Richard Brick Movies

In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings reexamines the theories about what really happened on that fateful day in Dallas, TX. Along with experts and historians, Jennings looks at evidence, including the legendary eight-millimeter home movie of the shooting that was captured by bystander Abraham Zapruder, to determine if Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone or was a simple cog in a complex conspiracy. And if there were others involved, just who exactly were they? ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Black-and-white Sven Nykvist cinematography highlights this Woody Allen comedy about fame and obscurity among Manhattan celebs. Journalist Lee Simon (Kenneth Branagh), makes a play for actress Nicole Oliver (Melanie Griffith), subject of his current story. Lee is separated from his wife Robin (Judy Davis), a schoolteacher who's totally lost and insecure -- until TV producer Tony Gardella (Joe Mantegna) becomes fascinated with her. Concerned about her possible sexual inadequacies, Robin recruits a prostitute (Bebe Neuwirth) to instruct her on oral sex techniques. On the town, Lee becomes transfixed by a blond supermodel (Charlize Theron), who teases him throughout the night, eventually dropping him before they get home. Lee's relationship with book editor Bonnie (Famke Janssen) is solid, and she's due to move into his place. However, he suddenly becomes romantically involved with waitress-actress Nola (Winona Ryder), complicating his agreement with Bonnie. Lee's efforts to sell his screenplay take him to the Stanhope Hotel, where he arrives just as spoiled young movie star Brandon Darrow (Leonardo DiCaprio) is fighting with his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol), trashing his hotel room, and insulting hotel staffers. When Darrow and his entourage head off to Atlantic City, Lee tags along, but as life swirls about him, a dismal dawn awaits. In addition to the Stanhope, locations included Barbetta's Restaurant, Ziegfeld Theatre, Soho's Serge Soroko Gallery, Flamingo Club, Jean-Georges Restaurant, and the Trump Marina Hotel and Casino (donated by Donald Trump, who portrays himself in a cameo at the Jean-Georges). Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival, this was the opening night selection of the 1998 New York Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Love, lust, loyalty, and betrayal are the themes of this tense adult drama. Joe (Edward James Olmos) and Betty (Maria Conchita Alonso) are a married couple living in Jersey City; Joe runs a fish market, and Betty wishes that Joe showed as much interest in her as he does in his business, since she feels the spark has died in their relationship. They have a grown son, Danny (Steven Schub), who has moved to Los Angeles in hopes of making it big as a standup comic. One day, a guy named Nick (Arie Verveen), who is trying to avoid the police, happens into Joe's store. Joe senses that he's not a hardened criminal, just a kid with a long history of bad luck, so he takes pity on him and gives him a square meal. He genuinely likes Nick and offers him a job in his store; the pay isn't much, but, since Danny's room is empty, he can throw in free room and board. Nick gratefully accepts, and Joe soon discovers that he's found someone special, as Nick shows a natural talent for the fish business. Betty also thinks that Nick is someone special; while Betty loves Joe, and Nick is grateful to him, an attraction between the two leads to a passionate affair. As Nick and Betty both find themselves betraying Joe despite their affection for him, Danny returns from California, hoping to take his room back, and immediately sensing that something is wrong. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hangin' with the Homeboys follows four young men--two Black, two Puerto Rican--over the course of one night in the Bronx. During the night, they have several misadventures as they talk, argue, play and get into accidents. This coming-of-age film was directed by the late Joseph B. Vasquez and features an early performance by John Leguizamo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Kicking off the Red Scare in the 1950s and launching Richard Nixon's career, Alger Hiss, an important State Department official, was convicted of perjury in the spying charges raised against him by Time Magazine managing editor Whittaker Chambers and sent to prison until 1954. The case was notorious then and for years afterward. At the end of the 1970s, director John Lowenthal got his hands on documents that had been suppressed from Hiss's trials and spent a total of $400,000 making this documentary on Hiss. He interviews jurors and others connected with the case, provides a historical background of the Cold War, and details the suppressed evidence that the jurors never heard. Among these documents is the telling, hand-written statement by Whittaker Chambers that he was a homosexual and by his actions and words, a very depressed and unstable man. Though he himself does not say so in the statement, his behavior before and after the trial and other evidence suggests that he may have been infatuated with Hiss and angry when he was rejected. Lowenthal implies that this may have been the reason for Chambers's accusation.

But time has, frankly, not been kind to Lowenthal's documentary on Hiss;
Lowenthal claims that Chambers's confession of homosexuality and other more substantial evidence, such as FBI tampering with the results of a typewriter test and the statement of a Soviet official that no documentation on Hiss as a spy could be found in the archives of the former Soviet Union, make a case for Hiss' innocence. Lowenthal doubtless intended his film to become a tool for the exoneration of Hiss, much as Errol Morris would free Randall Dale Adams with The Thin Blue Line. But evidence discovered since 1980 (the year of this film's production), specifically the declassification of the Venona Papers by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in the mid-nineties that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union, demonstrate that Hiss was indeed a spy for the U.S.S.R - thus proving fallacious the claim made by this documentary. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide