Steve Peterson Movies
The greatest monster hunter of them all has his work cut out for him as he tracks down three deadly foes in this action-adventure saga. Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is a man who has dedicated his life to battling evil forces who exist outside the bounds of nature; Van Helsing's work has not always made him friends, and a false accusation of murder still trails him. But when he's summoned to Transylvania at the behest of Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsale), whose family has been fighting supernatural beings for generations, Van Helsing wastes no time answering her call. There, Van Helsing discovers that the undying vampire Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) has put a misshapen creature named Igor (Kevin J. O'Connor) under his spell, and, in turn, has forged an alliance with a hideous monster (Shuler Hensley) who was created by the misguided Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Samuel West). Adding to Anna's burden is her brother, Velkan (Will Kemp), a lycanthrope who becomes a bloodthirsty wolf under the light of the full moon. Van Helsing also co-stars Elena Anaya, Silvia Colloca, and Josie Maran as Dracula's vampire brides. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, (more)
Director Dominic Sena follows up his stylish action film Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) with this high-tech thriller. John Travolta stars as Gabriel Shear, a charismatic spy who plots to steal a multi-billion-dollar fortune in illegal government funds. In order to make his scheme work, however, Gabriel needs some help from a computer hacker, which is where Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) comes in. Stanley has been paroled from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for penetrating the FBI's cyber-surveillance operations. Issued a restraining order that keeps him away from computers and living penniless in a trailer park, Stanley wants only to be reunited with his daughter Holly, who's in the custody of his ex-wife, now remarried to a pornographer. Gabriel and his partner Ginger (Halle Berry) offer Stanley the chance to get his child back in exchange for his help, but the hacker soon realizes he's a pawn in a larger operation than the high-tech bank heist he thought he was perpetrating. In the meantime, a dedicated federal agent (Don Cheadle), the same man who once arrested Stanley, is trying to expose Gabriel's operation. Swordfish also stars Sam Shepard and Zach Grenier. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, (more)
- 1994
The "FYI"-ers fly off to Lillehammer, Norway, there to cover the 1994 Winter Olympics. Normally, such an assignment would not prove troublesome. This time, however, Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is on hand, and before long she has virtually toppled the Norwegian government with her "compassionate" interview of young champion skater Inge Sorenson (Kathleen McClellan). And yes, that's Marta Kristen, onetime "Judy Robinson" of Lost in Space fame, as Inge's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Father Barnes (Hunt Block), a young Cabot Cove priest, refuses to reveal the words spoken by a parishioner during Confessional. It doesn't matter that the parishioner has confessed to killing a person in self-defense: Father Barnes is bound by the rules of his order, and remains mum. The situation gets worse when another person is accused of the killing, at which point Jessica Fletcher, bound by no rules other than her own, decides to intervene. This episode marks the first of several series appearances by Madlyn Rhue, an actress who had been forced into virtual retirement by multiple sclerosis, but who was able to pay her medical bills by occasionally appearing on Murder She Wrote through the auspices of her friend Angela Lansbury. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
