Rick Jones Movies

A routine mission to protect a contentious princess devolves into a seriously warped space adventure in this full-length animated comedy featuring the voices of Stephen Root, Jenny McCarthy, and John Melendez. Chode and his crew are safeguarding a royal pain in the backside when a team of indestructible clown assassins and insanely horny housewives send things spiraling out of control. Now, as a time-traveling assassin threatens to transform a boozy birthday party into a blood-soaked crime scene, it's up to Gus, Six, T'nuk, Whip, and Bob to ensure that their tempestuous charge arrives at her intended destination in one piece. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Introduced in 2002 with a 5-minute "pilot", the savagely satirical CGI science-fiction series Tripping the Rift offers thirteen half-hour episodes in its first season. The opener sets the tone for all to come, as Chode, the larcenous purple-skinned commander of the starship Jupiter 42, links up with the incompetent cyborg Gus to solve the mystery of their existence--and end up killing God in the process. Things don't get much better in subsequent episodes, wherein the Confederation of Chode and the Dark Clowns of arch-enemy Darph Bobo square off in the Mutilation Ball Championship; Chode's sexy second in command Six of One enters the Miss Galaxy 5000 Pageant, which is clearly rigged in favor of Darph Bobo's homicidal daughter Babette; the crew end up on a planet where polluting is a capital offence, and where Chode signs his own death warrant for spitting out a gum; and a deal between Chode and the Devil yields only a widescreen plasma TV. Later, android Gus is recalled and replaced by an even more clumsy "upgrade"; Darph Bobo tries to corrupt "2001 Space Idiocies" on a faraway planet; the Bush-Kerry presidential race is skewered when the crew lands on Floridia 7 during a hotly contested political campaign; a trip to Muldavia 5 finds Chode confronting his identical twin, King Regis Philbrick; Chode's nerdish nephew Whip is kidnapped, resulting in a symbolic castration at the hands of Darph Bobo; and in the season finale, Six of One meets an old android boyfriend at an intergalactic male strip bar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This futuristic animated adventure is based on the graphic novel The Melting Pot, created by noted comic artists Kevin Eastman, Simon Brisley, and Eric Talbot and published by the creators of the well-known graphics magazine Heavy Metal. In a distant universe, the acronym F.A.K.K. (Federation Assigned Ketogenic Killzone) is used to designate places of extreme danger to all life forms. In a bid to keep out unwelcome visitors, the quiet civilization of Eden has designated itself as F.A.K.K., level two. However, a lunatic named Tyler (voice of Michael Ironside) invades Eden, and when he discovers Eden's secrets -- life-preserving if respected, deadly when abused -- he lays waste to the civilization, leaving behind only a female warrior named Julie (voice of Julie Strain). Julie sets out to find Tyler, determined to see the secrets of Eden returned to safety and eager to take her revenge for the slaughter of her people. Unlike the 1981 film Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal 2000 tells one long story rather than several shorter ones; in keeping with the first movie, it does features a soundtrack by a number of noted rock bands, including Monster Magnet, Pantera, Days of the New, Insane Clown Posse, System of a Down, Coal Chamber, and others. Heavy Metal 2000 was released in Europe as Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hear No Evil, while based on the interesting premise of a deaf woman stalked by a relentless killer, is a well-crafted but predictable mystery thriller. Jillian (Marlee Matlin), a physical trainer is unknowingly given a valuable stolen coin. The theft of the coin was planned by a corrupt and sadistic police lieutenant (Martin Sheen) who needs the coin to fund his retirement, and he pursues Jillian in order to get it. Director Robert Greenwald, who also directed The Burning Bed, does a good job in showing the victim's courage and resourcefulness in her desperate situation. Matlin is good as Jillian, and does not use her deafness as a crutch to generate sympathy but portrays Jillian as an independent and strong woman. The plot gets bogged down with too many cliched twists and subplots, including a romance which slows the movie and adds nothing of interest in the development of the characters and their motivations. Hear No Evil, similar in theme to the excellent Wait Until Dark, lacks the focus and intensity necessary in a good thriller and wastes its excellent cast. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Heather Locklear plays a businesswoman who's moving ever upward on the executive ladder. Alas, though lucky in her job, she's unlucky in love. Locklear's secretary Linda Purl takes it upon herself to offer helpful advice on matters of the heart. But it turns out-and here's the BIG SURPRISE-that Purl has ulterior motives. With two screenwriters, you'd think that the producers could have come up with something less contrived and cliched. Edward Albert and James Acheson costar in this made-for-cable melodrama, which was first telecast July 15, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical performance video of The Chieftain's is a holiday celebration. Guest stars highlight this video, including Jackson Browne singing "The Rebel Jesus," Ricki Lee Jones performing "O Holy Night," and Marianne Faithful singing "I Saw Three Ships a Sailing." ~ All Movie Guide

Arnold Schwarzenegger sheds his action image in Ivan Reitman's police comedy Kindergarten Cop, where he plays an undercover cop teaching a class of hyperactive six-year-olds. As the film begins, John Kimble (Schwarzenegger) and his partner Phoebe O'Hara (Pamela Reed) are in pursuit of notorious drug dealer Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson) and his scabrous mother Eleanor (Carroll Baker). John learns Cullen is searching for his ex-wife and his little boy, and Kimble plans to nail them when they find the former wife, who is believed to have $3 million of Cullen's drug profits. John and Phoebe follow the trail to Astoria, Oregon, where they believe Cullen's son is attending kindergarten. Although the child and his mother have changed names, John hopes they can pick up some clues. By coincidence, Phoebe used to be a schoolteacher and the school board permits her teach the kindergarten class, but Phoebe gets food poisoning and John is forced to teach the six-year-old whippersnappers himself. Along with lighthearted gags with the kids and the pursuit of the drug dealers, John has time for a little romance when he falls in love with one of the teachers (Penelope Ann Miller), who ends up surprising him with more than love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this animated version of the classic children's tale, the marionette who wanted to become a real boy gets into trouble when he loses his father Gepetto's favorite jewelry box. At first, Pinnochio tries to conceal his wrongdoing but eventually, thanks to the promptings of his insect pal "Gee Whilikers," comes to do the right thing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The long-running British puppet show Fingerbobs was first broadcast by the BBC in 1972. Hosted by hippie-ish Rick Jones, aka "Yoffy," the series was simple in the extreme, with a nonexistent budget to match. Most of the "cast" consisted of Jones' finger puppets, made out of cloth, cardboard, ping-pong balls, and the like. The most popular characters included Scampi the dog, Flush the tortoise, and Gulliver the sea gull. Gradually, self-styled superhero Fingermouse emerged as the star of the proceedings. Accordingly, this character was given his own series in 1984, complete with an easily memorable theme song and a new human cohort, Mr. Music (Iain Lauchlan). All told, the combined Fingerbobs and Fingermouse remained on the BBC schedule for nearly 13 years, even though only a handful (or fingerful) of 15-minute episodes were actually produced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a country clergyman is found dead with a gun and a roll of microfilm in his possession, Steed poses as the man's replacement. This enables him to gain access to the venerable crime organization Bibliotek, at present locked in a power struggle. This episode marks the second time that The Avengers utilized a machine gun-wielding nun as a plot device. Written by Eric Paice, "The Little Wonders" first aired in England on January 11, 1964; American viewers finally caught up with the episode when it was shown on the A&E cable network on March 25, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide