Mike Wilkins Movies
- 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, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerry Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, (more)
Director Stephen Kessler sets out to profile the prolific singer/songwriter/actor who seemed ubiquitous in the 1970s and '80s, only to disappear from the spotlight following a protracted battle with drugs and alcohol. Convinced that the once-prolific Paul Williams has passed away as he scours the Internet to purchase one of his albums, Kessler discovers to his surprise that not only is Williams alive and well, but he's also still performing regularly to adoring fans around the world. Like many teens of the 1970s and '80s, Kessler connected with Williams' pensive, poetic songs about love and loneliness, and upon learning that he would be performing at a Winnipeg screening of Phantom of the Paradise (panned by critics, the notorious Brian De Palma bomb was a massive hit in just two cities: Winnipeg and Paris), the filmmaker convinces Williams to be profiled in a documentary. At first Williams is somewhat aloof, yet Kessler persists and, in time, makes a breakthrough by bonding with the performer over his favorite seafood. Meanwhile, as Kessler begins exploring the highs and lows of Williams' career, the subject pulls the storyteller into the film, and a close friendship begins to develop. Later, Kessler tags along with Williams for a concert in the Philippines, where their bond is cemented during a tense bus ride through the Mindanao jungle. As a result, the filmmaker gets the one thing he's craved since one of his earliest meetings with Williams, though when it seems to go awry he fears that he may have betrayed his new friend's trust.
~ Rovi
~ Rovi
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