Carol Leifer Movies
Comedian Carol Leifer began making the rounds as a stand-up comic in the 1970's, making a name for herself in the male dominated scene with sly observations and witty commentary. After being discovered by David Letterman in the 80's, her career took off, and Leifer expanded her career to become a writer and producer as well, joining the writing staff of the sitcom Seinfeld, and producing TV series like The Ellen Show and Rules of Engagement. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Blum) grows stale. Her favorite classified ads trace the romance of Jim (Robert Joy), a struggling musician, and Susan (Madonna), a SoHo vamp who's just narrowly escaped being murdered alongside one of her other boyfriends -- a gangster who recently stole some Egyptian jewelry. Through a series of complicated missteps, Roberta ends up losing her memory and convincing both herself and a broodingly handsome young man named Dez (Aiden Quinn) that she's the elusive, adventurous Susan. Soon, Roberta finds herself being romanced by Dez and pursued separately by her husband, Jim, Susan, and by a murderous mobster who's looking for the stolen jewels. For her second feature outing, which was partially inspired by Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, director Susan Seidelman filled her cast with hipster extras, downtown personalities, and New York thespians. Notable faces include comedian Steven Wright; future indie mainstay John Turturro; future TV stars Michael Badalucco and Laurie Metcalf; punk singer Richard Hell, who also starred in Seidelman's Smithereens; and performance artist Ann Magnunson, who would star in the director's Making Mr. Right. The big dance-club sequence was filmed at Danceteria, the disco that helped launch Madonna's career. The scene, and the film, helped propel "Into the Groove," one of the singer's all-time club classics, into the charts even though it was actually a b-side to the single "Angel." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, (more)
- 1992
Comedienne extraordinaire Julie Brown writes and directs Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful, a direct spoof of the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare. Brown stars as Medusa, a hypersexual egomanic singer on a world tour dubbed "The Blonde Leading the Blonde." Filmed in black-and-white with color performance footage, this mockumentary parodies the original film almost scene-for-scene. For example, Medusa visits her dead dog in the pet cemetary and performs fellatio on a watermelon on a dare. Songs include "Expose Yourself," "Everybody, Be Excited," and "Vague." Also starring comedians Bob Goldthwait and Chris Elliott. Julie Brown and co-writer Charlie Coffey won an award from the Writers Guild of America for their script. Medusa: Dare to Be Truthful was originally aired on Showtime before it was released on home video. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Brown
- 1996
Ten of America's most famous stand-up comics gather to let comedy fans take a peek behind the curtains as they discuss their experiences, influences, and how they got their big break in this release featuring Paul Reiser, Bill Mahr, Carol Liefer, Larry Miller, George Wallace, and more. Early performances by comics Andy Kauffman, George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Robert Klein, Jackie Vernon, and Richard Pryor are included to offer a look at stand up history in the making. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Between Larry's (Garry Shandling) wining and dining of paramour Lori Loughlin, Hank's attempt to romance paralegal Michelle (Cecil Hoffman), and Phil's scheme to hold fake auditions in hopes of meeting an actress, it seems that nearly everyone involved with the show is feeling a bit lonely. Despite each desperate attempt at a little romance, however, strike one occurs when money turns up missing from Larry's wallet and the host hastily accuses Loughlin of theft. When Hank books Michelle's precocious son, Roger (Christopher Riccio), on the show in a desperate bid to impress, it's strike two when the plan backfires as the camera-shy boy freezes up on the air. When Phil is caught faking auditions by victim Jenette Robbins' manager, the jig is up, the inning is over, and any chance for romance is quickly dashed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Three years after her controversial ABC sitcom left the airwaves, comedian Ellen DeGeneres is back on another network. In The Ellen Show, the eponymous star plays an attractive gay woman named Ellen Richmond. When her once-thriving dot.com company goes belly-up, Ellen skedaddles from New York and returns to her Norman Rockwell-style home town, moving in with her eternally judgmental mother Dot (Cloris Leachman) and her unlucky-in-love sister Catherine (Emily Rutherfurd). After a brief period of unemployment, Ellen goes to work as a guidance counselor at her former high school, under the aegis of her old principal Mr. Munn (Martin Mull). Here she works side by side with her one-time prom date Rusty (Jim Gaffigan), who still has a crush on her, notwithstanding Ellen's radically altered lifestyle. Originally packaged by Mike Ovitz's ATG Productions, Ellen was taken over by CBS when the Ovitz enterprise died on the vine. Slated to be shown on Fridays, the series finally debuted on Monday, September 24, 2001, where it failed to make a dent in the ratings despite the strong lead-in from Everybody Loves Raymond . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen DeGeneres, Cloris Leachman, (more)
A process server makes an unusual alliance with a beautiful but devious woman in this comedy. Joe Tyler (Matthew Perry) is a former attorney whose career went bust when he picked up some clients who turned out to be associated with the Mafia. These days, Joe makes his living as a process server, who presents people with legal papers -- papers they would usually prefer not to get. One of Joe's fellow servers, Tony (Vincent Pastore), is trying to weasel him out of his job, and has starting tipping off Joe's targets before he can deliver their papers in order to get Joe in dutch with their boss, Ray (Cedric the Entertainer). Joe, however, is able to persuade Ray to give him another chance with a high-profile client, Gordon (Bruce Campbell), a wealthy Texas cattle baron who has decided to divorce his wife and business partner, Sara (Elizabeth Hurley), in order to marry another woman, Kate (Amy Adams). When Joe presents Sara with the divorce papers, she is shocked by the news, which would cost her her half of the Gordon fortune. After Joe gets carjacked and finds herself on the same bus with Sara, she makes him a deal: If he's willing to take back the papers, say he never presented them, and serve a divorce petition to Gordon first, she'll pay Joe an even million dollars. Serving Sara became the focus of some unexpected controversy during its production -- first when Matthew Perry took a brief leave from the production to enter a rehabilitation clinic to fight an addiction to painkillers, and later when Elizabeth Hurley's former boyfriend, Steve Bing, accused Perry of being the father of Hurley's child (a charge both Hurley and Perry denied, and was proven false by blood tests). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Perry, Elizabeth Hurley, (more)
- 2003
The first original cartoon special from the TV Land cable channel, The Alan Brady Show spotlights the fictional star of the series-within-the-series on the classic The Dick Van Dyke Show. Producer/director Carl Reiner lends his voice to a new 3D-animated version of his devilish doppelganger, the egotistical and witheringly sarcastic TV superstar Alan Brady. The premise: With the 50th anniversary of his television debut rapidly approaching, Alan's long-suffering staff of writers is ordered to put together a celebratory special. Although the writers simply want to concentrate on highlights from past Alan Brady Shows, their vainglorious boss insists upon showing that he has kept apace with the times by headlining a new reality series, "Who Wants to Marry Alan Brady?" The comic tone of the proceedings is implicit in the name of Alan's new trophy girlfriend -- she's known simply as Trophy. Familiar Reiner associates Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie make guest voice appearances, as do Gary Owens and Carol Leifer. The Alan Brady Show first aired August 17, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, (more)
Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his employment opportunities are strictly limited to producing the sweet nectar. Upon breaking away from the hive and developing a friendship with an insect-loving New York florist (voice of Renée Zellweger), Barry makes the shocking discovery that human beings eat honey in mass quantities. Having finally found his calling in life, the infuriated Barry decides to sue the human race for stealing all of the honey that his fellow bees work so hard to produce. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, (more)
