Joe El Rady Movies
For his debut feature film, Iranian-American filmmaker Vahe Babaian wrote and directed this drama about the cultural struggles faced by a young man living in California. Mic Tomasi stars as Michael, an Armenian-American man who not only must face his own inner conflicts but the ones with those around him. His mother has recently passed away, leaving his father, Leon (Greg Satamian), to rely on Michael for certain things despite Leon's not wanting to be a burden on his son. Meanwhile, Michael's fiancée, Anna (Sophie Shahinian), is constantly pointing out the facets of his personality that lack maturity, and his friend Mato (Ioannis Bogris) is considering taking dangerous and illegal measures to bring his brother to the United States. After Freedom premiered at the 2002 Method Fest Independent Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mic Tomasi, Sophie Shahinian, (more)
Producer Joel Silver, director Tony Scott, and screenwriters Shane Black and Greg Hicks team up for this gridiron-set action thriller. Bruce Willis stars as Joe Hallenbeck, who was once a top-of-the-line Secret Service agent but has since become an alcoholic, flea-bag detective. While performing the chores of a two-bit shamus, he discovers his wife Sarah (Chelsea Field) is having an affair with his best friend. Joe is hired to protect Cory (Halle Berry), a stripper who has been getting death threats; Joe begins to sober up when Cory is blown to smithereens. Cory's boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), was at one time a NFL football quarterback, but was thrown out of the game for gambling and addiction to Demerol. Smelling something fishy, Joe and Jimmy begin to investigate further and discover layers of corruption in professional football circles, leading up to Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham), a corrupt team owner who wants to pay off legislators to legalize gambling on pro football games. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, (more)
- 1990
Willingly if unenthusiastically, Jesse (John Stamos) agrees to provide the music for the Spring Dance at DJ's school. The problems of dealing with backup musicians consisting of members of the school's marching band pale in comparison to the crisis facing Jesse when he catches 13-year-old DJ (Candace Cameron) with an open can of beer in her hand. And back at home, Michelle (played by the Olsen twins) drives everyone crazy by playing the same song over and over and over and over and OVER on her tape recorder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Filmed in Alberta, The Gifted One was intended as the pilot for a weekly TV series. The title character, played by Pete Kowanko, is a very young man with remarkable mental and physical powers. Raised from childhood as a modern superman, Pete begins yearning for his roots and accordingly conducts a search for his birth mother. He is then pursued by sinister characters who have their own reasons for preventing Pete from finding out the truth about himself. The whole thing sounds a lot like the 1990s series The Pretender, which managed to get past the pilot stage. Also starring Wendy Phillips, Brandon Call, G.W. Bailey and John Rhys-Davies, The Gifted One was first telecast June 25, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
