Wenk, Richard

Vamp

Just the Ticket

Gary Starke (Andy Garcia) is New York City's supreme scalper. Tickets for the Knicks, MOMA, the pope--you name it, he can get it. To mainstream society, however, Gary doesn't exist. He doesn't work 9 to 5, he doesn't have either a driver's license or a Social Security number, and he isn't even sure he was born in a hospital. Just the Ticket, Richard Wenk's wonderfully understated, well written and ultimately touching romantic comedy, is the story of how Gary finally finds identity. The movie's central premise has Gary trying to score big by scalping tickets for the pope's New York City appearance in order to win back his ex-girlfriend (Andie MacDowell). Both MacDowell and Garcia have been mired in career ruts, so their sexual chemistry is Just the Ticket's biggest surprise. Wenk knows and loves these characters (he based the protagonist on a scalper he met 20 years ago, and he spent five more years pitching the script to numerous studios), and that warmth provides an energy that's so often missing in many Hollywood romantic comedies. Also engaging (and at times heartbreaking) is Richard Bradford, who plays an aging runner who serves as Gary's father figure. MGM inexplicably dumped this picture in the dead of winter in 1999. The DVD--which features audio commentary by Garcia and Wenk, deleted scenes, and a four-page booklet about the making of the film--gives the film the second chance it deserves. --Dave McCoy

Gary Starke can get his hands on just about anything: floor level seats at a Knicks game, entrance to an exclusive art gallery or first-row concert tickets. But the one thing Gary can't seem to get is the girl of his dreams. Join OscarÂ(r) nominee* Andy Garcia and the lovely Andie MacDowellas they gamble against the odds in the game of love in this wonderfully funny romantic comedy. Longtime New York con man Gary (Garcia) is a king among scam artists but a loser in life. The only thing he has going for him is Linda (MacDowell), a stunning chef-in-the-making with a soft spot for underdogs. But even Linda isn't a sure thing when she's accepted into a Parisian cooking school,and decides it's time to leave the city and Gary! Now this streetwise hustler must pull out all the stops and turn on all the charm if he ever hopes to win his way back into her heart!

Wishcraft

A teen horror flick that's a step above its peers, Wishcraft fuses a slasher movie with a "be careful what you wish for" story line. Bret (Michael Weston), a smart but unsociable high school kid, receives a strange box in the mail. A note tells him the contents will give him three wishes; naturally, he wishes for a date with a cheerleader (Alexandra Holden) he has a crush on. His wish comes true--but just as his new life is beginning, someone is murdering the popular kids in strange, inventive ways. Wishcraft isn't novel or surprising, but what's unusual is how well written, smartly directed, and solidly acted the movie is. The dialogue sounds genuine; the characters have more than one dimension; clichés are kept to a minimum. It won't win any awards, but if all B movies were this good, we'd be living in a much more entertaining world. --Bret Fetzer

Brett is one of the outsiders at his school. A little too bright to be popular, that doesn't stop him from having the biggest crush on the cheerleading Samantha, who's a little too popular to take him seriously. When Brett receives a mysterious package that contains a totem with the ability to grant its owner three wishes, he discovers that dreams can come true - with a vengeance. Suddenly Samantha is holding him so tight its cutting off his circulation, and her non-stop adoration is not his only problem. Someone is systematically slaughtering the rebels and the jocks - and the cheerleaders. Misbehave? Hit the grave. Now Samantha is primed to be the killer's next target. A perfect victim for a killer in search of perfection - and the only thing that might save her is WISHCRAFT.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Scene Access

Just the Ticket/Hoodlum

Gary Starke (Andy Garcia) is New York City's supreme scalper. Tickets for the Knicks, MOMA, the pope--you name it, he can get it. To mainstream society, however, Gary doesn't exist. He doesn't work 9 to 5, he doesn't have either a driver's license or a Social Security number, and he isn't even sure he was born in a hospital. Just the Ticket, Richard Wenk's wonderfully understated, well written and ultimately touching romantic comedy, is the story of how Gary finally finds identity. The movie's central premise has Gary trying to score big by scalping tickets for the pope's New York City appearance in order to win back his ex-girlfriend (Andie MacDowell). Both MacDowell and Garcia have been mired in career ruts, so their sexual chemistry is Just the Ticket's biggest surprise. Wenk knows and loves these characters (he based the protagonist on a scalper he met 20 years ago, and he spent five more years pitching the script to numerous studios), and that warmth provides an energy that's so often missing in many Hollywood romantic comedies. Also engaging (and at times heartbreaking) is Richard Bradford, who plays an aging runner who serves as Gary's father figure. MGM inexplicably dumped this picture in the dead of winter in 1999. The DVD--which features audio commentary by Garcia and Wenk, deleted scenes, and a four-page booklet about the making of the film--gives the film the second chance it deserves. --Dave McCoy

Wishcraft [Region 2]

A teen horror flick that's a step above its peers, Wishcraft fuses a slasher movie with a "be careful what you wish for" story line. Bret (Michael Weston), a smart but unsociable high school kid, receives a strange box in the mail. A note tells him the contents will give him three wishes; naturally, he wishes for a date with a cheerleader (Alexandra Holden) he has a crush on. His wish comes true--but just as his new life is beginning, someone is murdering the popular kids in strange, inventive ways. Wishcraft isn't novel or surprising, but what's unusual is how well written, smartly directed, and solidly acted the movie is. The dialogue sounds genuine; the characters have more than one dimension; clichés are kept to a minimum. It won't win any awards, but if all B movies were this good, we'd be living in a much more entertaining world. --Bret Fetzer

Vamp [Region 2]