John Dennis Johnston Movies

Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an electrical lineman who, while sent out on emergency repairs, witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a "sunburn" from its bright lights to prove it. Neary's wife and children are at first skeptical, then concerned, and eventually fearful, as Roy refuses to accept a "logical" explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his job, his home, and his family to pursue the "truth" about UFOs. Neary's obsession eventually puts him in contact with others who've had close encounters with alien spacecraft, including Jillian (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose son disappeared during her UFO experience, and Claude Lacombe (celebrated French filmmaker François Truffaut), a French researcher who believes that we can use a musical language to communicate with alien visitors. Lacombe's theory is put to the test when a band of government researchers and underground UFO enthusiasts (including Neary) join for an exchange with alien visitors near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In 1980, a "Special Edition" was released. While its primary selling point was the addition of scenes inside the alien spaceship, Spielberg claimed that he also cleaned up some choppy editing in the second act. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Woody Allen's romantic comedy of the Me Decade follows the up and down relationship of two mismatched New York neurotics. Jewish comedy writer Alvy Singer (Allen) ponders the modern quest for love and his past romance with tightly-wound WASP singer Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, née Diane Hall). The twice-divorced Alvy knows that it's not easy to find a mate when the options include pretentious New York intellectuals and lifestyle-obsessed Rolling Stone writers, but la-di-dah-ing Annie seems different. Along the rocky road of their coupling, Allen/Alvy weigh in on such topics as endless therapy, movies vs. TV, the absurdity of dating rituals, anti-Semitism, drugs, and, in one of the best set pieces, repressed Midwestern WASP insanity vs. crazy Brooklyn Jewish boisterousness. Annie wants to move to Los Angeles to find that fame that finally does in the relationship -- but not before Alvy gets in a few digs at vacuous, mantra-fixated California. Originally entitled Anhedonia (the inability to enjoy oneself), Annie Hall blended the slapstick and fantasy from such earlier Allen films as Sleeper (1973) and Bananas (1971) with the more autobiographical musings of his stand-up and written comedy, using an array of such movie techniques as talking heads, splitscreens, and subtitles. Within these gleeful formal experiments and sight gags, Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman skewered 1970s solipsism, reversing the happy marriage of opposites found in classic screwball comedies. Hailed as Allen's most mature and personal film, Annie Hall beat out Star Wars for Best Picture and also won Oscars for Allen as director and writer and for Keaton as Best Actress; audiences enthusiastically responded to Allen's take on contemporary love and turned Keaton's rumpled menswear into a fashion trend. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television film, an unusual collaboration between hard rock group Kiss and children's television kings Hanna Barbera, became one of NBC's highest-rated programs of 1978. The plot, reminiscent of the average episode of Scooby-Doo, begins with crazed inventor Abner Devereaux (Anthony Zerbe) getting fired from his job at California's Magic Mountain amusement park for ignoring safety standards in his quest to create bigger and better attractions. Devereaux retreats to his underground lab and plots a revenge scenario that coincides with the arrival of rock group Kiss (playing themselves) to perform a concert at the park. Using his knowledge of animatronics, Devereaux creates android duplicates of Kiss and uses them to create havoc. However, he soon discovers he's in for a fight because the group has secret talisman amulets that give them special powers. Thus, the stage is set for a superhero-style showdown between Kiss and Devereaux's squad of animatronic henchmen. Although it is a live-action effort, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park is cartoonish in the extreme as it dishes out plenty of bad jokes and low-budget special effects. It was a considerable ratings success, but also unfortunately branded Kiss with a "kiddie group" image that took years to shake. As a result, the members of the group consider Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park an embarrassment. Nevertheless, it remains a cult favorite with the group's fans and aficionados of odd television. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

For his follow-up to 1979's Academy Award-winning Norma Rae, director Martin Ritt re-teams with that film's star, Sally Field, for this gritty romantic road comedy. Reportedly Ritt's homage to Frank Capra's films of the 1930s, Back Roads stars Field as Amy Post, a no-nonsense prostitute in the deep South struggling with the fact that she gave up her only child for adoption. When Amy first encounters the recently unemployed Elmore Pratt (Tommy Lee Jones), she is anything but fond of the drifter. But after taking to the road together with dreams of California, the two societal misfits find themselves falling for each other. Ritt and Field would team together once again four years later in another romantic comedy set in the South, Murphy's Romance. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, James (Jason Bateman) heads to the Sleepy Eye bank to make a deposit. The bank is robbed and James is shot, leaving him comatose. Seething with grief and rage, James' adoptive father, Charles (Michael Landon), persuades his friend Mr. Edwards (Victor French) to help him track down the outlaws. As they set out on their mission, Charles and Edwards order Albert ( Matthew Laborteaux) to stay behind -- an order he disobeys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fact-based TV movie The Ambush Murders was adapted from a book by Ben Bradlee Jr. Dorian Harewood plays an African-American political activist who is loyal to his ideals and faithful to his friends and family. After two white policemen are killed, Harewood is charge with the crime. 49 months and two mistrials later, Harewood remains in prison. When lawyer James Brolin offers his services, Harewood doesn't trust him any more than any of the other self-serving white attorneys who've "helped" him in the past. But Brolin digs a little deeper than his predecessors, uncovering facts and evidence that may at long last spring his client. Ambush Murders was first telecast January 5, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel is satirized in this comedy about a scientist (Mark Blankfield) who is hopelessly addicted to his latest invention, a strange white powder. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In Black Rock, California, a seriously wounded B.A. (Mr. T) is tended to by Dr. Maggie Sullivan (Tricia O'Neil), who suspects that her patient is a member of a biker gang that is poised to raid the town and release its leader from prison. As a result, Black Rock's sheriff Hank Thompson (Ed Lauter) places B.A.'s fellow A-Teamers Hannibal (George Peppard) and Face (Dirk Benedict). Ultimately, however, Thompson and his prisoners join forces to protect the town from the savage biker hordes--while Murdock (Dwight Schultz) rushes to the scene in hopes of providing B.A. with a blood transfusion before it's too late! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the popular television series created by Rod Serling, this film of horror and the supernatural tells four separate stories--each by a different director: John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller. In one, a bigot is taught a lesson when he is transported to experience the lives of three different victims of prejudice and intolerance. Another takes a trip to an old-age home where the arrival of a special man turns some of the residents into youthful people once again. In the third, a woman befriends a timid young child who turns out to be a maniacal brat with bizarre powers. The final segment shows how a man with an aversion to flying has a rough time when he panics and then sees a strange creature on the wing outside his window seat. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

More like a series of MTV sequences than a long-term narration, this super-thin story line focuses on a kidnapped singer (Diane Lane) and her ex-boyfriend (Michael Pare) who goes forth to save her through rainy streets, the roar of elevated subways, several alleys, and the usual warehouses. Each thrust of the story has rock music that follows along with the narration. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Speedy Delivery Company, a firm run by former Army pilot A.J. (Joseph Hacker) and his blind sister Lisa (Stacey Nelkin) is being forced out of business by a band of baddies led by Ike Hagen (Mitchell Ryan). When the A-Team arrives on the scene, they quickly deduce that Hagen is in league with crooked chemical company executive Durcell (Richard Herd) to set up a site where they can illegally dump toxic waste. Horror movie fans will enjoy the "teaming" of two veterans from the Halloween series, Mitchell Ryan (Dr. Wynn in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) and Stacey Nelkin (Ellie in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV biopic chronicles the exciting (at times scandalous) life and career of Eroll Flynn, Hollywood's most popular swashbuckling rake. Much of the information comes from Flynn's autobiography. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide