Craig Bolotin Movies

Noted R&B artist and producer Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds served as executive producer for this tough urban drama. After a shooting incident in a neglected inner-city school leaves a police officer wounded, a group of students holds the cop hostage, in a desperate effort to force improvements to their school. The cast includes another R&B hitmaker, Usher, as well as Forest Whitaker, Vanessa L. Williams, and Rosario Dawson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Dolly Parton and James Woods as the screen's hottest new romantic team? That's only one of several casting surprises in this romantic comedy. Shirlee Kenyon (Dolly Parton) has had enough of life in her small Arkansas town, not to mention her small-minded Arkansas boyfriend Steve (Michael Madsen). So she decides to head for the big city of Chicago, where she applies for a job as a receptionist at a talk radio station. However, she arrives at the studios just as the staff are frantically searching for the psychiatrist hired to host a call-in show for people seeking advice with their personal problems. Shirlee is put on the air by mistake, and, while she lacks a degree in psychology, she has common sense to spare, and her no-nonsense advice makes the show a hit. Soon "Doctor Shirlee" is the talk of the town, but reporter Jack Russell (James Woods) senses that she might not be all she's supposed to be. Jack does some investigating and finds out the truth about Shirlee, but by this time the two have met and he's fallen in love with her. Will Jack obey his responsibilities as a journalist, or follow his heart? Straight Talk's supporting cast includes filmmaker John Sayles, monologist Spalding Gray, actor and producer Griffin Dunne, and future Lois Lane Teri Hatcher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A petite New Jersey housewife finds self-fulfillment through amnesia in this new wave comedy of errors set in New York's hip '80s downtown scene. Rosanna Arquette stars as Roberta, who turns to the personals for vicarious thrills after her four-year marriage to staid hot tub salesman Gary (Mark Blum) grows stale. Her favorite classified ads trace the romance of Jim (Robert Joy), a struggling musician, and Susan (Madonna), a SoHo vamp who's just narrowly escaped being murdered alongside one of her other boyfriends -- a gangster who recently stole some Egyptian jewelry. Through a series of complicated missteps, Roberta ends up losing her memory and convincing both herself and a broodingly handsome young man named Dez (Aiden Quinn) that she's the elusive, adventurous Susan. Soon, Roberta finds herself being romanced by Dez and pursued separately by her husband, Jim, Susan, and by a murderous mobster who's looking for the stolen jewels. For her second feature outing, which was partially inspired by Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating, director Susan Seidelman filled her cast with hipster extras, downtown personalities, and New York thespians. Notable faces include comedian Steven Wright; future indie mainstay John Turturro; future TV stars Michael Badalucco and Laurie Metcalf; punk singer Richard Hell, who also starred in Seidelman's Smithereens; and performance artist Ann Magnunson, who would star in the director's Making Mr. Right. The big dance-club sequence was filmed at Danceteria, the disco that helped launch Madonna's career. The scene, and the film, helped propel "Into the Groove," one of the singer's all-time club classics, into the charts even though it was actually a b-side to the single "Angel." ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide