Alan Gelfant Movies

Stunt man Corey Michael Eubanks plays a repo man in Forced to Kill. While claiming a Jaguar, Johnny (Eubanks) is captured by a strange family. Before long, he's in the thick of a subrosa boxing tournament, where bare fists are de rigeur and the participants are obliged to kill one another. A question: if Eubanks is such a crackerjack stunt man, how'd he allow himself to get into this mess? (and he wrote the script, too!) Check your brains at the door: the action is terrific. The supporting cast of Forced to Kill includes filmmaker Ron Howard's father Rance and brother Clint. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It is said that when a man dies wrongfully, a crow may bring him back to life to seek vengeance upon his killer. Like the first Crow, this revenge saga is set in a fantastical urban nightmare and is based upon the dark comic book stories of artist James O. Barr. The first film was set in a horrifying Detroit. The second is set in a similar version of Los Angeles. This time, the crow flies on behalf of Ashe, a motorcycle mechanic who was murdered along with his young son after they have witnessed a murder. After rising from the dead, Ashe dons the traditional black garb and funereal white pancake make-up that marks the crow's chosen one. While getting his violent revenge, Ashe is befriended by Sarah, a tattoo expert with great knowledge of the crow legend. Together, they defeat the vile criminals Curve and Kali. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this mock documentary, a filmmaker who has received a grant to make a feature about fatally ill homeless people decides at the last minute to instead turn his camera on Susan (Sarah Silverman), a stand-up comic who has decided to make the big move from New York to Los Angeles in hopes of breaking into television. However, she waits until the last minute to tell her boyfriend Max (Sam Seder) about this little change in her life. Max is surprised, but decides to tag along in an attempt to be supportive, even though once they get to California he finds they won't be living together as he expected. Susan dives into the Hollywood audition circuit head first, while Max stays with his friend Earl (David Waterman), who has a deal for a TV pilot, and gripes cynically about how superficial Hollywood can be. But while Susan finds she can't get a part to save her life, Max is suddenly the toast of the Hollywood hipster set, and suddenly everyone in town wants to offer him a deal for a pilot. Who's The Caboose? features a number of noted stand-up comics and TV personalities in supporting roles, including Andy Dick, Kathy Griffin and David Waterman; the film was screened as part of the 1999 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Can a would-be artist find happiness with a woman who has never heard of Jackson Pollock? That's the dilemma facing Alex (Mark Ruffalo), whose life is finally going just the way he'd like; he's scored a one-man show at an upscale gallery, and is sharing an apartment with a beautiful model named Yvette (Anne-Marie Johnson). A few days later, however, Alex's life is in tatters; the curator of the gallery informs him his work is soulless and cancels his show, while Yvette hands Alex his walking papers. With no money and nowhere to go, Alex takes a job at a pizza place and finds an flat in a squalid building where the super, Ray (Alan Gelfant), has a habit of walking in unannounced at any time of the day or night. Along with a colorful group of neighbors, including a desperate middle-aged woman who can do wonders with Spam and a hooker with a remarkable collection of "work clothes," Alex meets Lori (Beth Ulrich), a sweet-natured woman who has just moved to L.A. from Colorado. At first they seem to hit it off, but Alex thinks Lori lacks big-city sophistication, and she knows nothing about modern art. Alex breaks up with her, but it doesn't take long for him to realize he's made a mistake -- or for his neighbors to start reminding him of that. Life/Drawing marked the directorial debut of Dan Bootzin, who co-wrote the screenplay with his producer and spouse, Elizabeth Rivera Bootzin; the film was warmly received in its premier engagement at the 1999 Taos Film Festival, then aired on U.S. cable in 2003, retitled Apartment 12. It premiered on DVD in 2006 under the same title. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by Jacques Thelemaque, The Dogwalker follows the lives of two very different women who find themselves in equally dire positions. When Ellie (Diane Gaidry) finally leaves her violent boyfriend, she takes the first flight out of her home in Buffalo, New York, and ends up in Los Angeles, where she's promptly robbed of all her possessions and reduced to living on the streets. After a failed attempt at prostitution, Ellie wakes up in a public park and meets Betsy (Pamela Gordon), an older, professional dogwalker with a rather abrupt personality. Eventually, Ellie learns that Betsy is dying of cancer, and ends up helping the older woman's failing business in exchange for temporary shelter. Fragile Ellie and gruff Betsy turn out to have one thing in common--both have left abusive relationships. Betsy's final days unfortunately mark the return of Ellie's former boyfriend, and Ellie is forced to use the disciplinary strength she has had to learn as a dogwalker and newly independent woman.



~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide