Evan Bonifant Movies
- 2001
Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) returns home, chattering animatedly to her mother until she discovers Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) cold and apparently dead on the couch. She dials 911, makes an unsuccessful attempt at CPR, and watches, dumbfounded, as the paramedics meet with similar failure. Alone with the body, she waits until Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) arrives and comforts her, then heads to the school, where she has to break the news to a devastated and hysterical Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Elsewhere, the Scoobies gather to join the Summers family. Willow (Alyson Hannigan) shares a tender kiss with Tara (Amber Benson) but later grows incensed at what she perceives as the insensitivity of Anya (Emma Caulfield). The normally snide ex-demon then tearfully reveals her ignorance of mortal vulnerabilities and her anger and confusion at the fleetingness of life. Her boyfriend, Xander (Nicholas Brendon), deals with his feelings the old-fashioned way: he puts his hand through a wall. Eventually everyone gathers at the hospital, where Dawn, needing to see her mother one last time, wanders to the morgue and is attacked by a newly risen vampire. Buffy finds her and struggles to kill the vamp through her sea of grief. In the protracted battle, the sheet falls away from Joyce's body, leaving Dawn and Buffy to face the reality of simple, human death, so different from the theatrical dustings and beheadings to which they're accustomed. Originally broadcast February 27, 2001, on the WB network, "The Body" marked episode 94 of the cult-favorite series. Written and directed by series creator Joss Whedon, this episode contains no score or incidental music besides the standard theme song. It also marks the first on-screen physical intimacy between longtime same-sex lovers Willow and Tara. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Impoverished 11-year-old Tim (Christ Marquette) takes up the sport of boxing to get even with the bullies in his life--specifically, his brother Steven (J. Evan Bonifant) and his uncle Frank (Richard Burgi). Anxious to prove to Tim that there are better reasons to become a boxer, angel Rafael (Alexis Cruz) determines that this life lesson can only be provided by someone who has experienced first-hand a child's struggle for survival. The man needed for this assignment is man found: Muhammad Ali, ingratiatingly playing "himself." Though Ali is effective enough, it requires a near-tragedy for Tim to finally come to terms with his inner demons...and for his thoughtless family to see the error of their ways. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Robert Carradine stars in this family adventure about an inventor who comes up with an innovation in energy processing which could make electric automobiles cheap and practical. When thugs from a major oil company try to sabotage his project, the scientist's son and two of his buddies pool their skills in the martial arts to put the bad guys where they belong. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Evan Bonifant, (more)
Dan Aykroyd and John Landis teamed to script this sequel to The Blues Brothers (1980), which they also co-scripted. With Landis once again at the helm as director, Aykroyd re-creates his role of rhythm-and-blues man Elwood Blues, and the film's numerous R&B performances and production numbers include Aretha Franklin singing her classic "Respect". Released from prison after serving 18 years for the havoc depicted in the first film, Elwood learns that while he was serving time, his pal Jake Blues (John Belushi) has died, as did their hi-de-ho music mentor Curtis (Cab Calloway). Times have changed, but the blues beat goes on. Elwood visits Mother Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), who runs the orphanage where Elwood and Jake were raised, and she puts 10-year-old Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) in Elwood's care. Seeking a loan, Elwood visits Curtis' son, Cabel Chamberlain (Joe Morton), and Buster picks Cabel's pocket. Now, 18 years after the original "mission from God," Elwood attempts to reorganize the Blues Brothers Band, beginning with bartender Mighty Mack McTeer (John Goodman) as a replacement for Jake. With the Russian Mafia in hot pursuit, Elwood, Mack, and Buster head cross-country, locating band members as they travel pell-mell toward a scheduled battle of the bands in Louisiana where the Blues Brothers Band competes with the Lousiana Gator Boys Band (Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Travis Tritt, Steve Winwood, Clarence Clemmons, Isaac Hayes). Filmed in Toronto and Chicago, this movie reunited Aykroyd and Goodman, who were seen previously in the 1996 video, The Return of the Blues Brothers, a performance taped January 24, 1995 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Elsewhere, the Blues Brothers are kept alive in a half-dozen or so websites, such as the House of Blues, and live stage productions. In England, the stage show A Tribute to the Blues Brothers began in 1991. At the request of Aykroyd and Judy Belushi, the title of that production was changed to The Official Tribute to the Blues Brothers. With various cast members in the roles of Jake and Elwood (Con O'Neill, Warwick Evans, Brad Henshaw, Simon Foster), the show toured Britain throughout the 1990s. The "original Blues Brother" (who coached John Belushi and originated some of the blues raps used by Belushi) is Curtis Salgado (of the Robert Cray Band). One cast member of Blues Brothers 2000, bluesman Junior Wells, the last of the great Chicago harmonica players, died in January 1998, only days before the film was released. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, (more)
- 1996
A "deadbeat dad" is found murdered in a hotel room. The suspects include the victim's embittered father-in-law Max Schaffer (Val Avery) and two women in the dead man's life. Ultimately the prosecution of the case boils down to jury sympathy for a long-suffering and arguably justified perpetrator -- not to mention a terminal leukemia patient. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
To prove to snotty classmate Kenny (J. Evan Bonifant) that girls are just as good as boys, Michelle (the Olsen twins) centers a go-kart competition. Wilting under the excessive teasing of everyone around her, Michelle is on the verge of pulling out of the race until she has a heart-to-heart with Becky (Lisa Loughlin), who's "been there before." Elsewhere, DJ (Candace Cameron) and Steve (Scott Weinger) have trouble adjusting to being friends, lovers no more; and Steph (Jodie Sweetin, whose arm is in a sling due to a real-life accident) uses her ballet skills to help Joey (David Coulier) improve his hockey game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The heroes of the family adventure comedy 3 Ninjas return in this sequel (though not all of them are played by the same actors). Rocky (Sean Fox), Colt (Max Elliott Slade), and Tum Tum (Evan Bonifant) are three brothers whose Grandfather (Victor Wong) is a ninja master teaching them martial arts skills. The boys' Little League team has a big game coming up, but before they can hit the diamond, they have to help Grandpa return a sacred Ninja dagger to Japan. However, one of Grandpa's longtime enemies, now a wealthy and ruthless businessman, plans to steal the knife, and the boys are sent on a mission to Japan to rescue the valuable weapon. At first the tycoon sends his inept nephew to face off against the young Ninjas, but when that plan fails, Rocky, Colt, and Tum Tum are met by a team of trained warriors, who to their surprise are led by a teenage girl named Miyo (Caroline Junko King). Miyo soon strikes up a friendship with the brothers who are supposed to be her sworn enemies, and with her help they recover the knife and teach her a few things about baseball that come in handy when the big game finally rolls around. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Fox, Max Elliott Slade, (more)
Steven Gale (J. Evan Bonifant) is an artistically inclined six-year-old boy in the 1950's, who is especially fascinated by the television antics of Dottie Frank (Julie Halston) a zany comedienne with her own weekly show (similar to Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy -- his mother (Barbara Garrick) tolerates and even encourages his drawing, but his father (Robert Pall) doesn't understand the boy or his interests. Steven watches "The Dottie Frank Show" whenever it's on, and draws Dottie and dreams her. He does have contact with day-to-day reality, in the form of other children but he always feels separate from them, the other boys failing to understand or even regard him while the girls quietly ridicule him; but mostly he's isolated from them because of his rich fantasy life, which involves Dottie, the girls he knows, and himself. He strikes a quiet, careful (if uneasy) balance in his life between fantasy and reality, until one fateful day when he wins a contest that allows him to visit the set of "The Dottie Frank Show" -- and as luck would have it, he's present as his favorite television star and the object of his obsession acts out a scene that plays to his deepest fantasies. Steven's dreams become more vivid, as do his drawings, which leads to his parents discovering his fantasies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
