Judith Malina Movies
Character actress Judith Malina is best known for co-founding the innovative Living Theater in 1946 with Julian Beck, who would become her husband. Malina is the daughter of an orthodox Jewish-German rabbi who moved to the U.S. in 1928 to escape political oppression. She became friends with Beck when she was 17. While Beck was interested in painting, Malina wanted to be an actress, and in 1945, she attended Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop at the New School on a partial scholarship. Malina and Beck's Living Theater was closely related to the avant-garde theater movement of the early '40s. Their one-act productions were often improvisational or penned by such esteemed playwrights as Gertrude Stein, Bertold Brecht, or Paul Goodman. The subject matter of the plays became increasingly political during the '50s and Malina and Beck were no strangers to jail as a result of their involvement in nonviolent protests. In 1959, they won an Obie Award for their July 16, 1959, production of Jack Gelber's The Connection. The play's success landed them an invite to perform at the Theatre des Nations in Paris and their efforts there won them a grand prize. By the early '60s, the Living Theater was plagued with heavy debt and tax troubles. Malina and Beck were eventually tried for tax debt and jailed for contempt of court. Their Living Theater then moved to Europe where troupe members led a nomadic existence and changed the types of plays they put on. They returned to the U.S. to tour. In 1969, the main troupe split up and Malina and Beck went to Brazil in the early '70s. In addition to her theatrical work, Malina had a sporadic film career that began in 1975 with a small role in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon. In Barry Sonnenfeld's Addams Family (1991), Malina played Granny. She had a starring role as an Italian immigrant in Household Saints (1993). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 2008
In January 2003, two Manhattan activists, Sharron Bower and Kathryn Blume, conceived the idea of staging a public reading of Aristophanes's seminal anti-war comedy, Lysistrata, as a protest against the preemptive strike on Iraq and subsequent U.S. occupation. Word of their doings caught fire and spread to numerous additional dramatic ensembles, around the country - so that when the date of the Bower-Blume reading finally arrived, on March 3, 2003, it was echoed by no less than 1,000 other dramatic ensembles, in 59 countries, performing simultaneous productions of the Aristophanes play. With his nonfiction film The Lysistrata Project, documentarist Michael Patrick Kelly etches out a moving portrait of Bower and Blume during the time surrounding these events, and thus demonstrates how grassroots activism and art can intersect to form the basis of effective social protest. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2006
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The underground art of renegade performance artist, photographer, and filmmaker Jack Smith is explored through the images he created and the words of those who knew him best in filmmaker Mary Jordan's tribute to the man believed to have inspired some of Andy Warhol's most iconic works. A virulent utopian and anti-capitalist whose works spanned from the 1960s to the late-1980s, Smith gained notoriety early on in his career when he went battled the Supreme Court over the banning of his controversial work "Flaming Creatures." An enigmatic artist whose work remains on the fringes of the mainstream despite the praise of curators from the Whitney to the Louvre, the effects of Smith's powerful influence are explored in interviews with those who both loved and hated Smith. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, a hard-luck gambler learns a new commandment: Honor Thy Mother's Lottery Winnings. Johnny Amico (Mike Starr) runs a delicatessen in New York City; regarded as a nice guy by his friends and regular customers, he has a weakness for gambling and is usually in debt. Johnny is constantly nagged by his well-meaning but domineering mother (Judith Malina), who gives him ten dollars to play the same number every week in the lottery. One week, her number turns up a winner, but this is bad news for Johnny: convinced that the number would never win, he's been using the money to place bets of his own. Now Mom expects Johnny to come up with the prize money for a winning ticket he never bought; Johnny hatches a scheme to raise the money, but, given his usual success as a gambler, no one is very optimistic that he can pull it off. The Deli features an impressive list of supporting names, including actors Michael Imperioli, Frank Vincent, and Debi Mazar; rappers Heavy D and Ice T; singer David Johansen; and model Iman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Having completed medical school, Carter (Noah Wyle) invites Benton (Eriq La Salle) to his graduation -- only to miss the festivities himself because he's too busy comforting his patient TC (Gabrielle Boni). Meanwhile, Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies), fed up with the bureaucracy and backstabbing of hospital politics, quits her job; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is forced to back Weaver (Laura Innes) for the job of attending physician if he wants to appoint Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) as chief resident. This final episode of ER's second season includes an unresolved plot strand involving Benton, his erstwhile lover, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben), and an HIV examination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The subject of this urban comedy could be "Two-timing men, and the women that despise them" as it presents the scathing opinions of women observing an adulterous misogynist in action. The adulterer in question is Scott who swears fealty to his beloved fiance, but then goes out and chases anything with ovaries when she is not around. He is cheered on by his equally misogynistic uncle. Scott's many sexploits are interrupted by female observers, who offer their commentary upon his actions. Their comments upon Scott can apply to adulterers everywhere. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doug DeLuca, Ellia Thompson, (more)
- 1992
The Eye of the Heart is the final volume in the series Apocalypse: Revelations for a New Millennium. In this volume, creators Weick and Andriotto summarize their explorations into the variety of experiences and understandings of the concept of the apocalypse. The mantra of this series, "There can be no collective revelation without personal revelation. The apocalypse does not take place only once, but is a continual process, a journey," is brought full circle in this final edition of the series. ~ Sean Hurley, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The Invisible City, the fourth tape in the series Apocalypse: Revelations for a New Millennium, examines the struggle to find the "New Jerusalem," that lies at the metaphoric heart of the city of Babylon. Weick and Andriotto introduce the stories of individuals who have undergone their own "personal apocalypse" and have discovered that the promised land can often be found without moving an inch. This tape explores the paradox of the increasing personal dissatisfaction suffered by so many even though their levels of material comfort have increased so magnificently. ~ Sean Hurley, All Movie Guide
- 1992
In The Great Contradiction, the third in the series Apocalypse: Revelations for a New Millennium, creators Weick and Andriotto explore the apocalypse suffered by the American Indian. Marked by the "discovery" of the new world by Columbus, the apocalypse of the American Indian is explored through film and interviews with some of the Native Americans who still have a connection to this culture. Through Hopi prophecies, the viewer is introduced to their long understood notion that by embracing the new at the expense of tradition, a culture quickly finds itself in a condition of slavish reliance. ~ Sean Hurley, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The second in the series Apocalypse: Revelations for a New Millennium, "Sunset in the East" takes the viewer to India and Tibet to explore Eastern religious notions of the apocalypse. From the Ganges River to Dharmasala, expert teachers including the XIV Dalai Lama relate the tradition of the Kalachakra ceremony, which understands human existence to exist in a procession of cycles contained within the wheel of time. The Eastern view that opposites complement each other is symbolized by the mythic battle between Shambala and the forces of chaos as related in the Kalachakra teachings. ~ Sean Hurley, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Signals Through the Flames is at once a history and a celebration of the Living Theatre. Founded in the late 1940s by husband-and-wife performers Julian Beck and Judith Malina, the Living Theatre was for many years the predominent American outlet for the avant-garde movement. There were occasional self-imposed exiles to Europe in the 1950s and 1960s, but the group returned full-force during the Aquarius Age to entertain a new generation of theatregoers. Appearing in several of the Living Theatre sketches featured herein is Maxine Harris, who coproduced Signals Through the Flames with Sheldon Rochlin. For more on this remarkable theatrical organization, we refer you to the 1968 taped production Emergency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Underground filmmaker Jonas Mekas presents a collection of home movies, outtakes and unfinished projects. A picnic in Central Park with friends is shown, as are Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer in an anti-war protest march. John Lennon and Yoko Ono are shown in their celebrated honeymoon where they answer questions from the media in a Toronto hotel room to promote peace. Timothy Leary, Andy Warhol and Nico also appear. Color process is not credited. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dr. Timothy Leary
- 1968
The husband-and-wife acting team of Julian Beck and Judith Malina heads the cast of the "theatre on film" presentation Emergency. The film consists of three short playlets conceived and performed by the Living Theatre Group, created by Beck and Malina in 1947. The best description of what follows is "performance art", even though that particular phrase was not in common usage in 1968. The trio of avant-garde plays consists of "Frankenstein", "Paradise Now" and "Mysteries." Emergency represented the Living Theatre's return to the US after a self-imposed, four-year exile in Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
A group of expatriates living in Holland turn to sex, dope and music to augment their daily routines. One comes to resent a couple who becomes part of the exclusive social elite. An American actor muses over his draft notice, and he becomes jealous when a beautiful model he covets takes up with a radical writer. Members of The Living Theatre provide the acting in this independent production. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1963
One of the most celebrated of all underground films, Flaming Creatures excited national censorship controversies in its day and was even denounced (and screened!) in the halls of the U.S. Senate. Jack Smith had hit a nerve with his delirious tribute to the 1940s screen star Maria Montez. (The soundtrack even includes a chunk of her 1943 release Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.) A hilarious and startling version of Arabian exotica, Flaming Creatures was shot on backdated black-and-white film stock, creating an overexposed and archaic quality to its images -- a world of uncontrollable sexual energy where women and transvestites primp, pose, dance, romance, and sometimes assault each other. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Francine, Sheila Bick, (more)
Adam Marcus, whose previous works include Jason Goes to Hell (1993), directs this heartwarming romantic comedy. The film opens with little James Ellis watching his parents divorce and his mother (Bernadette Peters) hop from one Mr. Wrong to the next. His grandmother warns him that "in this family, the men leave and the women go crazy." Fast-forward 14 years to a gloriously snowy winter day when James (played by screenwriter and brother of the director Kipp Marcus) runs into his neighbor Sarah (Alice Dylan). As best buddies, the two help each other out as he enrolls in a cooking school and she studies at a New York college. Soon, their attraction boils over and they stumble into their first kiss. Confused, Sarah tells James that the kiss was a mistake, though in her heart it felt all too right. Crestfallen, James dutifully agrees. But when he gathers the courage to tell her what he really feels, she has left to study in England. James seeks solace from a series of failed rebound dates by spending evenings at a local club with his fellow walking wounded. Snow Days was screened at the 1999 AFI/L.A. Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kipp Marcus, Alice Dylan, (more)
- 1993
- R
Household Saints is a leisurely-paced portrait of three different generations of working-class, New York-based, Italian women. Carmela Santangelo (Judith Malina) is an elderly immigrant whose son (Vincent D'Onofrio) wins a wife, Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman), during a pinochle game. The pair have a daughter, Teresa (Lili Taylor), who becomes obsessed with religion, eventually believing that she will become the bride of Christ. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracey Ullman, Vincent D'Onofrio, (more)
Ron Silver stars as Herman, a Holocaust survivor who believes that his wife Tamara (Anjelica Huston) perished in the concentration camps. He marries fellow immigrant Yadwiga (Margaret Sophie Stein), whose family sheltered him from the Nazis, and resettles in the Coney Island area of New York. Not all that devoted to Yadwiga, Herman begins an affair with Masha (Lena Olin), who becomes pregnant by him. Reasoning that, since Yadwiga is a gentile, his marriage is not legal in the eyes of his religion, Herman marries Masha as well. The triangle metamorphoses into a quadrangle when Tamara, who was not killed after all, reappears. Olin and Huston were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Anjelica Huston, (more)
- 1987
- R
Director Abel Ferrara liberally employs his blackjack intensity in this lunatic gang romance that comes across as a cross between Mean Streets and West Side Story. The New York City street gangs of Chinatown and Little Italy are rattling their sabers and they become drawn when a Chinese restaurant opens up on the Italian side of Canal Street. In the middle of all this tension and violence, beautiful Chinese teenager Tyan-Hwa (Sari Chang) falls in love with Tony (Richard Panebianco), a pizza delivery boy. Of course, continuing with in the West Side Story vein, the parents of the two lovebirds are against the match. Not only that, but the Mafia and the Chinese mob conspire to separate the lovers in order to maintain an uncertain peace in the community. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Russo, Sari Chang, (more)
Based on a true 1972 story, Sidney Lumet's 1975 drama chronicles a unique bank robbery on a hot summer afternoon in New York City. Shortly before closing time, scheming loser Sonny (Al Pacino) and his slow-witted buddy, Sal (John Cazale), burst into a Brooklyn bank for what should be a run-of-the-mill robbery, but everything goes wrong, beginning with the fact that there is almost no money in the bank. The situation swiftly escalates, as Sonny and Sal take hostages; enough cops to police the tristate area surround the bank; a large Sonny-sympathetic crowd gathers to watch; the media arrive to complete the circus; and police captain Moretti (Charles Durning) tries to negotiate with Sonny while keeping the volatile spectacle under control. When Sonny's lover, Leon (Chris Sarandon), tries to talk Sonny out of the bank, we learn the robbery's motive: to finance Leon's sex-change operation. Sonny demands a plane to escape, but the end is near once menacingly cool FBI agent Sheldon (James Broderick) arrives to take over the negotiations. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, John Cazale, (more)
Inspired more by the 1960s TV series than by the original Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons, The Addams Family proved to be one of the more successful of the TV shows-turned-movies of the 1990s. The film opens on a recreation of the magazine cartoon wherein the ghoulish Addamses prepare to pour hot oil upon a group of merry Christmas carolers. After a series of vignettes which establish the characters of Gomez (Raul Julia), Morticia (Anjelica Huston), Wednesday (Christina Ricci), Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and family servants Lurch (Carel Struycken) and Thing (Christopher Hart), the plot proper gets under way. A stranger, played by Christopher Lloyd, shows up on the Addams doorstep, claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester. It appears, however, that Lloyd is a ringer, in cahoots with attorney Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya) to strip the Addamses of their fortune. In their usual against-the-grain fashion, the Addams Family seems to delight in the possibility that they're being hoodwinked-indeed, not even kidnapping or death threats dampen the Addams clan's joy of living (or should we say dying?). The Addams Family served as the directorial debut of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, (more)
Based on a true story as related by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings stars Robin Williams as the Sacks counterpart, here named Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Something of a klutz and naif, Dr. Sayer takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. Here he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic patients who, under Sayer's painstaking guidance, begin responding to certain stimulati. Apprised of the efficacy of a new drug called L-DOPA in treating degenerative-disease victims, Sayer is given permission to test the drug on one of his patients: Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), who has not communicated with anyone since lapsing into catatonia as a child. Gradually, Lowe comes out of his shell, encouraging Sayers to administer L-DOPA to the other patients under his care. Julie Kavner and John Heard also star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, (more)
Released at the height of his popularity on Family Ties and in the wake of Back to the Future and Teen Wolf, Michael J. Fox stars in this "country boy in the big city" comedy, directed by Herbert Ross. After making the move from Kansas to New York City, Brantley Foster (Fox) secures a job in the mailroom at his uncle's large corporation. Doffing any plans of working his way up the corporate ladder the old fashioned way, Brantley begins impersonating an executive to impress a high-ranking female co-worker, played by Helen Slater. Once his oversexed aunt enters the mix, Brantley finds himself juggling two identities, two jobs, and two women. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, (more)
Woody Allen's gentle and nostalgic tribute to the glory days of radio and coming-of-age during World War II plays like Fellini's Amarcord filtered through Neil Simon. The nominal star is Seth Green as Joe, a teenage Jewish boy, growing up with a house full of relatives in Brooklyn. Allen cuts between Joe's working class neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, Queens, and the glittery and glamorous world of radio in Manhattan. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Farrow, Seth Green, (more)
