Toni Sawyer Movies
- 1997
Michael Nolan wrote and directed this erotic tale of Los Angeles gallery owner Joe (Kristoffer Tabori), who is married to Rita (Jane Kaczmarek) but courts prostitute-dominatrix Wendy (Jennifer Sommerfield). It's a situation which leads Rita to a therapist (Megan Cole), while Joe experiments with bondage and S&M, mainly just to please Wendy. Lou Rawls does a brief bit as a jazz singer, and the film's choreographer, Sara Costa, is seen performing at a New York strip club. Shown at the 1997 Hollywood Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristoffer Tabori, Jennifer Sommerfield, (more)
In My Life, Michael Keaton stars as Bob Jones, who has just been informed that his wife Gail (Nicole Kidman) is pregnant with their first child. However, he has also been told he has kidney cancer that has spread to his lungs; the longest Bob is expected to live is four months, which will deny him the joy of witnessing the birth of his child. Raging within, he visits a Chinese healer, Mr. Ho (Haing S. Ngor), who encourages him to let go of all the anger and fear he has kept trapped inside himself. Bob proceeds to videotape himself, on the advice of Mr. Ho, where Bob will talk to his unborn child and discuss what he has learned in life. In the process of the videotape sessions, Bob discovers that his anger resides in his past with his family, and Bob reveals secrets that he has kept hidden from himself and his wife through the years. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Nicole Kidman, (more)
In this made-for-TV drama, a New England family's secrets all come tumbling out at once as they spend a weekend together to celebrate the engagement of their youngest son. Lisa Carter (Bibi Besch) and her military husband, Phil (James B. Sikking), couldn't be happier when their youngest son, Matt (William McNamara), brings his rich bride-to-be, Allison (Lori Loughlin), home from Yale. Col. Carter views Matt as the perfect son, especially given the way his other children have turned out. Tim (Jim Carrey) has sunk into alcoholism after dropping out of college, while Karen (Jayne Brook) must support her husband, Tom (David Byron), a struggling art photographer who wants to start a family despite his father-in-law's financial misgivings. As Allison gets acquainted with the Carter clan and its dysfunctions, her fiancé's artfully constructed facade of perfection begins to crumble, ultimately threatening his family's reputation, his impending nuptials, and his very life. Doing Time on Maple Drive debuted March 16, 1992, as a "Fox Night at the Movies" feature on the Fox network; it was later nominated for several Emmy awards. Directed by thirtysomething star Ken Olin, the film features a number of additional television staples among its cast, from Loughlin, star of Full House, to Carrey, then best known as Fire Marshal Bill on In Living Color. Two additional TV personalities from the cast -- Hill Street Blues actor Sikking and Northern Exposure actress Besch -- both share the distinction of being Star Trek vets, Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Sikking in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James B. Sikking, Bibi Besch, (more)
- 1992
- R
This violent teen action film from Texan director Frederic P. Watkins concerns a shy young girl named Missy (Lisa-Gabrielle Green) leading a double life. In her spare time, the quiet student is a member of "The Sisterhood," a vigilante-type sorority which beats up other girls for various offenses such as drug use and prostitution. But Missy has a split personality thanks to an abusive childhood, and eventually begins murdering "sinners," proclaiming herself to be an avenging angel of God. This disappointing regional effort also contains the obligatory murder of a lesbian gym coach and an undercover police officer who wouldn't fool any real teenager. The fight scenes upon which the film rests are atrocious, featuring amateurish kickboxing and clumsily-staged fisticuffs which make Brutal Fury a cinematic ordeal for completists only. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Good thing they told us this Jury Duty: The Comedy; we might have thought it was Jury Duty: The Term Paper. This comedy salad features a whole slew of TV luminaries--Alan Thicke, Bill Kirchenbauer, Lynn Redgrave, Heather Locklear, Tracy Scoggin, Reginald VelJohnson etc.--playing judge, jury, defenders and prosecutors in an embezzlement case. The clue as to the film's sobriety level is the fact that Bronson Pinchot plays four roles: Sanford, Arthur Lloyd, Jorge Jimenez, and Magda. Highlights include a mid-trial pizza delivery, a faulty oxygen tank, and a kid holding up a "Hi Mom" sign for the benefit of the courtroom cameras. This dumb-but-lovable TV movie first aired January 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
On his 81st birthday, grandpa George Burns, bemoans the fact that he's wasted his life, and wishes he had it to do all over again. He gets his wish when he and his 18-year-old grandson Charles Schlatter are involved in an auto accident. When he awakens, Burns' personality has been transferred to Schlatter's body, and vice versa! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, Charlie Schlatter, (more)
- 1987
Gena Rowlands won an Emmy for her towering portrayal of former first lady Betty Ford. After surviving breast cancer, the feisty Ford earns the love and admiration of the entire country. This makes it all the harder for her to keep private her biggest personal battle -- against alcohol and prescription-drug addiction. Josef Sommer and Nan Woods co-star respectively as Gerald and Susan Ford in this sensitive but candid adaptation of Betty Ford's autobiography The Times of My Life. Made for television, The Betty Ford Story was first telecast on March 3, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gena Rowlands, Josef Sommer, (more)
- 1986
- R
Columbia Pictures spent as estimated $8 million dollars on this laughless sex comedy that crashes and burns before ever leaving the ground. Two bumbling boneheads who are kicked out of flying school decide to remain airborne by becoming stewardesses. Bathroom humor, sight gags, and the prerequisite nudity are the lowlights of this forgettable film. The only interest is the appearance of former Playboy bunny Yuliis Ruval. This dog makes Porky's seem like Shakespeare. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brett Cullen, Mary Cadorette, (more)
- 1986
Blue DeVille stars Jennifer Runyon as J.C. Swift, who never takes no for an answer. In search of her long-lost father, J.C. talks her yuppie chum Gus Valentine (Kimberly Pistone) into accompanying her on a Dos Passos-like journey across the continent. Their mode of transportation is a classic 1959 Cadillac DeVille, which they have finagled from a rich kid. En route, they pick up itinerant musician Ron Sandusky (Mark Thomas Miller), who has a hidden agenda of his own. Designed as the pilot for a weekly TV series, Blue de Ville premiered December 29, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This is the true story of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a personable young man suffering from "lionitis," a fatal disease which causes hideous facial disfigurement. The son of freewheeling biker Rusty Dennis (Cher), Rocky is accepted without question by his mom's boyfriends and cycle buddies, but treated with pity, condescension, and disgust by much of the outside world. The local high school principal tries to get Rocky classified as brain-damaged so he won't have to enroll the boy in his school, but Rusty fights for her son's rights with the ferocity of a mother lioness. Rocky makes friends easily both at school and at summer camp. He also falls in love with Diana (Laura Dern), a blind girl who cannot see his deformed countenance and is entranced by the boy's kindness and compassion. Now that he's got his own life in order, Rocky sets about to wean his chronically depressed mother from her drug habit. Mask is the sort of story that might have ending up wallowing in its own pathos had the acting, direction and scriptwriting (by Anna Hamilton Phelan) been anything less than very good. The film proved a much-needed financial success for director Peter Bogdanovich, though unfortunately it didn't come soon enough to stave off his declaring personal bankruptcy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cher, Sam Elliott, (more)
- 1985
The Cup A' Joe is a small family diner owned by Patty Dutton (Lisa Denton) and her parents. Secretly in league with crooked land developers, big-time restauranteur Cactus Jack Slater (John Ashton) is pressuring the Duttons to sell him their diner, using tactics ranging from unfair to lethal. The A-Team comes to the rescue by briefly taking over the Cup A' Joe themselves, with Murdock becoming a "different"chef (with different accent!) for each order. The climax involves a hidden bomb and an 18-wheeler that has miraculously returned from the dead! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Patsy Cline was one of the first great female stars of country music, and her best-known hits (such as "Sweet Dreams" and "Walking After Midnight") not only broadened the audience for country but brought a new sophistication to the Nashville sound. Cline was at the peak of her popularity when she died in a plane crash in 1963, and Sweet Dreams is a biopic which examines her life and career, with a particular focus on her troubled relationship with her second husband, Charlie Dick. Cline (played by Jessica Lange) is unhappily married and playing small-time gigs in West Virginia when she meets Dick (Ed Harris), whose charm and aggressive self-confidence catch her attention. In time, Cline leaves her husband to marry Dick, and she gives up music to focus on raising their children. But after Dick goes into the Army, Cline begins singing again, and after joining forces with manager Randy Hughes (David Clennon), Cline becomes a rising star on the country music scene. However, Cline's success fuels her self-confidence, much to Dick's annoyance, and he becomes increasingly abusive (both physically and emotionally) as she attempts to assert her independence. Rather than attempt to re-create Patsy Cline's vocals, Jessica Lange instead opted to lip-synch with Cline's original recordings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, (more)
- 1983
Prolific voiceover actor Danny Cooksey appears in this episode as Terry Lee, a dewey-eyed orphan who is anxious to spring a stray basset hound from the local dog pound. The Dukes come to Terry's aid, little realizing that the hound is actually quite valuable, and in fact had previously been kidnapped from a high-class dog show run by John J. Hooper (Joe Dorsey). The plot thickens when the kidnappers mistake the Dukes' own dog Flash for the prize pooch! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Dick Van Dyke is the Drop-Out Father in this lighthearted TV movie. A successful but unsatisfied insurance executive, Van Dyke decides one day to kick over the traces. As his wife (Mariette Hartley) and family listen in fascinated horror, our hero announces his plans to move from the suburbs to a Manhattan loft, there to "find himself." With the exception of his loyal youngest daughter, Van Dyke's family elects to stay put, permitting him to carve out a new life on his own. Peter Matz won an Emmy nomination for his sprightly musical score. Originally telecast September 17, 1982, Drop-Out Father was followed in 1988 by a made-for-TV sequel, innovatively titled Drop-Out Mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
