Roydon E. Clark Movies

Despite his status as a major action star, Sylvester Stallone has made a number of attempts to remodel himself as a comic actor; one of his more infamous efforts in this direction was Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot!. Police detective Joe Bromowski (Sylvester Stallone) has just broken off his relationship with his girlfriend (and fellow police officer) Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams), so Joe's mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) decides it's time to pay him a visit. Tutti proceeds to make Joe's life miserable by nagging him about his clothes, cleaning his apartment, washing his gun, tagging along on investigations, and somehow getting involved with a gun-running organization that the police have been trying to infiltrate. After this film, Stallone would stay away from comedy until 1997, when he played a cameo in another unenthusiastically received film, An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Elmore Leonard's brittle novel is brought to the screen in this adaptation by director Abel Ferrara and screenwriter James Borrelli. Peter Weller plays George Moran, a Miami hotel owner who in times past fought in Santo Domingo during the American intervention into that country. George finds himself drawn back to Santo Domingo to try to find a woman who had given him the moniker of Cat Chaser. Instead of the woman he is looking for, George finds Mary (Kelly McGillis), and as it comes to all men, George ends up having a passionate affair with Mary -- so passionate, in fact, that Mary announces to her husband Andres (Tomas Milian) that their marriage is over. Unfortunately for Mary and George, Andres, who at one point in the past was the head of the Santo Domingo secret police, has other ideas concerning the dissolution of their marriage. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this vaguely allegorical science fiction-crime film, a Los Angeles cop tries to solve the murder of his best friend with the help of his new partner -- a member of a star-faring alien race. In the near-future world of Alien Nation, the "Newcomers" are a race of formerly enslaved humanoids seeking refuge and integration into Earth society. These unusual immigrants face anger and resentment from some humans, including Matthew Sykes (James Caan), a cop whose partner, Tug (Roger Aaron Brown), was killed in a shoot-out with several Newcomers. In order to get some insight into Newcomer society and track down the "slags" who killed Tug, Sykes volunteers to take on a new partner,Sam "George" Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first alien ever promoted to the rank of detective. As Sykes tries to overcome his bigotry against George and his kind, who eat raw beaver and get drunk on spoiled milk, the friendly, helpful George soon learns the identity of Tug's killer: William Harcort (Terrence Stamp), a pillar of Newcomer society who is secretly manufacturing the same powerful narcotic that was used to enslave his race. It's up to Sykes and George to stop Harcort before he turns his fellow Newcomers into drooling addicts and pulls the skeletons out of his race's closet for all of humankind to see. Omen 3 director Graham Baker made his screenwriting debut with Alien Nation, as did co-writer Rockne S. O'Bannon. Kenneth Johnson, creator of the miniseries V, would adapt Alien Nation into a weekly television show in 1989 and several made-for-TV movies in the mid-'90s. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

High-priced hooker Barbra Streisand has been arrested for the murder of one of her clients. The attorney engaged by Streisand's parents hope to cop an insanity plea so that she can avoid a trial and manslaughter conviction. But she refuses this, citing a proviso in New York law that may result in her spending the rest of her life in an institution. Against all odds, struggling lawyer Richard Dreyfuss tries to prove that Streisand is not crazy and capable of standing trial. Dreyfuss certainly has his work cut out for him: from what we've seen in the film thus far, the violently impulsive Streisand is not only "nuts," but certifiably so. Though she has plenty of opportunity in Nuts to give out with her usual bravura Streisandisms, Streisand (who also produced the film and wrote the songs) is surprisingly restrained through most of the proceedings. And then there's that extended-monologue climax. Nuts was adapted by Tom Topor, Darryl Ponicsan and Alvin Sargent from Topor's stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Magnum (Tom Selleck) is contacted by legendary French detective Jean Claude Fornier (Paul Verdier), whose exploits have served as inspiration for several of Robin Masters' novels. M. Fornier needs Magnum's help to locate a missing heir, or so he claims. The two detectives' investigation ultimately leads to a drug-trafficking ring--and, possibly, to an early grave for Assistant DA Carol Baldwin (Kathleen Lloyd), who idolizes Fornier. The episode's high point is Tom Selleck's ear-shattering rendition of "Misty" in a karaoke bar! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this routine story for a teen audience, Beckman (Judge Reinhold) is a buttoned-down, upwardly-mobile type suddenly stranded in a small Arizona town when his car damaged by local youths. It is Labor Day weekend when Beckman and Johnny (Willem Dafoe), the streetwise hitchhiker who has with him, are stranded in Bowman, Arizona waiting for their radiator to be fixed -- it was shot through by the vandals. While there, the two men play some pool, meet some attractive women, and learn from each other so that when the time comes to enter the big annual drag race, they are ready to even the score with the guys who killed off the radiator. Even for teens, this may be too dull -- except for Reinhold's interpretation and the many rock songs that jazz up the soundtrack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The year is 1997. Manhattan Island is now a heavily guarded maximum-security prison, where the scum of the earth have converged. When Air Force One crash-lands in Manhattan, the president (Donald Pleasence) is held hostage by its denizens. One-eyed mercenary Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is strong-armed into rescuing the chief executive. He is aided, not always willingly, by a tough gal (Adrienne Barbeau) and a manic cab driver (Ernest Borgnine). Escape from New York was followed by a sequel of sorts in 1996, Escape From L.A., again starring Kurt Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this musical showcase, some of country music's biggest stars sing their favorite hits. Performers include Glen Campbell, Roger Miller, Roy Clark and Tex Ritter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this Western, a rancher must perform a robbery lest the outlaw chief that holds his wounded brother hostage lets him die. The rancher does the job, then escapes to Mexico with his girl. En route, they marry. They soon find a cabin in the middle of Indian country. The Apaches had killed all the occupants, save for one baby. The couple begins raising the child. Soon the posse arrives to take the rancher back. He is charged with a murder that occurred during the heist. Later they realize that he is innocent and they protect him from another Apache attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A mayoral candidate is booted out of town after he is gulled into a gunfight and kills his rival. This western chronicles his adventures as an outlaw. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Will Ballard (Rod Cameron) is the longtime foreman of the Hatcher ranch, a spread renowned for its size and the wealth it contains. When owner Phil Evarts dies suddenly, the speculation in the territory is that Hatcher will be broken up, especially since it was Evarts' determination coupled with Ballard's skills as a foreman and gunman that held it together -- but Ballard decides that the ranch is worth saving, even though the only help he really has is one top hand (Chill Wills, in a beautifully restrained performance) and a couple of young brothers (Al Caudebec, Roydon Clark) picked up on the trail. He figures it's worth saving for what it is, and also for Evarts' daughter, Celia (Ella Raines), who is engaged to marry neighboring rancher Sam Danfelser (Forrest Tucker). Ballard and Sam were once friends, but as the foreman discovers, there's been bad blood brewing on the other side of the friendship for a long time, mostly out of Sam's jealousy -- not only is Ballard a better rider and a better gun, but he's a better man than he is, and he can't abide the fact that Celia knows this deep in her heart, even though she and Sam are engaged. Then there's Bide Marriner (Brian Donlevy), a local "operator" who'd love to get a range war started and grab up some land and cattle, and immediately uses friends and intermediaries, plus a few hired guns, to start spreading the word, convincing the neighboring ranchers that Hatcher land is free and open. And then there's Lottie Priest, whom Ballard figured to marry soon -- is she more interested in what her greedy father can make from the breakup of Hatcher? Caught in the middle of it all is the county sheriff, Joe Kneen (J. Carrol Naish), who'd like to stay civil with all of those involved but soon finds out that he's going to have to choose sides, and that he's too good a man for that to be the "easy" choice. There's a lot of back-shooting in Ride the Man Down, as well as some brilliantly and cleverly designed action sequences, and a level of duplicity in the characters that makes this picture play at time almost more like a film noir of the period. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide