Robert Ginnaven Movies
- 1992
- R
Raiders of the Sun is a Filipino variation of Mad Max. In a post-apocalyptic world, warrior Richard Norton does what he can to survive. Since society was laid low by a biological mishap, provisions are at a premium, and the villains will do anything to grab up all they can for profit. Norton is a bit more altrustic: he wants to restore world order, even if he has to rearrange a few faces to do so. The all-purpose leading lady in Raiders of the Sun is Brigitta Steinberg, dressed in as close to nothing as possible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
An army commander on a dangerous mission with a special forces naval unit in the Mekong River Delta is sidetracked when he risks his life to save a beautiful American reporter. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
The third film in this war series focuses on the exploits of a band of rebel U.S. soldiers who do battle in Vietnam. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Carl Franklin made his directorial bow with the story of three LA drug dealers who, after committing a rather messy murder, hide out in a rural Arkansas town. Assuming that the local "rubes" will offer them little interference, the criminals have not reckoned with sheriff "Hurricane" Dixon (Bill Paxton). Despite the arrogance of the LAPD agents sent to Arkansas to collar the crooks, it is down-home Dixon who puts the final bloody showdown into motion (the fact that the thieves have been falling out throughout the film doesn't hurt things either). Carl Franklin knows where he's going in every frenetic frame of One False Move, and his movie was one of the most acclaimed independent releases of 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, (more)
The title refers to those seemingly frail Southern belles who survive any and all deprivations through whims of iron. Robert Harling's original stage play was set exclusively in a Louisiana beauty parlor where an all-female cast of characters laughed, cried and compared menfolk. The film expands the playing field by including scenes at picnics, hospitals and the like, and by visually depicting the males who never appeared in the stage version. Dolly Parton plays the goodnatured beauty-shop owner, while Shirley MacLaine is the cantankerous town eccentric, decked out in grungy overalls and speaking fluent Trash. Well-to-do Sally Field bravely endures several assaults to her sensibilities, not the least of which is the illness (and subsequent death) of daughter Julia Roberts. The performances are first-rate, with the possible exception of Daryl Hannah's overemphatic portrayal of a gawky hairdresser. The film stumbles a bit in its depiction of the male characters as fools and deadheads, and in the final overlong hospital scenes involving the comatose Roberts, which play like a road company version of Terms of Endearment. Otherwise, Steel Magnolias is a prime example of ensemble filmmaking, lovingly coordinated by director Herbert Ross. (Sidebar: Herbert Ross was reportedly rather rough on Julia Roberts, deriding her lack of experience. The rest of the female cast rallied around Roberts and told the director to lay off or pay the price). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Field, Dolly Parton, (more)
- 1988
When Claire (Linda Kozlowski) learns her grandmother has been bilked out of $50,000 by the crooked televangelists Ray (Tim Curry) and Darla Porter (Annie Potts), she recruits her redneck boyfriend Jesse (Bill Paxton) to help recover the money. They travel to the Tower of Bethlehem deep in the Arkansas woods to break into the studio and hold the hosts of the show hostage. This timely comedy came in the wake of scandals involving real-life televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Jimmy "I Have Sinned" Swaggert. Neil Cohen and Joel Cohen wrote the screenplay. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Linda Kozlowski, (more)
- 1987
- PG
A U.S. senator who is planning an upcoming election instructs his aid to escort his troublesome daughter to a reform school so he will not be embarrassed during the campaign. The aid (Martin Sheen), with the company of his friend (Alan Ruck), set off on a road trip with the headstrong daughter (Kerri Green) and find their hands full in this light comedy. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Kerri Green, (more)
- 1986
Under Siege was first telecast in February 1986, a time when the notion of foreign terrorists in America was still speculative fiction. A militant group sets off explosives at US Army bases, then branches out to such civilian targets as crowded shopping centers. FBI director Peter Strauss discovers that these outrages are possibly being orchestrated by Iranian extremists. Despite pressure to take retaliatory action, US President Hal Holbrook continues to preach moderation, until he can be certain of the true source of the attacks. Under Siege was cowritten by Bob Woodward, of All the President's Men fame. Little Rock, Arkansas substitutes for Washington DC in several scenes, including one startling sequence set in the Capitol Building. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Christopher Collet stars as real-life teenager Richard Jahnke Jr. in the made-for-TV Right to Kill. After suffering years of torment and abuse from his father (Frederic Forrest), Jahnke can stand no more. Hiding in the closet of his Wyoming home, Jahnke hears the familiar sounds of his father beating his mother. "I just wanted to make him stop," Jahnke later explained to the authorities--after he killed his father with a rifle. Written for television by Joyce Eliason, it initially aired on May 22, 1985 ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frederic Forrest, Christopher Collet, (more)
- 1983
Adam is the heartbreakingly true story of the disappearance of 6-year-old Adam Walsh (John Boston) at a South Florida shopping mall. Adam's anguished parents John and Reve Walsh (Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams) turn to the FBI for help in finding their son, only to discover that the federal organization does not involve itself in such cases. As hope for Adam's return fades, the Walshes begin an organization to aid and comfort other families of missing children. The story does not end happily for Adam or his parents, but as a result of this tragedy, Congress passes the Federal Missing Children Act in 1983. This made-for-TV drama, originally telecast October 10, 1983, was followed by a sequel three years later. The real-life John Walsh later hosted the popular "reality-based" TV series America's Most Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel J. Travanti, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1977
- PG
In this supernatural western, Confederate veterans of the last battle of the Civil War set out to find a hidden treasure: a cache of diamonds hidden in a cave. However, the soldiers find out that the cave is guarded by a covey of hawks -- and they begin to suspect that the hawks might actually be agents of the Devil, in disguise. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
This campy little sci-fi oddity presents a particularly silly brand of monster: a zombie gangster, hilariously christened "Gegagoo" (short for "Geological, Gaseous Goon"... no, really!) by scientist George Gobel. When a formless, meteorite-borne alien entity crashes into a lake in which gangsters had recently hidden the body of an assassinated enemy, the corpse rises from the depths to wreak havoc with the locals -- particularly a group of dorky college kids who drop by the pond for an evening swim. This could have been campy, '50s-style fun in more competent hands; instead, we get bored silly with a lot of talking heads, unimaginative monster mayhem, turgid pacing, and pathetic attempts at humor. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
This one was shipped out to various regions as Hootch Country Boys, Hootch County Boys, Redneck Country and The Great Lester Boggs. No matter the title, the audience knew what to expect.Alex Karras plays Lester Boggs, a merry moonshiner who gets his jollies from leading the Law on wild car chases. Dean Jagger costars as one of those "Big Daddy" types, anxious to see Boggs locked up or put away permanently. Careening from adventure to adventures, Boggs finds times to palaver with various buxom backwoods babes. It's not rocket science, but it's fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
Former TV ingenue Lori Saunders plays Gloria in this gruesome thriller. Already mentally unsound, Lori is driven further round the bend by visions of a malignant axe-murdering ghost. To top it off, she is victimized by the film's number one "human" villain, Dean Jagger. The question: are Gloria's problems are truly in her mind, or is she being haunted for real? For the answers to these and other questions, you'd have had to stay up late in the early 1980s, when So Sad About Gloria was a TV midnight-movie perennial. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When the police pick up Gator McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) for running moonshine, they agree to let him out of jail if he will help them capture the key figures in his moonshine operation. Since the suspected ring leader is the man who killed Gator's little brother, he agrees to help out the cops to get himself out of prison and get his revenge. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Jennifer Billingsley, (more)
