Lance Krall Movies
- 2004
Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is placed on a new medication which modifies his obsessive-compulsive disorder, making him a more relaxed and well-adjusted person--in fact, he's now so laid back that he's abandoned his conservative business suit in favor of a garishly flowered Hawaiian shirt! Unfortunately, Monk's gain is the SFPD's loss: The medication has seriously impaired his crimesolving abilities. As it happens, the "new" Monk could not have emerged at a less convenient time: Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) has been shot and wounded, and his assailant is still at large. This episode marks the last appearance of Bitty Schram as Monk's nurse-assistant Sharona Fleming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
John Turturro guest stars as Ambrose, the agoraphobic older brother of obsessive-compulsive private eye Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). The brothers have not spoken since Ambrose failed to contact Monk at the time of his wife Trudy's funeral. Their hesitant reunion comes about when Ambrose suspects that his neighbor Pat Van Ranken (Holt McCallany) has murdered his wife. And the motive? Well, it could be nothing more than a cherry pie--one of three such tasty confections that figure prominently (and fatally) in the proceedings. The episode's best line is delivered by Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford): "Step away from the pie!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
In this wide-ranging spoof of reality shows, all of the contestants were professional actors -- except one. Chosen during a nationwide audition, Matthew Kennedy Gould was told that he was going to appear on a reality show titled "Lap of Luxury," in which he would live a sumptuous lifestyle with several other contestants, who would be "eliminated" from the 500,000-dollar-grand-prize sweepstakes at a rate of one person per show. What Gould didn't know was that his fellow players were all following a pre-determined scenario, all knew the outcome of the contest, and none was exactly whom he or she pretended to be. The phonies, all drawn from the reality-TV cliché factory, included The Hutch (David Hornsby), the resident hygiene-challenged jerk; Earl (Franklin Dennis Jones), the grizzled Special-Ops veteran; Kip (Lance Krall), the obligatory gay guy with a heart of gold; Ashleigh (Melissa Yvonne Lewis), the standard-issue "rich bitch"; Dr. Pat (Kristen Wiig), the advice-spouting counselor; Molly (Angela Dobson), the house virgin; Gina (Nikki Davis), the all-around backstabber; and Brian (Brian Keith Etheridge), everybody's best pal. Even the series' host, Ralph Garman, was putting on an act, pretending to be a preening egomaniac more concerned with advancing his career than going about his assigned duties. As the faux contestants were faced with challenges that were blatantly swiped from other series like Survivor and Fear Factor, the question was not whether poor, oblivious Matthew Kennedy Gould would make it to the final episode, but rather, how long it would be before he caught on to the charade. Created for the Spike TV cable service by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, The Joe Schmo Show first aired September 2, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Garman, Matt Kennedy Gould, (more)
- 2003
This week's murder victim is Serge Cluvarias (Marek Probosz), the much-despised ringmaster for the Dratch and Denby Circus. Monk is convinced that the killer is Serge's tempestuous ex-wife, celebrated high wire artiste Natasia Lovara (Lolita Davidovich). Trouble is, eyewitnesses to the murder insist that the masked killer had jumped down from a high rooftop to do the dirty deed, then performed a somersault before escaping--but Natasia had fractured her foot two weeks before Serge's death, and has the X-rays to prove it. By the time Monk has assembled the clues necessary to close in on the killer, another hapless circus performer suffers "Death By Elephant"! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
It's Big Momma's House on the three-point line in this broad farce, which marks the leading man/woman debut of longtime character actor Miguel A. Nunez. Nunez stars as Jamal Jefferies, a hotheaded pro basketball player whose on-court antics and quick temper get him booted from the league altogether. Faster than you can say Dennis Rodman, Jamal has transformed himself into the busty Juwanna Mann in order to be a forward for a high-intensity team in the WUBA league, the Charlotte Banshees. Behind the doors of the womens' lockerroom, Jamal unexpectedly falls for Michelle Langford (Vivica A. Fox), the team's no-nonsense captain. But prosthetic breasts and false eyelashes aren't the only thing preventing Jamal from finding true love with Michelle: there's also the problem of her aggressive, two-timing boyfriend, Romeo (Ginuwine), not to mention the unwanted advances Juwanna gets from a skanky rapper named Puff Smokey Smoke (Tom Davidson). ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miguel A. Nuñez, Vivica A. Fox, (more)
Award-winning actor Tony Shalhoub adds the "director" hyphenate to his calling card with this labor of love, starring his wife, Brooke Adams, and written by his sister-in-law, Lynne Adams. Made-Up lightly parodies the reality-TV "makeover" craze as it tells the tale of Elizabeth (Brooke Adams), a middle-aged divorcée who agrees to be made over by her daughter Sara (Eva Amurri), a process which will be documented for eternity by her aspiring-filmmaker sister, Kate (Lynne Adams). A former actress still smarting over her long-since faded stardom, Elizabeth is none too pleased at having her transformation videotaped, but she goes along with it, and soon finds that her "new you" is winning over the affections of a new beau, restaurateur Max (Shalhoub). But self-doubt continues to nag at Elizabeth, to the point where she almost undermines her own chances at romance. Lynne Adams based her screenplay on her own one-woman play; Gary Sinise makes an appearance as Elizabeth's ex-husband. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brooke Adams, Lynne Adams, (more)
