George Seminara Movies
- 2007
The Ramones may not have invented punk rock, but they were the first band to create a definitive working model of its sound and style, and their high-speed blast of down-stroked guitars, pounding drums and lyrics about pinheads, sniffing glue, and watching TV influenced literally thousands of bands around the world. The Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 is an epic-length celebration of the Ramones on-stage, featuring excerpts from 33 different concerts and television performances by the band, ranging from a 1974 set at CBGB only a few months after they started playing in public to a massive concert in Argentina five months before the veteran punks finally called it quits in August 1996. Songs include "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Rockaway Beach," "Pinhead," "Rock and Roll High School," "I Wanna Be Sedated," "The KKK Took My Baby Away," "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio," "Psycho Therapy," "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," "I Don't Want to Grow Up" and many, many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Robert S. Levi writes and directs this Emmy Award-winning documentary focusing on the life of pioneering gay composer and jazz musician Billy Strayhorn, whose compositions for Duke Ellington included such timeless classics as "Satin Doll" and "Take the A Train". The driving creative force behind the Duke Ellington Orchestra from the 1940s through the 1980s, Strayhorn produced a staggering body of work that included everything from jazz greats to orchestral suites and even film soundtracks. Though historians and scholars alike are quick to single out Strayhorn as one of the most woefully overlooked American composers in history - he was a virtual unknown when he succumbed to throat cancer in 1967 - his influence lives on even at the dawn of the 21st Century. With this film, Levi offers a comprehensive view of who Strayhorn really was as both a person and a musician, while simultaneously exploring why he remains a relative unknown even to ardent jazz enthusiasts. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
An unemployed, alcoholic thirtysomething who still lives with his mother and can't seem to muster the motivation to turn his life around finds that all's fair in love and softball when his team is threatened with ejection from the league in a raunchy sports comedy starring Howard Stern Show regular Artie Lange. For the sluggers from Ed's Bar and Swill, the weekly trip to the local diamond is more about drinking and roughhousing than it is about such technicalities as hitting home runs and striking out the opposing team. When their favorite pastime is threatened by the ultra-competitive athleticism of the league's villainous perennial champions -- led by local gym owner and current mayoral candidate Manganelli (Anthony de Sando) -- this motley group of hard-drinking sportsmen must make one final push for the pennant and end their unprecedented losing streak if they hold out any hope of making it to another season. Ralph Macchio, Seymour Cassel, and Laurie Metcalf co-star, and longtime Saturday Night Live contributor Frank Sebastiano makes his directorial debut. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Artie Lange, Ralph Macchio, (more)
- 1987
This one-time 42nd Street midnight-movie favorite plays like a blackly comic blend of '50s cult-classic I Was a Teenage Werewolf and '80s horror satire Return of the Living Dead, set to an assortment of funky new-wave tunes. The story involves a gang of high school delinquents who murder the slimeball drug dealer (Steve McCoy) who sold them a substandard bag of weed, disposing of his body in a river laced with nuclear waste from a nearby power plant. Before long, the putrid pusher slithers to the surface as a sickly green zombie, bent on slaying the teens who dunked him in the drink. As a desperate countermeasure, the kids steal the body of the zombie's first victim from the morgue and dump him in the same river, creating an undead ally to defend them. Though at times too self-consciously loony, this horror comedy is certainly lively enough to merit its nominal cult status. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Rubin, George Seminara, (more)
A maniac escapes from a mental institution and disguises himself as a member of the faculty at St. Trinian's, a small Catholic college. He murders a young female professor, but the crime remains unsolved. Julie Parker (Francine Forbes) fills the vacant position after several other applicants refuse to accept the "jinxed" classroom. She begins dating fellow teacher Mark (Ric Randig) and tries to get through to her wild, party-loving students. One night, a young girl from her class is found dead at a drive-in theater and Julie discovers that Mark was involved with the woman who was killed the semester before. She suspects him and decides to break into his apartment and investigate. Her findings are flimsy and when another teacher is found mutilated on campus, she goes to the dean, Father Janson (Dick Biel), to discuss her resignation. Before she can escape, however, Julie will find herself face to face with the real killer and learn the horrible truth. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francine Forbes, Cathy Lacommaro, (more)
