Peter Quartaroli Movies
Actress-turned-director Lori Petty makes her feature directorial debut with this period drama set in 1976 that explores a typical day in the life of a decidedly atypical teen named Agnes. Some folks have the luxury of living each day to the fullest, but for Agnes every day is a grueling struggle for survival; her mother is strung out on drugs, her home has been overrun by degenerates, and her only father figure is a pimp. For Agnes and her two younger sisters, this particular day will be marked by both tragedy and triumph, but which will resonate most in the days and weeks to follow? Selma Blair, Bokeem Woodbine, and David Alan Grier star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Selma Blair, Jennifer Lawrence, (more)
The Christmas season just got a lot less joyous in this very dark comedy. Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) is a con man and a thief who teams up with his friend Marcus (Tony Cox), a midget, for a very special scam each year during the holiday season. Willie gets a job as Santa Claus at a shopping mall, his pal tags along as an elf, and they use their employee status to crack mall security and rob stores blind just before Christmas. However, there's one flaw to this plan -- Willie is a bitter, foul-mouthed and perpetually grouchy alcoholic who doesn't care for kids, and it's all he can do to keep himself from getting fired while on the job. The mall's manager (John Ritter, in his last film appearance) is certain something's wrong with the Santa he's hired, so he asks the mall's chief of security (Bernie Mac) to do some research on Willie. Meanwhile, one of the kids Willie is forced to talk to becomes a regular customer; overweight, awkward, and the frequent target of bullies, the boy manages to arouse something like sympathy from Willie, who tries to give him some advice and develops something vaguely resembling Christmas sprit along the way. Bad Santa was directed by Terry Zwigoff, who enjoyed previous success with Crumb and Ghost World. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, (more)
A man who turns to crime to survive finds it even more difficult to get by behind bars in this hard-edged drama. Slim (William Van Nolan) is a drug dealer who sells heroin in order to finance his own habit. Slim and his partner (Peter Quartaroli) think they have a major dope deal set up, but they discover too late that they've been set up for a police "sting," and Slim's best efforts at plea bargaining still leave him with a long sentence in a hardscrabble state prison in the Deep South. Slim quickly discovers that much of the prison population is divided along strict racial lines, and while Slim does his best to stay away from the racially inspired violence, a drug deal gone sour among his fellow inmates puts Slim on the enemies list of Sammytown (Sam McBride), the brutal leader of the prison's white supremacist population. As Slim tries his best to survive his time in the state lockup, he soon hears from both his former partner and his ex-girlfriend (Joy Garner) -- and they don't have his best interest at heart. Down Time was the first feature film from writer/director Sean Wilson, which he claims was based on his own experiences as a prison inmate. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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