Demme, Ted

Blow (Infinifilm Edition)

Dramatization of the life of George Jung, the man who established the cocaine market in the United States.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 14-SEP-2004
Media Type: DVD

A briskly paced hybrid of Boogie Nights and Goodfellas, Blow chronicles the three-decade rise and fall of George Jung (Johnny Depp), a normal American kid who makes a personal vow against poverty, builds a marijuana empire in the '60s, multiplies his fortune with the Colombian Medellín cocaine cartel, and blows it all with a series of police busts culminating in one final, long-term jail sentence. "Your dad's a loser," says this absentee father to his estranged but beloved daughter, and he's right: Blow is the story of a nice guy who made wrong choices all his life, almost single-handedly created the American cocaine trade, and got exactly what he deserved. As directed by Ted Demme, the film is vibrantly entertaining, painstakingly authentic... and utterly aimless in terms of overall purpose.

We can't sympathize with Jung's meteoric rise to wealth and the wild life, and Demme isn't suggesting that we should idolize a drug dealer. So what, exactly, is the point of Blow? Simply, it seems, to present Jung's story as the epitome of the coke-driven glory days, and to suggest, ever so subtly, that Jung isn't such a bad guy, after all. Anyone curious about his lifestyle will find this film amazing, and there's plenty of humor mixed with the constant threat of violence and paranoid anxiety. Demme has also populated the film with a fantastic supporting cast (although Penélope Cruz grows tiresome as Jung's hedonistic wife), and this is certainly a compelling look at the other side of Traffic. Still, one wishes that Blow had a more viable reason for being; like a wild party, it leaves you with a hangover and a vague feeling of regret. --Jeff Shannon

Life (dvd)

In 1930's Harlem two men are framed for murder, what ensues is a comical look at their lives together in prison over the next sixty years.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 6-JAN-2004
Media Type: DVD

Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy play it surprisingly straight in this film by director Ted Demme. Though there are laughs to be had, this is a story about perseverance in the face of a life of disappointment (yet the film was sold as a prison comedy). But Stir Crazy this isn't. Rather, Lawrence and Murphy play a couple of New Yorkers making a moonshine run from New York to Mississippi during the Prohibition who find themselves framed for murder and sentenced for life to a prison chain gang. As they age, the two become close friends, although the strait-laced Lawrence always resents the free-wheeling Murphy for getting him into the situation in the first place. Ultimately, these two men learn to find meaning where they can, taking value from friendship and their limited ability to affect the lives of others. At times preachy, it ends on an upbeat note; the film's biggest laughs are reserved for the final section, in which Lawrence and Murphy don age makeup and play octogenarians. --Marshall Fine

Beautiful Girls

This town drama from Ted Demme centers on former classmates coming together for their 10-year reunion. Scott Rosenberg's (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) script thoughtfully passes over the usual grumblings of young adults who can't believe they still live in the same snowbound town. They accept--even welcome--their blue-collar jobs, whether plowing snow or cutting hair. Willie (Timothy Hutton), the lone wanderer, returns to his listless house in a state of flux, the piano-bar circuit wearing thin as is his relationship with Tracy, a well-off attorney (Annabeth Gish). He isn't the only one with problems. Tommy (Matt Dillon) occasionally sleeps with his now-married high school sweetheart Darian (Lauren Holly) while the earnest Sharon (Mira Sorvino) is left to wait. Paul (another thickheaded role for Michael Rapaport) refuses to commit to Jan (Martha Plimpton) until it's too late. Paul is enamored with the idea of the supermodel (the title's "beautiful girls") that, he believes, can make life perfect. It's a very satisfying comedy, with some forced poignancy (Willie's description of Tracy as a "seven and a half" comes off as a death sentence). Rosie O'Donnell's dissertation on why Playboy and Penthouse have ruined males' expectations is much like Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally...: it's hilarious, even memorable, never wholly believable.

The two wild cards thrown into Beautiful Girls give the film its kick. Uma Thurman enters as the local barkeep's (Pruitt Taylor Vince) radiant cousin. From the big city, she can flirt with the awestruck guys and still keep her head. Willie's real emotional tug is from Marty, the precocious 13-year-old neighbor. If you didn't see Natalie Portman's sophisticated work in the The Professional, her performance here will come as a revelation. You deeply believe that Willie and Marty are connected despite their age difference. Their courtship will never come to be, but the way the two talk (and talk some more) about their lives is the most insightful part of Rosenberg's script. Everyone's so comfortable in his or her roles that you may truly feel sad when the film ends. --Doug Thomas

An all-star cast sparks this captivating comedy about a group of old friends whose 10-year high school reunion creates some hilariously unexpected surprises. Willie (Timothy Hutton -- FRENCH KISS), Tommy (Matt Dillon -- TO DIE FOR), and Paul (Michael Rapaport -- MIGHTY APHRODITE) may have lost a bit of their youth, but they're still ready to party with Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Rosie O'Donnell (TV's THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW), Lauren Holly (DUMB AND DUMBER), and Mira Sorvino (AT FIRST SIGHT) -- the "beautiful girls" who've turned their lives upside down! Also featuring a hot soundtrack, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS is a must-see comic delight that's sure to entertain you!

The Ref

Caustic wit gets a full-body workout in this 1994 comedy, in which a cat burglar (Denis Leary) gets trapped in an affluent Connecticut neighborhood and is forced to hold a bickering couple hostage on Christmas Eve, only to discover that their Yuletide spirit is anything but cheerful. Caroline (Judy Davis) and her husband, Lloyd (Kevin Spacey), have been at each other's throats for so long that they've developed domestic arguments into an art form, and the would-be kidnapper turns into a reluctant mediator, even after he's got the battling couple wound up in bungee cords. The situation grows even more complicated when the couple's smart-aleck son comes home from military school, but it's not the plot here that's a top priority. Instead it's the sheer pleasure of witnessing a three-way verbal jousting match, written with razor-sharp skill and delivered by actors who are perfect for their roles. The movie's got a dark edge, but it never gets too dark--you know that it's not going to slide into more seriously damaging territory, so you can sit back and enjoy the volleys of scathing insults and sarcasm the way you would a Don Rickles performance. If that sounds like your idea of entertainment, The Ref will serve it up with style. --Jeff Shannon

A burglar who takes a family hostage on Christmas Eve finds himself the victim of their endless bickering and fighting.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-MAR-2003
Media Type: DVD

Action: The Complete Series

Jay Mohr stars as Peter Dragon in ''Action'' the comedy series about a film exec who hits bottom and finds the only person who will help him get his company back on track is ex-child star turned hooker Wendy Ward (Illeana Douglas).System Requirements:Running Time: 299 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 043396075405 Manufacturer No: 07540

Immoral, politically incorrect, and fiercely funny, Action: The Complete Series is a timeless comedy focusing on a group of Hollywood insiders whose moral compass has spun out of control. Led by uber-producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr), the series' first and only season ferociously lampoons the sleaziness of modern-day Hollywood. Dragon--seemingly the separated-at-birth brother of slimy uber-agent Bob Sugar (also played by Mohr) from Jerry Maguire--is a jerk who pretends to be gay when it's convenient and doesn't understand why Salma Hayek (playing herself) would slap him silly for making inappropriate suggestions during an earlier audition. In Dragon's lair, sexual harassment is an inconvenience, the screenwriter is an afterthought, and a movie isn't a film unless it's got mega-explosions. Mohr and Illeana Douglas (portraying an ex-child star turned prostitute turned studio executive) are a joy to watch. When a sycophantic colleague accuses Dragon of promoting a hooker over him, he calmly says, "She's my prostitute. You're my whore." A subtle difference, yes, but one that makes a world of difference in Hollywood. If there's a plus side to this topnotch series being canceled in 1999, it's that the writers didn't have time to let the show disintegrate into hackneyed clichés. There is no warm-hearted parable to justify the nasty means--just a lot of quick-witted dialogue and an excellent ensemble cast that makes viewers enjoy the characters despite (or should that be because of?) their numerous flaws. --Jae-Ha Kim

A Decade Under the Influence

How did Hollywood make so many great, challenging, offbeat films in the 1970s? A Decade Under the Influence lists the reasons--or rather, lets the people who did the filmmaking list the reasons. The decade-shaping interviewees include Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Francis Coppola, et al. The film's argument has actually been conventional wisdom for at least 10 years, but it's well-supported by an abundance of clips, which should inspire even hardcore film buffs to seek out rarities such as Thunderbolt and Lightfoot or The King of Marvin Gardens. One might observe that the scarcity of women directors or black filmmakers suggests that the decade was not entirely golden, and the memories may be burnished a bit by nostalgia. But there's no question that the big studios were far more adventurous back then, and this briskly moving survey gives a lively Film 101 lecture in exactly why. --Robert Horton

The 1970s was an extraordinary time of rebellion. As political activism, the sexual revolution, the women's movement, and the music revolution contributed to social unrest across America, American cinema witnessed the emergence of a new generation of fil

Monument Ave.

Denis Leary (TV's THE JOB) and Martin Sheen (THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT) star in this explosive story about the power of loyalty, community, and friendship in the world of organized crime. In a tough Irish-American neighborhood, Bobby (Leary) is a small-time car thief working for the area's top mobster (Colm Meany -- CON AIR, THE SNAPPER). But then, Bobby's own gang kills members of his family, leaving Bobby faced with a tough choice: defend his family honor or obey the rigid neighborhood code of silence! With co-stars Billy Crudup (ALMOST FAMOUS) and Famke Janssen (GOLDEN EYE), MONUMENT AVE. is gripping entertainment in the tradition of GOODFELLAS!

Who's the Man

Two bumbling rookie cops investigate the murder of their former boss, who had refused to sell his barbershop to a greedy real-estate developer.

Gun - The Complete Six Film Anthology

An intriguing premise and a stellar group of participants both in front of and behind the camera propel Gun, a three-disc collection of six short films that originally aired in 1997 on ABC-TV. Creator James Sadwith (who also wrote and/or directed some episodes), along with big name directors like Robert Altman (Short Cuts, The Player), James Foley, and the late Ted Demme, oversaw these comical, tragic, tawdry, and sometimes compelling tales, most of them involving murder, adultery, betrayal, and other sins and all of them triggered (so to speak), driven, and sometimes resolved by the same handgun. While the gun is often totemic more than an active participant (indeed, in some episodes it's not even fired), it is the single element that ties them together. It's a provocative idea, but one that fails to fully live up to its promise. For one, while the gun often changes hands within a given story, we never see how it gets from one episode to the next; there's no overall connecting tissue here. And while there are enough stars on hand to populate your average TV awards show (James Gandolfini, Rosanna Arquette, Randy Quaid, Jennifer Tilly, Kirsten Dunst, Martin Sheen, and Edward James Olmos, to name but a few), there isn't a lot that any of them can do if the script they're working with is as tepid as some of Gun's are. "Columbus Day," with Gandolfini and Arquette, builds a fair amount of tension, with a nice little twist at the end. Altman's own "All the President's Women," with Quaid, Tilly, Daryl Hannah, and others, is silly and over the top. "The Shot," featuring a loud, whiny lead performance by Daniel Stern, does a decent job of satirizing the media's obsession with 15-second celebrity but falls prey to a way-too-facile ending. "Ricochet," with Sheen as a detective on the verge of retirement who's living out the "just one last case, I swear" cliché, is simply unconvincing in just about every way. And so it goes. Gun certainly has its moments (as well as a trailer and a photo gallery among its extra features), but for the most part, this qualifies as a missed opportunity. --Sam Graham

Presented by Oscar® Nominated Director Robert Altman (The Player, Gosford Park), this anthology series follows the path of a handgun and the impact it has on the lives of those who encounter it. An all-star cast, acclaimed writers and directors all contribute a different story to each riveting episode. FEATURES EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCES FROM AN ENSEMBLE CAST: James Gandolfini (TV's The Soprano's, Surviving Christmas), Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman, Mona Lisa's Smile), Martin Sheen (TV's West Wing), Daryl Hanna (Kills Bill, Roxanne), Peter Horton (Thirtysomething), Sally Kellerman (MASH), Jennifer Tilly (The Haunted Mansion, Liar, Liar), Randy Quaid (Indepencence Day, Vacation), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction, The Whole Nine Yards), Daniel Stern (Home Alone, City Slickers), Carrie Fisher (Star Wars), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain, Cider House Rules), Sean Young (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, No Way Out)

No Cure for Cancer