Michael Goldfinger Movies

For his fifth effort as a feature-film director, one-time cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld brought his cartoonish visual style and darkly humorous sensibilities to this adaptation of, appropriately enough, a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi comic book. Will Smith stars as James Darrel Edwards, a New York City cop with an athletic physique and a flippant, anti-authoritarian attitude toward law enforcement. After chasing down a mysterious perpetrator one night who turns out to be an alien, James is recruited by "K" (Tommy Lee Jones), a veteran of a clandestine government agency secretly policing the comings and goings of aliens on planet Earth. Nicknamed the "men in black" for their nondescript uniform of black suit, shoes, tie, and sunglasses, the agents are assigned to recover a bauble that's been stolen by an intergalactic terrorist (Vincent D'Onofrio). It seems the item is none other than the galaxy itself, and its theft has plunged humanity into the center of what's shaping up to become an interstellar war, unless K and his new wisecracking partner, now renamed "J," can stop the bad guy. On their side but somewhat in the dark is a pretty, unflappable city medical examiner (Linda Fiorentino) who has been zapped one too many times by K's ingenious memory-sapping device. Men in Black was a box office smash, inspiring an animated children's television series and a hit soundtrack album that featured a performance by star (and rapper) Smith. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) goes after a private eye who may be cheating his client by feeding him with false hopes about his missing child. The father of a 13-year-old murdered in the street seeks out justice on his own when the killer injures LaSalle (Wendy Makkena) and escapes. Will this incident hurt LaSalle's chances of landing a job at a local equal-employment-opportunity office? Real-life NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly appears, uncredited, as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Hughes and Chris Columbus repeat their best-selling formula from the first Home Alone film with this sequel. Once again Kevin McCallister's (Macaulay Culkin) family leave him behind, only now he gets on a flight to New York instead of going with his family to Miami. Kevin manages to hail a cab and is delivered to the doorsteps of the Plaza Hotel, where, using his father's credit card, he rents out a suite and has the time of his life -- although a smarmy hotel clerk (Tim Curry) and bellboy (Rob Schneider) eye him with suspicion. But ingenious Kevin keeps them at bay, using the same tomfoolery he applied to his uncle in the first picture. He takes time out from his consumer debauch to chat with a friendly old toy-store magnate (Eddie Bracken) and pontificate to a homeless Pigeon Lady (Brenda Fricker) on the meaning of Christmas. But then he runs into his old enemies Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern).When he finds out that they plan on robbing the old man's toy store on Christmas Eve, he mans the battle stations once again, complete with electric prods, flames of fire, and sundry blunt instruments. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this made-for-TV drama, Jessica Tandy plays Grace McQueen, an elderly woman who has grown bored and restless following the death of her husband. Grace has always loved telling stories to children, and as a way of keeping herself occupied she comes up with an idea for a public access television series in which she will read great children's books aloud. The show becomes a local favorite -- enough so that a pair of advertising executives approach her with the idea of selling the show to a major network. Grace agrees, but when the marketing experts and network brass are finished with the idea, the simple format of "The Story Lady" has been transformed into a garish program called "Granny Goodheart," and Grace must decide if she should pursue the money and success that's being offered to her or stand up for her ideals. The Story Lady also features Stephanie Zimbalist, Lisa Jakub, Richard Masur, and Ed Begley, Jr.; Tandy Cronyn, Jessica Tandy's daughter, is appropriately cast as Meg, Grace's daughter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Eddie Murphy, in addition to starring as Quick, the son of 1930s Harlem gambling-house proprietor Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor), also wrote and directed the film. The plotline details the combined efforts of Quick and Sugar Ray to prevent white gangster Bugsy Calhoune (Michael Lerner) from muscling in on their operation. The supporting players include Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello and Jasmine Guy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Edward James Olmos portrays the real-life Jaime Escalante, a no-nonsense mathematic teacher in a tough East LA high school. Handed a classroom full of "losers" and "unteachables," Escalante is determined to turn his young charges' lives around. Drawing from his own cultural heritage, Escalante forms a bond with his largely Hispanic student body, evoking the names of famous Spaniards and Latin Americans whose great accomplishments were predicated on their ability to learn. The students gradually come to realize that the only way they'll escape their own poverty-stricken barrio is to improve themselves intellectually. As a result, the class' academic achievements soar dramatically -- too dramatically for the Educational Testing Service, which is convinced that the class' high test scores are the results of cheating. The triumphant exoneration of Escalante's students provides Stand and Deliver with its rousingly upbeat conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

First airing on television, this campy romantic fantasy stars Vanna White (best known as the "letter turner" on the long-running TV game show Wheel of Fortune) as Venus, the goddess of love. Normally she lives in Mount Olympus with the other Grecian gods, but when a hairdresser accidentally revives her statue, Venus has no choice but to return to the mortal plane. Once there, she must earn the love of a modern man or else she will be forever banished from Mount Olympus. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi