Charles Payne Movies
Actress and writer Nia Vardalos, who became an overnight sensation with My Big Fat Greek Wedding, returns to the big screen with this gender-bending comedy. Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Toni Collette) are best friends who've shared the same dream ever since they were teenagers -- making a name for themselves in the musical theater. However, after years of treading water on Chicago's dinner theater circuit and playing bottom-of-the-barrel nightclubs, the two are facing middle age with minimal career success. One evening after a performance, Connie and Carla have the misfortune of witnessing the murder of nightclub owner Frank (Michael Roberds) by low-level Mafiosi; the gals are seen by the shooters, and they hit the road in fear for their lives. Connie and Carla end up in Los Angeles, where they struggle to create new identities for themselves. After witnessing a drag review at a nightclub, they realize that even they have more talent than most of the men performing that evening, and they decide to pose as female impersonators in hopes of landing a gig. Connie and Carla's new act is an immediate hit, and soon they're the toast of L.A.'s gay community. But the women discover it's difficult to keep on fooling people into believing they're men, and things become even more complicated when the Mobsters discover that Connie and Carla are in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Connie finds herself falling for Jeff (David Duchovny), a regular guy looking for his cross-dressing brother who can't understand why he's developing a crush on a drag queen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, (more)
- 2000
Ethel Lina White's suspense novel Some Must Watch was first filmed under the title The Spiral Staircase in 1946. This same title was applied to a subsequent 1962 TV special adaptation, and a 1975 British TV-movie remake. The Spiral Staircase resurfaced again in 2000 as a made-for-cable feature film, which updated the original story from the early 20th century to the present day. Pathologically mute since a terrible trauma in her youth, Helen Capel (Nicollette Sheridan) works as a housekeeper in the gloomy old mansion of wealthy Emma Warren (Holland Taylor). By nature timid and frightened, Helen has good reason of late to be even more afraid to venture outside the Warren home: A serial killer who preys upon "imperfect" women is on the loose, with such victims as a blind girl and a clubfooted woman in his wake. Understandably, the literally speechless Helen is worried that she will be the next victim. What she doesn't know is that her would-be murderer is someone living within the walls of the Warren mansion -- and it isn't the most obvious suspect. The Spiral Staircase debuted April 2, 2000 on the Fox Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicollette Sheridan, Judd Nelson, (more)
- 2000
Like most teenagers, 14-year-old Scott Marshall (Michael J. Pagan) feels like a misfit "freak" within his own family. In this instance, however, circumstances are a bit different. Practically every member of the Marshall family possesses super-powers and leads a double life as a costumed hero. His dad, Jim (Robert Townsend, who also directed this film), is an orthodontist by day and the crime-busting Bronze Eagle by night. Even Grandpa Marshall (Sherman Hemsley), now in retirement, can recall the good old days when he battled the forces of evil as the Steel Condor. Alas, poor Scott possesses none of his parents' or his siblings' special powers -- in fact, he's so clumsy that he is in danger of being washed out of his school's soccer team. But Scott eventually proves that there's more to heroics than mere muscle power when he's called upon to rescue his family from a gang of techno-villains. Up, Up and Away made its Disney Channel cable TV bow on January 22, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Pagan, Robert Townsend, (more)
- 1997
On the planet P3X562, Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) comes in contact with some luminescent blue crystals--and is promptly infected by an alien species who generate an O'Neill replicant. The fake O'Neill takes place of the real one, assuming command of the SG-1 and setting out to locate Jack's estranged wife Sara (Harley Jane Kozak). When the authentic O'Neill revives, he joins Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Jackson (Michael Shanks) in a frantic search for his double, who will become dangerously unstable upon entering the earth's atmosphere. In the process, both O'Neills must come to grips with the death of Jack's son Charlie (Kyle Graham). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Duncan's old pal, pixyish ex-prizefighter Tommy Sullivan (Bruce Weitz), has turned manager, handling an up-and-coming young boxer. As before, Duncan (Adrian Paul) finds Sully amusing, especially when the little man tries to express his love for a cute waitress. It is, however, anything but amusing when Sully reveals that he will stop at nothing to prevent his boxer from signing with another manager. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrian Paul, Stan Kirsch, (more)
