Saundra Santiago Movies
- 2003
- R
Writer/director Michele Maher makes her feature debut with the satirical black comedy Garmento. Set in the garment district in N.Y.C. during the early '90s, fashion rookie Grindy Malone (Katie MacNichol) gets a job as an assistant to Ronnie Grossman (David Thornton), executive for Poncho Ramirez Inc. She meets the other industry players, including haughty Franca Fortuna (Saundra Santiago), assistant Rimi Stone (Gretchen Cleevely), flamboyant Jasper Judson (Jason Butler Harner), and designer Poncho Ramirez (Juan Carlos Hernandez) himself. After the company loses money from a failed line of padded men's underwear, Grindy suggests they bring back their line of jeans from the '70s. Poncho Ramirez then merges with rival Romeo Jeans, headed by the corrupt Ira Gold (Jerry Grayson) and Louie Purdaro (Matt Servitto). The successful product becomes high in demand, leading to shady business dealings and an advertising controversy. Grindy quickly loses her innocence and becomes entrenched in the world of corporate greed. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katie MacNichol, David Thornton, (more)
Roger Hedden wrote and directed this indie romantic comedy about a group of New Yorkers on the Upper West Side as Christmas nears. Unemployed actor Jimmy (Eric Stoltz), who owes $900 to local bookie Fatty (Charles Durning), tells his girlfriend Susan (Moira Kelly) that the money is for an abortion for sis Maggie (Daryl Hannah) -- who jilted bartender Ray (Campbell Scott). Ray and one of his regular customers April (Katrin Cartlidge) visit bars trying to raise the money, and eventually a half dozen others are drawn into the treasure hunt. Shown at the 1998 Mill Valley Film Festival and the 1998 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katrin Cartlidge, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1996
With nods in direction of Picture Perfect and Pretty Woman, this romantic comedy opens with classy corporate executive Jane (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) discovering her boyfriend/colleague John (John Dossett) in bed with another woman. Exiting into the New York night, she grabs a rundown Checker cab, driven by Nick (James McCaffrey). Jane's friend Vickie (Lisa Gay Hamilton), who thinks Jane should make John jealous, hatches a plan that would give taxi-driver Nick a fake executive background with an alias, "Nolan Miller." Falling for this, John suggests Jane invite Nolan to the annual company luncheon. Jane promises Nick an easy $1500 if he will go through with the charade, and he agrees. Then comes the gender-switch on Pretty Woman as Nick gets a Madison Avenue makeover. By this time, naturally, Jane is realizing she's attracted to Nick, and events become triangulated. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, James McCaffrey, (more)
- 1993
Melissa Gilbert-Boxleitner and Mel Harris star as two female police officers fighting the police force in this made-for-TV movie about sexual harassment in the workplace. After Miranda Berkley (Harris) breaks up with her boyfriend/superior officer, she and her partner find themselves on-the-job without any support from fellow officers. They lodge a formal complaint against their superiors and are then forced to suffer the consequences from their angry male colleagues. Based on a true story, this made-for-TV movie debuted on May 11, 1993. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Harris, Melissa Gilbert, (more)
- 1992
In what is arguably the most shocking third-season episode of Law & Order, NYPD detective Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) goes undercover, posing as an illegal weapons buyer to nab an elusive Colombian hitman (Carlos Sanz). Things go horribly awry, and Cerreta is shot -- twice. Without giving any more of the plot away, it can be noted that this episode represented the final regular series appearance of co-star Paul Sorvino. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The fifth and final season of the ultrahip crime series Miami Vice opens with a 2-parter resolving the incredible cliffhanger from Season Four. A blow on the head had caused Dade County vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) to assume the identity of his undercover alter ego Sonny Burnett, and while in this "role" he foments a deadly turf war between two crime families. Though Crockett's memory will return, his partner Det. Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) worries that Sonny has passed the point of no return--and may have to be destroyed! This of course doesn't happen, and a few episodes later it's business as usual for the two cops. However, there are more personal crises in the offing for both Sonny and Tubbs--especially the latter when, while undercover, he falls in love with the widow of a murdered drug lord. The series' trademarked utilization of offbeat guest stars has fallen off a bit this season, with the supporting players cast along more traditional lines. A noteworthy exception is the young John Leguizamo, who, after making an indelible impression during the first few seasons as the chief "wiseguy" in the vicious Calderone crime clan, re-emerges in an entirely different role in the fifth-season episode "Victim of Circumstance" Highlights this year include the two-part episode "Freefall", in which Crockett and Tubbs virtually sign their own death warrants when they agree to protect the brutal dictator of "Costa Morada" (played with a florid Latino accent by Ian McShane!). And in "World of Trouble" the detectives are confronted with a ghost from the past as mob boss Al Lombard (Dennis Farina), presumed killed in the series' first-season finale, suddenly pops up as if nothing had happened. The series officially ends it run with Episode #110, "Leap of Faith", featuring Laura San Giacomo. There was, however, still one episode in the hopper. "Too Much Too Late" was never seen during Miami Vice's NBC run, but instead made its debut over cable's USA network on January 25, 1990, six months after the series' over-the-air cancellation. This poignant episode reunites Tubbs with his former love Valerie Gordon (Pam Grier), who unfortunately must keep Tubbs at arm's length as she protects an old friend from a homicidal drug dealer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, (more)
Season Four of Miami Vice marks the first of several appearances by singer Sheena Easton in the role of recording star Caitlin Davies, with whom Dade County undercover vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) falls in love in the episode "Like a Hurricane"--and to whom he is abruptly wed in the very next episode "Rising Sun of Death." This star-crossed romance inaugurates a story thread that will eventually build to the 2-part season finale, in which an amnesiac Sonny part of an ongoing story thread that will build up to the 2-part season finale, in which an an amnesiac Sonny believes himself to be his undercover alter-ego, a drug kingpin named Sonny Burnett, and accordingly ties up with a Colombian crime boss! No, the scripters did not forget costar Philip Michael Thomas as Crockett's partner Ricardo Tubbs, even though it would be Don Johnson who commanded much of the audience's attention this season. As usual, one of the key selling points of Miami Vice (besides its hip dialogue, MTV-style editing and wall-to-wall background music) is the series' intelligent and offbeat utilization of guest stars. Examples include comedian Ben Stiller and character actor Brian Dennehy in "Amen. . .Send Money"; Miguel Ferrer, Penelope Ann Miller and a pre-CSI Paul Guilfoyle in "Death and the Lady"; the versatile Alfred Molina in "The Big Thaw"; up-and-coming Ving Rhames and soul-music icon Isaac Hayes in "Child's Play"; hard-working James Brown and brash youngster Chris Rock in "Missing Hours"; and the multitalented Harry Shearer in (and we're not making this up) "The Cows of October". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, (more)
Season Three of the too-hip-for-the-room crime series Miami Vice opens with a bang as the beloved Ferrari of Dade County undercover vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) is accidentally blown up. This, however, proves easier to take than the jolt delivered to Crockett's partner Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) in a later episode, in which Tubb's mercurial ex-partner Izzy Moreno (Martin Ferrero) frames him on a kidnapping charge. Nor are the two cops' colleagues spared anxiety this season, as witness the shock and awe experience by Det. Gina Calabrese (Sandra Santiago) is handed evidence that her current lover is an IRA terrorist, in an episode featuring a young Liam Neeson. The worst is reserved for Det. Larry Zito (John Diehl), a regular since the series' inception, when Zito is abruptly killed in the line of duty in the two-part episode "Down for the Count". This installment also upholds the Miami Vice tradition of showcasing quirky guest stars, in this instance boxing promoter Don King. Other prominent players showing up this season include Laurence Fishburne as a corrupt prison guard in "Walk Alone", Willie Nelson as the bedraggled title character in "El Viejo", which also features Steve Buscemi; Stanley Tucci as an adoption racketeer in "Baby Blues"; Wesley Snipes as a smooth hoodlum named Silk in "Street Wise"; andHang S. Ngor, the former Cambodian doctor whose real-life persecution at the hands of the Pol Pot regime were re-enacted in the theatrical feature The Killing Fields, as a Vietnamese detective in "Duty and Honor". This last-named episode also introduces Helena Bonham-Carter as Theresa, a heroin-addicted doctor with whom Crockett briefly falls in love. Also: John Leguizamo returns as the slimy head of the Calderon crime family in "The Afternoon Plane"; onetime Star Trek-er George Takei is seen along with Miami Vice star Don Johnson's then-wife Melanie Griffith in "By Hooker By Crook"; future Oscar winner Benicio del Toro pays his acting dues as a minor heavy in "Everybody's in Showbiz"; and the great Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbe figures prominently in the Season Three finale, "Heroes of the Revolution." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, (more)
Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), Dade County's coolest undercover vice cops, are back for more MTV-influenced adventures as Miami Vice begins its second season. Though there'd been friction between the two main characters in season one, their teaming is a fait accompli by now, and they fit together like and hand in glove. Even glowering Lt. Castillo (Edward James Olmos) has become accustomed to, and more tolerant of, Crockett and Tubbs' highly unorthodox methods. The season's two-part opener finds the pair leaving Miami's sunny climes for the chilly streets of Manhattan, in search of Colombian drug dealers. Emphasis here as elsewhere is, of course, on Crockett and Tubbs, though the other cast members will be given their moments to shine. Detective Trudy Joplin (Olivia Brown) is the focal point in the episode "The Dutch Oven", in which she learns that her lover's best friend is tied in with a cocaine ring; Det. Gina Calabrese (Saundra Santiago) devotes most of the episode "Bought and Paid For" to go after a wealthy, well-connected rapist; and Det. Stan Switek (Michell Talbott) is for all intents and purposes the star of "Phil the Shill", even though the title character is played by guest star Phil Collins. Singer Collins is but one of many offbeat guest performers who, attracted to the popularity and hipness of Miami Vice, will pop up this season in variety of colorful characterizations. Former Nixon associate and federal prisoner G. Gordon Liddy is seen as the duplicitous Captain Real Estate in "Back in the World"; 1950s pop idol and future Broadway favorite Nathan Lane show up in "Buddies"; sultry songstress Eartha Kitt shares air time with the contemporary rock group Power Station in "Whatever Works"; musician and pro-gun advocate Ted Nugent is in "Definitely Miami"; The Fat Boys do their thing in "Florence Italy"; poet Leonard Cohen is featured in "Back in the World", Torch Song Trilogy playwright Harvey Fierstein guests in "The Fix"; jazz icon Miles Davis appears in "Junk Love"; rock legend Frank Zappa delivers lines in "Payback"; celebrity spouse Bianca Jagger emotes in "Free Verse"; and iconoclastic comic actors Tommy Chong and Richard Belzer are both in "Trust Fund Pirates." The season ends with "Sons and Lovers", bringing Crockett and Tubbs face to face once more with the vicious, self-destructive Calderone crime family, whose head man is played by a young John Leguizamo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, (more)
Season one of Miami Vice finds New York-bred vice cop Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) newly arrived at the Miami-Dade PD, in pursuit of the drug kingpin who murdered his brother. Reluctantly teamed with maverick undercover detective Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson), Tubbs is not a little surprised at how well and effectively they work together. In subsequent episodes, Crockett and Tubbs try to get to the bottom of an allegation that a rogue FBI agent has sold them out; Tubbs rescues Crockett's family from an Argentinean hit man; Lt. Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos) joins the force as the boys' new, no-nonsense superior officer; a recreational speedboat racer is revealed to be a dangerous drug-runner; and the son of a wealthy industrialist is set up as a decoy to catch a few big-timers in the heroin trade. In addition, Sonny and "Rico" pose as corrupt hotel security guards to thwart a prostitution ring and end up halting a robbery; Castillo solicits the boys' help in freeing his kidnapped wife; Tubbs himself is abducted because of the gung-ho tactics of a revenge-seeking police officer; and Crockett comes face to face with a dark figure from his past during an ATM bust of an arms dealer. The season wraps up with a tense cat-and-mouse game between Crockett and Tubbs and the gunmen who intend to murder their prisoner, a mob witness. Though Miami Vice would not crack the Top 30 TV shows during its maiden season, word of mouth would elevate the show to ninth place in the overall ratings for season two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas, (more)
Jon Chardiet plays a Puerto Rican youth who targets subway walls for his graffiti renderings. For a while, it looks as though Chardiet's problems will carry the plotline, but before long the film's true raison d'etre comes to the surface. Rap-music deejay Guy Davis, in tandem with such like-minded individuals as music student Rae Dawn Chong, endeavor to stage a huge breakdancing presentation, featuring several musical artistes of the period. Harry Belafonte served as coproducer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rae Dawn Chong, Guy Davis, (more)
- 1982
- PG
Based on Kate Chopin's moving novel The Awakening, and set in the early 1900s, this drama chronicles the struggle of a young wife to escape the oppressing conventions of society and live life to the fullest. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
