Bob Clark Movies
Bob Clark began making independent low-budget features as a writer/director with the transvestite comedy The She Man in 1967, and his horror films of the early '70s, made with writer/actor Alan Ormsby, are fondly remembered: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (signed as Benjamin Clark) and Deathdream (aka Dead of Night; Night Walk). Clark also won admiration for his Sherlock Holmes film Murder By Decree, scripted by John Hopkins. None of this could compare to the box-office success Clark would find in the early '80s with his seminal low-brow sex comedy Porky's and its first sequel. Reviled by critics but eaten up by audiences, the films' horny-yet-nostalgic tone would forever influence the world of teen movies. It was Clark's 1983 project, however, an adaptation of Jean Shepherd's writings called A Christmas Story, that would prove to be the director's finest moment. The pitch-perfect holiday farce failed to find an audience despite strong reviews upon its initial release, but much as It's a Wonderful Life did before it, A Christmas Story found new legions of fans each year it was aired on TV. After helming several flop comedies (Rhinestone, Turk 182!, From the Hip, Loose Cannons), Clark returned to Shepherd's material with 1994's It Runs in the Family. Much of his work in the '90s and 2000s was undistinguished kid and family fare, and the director scored a minor hit with the Look Who's Talking-esque Baby Geniuses (1999). 67-year-old Clark and his 22-year-old son Ariel died in a car accident in California in the spring of 2007. ~ Rovi
A few innocent women experience a nightmare before Christmas in this bloody thriller. Billy Lenz, a severely maladjusted child, finally snaps under years of brutal treatment by his family, killing and eating them in an explosion of violence on Christmas Eve. For years, the Lenz house stands vacant, but in time it's purchased and renovated as the new home for a college sorority. A few days before Christmas, a handful of sorority sisters -- Dana (Lacey Chabert), Melissa (Michelle Trachtenberg), Kelli (Katie Cassidy), and Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) -- are enjoying a quiet evening with their house mother, Barbara MacHenry (Andrea Martin), exchanging gifts and swapping stories before heading home for holiday break. While Barbara remembers the story of Billy's crimes, the atmosphere is peaceful until the young women receive the first in a series of disturbing telephone calls. Before long, they learn that Billy has escaped after years in a mental institution, and has come back to the house where he grew up to once again spill blood for the Christmas season. Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name by director Bob Clark, who later made a less-threatening film about the Yuletide season, A Christmas Story; Andrea Martin, who plays the house mother, also appeared in the 1974 film as one of the sorority girls. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, (more)
When his Zen master is mysteriously murdered and a biochemical maniac sets into motion a devious plan to control the entire world, it's up to one karate-chopping canine to leap into action in a hilarious tale of man versus man's best friend from A Christmas Story director Bob Clark. His master may be gone, but Cho Cho is determined to find out who the culprit behind the killing really is. In order to carry out his daring mission he'll need a little human help though, and when Cho Cho teams with a brilliant but bumbling computer wizard, there's no mystery that this unlikely pair can't solve. Starring Jon Voight, Simon Rex, and Jaime Pressley. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Jon Voight, (more)
Directed by Bob Clark, Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2 follows a new generation of ultra-smart talking toddlers who have landed in the center of a dastardly scheme perpetrated by media mogul Bill Biscane (Jon Voight). With the help of Kahuna (Leo, Myles, and Gerry Fitzgerald); part spy, part superhero, all baby Archie (Michael and Max Iles); Finkleman (Jordan and Jared Scheiderman); Alex (Joshua and Maxwell Lockhart); and Rosita (Keana and Maia Bastidas), the youngsters set off in hopes of preventing Biscane from launching a state-of-the-art satellite system which, if successful, would be capable of worldwide mind control. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Scott Baio, (more)
Two young people learn an invaluable lesson about what love really means in this romantic drama. Angela (Mia Kirshner) and John (Adam Beach) have been close friends since childhood, and as they've grown into adulthood, John's feelings for Angela have matured into love. John is of Cree Indian heritage, and Ghost Fox (Gordon Tootoosis), a spiritual advisor of the tribe, tells John that it is his destiny to be with Angela. Angela, however much she cares for John, has other plans, and ends up involved with T.J. (Gabriel Olds), a mean-spirited man who shows her little respect. John saves the day for Angela after she's brutally attacked by T.J., but rather than stay by his side, Angela, who has always dreamed of being an actress, decides to move to Hollywood and try her luck, only to learn that her bond with John is deeper and more complex than she imagined. Now and Forever also stars Theresa Russell as Dori, Angela's mother. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mia Kirshner, Adam Beach, (more)
- 2000
While on a location shoot, spoiled movie actress Sydney Clarke (Sela Ward) clashes with her equally temperamental director. Storming off the set in a snit, Sydney gets lost in the woods, then hitches a ride to a small New England steel town -- where, amazingly, no one seems to recognize her. Curiously enjoying her anonymity, she befriends bowling-alley waitress Joyce (Rebecca Jenkins), who helps her land a job as a nurse at the local steel mill, managed by a handsome, down-to-earth hunk named Ryan (Andrew Jackson). Upon learning that the mill is in danger of demolition at the hands of greedy corporate fat-cats, Sydney vows to save the community's only source of income -- but will the citizens rally behind her if they find out she's been posing as something she's not? Made for the CBS TV network, Catch a Falling Star premiered March 5, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sela Ward, Rebecca Jenkins, (more)
Haley Joel Osment stars in this melodramatic war drama about Japan's attempted incursion into California's water just after Pearl Harbor. Japanese sailor Matsuo (Yuji Okumoto) falls overboard off the coast of Passerville. He eventually finds refuge in an old factory where four boys, including Pee Wee (Osment) and Duke (Trevor Morgan), usually play. Meanwhile, Duke's parents (Mark Harmon and Pam Dawber) befriend Japanese-American Abe Tanaka (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) as he his forced to move to a relocation camp. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Trevor Morgan, Pam Dawber, (more)
- 2000
The second of the Dukes of Hazzard "reunion" films (the first was broadcast in 1997), this one features five regulars from the original series: John Schneider and Tom Wopat as fast-driving Luke and Bo Duke, Catherine Bach as their leggy cousin Daisy Duke, and James Best as inept lawmen Rosco P. Coltrane and Enos Strate. Hoping to raise money for a new Hazzard County hospital, the Duke boys pile into the General Lee and head for Hollywood, there to sell recordings of their singing efforts. Upon arrival in Tinseltown, Luke and Bo are robbed of both the records and the money earned from a contract. In their efforts to retrieve the stolen booty, the superannuated heroes run afoul of a cartel of Russian gangsters and international loan sharks -- and of course, are continually flummoxed by Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst), the son of their late and unlamented nemesis Boss Hogg. Amazingly, the film contains no car chases and only one brief fistfight; evidently the producers felt that the singing of stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat was attraction enough. The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood premiered May 19, 2000 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Wopat, John Schneider, (more)
Dr. Elena Kinder (Kathleen Turner) is the highly visible chief executive of BABYCO, the world's largest manufacturer of baby products. The company funds orphanages across the world and just opened an indoor theme park for children adjacent to its corporate headquarters in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to the public, Kinder, with the help of Dr. Heep (Christopher Lloyd), has been conducting a vast research program devoted to decrypting in secret labs deep beneath BABYCO's corporate campus the language that babies speak. It's said that Tibetans believe all babies are born with complete knowledge of the universe and the ability to speak to each other in an ancient language. However, once infants turn two years old, they lose this knowledge as they bond more closely with adults. To study this theory, Dr. Kinder has culled the smartest babies from her orphanages to be raised in a special development program in her private lab. As a test of developmental progress, she has separated a pair of twins, Sly and Witt. While Sly is raised within the lab, Witt has been adopted by Kinder's niece, Robin Bobbins (Kim Cattrall) and her husband Dan (Peter MacNicol), who run an old-fashioned day care and child research center. Sly manages to escape the center and finds his way to a shopping mall during Christmas. While eluding Kinder's henchmen, Sly stumbles across Witt; Witt is promptly mistaken for Sly and taken away, while Sly goes to the day care center with his new mother. The two boys, who develop an empathic link, must find each other and free the children from the research center before Dr. Kinder can smuggle them out of the country. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
- 1996
This version of O. Henry's oft adapted comical short story stays close to the original and chronicles the chaos suffered by two vagrants who decide to kidnap a little boy who turns out to be such a terror that they must pay a ransom for his parents to take him back. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1995
When her little nephew visits her and her overbearing sisters, a rather naïve, simple-minded young woman finds herself inundated with terrifying memories of a childhood trauma. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
My Summer Story is the video title for It Runs in the Family. Based on the writings of humorist/raconteur Jean Shepherd, the film was the long-awaited sequel to the 1984 "sleeper" A Christmas Story. Set in the 1940s, the story is told from the point-of-view of Ralphie Parker (Kieran Culkin), who watches in bemusement as "The Old Man" (Charles Grodin) carries on a long-running feud with their hillbilly neighbors, the Bumpus family. Mary Steenburgen is cast as Ralphie's ditsy mom. Also appearing is yet another celebrity sibling, Christian Culkin. Jean Shepherd himself narrates, as he did in the earlier film, while the direction is in the hands of A Christmas Story's Bob Clark. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Grodin, Mary Steenburgen, (more)
- 1993
This made-for-cable version of Arthur Miller's play The American Clock was adapted for television by Frank Galati. Inspired partly by Studs Terkel's oral history Hard Times, and partly by Miller's own recollections, the film is set at the beginning of the Depression. When the stock market crashes, the well-to-do Baumler family (John Rubinstein, Mary McDonnell, Loren Dean) loses everything. The Baumlers are forced to move from their plush penthouse apartment to the less-attractive Brooklyn digs of Mrs. Baumler's sister (Joanna Miles). Twelve-year-old Lee Baumler (Dean), the Arthur Miller counterpart, hits the road to find out how others are coping with the Long National Nightmare. The alternately depressing and uplifting storyline moves along briskly to a surprisingly abrupt climax. Kelly Preston, David Strathairn, Eddie Bracken, Darren McGavin, and Estelle Parson co-star in The American Clock, which premiered over the TNT Cable Network on August 23, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this off-beat horror outing, a band of film students decide to scare up some cash by holding a film festival celebrating horror films from the '50s. Its all great fun until they discover that the projectionist is a homicidal maniac. Gory violence ensues as audience members begin dying in horrible ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jill Schoelen, Tom Villard, (more)
Loose Cannons may be a wacky buddy-cop comedy, but it starts with a chilling premise. It seems that a film is discovered that depicts the final moments of Adolf Hitler's life. The climax features young German officer Von Metz, who is seen putting Hitler to death. Von Metz (Robert Prosky) is now running for chancellor of West Germany. If this film gets out, his political career is finished, so Von Metz has arranged for the murder of anyone who has seen the film. The killings have taken place in the Washington area and Mac (Gene Hackman) and Ellis (Dan Aykroyd) are sent to investigate the crimes. Mac is a middle-aged veteran of the force, a professional who gets things done. But Ellis is a different ball of wax. Suffering from a multiple personality disorder, he has spent two years in a Benedictine monastery to recover from his problems. But he is far from cured -- as Mac discovers, whenever Ellis is confronted by violence, he blacks out and begins to assume the characters of popular culture icons like Popeye, Captain Kirk, and the Road Runner. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Dan Aykroyd, (more)
Director Bob Clark, whose previous cinematic endeavors ran the gamut from Porky's to A Christmas Story, called the shots on From the Hip. Fresh out of law school, Robin Weathers (Judd Nelson) is hired by a law firm not known for its ethics. Weathers' first client is a man who, up to trial time, was perfectly willing to cop a plea. Instead, the novice lawyer sharkishly secures a "not guilty" verdict--not to mention a public reputation as a live wire. His jealous older colleagues decide to get even with Weathers by assigning him a case that cannot possibly be won. Thus it is that Weathers is assigned to defend insufferable murder suspect Douglas Benoit (John Hurt), who refuses to cooperate with his attorney even though he's facing a death sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Perkins, John Hurt, (more)
Timothy Hutton stars in this rabble-rousing movie in the tradition of Rocky, directed by Bob Clark. Hutton plays Jimmy Lynch, the younger brother of New York City firefighter Terry (Robert Urich). Terry is off-duty and has been drinking but rescues a young girl for a dangerous fire. When he injures himself in the fire and is hospitalized, New York City refuses to pay for his medical expenses because he was intoxicated during the rescue. Incensed that Mayor Tyler (Robert Culp) refuses to look after his brother, Jimmy decides to take them all on and mounts a series of public stunts designed to embarrass the mayor. Along the way, Jimmy becomes a folk hero, since he hides his identity behind the signature "Turk 182!" Jimmy is now a celebrity and consents to sit down for a television interview to reveal his true identity. But when the television station fails to broadcast the interview due to political pressure, Jimmy takes it upon himself to stage one final elaborate stunt to make the public aware of Terry's plight. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Timothy Hutton, Robert Urich, (more)
- 1984
Never released theatrically, this undistinguished adventure story is about two women and a young boy who face off against drug traffickers and the evil Magda von Cress in a race to find a "Mayan Power Stone" somewhere in the Caribbean. The two women, who run a skin-diving shop, decide to investigate the kidnapping of a young boy and soon discover that he found some containers of narcotics meant to be sold to finance Magda von Cress' search for the legendary Mayan Stone. The magical stone has some vague connections to nuclear fusion, which in turn, has some vague connections to personal power. The women rescue the boy after a few failed attempts, and then the trio set off for the Caribbean to hunt down the Power Stone before it falls into Magda's nasty hands. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vickie Benson, Krista Richardson, (more)
After a big-time country singer (Dolly Parton) brags that she can turn anybody in to a country-singin' star, she's out to prove she can live up to her talk when she recruits a cab-driver (Sylvester Stallone) as a country singer. He's scheduled to sing at a big-time NYC country night club and Dolly puts her ample powers to work in preparing her protege. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Dolly Parton, (more)
Nine years after the Yuletide slasher flick Black Christmas, Porky's director Bob Clark once again took on the holiday genre, switching from gasps to laughs with A Christmas Story. Adapted from a memoir by humorist Jean Shepherd (who narrates), the film centers on Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), a young boy living in 1940s Indiana, desperately yearning for a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. Despite protests from his mother (Melinda Dillon) that he'll shoot his eye out, Ralphie persists, unsuccessfully trying to enlist the assistance of both his teacher and Santa Claus. All the while, Ralphie finds himself dealing with the constant taunts of a pair of bullies and trying to not get in the middle of a feud between his mother and father (Darren McGavin) regarding a sexy lamp. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, (more)
- 1983
- R
The real world once more takes a back seat to a caricature of itself as the same Florida high-school teens who grossed profits in Porky's by grossing out, have to band together to stop their Shakespeare festival (!!) from being cancelled, due to a crusading, right-wing reverend's attack on the bard's "lewd" content. The reverend is joined by Miss Balbricker(Nancy Parsons) the girls' gym teacher and also the Ku Klux Klan who object to Romeo being played by an Indian. These unlikely allies come up against the libido-laden teens who strip the Ku Klux Klanners and send them running through town naked. Similar styles of revenge are taken to handle Miss Balbrick and the right-wing reverend -- apparently all's well that ends well at the box office. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, (more)
Love it or loathe it (and there are a goodly number of people on either side), Porky's was one of the most successful comedies of its day, spawning two direct sequels and inspiring an incalculable number of lowbrow teen comedies, most recently including American Pie (1999). Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Billy (Mark Herrier), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), and Mickey (Roger Wilson) are four painfully horny high school kids growing up in South Florida in the 1950's. Desperate to rid themselves of their cumbersome virginity, they head out to a sleazy bar near the swamps called Porky's, where local legend has it that the owner will fix you up with a prostitute for a reasonable fee. After Porky takes their money and dumps them in the swamp, the guys vow to get revenge. Meanwhile, Pee Wee has to deal with his shrinking penis, someone drills a hole in the wall of the girl's shower, the guys encounter a prostitute named Cherry Forever, and anti-Semitism rears its ugly head. Cheerfully rude in a manner few mainstream films had achieved at that time, Porky's, for better or worse, changed the standard of what was acceptable in a screen comedy. Remarkably enough, two years later director Bob Clark made the holiday favorite A Christmas Story, which displayed his considerable range, if nothing else. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Jack Lemmon stars in an Academy Award-nominated performance as Scottie Templeton, a Broadway press agent dying of cancer, in Bernard Slade's film adaptation of his Broadway play (in which Lemmon originated the role). Divorced from his wife Maggie (Lee Remick), Scottie leads a happy-go-lucky life until he is informed by his doctor (Colleen Dewhurst) that he has contracted leukemia. She tells him that, without treatment, he will die. Scottie is unsure whether he wants to bother with the treatment, but he has some unfinished business with his son Jud (Robby Benson), a serious-minded person who scorns Scottie's job. As their relationship begins to improve, Scottie begins to reconsider his decision against the cancer treatments. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Robby Benson, (more)
The murders by the infamous British criminal, Jack the Ripper, catch the attention of Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer), but he does not receive the expected call from Scotland Yard because he is being purposefully excluded from the investigation. Instead, Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland), a psychic who volunteered information to the police about the murders, provides the Great Detective with the necessary incitement to action. As the murders proceed, it becomes clear to all concerned that it is more important to stop them than to announce their solution, and Holmes enters the fray with the help of his trusty aide, Dr. Watson (James Mason). The former mistress of a "prominent personage," Annie Crook (Genevieve Bujold), provides crucial information leading to a final confrontation on London's docks. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, James Mason, (more)
- 1979
Crooked car dealer Ace Parker (Jerry Rushinng) offers to sell the Duke boys a battered car with a really good engine (designed by "R. Petty"!) for a measly 200 bucks. All that Luke (Tom Wopat) and Bo (John Schneider) have to do in exchange is repossess a fancy Rolls Royce on behalf of Boss Hogg's wife Lulu (Peggy Rea, in her first series appearance). Trouble is, the Rolls is currently in the possession of a particulary nasty gang of counterfeiters! Ben Jones (Cooter Davenport) becomes a full fledged series regular in this episodes, which features in the guest-star roster Dukes of Hazzard's executive producer Rod Amateau, real-life former moonshiner Jerry Rushing, and onetime NFL defensive end Claude Humphrey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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