Elizabeth Smith Movies
- 2006
- PG13
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A tightly knit group of working-class Atlanta teens spend their time bonding over hip-hop and roller skating while pondering life after high school in director Chris Robinson's coming-of-age comedy drama that draws inspirations from the real-life childhoods of Dallas Austin and Tionne Watkins. For a kid growing up on the south side of Atlanta, the Cascade roller-skating rink is the place to be seen, and it's the place where the orphaned high school senior Rashad (Tip Harris) and his little brother Ant (Evan Ross) go every weekend to forget their financial troubles, hang with their friends and get their groove on. But outside the rink, the brothers have problems they can't avoid: Ant is being recruited into the posse of charismatic drug dealer Marcus (Outkast's Antwan Andre Patton, aka Big Boi). Meanwhile, Rashad's three best friends -- including the ambitious Esquire (Jackie Long) -- are pulling him in different directions, and his new girlfriend New-New (Lauren London) may not be as "street" as she seems. As Rashad tries to hold on to his little brother, he also comes to the realization that if he's ever going to make something of himself, he's going to have to step out of his skates and into the real world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tip "T.I." Harris, Lauren London, (more)
- 1992
An old "urban legend" stemming from an incident at the 1893 Paris Exposition is the inspiration for this episode. While visiting London, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) comes across a corpse in her hotel room. She summons the authorities, only to find that the corpse has disappeared--and subsequently, virtually everyone, including the police, adamantly insist that there never was a body, and that Jessica is merely imagining things. Ingredients essential to this intriguing yarn are a double espionage agent, a Scotland Yard detective, a slimy concierge, and a brazen "tart". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
While dictating his memoirs, Higgins (John Hillerman) flashes back to 1976, the time of his last meeting with his old friend and fellow British secret agent David Worth (played by Patrick Macnee of The Avengers fame). Unfortunately, David seems to have gone a bit balmy, and is now convinced that he is none other than Sherlock Holmes, on a mission to solve a murder. Humoring David along, Higgins agrees to act as his "Dr. Watson"--only to discover that the murder is all too real, and that he and David may be next on the hit list! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Vietnam veteran Taylor Hurst (Robert F. Lyons) hires Magnum (Tom Selleck) to locate his missing girlfriend. It turns out, however, that the girl is only peripherally connected to Hurst's hidden agenda, which involves a complex and very lethaly scheme for revenge. Honolulu's famous Punchbowl National Cemetery (that's the one with the huge "Columbia" statue, as seen in the opening credits of Hawaii Five-O) is prominently featured in a key sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
During a major surf-ski competition, a Kahuna named Makua (Sol Bright) places a curse on Rick's club. At first, neither Rick (Larry Manetti) nor anyone else takes the curse seriously, but soon bad things begin happening--including at least one death. In his efforts to investigate this phenomenon, Magnum (Tom Selleck) is periodically stymied by overeager news reporter Christine Richards (Gretchen Corbett) and a grouchier-than-usual Higgins (John Hillerman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This pilot film for the TV series Big Hawaii stars Cliff Potts and John Dehner as a wealthy father-and-son team of Hawaiian cattle ranchers. Neither character is a candidate for the "Mister Nice Guy" award, especially the wayward Potts, who's recently been chased out of Vegas for cheating at poker. Even nastier is Potts' beautiful but scheming stepmother (Ina Balin), who plans to bulldoze his ailing dad's estate to make way for those stock 1970s villains, the Evil Land Developers. Despite a total lack of audience sympathy for the people on screen, Big Hawaii premiered as a weekly series in the fall of 1977. There were all of seven episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- G
James Garner stars as a genial cowboy in this wholesome slice of Disney family fare. Garner is Lincoln Costain, a cowboy in the 1850s who finds himself shanghaied and shipwrecked on a Hawaiian island. He runs into luckless widow Henrietta MacAvoy (Vera Miles) and helps her turn her struggling potato farm into a prosperous cattle ranch. But evil land baron Bryson (Robert Culp) wants all the land for himself and he holds Henrietta's mortgage. Lincoln had been planning to leave Hawaii and return to his Texas home, but decides to stay and help the beautiful widow fend off Bryson's land-grabbing greed. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Garner, Vera Miles, (more)
- 1970
- PG
The Hawaiians is the sequel to 1969's Hawaii; both films were adapted from the same sprawling novel by James A. Michener. Charlton Heston is top-billed as a sailor who returns to his Hawaiian homestead, only to learn that his grandfather's fortune has been bestowed upon his hated cousin Alec McCowan. As a reprisal, Heston sets up his own pineapple plantation in competition with his cousin. Heston's son John Phillip Law falls in love with the daughter (Virginia Ann Lee) of a Chinese farmer (Mako). The issue of miscegenation rears its ugly head, but by the end of this very long film Heston's family is united by marriage to the Chinese clan. The British title of The Hawaiians was Master of the Islands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Geraldine Chaplin, (more)
- 1955
Dale Robertson stars as the Son of Sinbad in this tongue-in-cheek Arabian Nights romp. Hoping to rescue Bagdad from the forces of the dreaded Tamerlaine, Sinbad Jr. enlists the aid of the Khalif (Leon Askin) by promising to deliver the secret of "Greek Fire". To expedite this, he enlists the aid of the lovely Kristina (Mari Blanchard), who has memorized said secret. When the bad guys threaten the safety of hero and heroine, slave girl Ameer (Sally Forrest), who heads the all-female descendants of the original Forty Thieves, come galloping to the rescue. Personally produced by Howard Hughes, Son of Sinbad seems to be a clearing house for all of Hughes' voyeuristic fetishes; at one point, stripteaser Lili St. Cyr performs an exotic (and erotic) dance wearing the equivalent of a postage stamp, earning a Condemned rating from the Catholic Legion of Decency. The overabundance of feminie pulchritude gets a little wearing after a while, and it is up to Vincent Price to steal the show as Omar the Tentmaker, improvising passages of his unpublished "Rubiyat" (with a few anachronistic Shakespearean quotes thrown in) as he tries to keep apace with the hero. Also on hand is an uncredited (and fully clothed) Kim Novak as a handmaiden. More silly than sexy when seen today, Son of Sinbad is acceptable nonthink entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Sally Forrest, (more)
