Shawn Elliott Movies

"Short eyes" is prison slang for a man who sodomizes little boys. Fitting this odious description is new inmate Bruce Davison, who is arrested and locked up with the scum of the earth. Despite their own depravities, Davison's fellow prisoners consider him the lowest form of human life, and proceed to treat him accordingly, in a series of appalling episodes that must have been as hard to film as they are to watch. Most of the supporting cast is comprised of real-life hoodlums, junkies and killers; small wonder that Davison retains his deer-in-the-headlights facial expression throughout the film. Short Eyes was based on a play by Miguel Pinero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary on human rights abuses in Guatemala is narrated by Rigoberta Menchú, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace prize for her courageous struggle against the military regime in her country. Menchú is a Native American and in this documentary, it is explained that three of her family members were killed during the long fight against the repressive government. One segment of the film shows the bodies left in the wake of a government massacre of civilians. Menchú maintains that as long as the U.S. continues to support the Guatemalan government with military or economic aid, the lives of civilians will continue to be the cost of that support. Two fictional segments in the film illustrate U.S. concerns about business and corporate interests, rather than with human rights. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Ruben Blades stars in this low-budget independent salsa musical (filmed in Spanish Harlem at a cost of $600,000), chronicling the rise and fall of a salsa artist who wants to hit the big time. Blades plays Rudy Veloz, a salsa musician who grabs one-night gigs in Latino nightclubs. He idolizes Julio Iglesias and dreams of putting together a band that will incorporate a blend of musical styles so that Rudy can crossover to mainstream commercial success. However, he is warned by his mentor, Cheo Babalu (Virgilio Marti), that his music is garbage and that he should write from the soul. Rudy ignores him, pursuing his passion for middle-of-the-road success. Rudy is noticed at a concert by a record producer, who puts out a successful single of one of Rudy's tunes. The success of the single goes to Rudy's head, and he walks out on his loyal girlfriend Liz (Elizabeth Pena) and drops his long-time manager, Ray (Frank Robles). But Rudy can't match his hit single with another crossover tune and his producer drops him. Without support of the producer or his friends, Rudy falls back into obscurity. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this charming comedy that lives up to its title, Judge Reinhold stars as Joe Gower, a librarian's assistant posing as a police officer and trying to win the heart of a beautiful police officer, Rachel Wareham (Meg Tilly). A complex chain of events is put in place when Joe agrees to help out a good friend who's a policeman by taking his place at an audition for the cop's annual benefit show. Once at the auditions, Joe falls for Rachel, who will be dancing in the benefit. Joe starts hanging out with the choreographer in order to spend more time with Rachel. Unfortunately, this gets him into his borrowed police uniform more than he would like, and soon he's carrying out the duties of a beat cop while wearing his disguise. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Dead Pool is the fifth and (thus far) the last of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry movies. A sports pool is placing bets on which famous person will die next. Suddenly a serial killer who preys upon celebrities enters the scene, radically (and perhaps deliberately) changing the odds in the pool. As a celebrity of sorts, maverick cop Dirty Harry Callahan becomes a target of the killer, as does high-profile TV journalist Patricia Clarkson. Surprises are at a minimum in The Dead Pool; the film gets down to business quickly, moves logically if violently towards its climax (with a spectacular car-chase sequence thrown in for good measure), and delivers exactly what its fans expect. One major difference between this film and the earlier Dirty Harry epics is that the murders are committed in so outrageous a fashion that the picture seems at times to be a Freddie Krueger vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez). Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This daffy, hit-and-miss gore comedy was apparently conceived as a parody of Herschell Gordon Lewis' splatter landmark Blood Feast, which, frankly, represents too easy a target. There are no actual Pharaohs involved, only a crazed figure in a fez who roams the streets of Pittsburgh slicing, axing and chainsawing naughty ladies of the night, then absconding with various stolen body parts. The killings mimic the M.O. of a Las Vegas-based occult serial killer who was shot dead by a slouchy cop (Joe Sharkey) more than a decade ago -- a cop who has been haunted by the case ever since. A trip to Pittsburgh's Egyptian district leads our hero and a butt-kicking meter maid (Susann Fletcher) smack into the killer's hideout, where a bloody battle to the death ensues. It's clear the filmmakers intended this to be either a wild, Airplane!-style take on splatter movies or a frenetic, comic gorefest a la Peter Jackson's Dead Alive, but the story and direction lack wit or creativity enough for either one. Nevertheless, there are some outstanding moments of grim humor (particularly a subplot involving a quit-smoking clinic) and audacious makeup effects from local boy Tom Savini. Some promotional materials have replaced director Dean Tschetter's name with familiar DGA pseudonym "Alan Smithee." ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

While visiting New York, a Japanese nightclub owner is murdered. The detectives follow the trail of clues to a singer who once worked for the victim. The Defense tries to free the woman using the "battered woman syndrome" argument -- a strategy disdainfully dismissed by Assistant D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) as "revenge dressed up in smoke and mirrors." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An autistic youth dies while in custody, leading Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Logan (Chris Noth) to investigate the clinic where the victim was being treated. The clinic's head, Dr. Alan Colter (Lawrence Pressman), has been known to use radical and possibly illegal therapies on his patients, most of these "treatments" involving electric shock. The D.A. office's efforts to tie Colter together with the victim's death are complicated by the lack of cooperation from the parents of Colter's patients. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Love, lust, loyalty, and betrayal are the themes of this tense adult drama. Joe (Edward James Olmos) and Betty (Maria Conchita Alonso) are a married couple living in Jersey City; Joe runs a fish market, and Betty wishes that Joe showed as much interest in her as he does in his business, since she feels the spark has died in their relationship. They have a grown son, Danny (Steven Schub), who has moved to Los Angeles in hopes of making it big as a standup comic. One day, a guy named Nick (Arie Verveen), who is trying to avoid the police, happens into Joe's store. Joe senses that he's not a hardened criminal, just a kid with a long history of bad luck, so he takes pity on him and gives him a square meal. He genuinely likes Nick and offers him a job in his store; the pay isn't much, but, since Danny's room is empty, he can throw in free room and board. Nick gratefully accepts, and Joe soon discovers that he's found someone special, as Nick shows a natural talent for the fish business. Betty also thinks that Nick is someone special; while Betty loves Joe, and Nick is grateful to him, an attraction between the two leads to a passionate affair. As Nick and Betty both find themselves betraying Joe despite their affection for him, Danny returns from California, hoping to take his room back, and immediately sensing that something is wrong. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A police officer is killed and a hired driver kidnapped during a carjacking. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) manage to capture one of the perpetrators, who offers to reveal the whereabouts of the missing driver to Assistant D.A. Ross (Carey Lowell) in exchange for immunity on the cop-killing charge. This potential deal results in much professional grief for Ross' partner Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). Edie Falco returns in the role of defense attorney (and McCoy's ex-lover) Sally Bell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Inspired by a true story (the events of which led to the Sipes vs. McGhee trial, in which the United States Supreme Court declared that covenants used to segregate neighborhoods were unconstitutional), The Color of Courage concerns Mac McGhee (Roger Guenveur Smith), his wife Minnie (Lynn Whitfield), and their two sons, an African-American family who move into an all-white neighborhood in the early 1940s. Hoping to avoid trouble early on, The McGhees move in at night, but the neighbors soon become aware that a black family is living nearby. Anna Sipes (Linda Hamilton), who lives next door, is a bored housewife whose husband forbids her to work outside the home; wanting to be a good neighbor, she bakes a cake as a welcoming gift for the McGhees, and Minnie accepts it graciously. Minnie and Anna get to know each other and discover that they have a good bit in common. However, as their friendship grows, animosity against the McGhees begins to build, and Anna's husband Benjamin (Bruce Greenwood) joins with members of the neighborhood association to use legal means to force the McGhee family to move elsewhere. The Color of Courage was shown at the 1998 Chicago Film Festival before making its bow on the USA cable network in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A certain high-profile murder which peripherally involved a well-connected political family was the obvious inspiration for this episode. Under orders from their higher-ups, Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) reopen a 20-year-old murder investigation. The principal suspect at the time was the spoiled teenaged son of a powerful U.S. ambassador (Remak Ramsay). The question: Considering the age of the suspect when the killing occurred, should he be tried in juvenile court even though he is now well into adulthood? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide