Daisy Eagan
A couple from the less fashionable side of New York learns the hard way about the nuts and bolts of staging a wedding in this broad comedy based on the long-running off-Broadway play. Tony (Joey McIntyre) and Tina (Mila Kunis) are a couple from Queens who have decided to take the big step and get married. However, while they have no qualms about matrimony, they're not so sure about their wedding -- Tina's mother (Priscilla Lopez), a widow, and Tony's dad (John Fiore), who split up with Tony's mother some time ago, used to be an item, and they've never gotten over their bitter breakup. As the two families try to put together a social event worthy of their children, the parents are constantly at one another's throat, and as the bride and groom deal with a priest who prefers to do the wedding his own way, a wedding singer who feels requests are beneath his dignity, a wildly eccentric photographer, a pack of brutally hung-over groomsmen, and some unhappy bridesmaids, Tony and Tina begin to wonder if their relationship can survive the wedding -- or if the antagonism of their parents is a sign of things to come. Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joey McIntyre, Mila Kunis, (more)
Writer/director Mo Ogrodnik's debut feature is a low-budget independent drama about the dangerous budding sexuality of two teen sisters. Fourteen-year-old fraternal twins Violet (Monica Keena) and Rosie (Daisy Eagan) barely escape from a fiery car wreck that claims the lives of their parents. Because their father was abusive, they are happy to be free, and they strike out for Kentucky. Instead, the girls end up on a run-down Army base, where they befriend the hirsute civilian groundskeeper, Pete (Gordon Currie). Pete, who supplements his income by selling contraband porn magazines and junk food to the soldiers, lies to the base commander and claims that the girls are his nieces. The runaway sisters move into Pete's quarters and Violet begins a flirtatious relationship with him, while the tomboy Rosie learns how to shoot a gun from a kindly military police officer, Ken (Ron Brice). After charged episodes playing "spin the bottle" and a base dance, the relationship between Violet and Pete turns sexual. Dismayed, Rosie retaliates by having her own sexual encounter with a soldier. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Keena, Daisy Eagan, (more)
Two women of dramatically different social, economic, and ethnic circumstances find themselves locked into a bitter child custody dispute in this emotionally powerful drama. Khailia Richards (Halle Berry) is a poor and drug-addicted single mother who, while stumbling out of a crack house one night, accidentally leaves her infant son Isaiah in a cardboard box near a trash heap. The next morning, Khailia realizes to her horror that she left her baby behind, and she runs back to the crack spot to retrieve him. However, the baby is missing, and after much search, she presumes that he must be dead. As it turns out, the baby was spotted in the nick of time by sanitation workers and rushed to a hospital, where at the insistence of social worker Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) the baby's life was saved. Margaret's heart goes out to the baby, who, along with illnesses brought about by neglect, suffers from emotional and educational problems often associated with children whose mothers used cocaine during pregnancy. Margaret adopts Isaiah and raises the child with the help of her husband Charles (David Strathairn). Four years later, Khailia has successfully gone through drug rehabilitation and holds down a steady and responsible job as a nanny and housekeeper. She learns by chance that Isaiah is still alive, and she quickly hires an attorney, Kadar Lewis (Samuel L. Jackson), to help her reclaim custody of her son. However, Margaret loves the child and is not about to give him up without a battle in court. LaTanya Richardson plays Caroline Jones, the attorney Kadar Lewis squares off against in court; in real life, Richardson and Jackson are married. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Halle Berry, (more)
