Maria Cina Movies
Four lives intersect at a Hollywood Hills New Years Eve party where everyone is doing their best just to make it through the night in one piece. By New Years Day, four people's lives will be changed forever when they realize that some resolutions are worth keeping. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justin Whalin, Anne Ramsay, (more)
A woman negotiates the tricky etiquette of celebrating the wedding of her former girlfriend in this independent comedy. April (Maria Cina) and Alex (Trish Doolan) are close friends who have something of a past together -- both are lesbians, and they were lovers for several years. Alex is still attracted to April, but April has moved on -- so much so that April one day announces that she's going to marry Pauly (Randall Batinkoff), a pleasant but dull man who was introduced to April by her mother (Molly Cheek). Understandably, Alex is a bit taken aback when April asks her to be her maid of honor, but for the sake of their friendship she accepts. However, things get a bit frazzled when Alex has to put together a bridal shower for the woman she still loves. April's Shower was the first feature film from writer and director Trish Doolan, who also plays Alex. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Cina, Trish Doolan, (more)
After an unnerving brush with death, a filmmaker finds that his ordeal isn't quite over in this modestly budgeted horror movie. Tom Kempton (Alex McArthur) is a successful animator who wants to get away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood for a while. He joins several friends for a vacation in Northern Michigan, where they rent snowmobiles to make the most of the snowy winter weather. Kempton gets separated from his friends while exploring the slopes and soon finds himself lost; looking for shelter, he takes refuge in a small cabin, only to discover it's inhabited by Vanessa Boulette (Laura Esterman) and her sister Ann (Sage Allen), a pair of elderly siblings with a feeble hold on reality and a taste for human flesh. Captured and tortured by the Boulette sisters, Kempton is saved at the last minute, but the experience makes a deep impression on him and he uses his fearsome experience as the basis for his next project. Even though Kempton has been reassured that the Boulette sisters died in their showdown with the authorities, he's convinced the threat isn't gone, and it turns out he's right -- one of the sisters had a bastard daughter which was put up for adoption, and her son now displays many of the same psychotic tendencies as his grandmother. Suspended Animation marked a return to the horror genre for director John D. Hancock, who in 1971 made the cult favorite Let's Scare Jessica to Death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2000
A road movie played out amidst the chaos of a disintegrating marriage, Jian Hong Kuo's directorial debut concerns the misadventures of a down-on-their-luck couple and the lovable mutt they pick up for the ride. Petty thief Roy (played by writer-producer Adam Golomb) has a staggering gambling habit and a debt to match when the film opens, and he accepts a near-impossible task in order to purge himself of it: pick up a mysterious package and deliver it to his mob-boss bookie by the end of the day. Along the way, he and wife Marty (Maria Cina) encounter a twisted county sheriff, some unsavory locals, and the dog of the film's title, which they rescue at the outset of their journey. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Golomb, Maria Cina, (more)
- 1997
Heading to New York to attend a performance of the Broadway musical Rent, Joe (Tim Daly) and Helen (Crystal Bernard) are in for the first of a series of setbacks when the box office refuses to validate their tickets. Before long, the couple finds themselves flat broke and stranded in the Big Apple. Resourceful Joe then comes up with a brilliant idea to raise money -- he'll enter a drag queen contest -- or rather, he'll enter Helen as a contestant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) thinks it's a good thing that he is number one on his girlfriend's speed dial -- but it isn't. Apprehensive about the approaching millennium, Kramer (Michael Richards) decides to hold his New Year's Eve party two years early. George (Jason Alexander) connives to get fired by the Yankees so he can accept what he thinks is a better job with the Mets. And Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) discovers that changing clothing stores after receiving bad service doesn't solve much of anything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
