Ernest Holzman Movies
An ambitious and straight-laced young man falls in with a group of stoners and aging hippies in this independent comedy drama. Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong) is a medical student in his early twenties whose dreams of a residency at a prestigious teaching hospital are dashed when he flunks out of a class taught by his father (Peter Bogdanovich). Trying to blot out his awful day, Peter heads to a jazz club, where he ends up going home with Bogart (Fairuza Balk), the sexy singer with the band. The next day, Peter tags along with Bogart as she pays a visit to her family, and is soon stranded with her aunt and uncle as she heads back into the city. Jack (Brad Dourif) and Rosie (Frances Conroy) are former academics-turned-bohemian dropouts who live in a remote and idyllic community near California's redwood forests, where they support themselves by growing marijuana. Also living with Jack and Rosie are Max (Chris Messina), Bogart's sometime boyfriend, and Charity (Madison Davenport), Max's young daughter. While Peter clearly doesn't fit in with Jack, Rosie, and their friends at first, before long he develops an appreciation and respect for their way of life as he ponders his future, but the risks of their profession become equally clear to him, and Max is looking for a big score so he and Charity can move on. Humboldt Country was the first feature film from the writing and directing team of Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Strong, Fairuza Balk, (more)
- 2006
Another Law & Order spin-off from producer Dick Wolf, NBC's weekly, hour-long Conviction starred Stephanie March, recreating her familiar Law & Order: SVU role as Assistant DA Alexandra Cabot. Formerly imbedded in the Federal Witness Protection Program, Alexandra was once more able to move about and practice her trade, this time as bureau chief for a group of young, ambitious ADAs. Her new colleagues included deputy DA and law-office manager Jim Steele (Anson Mount); born-into-privilege lawyer Nick Potter (Jordan Bridges), who idealistically left a lucrative private practice to work with Cabot for a paltry 51,000 dollars per year; arrogant grandstander Billy Desmond (J. August Richards), who went to great lengths to secure for himself only those cases that he was sure to win; Jessica Rossi (Milena Govich), Nick Potter's unofficial assistant and a woman with a murky, working-class past; Brian Peluso (Eric Balfour), whose legal brilliance was mitigated by his slovenliness and his messy private life; and Christina Finn (Julianne Nicholson), who'd been working in the office for two years before finally landing her first case and was understandably anxious to make up for lost time. Eschewing the "procedural" format of the other series in the Law & Order franchise, Conviction was built more along the lines of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, focusing more on the various lawyers' personal problems and hang-ups than on their professional activities. Also breaking away from the Law & Order formula was the series' predilection for having the attorneys inaugurate legal investigations before it was entirely certain that a crime had actually been committed. Conviction first aired on March 3, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Balfour, Jordan Bridges, (more)
- 2006
Over a hundred leading cameramen (and women) discuss the fine art of motion picture photography in this documentary. Cinematographer Style is compiled from interviews with a broad cross section of respected cinematographers, ranging from award-winning veterans such as Gordon Willis (The Godfather), Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now), Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance), and Haskell Wexler (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) to contemporary masters of the craft such as Roger Deakins (A Beautiful Mind), Peter Deming (Lost Highway), Ernest Dickerson (Do the Right Thing), and Remi Adefarasin (Match Point). While several participants discuss the tools of their trade, Cinematographer Style focuses as much on the philosophy behind photographing movies -- how they find a style that matches the material, their visual influences, how to prepare for a shoot, establishing a lighting and color scheme, and how "pretty" the image ought to be to match the story. Sponsored in part by Kodak, Cinematographer Style received its world premiere at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The dejected habitués of a run-down New Jersey bar currently teetering on the brink of bankruptcy receive an encouraging boost of morale when a one-time drinking buddy about to get his big break in show-business returns to find the girl he once left behind as the popular stage drama comes to the screen in a film starring Kim Dickens, Debi Mazar, Nick Chinlund, and Paul Sorvino. A locals-only dive where whiskey flows free and evenings pass in a bitter, alcohol-fueled haze, Charlie's Bar and New Crystal Ballroom is a holding tank for lost souls and forgotten dreams. Despite the dreary nature of the place, however, things suddenly start to look up when one-time local Joey Parker returns to his old watering hole in search of the woman he once left behind. It seems that the celebrated crooner from Manhattan has recently been booked for his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and in order for his success to truly be complete Joey is convinced that he must first wed his long lost love. Now, as the dreams of the weary are re-awakened by the same winds that blew in the man determined to take hold of his fate, the regulars at Charlie's are about to find out why some dreamers are better left asleep. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Chinlund, Paul Sorvino, (more)
A short story by Langston Hughes provides the source material for this emotional made-for-TV drama. Ma Jenkins (CCH Pounder) and her adult daughter Cora (Regina Taylor) work as servants for the Studevant family, a wealthy clan living in a small Iowa community in the 1930s. Cora and Ma are also the only African-Americans in town, and they must deal with emotional isolation as well as open and inflammatory racism. When Cora's young daughter succumbs to illness, Cora continues to do her chores for the Studevants, though inside she's devastated. Lizbeth Studevant (Cherry Jones), the lady of the house, has a daughter, Jessie (Molly Graham), and given Lizbeth's busy social schedule, Cora spends much of her time watching over the child. Cora begins to project her maternal feelings on Jessie, and the child grows to love Cora as a member of the family. However, as Jessie grows to adulthood (and is now played by Ellen Muth), Lizbeth begins to feel that Cora has a closer bond with her daughter than she does, and her resentment has ugly consequences. Cora Unashamed was produced for the acclaimed PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theatre, and first aired on October 25, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Regina Taylor, Cherry Jones, (more)
- 2000
Amy Goldstein directs this hip, indie look at the ups and downs of a trio of New York roommates from 1985 to 1995. The film opens as Peter (Patrick Breen), Reggie (Nadine Van Der Velde), and Chart (Scott Kraft) take out a 10-year lease on a musty warehouse loft on Manhattan's gritty A street. Their landlord is also Reggie's beau, Hiro (Glen Chin). Set against such historic events as the 1986 Reds-Mets World Series and the Stock Market Crash of 1987, the roommates lives change as Reggie dumps Hiro for Peter -- only to marry Sylvester (Adam Arkin), Chart struggles with heroin addiction, and Peter cares for AIDS-infected children. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Arkin, Patrick Breen, (more)
What do you do after love at first sight? That's the question posed in this romantic comedy-drama set in Chicago. Darius Lovehall (Larenz Tate) is a novelist who is giving a reading at the Sanctuary, an upscale club presenting jazz and poetry to a bohemian clientele. Shortly before his set, he meets Nina Mosley (Nia Long), a woman who is a gifted photographer, despite the fact that she just lost her job. They exchange small talk, and Darius makes his interest clear when -- on the spot -- he retitles a love poem "A Blues For Nina." A mutual attraction is sparked between them; soon Darius finds Nina's address on a check and shows up unannounced at her apartment, a visit resulting in a photo session that turns seriously sexy. So far, so good, but neither Darius or Nina are sure where to go next after this promising start. She's just gotten out of a relationship and isn't sure if she still cares for her old boyfriend or not, while Darius' buddies read him the riot act for wanting to give up his freedom so early on in the game. Love Jones was the debut feature for African-American writer and director Theodore Witcher; Isaiah Washington, Bill Bellamy, and Lisa Nicole Carson lead the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Larenz Tate, Nia Long, (more)
- 1986
- R
The corpse of a beautiful Middle Eastern terrorist is outfitted with a special computer, programmed to reanimate and to seek and destroy other terrorists. The trouble in this sci-fi actioner begins when something goes wrong and she tries to kill her creators. The film is also known as The Retaliator. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Sandahl Bergman, (more)
- 1981
- PG
It's not often that a 55-minute feature film received theatrical distribution in the 1980s. The Canadian Getting Even was just such a film; if you happened to miss it back in 1981, you're in good company. The script, by director Mark Feldberg, concerns a carefully planned bank robbery. The erstwhile thieves are an impoverished artist (Kate Zentall) and her born-loser boyfriend (Matthew Faison). Though their scheme is meticulous, the execution of the robbery goes awry due to the couple's ineptitude. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Faison, Kate Zentall, (more)
