Terry Alexander Movies

Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson) is a New York City cab driver who seems to have absorbed every bit of crackpot information passed along as "suppressed news" that's surfaced on talk radio or the Internet in the past 20 years. Anti-United Nations militia men who are actually U.N. operatives? NASA scientists engineering earthquakes? Oliver Stone's secret life as a government agent discrediting conspiracy theorists? Jerry's heard 'em all and believes most of them, and even publishes his own journal of forbidden information, with a subscription list that now totals five people. In short, Jerry seems like just another New York City lunatic, and while he spends a fair amount of his spare time following Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts), a government attorney, Alice regards him as harmless; he once intervened while she was being mugged, and he's been acting like her benign if whacked-out protector ever since. However, one day Jerry is kidnapped and worked over by CIA operatives; he is convinced that one of the theories he uncovered must be for real -- but he has no idea which one. He tries to get Alice to help him, and before long both are drawn into a dangerous web that leads to a startling revelation of just how Jerry got this way. Mel Gibson gives a fine comic performance, and those with a taste for alternative media will have fun dissecting which of the theories Jerry spouts are "real" (or at least appeared before this film was made) and which were the invention of the screenwriters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This muddled attempt at creating a new supernatural serial killer franchise (in the mode of Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series) features perennial movie thug Brion James as sadistic mass murderer Max Jenke, who hacked up more than 100 victims with a meat cleaver before his eventual capture by dedicated cop Lucas McCarthy (Lance Henriksen). Unwilling to cease his homicidal spree after his death, Jenke had been conducting bizarre experiments in soul-transference prior to his capture; his execution in the electric chair subsequently transforms his evil essence into electrical current. In this new form, the seemingly unstoppable maniac launches a supernatural siege against McCarthy and his family until the tormented cop finally faces him down on his own nightmare turf. Originally conceived as another House sequel, this film consists of long periods of tedium punctuated by outbursts of graphic gore and surreal effects. This condition is partially the result of footage being shot by two separate directors; it seems as if neither of them knew what the other was doing. James is amusingly sleazy as the cackling madman, but his one-note material is not compelling enough to merit a recurring character. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the Doctor Who adventure "The Mark of the Rani," the title character, a despotic exiled Time Lady (played by Kate O'Mara), has materialized in 19th century England, where she is systematically draining the intelligences of the men behind the Industrial Revolution. In attempting to thwart the Rani, the Doctor (Colin Baker) must also contend with his old enemy the Master (Anthony Ainley), who is pursuing an agenda which could (as usual) spell the end of Civilization As We Know It. Written by Pip and Jane Baker, and largely filmed at Blists Hill, an open-air museum in Britain's Ironbridge Gorge, "The Mark of the Rani" was originally shown in two parts, the second of which aired on February 9, 1985; for American television, the two 45-minute episodes were subdivided into four 22-minute chapters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob Logan (Kris Kristofferson) and Ernie Wyatt (Treat Williams) are freewheeling U.S. border patrol officers in a tiny Texas town. Though they're "oil and water" in terms of personality, they're a dynamite team on the job. Coming across a million dollars in stolen money, their relationship threatens to unravel. Upright Wyatt is all for turning in the money, but Logan has other ideas. Soon, however, they're reunited against several common enemies, including a team of overzealous FBI agents. Flashpoint is based on a novel by George La Founteine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Relying more on acting and attitude than makeup, Louis Gossett Jr. plays a cantankerous, fiercely independent old man in Benny's Place. A longtime employee of a steel mill, Gossett has set up his own tool repair operation within the mill, running things nicely, thank you, without the interference of his employers. He has rejected one white apprentice after another, but now is forced by affirmative action to accept an African-American assistant (David Harris)--whom Gossett suspects is being groomed to replace him. In his off-hours, Gossett juggles the affections of the two women in his life: a much-younger lady played by Anna Maria Horsford, and a mature lover closer to his own age, played by Cicely Tyson. Benny's Place was written by J. Rufus Caleb. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lighthearted Agatha Christie whodunit concerns a group of friends who spend the weekend at The Chimney's, a gorgeous old palatial estate,. When one individual fails to awaken the morning after the guests arrive, and another mysterious death follows, Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent (Cheryl Campbell) and Jimmy Thesiger (James Warwick) put their heads together to find the murderer. The crimes involve stolen government information and a secret society called 'The Seven Dials.' Made for Granada Television in Great Britain.
~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

James Coburn stars as Robert Eliot, an opportunistic entrepreneur destined to become a key Presidential advisor -- if his murky past isn't brought to light first. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In this involving political thriller, a secret French paramilitary organization plans to assassinate French President Charles De Gaulle (Adrien Cayla-Legrand) because of their disagreement with his policies during the Algerian War. They hire a professional killer, known only as "The Jackal" (Edward Fox). The police learn of the plot from an informer, and police investigator Lebel (Michel Lonsdale) cleverly pieces together the clues to the Jackal's identity. The complicated plot uses parallel editing to cross-cut between the details of the Jackal's preparations for the assassination and Lebel's efforts to find him before it is too late. Fred Zinnemann presents the story, faithfully adapted from the book by Frederick Forsyth, with precise, dramatic flair. Edward Fox is coldly alluring as the Jackal. Well acted and directed, Day of the Jackal is a tense and engrossing political thriller with a surprising ending. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This lavishly costumed historical epic had an estimated $100 million price tag. Spectacularly photographed battle action contrasts with often plodding individual scenes that bog down the plot. Fearing his growing power, European monarchs force Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger) to abdicate as Emperor and retire to Elba, and the French are concerned they will be outnumbered by a force of combined armies from many countries in Europe. Napoleon no sooner says goodbye to his loyalist troops than he begins to rally his men and prepare for another takeover. King Louis XVIII (Orson Welles) sends Marshal Michel Ney (Dan O'Herlihy) and his men to counter Bonaparte, but upon seeing his old commander (and ally), Ney thrusts his sword to the ground and takes up arms with the deposed emperor. They all return to Paris by popular demand, defying the orders of Louis (who flees from the palace) and running the monarchy tout seul. Soon England, Austria, Prussia and Russia unite to try and stop the dictator. Wellington (Christopher Plummer) readies his troops near Waterloo, refuses to retreat anymore, and waits for Prussian Marshall Blucher (Sergei Zakhariadze) and his army to join up with the British as the only hope to stop the French juggernaut. Jack Hawkins and Michael Wilding portray key military commanders Picton and Ponosby, respectively. Napoleon and his troops cut into the Prussian and British forces dramatically, weakening their power, but three problems arise. First, Ney refuses to lead his segment of the troops onward; and second, Bonaparte's men are plagued by the wet weather, which causes
the cannon brigade to become immobilized in mud (when Wellington strategically gives Bonaparte's troops the lower ground) rendering it ineffective until late in the day. And even more calamitously, Bonaparte - growing increasingly ill -- insists on leading his men from the rear, which causes the information to become outdated as soon as it gets to him. The Russian version of this film was nearly four hours long, while western audiences saw an edited version slightly over two hours long. Unfortunately, Waterloo bombed at the box office. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This zany British comedy finds a homeless hobo (Ringo Starr) being adopted by the world's richest man, Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers). Setting sail on the luxury liner The Magic Christian, Sir Grand tests the limit of human avarice. With money to motivate the greedy, Laurence Harvey combines his Hamlet soliloquy with a striptease. A vile cesspool of excrement is seeded with cash and the money-hungry dive right in. Wilfred Hyde White is the drunken captain, Yul Brynner is uncredited in his performance as a chanteuse transvestite, and John Cleese is the director of Sotheby's auction house. Roman Polanski, Richard Attenborough and Raquel Welch also appear in this offbeat comedy. Paul McCartney wrote and produced "Come and Get It," the first international hit from the power-pop group Badfinger. John "Speedy" Keene wrote "Something In The Air" and performed the track with his group Thunderclap Newman. Sellers, Cleese, Graham Chapman and Terry Southern co-authored the screenplay taken from Southern's novel. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Richard Attenborough, David Hemmings and Alexandra Stewart play three con artists planning a big-time scam. The object is to sell ammunition to a group of African militants -- or at least to pretend to. The trick is to keep at least one step ahead of the militants, lest the tricksters end up full of holes. A serviceable Len Deighton espionage novel was the source for Only When I Larf, which hooked up the material with "mod" gags about '60s fads and foibles. In the same spirit, the usually straightforward director Basil Dearden makes like Richard Lester, with a multitude of jump cuts, zoom-ins and hand-held shots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Diana Rigg made her first Avengers appearance as lissome "amateur agent" Emma Peel in this episode, which was originally broadcast on October 2, 1965. Written by Brian Clemens, the episode takes place in the village of Little Bazeley by the Sea, where several agents have vanished without a trace. Steed and Emma head to the tiny community, where they meet a wall of resistance from the locals. . .and a potentially horrible death during a nocturnal badger hunt. Scattered prints still exist of the unbroadcast version of this episode, in which Elizabeth Berridge played Emma. Curiously, "Town of No Return" was not the first Avengers installment to be telecast in America; instead, it was shown as the 21st in the series, on September 1, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide