Diane Civita Movies
Jack Moony (Bob Hoskins) is a vice detective, but he is also an intense and crazed, racist lout. Jack has had a brief fling with a hooker named Crystal (Chloe Webb), but Crystal left him for Napoleon Stone (Denzel Washington), a suave, handsome, cosmopolitan lawyer, who becomes the object of Jack's rage, not simply because he has stolen his girl but also because he is black. Jack, who lives on cheeseburgers, beer, and whiskey, has a heart attack. This occurs the same night that Stone is killed in an un-accidental car crash. Thanks to a quick organ transplant, Jake ends up with Stone's heart. But to Jack's horror, he discovers the ghost of the lawyer has returned to earth to follow Jack around -- offering Jack nutritional advise, giving him tips on solving his murder, and suggestions on how to get back together with Crystal. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Denzel Washington, (more)
- 1985
This sci-fi outing is the pilot for a short-lived television series and chronicles the adventures of a gang of unusually talented teens. One uses his mind to control others, another is a wizard at cryogenics, while the other two can manipulate electrical energy and make things change sizes. This time, they team up to keep the government from using a deadly neutron cannon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Grant
El Norte is a realistic picture of both the Guatemalan government's oppression of the Quiche Indians and the hard life of illegal immigrants in the United States. After the Guatemalan army destroys their village of San Pedro, two teenage Quiche Mayan Indian siblings journey north (hence El Norte) through Mexico to the United States to start a new life. The film opens with the destruction of the village and the peasants' pointless appeals to the authorities for justice. Realizing that the government is seizing their land, Enrique and Rosa make the difficult decision to leave their people behind. As they journey through Mexico, the siblings encounter a number of helpful individuals who direct them towards the U.S./Mexican border. There they find a "coyote" (a professional human smuggler) and make the frightening run across border. Once across, Enrique and Rosa are introduced to the impossible realities of life as an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles. Living in constant fear of deportation, they struggle to survive as they are exploited by a series of employers. Eventually, their luck takes a turn for the better when the manager of their motel offers Enrique a job. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zaide Silvia Gutierrez, David Villalpando, (more)
- 1973
Young Joey Grant (Ike Eisenmann) is thrown for a loop when his parents (played by Beau Bridges and Margaret Blye) split up. Even worse, Joey's dad has been ordered out of the house, and must take up residence in a hotel room. What happens following this traumatic incident is told (sometimes literally) from Joey's point-of-view -- and don't expect everything to be tied up in a nice, neat, "happily ever after" package. My Dad Lives in a Downtown Hotel was adapted from Peggy Mann's book of the same name. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beau Bridges, Margaret Blye, (more)
