Anne Meara
Devastated after being fired by director Woody Allen, actress Annabelle Gurwitch sets out on a soul-searching journey to discover whether getting the axe was the best or worst thing ever to happen in her professional career. Anyone who has been in the workforce for an extended amount of time has likely been there -- one minute you've got a good-paying job that you love, and the next minute you're standing in the unemployment line. When Annabelle Gurwitch got fired by the legendary director of such classics as Annie Hall and The Purple Rose of Cairo, she thought her career was over. Upon turning to her many showbiz pals for advice, however, Gurwitch quickly discovered that she was not alone. In this documentary, Gurwitch enlists the aid of filmmakers Chris Bradley and Kyle La Brache in traveling the country to interview such celebrities as Tim Allen, David Cross, Sarah Silverman, and Jeff Garlin to find out exactly how they dealt with the heavy hand of rejection. Additional interviews with GM workers in Lansing, MI, who were handed their pink slips offer some tales that are tragically comedic and others that seems to reinforce the old adage about one door closing and another door opening, while a visit to job fairs and "outplacement services" show just what the jobless endure on a day-to-day basis. Conversations with the downsizers as well as the downsized offer viewers a chance to explore the topic from both sides as host Gurwitch reminds viewers that sometimes the greatest success stories are born of failure. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Andy Borowitz, (more)
The new night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History finds that the job comes with more responsibility than he ever dreamed in this wild fantasy comedy directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Van Dyke. Larry Daley (Stiller) is a kind-hearted dreamer who always knew that he was destined for greatness, he just never quite knew how. None of his ideas or inventions has panned out, so with a heavy heart, he takes a regular job as a lowly graveyard-shift security guard at the Museum of Natural History in order to provide a more stable life for himself and his ten-year-old son. His first night on the job, however, he finds that guardianship of the museum is far from stable -- at nightfall, an Egyptian spell brings the artifacts and wax figures to life! With Attila the Hun charging to war through the hallways, the diorama miniatures embroiled in a deadly feud, and a two-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex nagging to play fetch, Larry has half a mind to turn tail and run. On top of cleaning up after two million years of historical chaos every night, he also has to make sure that not a single museum piece leaves the building -- from the bratty Capuchin monkey in the African exhibit, to the life-sized Neanderthal in the prehistoric display -- because if morning light falls on an escaped artifact, it will turn to dust. Larry turns to a wax replica of President Roosevelt (Williams) for a little advice on keeping things in tact, but Teddy seems to think that a man of Larry's greatness needs little help. Larry isn't sure if the former commander in chief is right; this is hardly what he signed up for, but he can't pass up the chance to care for a museum where history really does come to life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, (more)
- 2004
In an episode inspired by the capture of the notorious "BTK Killer", the police find a note duct-taped to an abandoned baby containing cryptic clues as to the mother's whereabouts. As SVU detectives Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Munch (Richard Belzer) and Tutuola (Ice-T) follow a trail of increasingly ominous (and often gruesome) clues, it is apparent that the mother has been kidnapped--and likely murdered--by a cunning serial killer known as RDK. But in assembling the pieces of this grim puzzle, the detectives arrive at another, even more frightening conclusion: They may be dealing with a copycat killer who intends to surpass RDK with his own murder spree. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Not many stand-up comedians are openly gay, and fewer still are handicapped, but comic Greg Walloch just so happens to be both, and he's developed a growing cult following for his act, in which he pokes politically incorrect fun at his sexual preferences, his physical condition, and how society and the world around him reacts to both. F**k The Disabled (which is meant not as an epithet, but a polite request) is a documentary about Greg Walloch, in which he discusses his life and career while also sharing highlights from his nightclub act. F**k The Disabled also includes interviews with a number of Greg's admirers, including Stephen Baldwin, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, and Michael Musto. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Pint-size rap music star Lil Bow Wow shows that he can play ball as well as he raps in this youth-oriented comedy about a young boy whose dream comes true in an unexpected way. Calvin Cambridge (Lil Bow Wow) is a 14-year-old boy, who, since the death of his parents, has been living in an orphanage run by the unpleasantly eccentric Stan Bittleman (Crispin Glover). While the tough but caring Sister Theresa (Anne Meara) tries to encourage the kids, Calvin knows that he and most of the other kids his age are poor prospects for adoption. Calvin loves basketball and idolizes Michael Jordan, but he's too short to be much of a challenge to the older kids when shooting hoop at the playground. One day, Calvin discovers a pair of old basketball sneakers with the initials "MJ" written on the inside. Calvin is convinced they once belonged to Michael Jordan, but he can hardly believe what happens when he puts them on -- suddenly he's able to make superhuman jump shots and dunks just like a miniature version of Air Jordan himself. Calvin's newly developed talent on the court comes to the attention of Frank Bernard (Eugene Levy), the manager of the Los Angeles Knights, an NBA team having a humiliating season. Bernard brings Calvin to the team as a novelty item, but with the help of Coach Wagner (Robert Forster) and the new kid's can-do attitude, the Knights start to climb out of the cellar and look like possible season champs. However, Tracey Reynolds (Morris Chestnut), who used to be the team's star player, isn't happy to have his thunder stolen by a 14-year-old boy -- especially when he's made Calvin's roommate and de-facto guardian on the road. Like Mike also features cameo appearances by a number of pro basketball stars, including Allen Iverson, Chris Webber, and Jason Kidd. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lil' Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, (more)
- 2000
- R
Imaginary Z-grade 1960s exploitation film producer Morty Fineman (Jerry Stiller), who was responsible for such faux-works as Buddy Cops V: Hayseed and Toughnut, sci-fi blaxploitation flick The Foxy Chocolate Robot, and, of course, Heil Titler , is the focus for this mockumentary co-written and directed by Stephen Kessler). While Fineman struggles to make his latest effort, Ms. Kevorkian, about a gun-toting babe who's passionate about assisted-suicide, the bank wants to foreclose on his hallowed studio and sell his film archive for $8 a pound. In absolute desperation, he reaches out to his estranged daughter Paloma (Janeane Garofalo), who grudgingly agrees to be the president of his production company in spite of numerous moral qualms. Along the way, the film features interviews with such real-life luminaries as Peter Bogdanovich, Roger Corman, and blaxploitation stalwart Fred Williamson, that paints a picture of a relentlessly gung-ho producer whose work somehow manages to rise above nothing budgets and lackluster talent. They also highlight Fineman's penchant for hitting on his leading ladies; Karen Black recalled one incident by noting, "It helped to be drunk." This film was screened at the 2000 South By Southwest Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, (more)
Actor and playwright Stephen Burrows makes his directorial debut with this independent comedy that takes a witty look at the downside of working in the movie business. Steve (Burrows) is a writer, actor, and comic who years ago left his hometown of Milwaukee, WI, for the bright lights of Hollywood and who, after years of struggling, has managed to get his foot in the door of show business thanks to his appearance in a widely seen commercial for a personal hygiene product called "Crotch Fresh." Steve decides to pay a visit to his friends in the Midwest, and while in Milwaukee he meets Sam (Traci Elizabeth Lords), an attractive woman interested in knowing more about his career in entertainment. As Steve and Sam get to know each other, he regales her with a number of remarkable stories about fascistic acting coaches, egocentric producers, and studio heads too young to hold a driver's license. Stephen Burrows was able to persuade a number of his well-known colleagues to appear in Chump Change, including Tim Matheson, Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Fred Willard, and Abe Vigoda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Traci Lords, (more)
Judy Berlin allows the audience to take a glimpse of a day at once strange and ordinary with the residents of Babylon, Long Island. Judy (Edie Falco) is an aspiring actress who is quitting her job as a "pilgrim" in a local historical museum's display to take her chances in Los Angeles. Her mother is a gifted but bitter schoolteacher (Barbara Barrie) who has long loved principal Arthur Gold (Bob Dishy) from afar. However, Arthur has a wife, Alice (Madeline Kahn), who's more than a bit eccentric and has driven him to distraction. Arthur and Alice have a son, David (Aaron Harnick), who like Judy has showbiz aspirations (he wants to be a filmmaker), though unlike Judy he has no idea of what to do about it; when Judy and David meet, could romance be lurking around the corner? First-time director Eric Mendelsohn has equipped this offbeat comic drama an outstanding cast, which also includes Julie Kavner, Anne Meara, and Novella Nelson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Barrie, Bob Dishy, (more)
- 1999
Several noted American actors dot this autobiographical feature from Hungarian filmmaker Gabe Von Dettre (also know as Gabor Dettre) about the difficulty of getting a break in the movie industry. Brad Dourif plays a filmmaker who often talks to the audience about the main question on his mind -- why can't he get a project financed when so many people with less talent and fewer credentials are working steadily? This film (which was many years in production, as evidenced by the presence of several actors who are no longer living) was shown as part of the 1999 Hungarian Film Week Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Dourif, Kathleen Gati, (more)
- 1999
After four decades in show business, the husband and wife comedy team of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara finally make their big-screen debut together in this story about a marriage on its last legs. Sam (Stiller) and Molly (Meara) have been married for over 40 years. Their children are grown and living on their own, and the romance has drifted out of their relationship; arguing has become their favored method of communication. But the bickering goes too far when Molly asks Sam to get rid of the carp he's keeping in the tub in their guest bathroom. Sam informs Molly that if she doesn't like the fish, she can leave -- and Molly takes him up on the offer, moving in with their son Joel (Mark Ruffalo). This is hardly good news for Joel, who is having problems with his wife and feeling tempted to stray by an attractive blonde at work. Meanwhile, Sam and Molly's daughter Ruth (Jane Adams) tries to convince her father to win back her mother, but Sam receives some surprising competition when Molly starts dating an old friend named Lou (Bob Dishy). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, (more)
"Southie" is common usage in Massachusetts for a resident of South Boston. John Shea directed and co-scripted (with James Cummings and Dave McLaughlin) this low-budget crime drama which won the American Independent Award at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. Out of money and out of luck, Danny Quinn (Donnie Wahlberg) leaves NYC and returns home to South Boston where his dysfunctional family is allied with an Irish Mafia crowd. When Danny's pals open a private casino with an assist from a different Irish Mafia group, this leaves Danny stuck in the middle when trouble erupts between the two factions. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan, (more)
- 1997
The closer she gets to her wedding day, the more a bride-to-be suffers from the title afflictions. Though she has loved her future husband for years, she is afraid that becoming a wife will cause an identity crisis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joely Fisher, Brian Wimmer, (more)
- 1996
- R
The debut from writer/director Greg Mottola, The Daytrippers follows a Long Island family as they make a disastrous journey into New York City. The impetus is a love letter discovered by suburbanite Eliza (Hope Davis) which seemingly incriminates her publisher husband Louis (Stanley Tucci) in an extramarital affair. To solve the mystery, Eliza, her parents (Anne Meara and Pat McNamara), her oddball sister Jo (Parker Posey) and Jo's boyfriend Carl (Liev Schreiber) all pile into the family station wagon in a misbegotten attempt to track Louis down. Beginning as a playful, satiric look at family dynamics, The Daytrippers occasionally loses its way, becoming increasingly dark and venomous as it rushes towards the revelations of its final moments. For all of its flaws, however, it's often an engaging debut. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hope Davis, Pat McNamara, (more)
- 1996
- R
Filmed in 1993, this comedy is filled with actors who have since found niches as stars and supporting actors in independent films. The story is set in Brooklyn where recent film-school graduate Les is attempting to make a documentary. When he learns that whole community has been grieving over the strange disappearance of young boy Jimmy Hoyt, son of Harold and Holly and brother of Tommy and Ed. Les begins looking into the mystery and filming it and as he goes, he decides to make a riotous comedy of the4 process. Along the way he encounters the FBI, the Catholic Church, the Mafia and a raft of daft fringe people. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In the conclusion of Homicide: Life on the Street's two-part season five opener, a tense hostage crisis at a Baltimore middle school enters the second day. It soon develops that the deranged man who is holding several teachers and students at gunpoint is connected to an earlier murder in which a pet pig was the only witness. Meanwhile, Munch (Richard Belzer) refuses to make things easy for Pembleton (Andre Braugher), who continues having trouble recovering from his stroke, both at work and at home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, (more)
Camp Hope is a summer camp for fat kids; it is also the locale of this Disney family comedy. All of the kids at Camp Hope have a weight problem. It is the one place they can go without feeling different. But when the previous owners declare bankruptcy, the camp is purchased by an obnoxious fitness freak who becomes obsessed with changing his chubby charges into budding body builders. He immediately begins serving them low calorie foods and subjecting them to rigorous exercises. Part of his motivation is greed: he is in the process of writing a book, and filming an infomercial on weight loss. The boys at camp rebel and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, (more)
A convict agrees to go undercover and gather evidence on a notorious crime lord in order to win an early release from prison in this tough, gritty crime drama. Much of the tension develops from the inner conflict of Jimmy Kilmartin (David Caruso), who feels torn between his desire to win freedom for the sake of his family and his belief in a code of honor that sees ratting on others as an unforgivable sin. His misgivings are compounded by fear when he learns that his target is to be the notorious Little Junior (Nicolas Cage), a violent eccentric with a hair-trigger temper. Luckily for the ex-con, Junior takes a shine to Jimmy, welcoming him into his inner circle. While this pleases the investigators, it means further trouble for Jimmy, who would undoubtedly be killed were his deception ever discovered. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Caruso, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
- 1994
Murphy (Candice Bergen) thinks she's found the perfect Christmas present for Avery (Dyllan Christopher) in the form of an overpriced mail-order item called "Der Wunder Blocken." But when Avery tells a department store Santa that he'd really like to receive the year's hottest and hardest-to-get toy, the "Power Ninja Demon", a frantic Murphy embarks upon a last-minute shopping frenzy. Meanwhile, Corky (Faith Ford) broods over the fact that circumstances have conspired against her planned visit to her Louisiana home town. Rescue comes for both Murphy and Corky from an unexpected--and very distant--source. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Robert Pastorelli makes his final regular appearance as Eldin Bernecky, eternal housepainter-nanny to his close friend Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen), in an episode that also introduces Anne Meara) as Eldin's immensely lovable mother Reena. "Ma" Bernecky has arrived in DC with a letter of invitation, offering Eldin the chance to study painting in Spain with a world-renowned muralist. But Eldin is reluctant to leave Murphy and her son Avery (Dyllan Christopher)--leading to a drastic decision on the part of the unsinkable Ms. Brown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This film was one of the more mainstream offerings in the array of films that emphasized the overly hyped "Generation X" phenomenon, a list that ranges from Slacker to Singles and includes a host of other films. Winona Ryder stars as Lelaina, a recent college graduate. Out on her own and independent from her supportive, but out-of-touch parents, Lelaina faces the realities of careers and relationships. She can't stand her internship under a local television personality (John Mahoney), and she's forced to choose between Michael (Ben Stiller), a well-intentioned music-video network executive, and Troy (Ethan Hawke), a brooding, sensitive slacker. Meanwhile, she must also protect the artistic integrity of "Reality Bites," a video documentary that depicts the everyday lives of her friends (Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn). This 1994 release also marks the feature directorial debut of Ben Stiller. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, (more)
- 1993
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is back in London, there to attend the opening night of a play based on one of her novel's. The play's producer (Robin Sachs) has a reputation for ruthlessness and duplicity, so it really surprises no one when he is murdered. Nor can anyone be surprised when Jessica (Angela Lansbury) takes it upon herself to prove that the play's leading lady (Jean Marsh) is not the murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
This semi-spoof of the Orpheus legend stars Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson as newlyweds whose car is pulled over by Beezelbub (Patrick Bergin), who kidnaps the girl and takes her to Hell. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Chad Lowe, (more)
- 1991
Shalom Sesame 10: Passover -- Jerusalem Jones and the Lost Afikoman is the tenth tape in the Muppets special edition series, Shalom Sesame, an educational journey through ancient and modern Israel. Kids meet old and new Muppet friends on Rechov Sumsum, the Israeli version of Sesame Street, including Grover, Cookie Monster, Moishe Oofnick the grouch, and Kippy ben Kipod, a large porcupine. In this episode, kids join Jerusalem Jones, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, and the Rechov Sumsum gang for a Passover adventure. There is a mystery to be solved, as the afikoman has disappeared. Without the afikoman, the seder cannot come to a conclusion. By jumping literally into the pages of the story of Passover, or the Haggadah, Jerusalem Jones and Kippi ben Kipod look for clues and learn something new. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide
