Sam Sanders Movies
- 1996
Greene (Anthony Edwards), Weaver (Laura Innes), and Doyle (Jorja Fox) argue over the treatment of a drunken woman who tried to kill her unborn child. Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) is surprised by the benign attitude of Al (Michael Beach) after he serves her divorce papers. And Lydia's (Ellen Crawford) marriage is over before it begins. This episode introduces Kirsten Dunst as Charlie, a teenaged dope addict -- and also (for the time being) bids farewell to Sherry Stringfield as Susan Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Blink, a woman regaining her eyesight after a double cornea transplant operation glimpses the killer of her upstairs neighbor and then must fight for her life as the killer stalks her. Emma Brody (Madeline Stowe), a musician in an Irish folk-rock band was blinded as a result of childhood abuse by her mother. Her doctor, Ryan Pierce (Peter Friedman) performs an operation to restore her vision, but soon Emma is suffering from retroactive hallucinations in which she sees things that have happened hours, or even days, before. As she was the only witness to the murder, her credibility soon comes into question, but she is believed by Detective Hallstrom (Aidan Quinn) who has been tracking what he believes to be a serial killer. Hallstrom also believes that Emma may hold the key to the murderer's motives. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, (more)
A purposely outlandish cartoon created in 1953, Harvey Comics hero Richie Rich finally came to the big screen in 1994, when a boy billionaire was not quite as fanciful an idea. Richie Rich (Macaulay Culkin) is the wealthiest boy in the world, but even though he loves his doting parents, Richard (Edward Herrmann) and Regina (Christine Ebersole), he's not happy. Richie wants to play baseball with some neighborhood kids, but his parents instead hire Reggie Jackson to coach him. He wants to go out and play, but instead he gets aerobics training from Claudia Schiffer. When his parents disappear in the Bermuda Triangle, Richie suspects that Laurence Van Dogh (John Larroquette), an employee of Rich Industries, of plotting to take over the company by killing his mom and dad. With trusty butler Cadbury (Jonathan Hyde), eccentric inventor Prof. Keenbean (Michael McShane) and some new friends his own age, Richie puts a plan together to foil Van Dogh's wicked scheme and rescue his parents. Having grown to the point where he was no longer believable in the little kid parts that once made him America's top child star, Culkin took an extended break from acting after the filming of Richie Rich. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Macaulay Culkin, John Larroquette, (more)
Rookie of the Year is a light-hearted comedy about a 12-year-old baseball fan who, despite his love for the sport, can't play the game at all. During one Little League contest, he breaks his arm. After it heals, it miraculously becomes a super-human arm that can out-pitch any player in the major leagues. The boy joins the Chicago Cubs and helps lead them to the World Series. Though the plot is silly and contrived, it's a pleasant film that is ideal for young sports fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Busey, Thomas Ian Nicholas, (more)
Martial arts hero Thomas Ian Griffith wrote, produced, and starred in this action thriller. Terry McCain (Griffith) is a Chicago police officer who is bent on revenge after his partners are killed by Mafia gunmen. McCain knows that he won't be able to get the justice he demands within the system, so he persuades his boss, Devlin (Lance Henriksen), to keep him off the list of suspects after he kills mob kingpin Sal DiMarco (Burt Young). McCain changes his mind about killing the crime boss, but someone else with a grudge guns down DiMarco instead; however, when he tries to meet with Devlin to explain what's happened, he's met by a squad of killers. McCain learns that his partner Frankie (Tony Todd) is actually still alive and was in cahoots with Devlin to steal $3 million in drug money away from DiMarco, a deal scotched by McCain's desire for revenge. The supporting cast includes James Earl Jones and Charlotte Lewis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Ian Griffith, Lance Henriksen, (more)
- 1990
Based on a true events, this is the story of Charles Stuart, who claimed that a robber had shot him and killed his pregnant wife. Needless to say, the investigation started turning up some pieces that just didn't fit into this puzzle. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Olin, Margaret Colin, (more)
- 1990
This made-for-TV drama--Sammy Davis, Jr.'s last--stars Trent Cameron as a young orphan who must fight against social workers in order to remain with his adoptive father, a widowed jazzman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
When a washed-up boxer (Roger Daltrey) invites a British priest (Dennis Waterman) to minister in his South Chicago neighborhood, he never suspects that the priest is not who he says he is. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Director Martin Brest, of Going in Style and Beverly Hills Cop fame, was in charge of Midnight Run. Robert De Niro stars as Jack Walsh, a hard-bitten bounty hunter offered $100,000 to bring in embezzler Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin). Handcuffed to the wimpy Mardukas, Walsh assumes that the extradition trip from New York to Los Angeles will be an uneventful one. But the prisoner hasn't told Walsh the whole story: the embezzler owes $15 million to a mobster (Dennis Farina), and he's been targeted for assassination. It's a toss-up as to what is the most entertaining aspect of Midnight Run: the slam-bang action and chase sequences or the verbal byplay between DeNiro and Grodin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Charles Grodin, (more)
- 1988
- PG13
Evil spirits follow a young girl from the suburbs to the city in the second follow-up to the blockbuster horror film Poltergeist. Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O'Rourke) is now 12 years old and living with Patricia and Bruce Gardner (Nancy Allen and Tom Skerritt), her aunt and uncle, in a high-rise apartment building in downtown Chicago. Carol Anne attends a school for gifted children, where the staff psychologist Dr. Seaton (Richard Fine) attributes her past troubles with noisy ghosts to mass delusions and hypnotic suggestions. However, Carol Anne isn't so sure that the explanation is that simple, especially since she still sees threatening apparitions in the mirrors of her apartment. Particularly troubling is the ghost of the wicked Reverend Kane (Nathan Davis), who is eager for Carol Anne to join him and his followers in the unknown world on the other side of the light. Sadly, Heather O'Rourke died due to surgical complications resulting from an intestinal blockage several months before Poltergeist III was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Nancy Allen, (more)
