Grainger Hines Movies
Adapted by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen from their own off-Broadway play, The Exonerated dramatizes the real-life stories of six innocent citizens who spent anywhere from three to 20 years on death row until DNA testing proved that they had all been falsely convicted. Each of the six stories is related in the first person, using free-flowing flashbacks to highlight selected events. Some critics felt that, by using such A-list actors as Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, and Delroy Lindo to play the unfairly condemned protagonists, the text of the original play was thrown off balance; this may be the reason why the relatively unknown David Brown Jr., cast as the sixth main character, received some of the best reviews. In the tradition of Schindler's List, the actual people whose experiences are enacted in the film show up on camera for the final scene. Directed by veteran Broadway and Hollywood actor Bob Balaban (Seinfeld, A Mighty Wind), The Exonerated was produced for the Court TV cable channel, and was first broadcast on January 27, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Aidan Quinn, (more)
While going through the possessions left behind by her recently deceased father, a prominent and well-respected judge, High-powered attorney Natalie Jones (Melissa Gilbert) is shocked to come across a worn, yellowed snapshot showing her father in a warm embrace with famed rodeo trick rider Maggie Mae Jarrat. It soon develops that, unbeknownst to Natalie, Maggie and her dad had once been married. Hoping to get the full story, Natalie leaves her cosmopolitan surrounding and heads to wild horse country in Longmont, California, where she meets the late Maggie's gritty, tough-minded daughter Jess (Lindsay Wagner). The bond that slowly but surely develops between the two women leads Natalie to champion Jess' cause when greedy rancher Tom Grove (Grainger Hines) and his cronies begin killing off Jess' free-roaming horses so as not to "mongrelize" their own purebred stock. And, as a bonus, Natalie falls in love with dedicated local veterinarian Sam Nelson (Brian Wimmer). Made for cable, Thicker Than Water debuted March 12, 2005 on the Hallmark channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The plane carrying a new liver for seriously ill youngster Jason Blanchard (Myles Jeffrey) crashes during a hailstorm. Also lost during the icy deluge are Jason, his mother, and his siblings. Defying the odds, Jason's devoted father, Dan (Ted McGinley), is convinced that his family is alive and that the precious liver is still intact. With the storm still raging, Dan embarks upon his own frenzied search. Debuting March 14, 2003, Frozen Impact was one of a string of medium-budget disaster films starring former TV-series luminaries and produced for the PAX network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Anxious for revenge against the corporation that has refused to promote her, an ambitious secretary beguiles a naive stockbroker into helping her enact a deadly plan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Harris, Sheila Kelley, (more)
- 1994
Infidelity, murder, and white-collar crime walk hand in hand in this sophisticated thriller. Trevor McCabe (Michael York) is a British businessman who oversees the Brazilian branch of a successful multinational corporation with his partners Austin (Grainger Hines) and Frank (Will Kepper). While Trevor is married to Kitten (Dee Wallace Stone), their relationship has been rocky lately, and Trevor's been having an affair with Frank's wife, Paige (Jennifer O'Neill). Trevor discovers that someone within the company has been embezzling millions of dollars from the company's accounts, and while both Austin and Frank deny any knowledge of what's happened, Trevor doesn't think Frank's explanation holds water. Thinking Trevor is on to him, Frank persuades a sexy young artist who moonlights as a call girl, Miranda (Elizabeth Gracen), to seduce Trevor and take his mind off his investigation. Frank's plan works for a while until Paige finds out about Miranda; feeling angry and betrayed, Paige arranges for Kitten to find out about her husband's infidelity, and Kitten sends Trevor packing. Not long afterward, Paige is murdered, and Trevor has to prove that he isn't involved in her death while still trying to get to the bottom of the embezzlement scheme. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael York, Jennifer O'Neill, (more)
- 1993
- R
In this violent urban drama, an LA cop is deeply traumatized after he tries to save a child in a hostage situation and fails. He leaves the force and returns to his old gritty South Central neighborhood to help Rebecca Sanchez find her brother Carlos who has mysteriously disappeared shortly after a gang truce, between the African-American gang the Blades and the Latin Lords, begins disintegrating thanks to a number of drive-by shootings in either territory. The cop's investigation soon reveals that both gangs are being manipulated by a third party. Poor Carlos seems to hold the key and finds his life in grave danger. When the cop figures it all out, his life is also jeopardized. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Speakman, Christopher Neame, (more)
- 1991
The made-for-TV Jailbirds is a distaff comedy variation on The Defiant Ones. Phylicia Rashad plays an important LA business executive, while Dyan Cannon portrays a trailer-trash babe from Louisiana. Both Rashad and Cannon are thrown into a dank Southern jail for crimes they didn't commit. While manacled together, the ladies escape, driving each other cuckoo as they elude their captors. Apparently, CBS had so little faith in Jailbirds that the network hardly bothered to advertise the film went it premiered May 16, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
With the help of a few of his veteran friends, an ex-Green Beret soldier arrives in Los Angeles from Central America to find his kidnapped daughter. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gil Gerard, Dan Haggerty, (more)
- 1989
Responding from a call from the Sheliak Corporate, the Enterprise crew is confronted by hostile Sheliaks at the Tau Cygna Five earth colony. Citing an old treaty, the Sheliaks demand that the human colonists evacuate the planet within four days or face total annihilation. It is up to Data to persuade the intractable colonists to leave...all 15,000 of them. Originally telecast October 7, 1989, "The Ensigns of Command" was written by Melinda M. Snodgrass. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The valor and anguish of the Alamo is resurrected in this '80s effort that features a considerably accomplished cast. Brian Keith plays Davy Crockett and James Arness is Jim Bowie who, although at odds at times with his leader Colonel William Travis (Alec Baldwin), is able to focus upon the battle against the Mexican soldiers. Highlights of this film are the battle action scenes. ~ All Movie Guide
Director Joe Dante infuses this science fiction comedy with the visual razzle-dazzle and manic, goofball performances typical of his cartoon-inspired sensibilities. Navy test pilot Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) has volunteered for a highly dangerous medical experiment. A submersible craft, with Tuck at the controls, is to be shrunk down to molecular size and inserted into the body of a living rabbit. If successful, the test could result in radical breakthroughs in surgical techniques, but some high-tech thieves attempt to steal Tuck and his ship while both are in miniature form. Enter Jack Putter (Martin Short), a mild-mannered, hypochondriac retail store clerk, a nerd who suddenly finds himself injected with Tuck and his tiny ship. Now poor Jack's got to rise above his mundane existence to help an American hero get back to safety, while also trying to reunite Tuck with his beautiful estranged girlfriend Lydia (Meg Ryan). Innerspace (1987) won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, (more)
In this routine spoof of government and media foibles, Sunny (Goldie Hawn) is an ordinary cocktail waitress, someone who graduated in the top 75% of her class. When she dramatically prevents the assassination of a visiting dignitary, an Emir (Richard Romanus) from an Arab country. the event puts her dead center at a whirlwind of media attention, and she gets her a job in the protocol department of the government -- nothing that cocktail waitressing can really prepare one to do. Sunny's nemesis is the evil Mrs. St. John (Gail Strickland) who does not appreciate her inane blunders, and with a few cohorts, she schemes to ship Sunny off to join the Emir's harem, in exchange for a military base in his country. The daffy ex-cocktail waitress is not also blind and deaf, and before long, she suspects that something underhanded is in fact, underfoot. Now she has to find out what it is and how to stop it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, (more)
- 1984
The A-Team is hired by Judy Rogers (Judy Strangis), the cousin of a pilot who has been arrested by the Feds in Venezuela for smuggling cocaine from Colombia. It turns out that the pilot was an innocent go-between for drug kingpin Winston Corliss (Anthony Charnota), who so long as he remains in Colombia will be immune from prosecution. Adopting a wide (and wild) variety of disguises, the A-Team heads South of the Border to execute a daring plan whereby Corliss and his minions will be lured into the clutches of the authorities. This of course means that plane-o-phobic B.A. (Mr. T) will be forced to fly--and this is where Judy Rogers' skills as a hypnotist come in handy! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Amber Waves is the tale of two radically different personalities, united by crisis. Dennis Weaver plays a midwestern wheat harvester, coarsened by his lifelong struggle with poverty and the elements. Kurt Russell plays an obnoxious Manhattan-based male model, who has coasted through life on his charm and has never gotten his hands dirty. When Russell finds himself facially disfigured and penniless, he takes a job on Weaver's farm. Though the two men dislike each other at first, they reach a common ground when Weaver suffers a serious personal dilemma. Beautifully lensed in Alberta, Canada, Amber Waves was one of the high points of the 1979-80 TV movie season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
By concentrating on character development with this first of several sequels to his Oscar-winning smash Rocky (1976), writer/director Sylvester Stallone earned critical praise that would desert him with the boxing saga's shallower subsequent chapters. Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, a Philadelphia prize fighter enjoying his brief fame after nearly defeating world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). When Rocky is offered lucrative product endorsement opportunities, his limited education and lack of sophistication quickly become an impediment to his future success, causing him embarrassment and his pregnant wife, Adrian (Talia Shire), a great deal of financial concern. Meanwhile, Creed is brooding over his near loss to a fighter he considers an amateur far beneath him and decides to goad a reluctant Rocky into a high-profile rematch. With the family resources dwindling and his pride wounded, Rocky decides that fighting is all he knows and makes the fateful decision to climb back into the ring once more with Creed to vie for the championship belt, despite assurances from all concerned that he will blind himself irreparably. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, (more)
The Day of the Locust is anything but a cheerful, light look at Hollywood in the '30s. It recreates both the town as well as the filmmaking world around which much of the town revolved with devastating accuracy. The movie tells the twin tales of talentless wannabe actress Faye Greener (Karen Black) and Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), a lovelorn accountant who couldn't care less about movies. Around this framework, a huge and intricate social network is tellingly revealed, until the film's gruesome and tragic ending. Not for those who prefer to hang onto their illusions about the glory days of Hollywood, The Day of the Locust, based on the novel by Nathanael West, is a must-see for serious film buffs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Karen Black, (more)
- 1975
- R
Barbara Peeters's Summer School Teachers concerns three gals from Idaho going to teach at Regency High in Southern California, where they have three interwoven adventures: gym teacher Conklin T. (Candice Rialson) battles hyper-macho coach Sam Johns (Dick Miller) to start a girls' football team; chemistry teacher Denise Carter (Rhonda Leigh Hopkins) seeks to clear the name of a misunderstood juvie; and photography teacher Sally Hansen (Pat Anderson) gets involved with a pornographer. All three girls end up suspended from teaching after a series of bizarre events: there's a big conspiracy involving payola, a porno scandal, and a kidnapping at an abandoned warehouse. It all comes to a head -- as such films must -- at the big football game, which becomes an all-out brawl as various protest groups and do-gooders clash for liberation. The closing theme is a rallying cry for activism. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
