Alan Ari Lazar Movies
Writer/producer/director Chris Angel examines the paranoia of life in the age of terrorism with this drama about a Los Angeles man who attempts to prepare for the worst after becoming convinced that his city has been targeted for a nuclear attack. Carl (Hill Harper) and Vivian Ashby (Robinne Lee) are a young couple just getting started in life. They're attempting to conceive a child, and as Carl spends his days mentoring inner-city teens, Viv goes to work for a progressive candidate for city council. Their ideal life is shattered when Carl begins experiencing a recurring dream in which he fails to save Viv after terrorists set off a nuclear bomb in the city. Upon seeing a news report alerting citizens to a heightened terrorist threat in Los Angeles, Carl finally decides to conquer his fears by becoming more proactive. It's during a seminar hosted by terrorism expert Robert Forte (Eddie Cahill) that Carl first encounters comedian Tom Arnold (playing himself). Arnold, too, is concerned about nuclear terrorism, and hires Carl to design a fallout shelter for his Malibu home. When Carl decides to build his own fallout shelter, Viv begins to think that his paranoia has finally gotten the best of him, and refers him to one of her co-workers, LAPD officer Rick Smyth (Gordon Currie). But Rick has an ulterior motive in talking to Carl, and purposefully gives him bad advice in hopes of driving he and Viv further apart. Though Carl hatches a plan to sidestep the disaster by moving to Canada, Viv's candidate wins the election and refuses to leave Los Angeles. Later, when Carl arrives at Santa Monica Airport determined to get out of the city while he still can, the civil defense warning system goes off, forcing him to decide between making a quick escape, or venturing back into the city to be with the woman he loves. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hill Harper, Tom Arnold, (more)
- 2008
- R
An uneducated gas station attendant with a taste for the finer things in life turns to crime as a means of making ends meet, only to find himself on a dangerous collision course with the biggest drug dealer in town. All Lucky Kunene wanted out of life was a house by the water, a beautiful wife, and a seven series BMW. Unfortunately, Lucky hails from a poor Soweto family, and his application for a university grant has just been refused. Dejected at the thought of spending the rest of his life pumping gas, Lucky teams up with his best friend Zakes to start stealing cars. At first the endeavor proves remarkably lucrative - providing Lucky with enough cash to purchase a refrigerator, a nice suit, a classy wardrobe, and a hi-fi stereo system - but before long the two thieves realize that their profile is becoming dangerously high, and that in order to avoid arrest they will have to relocate. Five years after moving to Hillbrow, Lucky and Zakes are the operators of a deadbeat taxi service. Their criminal lifestyle has gotten them nowhere, and rival taxi gang members literally gunning for them night and day. Lucky shares a cramped apartment with twenty other people, mostly junkies, prostitutes, and immigrants with nowhere else to go. Though their existence seems bleak, the group manages to pool their resources and form the Hillbrow People's Housing Trust. But just as Lucky enters into the world of real estate, local detective Blakkie Swart makes it his mission to capture the so-called "Hoodlum of Hillbrow" and Nigerian drug kingpin Tony Ngu lays claim to the city. With two of the city's most notorious criminals both preparing for the ultimate showdown, Detective Swart will have to work overtime in order to prevent the streets from becoming a virtual warzone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronnie Nyakale, (more)
The true story of a young girl held captive by her insane caretaker comes to life in this disturbing film from Ella Enchanted director Tommy O'Haver. Hard Candy's Ellen Page stars as Sylvia Likens a teenager who, along with her sister, is left to live temporarily with seemigly-mild-mannered housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, played by Catherine Keener. Unfortunately for Sylvia, Gertrude soon snaps and holds her hostage in harsh conditions until the former's eventual death. Bradley Whitford costars as the prosecutor tasked with trying the case against Baniszewski. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Keener, Ellen Page, (more)
The documentary Camp Out joins Fish Can't Fly, God and Gays, and other recent films that examine the attempts of some left-leaning factions of mainstream evangelical Christianity to promote greater acceptance and understanding of male homosexuality. Bravo television veterans Kirk Marcolina and Larry Grimaldi (Boy Meets Boy) helm, thus interweaving the stylistic influences of reality television throughout the project. The two filmmakers hone in on the first all gay male Bible Camp, and on ten gay male adolescent attendees (all self-professed born again Christians). The young men in question are visiting the camp for the first time and attempting - per the camp's theme - to reconcile their sexual orientations with their shared belief system. This involves interacting over the course of several days with other gay Christian teens, and participating in such joint activities as fingernail painting and nighttime, bunkroom pow-wows where campers tell all. Grimaldi and Marcolina spend time acquainting the audience with each camper and his individual struggle(s). More broadly, the film also point toward the potential for harmony between Christians and gays by working in an interview with openly gay Lutheran pastor Jay Wiesner, that depicts his special ordination ceremony. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
An aging societal outcast and a motherless duck set out to find shelter and meaning in a future where people are separated by as many degrees as they are connected. The year is 2009, and the last public park in Los Angeles has been closed to the public. The city is a desert, and dispossessed widower Arthur Pratt (Philip Baker Hall) has outlived his usefulness. A retired history professor who spent all of his savings caring for his beloved late wife, Arthur sets out to the park where his son and dearly departed are buried to pay his final respects before ending his own life. Arthur's grim westward march hits an unexpected hitch, however, when an orphaned duckling that has recently cheated death adopts the homeless septuagenarian as a surrogate mother figure. Once again displaced when their park becomes a landfill and their pond is drained, the unlikely pair embarks on a Sisyphean journey to find shelter and meaning in a world where their lives seem to have little value. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Baker Hall, Bill Brochtrup, (more)
Four Los Angeles friends discover that a triangle isn't necessarily limited to three sides as their lives, loves, and lofty aspirations slowly meld into one remarkable example of life in one of the most remarkable cities on planet Earth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Garrett, Michael Marich, (more)
An Internet entrepreneur looking to revolutionize the way the world wide web is utilized finds out that there's more to the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" than he ever imagined in this tale of innovation soured, helmed by greedy dot-com cynic Alan Ari Lazar. As the personal home-computer revolution reaches a fever pitch, visionary tech innovator John Elias dreams of shattering national borders and changing the way computer users communicate with the outside world; and with Robert Jennings closing the deal, it appears as if Elias may finally have the opportunity to make his dreams a reality. As fast as the money starts rolling in though, Elias quickly loses himself to the intoxicating effects of success, isolating himself from his business partners and girlfriend and losing site of his original goals. Despite the fact that Elias let fame go to his head, where there's a will to succeed there's a chance for redemption, and before the book on his success story reaches the final chapter, the well-intending dot-com king may finally make amends for the pain his greed has caused to those he cared for most. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Irene Turner makes her directorial debut with this comedy-drama about goth chicks and Southern belles. College roommates Casey (none other than Soleil Moon Frye of Punky Brewster fame) and Grace (Cat Taber) are a chalk-and-cheese couple if there ever was one: the former favors sex, drugs, and all things leather while the latter is a prim and preppie straight-A student who is engaged to her frat boy beau (Wil Wheaton). Yet when Casey's teasing threatens her future wedding, Grace vows vengeance. She begins hanging out with her roommate's friend Joey (Gary Wolf), a pensive loner and one of the few guys on campus that Casey has yet to have sex with. Soon, a vicious cycle of jealousy and suspicion develops that threatens to ruin the lives of both women. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Brookhurst, Soleil Moon Frye, (more)
- 1998
- R
Killing Time aspires to be a hip, black comedy about a bumbling band of killers but never quite carries it off. Suave serial killer Jacob (Nigel Leach) finally goes too far when he kills a cop. Detective Bob Bryant (Craig Fairbrass) hires an Italian hit woman and then blackmails a small-time criminal into killing the hit woman. The story revolves around his gang and their increasingly unsuccessful attempts to carry out the job. The film is beautifully composed, and director Bharat Nalluri shows flair for striking camera placement, but the script is so poor that the film lurches from scene to scene and the performances are uneven. The only reason to see the film is Kendra Torgan as the hit woman who gives a sexy and threatening performance. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Fairbrass, Nigel Leach, (more)
Tommy O'Haver wrote and directed this gay lifestyle comedy about aspiring photographer Billy (Sean P. Hayes) who encounters rocky romantic roads intersecting among an assortment of Los Angelenos -- handsome Fernando (Armando Valdes-Kennedy), who has a steady boyfriend; blond waiter Gabriel (Brad Rowe), who has a San Francisco girlfriend; Billy's roommate Georgiana (Meredith Scott Lynn); and pal Perry (Richard Ganoung). Entranced by Gabriel, Billy takes him on as a model and introduces him at gallery openings and parties, only to see Gabriel leave for better modeling assignments with well-known fashion photographer Rex Webster (Paul Bartel). Fantasy sequences parody Vertigo, '30s musicals, and From Here to Eternity. Shown at 1998 film festivals, including Berlin and Sundance. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Hayes, Brad Rowe, (more)
- 1989
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) travels to Moscow to attend the International Artists and Writers Conference. No sooner has she arrived that someone steals her purse--and when the police catch up with the thief, they find a role of microfilm amongst Jessica's belongings. Immediately, the KGB accuses our heroine of being a spy--which doesn't anger her quite as much as the subsequent murder accusation leveled at an old friend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
