Carl Colpaert Movies
- 2006
- R
The American dream of a Mexican citizen who joined the U.S. military in order to gain citizenship fade into a waking nightmare when he returns from active duty in Iraq to discover just how drastically American culture has changed his wife and daughter. All Jesus wanted was to build a better life for his family. In order to do so, he signed up with Uncle Sam and went to defend the American flag on the front lines of Iraq. Now lamenting the fact that rampant consumerism and ravenous consumption have corrupted his wife and daughter and threatened the very foundation of his family, Jesus determines to reclaim his Mexican heritage by doing whatever it takes to cross the border back into Mexico. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Arquette, Patricia Mota, (more)
A family goes through some changes when an unusual sort of drifter crosses their path in this independent coming-of-age drama. Jake (Danny Alexander) is a homeless 15-year-old kid with a fondness for stealing things and a precocious appetite for older women. Jake is passing through a small Montana town as he continues his search for the mother who abandoned him years before when he meets Tucker (Hunter Parrish) while stealing the radio out of his truck. Though Tucker is a bit older than Jake, Jake's rough-and-tumble existence has added a few years to his life experience, and after a scuffle over the radio, the boys become fast friends. Tucker brings Jake home for a square meal, and while Tucker's father (John Terry) is wary of the young drifter, he agrees to let him stay for a few days in the family's barn. However, it turns out Dad was right not to trust Jake; not only does he get caught stealing trinkets from Tucker's younger sister, he becomes amorously involved with a married middle-aged woman who lives nearby. While Jake tends to this affair and toys with the trust of the family who has taken him in, he also offers some advice to Tucker on how to win the attentions of Lily Rose (Paz de la Huerta), a neighborhood girl he has a crush on. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cara Seymour, Danny Alexander, (more)
An elderly widow and a young would-be author strike up an unlikely friendship in this comedy drama. Mrs. Palfrey (Joan Plowright) has been uneasy since the death of her husband, and she decides to move from her long-time home in Scotland to London so she can be closer to her grandson Desmond (Lorcan O'Toole). Mrs. Palfrey settles into the Claremont Hotel, a shabby residential inn for senior citizens that has seen better days. She tries to contact Desmond, but isn't able to get in touch with him, and at first she has a hard time relating to the other folks at the Claremont, especially friendly busybody Mrs. Arbuthnot (Anna Massey). Lonely and out of sorts, Mrs. Palfrey goes out for a walk one day and takes a nasty spill after losing her balance. Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend), a struggling writer in his mid-twenties, finds Mrs. Palfrey on the pavement and helps her, taking her back to her room and making sure she's OK. The two strike up a conversation and discover they have a surprisingly amount in common. A friendship grows between them, even though Mrs. Palfrey asks Ludovic to pose as her absent grandson so her neighbors will stop asking questions about him. Mrs. Palfrey even gives her new friend romantic advice, encouraging Ludovic to ask a pretty girl he meets at the video store out on a date. Based on a novel by the British author Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont was directed by Dan Ireland. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend, (more)
A reality show contestant who lost 150 pounds and gained a cool one million dollars falls prey to the capitalistic excess of the jet set as Dummy director Greg Pritikin sets his satirical sights on the Hollywood hangers-on who linger for far too long after their 15 minutes are up. Dennis Flotchky (Michael Panes) was an overweight loser with no money and few friends when he first applied for a role on television's top reality game show. All of that quickly changes, however, when Dennis endures to outwit, outlast, and outplay his fellow contestants while simultaneously dropping the majority of his excess weight and becoming a millionaire in the process. Now a celebrity wannabe whose face fills the tabloids and whose fortune is fast being depleted, Dennis must make a quick recovery before the vultures circling overhead swoop down to pick him clean of every last penny and tear away every remaining ounce of his self-respect. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Panes, Cheri Oteri, (more)
A lonely artist living in a luxurious palace with her emotionally distant architect husband finds herself forced to choose between a life of empty comfort or an existence of infinite unpredictability when her dying passions rekindled by a mysterious free spirit. To the outsider Jean (Kelsey Oldershaw) has everything a woman could ever want in life; a beautiful home, a wealthy husband, and as much time as she needs to create her art. But Jean's husband Paul (Horatio Ledon) is simply unable to meet his wife's emotional needs, leaving her open and susceptible to the charms of the joyously unpredictable Viggo (Andy MacKenzie). As Jean is increasingly drawn in to Viggo's carefree world where every desire is met and emotions burn white hot, she finds that she must learn to find a happy middle ground somewhere between passion and predictability. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A man and a boy, both of whom have been victimized by war, are brought together by the same conflict that threatens them both in this drama. In 1995, Bosnia is being torn apart by war, and nine-year-old Vlado (Sergiusz Zymelka) is one of thousands of children caught in the middle of the conflict. Vlado's parents are dead, and the boy has been left to fend for himself; when the misery around him becomes too much do deal with, Vlado drifts into a fantasy world where he's transported to Norway, and frolics with friendly Eskimos. In the course of his travels, Vlado meets Sharkey (Bob Hoskins), a rough-hewn Englishman who claims to be a caseworker for UNICEF. Actually, Sharkey is rounding up children for a black market adoption ring in Poland. Sharkey persuades Vlado to join him, assuming the boy would fetch a fair price, and Vlado, unaware of Sharkey's true intentions, says yes. Sharkey and Vlado soon become unlikely friends, but Sharkey soon learns getting Vlado out of the country may not be so simple; Sharkey is working in cahoots with a corrupt military officer (Krzysztof Majchrzak) who is convinced that a gang of preteen hoodlums are responsible for the death of his daughter -- a gang that claims Vlado as a member. Where Eskimos Live received its American premier at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Sergiusz Zymelka, (more)
Tony (Daniel Baldwin) runs a rather intriguing Hollywood brothel. His primary hookers -- Francesca (Julie Delpy), Mimi (Georgina Cates), and Dolly (Pamela Gidley) -- are given to elaborate, costumed, role-playing fantasies to please Tony's peculiar, highly emotional clientèle. The harlequin-outfitted harlots find their lives suddenly complicated by their increasingly strange customers, a relentless husband (Patrick Dempsey), and a political rally involving a sexually uninhibited mayoral candidate (Seymour Cassel). ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- 1995
In this old-fashioned screwball comedy, two Hollywood screenwriters have numerous disastrous, heated encounters before they realize the obvious and find romance. It all begins in catastrophe-ridden LA after yet another earthquake. Zina is driving her car on the freeway when she runs into Davis while trying get out from under a cracked overpass. They start out civil enough but soon find themselves fighting tooth and nail over who is at fault. Later the two instant enemies find that they run into each other wherever they go, be it a trendy restaurant or a major party. When they both begin vying for the opportunity to write the same script, the fireworks begin in earnest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
- R
This urban drama examines the diverse lives of the patrons of a fictional bar for the rich and famous, El Casbah. Among them are the playboy heir to a margarine fortune, Mickey Jelke, and Jack Cale, a handsome actor who has become a new client and works hard to ingratiate himself to others. Using the influence of a press agent and a pimp, Jack becomes friends with Mickey and his lover Pat Ward, a tough, worldly young woman. When Mickey is cut out of the family will, he suggests that Pat become a call girl so they can continue living in luxury. Suddenly Jack reveals his true identity; he has been working undercover for the politically ambitious New York City district attorney. The district attorney uses Jack's information to frame Mickey which gets him billed as the Big Apple's king of vice, and no one is very happy by the time the trial comes around. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Whaley, Peter Gallagher, (more)
- 1994
- R
This melodrama explores class differences, bigotry, and alternative lifestyles aboard a pleasure cruise that is anything but. The five main characters all eagerly anticipate their upcoming cruise through the Bahamas on a small yacht. The hero, Bill, still devastated by his alcoholic mother's suicide, is accompanying his wife Jennifer. Her brother Phillip, an anal-retentive and bigoted lawyer, owns the yacht. Included on the trip are Alex, a rock musician and his date Catherine who possesses a secret. Their smooth sailing is disrupted when they are boarded by two passengers whose boat met with disaster. The first, Tim, is a man who recently had a sex-change. The second is Camilla, a South American whom he is sneaking into the U.S. so he can pay for his operation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donal Logue, Viggo Mortensen, (more)
Neighborhood pride runs deep in Echo Park, so when two lifelong friends join the local gang as a matter of course, they're handed down gang names from the previous generation of homegirls. Unfortunately, Sad Girl (Angel Aviles) and Mousie (Seidy Lopez) don't remain friends for long. When Mousie withdraws into herself to cope with the responsibilities of young motherhood after bearing the child of her one true love, Ernesto (Jacob Vargas), Sad Girl and Ernesto turn to each other for comfort. Soon, Sad Girl herself ends up pregnant, and warm sisterhood cools to an icy feud. Ernesto starts dealing drugs to support his two young families -- and to outfit the gussied-up low rider that he hides from both of his unsuspecting girlfriends. The economic and romantic entanglements of these three characters serve as the entry point into this multifaceted exploration of L.A. street life, but Mi Vida Loca rapidly expands in scope to take in other characters, most of them female. Bleach-blond Whisper (Nelida Lopez), for instance, learns the drug-dealing ropes from Ernesto and considers crossing gender lines to open her own operation. The slightly older Giggles (Marlo Marron), however, refuses to fall into old dependencies and habits after being imprisoned for four years for a crime her boyfriend committed. Sad Girl's sister, La Blue Eyes (Magali Alvarado), the only character to choose college over gang life, chances upon a poem written by a prison inmate and becomes hopelessly smitten, abandoning her books for a passionate jailhouse correspondence. The focus of Mi Vida Loca shifts freely between these and several other characters, many of whom take turns providing narration and context. The director's daughter, Tiffany Anders, has a small role in the film alongside many real-life Echo Park denizens; several musicians and film directors also make cameos, among them Spike Jonze, Kurt Voss, Kid Frost, and the members of Los Lobos. Salma Hayek got her SAG card by playing a tiny role. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angel Aviles, Seidy Lopez, (more)
- 1991
- R
In this fast-paced, noirish road movie, a computer expert embezzles half a million dollars and races off to Reno to start anew. Unfortunately, en route, he picks up a pair of hitchers and ends up entangled with a crazed couple who commandeer his car and leave him alone in the desert to die. As soon as he can, he hits the road to get revenge and to find his money before they do. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Metzler, Jennifer Rubin, (more)
- 1987
An angel comes to Earth's aid after a nuclear holocaust in this mix of live action and animated footage. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
