John Hawkes Movies

This first episode of ER's fourth season originally aired live on September 25, 1997, with two separate telecasts for the East and West Coasts. A TV documentary crew follows Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) during a "typical" shift in the emergency room of Chicago's County General Hospital. Still not completely recovered from a brutal beating, Greene is none too happy about being a "TV star," sentiments shared by the ER's attending physician Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), who regards the camera crew as an invasion of everyone's privacy. As it turns out, the documentary makers get more than they bargained for as they record for posterity a gang fight, an out-of-control patient, and a heart attack. In the midst of all this confusion, Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) arrives from England to witness American surgical procedures. The syndicated version of "Ambush" combines scenes from both the East and West Coast broadcasts, expunging a number of conspicuous continuity errors and an embarrassing moment in which a crucial prop is misplaced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this action-horror flick from director Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, Tarantino stars with George Clooney as a pair of bad-to-the-bone brothers named Seth and Richie Gecko. After a string of robberies that left a river of blood in the Geckos' wake, the sadistic siblings head to Mexico to live the good life. To get over the border, they kidnap Jacob Fuller, a widowed preacher played by Harvey Keitel, and his two children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu). Once south of the border, the quintet park their RV at a rough-and-tumble trucker bar called The Titty Twister, where Seth and Richie are supposed to meet a local thug. After a couple of drinks, they realize that they're not in a typical bar, as the entire place begins to teem with vicious, blood-sucking vampires. With the odds stacked greatly against them, the Fullers and Geckos team together in hopes of defeating the creatures of the night. Makeup artist Tom Savini and blaxploitation star Fred Williamson appear as allies against the vampires, and Cheech Marin fills three different roles. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Good gorillas meet bad gorillas while human beings search for treasure in this jungle advnture saga. R.B. Travis (Joe Don Baker) is the ruthless head of Travi-Com, a telecommunications firm on the cusp of a major breakthrough in laser communications technology. However, Travis needs diamonds to finish the project, so he sends a group of men to Zaire, where he's told that a large supply of the gems can be easily found. When the men go missing, Travis sends his trusted assistant Karen Ross (Laura Linney), a one-time CIA associate, into the jungle to find both his staff and the jewels. Hoping to keep her mission a secret, Karen travels to Zaire in the company of Peter (Dylan Walsh), a researcher on primate development who is hoping to return Amy, a gorilla who has been taught sign language and can "speak" English with the help of a glove-controlled computer device. Also travelling with them is Herkermer (Tim Curry), a Romanian with a secret agenda: he's convinced that Amy can guide him to the Lost City of Zinj, where he believes that King Solomon's Mines are located. Upon arrival, the group is met by Monroe Kelly (Ernie Hudson), a self-described "great white hunter who happens to be black," and they discover that the jungle holds a menace that they weren't counting on: a tribe of bloodthirsty gray gorillas. Congo was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A young, married mother gets in over her head when she has an affair in this made-for-TV movie. Alicia Silverstone stars as Roslyn, a young mother who married her high school sweetheart (Jared Leto). She gets more than just excitement though when she accepts the nudging from a friend and has a fling with tough guy Matthew Flint. The film is a remake of the 1958 film of the same name. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

A radio dee-jay gets targeted by a crazed killer in this made-for-television thriller. Gregory Hines stars as Mark Jannek, a late-night disc-jockey who is being harassed by an anonymous killer on the telephone. The killer thinks that Shepard knows too much and decides to threaten both the dee-jay and an innocent college student (Debrah Farentino) into silence. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

The manic writing-directing comedy team of Tom Stern and Alex Winter (the latter of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) followed up their deranged short-film collaborations and the short-lived MTV series The Idiot Box with this comic fantasy, which amounts to a virtual car crash of anarchic, mind-blowing weirdness. The brain-damaged plot follows self-centered sitcom actor Ricky Coogin (Winter), official spokesman for the E.E.S. (Everything Except Shoes) corporation, into the jungle-bound South American nation of Santa Flan. Coogin has been sent as an emissary on behalf of E.E.S. to placate the media uproar over a substance called Zygrot-27, a chief ingredient in many E.E.S. products which has been decried as a fatal environmental toxin. Accompanied by his friend Ernie (Michael Stoyanov) and environmental activist Julie (Megan Ward), Ricky takes a detour into the jungle to a bizarre amusement park overseen by bombastic barker/inventor Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid), who specializes in the display of "Hideous Mutant Freekz" (the film's original title). The trio soon discover that Skuggs manufactures his oddities himself, and they find themselves at the mercy of his hideous freakmaking factory -- which coincidentally uses Zygrot-27 as a catalyst. Once he has the hapless heroes strapped down, Skuggs reveals his intention to transform Coogin into an evil mega-freak who will destroy all the others in a slam-bang, standing-room-only closing event. Miffed at the notion of sustaining an acting career as a spine-covered, pus-gushing monster, Coogin joins a rebellion within Skuggs' captive stable of other man-made freaks -- whose ranks include such monstrosities as effete human worm; a bearded lady (Mr. T in a frilly dress); a man with a sock-puppet for a head (voiced by Bob Goldthwait); and Ortiz the Dog-Boy (an uncredited Keanu Reeves). Their plans to turn Ricky into a zygrot-powered superhero go astray, however, leading to a hilariously apocalyptic finale. Doomed to home-video status by lethargic distribution from Twentieth-Century Fox, this unappreciated gem deserves a second look; packed with hilarious visual gags, ultra-gross setpieces and body-function jokes, Freaked is a hallucinogenic funhouse of a movie. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Davis Lynch (Mark Harelik), a potential investor in Sandpiper Air, arrives in Nantucket to discuss Joe's plans for expansions. When it becomes obvious that Lynch is fascinated by Helen (Crystal Bernard), Joe (Tim Daly) encourages her to entertain the wealthy visitor. This brings down the wrath of Joe's friends, who accuse him of using Helen's sex appeal to his own selfish advantage. Things come to a head at a local sea-food restaurant, wherein everyone loses a little something. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, ruthless Bobby Stiles busts out of a maximum security prison and makes a bee-line for his hometown where he plans to get revenge upon his double-crossing brother. Bobby ends up hijacking a married couple and forcing them to take him there. It's a long journey and perceptive Bob realizes that their marriage is ready to disintegrate. The opportunistic crook begins sleeping with the sexy wife and then plots the demise of her spouse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two young men travel around the country to anti-nuclear demonstrations selling anti-nuke T-shirts out of the trunk of their car. They stop in a small Nevada town and fall for two roommates: one is a health clinic worker whose estranged husband is dying of cancer, and the other is a dealer at a casino. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

Johnny Walker (Anthony Michael Hall) is a hot-shot high-school quarterback who receives intoxicating offers from spirited college recruiters in this adolescent teen comedy. Bathroom humor and sight gags are strung together in a story involving booze, broads, and other benefits for the coveted quarterback. Robert Downey Jr., Uma Thurman, and Paul Gleason co-star. Even cameos from Jim McMahon and Howard Cosell can't save this feature from itself, though it isn't the fault of the cast. Originally rated PG-13, it was reedited to R (with scenes added) for a home video release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Dakota (Lou Diamond Phillips) is a troubled teen on the run. He takes a job on a Texas ranch to work off his debts. While Dakota works on restoring an antique car and other chores, he becomes a surrogate big brother for Casey (Jordan Burton), the young rancher's son who lost a leg to bone cancer. He also starts to fall for the rancher's pretty daughter Molly (Dee Dee Norton). Eli Cummins plays Walt Lechner, the kindly rancher who not only gave Dakota a job but a home with a loving family. Dakota weighs his past against his future in this family drama with a moral message. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A musician is seduced by an attractive woman, and thinks himself lucky until he realizes that she is involved with him for a reason. She wants him to help her kill her husband. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide