Miles Chapin Movies

In this retelling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale, Young Goodman Brown (Tom Shell) is out in the woods one day when he encounters the Devil (John P. Ryan) himself, along with some members of his retinue, who offers him a lot of attractive powers over the dullards of his Puritan town. Except for having lots of stilted language in the dialog, reviewers found it difficult to believe that this film's story had anything to do with the one it is allegedly based on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi comedy from executive producer George Lucas, Howard the Duck is an extra-terrestrial fowl who is accidentally beamed to earth by physicist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) and his assistant Phil (Tim Robbins). The two go looking for Howard and find him in the home of Beverly Switzer (Lea Thompson), who was rescued by the interstellar duck from some mean-looking thugs. Beverly and Phil are friends, and when the government finds out about Howard, she helps Phil and Dr. Jenning hide him from the authorities until they can zap him back home. In the meantime, several wild chases and spectacular special effects keep the picture rolling along. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this film, an aspiring funny person tries to measure up to the level of his wild and crazy peers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Some potent comic talent lends credibility to the Canadian Funny Farm. Michael Chapin stars as Mark, a would-be stand-up comedian. Mark leaves his Midwestern hometown behind to try his luck at the California comedy club managed by Gail (Eileen Brennan, doing a superb takeoff of real-life Comedy Store maven Mitzi Shore). Jack Carter and Howie Mandell are among the many funsters who parade past the screen in this uneven but amusing low-budgeter. Funny Farm should not be confused with the 1988 Chevy Chase vehicle of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As if in some way Billy Wilder sensed that Buddy Buddy would ultimately turn out to be his final feature film, Wilder lets loose scatter-shot stingers at a wide range of pop-culture targets -- from sex clinics, to 60 Minutes, to movie references, to disco, to Betamax video recorders. Based on Francis Veber and Edouard Molinaro's L'emmerdeur (known in the United States as A Pain in the A. . .), Buddy Buddy concerns the unlikely pairing of a gruff hitman and a suicidal klutz. Walter Matthau plays a professional killer going by the name of Trabucco, who is on his way to rub out gangster Rudy "Disco" Gambola (Fil Formicola), set to testify against the mob. As Trabucco heads off to a hotel across the street from the courthouse where he plans to set his hit, he runs into the depressed Victor Clooney (Jack Lemmon), who laments the fact that his wife has left him for the head of a weird Californian sex clinic. Trabucco keeps walking and sets up his rifle in a hotel room. He is disturbed by Victor trying to hang himself in the adjoining hotel room and tries to prevent him from killing himself by restraining him, but Victor breaks loose and climbs onto the ledge of the hotel window. To get Victor to come back in, he agrees to drive him to the clinic to see his wife. The two go to the clinic where Victor's wife Celia (Paula Prentiss) informs Victor that she is in love in the head of the clinic, quack Dr. Zuckerbrot (Klaus Kinski). When Victor finds out that Celia is filing for divorce, he heads back to the hotel to kill himself, with Celia and Dr. Zuckerbrot in pursuit. Arriving at the hotel, they plan to inject Victor with a sedative but stick Trabucco with the needle instead. Trabucco reveals to Victor his assignment to kill Rudy, and Victor tries to help him with the killing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Milos Forman's adaptation of the tribal rock musical Hair stars John Savage as Claude, a quiet young man from the Midwest who becomes friendly with a group of New York hippies on his way to begin basic training in the military. The repressed Claude is quite taken with Berger (Treat Williams) and the group of freedom seekers who reside in Central Park. The group encourages Claude to go after a debutante named Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp masterminded the dances, which attempt to flow from the natural settings of the film. The film includes most of the more famous songs from the original play, including "Donna," "Aquarius," "Easy to Be Hard," "Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine," "Frank Mills," and the title number. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Bless the Beasts and Children is most fondly remembered as the film which introduced the song "Nadia's Theme" (better known as the title music for CBS' Young and the Restless). The film itself is a well-meaning if heavy-handed tale of six idealistic young boys whom come to the rescue of a buffalo herd. There's a symbiotic relationship between the boys and the beasts: the kids have all been shunted aside as misfits and losers, while the buffalo have likewise been targetted for obscurity. Once the film makes its point, it really has nowhere to go; still, the location photography (with Catalina standing in for Arizona) is outstanding. Besides, how many other films have honored Billy Mumy with top billing? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide