Maz Jobrani Movies

Originally scheduled to debut on October 17, 2006, but ultimately unveiled on January 3, 2007, the ABC comedy series The Knights of Prosperity was a diverting exploration of that fitfully popular TV subgenre, "the lovable-loser-criminal show." The series was designed as a vehicle for Donal Logue, who topped the cast as Manhattan janitor Eugene Gurkin. A hapless, hopeless dreamer, Gurkin one day decided to make a name for himself as a "new age Robin Hood," assembling a group of fellow blue-collar goof-offs to pull off the robbery of the century (or at least, the robbery of the week). Our hero's band of merry men (plus one woman) included Eugene's fellow janitor, Squatch (Lenny Venito); lawyer-turned-cabbie Gary (Maz Jobrani); nerdy liberal-arts grad and aspiring show-biz intern Louis (Josh Grisetti); sexy waitress Esperanza (Sofía Vergara); and hulking security guard Rockefeller Butts (Kevin Michael Richardson), who was so anxious to be in on Eugene's scheme that he was literally willing to "work for cookies." The gang's target was singer Mick Jagger, who never appeared on-camera but whose lavish lifestyle was mercilessly parodied and exaggerated (indeed, the series' working title was Let's Rob Mick Jagger, which had been decided upon only after "Let's Rob Jeff Goldblum" and "Let's Rob Howard Stern" had proved undoable). Unfortunately, in their efforts to finance their heist of Jagger's valuables, Eugene and his pals were forced to spend almost as much money as they hoped to steal, leading to the formation of innumerable bird-brained moneymaking schemes -- including, at one point, the kidnapping of one of the would-be robbers' uncles! Rife with slapstick and gloriously unsubtle "inside" jokes, The Knights of Prosperity was created by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, whose previous credits included The Late Show with David Letterman (Letterman was among the executive producers) and Ed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thirteen-year-old Jenna (Shana Dowdeswell) has had enough with the trials of adolescence. In addition to being saddled with a devoted-but-nerdy best friend, Matt (Sean Marquette), she falls victim to one of the dangers of playing Seven Minutes in Heaven with the coolest kids in school: being stranded without a willing make-out partner. Humiliated, Jenna buries herself in the aformentioned make-out closet, wishing she could skip the whole adolescence bit and move straight into adulthood, and miraculously wakes just weeks away from her 30th birthday. Of course, a lot has changed since going to bed the night before, not the least of which being an impressive set of womanly curves. The new, older Jenna (Jennifer Garner) is a successful magazine editor with friends in high places and a lion's share of potential suitors -- including a hockey-playing boyfriend and a swarthy married man. The problem is that her mind hasn't matured with her body; Jenna not only finds living on her own more terrifying than cool, but is quick to dismiss any male over the age of 14 as "gross." Half excited, half mortified, Jenna seeks out Matt (Mark Ruffalo), whom she learns she had spurned as a teenager in an effort to join the popular crowd. Gary Winick directed, from a script by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa; Gina Matthews produced. Choreographer Michael Peters - who died in 1994 - received posthumous credit, as his choreography from the Michael Jackson Thriller video is used in one scene. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The gang from Friday and Next Friday are back in this urban comedy, in which Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) have finally moved out of their respective parents' homes and gotten an apartment together. However, a bogus neighborhood Santa Claus (Rickey Smiley) decides to help Craig and Day-Day share the wealth by robbing their apartment, and when he rips off their stereo, he also makes off with their rent money, which was hidden in the speaker cabinets. Desperate to make rent and have some money for Christmas presents, Craig and Day-Day land jobs at a local strip mall, where their fathers, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon) and Uncle Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry), have gone into business together running a barbecue joint. Craig and Day-Day are installed as security guards, and while Craig tries to make time with Donna (K.D. Aubert), a saleswoman at the Pimp N' Ho's Boutique, and keep things orderly at Holy Moly's Doughnut Shop, Day-Day attempts to transform himself into a master of crime-fighting, which causes a lot more problems than it solves. Friday After Next is the first feature film from director Marcus Raboy, who previously directed music videos for Sting, Li'l Kim, Staind, and Friday After Next star Ice Cube. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man faces death and finds love at the same time and place in this emotional comedy-drama. Taylor Darcy (Jonathan Silverman) is a bright but cynical television writer who is emotionally thrown for a loop when his doctor diagnoses him with colon cancer. While Taylor prefers to ignore the bad news at first, in time, he takes the advice of his oncologist and checks himself into the hospital for treatment. Taylor suddenly becomes the recipient of an outpouring of sympathy and good wishes from his friends, which goes against the grain of his dark-humored nature, and he doesn't deal well with the physically and emotionally taxing routine of surgery and radiation therapy. While in the hospital, Taylor meets Lynn Piegi (Natasha Gregson Wagner), a woman who is living with leukemia; Lynn's sarcastic sense of humor in the face of grim news meshes well with Taylor's personality, and he finds himself falling in love with her. But as Taylor advances toward recovery, he has to deal with the fact that Lynn's condition is far more serious than his own, and that she is not likely to survive. The Medicine Show was written and directed by Wendell Morris, who was inspired to make the film after his own bout with cancer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide