Robert Ackerman Movies
This lucrative, elephantine-budgeted sci-fi opus paved the way for director Roland Emmerich's mega-hit Independence Day (1996). The story commences in Giza, Egypt, circa 1928, where an archaeological expedition unearths an ancient ring with cryptic hieroglyphs. The film then moves to the present day, where Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is busily trying to convince a group of skeptics that the pyramids were not built by man, but by an extraterrestrial force. After the lecture, a military man approaches him and offers him a job translating the said ring; its inscriptions actually constitute a map to a massive stargate (or interstellar portal). The army sends over resident crackpot colonel Jack O'Neill (Kurt Russell) to travel through the stargate and see what's on the other side; Jackson accompanies him, and the two men turn up in a desert planet on the other side of the universe, with three moons in its sky. The world in question is ruled by Ra (Jaye Davidson), a hermaphroditic Egyptian sun god, who oppresses hordes of slave workers. Jackson and O'Neill then join forces to help the said workers revolt against their oppressor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, James Spader, (more)
- 1992
Al (Ed O'Neill) hopes to fulfill a lifelong dream in death: He wants to be buried next to his childhood idol, movie-cowboy sidekick Fuzzy McGee, and Fuzzy's mule Dadgummit. This explains why Al has purchased a cemetery plot that does not accommodate wife Peggy (Katey Sagal). The best scene involves a coffin-shopping excursion, with Dan Castellaneta, aka the voice of Homer Simpson, as a funeral director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
The final episode of Murder, She Wrote's eighth season finds Jessica (Angela Lansbury) at the headquarters of a profitable toy company, there to supervise the design of a new board game based on her own mystery novels. Within what seems like minutes, the company's ruthless vice-president Meredith Delaney (Barbara Babcock) is murdered. Now Jessica finds herself in a real-life variation of her board game as she sifts through the suspects, which include the dead woman's husband, her much-younger lover, and an embittered designer. This episode is something of a family affair for star Angela Lansbury: it was written by her brother Bruce Lansbury, and features her nephew David Lansbury in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Dead Silence begins with a spring-break spree and ends with a chain reaction of duplicity. Three inebriated college girls, driving along a lonely road, strike and kill a pedestrian. Rather than ruin their futures, the girls cover up their crime, vowing one another to silence. But months later, the body is discovered, and the ladies find that one among them is planning to incriminate the others. Originally networkcast as a Fox Night at the Movies, Dead Silence is distinguished by its second-generation star lineup: Martin Sheen's daughter Renee Estevez and Robert Mitchum's granddaughter Carrie play two of the coeds. The third is played by Lisanne Falk, who isn't related to Peter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Actress Susan Ruttan, who played the quietly efficient legal secretary on LA Law, does an artistic about-face in the TV movie Deadly Medicine. She plays a Texas pediatrics nurse who may have committed several "mercy killings" of her charges. 43 babies die under mysterious circumstances, with Ms. Ruttan seemingly always lurking in the corridor. When confronted by doctor Veronica Hamel, Susan threatens to accuse Ms. Hamel of the murders--and she does, with astonishing success. Though constructed like a network "mystery of the week", Deadly Medicine is founded on fact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
A welcome exception to the slasher-stalker-kidnapper films usually seen on the USA cable network, After the Shock is a tribute to the courage and heroism of Bay Area residents following the San Francisco earthquake of October 17, 1989. Director Gary A. Sherman opts for a "cinema verite" approach, utilizing a hand-held camera to recreate the style of the original on-the-spot TV reporting. The cast includes Scott Valentine, Rue McClanahan, Yaphet Kotto, Jack Scalia and Richard Anthony Crenna as various firefighters, paramedics, law officials and private citizens. One of the best performances is offered by Nick Zaninovich, a real-life quake survivor who spent seven hours trapped in his car, which was buried under a collapsed stretch of the Nimitz freeway. After the Shock debuted September 12, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Three of the hallmarks of education in America -- nudity, teenage sex, and big, destructive gags -- are on plentiful display in this teen comedy. Christine (Phoebe Cates), a student at an exclusive all-girls private school, is in love with Jim (Matthew Modine), who attends an academy for boys nearby. Christine's archrival Jordan (Betsy Russell) also has her eye on Jim, and she is willing to do whatever she can to steal him away. Jim's über-slob buddy Bubba (Michael Zorek) is going with Betsy (Kathleen Wilhoite), Christine's cynical friend, though he would probably be unfaithful if any other woman were willing to get near him. Bubba and his pals sneak into the girls' school dressed in drag in hopes of reaching the Promised Land (better known as the women's shower room), while Christine and Jim run away together for the weekend, though their escapade isn't as romantic as they had hoped. Among the adults observing the chaos are Ray Walston, Fran Ryan, Martin Mull, and Sylvia Kristel; one of the sexy students on display is future scream queen Brinke Stevens. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phoebe Cates, Betsy Russell, (more)
Director Alan Parker and writer Bo Goldman chronicle the emotional disintegration of an unhappy marriage. Albert Finney and Diane Keaton play George and Faith Dunlap, a seemingly happily married couple living with their four daughters in a converted farmhouse in Marin County, California. George is inwardly empty and decides to have an affair with Sandy (Karen Allen), who has doubts about how long their affair will last. Faith is also suffering from ennui and takes up with Frank Henderson (Peter Weller), the contractor for the Dunlap's tennis court. Frank, after discovering about Faith's affair, is in a confused state: he wants to leave and live with Sandy but doesn't want his wife to date other men and demands the love of his daughters -- all of whom now detest him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 1981
The Waltons comes to the end of its 221-episode run with this episode, in which John-Boy heads to New York to learn the fate of his third novel. Upon discovering that the book has been rejected, John-Boy is too proud to return home in defeat, even though he is flat broke. And back on Waltons' Mountain, the redoubtable Baldwin sisters decide to hold a "life celebration" ball, inviting all of their old finishing school classmates--very few of whom are still above ground. Not surprisingly, the final words in this final episode are eloquently spoken by series creator Earl Hamner Jr.. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Claudia Weill's second feature is a romantic look at the humorous and tragic sides of love, starring Jill Clayburgh as Kate Gunzinger, a mathematics professor who lives with perpetually sunny architect Homer (Charles Grodin) in Chicago. But during a trip to New York City, Kate becomes romantically involved with handsome hunk Ben Lewin (Michael Douglas), a recently retired professional baseball player who is trying to adjust to a life outside of professional sports. The son of her father's fiancee, Ben, in spite of uncertainties about his future, actively pursues Kate, and Kate, much to her surprise, willingly permits Ben to make his amorous approaches. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, (more)
