Michael E. Rodgers Movies
An L.A. matchmaker and an unemployed actress forge an unlikely romance in this comedy starring Susan Priver and Sally Kirkland. Scarlet Zabrinski (Priver) may be a born cupid, but when it comes to her own love life things aren't going too well; her mother Ruth (Kirkland) insists on setting her up, despite repeated pleas by the put-upon daughter to kindly relent. When Scarlet's mistakenly sets up her unemployed pothead brother with a porn star, family ties quickly begin to fray. Then, one day, while driving along and enjoying the sunshine, Scarlet is rear-ended by homeless foreign actress Sabrina Fisser (Musetta Vander). Feeling bad for the vagabond, Scarlet offers Sabrina a place to stay for the night. But one night quickly stretches into another, and then a week, leaving Scarlet to wonder whether she will ever get her privacy back. Then, just as Scarlet starts to feel like she's completely helpless, her brother hits on Sabrina and everything starts to change. Is Scarlet simply being protective of her new roommate, or could her growing affection for Sabrina be a sign of true love? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Priver, Sally Kirkland, (more)
- 2004
Kerr Smith makes his first series appearance as Agent Kyle Brody, a handsome young government functionary who has taken a special interest in the Charmed Ones. A self-proclaimed expert on witchcraft, Brady has the curious feeling that the girls will be able to help him solve his current case, involving the disappearances of several young women. It turns out that, just like our heroines, the missing girls were all peculiarly "gifted" -- and they've been periodically vanishing from the same geographic region for over 100 years! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory, (more)
A thief gains an unlikely fan in a security specialist in this independent comedy. Emily (Meredith Bishop) is a young woman who isn't sure what she wants to do with her life; while she has fuzzy goals of becoming an artist, she's most concerned with convincing her mother (Leigh Taylor-Young) and her analyst (Michael Nouri) that everything is just fine. But Emily has discovered a way to take her mind off of her anxieties -- shoplifting. She steals for enjoyment rather than necessity, and her graceful work at a department store has earned her the admiration of Nick (Jsu Garcia), head of the store's security team. Nick is sick of his job and wants to start his own business; however, a seemingly foolproof get-rich-quick scheme has backfired, leaving him deep in debt to a Russian gangster (Henry Czerny). Rather than have Emily arrested, Nick persuades her to go out with him, and as a tentative relationship grows between the two, they decide to team up for a raid on the store after Nick is fired from his job. Klepto was the first feature film from director and screenwriter Thomas Trail. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Bishop, Jsu Garcia, (more)
The life and sordid, untimely death of Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane are explored by director Paul Schrader in this biopic, which marks one of the few times the filmmaker has not scripted his own film. Auto Focus chronologically traces the meteoric rise of Crane's show business career, beginning with his early success as a jokey deejay on Los Angeles morning radio in the early '60s. A devout family man, Crane lives in Southern Californian comfort with his wife Anne (Rita Wilson) and their young children, relishing the modicum of celebrity his job provides him. His life begins to change, however, when his agent Lenny (Ron Leibman) proposes that he take a breakthrough role on the CBS POW-camp sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Initially reluctant to take the job, Crane signs on with the production and, to his and everyone else's surprise, the show becomes a smash hit. With celebrity comes a new set of friends, and Crane falls in with audio-visual guru John Carpenter (Willem Dafoe), a Sony sales rep who spends his days setting up home entertainment systems for the Hollywood elite, and his nights cruising strip clubs for anonymous sexual encounters. Already a pornography buff, Crane starts using his fame to secure him and Carpenter an endless parade of affairs, which they videotape and then obsessively review. It isn't long before Anne demands a divorce, and Crane marries his Hogan's co-star Patti Olsen (aka Sigrid Valdis, here played by Maria Bello), who's more accepting of his escapades. When the sitcom is canceled, however, Crane has trouble securing acting jobs, and recedes further and further into his life of amateur porn with Carpenter. Auto Focus premiered at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals before its art-house run in the fall of 2002. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, (more)
Julia (Jenny McCarthy) and Jack (Matt Keeslar) are exes who have grown blind to the fact that they're head over heels in love. Though on the surface it appears as if their relationship has failed, these two co-workers still bicker like a couple that's been together for decades. One day, as Jack looks after a golfer suffering from amnesia, divine intervention ensues. It seems that the elderly golfer is actually God in disguise. The creator is taking an earthly vacation, and once he learns about a certain troubled young couple he makes it his holy mission to help them rekindle the romance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenny McCarthy, Kadeem Hardison, (more)
The internationally popular children's television program Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (shown in the United States as part of the PBS series Shining Time Station) makes its way onto the big screen in this feature-length adventure. On her way to see her Grandpa Burnett (Peter Fonda), young Lily (Mara Wilson) gets on the wrong train and ends up lost. Fortunately, she meets the tiny Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), who shows her a magical railway where the plucky little steam engine Thomas (voice of John Bellis) pulls the line from the enchanted town of Shining Time to the island of Sodor. Thomas' rival is the bigger (and meaner) Diesel Ten, who has already put one of Thomas' allied engines, The Lady, out of commission. Without The Lady, the Conductor has no source for the magic gold dust that allows him to travel from Sodor to Shining Time in the wink of an eye, so Lily and Thomas have to find a way to find more for him. Thomas and the Magic Railroad also features Didi Conn as Stacy Jones (reprising her role from Shining Time Station) and Russell Means as Billy Two Feathers. Like the TV series, Thomas and the Magic Railroad is loosely based on the Thomas the Tank Engine books written by British children's author Wilbert Vere Awdry. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, (more)
Minnie Driver, her sister Kate Driver, and Nigel Hawthorne teamed as the executive producers of this $2.5 million romantic comedy about a mismatched couple. Writer-director John Huddles describes it as "a modern-day fable about what happens when your worldly ambition collides with the love of your life." At Satchem Farm in California's Simi Valley, an expatriate family of transplanted Brits includes maxim-mouthing Cullen (Hawthorne) and ambitious but bankrupt Ross (Rufus Sewell), a failed entrepreneur who plans to sell off his family's final remaining asset, their famed wine collection, in order to purchase an obsolete manganese mine. The manic Ross is engaged to his opposite, cool businesswoman Kendal (Minnie Driver), who succeeds where Ross fails. Kendal kindles her relationship with Ross -- while carrying the torch for someone else. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rufus Sewell, Nigel Hawthorne, (more)
- 1998
Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) has his doubts when a man claims that his former girlfriend is being stalked by his twin brother. Jill (Andrea Thompson) tries to solve a stickup-murder at an ATM by going to the chief suspect's mother. And Andy (Dennis Franz) withholds crucial information from his doctor about his prostate condition. Sharon Lawrence, whose starring sitcom Fired Up had just been canceled, returns to the role of Sylvia Costas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this spoofy horror outing from veteran genre director Brian Yuzna, L.A. Law vet Corbin Bernsen plays Dr. Feinstone, an anal-retentive Beverly Hills dentist with an amusement park of an office replete with Planet Hollywood-worthy, themed exam rooms, piped-in opera music, and a crisp, efficient staff. When Feinstone finds out that his lovely wife, Brooke (Linda Hoffman), is fellating the pool boy, he becomes unhinged -- haunted by visions of filthy mouths and faithless spouses. Inviting Brooke back to the office on their anniversary and begging her to indulge him in his hobby of cleaning her teeth, Feinstone performs a little unorthodox oral surgery and soon uses his now-disfigured sweetie to lure her boyfriend into a backyard trap. Revenge doesn't cure Feinstone's homicidal urges, however, and soon his violence and sexual obsessions spill over into his practice -- especially after creepy IRS investigator Marvin Goldblum (Earl Boen) shows up for a little "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine." Soon, patients and staff members alike are interacting with drills and laughing gas in ways they never expected. Filmed for, and originally shown on, HBO, The Dentist did not receive a U.S. theatrical release. Yuzna, Bernsen, and Hoffman reunited two years later for The Dentist II: Brace Yourself. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Corbin Bernsen, Linda Hoffman, (more)
