Rob Garrison Movies

The greatness continues (or something like that) in this sequel to the racy comedy Hollywood Hot Tubs. Crystal Landers (Jewel Shepard) and her mother Pamela (Remy O'Neill) are still running their successful hot tub business, and Pamela sends Crystal to night school so she can get a degree in business. Jason (Patrick Day), one of her classmates, has mastered the art of talking, dressing, and acting like a yuppie, and he volunteers to rid Crystal of some of her Valley Girl affectations so she can move ahead in the business world. Pamela finds her heart is stolen away by Prince Ahmet (Bart Braverman), an Arab who has made a killing in the oil business, while the Prince's chauffeur, Gary (David Tiefen) has his eyes on Crystal. But Gary likes Crystal just enough to warn her that the Prince isn't all he seems to be, and he has plans to take over their hot tub business. Hollywood Hot Tubs 2: Educating Crystal also features the unforgettable closing theme "Educating Crystal Rap," performed by the memorably named hip-hop outfit Whitey Got No Soul. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A seat-of-the-pants militia attitude gets a boost from this conventional drama about the heroics of a teen son anxious to free his father from captivity in a small Middle Eastern nation. Doug's (Jason Gedrick) father is an Air Force pilot who was shot down on a mission near the border of an Arab country and is now held hostage. Failing adequate U.S. intervention causes a desperate Doug to enlist his school chums in a wild plan to essentially sneak away with two Air Force jets and take off on a mission to rescue his father. He convinces the veteran Chappy (Louis Gossett, Jr.) into flying one plane, while Doug himself flies another (he learned how to pilot from his father). Yes. If audiences believe all this, then the ending should come as no surprise either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

John Heard and Levon Helm play a couple of frizzy-haired leftovers from the sixties. Living by their wits in Spain, Heard and Helm get mixed up in an multimillion-dollar Moroccan drug deal. Their intentions are more honorable than they seem: at stake is the life of a kidnap victim. But as the story develops, the boys discover that they've been set up as fall guys by a smarmy gangster. Eluding the Law, Heard and Helm lay the groundwork for retribution. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fact-based drama starring Robert Redford as Henry Brubaker, the new inmate at a run-down Southern prison that's become notorious for corruption and violence. After he witnesses several instances of gross misconduct and defuses a tense confrontation with a crazed inmate (Morgan Freeman), Brubaker reveals to the guards and administrators that he's not a criminal at all, but the new warden, assigned by the governor to infiltrate the facility undercover. His identity confirmed, Brubaker takes office and sets about shaping up policies and procedures, despite resistance from, incredibly, even some of the more entitled convicts. With the help of the prison's chief trustee (Yaphet Kotto) and a compassionate ally (Jane Alexander), the warden effects some positive change, but powerful business interests line up against him when his ideas threaten their financial bottom line. A reform-minded, socially conscious, and politically liberal picture of the type usually associated with director Norman Jewison, this fact-based prison drama was the result of a troubled production that saw original director Bob Rafelson replaced with Cool Hand Luke (1967) and The Amityville Horror (1979) helmsman Stuart Rosenberg. Despite the backstage turmoil, Brubaker was an acclaimed release and an Oscar-nominated, career-finale triumph for co-screenwriter Arthur A. Ross, creator of Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954) and father of successful writer/director Gary Ross. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Schlockmeister Ted V. Mikels (The Corpse Grinders) produced this dreadful gross-out comedy featuring lots of bad actors consuming live worms onscreen. After the bouncy title rendition of "Nobody likes me/Everybody hates me/Guess I'll go eat worms," the viewer meets Herman Umgar (Herb Robins, who directed and scripted from Nancy Kapner's story), a worm-breeder with a club foot and a German accent. Umgar sneaks a worm-filled cake into a little girl's birthday party, causing the grossed-out guests to run around in sped-up comic style. Umgar's father was killed by his partner, the mayor's father, in 1939, but Umgar actually owns half the town and the mayor is determined to have the worm-breeder committed and take the town for himself. The first worm is eaten in a plate of spaghetti by a woman named Heidi, who turns into a half-worm mutant from the waist down for no apparent reason. Soon, Umgar has several mutants in a wire pen, gobbling like turkeys. The local lake turns red, and then three fishermen show up in Umgar's bedroom, explaining that they are part-worm and "live in peace under the red tide." They came to find mutant worm-women, and Umgar promises to make mates for them while attempting to maintain his land claim. By the time Umgar is force-fed a whole mouthful of worms and the mutants lead an attack on the mayor, the joke has worn off. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi