Aileen Fitzpatrick Movies
- 1994
Both Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Roz (Peri Gilpin) are nominated for the "SeaBea," Seattle's most coveted broadcasting award. At the urging of his mercenary agent, Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris), Frasier mounts a shameless campaign to win the award, culminating in the promise of expensive gifts for the voters. But our hero's euphoria turns to abject shame when he realizes that neither he nor Roz are the most deserving contestants. This episode marks the first time that canine thespian Moose receives on-screen credit as Eddie the dog. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
A feud of epic proportions ensues when snobbish John Hill (Keene Curtis, in his first series appearance) purchases the building housing Cheers and establishes a upscale seafood restaurant upstairs called Melville's. It's bad enough to put up with the new restrictions upon his own bar, but when Sam (Ted Danson) has to stand by while Hill issues orders to his staff, it's just too much. And who took those provocative photographs of Woody's (Woody Harrelson) girl friend Kelly? Billed as the 200th episode of Cheers, "Bad Neighbor Sam" was actually the 203rd to be telecast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Macho airline owner Roy (David Schramm) surprises one an all by allowing his high-school football star son R.J. (Abraham Benrubi) to take cello lessons from Helen (Crystal Bernard). It turns out that Roy is amused at the prospect of his son having a crush on Helen, who works for his chief rivals the Hackett brothers. Well, R.J. does have romance on his mind, all right...but it isn't the sort of romance that Roy could ever have imagined! This episode had originally been slated for Wings' first season, but was withheld because of its sensitive subject matter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Whitley Strieber from his book about his alleged contacts with aliens, Communion dramatizes a story all the more compelling for the author's insistence that it is true, complemented by Christopher Walken's enigmatic performance as Strieber. The film begins in October 1985, as Strieber is living in New York City with his wife Anne (Lindsay Crouse) and son Andrew (Joel Carlson). He is hunting for new book ideas without making much headway. He spends his days pacing around his apartment, thinking out loud or videotaping himself as he improvises bits of dialogue. It is soon decided that a vacation is in order, so, with their friends Alex (Andreas Katsulas) and Sara (Terri Hanauer), the Striebers head for their cabin in Upstate New York. In the middle of the night, an illumination descends on the cabin and surrounding forest, causing Strieber to wake up abruptly. In the semi-darkness of the cabin, he is able to make out a long face with narrow, tear-shaped eyes quietly observing him from a corner of the room. The next morning, he has forgotten -- or been made to forget -- the whole experience. He even shrugs off Alex's and Sarah's concern about "seeing lights" outside their bedroom window, claiming to have slept through the event. Back in New York, it becomes evident to Strieber and his family that something unusual did happen. He begins to have powerful hallucinations, and, after an inconclusive medical examination, he is encouraged by his wife to seek professional help from psychiatrist Janet Duffy (Frances Sternhagen). During hypnotic regression therapy, Strieber's lifelong contact with the "visitors" is brought to light, as well as the details of his more recent encounters. Still unable to accept these revelations, he returns to the cabin alone and finally communicates with the visitors, discovering that, although they are unable to reveal their true identity, their purpose may be to act as agents of personal transformation for himself and for others. An interesting and uneven film, Communion is bolstered considerably by Christopher Walken, whose role in the film, though appropriate for the subject matter, quickly transforms into a thesis on his own eccentricities as an actor. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse, (more)
In this sequel to the 1981 hit comedy Arthur, the story picks up where it left off with the bibulous millionaire hero (Dudley Moore) marrying poverty-stricken Linda Marolla (Liza Minnelli) instead of going through with a prearranged wealthy marriage. The vengeful father (Stephen Elliott) of the justifiably jilted bride begins pulling a few crooked strings, and before long, Arthur is broke. Worse still, Linda is pregnant. Will Arthur crawl back into a bottle, or will he save the day? John Gielgud makes a cameo appearance as the ghost of the family-retainer character he played in the first Arthur, while Dudley Moore's real-life wife Brogan Lane shows up in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, (more)
- 1986
- R
This drama concerns a young teen's transformation as she works at a half-way house for troubled kids. Franny (Mary Stuart Masterson) leaves behind a pampered, rich kid's life of yachting parties and affluent pastimes to take up a summer job working under Mrs. Chopper (Anne Meara) at a temporary shelter for homeless teens. Even though the experienced Mrs. Chopper warns Franny about not getting too involved with her charges, Franny decides that if she can organize a talent show, the youngsters will see that they are really worth something. Needless to say, Mrs. Chopper was partly right, and partly wrong. Jennifer Lopez of 1997's Selena and 1998's Out of Sight makes a precocious film debut here as one of the young teens. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Stuart Masterson, James Earl Jones, (more)
"Gotcha!" is a puerile but popular campus game at UCLA in which students stalk one another armed with paint-spewing pellet guns. Veterinary student Anthony Edwards may not be any great shakes in the classroom, but he's a whiz at Gotcha. His skills come in handy when Edwards, on vacation in Paris, becomes acquainted with the mysterious Linda Fiorentino. She gets him mixed up in international espionage; fortunately, the well-armed spies aren't quite as adept at "Gotcha" as Edwards is. Most of the film was lensed in Paris and Berlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
The Wilders are in for quite a time when Almanzo's brother Royal (Woody Eney) decides to take a vacation -- and deposits his troublesome sons, Myron (Ham Larsen) and Rupert (Rossie Harris), in the home of Almanzo (Dean Butler) and Laura (Melissa Gilbert). Before long, the nasty nephews have turned the household topsy-turvy with their practical jokes and pranks. It falls to Laura to put the kiddies in their place with some trickery of her own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1976
This TV movie delves into the unhappy later years of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (here played by Jason Miller). Broke and virtually written-out by the late 1930s, Fitzgerald is compelled to accept screenwriting work in Tinseltown where he is frustrated that his work is extensively rewritten and revised -- if not rejected altogether. On a personal level, Fitzgerald must deal with his wife Zelda (Tuesday Weld), now sequestered in a North Carolina mental institution. Seeking some reason for living, Fitzgerald inaugurates an affair with Hollywood columnist Sheila Graham (Julia Foster). Not all that incisive, and saddled with an unsympathetic drunkard as a central character, F. Scott Fitzgerald is still superior to Hollywood's previous version of the Fitzgerald/Graham romance, Beloved Infidel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
