ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[oilgun]

"Every Dream has a Price"



Plot:  In this gritty drama executive-produced by Gus Van Sant, a teenaged would-be stock-car driver gets more than he bargained for when he makes a pit stop in Las Vegas to earn a little cash. Almost as soon as he arrives in the city, high-school dropout Johnny (Jesse Bradford) finds himself victimized at the slot machines by a slick little vixen. His journey to glory on the racetrack thus sidetracked, he soon falls in with a group of hoods and street urchins. Befriended by solicitous hustler Steven (Jordan Brower) and condescended to by gay-for-pay stud Eric (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), Johnny gets a quick introduction to the sleazy Vegas landscape. At first he rejects his new acquaintances, but after a disastrous liaison with a buxom young lady (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), he finds himself the reluctant new best friend of the besotted Steven. Adamantly professing his own heterosexuality, Johnny tries to find female clients to bankroll his ticket out of town. But soon Eric arrives, promising big bucks from his wealthy male patrons, setting the stage for conflict with Steven and unexpected bloodshed. Shown during the Panorama program at the 1999 International Berlin Film Festival, Speedway Junky was the debut feature from writer/director Nickolas Perry. Daryl Hannah co-stars as an older ex-prostitute who serves as a sort of foster mother for both Johnny and Steven. The film also marked the acting debut of musical artist Warren G and features a cameo appearance from Patsy Kensit.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  Shamus O'Reilly is supposed to receive $1 million for a scandalous video-tape desperately wanted by notorious businessman Kaiser Poppo. Before Shamus arrives for the switch, Poppo's thugs accidentally give the money to Shamus look-alike Dave Rickards, a radio host in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rickards is chased through the streets of San Diego and onto a train, where he makes a clean get-away with the cash. Now Poppo wants both the video and his money back, but must contend with the FBI, con men, and his long-time nemesis "The Greek". Despite advice from San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and Watergate legend G. Gordon Liddy, Rickards loses track of both the money and the video-tape. He is then tricked into a dramatic showdown with Kaiser Poppo and a 30-year-old secret is finally revealed.

[memento]

IMDB Plot: A man running from a mysterious past is trapped in a small desert town after his car breaks down. Everybody in this town seems to have totally lost their mind and Bobby can't wait to leave. But there is a problem: Bobby doesn't have the money to get his car back. So when an aging man offers him money to kill his young wife Bobby seriously thinks about it. However the gorgeous young woman casts some kind of spell on him and she asks him to get rid of her husband. But this time, the stakes are much higher...

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Set in Lodz (Poland) in 1930's. After six years in jail, framed for bank robbery by an accomplice, the legendary Kwinto has only revenge on his mind. He is a safecracker in the old style, a thief with a sense of pride and loyalty. Upon leaving the jail he learns that his friend, with whom he played in the jazz band has been murdered by the same guy -- now a bank president -- who sent him to prison. Kramer hopes to keep Kwinto's mouth shut by paying him off, but at the same time he hires a paid gun to kill him. Meanwhile, some young, petty crooks, hearing that Kwinto is free, want to join forces with him for a job. Kwinto, employing a retired professional and two young admirers, pulls his last job to get even with Kramer....

[southendmd]

Plot:  This black comedy opens with Louisa Foster donating a multimillion dollar check to the IRS. The tax department thinks she's crazy and sends her to a psychiatrist. She then discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be rich.

[oilgun]

"See it with someone you've paid for."



From the NYT: In between its kinky sexual exhibitions, ''Hustler White'' follows the adventures of Jurgen Anger (Bruce LaBruce), a writer and sexual tourist who has flown to Los Angeles to research a book on male prostitutes, and Monti Ward (Tony Ward), the young male hooker he engages as his tour guide. Mr. Ward, a successful model who was once Madonna's constant companion, lends the role of Monti a bluff, swaggering charm, even though his character is loathsome. In the opening scene, Monti, fleeing a john in a stolen car, hits a pedestrian, severing his foot, but drives on.

''Hustler White,'' directed by Mr. LaBruce, a Canadian film maker, in collaboration with Rick Castro, a Los Angeles photographer, bills itself as a comedy, but it is more facetious than funny. The third feature film by Mr. LaBruce, who fancies himself a 90's answer to Andy Warhol, it is a direct descendant of Warhol's ''Flesh,'' right down to its allusions to ''Sunset Boulevard.'' (The opening scene finds Monti floating face down in a Jacuzzi and narrating the story of how he got there.)

Mr. Ward may not not be as good-looking as Joe Dallesandro, but he has a lot more pep. If the price is right, say $200, his character will do just about anything. When Jurgen, a sourpuss pain in the neck with the hauteur of an imperious pontiff, offers him $1,000 for insider's information, he becomes a talking encyclopedia of cruising tips.

As it lurches back and forth from telling a story to exhibiting erotic sideshows, ''Hustler White'' has a lot of sex, most of it simulated, all of it between men. Strictly speaking, it is not a pornographic film. Any movie that conveys this much detailed information on the geography and social terrain of Santa Monica Boulevard must have some redeeming social value.

[memento]

IMDB Plot: Hannah is so tight with her money that she takes her son, Donnie, to the charity ward a week after he hurts his leg. But she has always hoarded her money since her late husband wasted most of it and now she plans to save it for Donnie. But when Donnie graduates from Princeton, he does not want to go into banking at Hannah's bank, he wants to be a writer, which upsets Hannah. But the greatest blow of all comes when Donnie meets the daughter of the man who jilted Hannah 30 years before.

[oilgun]

Complete Title: Zhizn i priklyucheniya chetyrekh druzei 7. Sledstvie vedet Semafor 8. Podvig Varkhata (1994)

Plot: Four friends - three dogs and one cat are helping people in search for the stolen money. The bad guy stole the cash and disappeared in the rain. Four animals are so smart - they manage to find the bad guy and the money.

==Comment==
My apologies but I couldn't find an image for this animated Russian film which seems to be a follow up to 1993's Zhizn i priklyucheniya chetyrekh druzei 5. Kot Semafor 6. Neznakomtsy.  Strangely, Zhizn i priklyucheniya chetyrekh druzei 3. Igra s ognem. 4. Kot v meshke  was also made in 1994.

[Fran]

The "N" Degrees of Brangelina Round!

Featuring movies that can be connected to Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie

[Fran]

Brad Pitt played Joe Maloney in "Across the Tracks."

Rick Schroder and Brad Pitt are cast as unlikely brothers in "Across the Tracks." Schroder is a drug-dealing layabout, while Pitt is a hardworking "model son" (talk about casting against type!) When Schroder begins straightening himself out by becoming a high school track star, Pitt suffers the pangs of jealousy, retreating into alcohol. Now it is Ricky's turn to reform Brad! Filmed in 1989, "Across the Tracks" lay unwrapped until 1991, by which time Brad Pitt had become a first-magnitude movie star.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide