DCSIMG
 
 

Lynn Tufeld Movies

1998  
 
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) would give anything to see the hottest play in town, but tickets are nowhere to be had, not for any price. Undaunted, the Crane brothers launch all manner of schemes both above-board and underhanded to gain entrance to the big show. What happens next should surprise no one who has followed Frasier, though it certainly comes as a shock to the characters. Fritz Weaver guest stars as celebrated stage actor Sir Trevor Aimsley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1995  
 
When serial killer George Putnam (Tim de Zarn) is shot down and killed at the precinct station, the suspects range from the father of Putnam's last victim to the members of a support group. Simone (Jimmy Smits) and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) arrest a surly Romanian immigrant (Richard Schiff) as a suspected carjacker -- unaware (at least at first) that their prisoner may be a terrorist. And on the romantic front, Dana (Debra Messing) again tries to woo Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) away from her sister Donna (Gail O'Grady), while the once-burned Lesniak (Justine Miceli) is reluctant to pursue her relationship with her partner Martinez (Nicholas Turturro). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1995  
R  
In this "supernatural" comedy, a plain-jane spinster cares for her elderly grandmother, who happens to be a fanatic wrestling fan -- and also extremely rich. When her obnoxious relatives show up for Thanksgiving dinner, the grandmother, who has been given a magic potion by an exorcist, turns into a supernatural killer who takes on different shapes to perform her murders. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

 Read More

 
1994  
R  
Add Disclosure to Queue Add Disclosure to top of Queue  
Michael Douglas runs afoul of a treacherous supervisor in this film version of Michael Crichton's novel. Douglas plays Tom Sanders, an executive at DigiCom, a leading computer software firm. DigiCom is about to launch a new virtual reality-based data storage system that is expected to revolutionize the industry, and Bob Garvin (Donald Sutherland), the owner of the company, is in the midst of negotiating a merger that could bring $100 million into the firm. However, while Tom is expecting a promotion, he discovers the position has been given instead to a new hire, Meredith Johnson (Demi Moore), with whom Tom had an affair years ago, before he was married. After her first day of work, Meredith invites Tom up to her office and makes a concerted attempt to seduce him; while Tom doesn't fight off her advances with very much gusto at first, eventually he decides things have gone too far and leaves in a huff. The next morning, Meredith accuses Tom of sexual harassment, and he realizes this was merely a power ploy to get him out of DigiCom for good; Tom, determined to fight, files a counter-suit, which makes him no friends at the company, since rocking the boat too hard could very well scotch the merger. Dennis Miller also appears as one of Tom's wise-cracking co-workers. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Michael DouglasDemi Moore, (more)
 
1994  
R  
While investigating an infidelity case, an unconventional private detective discovers a far-reaching conspiracy in the magical world of 1950s Hollywood -- and in this film, the word "magical" is meant literally. Director Paul Schrader's comic mystery, originally made for cable, is set in an alternate universe where witchcraft is commonplace and magic just another modern convenience. The magic trend is particularly prominent in Hollywood, where detective H. Phillip Lovecraft is considered unusual for preferring to do things the old-fashioned, non-magical way. Still, Lovecraft is successful enough to be hired by famed movie star Kim Hudson, who suspects that she's being cheated on by her husband, wealthy producer N. G. Gottleib. It seems like a cut-and-dry case, until Gottleib winds up dead, the victim of a magic spell. Lovecraft's subsequent investigation finds this murder is part of a conspiracy centering around a secret, magic-run brothel and somehow involving Senator Lance Crockett, a McCarthy-like conservative leading a popular campaign to outlaw magic. When Crockett frames one of Lovecraft's friends as the witch responsible for Gottleib's death, it is up to Lovecraft to reveal the truth before his friend is burned at the stake. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Dennis HopperPenelope Ann Miller, (more)
 
1988  
 
Add Nitti to Queue Add Nitti to top of Queue  
Al Capone's imprisonment opened the way for mobster Frank Nitti to become the underworld king of Chicago as related in this true story. (AKA Nitti) ~ Rovi

 Read More

 
1988  
 
In June of 1985, TWA Athens-to-Rome flight 847 was seized by two fanatical, grenade-wielding Hezbollah Moslems. The hijacking was dragged out for 17 days, during which time several of the terrified passengers were beaten and one was killed. Written by Norman Morrill, the made-for-TV The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson stars Lindsay Wagner as courageous American purser Uli Derickson, whose knowledge of German enables her to communicate with the chief hijacker, a Shiite Lebanese who calls himself Castro (Eli Danker). When the ordeal was over, Derickson was credited with saving many lives and preventing the crisis from becoming far worse than it already was. It is a tribute to Lindsay Wagner's acting talent that, although most of the film's dialogue is spoken in German, the audience never has any difficulty following the story. The Taking of Flight 847 first aired May 2, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Lindsay WagnerEli Danker, (more)
 
1984  
 
The thin storyline for this film is that three young women hope to gain a foothold in the acting profession, so they perform nude in front of the window of the disk jockey (Mad Man Jack played by Al Music) who is running a contest that would launch their careers. Along with many songs by a wide variety of groups -- from The Police to Blondie -- are crowds of young women cheerleading, doing aerobics, hang gliding, wind-surfing, and performing any number of physical feats. Other than music and nubile women in sporting events, the film has little to say and was never released theatrically. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

 Read More

Starring:
Al MusicLantz Douglas, (more)
 
1982  
 
Having agreed to submit to a genetic research project headed by Dr. Paul Flynn (Lane Smith), cancer victim Cindy Oliver (Kate Linder) leaves Flynn's hospital--and promptly dies. Soon thereafter, several other people who'd come in contact with Cindy also turn up dead. Investigating, Quincy (Jack Klugman) comes to the sobering conclusion that Dr. Flynn's experimental cancer-cure serum has spawned a mutant respiratory virus--which is not only fatal, but may also be unstoppable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1977  
 
Much to his dismay, Quincy (Jack Klugman) finds himself at odds with his friend and mentor Dr. Herbert Stone (Barry Sullivan) at a coroner's inquest. At stake is a huge insurance settlement, which will be decided only after the identity of a charred corpse is firmly established. Called in as an expert witness, Dr. Stone insists that the dead man is indeed a wealthy businessman, who has apparently died in a fire. But Quincy is unconvinced that the businessman was the victim, or even that he's actually dead--and worse, he suspects that Stone has "sold out" to the dead man's greedy family. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More

 
1977  
 
The inaugural presentation of the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" anthology, the three-part, six-hour miniseries Testimony of Two Men was based on the 1968 best-seller by Taylor Caldwell; it originally aired in three separate two-hour installments. Sprawled over the course of several generations following the Civil War, this epic begins in 1865. It covers the saga of idealistic, straight-arrow Pennsylvania surgeon Jonathan Ferrier (David Birney) and his irresponsible, hot-headed and slightly effeminate younger brother Harald (David Huffman). The Ferrier boys battle over professional ethics (Jonathan campaigns for medical reforms, Harald is interested only a quick financial turnover) and personal peccadilloes. The drama heats up when the philandering wife of one of the Ferriers is charged with murder, precipating a scandal that threatens to rock the medical profession to its foundations. In the climax, a group of envious physicians try to destroy Jonathan when he lobbies for antiseptic operating conditions--and the truth comes out about Harald's dalliance with Jonathan's late wife. Made available for syndication in May of 1977, Testimony of Two Men was seen in most markets on May 9, 16 and 23. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

 Read More