Ellen McElduff Movies

Rosatti, a New York contractor with mob connections, is found murdered in his own brownstone apartment. At first the killing seems to have been the end result of a botched robbery, but Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) have reason to believe that Rosatti died in a professional hit ordered by the victim's trophy wife Sherri (Gretchen Egolf) and her paramour Tony Darrow (Bobby Cannavale). Just when the noose seems to be tightening around the alleged perpetrators, ADA Southerlyn (Elisabeth Rohm) unearths a startling new piece of evidence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Al Pacino made a rare return to the stage in 1994 when he starred in a Broadway production of Ira Lewis's play Chinese Coffee. In this film adaptation of the drama, Pacino recreates his performance and also directs. Harry Levine (Pacino) is a writer in his early fifties who has published two novels, but never enjoyed enough literary success to leave his job as a doorman. Harry has just finished a third book, and is waiting for his close friend Jake Manheim (Jerry Orbach) to read the manuscript and give him his opinion. Harry is already edgy as he awaits Jake's verdict, since his longtime girlfriend, artist Joanna (Susan Floyd), has just called an end to their relationship. Jake, on the other hand, broke up with his wife Mavis (Ellen McElduff) when he decided to abandon his 30-year career as a photographer in pursuit of a (thus far unsuccessful) career as an actor. At first Jake tells Harry he hasn't yet read his new book, but in time he confesses that he has and that, from a literary standpoint, he thinks Harry simply doesn't have the talent to be a success; he also feels hurt and betrayed as a friend that Harry used sensitive moments from Jake's private life as plot points in his novel. Chinese Coffee was Al Pacino's second effort as a film director, following Looking for Richard, his semi-documentary look at staging William Shakespeare's Richard III. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) is fed up with the liberties taken by the homicide squad's FBI liaison -- never mind that his own son Mike (Giancarlo Esposito) is himself an FBI agent. Elsewhere, the detectives resent the preferential treatment afforded ADA Eleanor Burke (Haviland Morris), who intends to use Battered Spouse Syndrome to defend herself against charges of murdering her husband. Ballard (Callie Thorne) shames Lewis (Clark Johnson) into teaming with her to solve a barroom stabbing. And waitress Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff) receives an unexpected -- and very inebriated -- wedding proposal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The hit-and-run death of a Vietnam veteran prompts Stuart Gharty (Peter Gerety) to once again flash back to his own wartime experiences. Fed up with Gharty's ramblings, Munch (Richard Belzer) tells his colleagues that he has serious doubts about Stuart's war record. Ultimately, the two men have a heated confrontation at the Waterfront Bar -- yielding a "casualty" in the form of waitress Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff). And back at the precinct station, Lewis (Clark Johnson) expresses discomfort when Sheppard (Michael Michele) is placed back in rotation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Luke Ryland (Benjamin Busch), the demented "Internet killer" first seen on the previous episode "Homicide.com," is freed from prosecution on a technicality -- sending arresting officer Bayliss (Kyle Secor) off the deep end. Meanwhile, Giardello's (Yaphet Kotto) daughter Teresa (Audra McDonald) unexpectedly shows up in Baltimore to help her dad celebrate his promotion to captain -- and her brother Mike's (Giancarlo Esposito) long-overdue resignation from the FBI. Several last-minute revelations, apologies, and surprises occur in this, the 122nd and final episode of Homicide: Life on the Street -- which, in its terminal moments, neatly brings the entire series "full circle." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mike "McGee" Giardello (Giancarlo Esposito) and Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne) investigate when a famous sports doctor "accidentally" kills his sister-in-law. Joining the investigation is Falsone (Jon Seda), who in the course of events finds time to show off his prowess in the boxing ring. Meanwhile, Munch (Richard Belzer) is peeved that his partners in the Waterfront Bar would doubt the honesty of his accountant cousin -- until he's slapped with a bill for 30,000 dollars in back taxes. And Gharty (Peter Gerety), newly separated from his wife, tries to date Waterfront waitress Billie Lou (Ellen McElduff). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of Homicide: Life on the Street's two-part season six finale, Judge Gibbons, who presided over the Mahoney wrongful-death suit, is found murdered -- and before long, three cops are killed in drive-bys that may be related to Gibbons' death. The FBI joins the homicide unit to crack the case, with all evidence pointing back to the drug-dealing empire of Georgia Mae Mahoney, which is now self-destructing in a deadly turf war. As Kellerman (Reed Diamond) broods over the likelihood that his public chastisement of Gibbons may have brought about the man's death, Georgia Rae's son Junior Bunk (Mekhi Phifer) is brought in for questioning -- whereupon Junior grabs a gun and begins firing, seriously wounding two of the series' main characters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, originally telecast as a two-hour special, has since been edited into two hour-long installments for syndication. In part two, the homicide unit has been ordered to concentrate exclusively on the murders of a priest and monsignor. Bayliss (Kyle Secor) poses as a cleric in hopes of flushing out the killers, who may or may not be a pair of missing Guatemalan refugees. And in other developments, the missing Lewis (Clark Johnson) finally resurfaces with an unusual request for Falsone (Jon Seda), Gharty (Peter Gerety) "loses it" while interrogating a suspect, and Kellerman (Reed Diamond) gets involved in a drunken brawl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Honored at a testimonial by her fellow medical examiners, Julianna Cox (Laura Ballard) relates the curious tale of Mr. and Mrs. Cochran (Steve Allen, Jayne Meadows), who, during one of their violent arguments, may very well have spared their son the trouble of committing suicide -- by killing him themselves. Back at the homicide unit, Georgia Rae Mahoney (Hazelle Goodman), sister of the late, unlamented drug kingpin Luther Mahoney, slaps a 60-million-dollar wrongful-death lawsuit against the detectives who were present when Luther was killed. And outside their usual jurisdiction, Ballard (Callie Thorne) and Gharty (Peter Gerety) pursue a pair of murderers into the backwoods of Western Maryland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The children of a Vietnamese couple who were killed in their own restaurant along with several other people tell the authorities that one of the victims -- and one of the killers -- were both cops. The officer suspected of pulling the trigger, Antoinette Perry (Camille McCurty Ali), may have been unqualified for her job, but was forced upon the Baltimore PD by affirmative action and an influential father -- who turns up dead himself before long. Meanwhile, Falsone (Jon Seda) is frustrated by the departmental coverup that has ruined the case against drug dealer Georgia Rae Mahoney, and Ballard (Callie Thorne) develops a peculiar allergy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy features the troubles occurring between a selfish man and his unfaithful love. ~ All Movie Guide

Impostors is a low-budget, hard-to-figure independent film by director Mark Rappaport. The actors intentionally parrot lines in an emotionless fashion as the story about two seemingly murderous, vaudeville magicians unfolds. Chuckie (Charles Ludlam) and Mikey (Michael Burg) borrow from models like Peter Lorre characters or the Marx Brothers in their antics. Their assistant Tina (Ellen McElduff) is of a dual sexual persuasion, apparently. One of her liaisons (Peter Evans) turns out to be a bit of an imposter himself but a lot can be forgiven because of the cash that comes with him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards for which it was nominated: one for Best Photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for Editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide