Robin Greer Movies
Actor Jack Nicholson, writer Carole Eastman, and director Bob Rafelson re-team 22 years after their classic Five Easy Pieces, for this romantic comedy. Nicholson plays Harry Bliss, a small potatoes security expert unhappily married to a Japanese woman (he sarcastically calls her Iwo Jima during therapy sessions). Harry's life is coming apart at the seams -- not only is his marriage on the rocks, but the IRS and assorted creditors are nipping at his heels. Then opera singer Joan Spruance (Ellen Barkin) contacts him. It seems she wants Harry's help in obtaining an attack dog for her apartment, since an unknown person has been burglarizing her home and attacking her with an ax. Needless to say, Harry and Joan fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Ellen Barkin, (more)
- 1991
Though based on fact, the two-part TV movie False Arrest plays more like one of those Linda Blair "babes in prison" flicks. Donna Mills plays Joyce Lukezic, a well-off Phoenix businesswoman/homemaker accused of murder. She knows, and we know, that she didn't do it. The double homicide was the handiwork of her sleazy husband Robert Wagner, who works diligently behind the scenes to make certain his wife is convicted. And with the "guilty as charged" verdict, he leaves Joyce high and dry at the end of part one. Part two of False Arrest was telecast three days later, with Joyce fending off hostile and sexually abusive inmates, courting a nervous breakdown, and battling to have her conviction overturned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Laker Girls adheres slavishly to the formula established by those "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders" TV movies of a decade or so ago. We follow the progress of three aspirants (Tina Yothers, Paris Vaughn and Alexandra Paul) for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers. There's the standard "den mother" character (Jean Simmons), and lots of prattle about the dedication and responsibility required of each new Laker Girl. And of course, there's plenty of jiggle, which is why most of you tuned in anyway. Shari Shattuck costars as a Laker cheerleader who wants to use this job as the stepping stone for a superstar career--which actually did happen to ex-Laker Girl Paula Abdul, a fact driven home at every possible opportunity by the ad campaign for this 1990 TV movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Peter Gunn was a one-shot TV movie revival of the classic detective series (1958-61) created by Blake Edwards. Edwards wrote and directed this pilot for a potential Gunn revival, with Peter Strauss stepping into Craig Stevens' gumshoes as private eye Peter Gunn. Peter Jurasik assumes Herschel Bernardi's old role as Lt. Jacobi, while Barbara Williams takes over for Lola Albright as saloon singer Edie ("Mother's", the night spot where Edie vocalizes, is operated by "special guest star" Pearl Bailey). The film is not updated to the present time, but is set in 1964. Gunn finds himself between gangsters and rogue cops when he agrees to get to the bottom of a mob hit. A lot more verbose than the old, visually dynamic TV series, Peter Gunn (1989) has the saving grace of Henry Mancini's original progressive-jazz theme song and musical score. Blake Edwards' daughter Jennifer is featured as Gunn's ditsy secretary, a character (thankfully) missing from the earlier series. This actually represented Edwards's second attempt to revive the Peter Gunn character in a movie format; he first did so with the 1967 big-screen feature Gunn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Strauss, Pearl Bailey, (more)
- 1989
While attending a charity event with her family, DJ (Candace Cameron) meets her very first boyfriend, a 6th grader named Michael Montfort (Jonathan Brandis). Alas, the boy is merely using her to meet another girl, and before long our 13-year-old heroine is nursing a broken heart. Fortunately, DJ can count on her family to rally together and cheer her up in an amusingly unorthodox fashion (and this despite a time-consuming subplot involving a "bachelor auction.") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
It's the ladies to the rescue in the low-budget actioner Angel's Brigade. Wearing form-fitting fatigues, the female stars play a team of highly trained avengers. Their mission: to wipe every drug dealer off the face of the earth. To accomplish this, they drive around in a custom-built van, decked out with the latest in high-tech weaponry. You've never heard of any of the leading ladies in Angel's Brigade, but the supporting cast is overloaded with such pop-culture celebs as Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Jim Backus, Neville Brand, Pat Buttram, Alan Hale Jr, and Arthur Godfrey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The cheerleaders of Benedict High are a rowdy, randy bunch with little regard for rules, decorum, or anything that gets in the way of a good time with the stud football players they date. The big game against Baker High is coming up, and the intense rivalry between the schools leads to spirited chicken fights on the beach and extensive T.P. sessions. The cheerleaders' chaperone, Ms. Johnson (Jacqueline Cole), tries hard to rally her charges and keep their restless libidos from distracting the star players, but they continually take advantage of her sweet nature and naïveté, leading to high jinks which get some of their boyfriends suspended from the team. However, high school politics will soon be the least of their troubles. Benedict High's creepy janitor, Billy (Jack Kruschen), is a member of a local Satanic group, and he wants revenge against all the kids who ridicule him on campus. He kidnaps the four cheerleaders and Ms. Johnson, then drives them to a remote location to sacrifice and ravage his victims on a Satanic altar. Suddenly overcome by the dark forces of the underworld, Patti (Kerry Sherman) strips naked of her own volition and climbs upon the altar, where she is imbued with a strange power that knocks Billy cold. The girls seek out the nearest law, which turns out to be Sherriff Bubb (John Ireland); he also doubles as the Satanic High Priest of the area. When his wife, Emma (Yvonne DeCarlo), senses the dark power that has invaded Patti, they decide that they have been delivered the perfect virgin sacrifice to their evil Lord. The girls make a hasty escape, but discover that the tiny town they've landed in is a hotbed of Satanism, so they are recaptured and brought once again before the devil's altar for a Black Mass. But which of these sassy, over-sexed girls is the virgin meant for sacrifice? The shocking answer leads to death, destruction, and a whole new way of life for the cheerleaders of Benedict High. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
