Vincent Guastaferro Movies
- 1949
British actor Robert Douglas stars in the Warner Bros. crime melodrama Homicide. Douglas plays police lieutenant Michael Landers, whose suspicions are aroused when the only witness to an accidental killing is found dead, an apparent suicide. Though the case is officially closed, Landers investigates in his off-hours. He soon uncovers evidence of an illegal wire-service gang, operated by an outwardly affable fellow named Andy (Robert Alda). Landers finds an unexpected ally in the shapely form of cigarette girl Jo Ann Rice (Helen Westcott). Old-timer Monte Blue has a juicy supporting role as a desert sheriff. Writer William Sackheim based his Homicide screenplay on his own story "Night Beat." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Douglas, Helen Westcott, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Harry Hamlin stars as the self-styled "King of Mulholland Drive," the leader of a group of men who get drunk and then race their cars at high-speed along a perilous Los Angeles roadway. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Joseph Bottoms, (more)
Ivan Reitman directed this film, starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hannah, that is an amalgam of a thriller, courtroom drama, mystery and Tracy-Hepburn romantic comedy, with a little Mark Rothko-type scandal thrown in. The film revolves around troubled Chelsea Deardon (Daryl Hannah) who as an eight-year-old girl witnessed her father, a famous artist, perishing in a blaze along with his valuable art works. Twenty years later, Chelsea is arrested for stealing one of her father's paintings from an unscrupulous New York art dealer. She claims many more of her father's paintings survived the fire long ago. Defending Chelsea is lawyer Laura Kelly (Debra Winger). Pitted against her is suave district attorney Tom Logan (Robert Redford). Laura thinks if Tom knew the facts behind the case, he would reconsider and exonerate Chelsea. He doesn't, but one night when Chelsea appears at his doorstep, he does permit her to seduce him. The next morning, one of the art dealers involved in the case is found dead, and Chelsea is found in Tom's apartment. Chelsea becomes the prime suspect in the murder and Tom's career is ruined. Inexplicably, Laura hires Tom to help her defend Chelsea. The two lawyers, in researching their defense, not only uncover a scandal involving art dealership, but also fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Debra Winger, (more)
Garry Marshall directed this film which starts as a light comedy but moves into heavy-duty drama later on. David Basner (Tom Hanks in a good performance) works in an ad agency, where he enjoys bantering with his co-workers and meets a lot of women. He hasn't been especially close to his father (Jackie Gleason) and never thought about him much until his Dad is left devastated when his wife of 36 years walks out on him. He is soon faced with serious health problems as well. This propels the elder Basner on a downward slide that affects David and their relationship. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Jackie Gleason, (more)
- 1986
- R
- Add Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives to QueueAdd Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives to top of Queue
This impressive entry in the popular horror series brings back the relentless killer Jason Voorhees, this time as a supernatural zombie. Tommy Jarvis, now played by Thom Matthews, accidentally resurrects Jason when he impales the killer's corpse with a metal pole during a lightning storm. Numerous murders follow, beginning with Tommy's friend (Ron Palillo) having his heart torn out of his chest by the zombie killer. Implicated in the crimes by a mean-spirited sheriff (David Kagen), Tommy is freed from jail by the sheriff's daughter, spunky Megan (Jennifer Cooke). The cast converges on Camp Crystal Lake, which has been renamed "Camp Forest Green" by superstitious locals, in time for Tommy to send Jason back to the bottom of the lake, if only temporarily. Harry Manfredini's score is among his best, and the makeup by Martin Becker, Gabe Bartalos, R. Chris Biggs, and others is outstanding. Cooke makes an appealing heroine as Megan, although Matthews' Tommy has lost the interesting mental disturbances of previous entries and becomes just another bland hero. Tom McLoughlin's direction is effective, and the film has a memorably funny supporting turn by Bob Larkin as a grumpy drunken caretaker. Alice Cooper sings the title song, "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)." Although no classic, this is a solid horror film with a witty script and engaging characters. Jason would rise again to face a telekinetic teen in the disappointing Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer C. Cooke, David Kagen, (more)
Perhaps it was his collaborator Shel Silverstein who said to screenwriter David Mamet "Lighten up. Do a comedy." Whatever the case, Things Change was a welcome change of pace for Mamet, both as scenarist and director. Don Ameche also goes against his usual grain by playing a downtrodden Chicago shoeshine boy (if one can call an 80-year-old a "boy") who is arrested for a crime he didn't commit. Not having much of a future anyway, Ameche has agreed--for a hefty sum--to take the rap for a gangland rubout. Mob henchman Joe Mantegna is assigned to keep an eye on Ameche over the weekend to make sure he doesn't try to weasel out of his agreement. Mantegna has been ordered to remain in Ameche's Lake Tahoe hotel, but the young guy takes a liking to the old loser. Like Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Mantegna takes Ameche on one last fling around Nevada. The location photography is terrific, and Ameche even more so. One would like Things Change to be equally as good, and while it never comes up to its potential, it remains a pleasant means to while away 100 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Joe Mantegna, (more)
Al Capone's imprisonment opened the way for mobster Frank Nitti to become the underworld king of Chicago as related in this true story. (AKA Nitti) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1989
Producer/director Michael Mann, kappelmeister of the trendy TV series Miami Vice, tried to impose his MTV mentality on Tinseltown with L.A. Takedown. Los Angeles cop Scott Plank is on the trail of master thief Alex McArthur. After McArthur pulls off "the score of a lifetime," the crook and the cop spend the rest of their screen time in a deadly game of one-upsmanship. The usual Michael Mann trademark of style over substance prevails throughout L.A. Takedown. But the vogue had passed, and this TV pilot film failed to graduate into a series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When his brother is murdered, a policeman is caught between his devotion to the law and his family's desire for revenge in this action drama. Patrick Swayze plays Truman Gates, who left his backwoods Appalachian home for life as a Chicago police officer. When his brother is killed by a gangster, Truman is determined to seek legal retribution. His older brother Briar (Liam Neeson) has different ideas, however, and travels to the city to seek old-fashioned vigilante justice. Truman must now choose between his family's belief in mountain justice and the duties of his job. Though the film is not particularly action-packed, director John Irvin does provide the expected gunplay and macho confrontations. However, despite a surprisingly distinguished cast (also including Helen Hunt and Michael J. Pollard), little distinguishes the film from numerous other revenge stories with a similar outline. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Liam Neeson, (more)
Wes Craven's Shocker takes media manipulation to a new level in this story of an evil force emitted from television sets that has the power to kill. The film centers on high school athlete Jonathan Parker (Peter Berg). His estranged father is homicide detective Don Parker (Michael Murphy), who has been working on capturing an elusive serial killer plaguing the town. One night, during a particularly vivid nightmare, Jonathan dreams that while Parker is away on an assignment, his family is murdered by the serial killer. In the dream, Jonathan can identify the killer -- local television repairman Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi). Amazingly, it turns out that Jonathan's nightmare was reality. Using Jonathan's dream as evidence, Pinker is brought to trail, found guilty, and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Before his execution, Pinker makes a pact with the devil so when he is electrocuted, the electricity from the chair will give his spirit powers of evil. At first, Pinker's murderous spirit travels in and out of people's bodies, prompting the host to commit murder. But when it seems more effective to communicate with people by television signals, the spirit is willing and soon people suddenly become possessed by Pinker's spirit through TV screens and engage in murderous atrocities. All this is done by Pinker to exact retribution upon Jonathan, who was responsible for sending him to his death. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Berg, Michael Murphy, (more)
This directorial effort from Phil Joanou stars Sean Penn as an Irish-American undercover cop working the Hell's Kitchen beat. Penn is ostensibly on a sentimental journey to his old neighborhood. Actually he's been assigned to infiltrate a criminal gang led by Ed Harris, the brother of Sean's best friend Gary Oldman. Penn suffers the requisite honor vs. duty anguish when he renews his childhood romance with Harris' sister Robin Wright. State of Grace would have had more clout had it been more clear as to time and place: it's supposedly set in the 1990s, but the attitudes and behavior are pure 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
A disabled ex-Green Beret who served in Vietnam begins getting clues of his forgotten past via flashbacks and attempts to make sense of it. Apparently, he makes somebody uncomfortable in doing so, and soon is a target for a more complete cover-up. This story of intrigue and dangerous political games was made for cable TV. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
The third film written and directed by playwright David Mamet, this combination of crime drama and character study stars several of Mamet's stock players. Joe Mantegna stars as Bobby Gold, a detective with a gift for negotiation who, along with his partner Tim Sullivan (William H. Macy), accidentally stumbles upon a crime scene -- the murder of an elderly Jewish woman in her corner store. When it turns out that the victim was politically well-connected and Jewish, Bobby's superiors assign him the case because he's also Jewish. The problem is that Bobby isn't very religious and he resents being taken off a higher profile drug investigation involving a dealer, Randolph (Ving Rhames). Bobby's also highly skeptical when the murdered woman's family claims that her death was not a simple robbery but an anti-Semitic hate crime. As he gets deeper into his case, however, Bobby discovers that a larger conspiracy may be afoot, and he begins to question his own ethnic roots. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, (more)
- 1991
Al Novak (Robin Thomas), ex-husband of officer Chris Novak (Robin Thomas), goes undercover to flush out a counterfeiter known as The Dutchman. When the counterfeiter's courier is killed, Hunter (Fred Dryer) discovers that the American Secret Service has a vested interest in the case. Chris' interest is, however, a little more personal--especially when Al's cover is blown. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
In a futuristic world, the U.S. is ruled by a repressive government that bans most forms of media. As part of the enforcement, a cop (Billy Zane) is sent to the rebel state of Megaville on an undercover mission to infiltrate an unlawful media organization. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, J.C. Quinn, (more)
- 1991
In this two-part made for TV movie, a woman (Valerie Bertinelli) fights for the custody of her sister's son after the sister is murdered by her husband.. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valerie Bertinelli, Michael Ontkean, (more)
In this lively crime thriller, luckless ex-con Harry Talbot wins several thousand dollars and a luxury car in a poker game. He is delighted, having no idea that the others let him win because the trunk of the Lincoln contains the remains of Gordo. No, Harry is finally feeling lucky and in his shiny convertible sets off across the country in search of more card games. While driving, he picks up a lovely hitchhiker named Kit. She is out on a personal vendetta and is pursued by her grandmother, a crime boss, and her dim-bulbed cousin Danny. Realizing that he is a gambling addict, Kit manipulates him into driving to a certain mob-operated casino where she plans to off her father's killer. Things get more sticky when a gangster informs the card sharps who put Gordo in the trunk, that the deceased is carrying a key to a safe-deposit box containing a vast amount of money. They immediately set out after Harry as he fatefully heads for the gambling house. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Madsen, Patricia Arquette, (more)
Developed by Tina Sinatra and approved by Frank himself, Sinatra is a made-for-television mini-series following the life and times of Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's (Philip Casnoff) rise to the top in the '40s, through the dark days of the early '50s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-'50s, to his status as pop culture icon in the '60s, '70s and '80s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Even with the presence of Tina Sinatra as executive producer, Sinatra doesn't gloss over the more unsavory portions of Frank's life, which makes it all the more impressive. With the exception of a couple of early songs, all the music in the movie is taken from the original Sinatra recordings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Robin Wirkus (Debrah Farentino) is upset by the terms of her late husband's will, which will provide for Kelly (David Caruso) so long as he keeps an eye on Robin. Elsewhere, the discovery of the "wrong" corpse leads to a murder conspiracy involving a hotelier and a concierge. And Sipowicz's (Dennis Franz) teenaged son, Andy Jr. (Michael DeLuise), faces a drug charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
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, All Movie Guide
- 1993
The nervous witness to a murder committed by the Cepeda brothers proves to have good reason to be scared. Meanwhile, Kelly (David Caruso) tries to find out if his ex-wife, Laura (Sherry Stringfield), is being stalked. As these two plot strands are woven together by a sting operation involving an incarcerated Mob hit man, Roberts (Michael Harney) seeks out Kelly's help in securing work as a private bodyguard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Roy Larson (John Wesley Shipp), the macho-man partner of Janice Licalsi (Amy Brenneman), is suspected of using steroids and ordered to take a drug test. Assistant DA Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence) carries a torch for Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), but he continues to keep his distance. The death of an informant causes trouble for Roberts (Michael Harney) -- and, later, for Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) and Medavoy (Gordon Clapp). And Laura (Sherry Stringfield) wants to re-open a tricky murder case, much to the dismay of her ex-husband, John Kelly (David Caruso). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) looks for the person who mugged a disabled (but as it turns out, far from helpless) Vietnam veteran. Along the way, he has another run-in with Assistant DA Sylvia Costas (Sharon Lawrence). While moonlighting, Kelly (David Caruso) finds out that his wealthy friend's sweetheart is playing around -- which leads to deeper complications. Suffering from stress, Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) nonetheless continues juggling the affection of his wife and his girlfriend, Donna (Gail O'Grady). There's also a surprise wedding in the offing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Now back on active duty, Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) disagrees with Detective Walker (Robert Breuler) over the guilt of a robbery-homicide suspect -- but uncharacteristically keeps his mouth shut. Though no longer moonlighting as the bodyguard of wealthy Susan Wagner (Wendie Malick), Kelly (David Caruso) nonetheless issues a harsh warning to Susan's abusive husband -- who subsequently turns up dead. Kelly's estranged wife, Laura (Sherry Stringfield), prepares to join the narcotics division of the DA's office. And Laura's neighbor Goldstein (David Schwimmer), now a neighborhood hero for his shooting of a mugger, becomes increasingly, and dangerously, paranoid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Facing corruption charges because of past Mob ties, the father of officer Janice Licalsi (Amy Brenneman) takes drastic action. Confined to a desk while recovering from his wounds, Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) demands that Fancy (James McDaniel) return him to street duty. While helping Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) investigate a murder involving a pair of career-criminal brothers, Kelly (David Caruso) moonlights as a security guard for Susan Wagner (Wendie Malick), who is being abused by her wealthy husband. And Goldstein (David Schwimmer) wants to recover the gun he used to shoot his assailant. This was the first NYPD Blue episode to carry the "viewer discretion" warning in the pages of TV Guide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
