Jack McDermott Movies
Cocoon 2: The Return, like most sequels, relies a bit too heavily on one's familiarity with the first film. Without dwelling too long on Cocoon #1, we can observe that it ended with a group of senior citizens heading for the distant planet of Antarea, hoping to find a new, rewarding and elongated life. Cocoon 2 picks up the action five years later: The Antareans return to earth to check on the damage caused to their life-regenerating cocoons by earthquakes. Coming along for the ride are the elderly couples whom we met in the first film. Also carried over from the first Cocoon are young ferryboat captain Steve Guttenberg and gorgeous Antarean Tahnee Welch, who resume their interplanetary romance. Oldster Jack Gilford, whose beloved wife died in Cocoon, likewise finds romance in the form of Elaine Stritch. A secondary plot involves an insidious secret government plan to exploit the Antareans, which is foiled by sympathetic researcher Courteney Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, (more)
- 1986
While we're tempted to label the TV-movie Sin of Innocence as Brady Bunch: The Lost Episode, the film transcends all kidding with its intelligent, tasteful approach to its story material. Dermot Mulroney plays a teenager whose widowed father (Bill Bixby) marries a divorcee (Dee Wallace Stone). Suddenly Mulroney inherits a stepsister (Megan Follows), a girl his own age. What should have been an uncomplicated setup becomes problematic when stepbrother and stepsister fall in love with each other. Sin of Innocence comes to a logical and satisfying conclusion with the two young people solving the dilemma themselves, without the self-serving "assistance" of their anguished parents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
Jerry Lewis' first film in a decade stars the comedian as Bo Hooper, an unemployed circus clown who cannot hold down a job. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Lewis, Susan Oliver, (more)
This low-budget horror film about teenagers trapped in a carnival funhouse with a freakish monster is pretty standard stuff. Director Tobe Hooper manages a few shocks and includes some typically peculiar supporting characters, but this film is less entertaining than either of his previous excursions into such territory. Not as scary as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) nor as bizarre as Eaten Alive (1976), The Funhouse may as well have been directed by an anonymous hack as one of the foremost names in the genre. The movie tie-in novel, penned by Dean R. Koontz under the pseudonym "Owen West," is actually far more frightening than the film on which it was based. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Berridge, Cooper Huckabee, (more)
Dave Speed is no ordinary Miami cop--he is an irradiated Miami cop who has developed super powers. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite know how to use them and this gets him in trouble with his long-suffering partner. The film was also known as Supersnooper. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Hill, Ernest Borgnine, (more)
In this legal drama from director Sydney Pollack, Sally Field stars as Megan, an ambitious newpaper reporter who, based on information from FBI investigator Rosen, played by Bob Balaban, writes a scathing article that implicates Gallagher, a reclusive business-owner played by Paul Newman, in the recent disappearance of a labor leader. When Gallagher confronts Megan and sets her straight, the two team together to prove his innocence and have a few romantic interludes along the way. Wilford Brimley and Melinda Dillon also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Sally Field, (more)
The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear-powered aircraft carrier captained by Kirk Douglas, passes through a time warp and finds itself at Pearl Harbor on December 6, 1941. Douglas is all for preventing the infamous Japanese attack by unleashing the 1980s technology at his disposal. But wait--if history is inviolate, what will happen to future events if the attack doesn't come off? For nearly two hours, pros and cons are volleyed back and forth by Douglas, by ambitious senator Charles Durning, and by concerned observer Martin Sheen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, (more)
- 1979
- PG
An airline pilot wages a desperate battle against the alcoholism that is destroying his life and risking the lives of others in this drama. The film is also known as Danger in the Skies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Ira Allen plays St. Patrick in this elaborate retelling of Irish history. Yes, Patrick drives the snakes out of the Auld Sod, and yes, he brings Christianity to the populace. The film treats the various miracles attributed to St. Patrick in a straightforward fashion; if you choose not to believe, that's your problem. Producer/director spared no expense in bringing this story to the screen, and the effort paid off superbly at the box office. The screenplay for In the Days of Saint Patrick is credited to a "Mr. McGuinness." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
