Drowning Mona (2000)

Released March 3rd in the US.

Filmed in California.

The story: In the small town of Verplanck, upstate New York, everyone has a vanity plate.

A vanity plate identifying themselves.

Verplanck is a town infamous for the car company Yugo testing its cars there...

Anyway, everyone who lives there knows each other, and most things that go on around town are just a bit off.

One morning, unlike any other around Verplanck, Mona Dearly sets off to work.

But instead of taking her car, she takes her son Jeff's.

On her way, things take a turn for the worse when she tries to apply the brakes, heading straight for a guardrail, and the brakes do not work.

Mona goes straight over a cliff and into the river below, killing Mona.

Quickly, the news hits everyone in town.

When the police begin investigating the crash, they start believing that Mona's crash and death were no accident.

Mostly because Mona wasn't a very nice person to anyone who knew her.

Stars Bette Midler , Tracey Walter , Casey Affleck , Marcus Thomas , Danny DeVito , Peter Dobson , Paul Ben Victor , Paul Schulze , William Fichtner , Kathleen Wilhoite , Robert Arce , Neve Campbell , Jamie Lee Curtis , Mark Pellegrino , Raymond O Connor , Will Ferrell , Lisa Rieffel , Brittany Peterson

Directed by Nick Gomez

Rated PG13

DARK COMEDY

"You know, you're my brother...can't you just do a brotherly deboning or something?..."

Nonnas (2025)

Released May 9th in the US.

Filmed entirely in New Jersey.

Based on truths.

The story: As a child, Joe Scaravella had a great love for his mother and grandmother.

He also, along with everyone else in their big family, loved their cooking.

It always brought everyone together, and Joe fondly remembers that time in his life as a really happy time.

Fast forward to present day.

Joe has just lost his beloved mother.

She left him some money and a letter, a letter Joe doesn't want to open because it will mean it is the last thing his mother will ever say to him...

After his best friends try talking him into doing something he would never do before with the money she left him, Joe goes out on his own and decides to buy a restaurant.

But not any restaurant.

Joe's vision is to hire as many "Nonnas" as possible, who love to cook and will cook their most beloved dishes for all who will love and appreciate them.

It's a great idea, but it will cost a lot of money, as well as being quite the task, because Joe and his friends know absolutely nothing about owning and running a restaurant.

Stars Theodore Helm , Jamie Eddy , Jack Casey , Kate Eastman , Karen Giordano , Adam Ferrara , Tammy Pescatelli , Lorraine Bracco , Drea de Matteo , Joe Manganiello, Brenda Vaccaro , Susan Sarandon , Talia Shire , Linda Cardellini , Michael Rispoli , Quincy Dunn Baker , Jimmy Smagula

Directed by Stephen Chbosky

Rated PG
DRAMA/COMEDY/HISTORY

I Care a Lot (2020)

Released February 19, 2021, in the US.

Filmed in Massachusetts and England.

The story: Marla is a confident woman.
She has made a career as a professional, court-appointed legal guardian, typically for the elderly whose doctors claim they can no longer care for themselves.

But instead of doing what is right, Marla is trying to get rich.

She schemes, with many people working along with her, to take these elderly people out of their homes and put them in assisted living facilities.

Then, while those people are safely locked away from what they know, Marla makes sure to sell off all of their belongings.

When Marla is informed by her doctor friend of a well-off elderly woman who is in the early stages of dementia and has no living family, it seems like a very easy gig.

Big problems arise though when the woman's son, who no one knew about, comes looking for his mother.

Stars Rosamund Pike , Eiza Gonzales , Macon Blair , Damian Rice , Alicia Witt , Dianne Wiest , Nicholas Logan , Isiah Whitlock Jr , Peter Dinklage , Chris Messina , Liz Eng , Georgia Lyman

Directed by (& story written) J Blakeson

Rated R
MYSTERY/THRILLER/DARK COMEDY