Fred M. Waugh Movies

Pittsburgh Penguins owner Howard Baldwin was the producer of Sudden Death, and the action is set in his hockey arena, in which the Penguins are playing the Chicago Blackhawks. Pittsburgh fire inspector Darren McCord (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is attending the game with his two children. He's quit fighting fires because of a tragedy a few years earlier involving a child he couldn't save. Also at the game is the vice-president of the United States (Raymond Barry), who is the target of a terrorist plot. The terrorist leader, an insane ex-CIA agent named Joshua Foss (Powers Boothe), has masterminded a scheme to hold the vice-president hostage in his luxury suite while demanding that payments be transferred to his account electronically at the end of each period of the game. If he doesn't get his money, he will kill one member of the vice-president's party at the end of each period, and at game's end he will order ten bombs hidden in the arena to be detonated with all 17,000 fans present. McCord discovers the plot while his daughter Emily (Whittni Wright) is kidnapped by the terrorists too. McCord must dispatch the villains and find the bombs, while saving all the hostages. Luckily, he is adept at martial arts. He fights one henchman dressed in a Penguins mascot outfit in the arena's kitchen, and another terrorist on the arena's retracting dome. At one point, McCord switches identities with a player, is sent into the game, and scores a goal. Director Peter Hyams also directed Van Damme in the blockbuster Timecop. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Brain Donors is a game attempt to redo the Marx Brothers' A Night at the Opera in a contemporary setting. John Turturro plays the "Groucho" character, a shifty lawyer (he's even given a Grouchoesque three-barrelled moniker). Bob Nelson is the "Harpo" counterpart, a puckish handyman. And Mel Smith completes the trio as a Chico-like cabbie. All three conspire to save a failing ballet company on behalf of dowager Nancy Marchand, who does a film-length impersonation of Margaret Dumont. At times, Pat Proft's script comes off more like a 3 Stooges short than a Marx Brothers romp, but that's not so bad. What hurts the film is its fluctuating pace, which shifts into neutral just when it should go into hyperdrive. Will Vinton's Claymation opening titles supply some of the film's biggest laughs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this third entry in the raunchy, sophomoric comedy series, the riotous students of Angel Beach High endeavor to get even with their old nemesis Porky who is trying to force the basketball coach into throwing the championship game. It seems Coach has been on a losing streak at Porky's newest establishment, a riverboat converted into a casino. Plenty of slapstick mayhem ensues when his team rallies to save him and the big game. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sylvester Stallone returns to the character which made him famous in this wildly successful sequel. Rocky III starts with the Italian Stallion so famous that his likeness is everywhere, including pinball machines. Fame and complacency soon cause Balboa to lose his title to young thug Clubber Lang (Mr. T), who inadvertently causes the death of Rocky's beloved trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), before their first championship bout. After sinking into a depression, Balboa must regain the love and support of his family, as well as the elusive "eye of the tiger," the hungry need to beat the opponent which former foe Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) teaches him during this film's de rigueur training sequence. In the end, Balboa faces off against Lang for a second time. "Eye of the Tiger," the theme song Stallone commissioned from the band Survivor, became a huge hit single. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Also known as Never Give an Inch, this film was based on a novel by Ken Kesey. Paul Newman (who also directed) stars as Hank Stamper, the oldest son of an Oregon logging family headed by Henry (Henry Fonda). Hank's half-brother, Leeland (Michael Sarrazin), embittered over Henry's treatment of his late mother, returns after a ten-year absence to work in the family business. Leeland's presence causes friction with Henry, who resents his prodigal son's hippie mindset, and Hank, who perceives Leeland as a threat to his own position in the family structure. Hank has good reason to feel resentful: before long, his wife, Viv (Lee Remick), has entered into an affair with Leeland. Meanwhile, Henry wages an ongoing battle with the unionized loggers in the region, who threaten reprisals should Henry attempt to continue his business without union help. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide