Kathleen Freeman Movies

Dan Aykroyd and John Landis teamed to script this sequel to The Blues Brothers (1980), which they also co-scripted. With Landis once again at the helm as director, Aykroyd re-creates his role of rhythm-and-blues man Elwood Blues, and the film's numerous R&B performances and production numbers include Aretha Franklin singing her classic "Respect". Released from prison after serving 18 years for the havoc depicted in the first film, Elwood learns that while he was serving time, his pal Jake Blues (John Belushi) has died, as did their hi-de-ho music mentor Curtis (Cab Calloway). Times have changed, but the blues beat goes on. Elwood visits Mother Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), who runs the orphanage where Elwood and Jake were raised, and she puts 10-year-old Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) in Elwood's care. Seeking a loan, Elwood visits Curtis' son, Cabel Chamberlain (Joe Morton), and Buster picks Cabel's pocket. Now, 18 years after the original "mission from God," Elwood attempts to reorganize the Blues Brothers Band, beginning with bartender Mighty Mack McTeer (John Goodman) as a replacement for Jake. With the Russian Mafia in hot pursuit, Elwood, Mack, and Buster head cross-country, locating band members as they travel pell-mell toward a scheduled battle of the bands in Louisiana where the Blues Brothers Band competes with the Lousiana Gator Boys Band (Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Travis Tritt, Steve Winwood, Clarence Clemmons, Isaac Hayes). Filmed in Toronto and Chicago, this movie reunited Aykroyd and Goodman, who were seen previously in the 1996 video, The Return of the Blues Brothers, a performance taped January 24, 1995 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Elsewhere, the Blues Brothers are kept alive in a half-dozen or so websites, such as the House of Blues, and live stage productions. In England, the stage show A Tribute to the Blues Brothers began in 1991. At the request of Aykroyd and Judy Belushi, the title of that production was changed to The Official Tribute to the Blues Brothers. With various cast members in the roles of Jake and Elwood (Con O'Neill, Warwick Evans, Brad Henshaw, Simon Foster), the show toured Britain throughout the 1990s. The "original Blues Brother" (who coached John Belushi and originated some of the blues raps used by Belushi) is Curtis Salgado (of the Robert Cray Band). One cast member of Blues Brothers 2000, bluesman Junior Wells, the last of the great Chicago harmonica players, died in January 1998, only days before the film was released. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Dr. Quest receives a strange package from his old friend, Native American mystic Alice Starseer, containing a curious quartz statue. In turn, the statue contains a rod that acts as a beacon to summon extraterrestrials. Transporting the statue to New Mexico (conveniently close to "Area 51" near Roswell), the Quest team is targetted for scrutiny -- and possible elimination -- by the ubiquitious Men in Black who seem to always be around in sci-fi stories. "Return of the Anasazi" was first telecast on September 9, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Married. . .With Children opens its tenth season as Bud (David Faustino) moves out of the Bundy household. Dad Al (Ed O'Neill) is delighted that he'll have one less mouth to feed--or at least, he was delighted until he found out that Bud was moving into the Bundy basement. As for Bud's former room, it is now occupied in every sense of the word by Peg's (Katey Sagal) overbearing mom (played by a never-seen Kathleen Freeman), prompting Al to head to Wanker county in hopes of persuading Peg's dad Ephraim (Tim Conway) to reconcile with his wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fed up with providing room and board for Peg's mom, the Bundys head to Wanker country hoping to persuade Peg's father Ephraim (Tim Conway) to patch things up with his wife. Ephraim agrees, but only if Al (Ed O'Neill) and Bud (David Faustino) will prove their salt by going on a bear hunt. The upshot of all this macho intrigue is a wild climactic sequence wherein all of Chicago is terrorized by a "dead" bruin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Attending their five-year high school reunion, Kelly (Christina Applegate) and her best friend Jessica (Sarah Ann Morris) are shocked to discover that onetime classroom nerd Eric (Casper Van Dien) is now a handsome hunk--and a millionaire to boot. Once the girls have recovered, they fall over themselves trying to win Eric's heart. . .while Kelly does everything in her power to make Eric forget that she once stood him up on New Year's Eve. Meanwhile, the Bundys don't quite understand the purpose of Marcy's "guns for toys" drive. Seen in this episode as Bud's girlfriend Ashley is former Playboy centerfold Heidi Mark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The further misadventures of bumbling Los Angeles police Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) are chronicled in this third installment in the popular Naked Gun comedy series. This by-the-numbers entry begins with Drebin as a happily retired house-husband called back into action when an evil terrorist organization threatens Los Angeles. As in the other Naked Gun films, this plot is merely an excuse for an unhinged, rapid-fire succession of gags, ranging from satirical lampoons of cop movies to broad slapstick, all played with a perfectly straight face. Nielsen provides his familiar combination of complete witlessness and oblivious dignity as Drebin, and the film attempts to match the earlier Naked Gun films -- and the Police Squad! television series that inspired them -- in the number of jokes. However, the film proved less successful than its predecessors, as some viewers found that the freewheeling comic style of the earlier films had solidified into its own formula, now mildly entertaining but disappointingly predictable. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy romp around like coked-up versions of The Three Stooges in the frantic Disney romp Hocus Pocus. The film begins in 1693 where three witches -- Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) -- are preparing a potion that will grant them immortality and eternal youth. But before they finish mixing their cocktail, the people of Salem capture them and execute them for practicing witchcraft. Before their deaths, they vow to return to Salem 300 years hence on Halloween to exact their revenge. Three hundred years later, a skeptical, newly transplanted Californian, Max (Omri Katz), explores the ruins of the legendary witches' house and dares the witches to manifest themselves. Disregarding the warnings of his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and girlfriend Allison (Vinessa Shaw), Max lights the Candle of Black Flame. With that, the witches reappear to wreak havoc on the town. The kids take off with the witches' spellbook and a musty tome of hexes and recipes. The sorceresses, who will die by the morning light if they don't recite the incantation for immortality, have to get the books by whatever means they can. So, Winifred, Sarah, and Mary hop on their broomsticks for a chase through Halloween night. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A man finds himself living among the animals and enchanted spirits of the rainforest, and learns of the true consequences of human destruction in this animated adventure. Crysta (voice of Samantha Mathis) is a young fairy who is being tutored in the powers of magic by the older and wiser Magi (voice of Grace Zabriskie) in an Amazon rain forest. While their home was once on the verge of destruction thanks to the evil spirit Hexxus (voice of Tim Curry), the demon has been trapped inside a tree, and Crysta is free to play with her friends Batty Koda (voice of Robin Williams), a bat who escaped from an animal testing facility, and Pips (voice of Christian Slater), who has obvious romantic intentions toward the attractive young sprite. However, a clear-cutting crew destroys the tranquil peace of the rainforest, and when Crysta sees a runaway logging machine about to run over lumberjack Zak (voice of Jonathan Ward), she saves his life by shrinking him to her own size. However, Crysta isn't able to bring Zak back to his normal size, so he's forced to live among the forest creatures and learn first-hand the devastation the humans have brought to this world -- especially when the loggers accidentally free Hexxus from captivity. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this horror film, a number of scary and creepy stories are related as three young boys swap gruesome stories during a backyard camp out. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Still broke and homeless in Manhattan, Mike (Kirk Cameron) decides to move in with his sister Carol (Tracey Gold), who is attending Columbia University. With this move, the two Cameron kids' personalities undergo a radical reversal, with Mike becoming more serious and level-headed, and Carol more frivolous and flighty. Meanwhile, mom Maggie (Joanna Kerns) argues with her dad Ed (Gordon Jump) over the best strategy to convince Mike and Carol to move back home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Where the original Gremlins was a horror film spiked with comedy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is essentially a black comedy, with a couple of horrifying touches. As the film starts, the fantastical trinket shop in Chinatown, which sold the Mogwai in the first film, is demolished by a crazed multi-media businessman called Daniel Clamp (John Glover). The heroes from the first movie, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates), happen to work for Clamp in his huge high-rise. They find the Mogwai within Clamp's building, but not before he has accidentally spawned legions of mischievous, lizard-like Gremlins. Soon, the Gremlins are wreaking havoc throughout the building. In the original film, their misdeeds were violent, but here they're also goofy and satirical. Director Joe Dante has filled the film with quick verbal and visual jokes, which, for many, makes Gremlins 2: The New Batch a satire and inversion of the typical horror film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Jason's mom Irma (Jane Powell) and her new hubby Wally (Robert Rockwell) hope to play matchmaker for their granddaughter Carol (Tracey Gold) and their gormless investment counselor Ken Singleton (Darren Powell). To foil this scheme, Carol decides to show up at Irma's party with a phony boyfriend. The man selected for this dubious "honor" is none other than Carol's coworker Big Al (Beans Morocco). (Note: The first telecast of this episode was not listed in TV Guide, due to the possibility of an extra World Series game). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide