Coastal Elites
Coastal Elites was filmed remotely in the early days of the pandemic, for HBO; I was in New York, director Jay Roach was in Los Angeles, and the cast was scattered around the country. Minimal crews were used and every precaution was taken to insure the safety of all participants.
Funny and affecting…it is difficult to take your eyes away – San Francisco Chronicle
Extraordinary cast…it’s going to be difficult to top the theatrical electricity that Coastal Elites generates – CNN
Provocative…funny and heartbreaking…full of clever insight – The Daily Beast
Addams Family Values
The ghoulish cartoon family created by Charles Addams returns for a second big-screen outing darker and nastier than the first. When Morticia Addams gives birth to new baby boy Pubert, the other Addams children, Pugsley and Wednesday, devise any number of ways to kill off their new sibling. This leads Morticia and her husband Gomez to hire a nanny to oversee all three children. But the nanny has an agenda of her own, packing the Addams children off to a horrid summer camp and setting out to seduce Uncle Fester, all with the goal of getting her hands on the Addams family fortune.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Featuring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci.
In & Out
Howard Brackett is a dedicated, beloved high school English teacher in the very small town of Greenleaf, Indiana. His life is turned upside down after a well-meaning former student outs Howard on the Academy Awards. For the first time, Howard has to deal with the truth of his life, including his upcoming wedding to his fiancee, Emily, and his relationship with his understandably confused family and students. Greenleaf goes wild, as the media descends, including a handsome, openly gay reporter. Kevin Kline is irresistible as Howard, and Joan Cusack was nominated for a real-life Oscar as Emily.
Directed by Frank Oz. With Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Wilford Brimley.
Jeffrey
Based on Paul’s hit Off-Broadway play, this romantic comedy centers on the chaotic love life of Jeffrey, a gay man who swears off sex only to fall in love with his ideal man. Jeffrey’s vow of chastity is inspired by a fear of AIDS, a prospect which has started to terrify him so much that he decides he’d be better off never making love again. He is happy and relieved for a time, until he meets Steve, a handsome, charming dreamboat who also happens to be HIV-positive.
Directed by Christopher Ashley. With Steven Weber, Patrick Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, Bryan Batt, Robert Kline.
Sister Act
Written as Joseph Howard.
Whoopi Goldberg stars as a sassy, low-rent lounge singer forced to hide out from the mob in the last place on earth anyone would look for her — a convent. While she’s there, her irreverent behavior attracts a flock of faithful followers and turns the nuns’ tone-deaf choir into a soulful chorus of swingin’, singin’ sisters. But when the group earns rave reviews, her sudden celebrity jeopardizes her hidden identity.
Directed by Adam Greenberg, Emile Ardolino. With Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Harvey Keitel.
SCREENPLAYS
Paul Rudnick’s screenplays include IN & OUT, the screen adaptation of JEFFREY, and ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES.