Kurt Grayson Movies

Karate champ Chuck Norris returns for another chop-socky vigilante flick in The Octagon, one of a handful of undistinguished Ninja pictures released during the early '80s. Norris appropriately plays a retired karate champ hired as a bodyguard for a wealthy woman (Karen Carlson) plagued by a gang of vicious ninjas. Reluctant at first to take the job, he reconsiders when he learns the gang is headed by his longtime arch rival Tadashi Yamashita (Lee Van Cleef). The script -- as is the case in nearly every Ninja film -- has holes bigger than Okinawa, and the acting is downright atrocious, particularly that of Norris, who, thankfully, improved with time. However, the production values are fair, as is the direction, and the action sequences are often exciting and comparatively realistic. Recommended for genre fans only. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier, co-stars of the comic capers Uptown Saturday Night and Let's Do It Again, team up again for this socially conscious comedy-adventure. This time out, Poitier and Cosby play Manny Durrell and Dave Anderson, Windy City con artists with a long history of cheating crooks who rip off the poor. They are blackmailed by retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) into "giving back to the community." Manny and Dave soon find themselves posing as career counselors for a group of surly inner-city youths at a local community center. Despite the efforts of such unruly kids as class clown Gerald (Eric Laneuville) and bitter Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Manny actually begins to take pride in the help he's giving to his students. Soon, though, he's forced to deal with two additional obstacles: the arrival of his girlfriend's obnoxious parents (Gammy Burdett and Wonderful Smith) and the attentions of a local mobster (Titos Vandis) upset that he's been had. As with his previous Cosby collaborations, Poitier directed A Piece of the Action, whose cast also includes Denise Nicholas as a community center leader, Tracy Reed as Manny's girlfriend, Nikki, and Ja'net DuBois as Nikki's tipsy aunt, Nellie. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

This debut episode of Charlie's Angels takes place at a racetrack catering to female speed demons, where driver Suzy Lennon has died in a crash. Suspected of negligence, Suzy's mechanic Jerry (John Dennis Johnston) turns to the Angels -- Jill (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), Sabrina (Kate Jackson) and Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) -- to prove his innocence and finger a murderer. Although Sabrina goes undercover as a racer, it is Jill who ends up being taken for a ride when her cover is blown. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A rare radioactive isotope known as Trivanium is the prize in this tense Mission:Impossible episode. With only 48 hours at their disposal, the IMF must recover the isotope before it can be applied to the manufacture of nuclear weaponry. Paris poses as Stefan, the amnesiac former partner of Johan (Steve Ihnat), the thief who stole the Trivanium--and who thought he'd murdered Stefan in the process.. Also in the cast is Julie Gregg as IMF agent Monique. First telecast on December 21, 1969, "The Amnesiac" was written by Scripted by Robert Malcolm Young and Ken Pettus, from a story by Young. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi