George Jenesky Movies

Maury Chaykin returns as wealthy, eccentric, ill-tempered, self-indulgent, and insufferably brilliant private detective Nero Wolfe, with Timothy Hutton as his wisecracking, skirt-chasing assistant and legman, as the A&E series bearing the blanket title A Nero Wolfe Mystery enters its second season. As in season one, most of the episodes are directly based on the original Nero Wolfe novels written by Rex Stout between 1934 and 1975. All of the episodes are ample demonstrations of the keen deductive and analytical skills of the overweight protagonist, who specializes in solving seemingly unsolvable crimes -- but only when he feels like doing so. The season opens with the two-part "Death of a Doxy," directed by series regular Timothy Hutton, in which Archie must explain the presence of a corpse in his apartment. In a later two-parter, "Motherhunt," Wolfe ignores his precious prize-winning orchids and rare beers long enough to track down the mother of an abandoned infant. Also spread over two episodes is "Too Many Clients," the title of which should be self-explanatory (Wolfe's many clients are the lovers of a libidinous murder victim). And in the final two-parter of the season, "The Silent Speaker," the case at hand is the death of a representative from the National Industrial Association. Curiously, the season ends with a rare single, self-contained episode: "Immune to Murder," in which Wolfe's talents as a gourmet chef are brought into play. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Dack Rambo) guest stars as Assistant District Attorney Jason Lettler, the latest boyfriend of police detective Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer). At present, Lettler is determined to put a petty thief named Tommy Orlowski (George Jenesky) away on a murder charge. Hunter (Fred Dryer), however, is convinced that Orlowski is innocent--and it is this conviction that ends up driving a wedge between Hunter and his partner McCall. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This crime drama, based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo, follows 20 years in the long reign of powerful Mafia kingpin Don Domenico Clericuzio (Danny Aiello). For years, the Clericuzios have been warring with a rival crime family, the Santadios, which is not helped when Domenico's daughter Rose Marie (Kirstie Alley) decides to marry the son of the head of the Santadio clan. On the night of Rose Marie's wedding, Domenico orders the execution of the entire Santadio family, including his new son-in-law. Rose Marie is pregnant as a result of her brief honeymoon, and her son Dante (Rory Cochrane) grows up to become a hired killer with a bitter hatred of his grandfather. Meanwhile, Pippi De Lena (Joe Mantegna), Domenico's key enforcer who carried out the slaughter of the Santadinos, has been grooming his son Croccifixio (Jason Gedrick) to take over as the Clericuzio's new trigger man. However, after he muffs a crucial execution, Croccifixio is sent to work with the family's operations in Las Vegas, where he becomes involved with starlet Athena Aquitane (Daryl Hannah). Soon Dante makes a risky bid to seize control of the Santadio family's crime empire. Originally produced as a television miniseries, the home video release of The Last Don is 262-min. long and it includes material not used for television broadcast. The video version features adult language and nudity and received an R rating. The Last Don co-stars Robert Wuhl, Penelope Ann Miller, Seymour Cassel, Burt Young, and k.d. lang. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, Rovi

In this vaguely allegorical science fiction-crime film, a Los Angeles cop tries to solve the murder of his best friend with the help of his new partner -- a member of a star-faring alien race. In the near-future world of Alien Nation, the "Newcomers" are a race of formerly enslaved humanoids seeking refuge and integration into Earth society. These unusual immigrants face anger and resentment from some humans, including Matthew Sykes (James Caan), a cop whose partner, Tug (Roger Aaron Brown), was killed in a shoot-out with several Newcomers. In order to get some insight into Newcomer society and track down the "slags" who killed Tug, Sykes volunteers to take on a new partner, Sam "George" Francisco (Mandy Patinkin), the first alien ever promoted to the rank of detective. As Sykes tries to overcome his bigotry against George and his kind, who eat raw beaver and get drunk on spoiled milk, the friendly, helpful George soon learns the identity of Tug's killer: William Harcort (Terence Stamp), a pillar of Newcomer society who is secretly manufacturing the same powerful narcotic that was used to enslave his race. It's up to Sykes and George to stop Harcort before he turns his fellow Newcomers into drooling addicts and pulls the skeletons out of his race's closet for all of humankind to see. Omen 3 director Graham Baker made his screenwriting debut with Alien Nation, as did co-writer Rockne S. O'Bannon. Kenneth Johnson, creator of the miniseries V, would adapt Alien Nation into a weekly television show in 1989 and several made-for-TV movies in the mid-'90s. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi