Steve Eastin Movies
- 2001
Upon learning that his former partner Danny Sorenson is definitely dead, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) nearly falls off the wagon, only to be "rescued" by Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross). After killing the man who shot his new partner, John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Andy is a hero to everyone but Clark's resentful father (Joe Spano). Elsewhere, a multiple-murder investigation seems linked to activities at New York University. This episode originally aired in tandem with the previous installment "Lie Like a Rug" as the two-hour opener of NYPD Blue's ninth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Simmons
- 1997
Professional nurse Rebecca Dubrovich (Shannen Doherty) is swept off her feet by charming millionaire Dick Strang (Tim Matheson), and the two begin a passionate romance. Only when it is too late does Rebecca discover that Strang has, to put it mildly, a dark side: He's a bigamist, a control freak, a pathological liar, and a vicious sadist. Breaking off the relationship, Rebecca is subsequently stalked by the obsessive Strang, who ultimately injures her so severely that she is confined to a wheelchair. During her painful recovery period, Rebecca falls in love with orthopedic surgeon Jerrold Petrofsky (David Bowe), and ultimately dedicates her life to helping other victims of abusive relationships. Based on a true story previously dramatized on the television anthology Unsolved Mysteries and then released in book form, the made-for-TV Sleeping with the Devil originally aired April 22, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joseph Merhi's crime thriller Last Man Standing tells the story of police officer Kurt Bellmore, who, after the death of his partner, becomes enmeshed in a web of corruption that leaves him unable to know whom he can trust with his life. In addition to former allies turning against him, he must contend with bad guy Snake Underwood. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Wincott, Jillian McWhirter, (more)
- 1996
While covering the Presidential Primary in Wisconsin, the "FYI" staff is stranded at a diner several miles from Madison when their fancy T-2000 bus breaks down. Undaunted, Murphy (Candice Bergen) decides to seek out interviews and photo ops amongst the diner's patrons. Alas, what begins as a unique and compelling "human interest" story degenerates into Politics as Usual when the other networks and several GOP aides find out what Murphy is up to. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Carol (Julianna Margulies) takes a more than professional interest in Tatiana (Milana Vayntrub), a six-year-old Russian girl with AIDS who has been adopted -- and then abandoned -- by an American family. Overachiever Deb (Ming-Na) accidentally ingests some candy-coated LSD. And despite their volatile professional differences, Kayson (Sam Anderson) asks Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) out for a special Valentine's Day dinner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Tim Matheson stars in this made-for-TV movie based on a true story. Roger Paulson (Matheson) is a divorcee who wants to start dating again. Roger thinks he's found the perfect woman, but he learns she's been keeping a few secrets from him -- some of which have deadly consequences. Dying to Love You also stars Tracy Pollan and Christine Ebersole.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Following some unintended advice from Helen (Crystal Bernard), both Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian (Steven Weber) adopt "new" approaches in their amorous pursuit of Alex (Farrah Forke). To wit, Joe reveals his hitherto well-hidden "sensitive" side, and Brian takes on a jealous pose. Alex of course doesn't fall for either of these subterfuges. She prefers a certain commodity called honesty, of which both Joe and Brian are in very short supply. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
When a San Diego socialite is convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his new bride, truth is stranger than fiction as she hires a public relations firm in an effort to keep the media in her corner. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Baxter, Judith Ivey, (more)
- 1990
In this made-for-cable television horror thriller, a travel writer visits a historic hotel to write a story about it and inadvertently finds herself on the 13th floor where she witnesses a Satanic rite and tangles with an axe-wielding killer. She escapes, but no one believes her story because the hotel has no 13th floor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Soviet radicals upset with the thawing of the Cold War explode a nuclear weapon in Russia, setting off a series of events that may very well trigger World War III. The president (Martin Landau) has been isolated after a helicopter accident and must outwit government and military officials who are attempting to go forward with the war. The film centers on the relationship between a pair of American pilots who have been ordered to bomb the U.S.S.R. and the attempts by some factions to bring them home before global Armageddon. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1986
The manager of a chemical plant and a city manager rise up against their respective bosses to keep a town safe in this ecologically conscientious made-for-TV disaster film. It all begins when the owners of Citichem order the plant manager to enact dangerous cost cuts that compromise the safety of the plant. He protests, but it is to no avail and a worker dies. At the same time, the city manager tries to warn the people that a deadly disaster is imminent, but he ends up gagged by the local politicians. Meanwhile, just when the community is at its most unprepared, a melt-down occurs and the town is drenched in deadly chemicals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Mark Harmon stars as baby-faced serial killer Ted Bundy in this sobering 2-part TV movie. Ostensibly the archetypal All-American boy, Bundy was, from 1974 onward, responsible for the rapes and murders of several young women in the Pacific Northwest. The clues begin to mount when one of Bundy's victims manages to escape; she can only say that her assailant was a fellow named Ted who drives a yellow Volkswagen. Finally arrested after he moves from Seattle to Utah, Bundy is so certain of his superiority over the general run of human beings that he conducts his own defense at his trial; then, when extradited to Colorado, he escapes, triggering a desperate nationwide manhunt. At the time Deliberate Stranger was first telecast on May 5 and 6, 1986, Theodore Bundy was on Death Row, still contesting his sentence and seeking a legal way out. When time came for his execution, Bundy attempted several bizarre last-minute "stays," which would make intriguing subject matter should someone want to make a follow-up film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
A devoted nun endeavors to create a halfway house for female convicts on parole in this drama. To achieve her goal, she must face a daunting series of obstacles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Franklin
- 1985
To save rock singer Stevie Faith (Valerie Stevenson) from kidnappers who claim to be opposed to her politics, the A-Team hides Stevie in a quiet suburban neighborhood. This requires our heroes to curb their violent tendencies and act like gentlemen--an assignment taken to extremes by Murdock (Dwight Schultz), who adopts the "Hi, neighbor!" personality of Mister Rogers! Meanwhile, Hannibal (George Peppard) has his troubles with a neighborhood watch group led by the inordinately zealous Joe Skrylow (Walter Olkewicz). . .while Stevie's crooked manager, the man behind the kidnapping plot, bides his time, waiting to strike again. Future Murphy Brown regular Robert Pastorelli shows up in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1985
The career of boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini is the subject of the made-for-TV biopic. Doug McKeon plays Mancini, while Robert Blake co-stars as his father, Lenny Mancini. An excellent pugilist in his own right, Lenny's career is cut short by his wartime service. Son Ray carries on the tradition into the 1980s, battling his way towards the WBA crown. Heart of a Champion's executive producer was Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, who (it says here) staged the boxing sequences. This heartwarming "do it for the old man" effort was first telecast May 1, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Doug McKeon, (more)
- 1985
A young woman faces a difficult decision in this drama. She has spent most of her life preparing to dance ballet. She is also involved with a dashing reporter. Despite her love, she leaves Detroit to dance in New York, and while there she has an affair with her dance partner. Her dilemma comes when the reporter proposes marriage as her career is taking off. Now she must choose between her career and her lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1985
In this drama, an angry, bereaved husband decides to get his own kind of justice after the man who killed his wife and son is freed on a legal technicality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Originally made for television, this story concerns a champion rodeo rider (Lee Majors) and his romance with a Russian ballerina (Leslie Wing) who is trying to defect. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1984
A 17-year-old boy (Chad Lowe) is killed in an automobile accident. As the facts begin to assert themselves, it appears that the boy actually took his own life. His mother (Mariette Hartley) and sister (Dana Hill) try to learn the truth, even as his father (Howard Hesseman) digs in his heels and refuses to face the possibility of a suicide. While this plot line is unravelling, the boy's best friend (Charlie Sheen) is tormented by the possibility that he could have prevented the tragedy. The emphasis in Silence of the Heart is the effect of suicide on the survivors rather than the victim, and the realization that one does not have to be "crazy" to end one's own existence. This made-for-TV movie was originally telecast October 30, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
This true-life TV movie stars Glenda Jackson as Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal and Anthony Page as her author husband Roald Dahl. In 1964, Neal is felled by a stroke, which endangers not only her life but the life of her unborn child. Both survive, but it looks as though Neal will never be able to speak coherently again. Dahl bullies, cajoles and caresses his wife into recovery; she rallies under this treatment and is finally able to resume her career and lead a normal life. The film does not touch upon the serious domestic problems which would lead to Neal and Dahl's later divorce, nor does it dwell on the "dark side" of the notoriously mercurial Mr. Dahl. Nonetheless, both Neal and Dahl felt that the book upon which Patricia Neal Story was based, (Barry Farrell's Pat and Ronald) was far too revelatory for their tastes. They severed their longtime friendship with author Farrell and never spoke to him again; nor did they have anything to say publicly about The Patricia Neal Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Crisis in Mid-Air is essentially a "problem drama" concentrating on a single individual. George Peppard plays a veteran air traffic controller who holds himself responsible for a mid-air collision. With an FAA investigator breathing down his neck, Peppard gets a chance to prove his value when another flight, with 235 passengers on board, puts in a "Mayday" call. The TV Guide ads for this television movie were a little misleading, suggesting that Peppard was in the cockpit rather than the control tower. Crisis in Mid-Air debuted February 13, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this failed pilot for a series, a biochemist reproduces. He copies himself 13 times to help stop a top-secret cloning project from being destroyed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Hindle, Robyn Douglass, (more)
- 1977
In the first half of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour episode), the Baldwin sisters are visited by two English youngsters, Tess and Pip Wrayburn (Sally Boyden, Jeff Cotler), who have been evacuated to the States in the wake of the London blitz. While spending Christmas with the Walton family, the Wrayburn kids prove to be standoffish and impossible to get along with, due to the likelihood that both of their parents have been killed in the bombing--a tragedy that has a devastating effect on Olivia (Michael Learned) as well. At the same time, Erin (Mary Elizabeth McDonough) has difficulty adjusting to the death of her friend G.W. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Brian De Palma returns to the helm for the first time since 2002's Femme Fatale with this stylish screen adaptation of James Ellroy's novel detailing one of the most notorious unsolved murders in Hollywood history. Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) was a struggling actress looking to make a name for herself in 1940s-era Tinseltown. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, it was her grim fate that would ultimately overshadow anything she would accomplish during her short and tragic career. When police discover Elizabeth's body cut clean in half and with all of her organs missing, ex-pugilist detectives Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) and Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) are the men charged with cracking the case and apprehending the killer. This isn't your average murder case, however, and as Blanchard's marriage to Kay (Scarlett Johansson) begins to suffer due to his obsession with the sensational crime, his partner Bleichert discovers a troubling link between the victim and the mysterious Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a prominent socialite and the daughter of one of the town's most connected key players. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, (more)
When a mysterious boy covered in blood appears in the lazy town of Shallow Valley, the nightmares of the past follow him in this dark tale from newcomer Sheldon Wilson. It's been exactly one year since Sheriff Jack Sheppard (Timothy V. Murphy) found the last-known victim of a brutal serial killer in the throes of death, and his failure to save their life and bring the killer to justice has haunted him ever since. As Sheriff Sheppard begins to close up shop in his remote outpost, the sudden appearance of a blood-soaked boy with a large knife brings a series of tragic memories flooding back to the shaken lawman. Now, with the past standing before him in all its crimson glory, Sheriff Sheppard must look deep into the darkest corners of his soul and face his fears without hesitation if he is to finally solve the mystery that has nearly consumed him, and free a small town from the stranglehold of a vicious killer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy V. Murphy, Stan Kirsch, (more)
