Otto Sanchez Movies
The down-and-dirty side of building management in pre-gentrification Manhattan sets the stage for this dark comedy. It's 1981, and Joe Peltz (David Krumholtz) runs a newsstand in New York City, where he has recently married Annabelle (Clara Bellar), an exotic dancer from France who isn't in love with Joe but asked for his hand so she could get a Green Card. When Annabelle discovers she's pregnant, the couple decides they need a larger apartment, and Joe finds a flat in the East Village that's on the same block where his great-great-grandparents lived when they first came to America. However, the neighborhood is decaying and ridden with crime, and when Joe and Annabelle move into their new apartment, he's immediately drafted onto the building's co-op board, where he has to deal with a variety of eccentrics of various stripes and must often sleep in the lobby armed with a baseball bat to ward off junkies and burglars. But by far his biggest problem is Carlos DeJesus (Paul Calderon), a bully who has been squatting in the building for eight years with his roughneck teenage son, Segundo (Jon Budinoff). Carlos sees no reason why he should start paying rent, and he's made enemies with practically everyone who lives in the building, wasting no time in adding Joe and Annabelle to that list. So when a gasoline fire guts Carlos' apartment, the question is not who wanted him out, but who actually had the nerve to start the blaze. Based on a novel by Joel Rose, Kill the Poor was written for the screen by Daniel Handler, best known as the author of the popular "Lemony Snicket" books. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Krumholtz, Clara Bellar, (more)
Stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith return along with director Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for this sequel to the 1995 sleeper hit Bad Boys, the film that sparked the careers of both actors, as well as Bay. Once again, Lawrence and Smith play hotshot, wisecracking Miami narcotics officers Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey. This time around, Burnett and Lowrey have been assigned to head up a task force to investigate the illegal trafficking of ecstasy into the city. They discover that an underground gang war has been instigated by drug kingpin Johnny Tapia (Jordi Molla). In order to cut off the flow of the designer drug, they have to take down Tapia. Unfortunately, there's a wrench thrown into the gears in the form of Burnett's sister Syd, whom Lowrey takes a liking to and begins a relationship with. Tensions rise between the partners, threatening both their friendship and the investigation and putting Syd in harm's way. Also returning from the first film are Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard, Theresa Randle as Burnett's wife Theresa, and former-NBA star John Salley as 'Hacker' Fletcher. Among the supporting players new to this entry in the series are Peter Stormare and musician, spoken-word artist, and sometimes-actor Henry Rollins. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, (more)
- 2003
The apparent fatal heart attack of a jogger leads detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) on a not-so-merry chase involving a vendetta against a faithless woman perpetrated by two volatile brothers, a kidnapped pregnant woman whose husband is a serial philanderer, and a scorned wife who runs over her husband with her car in full view of dozens of witnesses. It may well be the most hectic day in either detective's life, and it's not over when the sun goes down. This episode was originally sandwiched between an airing of Law & Order's 1990 pilot show and the telecast of the series' 13th-season finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
A prisoner is murdered while still behind bars. At first, it seems to be an open-and-shut case, with detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) almost immediately collaring the likeliest suspect. But did the perpetrator act on his own volition, or was he merely following orders -- orders that may have been issued from outside prison walls? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
