Peter Van Wagner Movies
This warm and breezy romantic comedy from director Jay Jonroy explores an interracial romance between the unlikeliest of partners: a Muslim refugee and a New York Jew. David Fine (David Moscow), the host of a Big Apple man-on-the-street TV show called "Sex and Happiness," never expected to meet and fall in love with a Middle Eastern immigrant - particularly given his marital engagement to a Jewish partner, Abby (Callie Thorne). But his path soon intersects with that of Layla, a young woman orphaned when Saddam Hussein's troops gassed the rest of her family. She now lives with relatives in Manhattan, and (unbeknownst to the kinfolk, who believe she's a nursing student) supports herself by collecting under the table for a slightly suggestive dance act - the warm-up for a local belly dancer. With deportation looming, Layla looks for an out; a customs official suggests a marriage of convenience, but that soon becomes unnecessary when Layla meets David and deep, abiding love blooms. . . to the horror of both families. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Moscow, Shiva Rose, (more)
A powerful behind-the-scenes man in politics and show business finds himself skidding into a very public scandal in this taut drama. Eli Wurman (Al Pacino) was raised in the deep South, attended Harvard Law School, and has devoted his spare time to progressive political causes since working alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. However, Wurman now makes his living as a press agent and PR man, and while he's near the top of his profession, years of overwork, constant smoking and drinking, and ceaseless tension are taking their toll, leaving him on the verge of collapse, with only the prescriptions of his friend Dr. Napier (Robert Klein) keeping him on his feet. One of Wurman's biggest clients is Cary Launer (Ryan O'Neal), a fading film star with political aspirations who, after attending a disastrous Broadway opening, asks Wurman to do him a big favor -- bail Launer's girlfriend, Jilli (Téa Leoni), out of jail and keep an eye on her. Wurman manages to get Jilli out of the stir, but she insists upon being escorted to an exclusive sex and opium den for a night of heavy drinking and drugging, and then reveals to Wurman that she owns a device which she's used to record footage of the most public figures who attend the club, including Elliott Sharansky, a billionaire Jewish civic leader (Richard Schiff). That night, a half out-of-it Eli accompanies Jilli back to her hotel room when an intruder barges in and forces an overdose on her, killing her instantly. The next morning, Wurman has only fuzzy memories of what transpired. He decides to focus on his attempts to set up a political fundraiser, but has a hard time getting the right A-list celebs to appear, just as many of New York's power brokers aren't especially interesting in working with Wurman or Launer. In the midst of this chaos, Victoria (Kim Basinger), who was married to Wurman's late brother, arrives in New York and urges him to leave the city and his career behind while he still can. People I Know was screened in competition at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, (more)
A down-on-his luck auteur gets one more chance at the big time -- provided his neuroses don't swallow him whole -- in Woody Allen's 33rd feature release, Hollywood Ending. Allen plays Val Waxman, a one-time cinematic genius who's resorted to taking advertisement work to pay the bills for himself and his airhead live-in girlfriend, Lori (Debra Messing). Val finds his luck is about to change, however, when he receives the script for The City Never Sleeps, a period noir set against the backdrop of 1940s New York City. It seems his ex-wife, Ellie (Tea Leoni), now an executive at Galaxy Pictures, has been pulling for him to direct the picture, claiming he's the only man who can do justice to the script. She even manages to convince her boyfriend, Hal (Treat Williams), Galaxy's high-powered studio head, to take a chance on Val's "unique vision." Just when the cameras are ready to roll, however, Val finds that unique vision in jeopardy -- literally -- as he's struck with a psychosomatic case of blindness. When physicians and psychiatrists fail to cure him, Val contrives a scheme to forge ahead with the picture, for fear of blowing his one last chance at greatness. Hollywood Ending co-stars George Hamilton and Mark Rydell. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Allen, Téa Leoni, (more)
- 2000
A college coed who has been moonlighting as a stripper is found murdered. The detectives collar a pair of punkish drug dealers, who insist that the owner of the club where the dead girl worked ordered the killing. All of this somehow links up with a former porn star, a high-profile business executive, and an illegal insider-trading scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
A corrections officer is murdered, exposing a case involving sex in a woman's prison. A.D.A. Carmichael (Angie Harmon) soon discovers that among the players in this drama is a female inmate whom she'd previously jailed on a drug charge. As the D.A.'s office squares off against aggressive defense lawyer Danielle Melnick (Tovah Feldshuh), a disturbing secret looms ominously over one of the prosecuting attorneys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The detectives launch a search for a possible campus rapist when the body of a female college student is found. The ensuing investigation suddenly goes off on another tangent when evidence points to a prostitution ring involving pretty coeds. Can it be that the dead girl was a secret hooker, and that one of her colleagues killed her to keep the secret? Whatever the case, the DA's office is stonewalled by the legal maneuvers of the suspect's well-connected father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Natalya Negoda guest stars as Irina Cooper, a "green card bride" from the former Soviet Union. When Irina's wealthy husband is murdered, the subsequent investigation reveals that she was primed to take a job against his wishes and to enter into an extramarital affair -- whereupon he planned to divorce her just before she was qualified to claim American citizenship. This episode was directed by former Law & Order regular Dann Florek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
