Burton Gilliam Movies

Two lifelong friends are forced to choose between peaceful forgiveness and carrying a deadly grudge in a sprawling tale of old west vengeance starring Lost's Josh Holloway. Pal Grisham (Holloway) and his best-friend Bobby Ray Burns (Channon Roe) blazed a violent path out of Cherub, Texas that would instantly bond the pair for life. Their powerful connection is soon severed, however, when one of the men commits a crime that sharply divides the pair for over three decades. Now, as Pal and Bobby Ray return home after not seeing one another for more than thirty years, both men will find themselves faced with one of the most difficult decisions that have ever had to make. Whether they choose the gun or brotherhood, neither Pal nor Bobby Ray will never be the same again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this family comedy, a successful man with nostalgia for his days as a soccer player, attempts to adopt an orphan so he can teach him all about his favorite sport. But soon after bringing the lad home, the new father is disappointed to discover that the lad is not interested in playing soccer. This creates tension, until a stray dog with a remarkable talent for playing soccer shows up and helps to bring father and new son together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The unbreakable bond forged between a troubled boy and a gorilla forms the basis of this family-oriented children's adventure. Fourteen-year old Rick has become quite rebellious since his father abandoned them. Margaret Heller, his mother, is a behavioral scientist who studies communication with gorillas. She is finding it increasingly difficult to communicate with the sullen, isolated Rick. The story opens just as Rick, who had stolen his mother's van for a joyride, is released from jail. To punish him, Margaret forces him to clean out the animal research lab. Rick is especially loathe to clean out the gorilla cage. In that cage is a gorilla adept at sign language, Katie, whom Rick immediately despises. In time, he and Katie begin conversing, and the two become friends. But then Katie's legal owner, the cruel Gus Charnley, reclaims her and forces her to perform caged up in a carnival act. The degradation of his friend is more than Rick can handle, so he frees her and together they hit the road. Mayhem and adventure ensues until the two end up in court where Katie makes a touching plea on their behalf. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Getaway, a remake of Sam Peckinpah's excellent escape thriller of the same name, adapted from a story by Jim Thompson, is the story of ill-fated romance on the run. Doc McCoy (Alec Baldwin) is released from a Mexican prison with the help of gangster Jack Benyon (James Woods) who wants Doc's help in the hold-up of a racetrack. With the help of Doc's wife Carol (Kim Basinger), and Jack's thugs Rudy (Michael Madsen) and Frank (Philip Hoffman), the robbery is successful, but a guard is murdered. Doc also finds out that Carol has had an affair with Benyon. Carol shoots Benyon and the two flee for Mexico and freedom. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

After making a deathbed promise to his mother that he would never marry, Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) finds that resolve challenged when his girlfriend, Betsy (Sarah Jessica Parker), begins making noise about wanting to start a family. Worried he might lose her, Jack makes the rash decision that they should fly to Las Vegas that weekend to tie the knot. Feet still cold, Jack spurns Betsy's idea to get married the moment they step off the plane, preferring to procrastinate for a few hours over a game of poker arranged by notorious gambler Tommy Korman (James Caan). Peddling the game as a get-to-know-you thrown by the hotel, Korman steadily raises the stakes on Jack until the novice is in for 65,000 dollars of the house's money on a hand he's sure he'll win -- a straight flush to the jack. When he loses the fixed hand, the flabbergasted Jack has a major problem on his hands. Korman offers an unusual solution: If Betsy, whom Korman spotted in the lobby because of her resemblance to his late wife, will spend the weekend with him, Jack's debt will be forgiven. Betsy initially refuses, considering it a ploy by Jack to postpone the wedding, but soon agrees to fly to Hawaii with Korman, in part because it will teach Jack a lesson. When she finds herself charmed by Korman's smooth and sensitive shtick, her desperate fiancé goes to incredible lengths to win her back, including jumping from a plane with a troop of skydiving Elvises. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

This sci-fi/horror sequel is set in the 21st century where the human race has been decimated by a man-made plague. Most of the normal survivors now live underground while the Earth's surface is populated by terrifying mutants. The survivors have developed a plague vaccine, but must gather the ingredients upon the dangerous surface. This version opens at the Rocky Mountain Lab, where they have run out of the vaccine and people are getting sick. A few days earlier they sent David Pennington topside to gather more ingredients. Unfortunately he has disappeared. The lead scientist then sends out three people to find David, but instead they end up tangling with a mutant. One of their party is killed. During the scuffle, they manage to cut off one of the creature's fingers and bring it back for research. Meanwhile, David wanders the desert world and meets the beautiful, pregnant Ariel, with whom he falls in love. Just before making it down to safety, the two are attacked by the mutants and one of them rapes her. When she eventually gives birth, her baby is terribly deformed. Meanwhile the finger regenerates into a new mutant horror and now with two of the dreadful creatures to deal with, things look bleak. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, this made-for-television drama chronicles a woman's fight for justice within the legal system. John Larroquette (Night Court) stars as Douglas Forbes, a husband who is wrongly accused of being a serial rapist. Targeted by a prosecutor who is determined to put someone behind bars for the crimes, Douglas goes on trial, is convicted, and sent to jail. Refusing to give up on her husband, Douglas' determined wife Martha (Lindsay Wagner), will not rest until her husband's name is cleared of the erroneous charges and he is freed from jail. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Chevy Chase added a classic comic hero to the film landscape with Fletch, one of his few truly popular star vehicles in a famously misguided post-Saturday Night Live career. Chase plays Irwin M. Fletcher, known to everyone as Fletch, a Los Angeles Lakers-loving investigative reporter with a gleeful disdain for deadlines and a knack for pushing the buttons of his frustrated editor (Richard Libertini). He's also known for donning numerous disguises and assuming zany false identities to help gain information. While pursuing an ongoing story about a powerful drug dealer who operates from Venice Beach, he comes across an intriguing offshoot in which he becomes intimately involved. Aviation executive Alan Stanwyk (Tim Matheson) has an unusual proposition for Fletch: If Fletch agrees to an elaborate plan to kill him, for reasons Stanwyk refuses to divulge beyond explaining that he has bone cancer, Fletch will walk away with a healthy sum of money and a plane ticket to Brazil. Curious yet suspicious by profession, Fletch begins investigating Stanwyk's true motives, which leads him through numerous misadventures. Among them are a visit to a stuffy country club; a high-speed car chase with an unwitting passenger; repeat encounters with Stanwyk's wife (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), although she may not be his only one; and a trip to Provo -- that's Utah, not Spain. Inspired by a novel of the same name by Gregory McDonald, Fletch went from thriller to comedy as it was adapted into a vehicle for Chase. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

The never-smiling Tippi Hedrin plays an ice-queen matron in Foxfire Light. Her daughter (Lara Parker) falls in love while on an Ozark vacation. It's Romeo and Juliet in the hinterlands, as both families oppose the romance. Leslie Nielsen and Barry Van Dyke, generally seen in funnier surroundings, round out the cast. Made in 1981, Foxfire Light was released three years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mickey Gilley shows up in Hazzard County to perform a charity concert. Figuring that charity begins at home, Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) plans to cash in on the concert by making a bootleg tape and selling it to a pirate record company. When the FBI shows up, Boss' flunkeys make their escape by commandeering the "General Lee"--and of course, the Dukes are framed on the illegal-taping charge. Somehow or other, guest star Gilley finds time to sing "The Object of My Affections" and "Don't the Girls Get Prettier?" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide