Jo de Winter Movies

Connie Sellecca portrays another 1990s woman in peril in this made-for-television thriller. Sellecca stars as Sharon Blake, a successful career woman who has a passionate affair with a possessive man (Gregory Harrison). When she tries to break off the relationship though, she uncovers the dark side of her former lover, who starts stalking and harassing her. Harrison (Trapper John, M.D.) is effectively creepy as the obsessed, spurned ex-lover. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Another crisis looms at the Crane household when Eddie the dog sires a litter of puppies. Solemnly, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) declare that it is high time Eddie was neutered. When Martin (John Mahoney) balks at taking his pet to the vet, Frasier grabs the bull (or the dog) by the horns and makes the trip himself. Unfortunately, Eddie catches on to what's in store for him and runs out of the vet's office in a panic, leading Frasier and Niles on a frantic search throughout the length and breadth of Seattle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Little White Lies is a frenetic TV-movie hark bark to the "screwball comedies" of yore. Ann Jillian plays a just-getting-by Philadelphia policewoman who poses as a wealthy CEO because she's sick of "lady cop" jokes. Tim Matheson portrays a rich doctor who poses as a poverty-stricken orderly because he doesn't want women to pay attention to him because of his money. Mattheson falls for Jillian thinking that she's rich, while she falls for Matheson thinking that he's poor. And they went all the way to Rome to film this one. Little White Lies first aired November 27, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Perennial underachiever Mike (Kirk Cameron) is elated when he is nominated as student body president. Unfortunately, he has been so chosen because he's certain to lose, thus assuring the incumbent's re-election. Upon discovering that her brother has been set up for a fall, Carol (Tracey Gold) secretly works overtime to make sure that Mike wins the race! Watch for an early appearance by a young Heather Graham (Twin Peaks, Scrubs). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Breakdancing, hip-hop, rap, and a good time are the main stars of this standard teen movie about youths trying to raise money to save their community club from being razed for a shopping mall. Ozone (Adolfo Quiñones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are two master breakdancers who have started a community club to teach other teens how to manage the acrobatics of the dance without literally breaking anything. Their efforts create some choreographed, group breakdancing that is rather innovative. But an evil developer (Peter MacLean) sees their property as ideal for a shopping mall project -- and a crooked politician is willing to back him up for a fee. As the teens do their best to raise money to keep their center, some are also battling with restrictive parents or trying to ease into romantic liaisons that offer their own challenges. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Maureen Dean's Mo woven in by screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, this is the saga of the Watergate affair, as experienced by Dean (Martin Sheen) and hia wife Maureen (Theresa Russell). As the Nixon administration goes down in flames, the Deans' marriage is sorely tested-as is Dean's success-at-any-price credo. Rip Torn plays Nixon like something out of a Greek Tragedy; some viewers accepted his interpretation, others found it jarringly inaccurate. Others in the cast of "usual suspects" include Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Grandy as Donald Segretti, Christopher Guest as Jeb Magruder, Lawrence Pressman as H. R. Haldeman, William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, James Greene as E. Howard Hunt, Logan Ramsey as J. Edgar Hoover, and Al Checco as judge John Sirica. Also known as The John Dean Story, Blind Ambition earned two Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"You've got to ask yourself a question: 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" Dirty Harry provoked a critical uproar in 1971 for its "fascist" message about the power of one, as it also elevated Clint Eastwood to superstar status through his most enduring screen persona. Harry Callahan (Eastwood, in a role meant for Frank Sinatra) is a sardonic, hard-working San Francisco cop who can't finish his lunch without having to foil a bank robbery with his 44 Magnum, "the most powerful handgun in the world." When hippie-esque psycho Scorpio (Andy Robinson) goes on a killing spree, Harry and new partner Chico (Reni Santoni) are assigned to hunt him down, but not before the Mayor (John Vernon) and Lt. Bressler (Harry Guardino) admonish Callahan about his heavy-handed tactics. Racing against a deadline to save a kidnap victim from suffocating to death and unbothered by the niceties of Miranda rights and search warrants, Callahan brings in Scorpio, only to see him released on technicalities. "The law's crazy," opines Harry in disgust, before taking it upon himself to ensure that Scorpio doesn't kill again. Directed in violent and efficient fashion by Don Siegel, with a propulsive score by Lalo Schifrin, Dirty Harry was the fourth Siegel-Eastwood collaboration after Coogan's Bluff (1968), Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), and The Beguiled (1970). Critics at the time strongly objected to the heroic image of a cop's violations of a suspect's Miranda rights, forcing Siegel and Eastwood to deny that they were right-wing reactionaries. All the same, Dirty Harry proved to be highly popular and spawned four sequels: Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide