Joey Aresco Movies

Three fanatical bird-watchers (Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black) spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of species as El Nino sends an extraordinary variety of rare breeds flying up into the U.S., but they quickly discover that there are more important things than coming out on top of the competition. Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley and Me) teams with screenwriter Howard Franklin to adapt author Mark Obmascik's 1998 book of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A group of young people try to shot down the operations of a handful of gangsters with the help of some friends from the animal kingdom in this family comedy. Monkey Business stars Jay Thomas, Richard Moll, Billy Drago, Kathren Laurents, and a young Shia LaBeouf; writer Ted Fox appears as Zipper Headley. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In 1934, J. Edgar Hoover and the boys made headlines for mowing down John Dillinger in a hail of bullets outside Chicago's Biograph theater. But in fact, according to this Jon Purdy gangster thriller, the Feds iced Dillinger's brother. Fast-forward five years, when mobster kingpin Al Capone (F. Murray Abraham) gives the real Dillinger (Martin Sheen) an offer he can't refuse: rob millions from a secluded vault or watch his wife and child get whacked. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Embarking upon another robbery investigation, Novak (Lauren Lane) is joined by her reporter friend Amy Rivers (Kelly Curtis). To enhance the excitement of the job at hand, Amy resorts to sniffing cocaine. Not surprisingly, Amy's ever-increasing dependency on the drug not only jeopardizes her life, but Novak's as well--and Hunter (Fred Dryer) may not be able to come to the rescue this time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Next Generation's final first-run episode of 1989 premiered on November 25 of that year. Written by Sam Rolfe (whose previous credits included such prestigious TV series as Have Gun, Will Travel and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), "The Vengeance Factor" got under way as Captain Picard attempted to mediate a bitter dispute between a band of space pirates called the Gatherers, and the ruler of their home planet, Acamar. There Picard's peace-keeping mission is imperiled by a mysterious and elusive assassin. Meanwhile, Riker falls in love with Yuta (Lisa Wilcox), the beautiful, enigmatic servant of Acamarian leader Marouk (Nancy Parsons). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this low-budget exploitation actioner, white slavers make the mistake of kidnapping the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and taking her to Manila. Now the veteran has come to find her and nothing nor no one can stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A cop discovers that there's something unusual about his new partner in this unusual sci-fi thriller. A seemingly well-mannered stock broker one day snaps, robbing a bank, stealing a Ferrari, and driving straight into a police barricade without any thought for his own safety, and he's mowed down by a hail of bullets. The detective assigned to the case, Tom Beck (Michael Nouri), thinks that he notices a strange look in the eye of the thief, but when FBI agent Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle MacLachlan) informs Tom that he's also been assigned to the case, he thinks that he sees the same curious look in Lloyd's eyes as well. Lloyd also has an odd way of carrying himself, as if he's not entirely in control of his own body, and in time, Tom discovers what the two men have in common -- both are actually aliens from another planet. They are creatures from another world capable of entering a human (or animal) body at will and using it as a vessel as long as they need. When the stockbroker died, the rogue alien simply crept into another body to begin his crime spree all over again. Lloyd has been sent to Earth to bring the thief's reign of terror to a halt and has taken over the body of an FBI agent with that in mind. A major cult favorite, The Hidden also features Clu Gulager, Ed O'Ross, and Claudia Christian. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Jonathan Demme made one of his more conventional movies with Swing Shift, an examination of life on the American home front during WWII. Goldie Hawn, who also served as the film's producer, stars as Kay, a woman who takes a job on the line at a plant producing war planes after her husband goes off to fight in Europe. One of her coworkers is her best friend Hazel, played by Christine Lahti, whose performance earned an Oscar nomination and a New York Film Critics award. Kay falls in love with another coworker, Lucky (Kurt Russell), who couldn't enlist because of a weak heart. Kay's husband Jack (Ed Harris) comes home on leave and finds out that his wife has betrayed him. Lucky then decides to pursue Hazel, driving a wedge between the two best friends. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Though apparently killed at the end of the previous episode "To Protect and Serve", mob hit man "Anthony Boy" Gagglio (George Loros) actually survived to serve a prison term. Now a free man, Anthony Boy has sworn vengenace against the person who sent him up--namely, Jim Rockford (James Garner), who already has enough to worry about with an impending IRS audit. In an effort to get his tax documents in order in as peaceful a manner as possible, Jim retreats to a mountain cabin in the company of pretty accountan Sharon Acker (Adrianna Danielli. Unfortunately, Angel (Stuart Margolin) lets slip the location of the cabin, and soon Anthony Boy and his sidekick Syl (Luke Andreas) are on their way to bump Jim off--followed closely by gangster Joseph Minette (Joe Sirola), who has plans of his own to kill Anthony Boy and leave no witnesses behind. Originally a 90-minute episode, "The Man Who Saw the Alligators" is usually pared to 60 minutes in syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In order to bring a vicious motorcycle gang to justice, undercover detective Tony Baretta (Robert Blake) needs the testimony of one of the gang members. Unfortunately, the intractable Assistant District Attorney (Alan Mandell) refuses to plea bargain with the witness. As a result, Baretta is forced to infiltrate the gang to save his inside informant. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Leslie Nielsen is the guest star in the season-three opener of Streets of San Francisco. Nielsen is cast as Joe Landers, an alcoholic police officer whose drunken bungling has caused the death of his longtime partner. Going to desperate and dangerous lengths to cover up his negligence, Officer Landers ultimately proves to be no match for diligent homicide detectives Mike Stone (Karl Malden) and Steve Keller (Michael Douglas). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi