Will Janowitz Movies
- 2009
Writer/director Ben Loeterman draws on historical record to pen this semi-documentary about a Jewish engineer who became the tragic victim of mob justice after being accused of murdering an Atlanta child worker in 1913. When the body of thirteen year old Mary Phagan was discovered in the cellar of the National Pencil Company, suspicions quickly fell upon the manager of the factory, Leo Frank. After a speedy trial filled with inconsistencies and fueled by racial discrimination, Frank was given the death sentence. But this was far from the end of the story; concluding that the conviction was unjust after Frank's lawyers fought it straight to the Supreme Court, Georgia Governor John Slaton inadvertently sealed the fate of the accused by commuting his sentence to life in prison. Enraged, a group of 25 vigilantes who dubbed themselves "The Knights of Mary Phagan" kidnapped Frank from his cell at the state penitentiary, and hung him from a tree near his alleged victim's childhood home. Neither the guards at the prison nor the warden offered any resistance to the murderous mob. It was the first and only known lynching of a Jewish man on American soil. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee tells the story of the Greenwich Village interior designer who inadvertently helped to spark a cultural revolution by offering the organizers of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival boarding at his family's Catskills motel. The year is 1969. Change is brewing in America, and the energy in Greenwich Village is palpable. Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) is working as an interior designer when he discovers that a high-profile concert has recently lost its permit from the nearby town of Wallkill, NY. Emboldened by the burgeoning gay rights movement yet still tied to tradition in the form of the family business -- a Catskills motel called the El Monaco -- Tiber phones producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures and offers boarding to the harried concert crew. Later, as the Woodstock Ventures staff begans arriving in droves, half a million concertgoers make their way to Max Yasgur's (Eugene Levy) adjacent farm in White Lake, NJ, to witness the counterculture celebration that would ultimately make history as one of the greatest events in the annals of rock & roll. Imelda Staunton, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, and Paul Dano co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Demetri Martin, Dan Fogler, (more)
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)
- 2005
- NR
Director Bruce van Dusen takes the helm for this late bloomer coming-of-age story about two lifelong friends from New York City who embark on a three-day road tip to Montreal in hopes of meeting their favorite actor: Donald Sutherland. But this hapless duo hasn't left their problems behind just yet, because in order to achieve their lofty goal, these two pals will have to get a large cache of drugs to its intended drop spot in time, and contend with an eccentric keyboard clacker who only communicates via instant messaging. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Alexander, Rob Bogue, (more)
Bristol Boys stars Thomas Guiry as Michael McCarthy, a man who becomes a drug dealer in order to provide for his family. That family becomes threatened as his career grows much larger than he ever intended. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2002
The young man who was stabbed to death outside a pizza parlor is revealed to be N.Y.U. student Andrew Hatcher. Among the clues is the fact that Hatcher's parents were called up on his cell phone -- after his death. The principal suspect would seem to be drug dealer Jimmy Gaines (Gregory Russell Cook), who claims that he found the victim's cell phone in a garbage can. Investigating this alibi, the detectives come across evidence of an attempt to cover up a case of meat contamination. Without revealing more, it can be said that this episode truly lives up to its title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
