Jory Weitz Movies
First time feature filmmaker Jared Drake makes his directorial debut with this quirky black comedy set in the near future, and concerning a curious spike in cases of spontaneous human combustion. The Jeffers Corporation is the largest business in the history of mankind, and they got that way thanks to their strict philosophy of happiness through mindless productivity. But when people begin literally exploding due to unhappiness, Jeffers Corporation Level Three Visioneer George Washington Winsterhammerman (Zach Galifianakis) begins to fear that his time will come sooner rather than later. George lives a comfortable yet completely uneventful life, and when he starts having dreams in which he's the first President of the United States, his doctor informs him that they could be signs of impending explosion. Later, as the dreams become more frequent and his co-workers continue to detonate, George is prompted to reevaluate his mundane existence. Judy Greer, Missi Pyle, and James LeGros co-star in an existential black comedy featuring music by Tim DeLaughter of the Polyphonic Spree. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galifianakis, Judy Greer, (more)
A highly unlikely crime helps bring together two brothers in this nostalgic comedy drama. Rocky Plumm (Owen Pearce) is a five-year-old boy growing up in a small Montana town in the mid-'60s. In Rocky's eyes, there's no star bigger or brighter than local kid's show host Happy Herb (Henry Winkler), who appears on TV weekday afternoons with his puppet friend Froggy Doo. When the Froggy Doo puppet is stolen, Happy Herb's show goes off the air until the doll can be found, which only adds to Rocky's unease as his folks (William Baldwin and Lisa Guerrero) struggle to salvage their clearly failing marriage. Rocky's big brother, Elliott (Chris J. Kelly), isn't especially concerned about Happy Herb's problems or the forced hiatus of Rocky's favorite show, but when Haley (Morgan Flynn), a pretty girl with a yen for detective stories, moves in next door, he suggests they join forces to help find Froggy Doo. Before long, the youthful sleuths find themselves crossing paths with a pair of federal agents (Peter Scolari and Rick Overton) and a growing list of suspects as they follow the thief's trail. A Plumm Summer was the first feature film from writer and director Caroline Zelder. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Lisa Guerrero, (more)
Jared Hess (of Napoleon Dynamite fame) directs this bizarre comedy starring Jack Black as Nacho, a young man who works as a cook in the Mexican monastery where he was raised. When the institution faces a financial crisis, Nacho decides that he must come to the aid of the house of God (as well as the beautiful young nun who has recently joined the order) by competing in the local Lucha Libre tournament. Donning a spandex outfit, mask, and cape, Nacho becomes a hero for the ages -- but can he win the heart of a woman of the cloth? ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Black, Héctor Jimenez, (more)
The directorial debut of filmmaker Jared Hess, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Napoleon Dynamite is a quirky, offbeat comedy set in the small Idaho town of Preston. Jon Heder stars in the titular role, a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school's race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (Haylie Duff). Also starring The Drew Carey Show's Diedrich Bader, Napoleon Dynamite premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
A guy looking for easy money gets a lot more than he bargained for in this noir-flavored independent comedy. John Person (Jon Favreau) is a struggling actor living in Los Angeles who is starting to buckle under the pressure of his own failures. With no acting jobs coming in and a massive credit card debt to pay off, John works part-time as a courier but needs a big payday if he's ever going to get back on his feet. Out of the blue, a strange man in the neighborhood makes John an offer that seems too good to be true -- in exchange for delivering a suitcase to a man in Baker, CA (midway between L.A. and Las Vegas), John will receive $27,000 in cash. John's first tip off that something odd is going on comes when, along with the suitcase, he's given a loaded gun and instructions to defend the package with his life if necessary, but he's just desperate enough to go along. However, things become more complicated when John misses his connection in Baker; he's suddenly followed by a number of threatening eccentrics, is informed by an FBI agent that his benefactor in L.A. has become the victim of a grisly murder, and incurs the wrath of Cowboy (Sean Bean), the ominous trucker who was supposed to pick up the suitcase. The Big Empty features a stellar supporting cast, including Kelsey Grammer, Melora Walters, Daryl Hannah, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rachael Leigh Cook. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Favreau, Joey Lauren Adams, (more)
Jean-Claude Van Damme returns as cybernetic warrior Luc Deveraux in this sequel to the 1992 action hit. After barely surviving his experiences as a part-human/part-robot Universal Soldier, Luc has opted to stay out of the front lines and work with a military project to refine and perfect the system. However, something goes wrong (as they so often do in films like this), and S.E.T.H. (Michael Jai White), the android supercomputer leading the new breed of soldiers, suddenly develops a murderous mind of his own. Soon S.E.T.H. is leading his fellow war machines on a rampage, and Luc is the only one who can stop them. The supporting cast includes Heidi Schanz and wrestling star Bill Goldberg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White, (more)
- 1998
Connecticut's Mashantucket tribe financed this Native American drama about three sisters who enter the business world by selling Naturally Native, a homegrown line of cosmetics based on traditional tribal remedies. Married to a Native American, Vickie (Valerie Red-Horse) believes strongly in Indian traditions. She needs backers for her cosmetics line, and her two younger sisters, Tanya (Irene Bedard of Pocahontas) and accountant-in-training Karen (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) join her enterprise, but when they team to manufacture and market Naturally Native cosmetics, they encounter racist, patronizing attitudes. Numerous Native American issues are raised in this film, shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Red-Horse, Irene Bedard, (more)
British director Stephen Norrington helmed this David S. Goyer adaptation of the Marvel Comics character created in 1973 by scripter Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan. In the Tomb of Dracula comic book origin, just before Blade's mother gave birth to Blade, she was bitten by a vampire, which made Blade immune to vampires. Now a vampire hunter, Blade, joined by vampire detective Hannibal King and Dracula-descendent Frank Drake, stalks vampires. In the 1990s (in Marvel's Nightstalkers), Blade teamed with Drake and King in an agency created to fight a variety of supernatural beings. The Marvel origin is retold in this 1998 Norrington film, with Blade's mother dying as he is born. Thirty-some years later, Blade now exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (N'Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade's vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide -- an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, (more)
