Lela Ivey Movies

Earlier in the season, ALF couldn't wait to reunite Willie's brother Neal (JM J. Bullock) with his ex-wife Margaret (played by Allyce Beasley of Moonlighting). But that was then, and this is now. Realizing that Margaret has a hidden agenda when she talks Neal into a quickie remarriage, ALF switches gears and does everything he can to break up the couple--even if means taking a covert trip to Las Vegas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

More than anything else, 13-year old New Jerseyite Josh (David Moscow) wants to be "big". That's the wish he makes at an odd-looking amusement pier fortunetelling machine. The next morning, Josh wakes up-only to discover that he's grown to manhood overnight! (At this point, the part is taken over by Tom Hanks). Still a 13-year-old mentally and emotionally, Josh decides to hide out in New York City until he can figure out what to do next. He lucks into a job with a major toy company run by kid-at-heart McMillan (Robert Loggia). By cannily bringing a child's eye view to McMillan's business, Josh rises to the top-and in process, he falls in love with fellow employee Susan (Elizabeth Perkins). But he's still a kid, and he'd like to go back to his own world and own body. Written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Big proved a crucial success for budding director Penny Marshall, who'd work harmoniously with Hanks again on the radically different A League of Their Own. The cinematography was by Barry Sonenfeld, who went on to become a director himself with The Addams Family. That Big was heavily reliant upon the input of Tom Hanks and Penny Marshall was proven by the failed attempt to turn the property into a Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jason Alexander stars in this sweet-natured romantic comedy, marred by some overblown stereotypes. Alexander plays shoe salesman Bernie Fishbine. Bernie is lonely and shy and ever conscious about his weight problem. He stills lives at home with his mother Sarah (Lainie Kazan) and grandpa Irving Fein (Lou Jacobi). One night, taking a bus back home, he meets Theresa Garabaldi (Nia Peeples), an attractive graduate student in psychology who works at night as a singer in her uncle's Italian restaurant. Bernie falls in love with her, and he thinks she loves him too. To make her proud of him, Bernie stops eating the chocolate kisses he purchases every day from Frieda's (Eileen Brennan) candy store and, instead, works out at a gym to lose weight. But Bernie is crestfallen to learn that Theresa is being friendly to him because she is using him as the subject of her graduate thesis entitled "The Psychological Study of an Obese Male." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky's first American film is a romantic tale about an American war veteran whose dreams of his childhood sweetheart are countered by a less sunny reality. John Savage stars as Ivan Bibic, who has returned home to a small town in Pennsylvania, having suffered a nervous breakdown as a P.O.W. During the war, he would dream about his fiancee back home, Maria Bosic (Nastassja Kinski), imagining their forthcoming perfect marriage. At one point, Ivan is told, "You dreamed about her too long. She lives in your dreams, not in your body." And it's true -- his dreams do not equal his reality. Maria and Ivan marry, but Ivan finds that he cannot make love to the flesh and blood Maria. Knowing she was actively pursued by men in town during the war, Ivan courages her to take lovers. Maria does so, having affairs with another GI, Al Griselli (Vincent Spano), and a passing drifter named Clarence Butts (Keith Carradine). But after spending the night with Clarence, Maria becomes pregnant, and Ivan's love for her is sorely tested. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The 200th episode of Murder, She Wrote finds Jessica (Angela Lansbury) supporting an effort to preserve a New York brownstone where Ernest Hemingway once wrote a novel. At the center of the conflict is a feud between Jessica's editor and a powerful land developer. Murder enters the scene when the brother of the man who opposes destroying the building is killed. And it is a bad kill. And nobody is dreaming about the lions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

During an intense practical-joke war between Murphy (Candice Bergen) and Frank (Joe Regalbuto), Murphy puckishly hires a man to present himself to Frank, claiming to be "Deep Throat" of Watergate fame. It would have been amusing if the man hired was the genuine "Deep Throat", former FBI deputy chief Mark Felt, but his identity was still under wraps back in 1990. At any rate, Frank falls for the impostor hook, line and sinker--and as a result he all but destroys his journalistic career! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paying a brief return visit to San Francisco, Will McCorkle (Scott Grimes) can't get Sarah (Jennifer Love Hewitt) to reveal the truth about Bailey (Scott Wolf) and his drinking problem. Having been burned out of her own home, Grace (Tamara Taylor) moves in with Charlie (Matthew Fox) and the Salingers, stirring up all manner of excitement--and not a little resentment. As for Charlie, his rage over Julia's decision not to attend Stanford is so intense that Julia (Neve Campbell) decides to move in with her boyfriend Sam (Ben Browder), whose reaction to this turn of events is most surprising. And Claudia (Lacey Chabert) draws up an unusual agreement with baby brother Owen (played by twins Andrew Cavarno and Steve Cavarno). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Embracing the supposed nihilism and cynicism of the "slacker" generation, S.F.W. (1995) caused nary a blip on the media-saturated cultural radar screen that it criticized. Stephen Dorff stars as Cliff Spab, an aimless, hard-drinking youth. Spab becomes a national hero when he is one of several people held hostage by gun-toting terrorists in a convenience store. He doesn't care much about his own life or anything else, and his attitude of "So f---ing what?" translates into debates with his terrorist captors and gloomy pronouncements that charm viewers. After a month-long siege, a crisis erupts when the store runs out of beer and junk food, so Cliff finds himself a free man whose celebrity image is emblazoned on t-shirts and whose presence is requested at a rock concert where he is required to do nothing other than appear. In the meantime, Spab's girlfriend Wendy (Reese Witherspoon) becomes a ubiquitous talk show guest. Ostensibly a satire of the celebrity-obsessed culture of the 1990s, the film was withheld from distribution for a year because of thematic similarities to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Woody Allen blurs the the boundaries between the real and unreal in this unique comic fantasy. The scene is a small town in the mid-1930s. Trapped in a dead-end job and an abusive marriage, Cecelia (Mia Farrow) regularly seeks refuge in the local movie house. She becomes so enraptured by the latest attraction, an RKO screwball comedy called The Purple Rose of Cairo, that she returns to the theatre day after day. During one of these visits, the film's main character Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), pauses in his dialogue, turns towards the audience, and says to Cecelia, "My God, how you must love this picture." Then he climbs out of the movie, much to the consternation of the rest of the audience and the other characters on screen. Liberated from his customary black-and-white environs, he accompanies Cecelia on a tour of the town, eventually falling in love with her. Meanwhile, the other Purple Rose characters, unable to proceed with the film, carry on a discussion with themselves. Desperately, the RKO executives seek out Gil Shepherd, the actor who played the hero of Purple Rose. Shepherd (also played by Daniels), is sent to Cecelia's hometown to see if he can repair the damage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide