Edgar Small Movies

Once Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) buys an expensive Wizard organizer for his dad, he finds himself trapped in a vicious cycle. Kramer (Michael Richards) figures he'll never have to work again after a Hollywood producer options his coffee-table book...about coffee tables. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is involved in an interracial romance -- but is she the "different" race, or is he? And George (Jason Alexander) resorts to a lie (notify the media!) to get out of a commitment to the Susan Ross Foundation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally made for television, this prison drama centers on a hard-core convict who for the past decade has been the king of the other prisoners. Just before he is to be paroled, a young inmate challenges him. This creates considerable tension until he learns that he and the youth are related by more than mere circumstance. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The made-for-cable satirical comedy Running Mates is about a bachelor U.S. Senator named Hugh (Ed Harris), who falls in love with Aggie (Diane Keaton), a widowed children's author, while he is running for president. Though she hates politics, she finds something charming in the slick Hugh and agrees to marry him. Unfortunately, the press finds something suspicious within Aggie's past, and it could sink his campaign. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

At times, Another 48 Hrs. seems less like a sequel to than a parody of the first 48 Hrs., especially when Nick Nolte, repeating his role from the earlier film, begins commenting on the cliched absurdity of the goings on. This time, Nolte risks life, limb and career as he obsessively tries to bring an elusive master criminal known as "The Iceman" to justice. Eddie Murphy, who stole the show in the first 48 Hrs. as the wheeler-dealer convict who becomes Nolte's reluctant partner, is brought into the plotline of the second film when a contract is taken out on his life. The adversarial relationship between Nolte and Murphy, supposedly dissipated by the end of the first film, is revivified in the sequel via a couple of plot devices. Still, Murphy rallies to the occasion, in the process saving Nolte from being thrown off the force. Though not as successful as the first film, Another 48 Hrs. proved that there were still enough Eddie Murphy fans around in 1990 to insure a strong box-office showing. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this vaguely allegorical science fiction-crime film, a Los Angeles cop tries to solve the murder of his best friend with the help of his new partner -- a member of a star-faring alien race. In the near-future world of Alien Nation, the "Newcomers" are a race of formerly enslaved humanoids seeking refuge and integration into Earth society. These unusual immigrants face anger and resentment from some humans, including Matthew Sykes (James Caan), a cop whose partner, Tug (Roger Aaron Brown), was killed in a shoot-out with several Newcomers. In order to get some insight into Newcomer society and track down the "slags" who killed Tug, Sykes volunteers to take on a new partner, Sam "George" Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first alien ever promoted to the rank of detective. As Sykes tries to overcome his bigotry against George and his kind, who eat raw beaver and get drunk on spoiled milk, the friendly, helpful George soon learns the identity of Tug's killer: William Harcort (Terence Stamp), a pillar of Newcomer society who is secretly manufacturing the same powerful narcotic that was used to enslave his race. It's up to Sykes and George to stop Harcort before he turns his fellow Newcomers into drooling addicts and pulls the skeletons out of his race's closet for all of humankind to see. Omen 3 director Graham Baker made his screenwriting debut with Alien Nation, as did co-writer Rockne S. O'Bannon. Kenneth Johnson, creator of the miniseries V, would adapt Alien Nation into a weekly television show in 1989 and several made-for-TV movies in the mid-'90s. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Ex-football player Carl Weathers stars in this violent action film as Detroit policeman Jericho Jackson. The dedicated but brutal cop is plunged into nefarious doings concerning a crooked industrialist (Craig T. Nelson) and his drug-addicted girlfriend (pop-singer Vanity), breaking many people's bones before solving the case. Sharon Stone stands out in a cast of genre veterans including Nicholas Worth, Sonny Landham, and Robert Davi. Heavy on the sex and violence, this film harkens back to the glory days of 1970s blaxploitation, but is a bit too mean-spirited to be as much fun. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

A scientist discovers that he isn't an only child in this effects-laden creature feature whose cast includes screen veterans Kim Hunter and Rod Steiger among a host of other, less well-known performers. John Hollins (David Allen Brooks) is delighted to learn that his geneticist mother, Amanda (Hunter), has awoken from her coma years after she suffered a horrible car crash. During their reunion, he learns that she was trying to put an end to a misguided experiment at her home on the night of the accident. Before losing consciousness, Amanda reveals that John has a brother named Anthony. Later, she's murdered by Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger), an old colleague who wants to uncover the secrets of her research. John travels to his large, run-down boyhood home with his girlfriend, a group of pals, and a mysterious acolyte of his mother's named Melissa (Amanda Pays); the group plans to search for clues about Amanda's research and John's supposed sibling. The young scientist soon ascertains that his mother had created some sort of human/aquatic hybrid, but he doesn't realize that the creature was assembled from his own genetic material -- or that it's still alive in the bowels of the house and picking off his friends one at a time. Meanwhile, something's fishy with Melissa, who skulks around, doesn't sleep, tries to seduce John, covers up details of the attacks on his friends, and seems to have some sort of connection to Dr. Lloyd. Co-directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen W. Carpenter previously collaborated on the slasher quickie The Dorm That Dripped Blood and on The Power, a made-for-TV horror film. Pays would go on to co-star in the similarly aquatic sci-fi film Leviathan. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Lana Turner stars as Diane in this opulent costume drama. Set in 16th century France, the film finds the gorgeous Diane de Pottiers rising to a position of absolute power through her manipulation of the men in her life. Those men include King Francis I (Pedro Armendariz), Prince Henri (Roger Moore) and Diane's husband, the Count de Breze (Torin Thatcher). Diane's principal foe is the scheming Catherine de Medici (Marisa Pavan), who for the first time in her life has met her match in Our Heroine. Christopher Isherwood's screenplay is literate to a fault, though the film could have used a few more action highlights. The tepid box-office receipts of Diane hastened the end of Lana Turner's long association with MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi