E.J. De La Pena Movies
Bob Odenkirk and David Cross stretch one of the characters from their HBO comedy sketch series Mr. Show into a full-length feature with Run Ronnie Run!. Ronnie Dobbs (Cross) becomes a media celebrity when he becomes the star of his own show ("Ronnie Dobbs Gets Arrested"). On this premise, the writers (and director Troy Miller) hang a series of pop culture spoofs. Among the targets are Mandy Patinkin, the television series Cops, and Survivor. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker make a cameo appearance. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, (more)
The Cleaver Family makes the jump from the small black and white screen to color and Panavision in this updated version of the classic TV sit-com. Eight-year-old Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver (Cameron Finley) is a good natured kid with a habit of getting in trouble; he's not bad, mind you, just a bit absent-minded. Beaver lives with his 12-year-old brother Wally (Erik Von Detten), his father Ward (Christopher McDonald), and his mother June (Janine Turner) in a small town in Ohio. Beaver wants a new bicycle more than anything, but his father wishes that he had more of an interest in team sports; someone suggests to Beaver that if he joined the school's football team, Ward might be impressed enough to buy him the bike. Beaver signs up, but his skills on the gridiron fall somewhere between slim and none, and the experience proves more than a bit embarrassing for both Beaver and Ward. Before long, Beaver has quit the team, but he tries to hide this fact from his father. Beaver does get his bike -- but he doesn't get to do much with it before it's stolen by a bigger kid in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, Wally's best friend, the mildly sleazy Eddie Haskell (Adam Zolotin), has fallen for a cute girl at school, Karen (Erika Christensen), and wants Wally to help him impress her; however, Karen seems to like Wally more than Eddie. This puts Wally in dutch with his best friend, and Wally feels even worse when he and Karen begin to quarrel. Ken Osmond, who played Eddie Haskell on the original TV series, plays Eddie's father here, and Barbara Billingsley, the original June Cleaver, appears as Aunt Martha. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher McDonald, Janine Turner, (more)
- 1996
Cory (Ben Savage) manages to commit himself to two different events at the same time. Having promised to attend Topanga's sweet-sixteen party, Cory nonetheless agrees to attend a wrestling match in which Frankie's dad Vader (Leon Allen White) squares off against Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Hoping to get himself out of this jam, Cory devises a scheme to be in both places at once--just like Fred did in a 1962 episode of The Flintstones! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Cory (Ben Savage) and Shawn (Rider Strong) are given a thought-provoking Thanksgiving weekend assignment: to show how class divisions between rich and poor are causing all the problems in Rwanda. Unexpectedly, the boys receive some first-hand experience in this matter when both of their families attend Thanksgiving dinner at the trailer-park home of Shawn's parents. And in another development, Frankie's brother Herman (E.J. DeLaPena) wants to start dating Cory's sister Morgan (Lindsay Ridgeway). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Shareen Mitchell makes her first series appearance as Virna, the "runaway" mother of Cory's friend Shawn (Rider Strong). When Virna reappears after a year's absence, Cory (Ben Savage) tries to reunite her with her son Shawn and husband Chet (Blake Clark)--who really want this reunion, but are reluctant to make the first move out of fear that Virna might run off again. Cory also finds time to pay homage to Brenda (Loretta Jean), the cafeteria lunch lady, who has unexpectedly passed away. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Rosemary Clooney (aunt of series regular George Clooney) returns as a mysterious mental patient wandering the halls of the ER singing Christmas songs. Likewise invested with the Yuletide spirit is Benton (Eriq La Salle), who upon finding an organ-donor card among the effects of a brain-dead patient, begins informing potential recipients. Unfortunately, Benton has spread the "good news" too soon; the donor's wife (Amanda Rogers) refuses to okay anything until she gets a second opinion about her estranged husband's chances for survival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
