Griffin Dunne Movies

Hell's Kitchen, New York City: In an era when real estate development and gentrification threaten to squeeze low-income residents out of this vibrant, multi-ethnic community, filmmaker Kamal Ahmed turns his camera on the people who walk these streets every day to offer a portrait of the neighborhood that has been immortalized in movies for decades. It's one of the Big Apple's most notorious neighborhoods, and the people who live there are the kind of folks who have to struggle just to get by. In order to pay tribute to Hell's Kitchen, Ahmed speaks with the very people who made it great. These are the laborers, the painters, barbers, tattoo artists, and other working class heroes. After paying tribute to a place many thought would never change, the filmmaker returns to highlight the redevelopment project that made it virtually unrecognizable in 2007. Appearances by such neighborhood fixtures as John Michael Bolger, Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Kaufmann, and Mira Sorvino make this an urban love letter that's sure to strike a chord deep within every nostalgic New Yorker. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The title of this CBS medical drama referred to the average weight of the human brain. Clearly inspired by the success of Fox's House, 3 lbs, like the Fox series, was built around the exploits of a brilliant but arrogant and witheringly sarcastic medico, in this case waspish neurosurgeon Doug Hanson (Stanley Tucci), who headed his own foundation. Wasting no time suffering fools (or at least, people whom he regarded as fools) and periodically plagued by mysterious visions which suggested that he suffered from more than his share of personal demons, Dr. Hanson was both mentor and tormentor of his idealistic new partner Jonathan Seger (Mark Feuerstein), better known to the Hanson Foundation staff as "The Sorceror's Apprentice." Also in the cast were Indira Varma as Hanson's gorgeous associate surgeon Dr. Adrienne Holland and Griffin Dunne as Hanson's equally prickly rival Dr. Cole. The cases at hand were generally "illustrated" with animated sequences, in which the protagonist's description of the brain as "wires in a box" was literalized. Debuting November 14, 2006, 3 lbs was made available to certain markets in both English- and Spanish-language versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

First telecast by the Court TV cable service, this largely affectionate documentary profiles movie producer, novelist, investigative reporter, and self-style "injustice collector" Dominick Dunne. Always in the public eye, thanks to his indefatigable coverage of such high-profile cases as the O.J. Simpson and Michael Skakel murder trials, Dunne has been accused in some circles of harboring a "prejudice" against rich-and-famous defendants who are, to his way of thinking, given far more latitude in court than the average person. Others suggest that Dunne's crusade to see that justice will prevail is motivated by the comparative wrist-slap given the man responsible for the death of Dunne's actress daughter, Dominique Dunne. Whatever the case, even such opponents of Dunne's methods as defense attorney Johnnie Cochran cannot help but admire the man's courage, determination, and meticulous research methods. Cochran is among those interviewed for this documentary; others include the author's son, actor Griffin Dunne. Guilty Pleasure: The Extraordinary World of Dominick Dunne was given a public "preview" screening before its TV debut in July 2003; ironically, this preview had to be delayed one week because Dunne was enmeshed in a libel suit brought about by the latest of his "victims," a certain prominent politician whose lady friend had met a violent and mysterious demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The remarkable life and tragic death of Marilyn Monroe has fascinated film fans for decades, but this two-part TV miniseries, based on a novel by Joyce Carol Oates, takes an unusual approach, using dramatic license (the film announces itself as a work of fiction using the names of real people) to look inside the minds of Monroe and those around her to ponder the circumstances of her rise and fall. Young Norma Jeane Baker (Skye McCole Bartusiak) is raised by single mother Gladys (Patricia Richardson), who is unstable, uncaring, and poorly equipped to deal with the responsibilities of parenthood. As Norma Jeane grows up without a father and with little affection from her mother, she suffers from a poor self-image and craves attention; when she grows into a beautiful young woman who is unusually attractive to men, she falls into a number of romances and a short-lived marriage in search of the approval she needs so desperately. When Norma Jeane (now played by Poppy Montgomery) turns 20, she meets a photographer, Otto (Eric Bogosian), who sees star potential in her beauty. Otto's cheesecake pictures catch the eye of I.E. Shinn (Wallace Shawn), an agent who in turned introduces her to Mr. R (Richard Roxburgh), the head of a movie studio, who offers to make Norma Jeane a star -- if she would be willing to have sex with him. Norma Jeane unenthusiastically agrees, and Mr. R proves good to his word; renamed Marilyn, she becomes an major film star and an international sex symbol. But the adulation proves to be a poor substitute for the love she craves, and as she falls into relationships with any man who treats her with a modicum of respect -- including a famous baseball player (Titus Welliver) and an acclaimed author (Griffin Dunne) -- her life begins to spiral out of control. Blonde also stars Ann-Margret, Kirstie Alley, and Patrick Dempsey; the series first aired May 13 and May 16, 2001, on the CBS television network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Feeling a bit wistful one afternoon, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) informs his radio listeners that he has not forged one strong male friendship since arriving in Seattle. As a result, a wheelchair-bound fellow named Bob (Griffin Dunne) comes forward, eager and willing to be Frasier's closest friend. At first delighted by this turn of events, Frasier has reason to regret his on-the-air plea for companionship when all-around nice guy Bob turns out to be a crashing bore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this made-for-cable endeavor has a double-edged meaning. It's about "matters of love," and also about "love that matters." The love that matters -- or should -- involves two married couples. Both unions are sorely threatened by an adulterous relationship. Annette O'Toole and Griffin Dunne play the husband and wife whose already shaky marriage is made shakier when second couple Tony Goldwyn and Kate Burton enter the scene, followed shortly thereafter by Goldwyn's mistress Gina Gershon. Love Matters debuted October 3, 1993, on the Showtime Cable Service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of the long-running sitcom Frasier, former Bostonite (and Cheers regular) Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) arrives in Seattle to accept a job as a radio psychiatrist on station KACL. Advised by his brother, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), that their ex-policeman father Martin (John Mahoney) has been having trouble living alone since sustaining the gunshot wound that prompted Martin's retirement, Frasier is faced with a dilemma -- should he bundle Martin off to a nursing home or should he invite his dad to move in with him at his swanky new apartment? The answer is, of course, the latter -- but Frasier is totally unprepared for the assault on his peace of mind when Martin's outspoken, cockney physical therapist, Daphne (Jane Leeves), and the old man's phlegmatic dog, Eddie, move in as well. This landmark Frasier episode won Emmy awards for writers David Lee, David Angell, and Peter Casey, and for director James Burrows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This film is based upon the true story of Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli lab technician who left his job and country in protest of the nuclear arms project to which he'd been assigned. Going public, he hoped to deter the hellish mission and sway world opinion against those within his country responsible for the nuclear buildup. ~ All Movie Guide

The 1987 portmanteau comedy feature Amazon Women on the Moon lampoons several film genres in general and the 1954 sci-fi cheapie Cat Women of the Moon in particular. Other sketches in Amazon Women include an opening bit with Arsenio Hall; a vignette titled "Son of the Invisible Man" wherein a naked Ed Begley Jr. runs around in full view of the nonplussed supporting cast; the It's Alive parody "Hospital", which offers the spectacle of Michelle Pfeiffer giving birth to Mr. Potato Head; and a Siskel & Ebert takeoff, featuring Arche Hahn as a TV viewer whose entire life is given a "thumbs down." Directed by several hands, including Joe Dante, Carl Gottleib, Peter Horton, John Landis, and Robert K. Weiss, Amazon Women on the Moon also features a satire of the Kroger G. Babb school of "sex hygiene" exploitation cheapies, with syphilis victim Carrie Fisher being counseled by unctuous doctor Paul Bartel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for television, From Here to Maternity is an hour-long satire on 1980s self-involvement. The three ladies who are "with child" in the story have mixed feeling about their pregnant state. Part of the problem lies in their husbands and/or boyfriends, who aren't prepared for the responsibilities of fatherhood. Carrie Fisher, Arleen Sorkin and Lauren Hutton are the women in question. Among the clueless male characters are the ever-reliable Griffin Dunne and TV-star-to-be Paul Reiser. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tom Christo (Griffin Dunne) is a New York TV writer-director in a dead-end marriage to Leslie (Blanche Baker). He meets the intriguing Marty Fenton (Marissa Chibas), a research scientist, when she attends a party Tom and his wife give at their home. Even though there is an initial attraction between Tom and Marty, their eventual pairing takes a long time to evolve as each have their own partners (Marty has a boyfriend) and first must go through separation and a series of disastrously failed blind dates. Although slow in developing and stereotypical enough to register as banal, the storyline is greatly enhanced by the interpretations of the two leads. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

It could be said that without the incredible success of the ABC miniseries Holocaust in 1978, CBS might have thought twice before greenlighting the ambitious, three-hour TV docudrama The Wall four years later. Adapted by Millard Lampell from his own 1960 Broadway play, which in turn was inspired by John Hersey's 1950 novel, The Wall is the heartbreaking but inspiring story of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. When it becomes obvious that every Jew in Poland is doomed to be shipped off to the Nazi work and death camps, some 650 members of the newly formed Jewish Fighting Organization mount a last, brave stand against nearly 3000 German soldiers. The story is told through the eyes of Warsaw Jew Dolek Benson (Tom Conti, in his first American TV appearance), who is a passive observer of the atrocities all around him until he learns the truth about the Nazi's "resettlement" program. Rachel Roberts, cast as a former schoolteacher, made her final appearance in this film; she passed away shortly after production ended. Filmed on location in Sosnowiec, Poland and first telecast February 16, 1982, The Wall earned a Peabody Award the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide