Sylvia Harman Movies
- 1996
Based on a true story, this inspirational made-for-television drama recounts the valiant struggle of North Carolina state basketball coach Jim Vavano to overcome cancer and to turn his players into champions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony LaPaglia, Ashley Crow, (more)
- 1994
Produced for cable TV, this feeble follow-up to the classic Hitchcock thriller transfers the avian carnage from Bodega Bay to the New England fishing town of Land's End, where a young couple and their two daughters are besieged by squadrons of malicious gulls and their assorted winged cousins. Despite some opening scenes suggesting an actual motivation for the bird attacks -- something Hitchcock left eerily ambiguous -- there is little variation on the formula, which overstays its welcome long before the lackluster climax (which owes more to The Killer Shrews than to The Birds); the pointless proceedings are further bogged down by a dreary adultery subplot. Even the presence of Tippi Hedren fails to provide even a slightly clever nod to the original, as she is wasted in a minor role as the proprietor of a local diner who has her own theories about the cause of the bird attacks. Direction was credited to standard DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee when Rick Rosenthal withdrew his name from the final cut. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, (more)
The huge success of the video games featuring animated Italian plumbers the Mario Brothers led to this $42 million live action movie. The two brothers (Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo) live in Manhattan and are chasing Princess Daisy (Samantha Mathis), who wears a necklace made from a meteor fragment. Its powers can free a race of reptilian creatures from the city's sewers. The villainous ruler of the creatures, who are descendants of dinosaurs, is King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). Koopa has kidnapped Daisy and taken her to the underworld of Dinohattan, which is rat-infested and strewn with garbage. The Mario Brothers must overcome many obstacles, just as they do in video games, to free the princess. The film spares no expense with its use of animatronic monsters and high-tech special effects. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, (more)
- 1991
- Add Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story to QueueAdd Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story to top of Queue
Helen Hunt stars as Pamela Smart, the schoolteacher who seduced one of her students into murdering her husband, in this torn-from-the-headlines made-for-TV effort. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- NC17
Outrageous, misogynistic and vulgar-to-the-max comedian Andrew Dice Clay does his stuff in this combination stand-up concert video and series of comedy sketches. The sketches, demonstrating that The Dice Man used to be a klutzy wimp, begin the film which then jumps into a filled-to-capacity performance at Madison Square Gardens. The film contains strong profanity, blatant racist remarks, graphic references to sex and other "adult" subjects. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew Dice Clay, Eddie Griffin, (more)
- 1974
In this drama, a Vietnam veteran flees an Army discharge hospital. The fugitive then kidnaps a young woman and takes her to a remote mountain cabin. The woman convinces him to free her if she stays for two days. During that time, the two begin to get closer until he travels to town for supplies and ends up robbing a bank. The woman is terribly upset with him and forces him to return the cash. Tragedy for the fugitive ensues, and the young woman ends up having learned a valuable lesson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
