdy young fellows have become the leaders. Also in the ward is Himmo, a blinded soldier who has had most of his limbs amputated without anesthesia, something not available in the besieged city. When the "leaders" see their new nurse, they immediately decide they are in love with her. Then Himmo is moved into their ward. The only words he can speak are "shoot me, shoot me" and everyone, even Himmo's brother Lavi, knows that he will soon die. At first the nurse is frightened of Himmo and his horrible injuries, but then she learns from one of the leaders, Himmo's best friend, that the mutilated man in the bed was once called "Himmo, King of Jerusalem," and was a charismatic ladies man. Intrigued, the nurse begins to find herself somehow drawn to the former "king." Soon fascination turns to something close to obsession, and when she begins treating the other patients with only perfunctory professionalism, resentment begins to build. The tension reaches its peak when Himmo gets moved to the bed nearest the door, the spot reserved for those about to die. The nurse moves her own bed next to his. One night she is tenderly caring for the suffering Himmo when tensions explode. Though Himmo has unwittingly created resentment, he has also created a difficult dilemma. Though in terrible pain and obviously desperate to die, his body refuses to give up, causing the nurse and the ward to agonize about whether or not they have the courage to end his life themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alona Kimchi, Amiram Gavriel, (more)
- 2009
Two women who are both prisoners of circumstance find solace in friendship in this drama from writer and director Danny Lerner. Galia (Olga Kurylenko) was born in the Ukraine, but fell in with a band of gangsters who've forced her into a career as a prostitute in Israel. Galia's minders offer to let he go back home to her family and the daughter she left behind, but in exchange she must kill one of their enemies. Galia agrees to the deal, but after murdering her target the gangsters renege on their pledge and keep her locked up in a Tel Aviv flat. Galia gets to know Elinor (Ninet Tayeb), a woman living next door who lives under the thumb of her violent husband, and as they strike up a friendship born of a mutual desire for freedom, they look for a way out of their desperate lives. Kirot was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olga Kurylenko, Ninet Tayeb, (more)
- 2007
A young boy caught between two cultures discovers the tools to bridge the gap in this Israeli drama. Chen's mother is a delicate Russian woman who appreciates fine things like art and culture. His father is a rough, tough Israeli man who doesn't like to see his son engage in things that seem feminine. Chen is caught in the middle, and his inner conflict only increases when he passes by a youth dance class and catches a glimpse of a beautiful Russian girl. Chen is instantly in love, and his new interest in dance could be just what his family needs to find a compromise between two opposing forces. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vladimir Volov, Avi Kushnir, (more)
- 1997
- R
This independent drama takes an unexpectedly light and emotionally sensitive approach to a potentially controversial subject -- a teenager taking up a career as a prostitute. Sixteen-year-old Jake (Tara Subkoff) is a pretty but troubled girl who has been abandoned by her mother. Needing a place to stay, she shows up on the doorstep of her sister Darlene (Kristy Swanson) and begs her to take her in. Darlene refuses, and Jake is left with nowhere to go. Marci (Sandra Bernhard), Darlene's next door neighbor, takes pity on Jake and gives her a meal and a place to stay for the night. The next morning, Marci heads off for work and Jake tags along to discover that Marci manages a massage parlor. Jake is a bit naive about what goes on at such places, but after meeting Marci's charges -- Bambi (Sahara Lotti), Coco (Loretta Devine), and Teddy (Renee Humphrey) -- she catches on that the women are offering their male clientele more than a simple rubdown. Needing money, Jake asks Marci for a job; Marci says no, since Jake is underage, but after much begging and pleading, Marci agrees under the condition that Jake make herself scarce when Jean (Susan Barnes), the owner, comes around. Jake becomes friendly with Bambi, Coco, and Teddy, who show her the ropes of her new "career" and let her stay at their communal apartment. Soon Jake is making a good living, and Darlene is impressed enough to get a job of her own at the parlor. However, Darlene doesn't get along with the other women any better than she does with Jake, and when Jake's friends get on Darlene's bad side, she turns Jake in for working underage, which leaves everyone out in the cold. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bernhard, Kristy Swanson, (more)
The stories of three Israeli women in varying stages of desperation and hysteria are depicted in this anthology. The first segment, "Sharona Honey," closely follows the difficulties suffered by a particularly lovely woman who is being ardently pursued by a quartet of men, all of whom want her to bear their child - none of them with the slightest interest in discovering who she is. In "Operation Cat," a recently separated woman frantically tries to get the authorities to remove the obstacles which prevent a kitten from being rescued from a sewer. "Divorce" shows just how far an aggrieved policewoman will go to prevent her husband from skipping out of the country without giving her a divorce. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yaël Abecassis, Ruthi Goldberg, (more)
When the Ceremonial Police Band of Alexandria, Egypt, journeys to a gig in Israel, they can hardly anticipate getting stuck in a rut. But upon arrival at the Israeli airport, their hosts and transportation fail to show. So begins first-time director Eran Kolirin's fish-out-of-water comedy The Band's Visit (aka Bikur Hatizmoret, 2007). Trapped in a middle-of-nowhere desert town, the group members try to figure out what to do and where to go. In desperation, two of the musicians -- conductor Tawfiq (Sasson Gabai) and playboy Haled (Saleh Bakri) -- accept an invitation from sexy café owner Dina (Ronit Elkabetz) to bunk at her residence, and seemingly within no time, the unlikeliest of interracial (Israeli-Palestinian) romances begin to blossom -- not only between Tawfiq and Dina, but between Haled and local wallflower Papi (Shlomi Avraham), whose night together at a roller disco turns into a veritable comedy of errors. Meanwhile, the remainder of the bandmembers room with local resident Itzik's (Rubi Moscovich) family, which produces overwhelming conflict and innumerable tensions. As the days roll on, the co-mingling of Egyptian bandmembers and Israeli residents imparts each individual with insights into his cultural identity and that of the others. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sasson Gabai, Ronit Elkabetz, (more)
