Joel Murray Movies
- 2007
Don's mysterious past comes back to haunt him; Peggy celebrates her new work success, but not all of her colleagues and co-workers are pleased or impressed; Salvatore's relationship with a client is questioned. ~ Ray Stackhouse, All Movie Guide
- 2007
Peggy offers superb suggestions during a focus-group session, and her ideas are so well received that her future at the agency looks much brighter; Don asks Rachel's advice about an ad campaign for Israeli tourism. ~ Ray Stackhouse, All Movie Guide
A handful of college students looking for a good time are thrown into a world of danger in this homage to the slasher film cycle of the 1970s and '80s. Ben (Joel David Moore) has just been given his walking papers by his girlfriend and is deeply depressed. Needing a pick-me-up, Ben and his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond) head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and take in a "Haunted Swamp Tour," with master of ceremonies Shawn (Parry Shen) guiding guests through a spooky patch of bayou country. Along the way, Ben and Marcus meet a pair of half-bright exotic dancers, Misty (Mercedes McNab) and Jenna (Joleigh Fioreavanti), as well as Marybeth (Tamara Feldman), a pretty girl who is secretive about her past. As they tour the swamp, Shawn tells his customers about the local legend of Victor Crowley, a deformed man who was taunted by the other children living near the swamp until he was nearly bludgeoned with an axe by his father while trying to open the door of their burning shack. While Ben and Marcus don't think much of the story at first, it doesn't take long before they have serious reason to believe Victor Crowley is still at large -- and is looking to settle some old scores. Hatchet received its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel David Moore, Tamara Feldman, (more)
- 2005
The brainchild of Rocko's Modern Life creator Joe Murray, the half-hour animated series Camp Lazlo was set at a summer camp populated by goofy-looking anthropomorphic animals. Most of the "Bean Scouts" at Camp Kidney were willing to follow orders and toe the line, which was just the way that Scoutmaster Lumpus, a egocentric, control-freak moose, preferred to have things. Unfortunately for Lumpus, he had to contend with the rule-bending shenanigans that went on in the camp's "Jelly Cabin". Ringleader for the troublemakers was Bean Scout Lazlo, a mischievous monkey; his best friends and co-conspirators were Raj, an adolescent elephant, and Clam, a pygmy rhino. To counteract the hijinks of Lazlo and his buddies, Lumpus kept a pair of obnoxious snitches at his beck and call: Slinkman, a nerdish banana slug; Edward, a snotty, anal-retentive Platypus; and Edward's own flunkeys, the dung beetles (Chip and Skip). Some of the episodes focused on the great rivalry between Camp Kindey and the all-girl Squirrel Scouts in the camp on the other side of Leakey Lake. Foremost among the Squirrel Scouts were Gretchen the alligator, Nina the giraffe, and Patsy the mongoose, who had a crush on Lazlo (and frequently crushed him in her enthusiasm!) A good, old-fashioned exercise in harmless cartoon nihilism, Camp Lazlo premiered July 8, 2005, on the Cartoon Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlos Alazraqui, Jeff Bennett, (more)
On a baseball team not often cited for its great players, Ron Santo was a hero and a legend. As a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Santo played 14 seasons (1960 through 1974), made the All-Star team nine times, earned five Gold Gloves, and in 1965 became the team's youngest ever captain. While Santo was establishing himself as one of the Cub's greatest players, he was also hiding a secret -- in 1958, the same year Ron signed with the Cubs organization, he was diagnosed with diabetes, but refused to tell his fellow players or the team's physicians for fear of being bumped from the team. In 1971, as the Cubs celebrated Ron Santo Day at Wrigley Field, the baseball great finally went public with his condition, becoming a leading Midwest spokesman and fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In 1990, Santo renewed his association with the Chicago Cubs as a commentator for the team's home games on radio station WGN, and in 2003, he became one of only three Cubs players to have their number officially retired. This Old Cub is a documentary about Ron Santo's remarkable life and career, not only examining his years as a player and broadcaster, but his longtime struggle with the disease that has cost him a leg but has failed to break his spirit, and the crusade by fans and admirers to see Santo inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Noted Cubs enthusiasts Bill Murray, Dennis Franz, and Gary Sinese, and baseball legends Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, and Tommy Lasorda are interviewed onscreen; actor Joe Mantegna narrates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Originally planned as a silly vehicle for Chris Farley, in the hands of director Ben Stiller and star Jim Carrey, The Cable Guy became an opportunity for Carrey to flex some of his darker comedic muscles as stalker Chip Douglas. Matthew Broderick plays Steven, an average Joe who is forlorn over his recent breakup with girlfriend Robin (Leslie Mann). When he moves into a new apartment, Steven comes in contact with Chip, who shows up to hook up the cable. Before he knows it, and whether he likes it or not, Steven has a new best-friend in the obnoxious and clingy Chip. However, Steven soon learns that obnoxious is a walk in the park compared to Chip's behavior when Steven tells him he doesn't want to be his pal anymore. What's worse, no one -- including Robin or his family -- believes Steven when he accuses the seemingly harmless Chip of being a malevolent menace. George Segal and Jack Black also star along with Stiller, who plays twins loosely-based on the Menendez brothers. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
The feature film directing debut of actress Betty Thomas, this romantic farce attempts to mimic the screwball comedies of the 1930s. Andrew McCarthy stars as Cliff Godfrey, a doll house designer and perpetual loser in love who is dumped by his fiancee on the eve of their pre-nuptial vacation to Mexico. Informed by pretty travel agent Claire Enfield (Helen Hunt) that his tickets are non-refundable, the depressed Cliff goes to a bar, where he picks up a drunk party girl, Amanda Hughes (Kelly Preston), who agrees to accompany him on the trip south of the border. Once she sobers up, however, Amanda proceeds to make Cliff's vacation a nightmare, alternately flirting with and teasing him, then rejecting him for more studly prospects. But Cliff runs into Claire, who's staying at the same hotel while photographing a travel brochure, and the two begin spending time together, as Cliff helps her on the project by modeling for her pictures. Though Cliff and Claire are discovering that they are each other's soul mate, the flighty Amanda threatens to destroy their nascent romance. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew McCarthy, Kelly Preston, (more)
This black comedy chronicles the fall of one of the world's most unlovable clowns as he plies his trade and tries to survive in Palukaville a town where everyone is more or less a Bozo. Shakes loves women and more than that, he loves his booze. Like many of his painted peers, ol' Shakes likes to hang out at The Twisted Balloon, the favorite local pub where he hoists a few, beats up on mimes (the lowest caste in Palukaville) and causes trouble with his girl friend Judy, a woman who cannot say the letter "L." Because the slovenly Shakes can't seem to make it to birthday parties sober and on time, he is fired from his booking agency, causing him to go on a big drinking binge. Later, Shakes awakens and learns that Binky, a lousy TV-clown, is framing him for beating up Shake's former boss with a juggling pin. Now poor Shakes must clear his name. He must also rescue "Juwee" who has been kidnapped by the nefarious Binky, and he must come to grips with his alcohol problem (perhaps the film could be therefore titled "Clown and Sober?"). Keep an eye peeled for cameos by Robin Williams, as a mime instructor, and Florence Henderson as one of Shake's illicit sexual conquests. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobcat Goldthwait, Julie Brown, (more)
- 1989
This lively collection of comedy vignettes makes fun of rabid Elvis fans and the King himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A darkly comic and surreal contemporization of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, this effects-heavy Bill Murray holiday vehicle from 1988 sees the former SNL funnyman assuming the role of television executive Frank Cross, the meanest and most depraved man on earth. Cross will stoop to unheard of levels to increase his network's ratings -- even if it means mounting outrageous programs to retain an audience, such as "Robert Goulet's Cajun Christmas" and Lee Majors in "The Night the Reindeer Died," with an AK-47-toting Santa. Cross plots his foulest move, however, for the Christmas holiday, when he will force his office staff to mount a live production of A Christmas Carol on national television -- and thus work through Christmas Eve. Cross's life is turned upside down with visits from three ghosts: a craggy-faced cabbie known as The Ghost of Christmas Past (David Johansen); the sugar-plum fairy Ghost of Christmas Present (Carol Kane) (who gets her jollies by bonking Frank across the face with a toaster oven); and, eventually, the caped, headless Ghost of Christmas Future, who will send Frank sliding into a crematory oven -- just before he gives the sleazoid one last chance to redeem himself. Along the way, the spirits carry Frank to scenes from his past, present, and future (per Scrooge) and impart a glimpse of how he became so thoroughly rotten. The radiant Karen Allen co-stars as Frank's girlfriend, Claire Phillips, and the film packs in cameos from countless celebrities -- among them, Mary Lou Retton, John Houseman, Jamie Farr, and, in a truly grisly and tasteless bit, John Forsythe. Richard Donner directs, from a script credited to the late Michael O'Donoghue and Mitch Glazer. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Karen Allen, (more)
In this madcap comedy, Demi Moore plays Cassandra and John Cusack is Hoops McCann, two people who eventually fall in love and help each other out. Hoops is a cartoonist working on a teen love story that he hopes will get him accepted into art school. Cassandra is a troubled young woman about to lose her home to a money-hungry developer. Characters with names like Squid Calamari, Clay Stork, or Ack Ack Raymond are involved in the unfolding romance and figure in several slapstick routines. Several cartoon sequences are inserted throughout this comedy to comment on the story. This was director Savage Steve Holland's second feature-length film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Demi Moore, (more)
