Michelle Watkins Movies
Terms of Endearment covers three decades in the lives of widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Fiercely protected by Aurora throughout childhood, Emma runs into resistance from her mother when she marries wishy-washy college teacher Flap (Jeff Daniels). Aurora is even more put out at the prospect of being a grandmother, though she grows a lot fonder of her three grandkids than she does of her son-in-law. Flap proves that Aurora's instincts were on target when he enters into an affair with a student (Kate Charleson). Meanwhile, Emma finds romantic consolation with an unhappily married banker (played by John Lithgow, who registers well in a rare "nice guy" performance). As for Aurora, she is ardently pursued by her next-door neighbor, boisterous astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson). After 75 minutes or so of pursuing an episodic, semi-comic plotline, the film abruptly shifts moods when Emma discovers that she has terminal cancer. Terms of Endearment won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay for TV veteran James L. Brooks making his first feature film, Best Actress for MacLaine, and Best Supporting Actor for Nicholson. It was followed by a sequel, The Evening Star (1996), which again featured MacLaine as Aurora. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debra Winger, Shirley MacLaine, (more)
- 1987
- R
This gory slasher film is set within a darkened museum of natural history where a group of teens have come to hold an illicit party. Hosting the revelry is the daughter of curator Dr. Al Wallace. There they find an old brass lamp and laughingly give it a rub. Much to their surprise out pops a murderous, psychotic genie, hungry for blood after being cooped up for 3,000 years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Winters, James Huston, (more)
- 2006
An unusually high death rate at Seattle Grace has aroused the superstitious instincts of the hospital staff. In particular, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) has a premonition that Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), will not survive his heart-transplant surgery, while an OCD patient whose life is dictated by "the odds" drives Cristina (Sandra Oh) crazy. Elsewehere, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison (Kate Walsh) are still trying to work out their problems, with little success; Dr. Webber (James Pickens Jr.) treats his old friend Ollie (Mary Kay Place), and in the process relives a dark chapter in his own past; and George (T.R. Knight) is rapidly wearing out his welcome with Cristina and Burke (Isaiah Washington). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
