Darcy Shean Movies
When the weight of rejection begins to set in after being denied entry to every college he has applied to, a high school burnout attempts to placate his mom and dad and win the heart of his dream girl by scheming with his friends to create a fake university in a hilarious comedy of artificial education directed by Steve Pink and starring Justin Long. Bartleby "B" Gaines (Long) is a high school senior whose street smarts just never seemed to translate into the classroom, and whose bad luck in love has left him pining for the unattainable Monica (Blake Lively). When Bartleby and his rebellious crew of outcasts find the frequent college rejection letters they have all been receiving bringing endless grief from their disappointed parents, they soon band together to create the fictional South Harmon Institute of Technology. After creating a believable façade in an abandoned psychiatric hospital, employing the talents of a close friend's brilliantly subversive uncle (Lewis Black) to pose as the dean, and creating a phony website in order to sell the school to their parents, Bartleby and friends soon realize that all of their hard work has paid off in ways than they never imagined. With a variety of college rejects attempting to enroll in classes at the ersatz university and the skepticism of some privileged students from a nearby college drawing unwanted attention to the South Harmon Institute of Technology, Bartleby and friends find their ruse becoming ever more difficult to maintain. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justin Long, Jonah Hill, (more)
- 1991
Lonely Hearts is a modern film noir in which a lonely woman meets and falls for a man whom she refuses to let go. Alma (Beverly D'Angelo) is a wallflower who lives with her mother and works at a Social Security office. In her desperation to make some sort of social life for herself, she answers a personal ad and meets Frank (Eric Roberts) with whom she falls in love. Frank turns out to be a con man and a swindler, but Alma is obsessed with him. She begins to help him by posing as his sister while he cons other women, until she and Frank are forced to flee when one of the victims hires a private detective. Beverly D'Angelo plays Alma with the perfect mixture of both predator and victim and director Andrew Lane understands and directs his actors well, making Lonely Hearts a very well-thought-out and executed thriller despite a somewhat languid pacing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beverly D'Angelo, Eric Roberts, (more)
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)
- 1985
- R
In a thought-provoking treatment of the deep-rooted turmoil of war veterans, debut director (David Nutter) has fashioned a fast-paced story about Vietnam vet Tim Murphy (Don Johnson) and his struggle to regain both self-respect and emotional equilibrium. Tim suffers from nightmares, and there is nothing his loyal wife Paula (Lisa Blount) can do to prevent them, nor can she do much to help him get a job. She is hampered even further by Tim's bad temper -- he flies off the handle at friends and family alike. One day, Tim meets a fellow Vietnam vet in the unemployment line, and the two quickly become good friends. When tragedy later strikes, Tim faces an important decision about his future on his own. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Johnson, Lisa Blount, (more)
A disturbed man descends into an inferno of madness in this thriller. Donald Kohler (Dan Grimaldi) was raised by an abusive mother who frequently punished him by thrusting his arms into open flame. As an adult, Kohler has developed a malign obsession with fire and works at a garbage incineration plant while still living at his mother's house. One night, Kohler returns home to discover his mother has died, but after a brief moment of freedom he begins hearing her voice commanding him to punish women who might tempt her errant son. Kohler builds a fireproof room in the house and starts luring women he meets at random to his home, where they're burned alive by the disturbed pyromaniac. Bobby (Robert Osth), one of his few friends at work, tries to help bring Kohler out of his shell and even fixes him up with a date, but an evening at a disco takes an ugly turn, revealing Kohler's deadly obsession. Don't Go In The House was the first film role for Dan Grimaldi, who later went on to play Patsy Parisi on the HBO series The Sopranos. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Grimaldi, Robert Osth, (more)
