Tom Stovall Movies
The directorial debut of Diane Keaton, the eccentric 1987 documentary Heaven is a free-flowing examination of the images people hold of the afterlife. Rather than taking a historical or narrative approach, the film is built out of numerous segments, each of which centers around a single question: from the general "Are You Afraid to Die?" and "What is Heaven?" to more provocative queries such as "What is God Like?" and "Is There Sex in Heaven?". The bulk of the film consists of expressively lit interviews, about these questions, with a wide variety of individuals. The film searches out people of extremely different backgrounds, from elderly men and women to punkish teenagers. Religious beliefs represented range from intensely fundamentalist Christian preachers to New Age practitioners with a far more non-traditional image of heaven. These interviews are broken up by montages of stock footage, which present images of death and heaven as represented in classic (and not-so-classic) cinema and television. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story, Silkwood begins and ends with Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) driving along a lonely road in 1974, heading to a meeting with a New York Times reporter to deliver evidence of negligence at the Kerr-McGee Plant in Cimarron, Oklahoma. The balance of the film flashes back to Karen's ribald private life with her lover (Kurt Russell) and her loose-living friends (Cher and Diana Scarwid). This is in contrast to her humdrum job at Kerr-McGee--or it least it was humdrum until Karen and several other employees become contaminated by radiation. The higher-ups want to sweep this incident under the rug, but Karen thinks that something's fishy, and informs the union of that fact. X-rays of the faulty fuel rods and written proof of the inadequate safety measures that caused Karen's illness are tampered with, forcing Karen to conduct her own private investigation. As she gathers evidence, Karen becomes a pariah to her boyfriend because of her obsession. She finally organizes the evidence into a briefcase, and heads off to her meeting with the Times reporter. She never makes it; the "official" report on her fatal auto accident is that Ms. Silkwood had been drinking and was under the influence of tranquilizers. Kerr-McGee was eventually forced to pay the Silkwood family an enormous settlement because of her contamination, but the full facts behind her convenient accident have never been revealed (though the filmmakers clearly indictate whom they hold responsible). Director Mike Nichols and screenwriters Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen surround this true story with a lively, improvisational atmosphere that gets the best out of Streep, Russell, and Cher, while providing perhaps the fullest on-screen realization of Nichols' theater-based techniques of realistic, character-centered, dialogue-driven filmmaking, as well as one of the first movie screenplays from future director Ephron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, (more)
- 1978
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Jim Rockford (James Garner) and rookie private eye Richie Brockelman (Dennis Dugan) continue to investigate the suspicious death of their mutual mentor Joe Tooley. When the trail of clues leads to crooked computer-company CEO Garth McGregor (Jackie Cooper), he uses his influence to frame the two detectives and force them to take it on the lam. Ingredients essential to the outcome of the story are an underground storage silo, a conspiracy involving a corrupt congressman, and a wild helicopter-chase finale. This final episode of The Rockford Files' fourth season served to introduce the character of Richie Brockelman, who was subsequently spun off into his own TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In the first half of a two-part story, Jim (James Garner) investigates the mysterious death of his mentor Joe Tooley (Paul Fix) on the Ventura Freeway. Assisting Jim--in a manner of speaking--is greenhorn detective Richie Brockelman (Dennis Dugan), who likewise suspects that Tooley's demise was no accident. The evidence leads to a crooked city councilman and a sinister data-storage firm called the Credit Computer Centre. This episode and its followup served to introduce the character of Richie Brockelman, soon to be spun off into his own eponymously titled TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
M*A*S*H inaugurates its sixth season minus the irascible Maj. Frank Burns, who, it is explained, is taking R&R in Seoul to get over the marriage between his longtime sweetie Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit). Although Frank is never seen in this episode (actor Larry Linville had left the series for good), the 4077th continually receives reports of his erratic behavior, culminating in a desertion and arrest. Meanwhile, Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell) are having their own troubles adjusting to Frank's temporary replacement: Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester II (David Ogden Stiers), a brilliant and erudite surgeon--and an insufferable Back Bay Bostonian snob. Originally telecast as a 60-minute "special," "Fade Out, Fade In has since been reedited as two half-hour episodes for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
In the conclusion of M*A*S*H's sixth-season opener, Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) is already having problems with her marriage to Donald Penobscot, Major Frank Burns has gone AWOL, and Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell) have had a bellyful of Frank's brilliant but insufferably arrogant replacement, the aristocratic Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester II (David Ogden Stiers). Likewise discomfited is Winchester, especially when his temporary assignment to the 4077th threatens to become permanent. Originally telecast as a 60-minute "special", "Fade Out, Fade In has since been reedited as two half-hour episodes for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a novel by H. G. Wells, a group of bloodthirsty, oversized creatures (including rats, chickens, wasps, and worms) have taken over a remote island after ingesting a mysterious growth known as "Food of the Gods." It is up to an unusual group of people to put an end to this animal threat. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marjoe Gortner, Pamela Franklin, (more)
