Michele Mariana Movies
- 1998
Filmed on location in Oregon, the made-for-cable Halloweentown stars Debbie Reynolds as Aggie Cromwell, the peppery grandma to typical American kids Marnie (Joey Zimmerman), Dylan (Joey Zimmerman) and Sophie (Emily Roeske). During her annual visit to the youngsters' mother Gwen (Judith Hoag), Aggie reveals that she is a benevolent witch, and that Gwen and the kids all have latent magical powers. Whisking the three little ones off to Halloweentown, Aggie subsequently does battle with evil forces conjured up by Gwen's old flame Kalabar (Robin Thomas), a warlock with delusions of grandeur and a nasty habit of transforming children into zombies. Telecast by the Disney Channel on October 22, 1998, Halloweentown was followed three years later by a sequel, also starring Debbie Reynolds, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, (more)
Monologist Eric Bogosian's one-man theatre piece Talk Radio, co-written by Bogosian and Ted Savinar, is searingly brought to the screen by Oliver Stone. Bogosian plays a provocateur radio talk-show host, whose constant espousal of his inflammatory views and ceaseless hectoring of his callers and listeners reaps equal parts love and hate. As his program rolls on, Bogosian is revealed to be just as screwed up as any of his fans, if not more. And then he pushes one caller just a bit too far. In co-adapting the play for the screen, Oliver Stone interweaves elements of Steven Singular's factual book Talked to Death, the story of a liberal Denver radio personality who was murdered at the behest of a militant right-wing hate group. One word of warning: if you're not a fan of the sort of radio depicted herein, chances are you won't warm up to this film. Talk Radio was the indirect inspiration for the 1990 TV series Night Caller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1986
- R
An author is haunted by the spirit of her dead husband in this routine supernatural thriller by Susan Shadburne. Morgan Hanna (Dee Wallace Stone) returns to the island where her husband died several years earlier in hops of breaking through her writer's block. She stays with her late husband's mother (Cloris Leachman), joins a local drama group, and starts working on a play. But she begins to see her husband in the mirrors and windows of the house, and is compelled to investigate. At the heart of her turmoil is she really doesn't know if he fell accidentally from the roof of the lighthouse, or if he was pushed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cloris Leachman, Ron Kuhlman, (more)
Will Vinton, the stop-motion animation whiz who brought us The California Raisins, is the principal creative force behind The Adventures of Mark Twain. A clay-model Twain, voiced by James Whitmore, sets out in a hot-air balloon to find Halley's Comet. Joining the waspish humorist on his journey are some of his favorite creations, including Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huckleberry Finn. As the balloon ascends further into the sky, we are treated to animated dramatization of such Twain classics as "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Though brilliantly conceived and executed, Adventures of Mark Twain might have been even more effective had it been shortened by ten minutes or so. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Whitmore, Michele Mariana, (more)
