Tony Ganios Movies

Love it or loathe it (and there are a goodly number of people on either side), Porky's was one of the most successful comedies of its day, spawning two direct sequels and inspiring an incalculable number of lowbrow teen comedies, most recently including American Pie (1999). Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Billy (Mark Herrier), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), and Mickey (Roger Wilson) are four painfully horny high school kids growing up in South Florida in the 1950's. Desperate to rid themselves of their cumbersome virginity, they head out to a sleazy bar near the swamps called Porky's, where local legend has it that the owner will fix you up with a prostitute for a reasonable fee. After Porky takes their money and dumps them in the swamp, the guys vow to get revenge. Meanwhile, Pee Wee has to deal with his shrinking penis, someone drills a hole in the wall of the girl's shower, the guys encounter a prostitute named Cherry Forever, and anti-Semitism rears its ugly head. Cheerfully rude in a manner few mainstream films had achieved at that time, Porky's, for better or worse, changed the standard of what was acceptable in a screen comedy. Remarkably enough, two years later director Bob Clark made the holiday favorite A Christmas Story, which displayed his considerable range, if nothing else. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

For his follow-up to 1979's Academy Award-winning Norma Rae, director Martin Ritt re-teams with that film's star, Sally Field, for this gritty romantic road comedy. Reportedly Ritt's homage to Frank Capra's films of the 1930s, Back Roads stars Field as Amy Post, a no-nonsense prostitute in the deep South struggling with the fact that she gave up her only child for adoption. When Amy first encounters the recently unemployed Elmore Pratt (Tommy Lee Jones), she is anything but fond of the drifter. But after taking to the road together with dreams of California, the two societal misfits find themselves falling for each other. Ritt and Field would team together once again four years later in another romantic comedy set in the South, Murphy's Romance. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Meant to cash in on the breakdancing mania of the early 1980s, this run-of-the-mill teen movie is undercut by casting Lorenzo Lamas in the role of Chilly D, a breakdancing king, while Magick (La Ron A. Smith) who teaches Chilly the fine art of the acrobatic moves is a real pro. Once Chilly has mastered his new talent, he gets an offer to perform in a high-class club. Lusting after fame and status, Chilly leaves his girlfriend, mother, and buddies behind to focus on a new lifestyle that includes an upscale apartment, a new girlfriend, and as one might guess, all the things he never really wanted. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

"Another basement, another elevator...how can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?" asks John McClane (Bruce Willis), in what is doubtless the key question of this film. A year after foiling the terrorist takeover of a high-rise office building in the first movie, McClane is waiting to pick up his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), at Dulles International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve. Scheduled to arrive the same evening is Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), a South American political figure who is being brought to the United States to stand trial for his role in a drug-smuggling ring. However, a group of terrorists, led by renegade American military officer Col. Stuart (William Sadler), take control of the airport, scuttling radio transmissions and placing their own men in the control tower. Stuart and his men ensure that Esperanza's plane lands safely, and then demand that Stuart and his men be given a fully-fueled 747 and free passage wherever they choose to go. Otherwise, they will guide the many circling jets waiting for landing instructions into definite crash landings, killing the many passengers on board. Not willing to stand aside as terrorists once again threaten his wife's life, the wise-cracking McClane once again leaps into action to foil Stuart's plans and bring the passenger jets safely to the ground. William Atherton, John Amos, Dennis Franz, and John Leguizamo highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When Michael Crichton wrote his best-selling thriller Rising Sun, he wrote the character of hero John Connor with Sean Connery in mind. For Philip Kaufman's film version of the novel, Sean Connery, needless to say, fits seamlessly into the role of a legendary police detective who is an expert in Japanese culture. The story takes place in the towering office building of the Japanese Nakamoto Corporation in Los Angeles, who are negotiating a deal with Microcon, an American electronics firm. During a gala held one night in the Nakamoto offices, the body of a woman, Cheryl Lynn Austin (Tatjana Patitz) is found murdered in the main conference room. Arriving quickly on the scene is high-amped police lieutenant Tom Graham (Harvey Keitel), who oozes hatred for anything Japanese from every pore. When he has trouble getting cooperation from the Nakatomo executives, Graham calls in Web Smith (Wesley Snipes), a Special Services liaison, and John Connor (Connery), a man well-versed in Japanese culture and traditions. Together they form a team as they investigate the crime. Connor questions computer video expert Jingo (Tia Carrere), who works on a security system computer disc that captures the killer's identity. The only problem is that the image of the killer on the disc has been altered to conceal the murderer's face. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi