Steve McQueen’s final film is an action-comedy compromise that will satisfy his fans even if it barely hangs together. The thrills are kinder & gentler, with plenty of hair-raising stunts but less gunplay and gore. McQueen’s eccentric bounty hunter collects toys and can barely drive a car, but he always gets his man. Kathryn Harrold is good; Eli Wallach, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, Richard Venture and Tracey Walter are along for the ride (and stay out of Steve’s spotlight). Steve’s in charge — he tailors everything to highlight his quirky star characterization, and the guiding principle is ‘low key.’
The Hunter
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 110
1980 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date April 6, 2022 / Available from Amazon Au
Starring: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, Richard Venture, Tracey Walter, Tom Rosales, Teddy Wilson, Ray Bickel, Bobby Bass, Karl Schueneman, Taurean Blacque, Al Ruscio, David Spielberg.
The Hunter
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 110
1980 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date April 6, 2022 / Available from Amazon Au
Starring: Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Kathryn Harrold, LeVar Burton, Ben Johnson, Richard Venture, Tracey Walter, Tom Rosales, Teddy Wilson, Ray Bickel, Bobby Bass, Karl Schueneman, Taurean Blacque, Al Ruscio, David Spielberg.
- 5/7/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Costa-Gavras’ superlative political thriller begins with a skeptical attitude, but soon pulls viewers into the depth and breadth of a monstrous political crime aided and abetted by our own U.S. government. Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon headline a strong cast, in a story that our State Department called a pack of lies — until the truth became undeniable.
Missing
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1982 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 122 min. / / Street Date August 27, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £18.47
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi, David Clennon, Richard Venture, Jerry Hardin, Richard Bradford, Joe Regalbuto.
Cinematography: Ricardo Aronovich
Film Editor: Françoise Bonnot
Original Music: Vangelis
Written by Costa-Gavras, Donald Stewart from a book by Thomas Hauser
Produced by Edward Lewis, Mildred Lewis
Directed by Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras’ 1981 Missing has by now topped the Greek-French director’s list of powerful political thrillers: ‘Z’, State of Siege, The Confession. Still considered a highly controversial title,...
Missing
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1982 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 122 min. / / Street Date August 27, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £18.47
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi, David Clennon, Richard Venture, Jerry Hardin, Richard Bradford, Joe Regalbuto.
Cinematography: Ricardo Aronovich
Film Editor: Françoise Bonnot
Original Music: Vangelis
Written by Costa-Gavras, Donald Stewart from a book by Thomas Hauser
Produced by Edward Lewis, Mildred Lewis
Directed by Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras’ 1981 Missing has by now topped the Greek-French director’s list of powerful political thrillers: ‘Z’, State of Siege, The Confession. Still considered a highly controversial title,...
- 9/4/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Of all the ‘depressed relationship’ dramas of the early ’70s, this may be the most rewarding. It also sports one of the longest titles on record. Paul Zindel’s award-winning play gets a marvelous adaptation for the screen, thanks to Alvin Sargent, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. There’s also the stealth input of the star couple’s daughter Nell Potts, whose restrained performance is the happy opposite of mawkish and maudlin.
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date February 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Joanne Woodward, Nell Potts, Roberta Wallach, Judith Lowry, David Spielberg, Richard Venture, Jess Osuna, Will Hare.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Evan A. Lottman, Craig McKay, assistant
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Alvin Sargent from the play by Paul Zindel
Produced and Directed by Paul Newman
The late-’60s freedom of...
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date February 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Joanne Woodward, Nell Potts, Roberta Wallach, Judith Lowry, David Spielberg, Richard Venture, Jess Osuna, Will Hare.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Evan A. Lottman, Craig McKay, assistant
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Alvin Sargent from the play by Paul Zindel
Produced and Directed by Paul Newman
The late-’60s freedom of...
- 2/24/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Actress Olivia Cole, best known for her performances in Roots and The Women of Brewster Place, passed away on January 19. She was 75.
Cole died in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her agent, Susie Schwarz at Sbb Partners, told Variety. Her cause of death is currently unknown.
“She was a very eccentric woman and a wonderful woman,” Schwarz said of Cole, who didn’t own a cell phone and shied away from technology.
Cole was born in Memphis, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
She returned to the U.S. in 1964 and appeared in "Romeo and Juliet" at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut.
In 1966, Cole made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The School for Scandal" — just one of the many stage appearances during her career — and then landed a gig as Deborah Mehren on CBS soap opera The Guiding Light.
She won...
Cole died in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her agent, Susie Schwarz at Sbb Partners, told Variety. Her cause of death is currently unknown.
“She was a very eccentric woman and a wonderful woman,” Schwarz said of Cole, who didn’t own a cell phone and shied away from technology.
Cole was born in Memphis, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
She returned to the U.S. in 1964 and appeared in "Romeo and Juliet" at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut.
In 1966, Cole made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The School for Scandal" — just one of the many stage appearances during her career — and then landed a gig as Deborah Mehren on CBS soap opera The Guiding Light.
She won...
- 1/25/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Richard Venture, the prolific character actor who lent gravitas to the best picture Oscar nominees All the President's Men, Missing and Scent of a Woman and dozens of other films and TV shows, has died. He was 94.
Venture died Dec. 19 in Chester, Connecticut, his daughter Rebecca told The Hollywood Reporter.
Venture was especially memorable as Peter Sellers' valet in Hal Ashby's Being There (1979) and as a cop who commits suicide in Steve McQueen's final film, The Hunter (1980).
His body of work also includes roles in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), The Greatest (1977), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Onion Field (1979), Touch and Go (1986), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), The Sicilian (1987), Courage Under...
Venture died Dec. 19 in Chester, Connecticut, his daughter Rebecca told The Hollywood Reporter.
Venture was especially memorable as Peter Sellers' valet in Hal Ashby's Being There (1979) and as a cop who commits suicide in Steve McQueen's final film, The Hunter (1980).
His body of work also includes roles in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), The Greatest (1977), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Onion Field (1979), Touch and Go (1986), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), The Sicilian (1987), Courage Under...
- 1/9/2018
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Back in 1985, ABC aired an action series called Street Hawk. The TV show revolves around public relations cop Jesse Mach (Rex Smith) who gets recruited for a top secret government project -- piloting a high-tech and incredibly fast motorcycle. Norman Tuttle (Joe Regalbuto) is the cycle's inventor and the only one who knows that Mach is actually the mysterious Street Hawk. Other recurring characters are played by Richard Venture, Jeannie Wilson, Raymond Singer, and R.J. Adams
Despite running for just one short season, Street Hawk has attracted a cult following. Smith says he still gets stopped by "men of a certain age" and thinks it's time for a new version.
He recently told the Daily Record, "I am currently developing a script for a new re-envisioned Street Hawk along with my oldest son Brandon, called Street Hawk Resurrection."
The...
Despite running for just one short season, Street Hawk has attracted a cult following. Smith says he still gets stopped by "men of a certain age" and thinks it's time for a new version.
He recently told the Daily Record, "I am currently developing a script for a new re-envisioned Street Hawk along with my oldest son Brandon, called Street Hawk Resurrection."
The...
- 7/1/2010
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Fabulous Films have announced the long-awaited DVD release of Street Hawk, the classic 80s television show about one man and his motorcycle, on March 22nd 2010.
Broadcast by ABC in the mid 80’s, this series quickly became a massive hit. Jesse Mach, an ex-motorcycle cop injured in the line of duty and now a police trouble shooter, has been recruited for a top secret government mission: to ride Street Hawk, an all-terrain attack motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds of up to 300 mph and immense firepower. Only one man, Norman Tuttle, knows Jesse Mach’s true identity. The Man, The Machine: Street Hawk.
The series stars Rex Smith, Richard Venture, Joe Regalbuto, Jeannie Wilson; with a musical theme composed by Tangerine Dream and produced by Christopher Franke. Series guest stars included: George Clooney, Christopher Lloyd, Dennis Franz, Tom Everett and more!
The series will be released as a 4-disc set,...
Broadcast by ABC in the mid 80’s, this series quickly became a massive hit. Jesse Mach, an ex-motorcycle cop injured in the line of duty and now a police trouble shooter, has been recruited for a top secret government mission: to ride Street Hawk, an all-terrain attack motorcycle designed to fight urban crime, capable of incredible speeds of up to 300 mph and immense firepower. Only one man, Norman Tuttle, knows Jesse Mach’s true identity. The Man, The Machine: Street Hawk.
The series stars Rex Smith, Richard Venture, Joe Regalbuto, Jeannie Wilson; with a musical theme composed by Tangerine Dream and produced by Christopher Franke. Series guest stars included: George Clooney, Christopher Lloyd, Dennis Franz, Tom Everett and more!
The series will be released as a 4-disc set,...
- 3/9/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Movie Info: Writer: Norman Mailer Director: Lawrence Schiller Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Christine Lahti, Rosanna Arquette, Eli Wallach, Steven Keats, Jordan Clarke, Richard Venture Rating: Not Rated Studio: Paramount Release Info: Theatrical Release: Aired on television November 28, 1982 DVD Release Date: August 5, 2008 Online Availability: Amazon Once upon a time, movies on television sported a notable cast and they were well written. These [...]...
- 9/2/2008
- by Ashtyn
Series 7
"Series 7" is "Gladiator" for the digital video generation. Designed to look like a reality television show called "The Contenders", in which real people stalk and kill one another in real locations, the film was in development long before "Survivor" hit the airwaves. Writer-director Daniel Minahan even has the Sundance Lab records to prove it. Yet how eerie for art to anticipate life -- or rather to anticipate populist programming at its lowest-common-denominator depths.
Coming on the heels of the Japanese film "Battle Royale", in which 52 ninth-grade students fight to the finish on a small jungle isle, and "15 Minutes" -- also opening today -- in which two maniacs videotape their murderous crime spree in hopes of making a fortune off their infamy, "Series 7" is on the money when it comes to the media zeitgeist. That doesn't make it any easier to stomach.
This is 88 minutes of morose, amoral people stalking and murdering one another, which doesn't sound like a date movie. It certainly isn't fine art either. More interesting in concept than execution, the movie will generate controversy and late-night debates -- but only among the handful who venture into specialty venues for the offbeat. "Series 7" looks like a cult home video favorite.
It perhaps is a compliment to say that Minahan accomplishes his goals all too well. A veteran of TV documentaries and tabloid newsmagazine shows, Minahan has created a video-shot movie that perfectly mimics the TV reality show look, complete with hooky music cues, ponderous voice-overs and teasers to keep viewers glued to their sets.
His cast is convincingly "real." The best-known is Dawn (Brooke Smith), and -- again it's a left-handed compliment -- she actually makes you root for her in her quest to survive as the best killing machine in the contest. Staged in and around Minahan's hometown of Danbury, Conn., "Series 7" goes full-bore in its ruthless satirization of television at its worst. It's "Jerry Springer" crossed with "Survivor" and "Big Brother", with a hint of "Rollerball".
As contestants stake out positions -- and segments explore their individual back stories -- the key satirical ingredients are the disconnection between what they're doing and their explanations of their actions in terms of motives and strategy. Their world is one of institutionalized murders, such as in the classic short stories "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Lottery", but the participants discuss their approach to hits as a young person would his Little League game or SAT scores.
Dawn is the reigning champ. But she's now eight months pregnant and faced with a new battlefield: her hometown, where she encounters not only friends and relations but an ex-boyfriend (Glenn Fitzgerald) who, despite being a cancer victim, is a contestant.
Her main opponent turns out to be a Catholic nurse (Marylouise Burke), whom you might discount unless you remember Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Others include a young girl (Merritt Wever), whose family eggs her on; an unemployed married man (Michael Kaycheck), who desperately needs the money; and a crazy old trailer-park coot (Richard Venture), whose orneriness just might save his life.
As with "The Blair Witch Project", the behind-the-camera personnel take advantage of what are normally drawbacks: limited resources and a video camera. Here it all makes perfect sense as a sendup of reality television.
Music by Girls Against Boys gives "Series 7" an MTV feel. Malcolm Jamieson's editing keeps things moving at the right pace for a show designed for viewers with short attention spans. There is sharp wit in the writing, and the direction is quite good. "Series 7" is undeniably effective, but that doesn't mean you feel good when it's over.
SERIES 7
USA Films
An October Films presentation of a Blow Up Pictures presentation of a Killer Films/Open City Films production
Producers: Jason Kloit, Joana Vicente, Christine Vachon, Katie Roumel
Screenwriter-director: Daniel Minahan
Executive producers: Charles J. Rusbasan, Judith Zarin, Michael Escott
Co-producers: Evan T. Cohen, Gretchen McGowan
Director of photography: Randy Drummond
Production designer: Gideon Ponte
Costume designer: Christine Beiselin
Editor: Malcolm Jamieson
Music: Girls Against Boys
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dawn: Brooke Smith
Connie: Marylouise Burke
Jeff: Glenn Fitzgerald
Tony: Michael Kaycheck
Franklin: Richard Venture
Lindsay: Merritt Wever
Sheila: Donna Hanover
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Coming on the heels of the Japanese film "Battle Royale", in which 52 ninth-grade students fight to the finish on a small jungle isle, and "15 Minutes" -- also opening today -- in which two maniacs videotape their murderous crime spree in hopes of making a fortune off their infamy, "Series 7" is on the money when it comes to the media zeitgeist. That doesn't make it any easier to stomach.
This is 88 minutes of morose, amoral people stalking and murdering one another, which doesn't sound like a date movie. It certainly isn't fine art either. More interesting in concept than execution, the movie will generate controversy and late-night debates -- but only among the handful who venture into specialty venues for the offbeat. "Series 7" looks like a cult home video favorite.
It perhaps is a compliment to say that Minahan accomplishes his goals all too well. A veteran of TV documentaries and tabloid newsmagazine shows, Minahan has created a video-shot movie that perfectly mimics the TV reality show look, complete with hooky music cues, ponderous voice-overs and teasers to keep viewers glued to their sets.
His cast is convincingly "real." The best-known is Dawn (Brooke Smith), and -- again it's a left-handed compliment -- she actually makes you root for her in her quest to survive as the best killing machine in the contest. Staged in and around Minahan's hometown of Danbury, Conn., "Series 7" goes full-bore in its ruthless satirization of television at its worst. It's "Jerry Springer" crossed with "Survivor" and "Big Brother", with a hint of "Rollerball".
As contestants stake out positions -- and segments explore their individual back stories -- the key satirical ingredients are the disconnection between what they're doing and their explanations of their actions in terms of motives and strategy. Their world is one of institutionalized murders, such as in the classic short stories "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Lottery", but the participants discuss their approach to hits as a young person would his Little League game or SAT scores.
Dawn is the reigning champ. But she's now eight months pregnant and faced with a new battlefield: her hometown, where she encounters not only friends and relations but an ex-boyfriend (Glenn Fitzgerald) who, despite being a cancer victim, is a contestant.
Her main opponent turns out to be a Catholic nurse (Marylouise Burke), whom you might discount unless you remember Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Others include a young girl (Merritt Wever), whose family eggs her on; an unemployed married man (Michael Kaycheck), who desperately needs the money; and a crazy old trailer-park coot (Richard Venture), whose orneriness just might save his life.
As with "The Blair Witch Project", the behind-the-camera personnel take advantage of what are normally drawbacks: limited resources and a video camera. Here it all makes perfect sense as a sendup of reality television.
Music by Girls Against Boys gives "Series 7" an MTV feel. Malcolm Jamieson's editing keeps things moving at the right pace for a show designed for viewers with short attention spans. There is sharp wit in the writing, and the direction is quite good. "Series 7" is undeniably effective, but that doesn't mean you feel good when it's over.
SERIES 7
USA Films
An October Films presentation of a Blow Up Pictures presentation of a Killer Films/Open City Films production
Producers: Jason Kloit, Joana Vicente, Christine Vachon, Katie Roumel
Screenwriter-director: Daniel Minahan
Executive producers: Charles J. Rusbasan, Judith Zarin, Michael Escott
Co-producers: Evan T. Cohen, Gretchen McGowan
Director of photography: Randy Drummond
Production designer: Gideon Ponte
Costume designer: Christine Beiselin
Editor: Malcolm Jamieson
Music: Girls Against Boys
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dawn: Brooke Smith
Connie: Marylouise Burke
Jeff: Glenn Fitzgerald
Tony: Michael Kaycheck
Franklin: Richard Venture
Lindsay: Merritt Wever
Sheila: Donna Hanover
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 7/8/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Series 7
"Series 7" is "Gladiator" for the digital video generation. Designed to look like a reality television show called "The Contenders", in which real people stalk and kill one another in real locations, the film was in development long before "Survivor" hit the airwaves. Writer-director Daniel Minahan even has the Sundance Lab records to prove it. Yet how eerie for art to anticipate life -- or rather to anticipate populist programming at its lowest-common-denominator depths.
Coming on the heels of the Japanese film "Battle Royale", in which 52 ninth-grade students fight to the finish on a small jungle isle, and "15 Minutes" -- also opening today -- in which two maniacs videotape their murderous crime spree in hopes of making a fortune off their infamy, "Series 7" is on the money when it comes to the media zeitgeist. That doesn't make it any easier to stomach.
This is 88 minutes of morose, amoral people stalking and murdering one another, which doesn't sound like a date movie. It certainly isn't fine art either. More interesting in concept than execution, the movie will generate controversy and late-night debates -- but only among the handful who venture into specialty venues for the offbeat. "Series 7" looks like a cult home video favorite.
It perhaps is a compliment to say that Minahan accomplishes his goals all too well. A veteran of TV documentaries and tabloid newsmagazine shows, Minahan has created a video-shot movie that perfectly mimics the TV reality show look, complete with hooky music cues, ponderous voice-overs and teasers to keep viewers glued to their sets.
His cast is convincingly "real." The best-known is Dawn (Brooke Smith), and -- again it's a left-handed compliment -- she actually makes you root for her in her quest to survive as the best killing machine in the contest. Staged in and around Minahan's hometown of Danbury, Conn., "Series 7" goes full-bore in its ruthless satirization of television at its worst. It's "Jerry Springer" crossed with "Survivor" and "Big Brother", with a hint of "Rollerball".
As contestants stake out positions -- and segments explore their individual back stories -- the key satirical ingredients are the disconnection between what they're doing and their explanations of their actions in terms of motives and strategy. Their world is one of institutionalized murders, such as in the classic short stories "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Lottery", but the participants discuss their approach to hits as a young person would his Little League game or SAT scores.
Dawn is the reigning champ. But she's now eight months pregnant and faced with a new battlefield: her hometown, where she encounters not only friends and relations but an ex-boyfriend (Glenn Fitzgerald) who, despite being a cancer victim, is a contestant.
Her main opponent turns out to be a Catholic nurse (Marylouise Burke), whom you might discount unless you remember Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Others include a young girl (Merritt Wever), whose family eggs her on; an unemployed married man (Michael Kaycheck), who desperately needs the money; and a crazy old trailer-park coot (Richard Venture), whose orneriness just might save his life.
As with "The Blair Witch Project", the behind-the-camera personnel take advantage of what are normally drawbacks: limited resources and a video camera. Here it all makes perfect sense as a sendup of reality television.
Music by Girls Against Boys gives "Series 7" an MTV feel. Malcolm Jamieson's editing keeps things moving at the right pace for a show designed for viewers with short attention spans. There is sharp wit in the writing, and the direction is quite good. "Series 7" is undeniably effective, but that doesn't mean you feel good when it's over.
SERIES 7
USA Films
An October Films presentation of a Blow Up Pictures presentation of a Killer Films/Open City Films production
Producers: Jason Kloit, Joana Vicente, Christine Vachon, Katie Roumel
Screenwriter-director: Daniel Minahan
Executive producers: Charles J. Rusbasan, Judith Zarin, Michael Escott
Co-producers: Evan T. Cohen, Gretchen McGowan
Director of photography: Randy Drummond
Production designer: Gideon Ponte
Costume designer: Christine Beiselin
Editor: Malcolm Jamieson
Music: Girls Against Boys
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dawn: Brooke Smith
Connie: Marylouise Burke
Jeff: Glenn Fitzgerald
Tony: Michael Kaycheck
Franklin: Richard Venture
Lindsay: Merritt Wever
Sheila: Donna Hanover
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Coming on the heels of the Japanese film "Battle Royale", in which 52 ninth-grade students fight to the finish on a small jungle isle, and "15 Minutes" -- also opening today -- in which two maniacs videotape their murderous crime spree in hopes of making a fortune off their infamy, "Series 7" is on the money when it comes to the media zeitgeist. That doesn't make it any easier to stomach.
This is 88 minutes of morose, amoral people stalking and murdering one another, which doesn't sound like a date movie. It certainly isn't fine art either. More interesting in concept than execution, the movie will generate controversy and late-night debates -- but only among the handful who venture into specialty venues for the offbeat. "Series 7" looks like a cult home video favorite.
It perhaps is a compliment to say that Minahan accomplishes his goals all too well. A veteran of TV documentaries and tabloid newsmagazine shows, Minahan has created a video-shot movie that perfectly mimics the TV reality show look, complete with hooky music cues, ponderous voice-overs and teasers to keep viewers glued to their sets.
His cast is convincingly "real." The best-known is Dawn (Brooke Smith), and -- again it's a left-handed compliment -- she actually makes you root for her in her quest to survive as the best killing machine in the contest. Staged in and around Minahan's hometown of Danbury, Conn., "Series 7" goes full-bore in its ruthless satirization of television at its worst. It's "Jerry Springer" crossed with "Survivor" and "Big Brother", with a hint of "Rollerball".
As contestants stake out positions -- and segments explore their individual back stories -- the key satirical ingredients are the disconnection between what they're doing and their explanations of their actions in terms of motives and strategy. Their world is one of institutionalized murders, such as in the classic short stories "The Most Dangerous Game" and "The Lottery", but the participants discuss their approach to hits as a young person would his Little League game or SAT scores.
Dawn is the reigning champ. But she's now eight months pregnant and faced with a new battlefield: her hometown, where she encounters not only friends and relations but an ex-boyfriend (Glenn Fitzgerald) who, despite being a cancer victim, is a contestant.
Her main opponent turns out to be a Catholic nurse (Marylouise Burke), whom you might discount unless you remember Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Others include a young girl (Merritt Wever), whose family eggs her on; an unemployed married man (Michael Kaycheck), who desperately needs the money; and a crazy old trailer-park coot (Richard Venture), whose orneriness just might save his life.
As with "The Blair Witch Project", the behind-the-camera personnel take advantage of what are normally drawbacks: limited resources and a video camera. Here it all makes perfect sense as a sendup of reality television.
Music by Girls Against Boys gives "Series 7" an MTV feel. Malcolm Jamieson's editing keeps things moving at the right pace for a show designed for viewers with short attention spans. There is sharp wit in the writing, and the direction is quite good. "Series 7" is undeniably effective, but that doesn't mean you feel good when it's over.
SERIES 7
USA Films
An October Films presentation of a Blow Up Pictures presentation of a Killer Films/Open City Films production
Producers: Jason Kloit, Joana Vicente, Christine Vachon, Katie Roumel
Screenwriter-director: Daniel Minahan
Executive producers: Charles J. Rusbasan, Judith Zarin, Michael Escott
Co-producers: Evan T. Cohen, Gretchen McGowan
Director of photography: Randy Drummond
Production designer: Gideon Ponte
Costume designer: Christine Beiselin
Editor: Malcolm Jamieson
Music: Girls Against Boys
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dawn: Brooke Smith
Connie: Marylouise Burke
Jeff: Glenn Fitzgerald
Tony: Michael Kaycheck
Franklin: Richard Venture
Lindsay: Merritt Wever
Sheila: Donna Hanover
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 3/2/2001
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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