Cheryl Pollak Movies

Richard Murphy made his feature directorial debut with this drama about sexy Hollywood film star Betty Monday (Cheryl Pollak) who walks away from a $70-million movie during production. In search of a more meaningful way of life, she drives to Palm Springs, rents a condo from slightly unreal real estate agent Vincent Lord (Udo Kier), and pursues her quest for "the truth" by delivering groceries and cleaning pools -- despite pressure from her manager, Crystal Ball (Holland Taylor), who wants her back in front of the cameras. Shown at the 1998 Palm Springs Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A reporter discovers both his writing and his sexual appetites can have deadly consequences in the thriller No Strings Attached. Vincent Spano plays Mark Demetrius, a journalist who is pressuring his editor, Elliot (Michael McKean), to run an investigative piece he's written on a psychiatrist with some very nasty habits. It seems one Dr. Singer (David Ackroyd) has a history of getting female patients addicted to drugs and then abusing them sexually. Elliot is reluctant to run the story, fearing legal reprisals, but agrees under the condition that Mark help him out by writing a puff piece on women's sexual fantasies. The magazine has set up a phone line for women to call in and discuss their desires, and one day Mark takes a call from Nicole (Cheryl Pollak). Mark becomes fascinated with Nicole, and is obsessed with meeting her, despite a happy, long-term relationship with his fiancée Sarah (Traci Lind). Mark eventually meets Nicole and she seduces him (not that he minds), but Mark soon discovers Nicole is not all she seems to be as his life and career are both placed in grave danger. Displaying a bit more style and smarts than the average erotic thriller, No Strings Attached was directed by Josef Rusnak, who later went on to make The Thirteenth Floor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this coming-of-age drama, three recent high school graduates from Detroit must make a difficult choice when they are offered a fortune to smuggle hashish from Canada into the US. As they are quickly going nowhere in their grimy suburban town, the three buddies are sorely tempted. Each of them undergoes a major change in their personal lives and they are left with the feeling of having nothing left to lose. Unfortunately, their lark across the border becomes deadly serious when they meet the dealer at an isolated farm and realize that he wants them to smuggle heroin, not hash. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The "first time" usually refers to romance in TV movies of this nature. Corin Nemic is an impressionable young Jewish kid who falls hard for girl next door Cheryl Pollak. Ah, but this is San Antonio in the early 1960s, and Pollak is Catholic. Before you can say "Bridget Loves Bernie" (or even "Abie's Irish Rose") the two young spooners are stymied by parental pressure. It is the girl who takes the initiative in quelling the fears and doubts of the grown-ups, while shy Corin stands by in moonstruck admiration. For the Very First Time is nearly stolen by Donovan Leach (son of rock singer Donovan and sister of actress Ione Skye), who plays a beatnik artist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Teenage angst finds a new voice in this drama. By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a quiet, studious student at an ordinary suburban high school in Arizona. But at night, Mark creeps down into his basement, fires up his pirate radio transmitter, and broadcasts to the community as Hard Harry, a sexually obsessed social commentator who passes along angry philosophy about the state of teenage life when not blasting punk rock or gangsta rap cuts. Hard Harry's sworn nemesis is high school principal Mrs. Cresswood (Annie Ross), who keeps SAT scores up at the expense of her students' dignity and individuality by eliminating "troublemakers" from the student body. Hard Harry's broadcasts, however, have become a rallying point for the school's misfit underclass, and Mrs. Cresswood is determined to track down the mystery student and bring him to justice (broadcasting without a license, he's not merely an annoyance, but a criminal). The war against Hard Harry intensifies when he broadcasts data from confidential school board reports; Mark's father is a school commissioner, but he has no idea what his son is doing in the basement. Meanwhile, Mark gains the attentions of Nora (Samantha Mathis), who has figured out who he becomes at night. More serious and intelligent than the average teen film, Pump Up the Volume was written and directed by Allan Moyle, who previously dealt with disaffected, music-obsessed teens in Times Square and would return to them with Empire Records. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

William Katt, Catherine Oxenberg and Nia Peeples star in this comedy about an advertising agency who are about to lose their biggest client, the Saltaire Swimwear Company, until they come up with a brilliant idea -- create a swimsuit model talent search. Saltaire loves the idea and the media eats it up, but the contestants prove to be more trouble than anyone expected. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This '80s teen comedy involves a youth (Robert Leonard), who is seduced by a sexy schoolgirl and then transforms into a blood-sucking vampire. Instead of fighting his affliction, he tries to cope with the change. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy fantasy, an angel (Emmanuelle Beart) with a heavenly body falls into the swimming pool of Jim Sanders (Michael E. Knight). Hung over from his bachelor party, his encounter with the angel has Jim questioning his upcoming marriage to Patty (Phoebe Cates), the daughter of a wealthy cosmetics mogul (David Dukes). After he helps the injured celestial being, Jim must protect her from his lecherous friends and his curious fiance. Beart's beauty and performance is the highlight of the film even though she does not speak. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide