Holly Goldberg Sloan Movies
- 2008
An all-canine production of the classic children's story Heidi, about a young orphan (voice of Meghan Strange) who slowly warms the heart of her grumpy grandfather (Richard Kind), only to be plucked from his farm and placed as the companion to a disabled girl (Kimberly Beck). ~ Jeff Gemmill, All Movie Guide
A baseball player stuck in a losing streak gets some heavenly help in the second sequel to Disney's 1994 hit Angels in the Outfield. Eddie Everett (Patrick Warburton) is a pitcher with the Anaheim Angels who has been in a slump ever since a bungled play helped his team lose the pennant a year ago. Depressed, Eddie has lost confidence in his abilities; his marriage to Claire (Rebecca Jenkins) is on the rocks, and when Claire decides to move on, she leaves it to Eddie to watch over their 13-year-old daughter Laurel (Brittney Irvin). Laurel loves her father, but they're all but strangers to each other, and she isn't sure what she can do to help him. One night, Laurel prays for help for her dad, and her prayer is answered in the form of a guardian angel, Bob "Bungler" Bugler (David Alan Grier). Bob was a singularly unimpressive ball player who died ten years earlier, and has been trying to earn his wings ever since; Bob hopes that by helping Laurel, he can prove his worth to St. Peter, and by helping Eddie, he might get one last change to play in the big leagues. Angels in the Infield also features Kurt Fuller as Simon, Eddie's agent, and Colin Fox as The Devil, who has plans of his own regarding Eddie's career. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Warburton, Brittney Irvin, (more)
- 1999
Yet another teenager discovers how difficult growing up can be in this comedy-drama. It's 1973, and 15-year-old Natalie (Majandra Delfino), shy and bookish, is caught in the emotional crossfire at home when her hippie-ish mom, Ruby (Linda Hamilton), discovers that dad, Hugh (Eugene Levy), a psychology professor at a local college, has been having an affair with one of his students. Natalie is having problems of her own, of the "boys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses" variety, which is not helped very much by her friend Kay (Megan Good), who is pretty enough to have already caught the attention of several good-looking boys. However, much to Natalie's surprise, one of Kay's new flames starts giving her the eye, and appears to like what he sees. The Secret Life Of Girls was the directorial debut for screenwriter Holly Goldberg Sloan, whose previous credits include the remakes of Angels In The Outfield and Mighty Joe Young. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Hamilton, Eugene Levy, (more)
Updated from the 1951 film of the same name, Angels In The Outfield takes liberties with the original to bring sentimental values to a modern setting. Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a foster child whose irresponsible father promises to get his act together when Roger's favorite baseball team, the California Angels, wins the pennant. The problem is that the Angels are in last place, so Roger prays for help to turn the team around. Sure enough, his prayers are answered in the form of angel Al (Christopher Lloyd), and, before you know it, the Angels' bitter manager (Danny Glover) is watching in amazement as his team starts making the plays -- with the help of angels visible to the audience only as glowing special effects. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Tony Danza, (more)
Richard Benjamin directed this farce that plays like "Guess Who's Coming for Insemination?" Whoopi Goldberg stars as Sarah Matthews, who runs an African-American oriented bookstore in Oakland. She is raising her daughter, a beautiful high school student named Zora (Nia Long), on her own after her husband's death many years earlier. As a result of a science class blood test, Zora discovers that the man she thought was her father actually wasn't. Instead Zora finds she was the result of artificial insemination. After researching the sperm bank's records, Zora discovers, much to the surprise of Sarah and herself, that the anonymous sperm donor is in fact, Hal Jackson (Ted Danson), a loud, crude obnoxious (and white) used-car dealer who advertises on late-night television. Zora visits Hal while he is filming a commercial and Hal brushes her off. Enraged, Sarah tells Hal off, but after meeting Zora he now feels a paternal itch. Not only that, but he is beginning to feel an attraction to Sarah. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Danson, (more)
- 2002
- PG
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Crikey! Following a brief cameo in Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), hyperactive, high-energy cable television star and native Australian naturalist Steve Irwin parlays his success as a confronter of all things scaly, fanged, and venomous into this feature-film adventure. Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin play themselves as animal activists who rescue an endangered crocodile, not realizing that the critter has swallowed a downed top-secret satellite beacon that's the subject of an intense search by CIA personnel. Believing that the spies are poachers out to steal the animal's precious hide, the Irwins evade their pursuers while attempting to get the crocodile to safety in a remote area of the Outback, adopting an orphaned joey (a baby kangaroo), and grappling with bird-eating spiders and poisonous snakes along the way. In the meantime, the secret agents mistakenly believe the Irwins are enemy operatives trying to steal their highly valuable technology. The real-life Irwins donated all of their fees from The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002) to wildlife conservation efforts. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin, (more)
This 1998 version of Mighty Joe Young begins with a Gorillas in the Mist-type prologue and then jumps forward twelve years to find Bill Paxton leading a safari expedition to capture the legendary giant (two-ton) gorilla, the subject of the film's title. Paxton's intentions are admirable; he wants to remove the majestic beast from the imminent danger of poachers and set him up on a posh nature reserve in California. The x-factor comes in the form of Charlize Theron's beautiful jungle girl, Jill Young. Jill has been Joe's soul mate from birth and is the only human who can communicate with him. She is also the reason Paxton's maverick-on-the-run lingers at the reserve after his task is completed. From there, the plot is spurred on by the nefarious actions of a poacher with an Ahab complex and a battery of money hungry scientists who want to exploit Joe. Naturally, all of this puts a burr under the towering simian's skin, causing him to break free and go ape in L.A.'s concrete jungle. ~ Tom Meek, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlize Theron, Bill Paxton, (more)
In this Disney comedy that bears a suspicious resemblance to The Mighty Ducks, the down-trodden cynical young misfits of a run-down Texas town, devastated by the closing of its one major industry, find renewed hope and spirit at the hands of a plucky British foreign-exchange teacher who introduces them to soccer. When British elementary school teacher Anna Montgomery arrives in the dusty town and first meets the depressed and frequently angry youths, she immediately knows she must do something to somehow make them feel better about themselves and so decides to enroll them into a soccer league. Naturally the kids are at first awful and are soundly pummeled during their first game. Fortunately, former high school football champ, Deputy Sheriff Tom Palmer decides to give the pretty and single Anna a helping hand, and between the two of them manage to whip the kids into shape so they can beat the arrogant state champion team, helmed by Palmer's old rival Jay Huffer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2000
- G
Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Bassett, Joanna Lumley, (more)
