Karen Gorney
A frustrated New York actor whose sick of being typecast due to his Italian-American heritage sets out to seek help from the one actor who could provide his big break in a satirical showbiz comedy starring William DeMeo, Carmen Electra, Sandra Bernhard, and Tyson Beckford. Johnny Argano is Brooklyn born and bred. Though he's confident that he has the skills to make a name for himself on the big screen, he resents the fact that casting directors only seem to select him for stereotypical roles. In Johnny's eyes, the only way to break the vicious cycle of typecasting is to get the attention of his screen idol Robert De Niro, and in order to make that happen Johnny will have to pen a screenplay that truly stands apart from the pack. With his career on the line and nothing left to lose, the frustrated actor gathers together a dedicated team of die-hard filmmakers to raise the money they need to get their film made, and convince the star of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to accept a starring role in the movie that will make them all famous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
The victim of a brutal assault refuses to help detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) in their investigation of the crime. This curious incident serves to stymie the efforts by the NYPD to track down the alleged rapist of two women, one of whom was comatose when she was attacked. Is it possible that one of the victims' parents is concealing a horrible secret? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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)
- 1992
The frozen body of a baby is found, whereupon the child's mother falls under suspicion for causing the infant's death. The woman insists that the real villain is slumlord Iris Colman (Karen Lynn Gorney), who cites the "rent laws" as her excuse to deny proper heating to her tenants. But another resident of the same apartment building offers up an entirely different story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Action film director John Badham bites the hand that feeds him in this action movie spoof that features ribbing of pretty-boy Hollywood action stars by Michael J. Fox and a parody of colorful, hair-trigger James Woods types by the man himself. Woods plays New York homicide detective John Moss, who is within an inch of closing in on a serial killer who calls himself The Party Crasher (Stephen Lang) because his specialty is shooting his victims in the middle of discos. Chasing The Party Crasher after his latest victim has been dispatched, Moss finds himself hanging onto the door of a speeding truck with The Party Crasher at the wheel. When Moss is thrown off the truck and nearly killed, The Party Crasher escapes, and Moss is taken off the case. Moss is given a new assignment --to tag around with Hollywood action film star Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox), the popular hero of the "Smoking Gun" movies. Lang spotted Moss on a television news show and thinks he would be the ideal cop to study for adding authenticity to an up-coming police action picture. Posing as Moss's rookie partner, Lang follows Moss everywhere, proceeding to spoil his pursuit of The Party Crasher and interfering with Moss's burgeoning affair with his girlfriend Susan (Anabella Sciorra). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, James Woods, (more)
John Travolta graduated from minor celebrity to superstar with Saturday Night Fever. Travolta plays Tony Manero, a Brooklyn paint-store clerk who'd give anything to break out of his dead-end existence. In life, Tony is a peasant; on the disco dance floor, he's a king. As the soundtrack plays one Bee Gees hit after another (including "Stayin' Alive"), we watch white-suited Tony strut his stuff amidst flashing lights and sweaty, undulating bodies. Tony's class aspirations are mirrored in his relationship with his dance partner, Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney), a secretary eager to move into the glamorous world of Manhattan. Saturday Night Fever's huge success grew meteorically thanks to the towering popularity of its soundtrack; during the first half of 1978, when the movie's disco songs saturated the singles charts up to four at a time, it was no longer clear whether the hit movie was feeding the hit songs or the hit songs were feeding the hit movie. This crossover between music and movies set the pace for many movies to come, as it also marked the rise and fall of 1970s disco culture. Two versions of this film exist: the original R-rated version and a PG version, edited down to more "family-friendly" fare and fed to the public with the tagline, "Because we want everyone to see John Travolta's performance." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Karen Gorney, (more)
This stark and spare look at the world of the mentally disturbed was one of the beacons of the new American independent film movement. Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin star as two adolescents who make contact with each other in a home for disturbed youngsters. Dullea is David Clemens, who is placed in the home by his mother because of his constant fear of being touched. Margolin is Lisa, a 15-year-old schizophrenic who speaks only in rhyme, when she speaks at all. David rejects the help of psychiatrist Alan Swinford (Howard Da Silva) but makes an emotional connection with Lisa. Because of his contact with Lisa, David eventually opens up to Swinford and his mother. But his mother is dissatisfied with his progress and takes him back home. Home life, however, consists of his mother's domineering ways and parental quarrels, so David runs away and returns to the home for disturbed youngsters. But then an argument with Lisa leads to a climactic confrontation. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keir Dullea, Janet Margolin, (more)
