Keith Coogan

Seeing that his close friend's business is in dire need of financial help, a daring ski nut enters a challenging downhill race in hopes of winning the prize money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a basketball fan figures she could be a better coach than the guy getting paid millions to do the job -- and then gets the chance to prove it. Edwina "Eddie" Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg) is a limousine dispatcher and sometime driver who is a passionate New York Knicks fan; she loyally follows their every move, attending as many home games as possible from the cheap seats and radioing game updates to her drivers when they play during her working hours. The Knicks are purchased by eccentric Southern millionaire Wild Bill Burgess (Frank Langella) in the middle of a long losing streak; when Wild Bill calls for a limo, Eddie arranges to drive him herself, and gives him a piece of her mind about the sad state of the team. Impressed, Wild Bill makes Eddie an honorary coach for the night, and her spitfire attitude and encouragement of the players impresses her. However, Wild Bill thinks putting on a show to boost attendance is more important than having a winning team, and eventually Knicks coach Bailey (Dennis Farina) quits in disgust. Wild Bill gets the bright idea of hiring Eddie as the team's new head coach; she considers it an honor, and at only $50,000 a year, he considers it a bargain. While Eddie is hardly an experienced leader, she soon learns how to motivate her team, and against all odds she helps pull the Knicks out of their losing streak -- but now has to face Wild Bill, who is losing interest in the team and wants to sell. Several real-life NBA stars make cameo appearances, including Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Rick Fox, and Mark Jackson, while prominent New Yorkers David Letterman and Donald Trump play themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Comedian Pauly Shore goes to boot camp in this comedy adventure set in Chad. It was filmed on location in the California and Arizona deserts. Shore is cast as Bones, a dreamer who wants to open his own stereo shop with his best friend Jack. To earn the cash, Bones talks Jack into joining the Army reserves. In boot camp, they are trained as water purifiers. While in camp, they meet the feisty Christine who takes no guff from men and Fred who is afraid of everything. The foursome are called to active duty and positioned in the deserts of Chad. Through a great mix up, they find themselves driving a water tanker behind Libyan enemy lines. There they must extricate themselves and eventually save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Forever: A Ghost of a Love Story was inspired by the unsolved murder of movie director William Desmond Taylor in 1922. High-living music video director Keith Coogan moves into a crumbling Hollywood mansion. Here he is visited by a friendly and very beautiful wraith (Sean Young), who turns out to be the ghost of long-ago screen star Mary Miles Minter, the late Mr. Taylor's lover. Coogan's ectoplasmic romance is complicated by his sexually aggressive--and very much alive--female agent (Sally Kirkland). The film's in-the-know screenplay manages to conjure up the ghosts of silent movie favorites Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Wallace Reid, all of whom, like Minter and Taylor, were destroyed under spectacularly scandalous circumstances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Christina Applegate stars in this convoluted comedy that comes across as a teen fantasy combination of Home Alone and Working Girl. The premise is all in the title -- when the mother (Concetta Tomei) of a sniveling group of surly kids goes on a much-deserved summer vacation, she leaves her kids under the charge of an elderly distaff granny (Eda Reiss Merin). When granny ups and dies, the kids load her dead body in a trunk and deposit the package on the steps of the local funeral home. The kids are ecstatic thinking that with the big wad of cash Mom has left, they can have a summer of consumer madness. But when they find out that the money has been buried with the baby-sitter, the kids have to fend for themselves to make ends meet. Dream teen Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) tries working at a fast food restaurant but she can't stand the grease. So, she puts together a false resume and, posing as a twenty-eight-year old, she applies for a job as a receptionist at a garment manufacturing company. The company vice president, Rose (Joanna Cassidy), is so impressed by her resume that she hires her on the spot as her executive assistant. Her deception looks to be working out great -- Sue Ellen manages to hold off the office lady killer Gus (John Getz), avoids exposure by the embittered receptionist, borrows money from the company's petty cash box for household incidentals, and continues her relationship with restaurant employee Bryan (Josh Charles). But suddenly, the clothing firm is set to go under, and Sue Ellen must use her teen fashion sense to save the company and her job . . . and she has to get the rest of the brood involved. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, two people brought together by marriage are brought even closer by their mates. Maria Hardy (Isabella Rossellini) and Larry Konzinski (Ted Danson) first meet at a wedding, where Maria's mother and Larry's uncle are tying the knot. However, the new cousins also have something else in common: Maria's husband Tom (William L. Petersen) is having an affair with Larry's wife, Tish (Sean Young). Maria and Larry get to talking at the wedding reception after their spouses go missing for a while, and they develop a rapport. A friendship grows between them, and they start seeing each other on a regular basis. When Maria confronts Tom about his infidelity, he responds by asking her if she's sleeping with Larry. As Maria and Larry become aware of what's happening between their not-so-better halves, they decide to get revenge by pretending to have an affair as well. However, the longer they pretend to be in love, the more they realize that they aren't pretending after all. Cousins was based on the popular French film Cousin Cousine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Spooner stars Robert Urich as a forger, recently escaped from prison. Urich cooks up a phony resume and assumes the identity of a high-school teacher. He becomes the wrestling coach for a group of misfit kids with the lowest of low self esteem. In urging the kids not to give up, Urich's eyes are opened to the possibility of his turning his own life around. Jane Kaczmarek and Brent Fraser costar in Spooner, which premiered over the Disney Channel cable service on December 2, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Teenager Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) would rather party with her boyfriend, but when her beau breaks their date she reluctantly accepts a babysitting job. It isn't all TV and icebox-raiding when Chris' best friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) calls her to announce that she's stranded at the bus station. With her youthful charges in tow (one of whom, 15-year-old Brad (Keith Coogan), has a hopeless crush on the babysitter), Chris heads into downtown Chicago to go to Brenda's rescue. Thus begins a roller coaster ride of comic mishaps, unexpected perils and hairbreadth escapes. IN one bit, blues singer Albert Collins refuses to allow Chris and company to leave the nightclub they've wandered into until they agree to sing along with a song borrowed from, of all things the 1939 B-picture Nancy Drew, Reporter! . Screenwriter and Steven Spielberg protégé Chris Columbus made his directorial debut with Adventures in Babysitting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide