Paul Williams Movies

John Boorman, who won the 1998 Cannes Film Festival's Direction award for this film, previously won the same Cannes award almost three decades earlier for his Leo the Last (1969) about an alienated aristocrat in a London slum. Shot in widescreen color (but printed in sharp black-and-white), The General is a biographical portrait of ruthless Irish crime lord Martin Cahill, shot down outside his home by a single assassin on August 18, 1994. After this opening, the film then unfolds as a lengthy flashback of the events that led to his death, sketching in the raw beginnings of the youthful Martin (Eamonn Owens of The Butcher Boy) and moving into the Dublin slum of Hollyfield to show the adult Cahill (Brendan Gleeson) and his link to a local cop, Inspector Ned Kenny (Jon Voight). Various thefts enable Cahill to support his wife Frances (Maria Doyle Kennedy), his four children, and his sister-in-law Tina (Angeline Ball). As the years pass, Cahill rises as a mobster, bamboozling cops, constructing airtight alibis, pulling off a near-impossible jewel heist, and setting up a menage a trois with Frances and Tina. (Both actresses were seen previously in Alan Parker's The Commitments). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff) and Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) attempt to join the alternative generation in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. The alt-rock immersion begins when Daria and Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes) suffer through a loud rehearsal of Mystik Spiral, the struggling band whose singer/lyricist, Trent (voice of Alvaro J. Gonzalez), is both Jane's brother and the object of Daria's unvoiced affections. It turns out that Trent and bandmate Jesse (voice of Willy Schwenz) want to attend Alternapalooza, the big alt-rock festival, so Jane offers to chip in gas money. On the day of the event, Daria forces herself into clothing that's somewhat hipper than her normal green-and-black outfit and climbs into the band's van for a long road trip. An unfortunate series of events, however, deprives the journey of its potential joy: Daria's tribulations include injuries to herself, her clothing, her glasses -- and her pride, for she's forced to urinate in the woods by the side of the road, thereby letting it slip to Trent that she's a normal human, with embarrassing bodily functions to conduct. Car problems keep the gang from ever reaching the festival, but the upside is that Daria gets a little one-on-one time chatting with Trent. Meanwhile, Quinn, too, attempts to attend the concert. But in her case, it's just a ploy to exploit the fashionability of "alternative" culture. She assembles a safely "edgy" ensemble and heads off in style, but outlet shopping (and a mouthy waitress) preclude her and the Fashion Club from ever making it to the venue. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Lionel Rose was an aborigine who emerged from humble beginnings to be one of the world's greatest prize fighters. This inspirational sports biography tells his story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

William Tepper, whose only significant credit to date was the lead role in the Jack Nicholson-directed 1972 cult film (#Drive, He Said), wrote and stars in Miss Right. He plays Terry Bartell, a U.P.I. reported stationed in Rome. Bartell is an inveterate ladies man who suddenly decides he's through playing meaningless romantic games and wants to find "Miss Right." As a prelude to beginning the search, he sets up a series of "farewell" dinners with his three current girlfriends, scheduled in his apartment in two hour intervals. Most of the film consists of these lengthy encounters, including one with veteran Italian actress Virna Lisi, playing an older married woman. Karen Black is another of the ladies, who arrives by jet for a midnight rendezvous and is unpleasantly surprised. The following morning, Terry picks up Juliet (Margot Kidder), indicating that he's not ready to change his lifestyle after all. Miss Right was made in Rome in 1980 by American director Paul Williams for an Italian production company. It was never released theatrically in the United States. The 1989 video release shows signs of extensive cutting and revisions. Actress Clio Goldsmith, listed in the credits, never appears on screen, and British star Jenny Agutter is glimpsed only in a cameo in the opening minute. Williams was known in the late '60s and early '70s for his films about the hippie counterculture, including Out of It (1969) and The Revolutionary (1970). After several years of inactivity he returned in 1978 with the independent feature Nunzio. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of Baretta's second season, undercover cop Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) goes after heroin dealers who are trafficking in a very pure, and very lethal, grade of the addictive drug. Singer-composer Paul Williams, who co-wrote the script, guest stars as a music emporium owner who sidelines as a dope pusher -- and who is unwittingly doling out the deadly "horse." Edward Grover joins the cast as Lt. Hal Brubaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this symbolic drama of social and political turmoil, Jon Voight plays an aspiring revolutionary (who is only known as "A") working in a print shop. He lives with his bohemian girlfriend (Collin Wilcox-Horne) and studies philosophy at the local university. Despard (Robert Duvall) is his alleged communist boss who spurns him on to political activity. When a strike turns violent, "A" the print-shop worker is pegged as the one who passed out the leaflets that encouraged the strike. He returns home where he receives his draft notice. His first Army assignment is to forcibly break up the striking workers and he goes AWOL. When Despard denies involvement in the unrest, the disillusioned "A" aligns himself with the radical bomb-maker Leonard II (Seymour Cassel), who is constructing two bombs for a judge who sentenced the striking workers to jail time. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide