Jimmy Ray Movies
- 1993
Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) goes after a private eye who may be cheating his client by feeding him with false hopes about his missing child. The father of a 13-year-old murdered in the street seeks out justice on his own when the killer injures LaSalle (Wendy Makkena) and escapes. Will this incident hurt LaSalle's chances of landing a job at a local equal-employment-opportunity office? Real-life NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly appears, uncredited, as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Pandering über-producer Dino De Laurentiis followed his unnecessary 1976 remake of King Kong with this even more pointless sequel ten years later. Though the colossal ape Kong took a half-gainer off the World Trade Center for Jessica Lange at the previous film's climax, we are told at the sequel's outset that Kong survived and is being kept alive through artificial means by a secret scientific team (headed by Linda Hamilton in her pre-action-heroine days) dedicated to designing a synthetic replacement heart. When the hilariously huge device is deemed ready for implant, the scientists seek out the only known donor for the requisite blood transfusion: a female Kong, recently captured in Borneo by adventurer Brian Kerwin. Kong's luck turns out to be twofold: not only is the implant a success, the big lug now has a potential mate who's more his type. After Kong rescues his fellow captive, the amorous behemoths eventually thunder off to the mountains to make a great big baby. Director John Guillermin (who helmed the previous film) plays the unbelievably silly premise absolutely straight, including a hilarious heart-transplant scene featuring surgical tools the size of freeway signs, leading viewers to believe that the joke's on them for sitting through this inane exercise. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Kerwin, Peter Anthony Elliott, (more)
- 1977
- PG
In this fantasy adventure tale based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) sets out to find Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure), a fellow explorer who was lost during an expedition to the island of Caprone, a tropical oasis in the midst of the arctic. McBride arrives at Caprone to discover that Tyler is fending off tribes of savage cavemen, doing battle with strange prehistoric beasts, and contending with frequent volcanic erruptions. Of course, life on Caprone isn't all bad, as a glimpse of Tyler's significant other Ajor (Dana Gillespie) would suggest, but the men still face many significant challenges as they try to get off the island and back to civilization. The People That Time Forgot was Doug McClure's third go-round in an Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure vehicle, following adaptations of The Land That Time Forgot and At the Earth's Core. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Wayne, Doug McClure, (more)
- 1943
According to this exuberant Paramount musical, famed pre-Civil War minstrel performer Daniel Decatur Emmett looked and sounded exactly like Bing Crosby! Very loosely based on the real Emmett's life and career, the film is essentially an excuse for an unending stream of Southern-fried ballads and boisterous blackface production numbers. The best scenes involve Emmet's creation of the minstrel tradition, helped along by Billy De Wolfe as the original "Mr. Bones." As Emmet's sweetheart Millie Cook, Dorothy Lamour has less to do than fourth-billed Marjorie Reynolds as Jean Mason, the physically challenged girl whom Emmet ultimately marries. In the midst of several old-time musical numbers, Bing Crosby introduces one of his lasting hits, "Sunday, Monday and Always". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, (more)
- 1936
At their best, the Republic musicals of the 1930s could hold their own against anything turned out by MGM or Warner Bros. Republic's Sitting on the Moon is an excellent showcase for second-echelon stars Roger Pryor and Grace Bradley, here cast as songwriter Danny West and fading movie star Polly Blair. Hoping to jump-start Polly's career, Danny breaks up his partnership with lyricist Mike (William Newell), who finds some comfort in the arms of Polly's wisecracking pal Mattie (Pert Kelton). Hoping to tear Danny away from Polly, Mike contrives to have blonde seductress Blossom (Joyce Compton) pretend to be Mike's sweetheart, but all misunderstandings are forgotten during the climactic musical production numbers. Originally released at 66 minutes, Sitting on the Moon was cut to 53 minutes for television, with no discernible loss of continuity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Pryor, Grace Bradley, (more)
