Stephen Ramsey
Armand Mastroianni, the gifted director of the legendary 1980 horror sleeper He Knows You're Alone, returns to helm the three-hour, all-star medical miniseries Pandemic. The program explores the lethal consequences that can unfurl when a deadly plague, with an unknown cure and an even more mysterious source, worms its way through the denizens of a terror-stricken metropolis. 90210's Tiffani-Amber Thiessen stars as Dr. Kayla Martin, an epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control. When the news arrives of a plague victim on board a flight from Australia to LAX Airport in Los Angeles -- who promptly dies amid body-racking convulsions and a record-high fever -- Dr. Martin makes the pivotal decision to quarantine all passengers at LAX, sending the city, and the mayor (Eric Roberts), into an uproar. Meanwhile, the plague concurrently begins to appear in other areas of the city -- suggesting a beast that no one can even begin to contain. In time, the disease becomes known as "The Riptide Virus." As a thoughtless ACLU attorney schemes to wage war against Dr. Martin for an unlawful quarantine, Martin, her associate Carl Ratner (French Stewart), and FBI Agent Troy Whitlock (Vincent Spano) race to find a solution before time runs out. Faye Dunaway also co-stars. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, French Stewart, (more)
Clark Johnson's big-screen adaptation of the 1970s television series S.W.A.T. stars Colin Farrell as Jim Street, a young special weapons and tactics team member who, in the film's opening sequence, is demoted after his hothead partner Jeremy Renner shoots a hostage while trying to kill her captor. In need of good press, the higher-ups call in SWAT expert Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) to put together an elite team that can bring some luster back to the badge. He chooses Street, veteran T.J. (Josh Charles), and tough single mother Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). The new team survives a series of tests before hitting the streets. Their first big assignment involves transporting an international criminal (Olivier Martinez) to federal authorities. The criminal had offered a hundred million dollars to anyone who can bust him out. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, (more)
Ridley Scott directed this flawed but involving study of Lt. Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore), a Navy topographic analyst who is chosen as a test case for the presence of women in combat. Aware that she is making history and knowing that 60% of all male trainees will fail the rigorous training, Lt. O'Neil struggles to prove herself physically and mentally worthy of becoming a Navy SEAL. What she doesn't know is that she is being sold out by hardbitten Texas senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft in an amusing turn), who is being blackmailed by the Defense Department with politically fatal base closings unless O'Neil fails the program. The complicated political subplot, however, only distracts from the film's real virtues -- the wonderfully staged scenes of CRT selection training -- and fizzles at its climactic moment. The training scenes are wonderful, however, as the central recruits are pushed to their physical limits by a grueling weeding-out process. Viggo Mortensen is outstanding as Master Chief John James Urgayle, a steely-eyed, tough-as-nails instructor who somehow finds time to quote D.H. Lawrence when he isn't making people eat garbage and beating O'Neil senseless as part of a training exercise. Mortensen and the believably-buffed Moore are terrific, and their scenes of confrontation are the film's high points. Unfortunately, the screenplay by David Twohy and Danielle Alexandra falls down every time it attempts to sidestep a cliche, and the climactic mission (involving a downed satellite in the Libyan desert) positively wallows in a predictable Top Gun muddle. Still, the characters are engaging and those looking for an enjoyable variant on the basic-training subgenre of high-octane modern action films should be pleased. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, (more)
- 1991
Geoffrey (Stephen Ramsey) and Lillian (Miriam Healy-Louie) are a couple spending the summer in the country in hopes of smoothing over some rough patches in their relationship. However, Geoffrey, who is a research scientist, has brought his work with him, which hardly helps, since Lillian's biggest problem with him is that he doesn't spend any time with her, and he seems more concerned with his career than his marriage. This is all the more galling for Lillian because she has given up her career as an artist in order to be more supportive of Geoffrey's work. Geoffrey is also upset because he's only been able to use mice for his lab experiments with new medications, and he is eager to begin working with larger animals; in his impatience, he begins trapping dogs, and he eventually catches the pet of a little girl named Frances (Ashley Arcemont). Meanwhile, Alex Vine (David Van Tiegham) is a scientist and an expert in organic farming who is trying to convince growers in the area to give up chemical pesticides while he studies their impact on the ecosystem; however, most of the farmers are not interested, since the marginal amount of insect damage that would result from organic growing techniques would still make their crops unsuitable for many produce buyers. David Van Tiegham, who plays Alex, is also a well respected percussionist who has worked with Talking Heads and Brian Eno, and as a member of Laurie Anderson's group, he appeared in her concert film Home of the Brave. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Ramsey, David van Tieghem, (more)
- 1986
This off-beat children's story is about Andy (Gully Coote), a trusting youngster who is duped into believing the $20 he just gave a disreputable derelict is really the purchase price on a race track. The caretaker at the track goes along with the charade as a lark and Andy has an interesting time exploring his "property." Things get a little complicated when two petty criminals arrive on the scene who fix races by using chemicals on the horses. The drama becomes more complicated when the police show up in pursuit of some vandals. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gully Coote, Tony Barry, (more)
Nomads is a scary, supernatural horror movie without blood and guts and gore or bouts of eroticism. Pierce Brosnan is Pommier, an anthropologist who has spent years researching the nomads in some of the coldest and hottest parts of the globe. Apparently, his research went too far, because now he is haunted by evil nomad spirits who do not look much different than some of the '90s teens with purple or green hair, chalky-white faces with dark mascara, and clothes to match. As he starts out hunting down these beings, scenes of a young female doctor (Lesley-Anne Down) fighting off an evil spirit are also shown. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Lesley-Anne Down, (more)
