Victoria Jackson

A handful of desperate characters come together unexpectedly one winter evening in this comedy-drama. Lefty (Stephen Baldwin) is a luckless sad sack whose life has been in a tailspin since his wife Heather (Faline England) left him two years ago. Lefty has been struggling to win back the right to visit his daughter, but since losing his job and periodically stumbling in his efforts to give up drinking, he's been so broke he can't afford to pay his rent, let alone hire a lawyer, and after a meeting with Heather's attorney goes badly, he decides he needs to get his hands on a gun. Meanwhile, Lefty's aging mother Eva (K Callan) has fallen into a depression as her health has begun to fail her, and she's decided that Christmas Eve would be as good a time as any to do herself in. Elsewhere, Mary (Mary Thornton) could use some help looking after her son Jacob (Dominic Scott Kay), after her husband Rick (Kevin Downes) suffered a severe head injury during a motorcycle accident a year before with his best friend and riding buddy, Mitch (Mitchell Jarvis). And Mark (Richard Fancy), the pastor at a local church, has been persuaded to take a group of kids out Christmas caroling -- a task he does not relish. Somehow, the fates conspire to bring the principles together with Christmas just around the corner to give them the hope that's been lacking in their lives. Midnight Clear was the first feature film from director Dallas Jenkins, adapted from a short film of the same title he made the previous year. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The award-winning "Wheels on the Bus" series continues with this release designed to teach youngsters such socialization skills as helping and sharing by telling the tale of two lovable characters who set out on a musical adventure to the moon to help their hungry rodent friend. With vocal cast that includes The Who's Roger Daltry and Saturday Night Live alum Victoria Jackson, and six fun new songs by composer Laura Hall, this is offers a fun alternative to learn key social skills. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The romantic comedy Shut Up and Kiss Me concerns two best friends, one a stockbroker and the other a slacker surfer, who each fall in love with the perfect girl the same day. The situation gets complicated when the uncle of one of the girls turns out to be a mob boss who is troubled by the thought of his niece dating the surfer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The father-son rap music team of Master P and Lil' Romeo headlined this family-oriented cable sitcom, which bore traces of such earlier hits as The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Master P played Percy Miller (which happened to be his real name), a music industry executive and the manager of his 11-year-old singer son Romeo (played by guess who). Others in the cast included Erica O'Keith as Romeo's prissy 16-year-old sister Jodi, Zachary Isaiah Williams as his scampish six-year-old brother Gary, Noel Callahan as Romeo's foster brother and best friend Louis Testaverde, Victoria Jackson as the kids' no-nonsense nanny Mrs. Rogers, and Brittney Wilson as 11-year-old Myra, the girl next door who harbored a crush for Romeo. The series premiered September 13, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Following orders from Above, Tess (Della Reese) takes her driver's-license examination, only to end up as accessory to a crime! Tess' driving instructor Doris (Lainie Kazan) interrupts the lesson long enough to stop at the funeral of her married lover--and to steal the man's ashes. Commanding Tess to drive off at breakneck speed in the direction of Pismo Beach, Doris is hotly pursued by the dead man's outraged widow Stella (Polly Bergen), who shares a ride with a patrol-car driver who looks a lot like Tess' fellow angel Andrew (John Dye). It is up to Tess, Andrew and Monica (Roma Downey)--posing as the proprietor of a beachside hamburger stand--to persuade Doris to let go of her obsession with her philandering sweetheart, and to help Stella to find forgiveness in her heart. Guest star Lainie Kazan sings "We Live On Borrowed Time". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When greedy land developers attempt to push a kindly widower off of his property, they receive an unexpected challenge from his ten-year-old neighbor in this family-oriented drama that shows a little love can go a long way. After being robbed of his family by a tragic fire, Jake opened his doors and his heart to the children of Glenwood Springs. Having learned a thing or two about helping others from his parents, who work as legal-aid attorneys, Jake's ten-year-old neighbor Keagan is troubled to learn that Jake's home is in jeopardy as land developers and government bureaucrats move in to make way for new developments in the neighborhood. Quickly organizing his friends into a powerful but peaceful protest force known as the "Glenwood Springs Kids Corp." Keagan and friends learn an important lesson in responsibility as they come to the aid of an old friend in need. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Attempting to take a well-deserved sharp poke at those based-on-a-true-story television movies that have usurped the old B-movies that once fed the public's addiction for exploitation fare, this satire chronicles the tragedy of a perfume magnate whose empire is endangered when she suddenly finds herself unable to smell. Worried, the beautiful Satin (Morgan Fairchild) runs to her longtime friend Varda (Dyan Cannon) for advice and then takes off to find her true roots. This leads her to Velour (Rikki Lake) and Corduroy (Victoria Jackson), her sister from whom she was separated at birth. It is they who finally solve her painful mystery with the odious truth of Satin's past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lawrence Kasdan's black comedy about a wife's ultimate revenge against her womanizing husband is based on a true story about the wife of a pizzeria owner who decided to kill her cheating husband. When her attempt to murder him failed, the husband refused to press charges against her because he felt she had done the right thing. Kevin Kline is the pizzeria owner Joey Boca in I Love You to Death. Joey is a smooth Italian lothario, modeled after Marcello Mastroianni, who cheerfully dons his plumbers overalls to repair his female tenants' plumbing in the rental apartments the family owns. Joey feels he is justified in bedding down countless numbers of women because of all the hours he puts in day after day at the pizzeria. Plus, as he tells one of his women friends, "I'm a man. I got a lotta hormones in my body." His wife Rosalie (Tracey Ullman) sweetly ignores her husband's philandering -- that is until she visits the public library and sees Joey fondling one of tenants in the book stacks. At first Rosalie considers suicide, but finally, egged on by her mother Nadja (Joan Plowright), she determines that Joey must be the one to face the music. But the people Rosalie hires to do Joey in are of the cut-rate variety and are unsuccessful. They then try to knock Joey off by feeding him barbiturate-laced spaghetti, but also to no avail. Rosalie then enlists pizzeria employee Deco Nod (River Phoenix), who has a crush on Rosalie, to do the job. But even then, they have no luck. As a last resort, they try to hire professionals. What they get instead are two drugged-out junkies -- Harlan (William Hurt) and Marlin (Keanu Reeves) -- who arrive at the home and blast at a slumbering figure in the bedroom. Then, while they report on their progress downstairs, Joey ambles into the living room, very much alive. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In 1987-88, a quartet of films with the same basic body-switching premise deluged theaters: Like Father, Like Son (1987), Big (1988), Vice Versa (1988), and 18 Again (1988). One year later, Dream a Little Dream (1989) followed suit. Coleman Ettinger (Jason Robards) is forever scolding the local high school students who use his yard as a shortcut to and from their nearby school. Coleman is not a crotchety old coot, however. He's deeply in love with his wife Gena (Piper Laurie) and is good friends with his next-door neighbor Ike (Harry Dean Stanton). In fact, Coleman is looking for a mystical way to preserve his and Gena's lives forever by transferring their consciousness into the bodies of younger people. One day, student Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman) has a bicycle mishap with Coleman while cutting through the yard, and their minds change places. Now Coleman has the brain of a teenager, while young Bobby uses Coleman's wisdom and life experience to win over the girl of his dreams. Dream a Little Dream was the directorial debut of Marc Rocco, son of actor Alex Rocco, who costars in a supporting role. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide