Ben Mittleman Movies
- 2008
Actor and filmmaker Ben Mittleman was about to turn fifty when his doctor gave him a disturbing diagnosis -- he was suffering from a cardiac condition that required open-heart surgery. The news opened the floodgates for Mittleman's fears and insecurities as he moved deeper into middle age, and he decided to keep a video diary to document his thoughts and feelings as the date with the surgeon approached. Before long, Mittleman had more than just his own health to worry about, as both his wife and his mother learned they were living with cancer, and Mittleman found he no longer had time for the luxury of introspective self-pity. Mittleman edited his diary footage and video he shot of his wife and mother's experiences in treatment into the documentary Dying To Live, a personal exploration of mortality and how the demands of maturity can make themselves known at nearly any age. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Feeling a bit wistful one afternoon, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) informs his radio listeners that he has not forged one strong male friendship since arriving in Seattle. As a result, a wheelchair-bound fellow named Bob (Griffin Dunne) comes forward, eager and willing to be Frasier's closest friend. At first delighted by this turn of events, Frasier has reason to regret his on-the-air plea for companionship when all-around nice guy Bob turns out to be a crashing bore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) eagerly anticipates a reunion with her high school sweetheart Mark, "the only man I ever loved." The gang at Cheers can't bring themselves to tell her how radically Mark has changed over the years (and since he is played by Harvey Fierstein, it should not be necessary to provide full details about his "transformation"). Meanwhile, Sam (Ted Danson) launches a support group with other people whose Corvettes have been stolen, and Kelly (Jackie Swanson) makes a bid to be one of "the guys." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Freewheeling Brian (Steven Weber) arranges a blind date between his uptight brother Joe (Tim Daly) and local girl Cindy (a pre-Will & Grace Megan Mullally). The problem is that Cindy has "known" (in the Biblical sense) virtually every adult male in Nantucket -- including Brian. This situation plays itself out in a riotous double date, from which both Joe and Brian emerge with battle scars aplenty! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
Deceptions, a made-for-cable below-average erotic thriller, tells the familiar story of a homicide cop who falls for a beautiful suspect. When wealthy socialite Adrienne (Nicollette Sheridan) kills her husband Douglas (Marshall Colt), she claims self-defense. Nick Gentry (Harry Hamlin), the cop assigned to the case is suspicious but becomes obsessed with the sensual young woman. There is little new here and director Ruben Preuss spends little time with plot or character development, depending on the audience's interest in the extremely attractive cast, including Hamlin and Sheridan who were married at the time. Both Hamlin and Sheridan give stilted, wooden performances and surprisingly generate very little heat in their love scenes. Deceptions is a remarkably predictable, non-erotic thriller with little to recommend it. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Nicollette Sheridan, (more)
Although many genre filmmakers have managed to blend horror and humor with great success, movies employing this formula often run the risk of both elements canceling each other out, resulting in a horror comedy that is neither scary nor funny. Alas, Dead Heat is a textbook example of this kind of failure. It details the weird misadventures of a pair of mismatched L.A. cops -- the straitlaced and by-the-book Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and wisecracking loose cannon Doug Bigelow (muscle-headed Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo). Their quest is to reach the heart of a sinister crime ring that employs indestructible undead henchmen. In a strange twist, their inept handling of the case results in both cops -- first Williams, then Piscopo -- being killed in action and subsequently reanimated in a secret laboratory managed by the barely seen Vincent Price (whose walk-on role is more entertaining than the combined performances of the two leads). The potential for "splatstick" comedy in the mode of Evil Dead 2 or Peter Jackson's Bad Taste is defeated by two major obstacles: first, the painfully unfunny mugging of Piscopo, who was unwisely allowed to ad-lib much of his performance; and second, the MPAA's trimming of several minutes from Steve Johnson's sensational makeup effects in order to avoid the dreaded X rating -- including a clever scene involving a zombie go-go girl played by Linnea Quigley. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, (more)
- 1988
In this made-for-HBO thriller, Pierce Brosnan stars as an ex-convict who seeks revenge on the racetrack partner (Tom Skerritt) who framed him. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierce Brosnan, Tom Skerritt, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
A clumsy hipster gets more than he bargained for when he mistakenly picks up a bag full of drug money instead of his clean laundry in this comedy. Interestingly the film features Olympic champions Greg Louganis and Carl Lewis in major roles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leigh McCloskey, Jeanne O'Brien, (more)
- 1986
John Ritter stars in this made-for-television comedy as a lonely philanderer who falls in love with a one-night-stand (Connie Sellecca) who is about to marry another man. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1986
A high-rise apartment is the murder scene where trendy Hollywood decorator Sheila Parker is found smothered to death. Though Sheila's estranged husband Alex (Ray Wise) is a prime suspect, he manages to avoid police scrutiny by wooing and winning the impressionable DeeDee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer). When the other major suspect, Sheila's boyfriend Dennis Stone (Kristoffer Tabori), also turns up murdered, McCall begins to wonder if Alex is playing her for a sucker. It falls to Hunter (Fred Dryer) to prove that the motive for murder had nothing to do with a romantic triangle--and everything to do with a particularly odious case of child molestation! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
Not long after he lost that "chicken run" to James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), actor Corey Allen switched professional gears to become a prolific film and TV director. Allen was responsible for putting television perennials James Brolin and Lisa Hartman through their paces in Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues. Brolin plays a Beverly Hills cop who teams up with a luscious female private eye from Texas (Hartman, of course). While Brolin prefers peace and quiet, Hartman insists upon rooting out the murderer of a debutante-turned-hooker. Since both stars were gainfully employed on other TV series when Beverly Hills Cowgirl Blues first aired on October 5, 1985, we hesitate to suggest that this film was the pilot for a potential series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this flat attempt at comedy by the director of the Police Academy series, Neal Israel, a brash Dana Cannon (John Murray, brother of Bill) lands in a crooked re-education school for delinquent drivers, run by Deputy Halik (James Keach, brother of Stacey). The objective is to lord it over the miscreant drivers sent to the school (wrongly given citations and tickets by cops out to fill a quota, according to opening sequences) and make some money in the bargain. Deputy Halik has already decided to flunk out anyone in his classes, with the objective of impounding their cars and then auctioning off the vehicles to the highest bidders. Dana, the irrepressible new student, manages to unite the other put-upon drivers at the school into a single, determined faction -- and trouble quickly brews. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Murray, Jennifer Tilly, (more)
- 1983
- R
After being kicked off the force, Stoney Cooper (Wings Hauser) turns private detective for special cases; one involves tracking down a serial killer noted for carving X's into the forehead of each woman he kills. While Cooper is on the case, he's harassed by an old job partner (Lincoln Kilpatrick) and his ex-wife (Joyce Ingalls). ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wings Hauser, Joyce Ingalls, (more)
Arthur Hiller directed this drama exploring the disintegration of an ideal marriage after the husband discovers he is gay. Kate Jackson is Claire, a successful television producer, and Michael Ontkean is her husband Zack, an equally successful doctor. They enjoy eight years of married bliss until homosexual writer Bart McGuire (Harry Hamlin) appears at Zack's office. As Zack gets to know Bart, he discovers he is attracted to him. He asks Bart out to dinner, one thing leads to another, and soon Zack announces to Claire that he wants to explore his new-found sexuality with Bart. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Ontkean, Kate Jackson, (more)
