Ernie Hudson Movies

The abysmal teen comedy Joy of Sex is stripped down to just sex in every line and in every joke except where other bodily functions come into play. Alan (Cameron Dye) lusts after Leslie (Michelle Meyrink), whose father is a phys ed instructor with the heart of an army drill sargent and no tolerance for Alan -- though Alan is willing to go through almost anything to win Leslie's interest. As this love quest is going on, an undercover agent is out to make a major drug bust at the high school where these teens endure classes -- and some kind of a nut is gluing up odd objects in strange places at school. The bad dialogue is unfortunately matched by continuity gaffs (someone at a motel knocks down the door of room 302 to barge in on a couple in room 319) and other problems, making this a sure loser compared to the book of the same name, which has nothing to do with this movie. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The thin storyline for this film is that three young women hope to gain a foothold in the acting profession, so they perform nude in front of the window of the disk jockey (Mad Man Jack played by Al Music) who is running a contest that would launch their careers. Along with many songs by a wide variety of groups -- from The Police to Blondie -- are crowds of young women cheerleading, doing aerobics, hang gliding, wind-surfing, and performing any number of physical feats. Other than music and nubile women in sporting events, the film has little to say and was never released theatrically. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John attempt to rekindle the box office sparks of Grease with this screwball fantasy comedy. The tale begins during a golf match in heaven among four angels --Charlie (Charles Durning), Earl (Scatman Crothers), Gonzales (Castulo Guerra), and Ruth (Beatrice Straight)-- who have been in charge of heaven for the last twenty-five years. But their game is interrupted by God (voice of Gene Hackman), who has now returned to the office and doesn't like what he sees down on earth. God wants to order up another flood and start all over again, but the angels persuade God to reconsider, reasoning that if a typical earth man can reform, it would prove that all mankind is capable of it. God agrees to the scheme and the typical man selected is Zack Melon (John Travolta) a failed inventor who, threatened by loan sharks, decides to hold up a bank. Zack points his gun at bank teller Debbie Wylder (Olivia Newton-John) and she gives him all of the money. But when Zack peers into the sack after the robbery, he sees that Debbie has substituted bank deposit slips for the cash and realizes that she has kept the money for herself. Zack tracks her down to reclaim his stolen money and the two fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The A-Team comes to the rescue of the independent LoneStar cab company, which is being driven out of business by the monolithic Love Cab firm. The villains, led by Crane (Michael Ironside) and Ryder (Brion James), are of course using their own taxis for various illegal purposes. Before the inevitable climax in which a humble cab is converted into a tank, the audience is regaled by the manic machinations of A-Team member Murdock (Dwight Schultz), who in the guise of "Captain Cab" regularly solicits the advice of his puppet friend Mr. Sockie! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A former prison inmate finds he can't leave his violent past behind in this sequel to the cult favorite Penitentiary. After earning his parole by winning the prison boxing tournament, Martel "Too Sweet" Gordone is tired of fighting and wants to move on to a more peaceful life, but as a condition of his release, he has to work for Handler Cunningham, a boxing promoter who also runs a gym in Los Angeles. Too Short isn't interested in boxing, and would rather stay with his sister, Ellen (Peggy Blow), and her husband, Charles (Glynn Turman), both successful lawyers who support him in his desire to start his life over. But things take an unexpected turn when Half Dead (Ernie Hudson), Too Sweet's nemesis from prison, escapes with the help of his cronies Do Dirty (Cepheus Jaxon) and Simp (Marvin Jones), and they murder Clarisse (Eugenia Wright), Too Sweet's girlfriend. In order to get justice, Too Sweet returns to the ring, and with the help of a new trainer (Mr. T) and the management expertise of his brother-in-law, Too Sweet is on the road to the championship -- but can he get the big fight before Half Dead finds him? Penitentiary II features cameo appearances from boxing legend Archie Moore, Dolemite star Rudy Ray Moore, and Tony Cox. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Having endured one too many hard knocks in the boxing ring, eTony Banta (Tony Danza) has elected to hang up his gloves and become a trainer. Spotting a young fighter named Terry Carver (Ernie Hudson), Tony immediately senses that the kid has potential. He then offers to become Terry's manager...and that's when the trouble starts. The highlight of this episode is Tony's one-on-one with the "Syndicate" (whose members include Taxi scriptwriters Howard Gewirtz and Ian Praiser). ~ Rovi

This fact-based made-for-television drama tells the story of nurse Joy Ufemal and her invaluable work with those dying of incurable diseases. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Ever wonder what happens to your car when you give it to a parking lot attendant? Find out in this zany slapstick comedy set in an exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel. There the attendants gleefully smash and bash the expensive cars of patrons while trying to get them parked. The story really perks up when an enamored and fabulously wealthy sheik joins the attendants in hopes of attracting a certain beautiful woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Clearly inspired by the theatrical feature Norma Rae, The $5.20 an Hour Dream stars Linda Lavin as a recently divorced woman supporting herself and her 12-year-old daughter. The highest-paying job at the Oregon engine factory where she works is on the assembly line--which has traditionally been an all-male operation. Bucking the system (and several stereotyped "chauvinist pigs"), Lavin eventually wins a place on the line, as do several of her female friends. As always, Linda Lavin (for whom this film was a pet project) looks far too self-reliant to ever be considered a "victim," so the climax of $5.20 an Hour Dream is a foregone conclusion. This made for TV movie received an award from the National Commission of Working Women. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal attempt to recapture the screwball spark of What's Up, Doc? in the labored farce The Main Event. Streisand plays Hillary Kramer, a bankrupt perfume executive who discovers that one of her tax write-offs from more prosperous times was the ownership of prizefighter Kid Natural (Ryan O' Neal). Kid Natural is now a driving instructor who wants nothing to do with boxing, but Hillary is determined to resurrect the Kid's less-than-spectacular boxing career. She installs herself as the Kid's manager and tries to get him in shape to go the distance. Along the way, the two fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

A burly professional wrestler falls in love with a caring woman who helps convince him to abandon his vengeful search for the one who murdered his brother in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Ghostbusters
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson star as a quartet of Manhattan-based "paranormal investigators". When their government grants run out, the former three go into business as The Ghostbusters, later hiring Hudson on. Armed with electronic paraphernalia, the team is spectacularly successful, ridding The Big Apple of dozens of ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties. Tight-lipped bureaucrat William Atherton regards the Ghostbusters as a bunch of charlatans, but is forced to eat his words when New York is besieged by an army of unfriendly spirits, conjured up by a long-dead Babylonian demon and "channelled" through beautiful cellist Sigourney Weaver and nerdish Rick Moranis. The climax is a glorious sendup of every Godzilla movie ever made-and we daresay it cost more than a year's worth of Japanese monster flicks combined. Who'd ever dream that the chubby, cheery Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man would turn out to be the most malevolent threat ever faced by New York City? When the script for Ghostbusters was forged by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, John Belushi was slated to play the Bill Murray role; Belushi's death in 1982 not only necessitated the hiring of Murray, but also an extensive rewrite. The most expensive comedy made up to 1984, Ghostbusters made money hand over fist, spawning not only a 1989 sequel but also two animated TV series (one of them partially based on an earlier live-action TV weekly, titled The Ghost Busters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ghostbusters 2
Ivan Reitman's sequel to the phenomenally successful Ghostbusters is looser and more self-assured than the original. The film opens with a title reading "Five Years Later" and finds the ghostbusters living in hard times. A restraining order has forbidden the boys to partake in paranormal warfare, and as a result they have had to seek other lines of work. Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson) spend their time performing at children's' birthday parties, and Egon (Harold Ramis) is busy conducting experiments investigating the effect of human emotions on the environment, leaving ghostbusting behind. Venkman (Bill Murray) and Dana (Sigourney Weaver) have split up. Venkman now hosts a local cable show called "The World of the Psychic." Dana, now divorced and the mother of a little baby named Oscar, works as an art restorer in a museum -- and this is where the plot kicks in. While Dana is restoring a portrait of a 16th-century tyrant by the name of Vigo the Carpathian, the portrait becomes hexed. The evil Vigo wants to return to life by taking over the body of Dana's little child. Vigo has enlisted Dana's boss, Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol), to compel Dana to cooperate. Soon dirty sludge and slime flow through the streets of Manhattan, and the ghostbusters have to reunite to save the city from a funky paranormal evil. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide