Eddie Castrodad Movies
- 1989
- Add Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker to QueueAdd Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker to top of Queue
Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker was a made-for-TV factual drama about the elusive killer who terrorized Southern California in the summer of 1985. Richard Jordan and A. Martinez star as the two LA detectives heading up the investigation. So much time is taken up with police procedure that the Night Stalker himself is virtually a bit player in his own movie. The suspect, one Richard Ramirez (watch the film to find out who plays him), makes up for his long absences with a bravura closing scene. The film utilizes the clever (and tasteful) approach of showing the victims going about their everyday activities just before the murderer strikes, without resorting to re-enacting the murders themselves. By accident or design, Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker was telecast November 12, 1989--the very day that Richard Ramirez was sentenced to the gas chamber. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
Aspiring to become her school's first male drum major, Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) is thwarted by the "good ol' boy" chauvinism of the student jury. Exerting pressure on his friends, Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) forces the jury to hold another audition, but doesn't let Vanessa know what has happened--while she assumes that the new audition is being conducted solely because of her "dazzling" talent! Meanwhile, Grandpa Russell (Earle Hyman) has a lot of trouble repaying a long-standing debt to his old musician pal Slim Claxton (Dub Taylor), who stubbornly refuses to accept the money. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
In this youthful family adventure, a pair of teens are forced to leave California and move to Nepal with their parents. At first they are less than impressed by the country's culture and the colorful streets of their new city, but then the young girl falls in love with a good-looking, mysterious Sherpa who leads the two and their father, an anthropologist, on an adventuresome journey to search for the legendary City that Never Was. This feature was made for cable-television. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Harvey Fierstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit was adapted for the screen by Fierstein himself. The playwright also repeats his stage role of female impersonator Arnold Beckoff, aka nightclub entertainer "Virginia Hamm." The three-part plotline, whittled down to accommodate the film's 117-minute running time, concerns Arnold's seriocomic efforts to find a lasting relationship. We first meet Arnold in 1971, when his heart is broken by his bisexual lover, Ed (Brian Kerwin). Next we find Arnold in 1973, enjoying short-lived happiness with his true love, Alan (Matthew Broderick). The final act takes place in 1980: Arnold, still grieving over Alan's sudden death and struggling to raise the young boy that the couple had adopted, has a long-anticipated showdown with his uncompromising mother, superbly played by Anne Bancroft. A witty film that is by turns touching and outrageous, Torch Song Trilogy works well despite its somewhat soft-pedaled approach to the material. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, (more)
- 1986
Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is torn between his steady girlfriend Tanya (Tanya Wright) and another girl named Randi (Alsicia Pringle). Though sympathetic, Cliff (Bill Cosby) refuses to give any advice to his son, having previously been burned when advice offered to his daughters has backfired. In the final analysis, however, Theo doesn't have to make a choice--the choice is made for him. Elsewhere, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) entertains a "special guest" at a tea party. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
Jon Rothstein stars in this ABC Afterschool Special as a wimpy but artistically gifted teenager. Tired of being persecuted by school bullies, our hero creates a comic book about a master scientist who feels he is "doing mankind a favor" by eliminating the boy's real-life nemeses. In the process, the youthful artist learns that there are other ways besides brute strength to overcome one's problems. In the film's fantasy sequences, the scientist is played by Adolph Caesar of A Soldier's Story fame. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Jon Rothstein, Eddie Castrodad, (more)
