Patsy Garrett
- 1993
Impudent Dennis plagues the ever-irascible Mr. Wilson in this full-length, live-action adventure comedy, which finds everyone's favorite troublemaker digging in the sandbox for some forgotten fossils. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Mississippi Masala is a tale of how prejudice makes victims and instigators of us all. In 1972, Indian Jay (Roshan Seth), a resident of Uganda, is forced by the bigoted Amin regime to take his family and flee the country. He vows to hate and distrust all blacks--at least until he is able to reclaim the real estate stolen from him by the Ugandan government. Flash-forward to 1990: Jay and his family have settled in Mississippi. Seth's daughter Mina (Sarit Choudhury) makes the acquaintance of African-American Demetrius (Denzel Washington), the prosperous manager of a carpet-cleaning business. At first attracted to Mina because he is fascinated by her African background, Demetrius slowly falls in love with her. The situation causes Jay to exercise the same racial prejudice by which he was himself victimized. Ironically, Demetrius behaves just as foolishly, blaming Jay's ethnic chauvinism for a drop in his business. Both Jay and Demetrius must learn to bury their pasts and their prejudices to go on with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, (more)
- 1987
In this children's comedy, Hank Ketcham's enduring comic-strip character and his pals discover mysterious bones in their neighborhood. Paleontologists soon come to investigate and mayhem ensues. On video the film is titled: "Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this outing, Benji finds himself on the loose in Athens. An international spy (Ed Nelson) places a secret oil formula within the folds of Benji's paw, and before the poor dog knows what's happening, he's being pursued through the ancient metropolis by a daunting variety of villains. Fortunately, Benji is smarter than his pursuers, so a happy ending is never in doubt. Writer/director Joe Camp managed to keep the Benji} franchise alive into the 1980s, even writing a book about his filmmaking adventures with the clever canine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Garrett, Cynthia Smith, (more)
While the Watergate scandal filled the headlines, Alan J. Pakula's 1974 thriller took its inspiration from the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination. Journalist Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) misses witnessing the assassination of a senator at Seattle's Space Needle, but his newswoman former girlfriend Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss) was there. Even after a government commission concludes that it was a freak lone assassin, Lee tells Joe that she fears for her life since other witnesses keep dying. After she too turns up dead, Joe investigates, travelling to the small town where another witness has mysteriously expired. Stumbling on a corporate identity for the killers, Joe decides to dig deeper by infiltrating the Parallax Corporation as one of their hired assassins. As Joe becomes increasingly isolated in his assumed identity, he discovers what Parallax is all about -- but Parallax knows all about Joe too. Made between Klute (1971) and All the President's Men (1976), The Parallax View was the second film in Pakula's "paranoia" trilogy; it proved too dark even for a 1974 audience that embraced such other challenging films of that year as The Godfather, Part II and Chinatown, making The Parallax View the sole flop of Pakula's trilogy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, (more)
An instant family classic, Benji is shot mostly from the a dog's-eye view , adding even more characterization to a title character well-played by canine veteran Higgins. Benji is an intelligent homeless mutt adopted by a loving family; when the kids are kidnapped, it's the little dog to the rescue in the best tradition of bigger doggie heroes like Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Believe it or not, Higgins really acts; his captivating performance and the simple, straightforward telling of the story makes for all-around family fun. A sequel didn't fare as well, but the original Benji is still a furry favorite. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patsy Garrett, Allen Fiuzat, (more)
- 1973
Using John-Boy (Richard Thomas) as a go-between, blacksmith Curtis Norton (Ned Beatty) carries on a long-distance courtship with city girl Ann Harris (Ivy Jones). Though John-Boy sees no harm in writing Curtis' love letters for the shy Smithy, his tendency to embellish the facts causes big problems when Ann pays a visit to Walton's Mountain. Meanwhile, Olivia (Michael Learned) begins fantasizing about an operatic career while bicycling to her weekly choir practice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
Set on a coastal resort in California, the thrills in this mystery begin as a strange killer chops up three blonde beauties forcing the house detective to work overtime to figure out that the killer is right under his nose. The film was shot in "Duo-Vision," a technique that splits the screen and allows two different images to be projected simultaneously. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Walter Hale (Elvis Presley) is the manager of a chautauqua, a traveling show consisting of performances, lectures and entertainment. Along with manager Johnny (Edward Andrews), he helps some young kids break into show business and contends with the union-organizing Charlene (Marilyn Mason). Vincent Price appears as Mr. Morality. John Carradine, Sheree North and Dabney Coleman also appear in this forgettable film which makes Clambake and Girl Happy classics by comparison. Elvis is limited to three tunes as he plays out the string of poorly scripted vehicles that ended with his next feature, the equally awful Change of Habit. By now, the inane screenplays had done permanent damage to a once-promising film career, souring the King of Rock & Roll on everything in movies except live concert performances. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elvis Presley, Marlyn Mason, (more)
