Jessica Di Cicco Movies

The weekly, half-hour cartoon series The Emperor's New School was a spin-off of two Disney animated features, The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and the direct-to-video Kronk's New Groove (2005). Set in pre-Columbian South America, the series, like its predecessors, chronicled the misadventures of spoiled young Incan emperor Kuzco, who was forever learning valuable life lessons en route to the throne. In the TV series, Kuzco was obliged to graduate from school before he could claim the crown. Thwarting the protagonist every step of the way was his power-hungry former administrator Yzma, who had disguised himself as the school's principal, and Yzma's principal stooge Kronk, who posed as a fellow student. Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malick and Bob Bergen, who had provided voices for the original films, repeated their roles on the TV spin-off. In typical Disney "super-saturation" fashion, The Emperor's New School debuted on The Disney Channel, ABC and Toon Disney over a three-day period, from January 27 through 29, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The weekly, half-hour animated Loonatics Unleashed was basically a Teen Titans-style makeover of such familiar Warner Bros. cartoon characters as Bugs and Babs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and the Tasmanian Devil. The action was set in the year 2772, when the descendants of the famous Warner Bros. "toons" were living in Acmetropolis, a city-state where the paranormal was normal. When a meteor knocked the earth off its axis, the protagonists were exposed to cosmic dust, whereupon they re-emerged as superheroes with new names and talents: Ace and Lexi Bunny, Danger Duck, Rev Runner, Tech E. Coyote and Slam Tasmanian. Following the orders of Acmetropolis' self-appointed ruler Zadavia, the "Loonatics" used their remarkable powers to save the rest of the world from such villains as Professor Zane, Dr. Dare and Black Velvet. Although the series provoked controversy with its radical new character designs, the Loonatics were at heart the same characters we'd grown to know and love from their theatrical-cartoon adventures, and of course were beset by the same slapstick calamities. Loonatics Unleashed (a title that was attacked by certain special-interest groups because it allegedly "stigmatized" people with mental illness!) made its WB network Saturday-morning bow on September 17, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The key figure in this two-part TV mob miniseries is Mafia snitch Sammy "The Bull" Gravano (Nicholas Turturro). Gravano ratted on John Gotti (Tom Sizemore), who manipulated the 1985 murder of mob boss Paul Castellano (Abe Vigoda). Gravano is seen rising in the mob ranks through various blood-brother ceremonies, coercions, threats, family meetings, and confrontations over loyalties. In part two, informant Gravano blows the whistle on Gotti. Turturro, as Gravano, also narrates the drama, which manages to alter accuracy and bend history behind this disclaimer: "Certain events in this film that are based on fact are interpretive, certain characters are composites or have been fictionalized, and some names and locations have been changed." Premiered May 10, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

After a break of more than 15 years, director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo returned to the well for this third and final story of the fictional Corleone crime family. Two decades have passed, and crime kingpin Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now divorced from his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), has nearly succeeded in keeping his promise that his family would one day be "completely legitimate." A philanthropist devoted to public service, Michael is in the news as the recipient of a special award from the Pope for his good works, a controversial move given his checkered past. Determined to buy redemption, Michael and his lawyer B.J. (George Hamilton) are working on a complicated but legal deal to bail the Vatican out of looming financial troubles that will ultimately reap billions and put Michael on the world stage as a major financial player. However, trouble looms in several forms: The press is hostile to his intentions. Michael is in failing health and suffers a mild diabetic stroke. Stylish mob underling Joey Zaza (Joe Mantegna) is muscling into the Corleone turf. "The Commission" of Mafia families, represented by patriarch Altobello (Eli Wallach) doesn't want to let their cash cow Corleone out of the Mafia, though he has made a generous financial offer in exchange for his release from la cosa nostra. And then there's Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate and equally temperamental son of Michael's long-dead brother Sonny. Vincent desperately wants in to the family (both literally and figuratively), and at the urging of his sister Connie (Talia Shire), Michael welcomes the young man and allows him to adopt the Corleone name. However, a flirtatious attraction between Vincent and his cousin, Michael's naïve daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) develops, and threatens to develop into a full-fledged romance and undo the godfather's future plans. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide