Fran Lebowitz Movies

Canadian filmmaker Alan Zweig, himself an admitted curmudgeon, devotes this talking-head documentary primarily to interviews with other curmudgeons with a similar sensibility. The movie consists largely of talking-head interviews with a variety of men and women, spanning several generations, who have the sourly cynical, intellectual view of the world that qualifies them as fellow curmudgeons. Some of the interviewees are renowned in various fields (author Fran Lebowitz, autobiographical comic strip creator Harvey Pekar, indie rock musician Mark Eitzel, media commentator Andrew Rooney); others are far less familiar to the general public. The interviews are largely devoted to humorous, at times philosophical, discussions (with plenty of illustrative anecdotes) about the curmudgeonly attitudes the subjects bring to their worlds, taking in jaded observations of popular culture, social institutions, and humanity as a whole. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Movie Guide

An explosion in a rent-controlled tenement building results in a single fatality. It is later revealed that the victim, identified as Jeffrey Haden, had his neck broken and was tied up before the explosion. Things take an even more disturbing turn when "Jeffrey Haden" turns out to be an alias for Juseff Haddad who, despite his minimum-wage job, was able to maintain a bank account totalling 89,000 dollars. Dianne Wiest makes her last series appearance as Interim D.A. Nora Lewin in this, the final episode of Law & Order's 12th season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The detectives' investigation of a stabbing murder reveals that the victim, a derelict, served in Vietnam. Following the trail of clues, the authorities learn that the dead man was one of three soldiers who were involved in the same wartime incident. One of these three, a high-ranking municipal official, is clearly harboring an unpleasant secret. Originally scheduled to air on September 26, 2001, this episode was delayed until October 3. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It was the fire that sparked reform; after 146 people -- mostly women and girls -- died in the ferocious 1911 blaze that gutted the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, it was discovered that the exits had been locked by the management to prevent theft by the workers. At the time, there were no fire laws in the city, and few laws protecting workers. As this fourth episode in the PBS documentary series about New York reveals, citizen anger at the tragedy led to public hearings and a state commission recommending safety reforms such as automatic sprinklers in buildings over seven stories high, more frequent fire inspections, and a shorter, 54-hour week for women. Also covered in this episode is the fledgling motion picture industry led by companies such as Biograph, for which D.W. Griffith shot hundreds of short films; the continued problem of overcrowded slums, a blight exacerbated by the arrival of 10 million new immigrants in just a couple of decades; and the building of modern urban emblems: the subway system and skyscrapers. Highlights include archival motion picture footage, period photographs, archival paintings, and engravings, as well as commentary by numerous guests including Academy award-winning director Martin Scorcese; Ruth J. Abram, founder of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum; novelist Caleb Carr (The Alienist); architect Robert A. M. Stern; writer Jean Strouse; and historian John Kuo Wei Tchen. Other features include dramatic readings by guests including Robert Sean Leonard, Frances Sternhagen, Eli Wallach, and George Plimpton. Directed by Ric Burns and narrated by David Ogden Stiers. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

New York of the 19th century was already a haven of celebrities; showman P.T. Barnum's museum drew crowds on Broadway, and up the street the great photographer Mathew Brady stayed busy taking "likenesses" of the rich and famous. However, when British author Charles Dickens visited New York in 1842, the poverty and squalor he witnessed in New York appalled him; he noted that it was worse than any of London's. Indeed, as revealed in the second episode of this epic PBS documentary series, New York's rapid growth didn't come without a human cost. Gangs as bad or worse than any in the 20th century roamed the harsh tenement slums. Disparity between rich and poor, American-born and immigrant, culminated in the draft riots during the sweltering summer of July 1863. Angry over the unfairness of the newly instituted Civil War draft (rich men could buy their way out of the military), mobs of men, women, and children rampaged through the streets causing millions of dollars in damage. Several blacks got lynched during the riots, and federal troops had to be called back from the still-smoking battlefields of Gettysburg to restore the peace. Highlights include archival daguerreotypes, paintings, and engravings, as well as commentary by numerous guests including historian Thomas Bender, poet Allen Ginsberg, architect Robert A. M. Stern, and historian Gretchen Sullivan Sorin. Other features include dramatic readings by various people including Frances Sternhagen, Keith David, Spalding Gray, Philip Bosco, Eli Wallach, and George Plimpton. Directed by Ric Burns and narrated by David Ogden Stiers. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

Calling Prohibition a "noble experiment," New York congressman Fiorello La Guardia then declared the law unenforceable. Throughout most of New York City, this was the correct assessment. This is the fifth episode of the epic PBS documentary series about the "Big Apple." Also covered in this program is the deportation of pacifist and anarchist Emma Goldman during the "Red Scare" of 1919; the horse-drawn wagon bombing of the Morgan Bank in 1920, which killed 30 people; the change of Harlem from a German-Jewish neighborhood to a mostly black one; the "Harlem Renaissance"; the "Jazz Age"; the rise of radio as entertainment; the invention of the Broadway musical; and the construction of the Empire State Building. Highlights include archival newsreel footage and photographs, as well as commentary from a variety of guests including historian David Levering Lewis, construction consultant Joel Silverman, architect Robert A.M. Stern, historian Ann Douglas, and historian Joshua Freeman. Directed by Ric Burns and narrated by David Ogden Stiers. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

A charming portrait of Quentin Crisp, who has (very deliberately) become the closest thing this century has to an Oscar Wilde. Crisp moved to New York City at the age of 73 and has many devoted friends and admirers who sing his praises. Indeed, pop star Sting literally "sings" of Quentin in his hit "Englishman in New York." Other fans who make appearances in the film include John Hurt, Fran Lebowitz and director Paul Morrissey. Of course, not everyone loves Quentin, as we learn primarily in a segment from the Sally Jesse Raphael show. He is not only a frequent target of homophobic attacks but is described by one homosexual as a "gay Stepin Fetchit." Overall, though, this is certainly a sympathetic documentary which may even provoke a grudging admiration from the viewer. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide