Erica Jordan Movies

Love, career, and real estate are three issues troubling would-be artists in increasingly upscale San Francisco in this comedy-drama. Tommy (Julia D'Orazio) is a woman in her early thirties whose life has arrived at an impasse -- she's been unable to get her career as a sculptor off the ground, her day job in a lawyer's office is becoming less satisfying with each passing day, and her relationship with her boyfriend has hit the skids. But as annoying as these circumstances are, real trouble starts knocking on Tommy's door when she learns she'll have to vacate her apartment in 30 days; suddenly, her friends are either without a spare room or their significant others are unwilling to share space with her, and the aggressively overpriced housing market in San Francisco is making it all but impossible for Tommy to find a new flat. Just as Tommy's situation is becoming truly dire, she meets a nice guy (Timothy Rodriquez) who looks like boyfriend material -- except she's not sure if she'll have anyplace to take him. Meanwhile, Tommy's troubles are paralleled by the misadventures of Veronica (Patricia Jiron), a young dancer trying to make a name for herself in the same city during the early days of the 20th Century. In the Wake was shot using high-definition video technology; the modern-day sequences with Tommy are in color, while the subplot set in 1906 is in black-and-white. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Though Adventures in Dinosaur City predates We're Back, the two films make good companion pieces. The "live action" characters-a bunch of precocious pre-teens-are zapped back to prehistoric times. We've established that the kids idolize a group of animated TV-series dinosaurs, so guess who they meet in the flesh (so to speak)? In the manner of the "Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm" segments of the various 1980s Flintstones revivals, the kids help the dinosaurs solve Jurassic-era crimes. It's all a great deal of fun, but at 88 minutes it may be a bit too wearing for very small children. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Sylvester Stallone proves you really can't go home again in Staying Alive, the absurd sequel to Saturday Night Fever. The story finds Tony Manero (Travolta) six years later working as a waiter in a nightclub while he tries to realize his dreams of dancing on Broadway (what tough street kid from Brooklyn doesn't?) He eventually makes the cut as an extra for "Satan's Alley" (billed as "a musical trip through Hell") and immediately sets his sights on the show's snooty prima-donna star (Finola Hughes, decidedly unsuited for such dancing as her role requires). Meanwhile, the nice girl he's been seeing (Cynthia Rhodes) stands by her man, waiting patiently for him to come around. When the male lead can't cut it, Tony is offered the part, and tensions rise. The action culminates in the show itself and Tony's ultimate realization that he needs to please only himself. Indeed, the horrific dancing combined with Frank Stallone's inane musical score makes one wonder just how accurate the show's billing of "a musical trip through Hell" actually is. As long as one disassociates this film from its predecessor, Staying Alive is highly enjoyable for its schlock value; it may well be an inadvertent camp classic for Travolta's sweaty thongs alone. As for Stallone's direction and screenwriting abilities, he proves he is better off to remain an underdog prize-fighter/ commie-killer/mercenary cop/ double-fisted union leader/etc... ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi