Tom Jacobson Movies

In this thriller, Dean Cage (Wesley Snipes) is a former Special Forces operative who finds himself at odds with the government he used to serve when he's kidnapped by intelligence agents who have mistaken him for another Special Forces veteran. To keep tabs on the suspected agent's activities, the intelligence men dose Cage with a special mind-controlling hallucinogen, which allows them to plant images into his brain of their choosing. Cage must now sort out what is real and what is a mirage in the world around him as he struggles to prove his true identity. Produced under the title Nine Lives, Unstoppable also stars Stuart Wilson, Kim Coates, and Jacqueline Obradors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Barry Sonnenfeld directs this kissing cousin of his own 1995 hit Get Shorty, a comic caper adapted by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone from the novel by newspaper humorist Dave Barry. When two New Jersey hitmen (Dennis Farina and Jack Kehler) show up in Miami to whack crooked businessman Arthur Herk (Stanley Tucci), they happen to creep into his backyard at the same time as Matt (Ben Foster), a high school kid with his own assassination plans. Only, Matt plans to use nothing heavier than a squirt gun on Jenny (Zooey Deschanel), Arthur's daughter, as part of a school-wide game of "killer." When the plans collide, mayhem ensues, and Matt's struggling ex-columnist dad (Tim Allen, loosely modeled on Barry), Arthur's bored wife (Rene Russo), and two confused police officers (Janeane Garofalo and Patrick Warburton) are also called to the scene. Shift to the next day and there's more craziness to follow. Two dimwitted petty criminals (Tom Sizemore and Johnny Knoxville) choose the exact moment Arthur is transacting a nuclear arms deal to hold up the dive bar where they're regulars, which is actually a front for the Russian mob. Soon the whole motley cast -- including an agreeable drifter (Jason Lee), a buxom maid (Sofia Vergara), and a pair of ruthless FBI agents (Heavy D and Omar Epps) -- are caught up in a hostage scenario in which the weapon accidentally gets brought aboard a hijacked plan. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

This 1998 version of Mighty Joe Young begins with a Gorillas in the Mist-type prologue and then jumps forward twelve years to find Bill Paxton leading a safari expedition to capture the legendary giant (two-ton) gorilla, the subject of the film's title. Paxton's intentions are admirable; he wants to remove the majestic beast from the imminent danger of poachers and set him up on a posh nature reserve in California. The x-factor comes in the form of Charlize Theron's beautiful jungle girl, Jill Young. Jill has been Joe's soul mate from birth and is the only human who can communicate with him. She is also the reason Paxton's maverick-on-the-run lingers at the reserve after his task is completed. From there, the plot is spurred on by the nefarious actions of a poacher with an Ahab complex and a battery of money hungry scientists who want to exploit Joe. Naturally, all of this puts a burr under the towering simian's skin, causing him to break free and go ape in L.A.'s concrete jungle. ~ Tom Meek, All Movie Guide

In this cheerful, lightweight comedy, excruciatingly clumsy, disorganized, and messy Uncle Buck Russell (John Candy) becomes the screens most unlikely babysitter since Clifton Webb in Sitting Pretty. While their parents are away, eight-year old Miles (Macaulay Culkin), six-year old Maizy (Gaby Hoffman) and their teen-aged sister, Tia (Jean Kelly) are left in the care of Buck. Surprisingly, the very inept Uncle Buck entertains the younger children who come to love him and earns the respect of Tia when he rescues her from her worthless boyfriend. However, in doing so, Buck nearly loses his long-time girlfriend Chanice (Amy Madigan). John Candy is delightful in the leading role giving a touching and notable comic performance. Directed by John Hughes in his typical broad style, this youth-oriented comedy is perhaps the best role of John Candy's regrettably brief career. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Director of the first Police Academy movie, Hugh Wilson is also responsible for the action comedy-caper Burglar. Bernice Rhodenbarr (Whoopi Goldberg) is a retired cat burglar who works at a bookstore. Bad cop Ray Kirschman (G.W. Bailey) blackmails her, so she agrees to do a job for Dr. Cynthia Sheldrake (Lesley Ann Warren) in order to get the money. While she is doing the robbery, she accidentally stumbles onto the scene of a murder. Since she is the prime suspect, Bernice is forced into many chase scenes as she plays detective to find out who the real murderer is in order to clear her name. She is aided by her only two friends: the hapless dog groomer Carl Hefler (Bob Goldthwait) and the drunken floozy Frankie (Elizabeth Ruscio). Along the way, she almost gets killed by numerous tough guys while being closely followed by two stupid cops (Anne DeSalvo and John Goodman). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Explorers turns out to be much ado about nothing, but it's so sublimely assembled we're willing to overlook the sappy climax. Young sci-fi geek Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) (could he possibly be based on director Joe Dante?) would give anything to travel in space. Thanks to his computer-happy pal Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix), Ben gets his wish, together with best bud Darren Woods (Jason Presson). In the Great Beyond, the boys encounter an extraterrestrial (Robert Picardo), whose knowledge of earth is limited to what he's gleaned from 1960s TV sitcoms (this is unusual?) Lots of outer-space fun ensues before the film's inevitable downward spiral. Moderately successful in theatres, Explorers had a healthy second life on video and cable TV, especially after director Dante rethought the film and rearranged a few scenes for better dramatic (and comic) impact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's theatrical-feature spoofs (Airplane was the first, discounting the patchwork Kentucky Fried Movie), Top Secret! lampoons practically every film genre. Specifically, however, this is a hybrid of an "Elvis" movie and a World War II "underground resistance" thriller. In his film debut, Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a Presley-like American rock idol sent behind the Iron Curtain on a goodwill tour. Before long, he is involved in a complex espionage scheme thanks to beautiful Lucy Gutteridge, the daughter of a scientist (Michael Gough) held captive by the Communists. Also essential to the action is flamboyant resistance leader Christopher Villiers, who behaves like Victor Mature in Betrayed (1954) and talks like James Mason. Adhering to Z-A-Z's cheerful disregard for people, places and events, the East Germans are depicted as Nazis, while the Underground is comprised of Frenchmen. The plot is mainly an excuse for the Z-A-Z team's fondness for joke-a-minute lampoonery, skewering cinematic targets ranging from The Blue Lagoon (1980) to The Wizard of Oz (1939). As in Z-A-Z's other efforts, Top Secret! scores its biggest yocks when invoking cliches that we never realized were cliches-and falls on its face whenever attempting a too-obvious gag (the biggest clinker: that pigeon statue in the park). Everyone has his or her favorite bits in this film: our faves include the resistance fighter named Deja Vu ("Haven't we met somewhere before?"), Kilmer's horrible nightmare while being tortured (he arrives too late to take final exams), the army-booted cow, the sensitive Pinto, and the East German National Anthem, sung to the tune of the Shorewood (Wisconsin) High School marching song. But let's say no more: comedy of this nature is designed to be seen, not written or read about. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this loose adaptation of the 1942 horror classic of the same name, a 2001-style opening montage establishes some sort of sacrificial, mystical union between panthers and an ancient tribe of humans. Flash forward to 1980's New Orleans, where waifish Irina (Natassja Kinski) meets her older brother, Paul (Malcolm McDowell), a minister, for the first time since their animal trainer parents died and she was sent to a series of foster homes. Paul's Creole housekeeper, Female (Ruby Dee), helps Irina settle into her brother's home, but Paul himself disappears. Cut to a fleabag motel where a blasé prostitute finds an angry panther instead of a client; after mauling her, the cat is captured by police and a team of zoologists: Oliver (John Heard), Alice (Annette O'Toole), and Joe (Ed Begley Jr.). The next day Irina finds herself in the zoo where these scientists work; drawn to the newly captured panther, she befriends Oliver and takes a job in the gift shop. Shortly after the panther's violence turns deadly, it escapes, and soon Paul turns up spouting an unbelievable story about his family's were-cat heritage and his inevitable sexual union with little Irina. On the run from her dangerous brother, Irina takes refuge in a sexually frustrated romance with Oliver, afraid of what might happen if she consummates their passion. Astute viewers will notice that the zoologist characters refer to the film's panthers as leopards; "panther" is actually a generic term for any large cat, especially a black one, but Cat People's panthers are in fact leopards whose black color comes from a recessive trait known as melanism. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

David Carradine romps around in a loin-cloth as Kaz Oshay, a good-guy biker who hops on his destructocycle to participate in a sport to the death, in Roger Corman's futuristic gladiator motorcycle film. The film takes place 1000 years after the "Neutron Wars" have decimated civilization, except for pockets of domed cities. Surrounding the cities are vast wastelands called "ranges." Kaz is a "ranger guide" who roams the range riding horses and wielding sabers. The sabers are necessary to fend off the "Statesmen" -- roving hordes under the thrall of Lord Zirpola (David McLean). Zirpola captures Kaz and throws him into a cell, where he meets Deneer (Claudia Jennings), who tells Kaz that a group of mutants have abducted her daughter. Kaz and Deneer escape and set off in search of her daughter as they dodge the Statesmen and their high-decibel motorcycles called "Death Machines." Kaz is finally forced to participate in the "Death Sport" -- a mad free-for-all inside a tunnel in which only one contestant can emerge alive. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide