James Karen

A retired architect returns to work at the behest of unlikely patrons in this low-key drama. Richard and Kate Banks (Jack Conley and Rebecca Staab) are a well-to-do couple who want to buy a home in Southern California. While house-hunting, Kate discovers the charred remains of a house that was never completed -- and she is highly intrigued by what she's found. Kate discovers the property belongs to Mercedes (Shirley Knight), who informs Kate that the unfinished house was one of the last works from Harry Mayfield (Philip Baker Hall), a once-famous architect who left his career behind when his marriage broke up years before. Kate and Richard buy the unfinished house and contact Harry, inviting him to complete his project for their new home, and Harry agrees. Sensing this could be a major event in contemporary architecture, Kate persuades her friend Gaby (Laura San Giacomo), a filmmaker, to make a documentary about Harry and his new project. As Gaby speaks at length with both Harry and his younger assistant Arthur (Henry Rollins), she and Kate discover just how strong-willed (and how difficult) Harry can be, and as Harry struggles to complete a difficult and deeply personal work, Kate finds a new personal strength through his efforts. A House on a Hill marked a return to dramatic filmmaking for director Chuck Workman after directing a pair of acclaimed documentaries about iconoclastic artists, Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol and The Source. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Joshua Beckett also stars in this romantic comedy, winner at the 1997 Hollywood Film Festival. Self-confident wedding photographer Nick Evans (Beckett) has a domineering Jewish mother, Muriel (Liz Sheridan) and a pregnant sister, Donna (Polly Draper). But womanizing maneuvers are Nick's central preoccupation. Thus, Nick is somewhat taken aback to find himself developing a more lasting interest in clothing-designer Anne Kidwell (Marcia Cross). They begin living together and all is well until Anne begins to question Nick's commitment. At the same time, Nick starts to contemplate his career choices. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Conspiracy film specialist Alan J. Pakula turned journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's best-selling account of their Watergate investigation into one of the hit films of Bicentennial year 1976. While researching a story about a botched 1972 burglary of Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate apartment complex, green Washington Post reporters/rivals Woodward (Robert Redford, who also exec produced) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) stumble on a possible connection between the burglars and a White House staffer. With the circumspect approval of executive editor Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards), the pair digs deeper. Aided by a guilt-ridden turncoat bookkeeper (Jane Alexander) and the vital if cryptic guidance of Woodward's mystery source, Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), Woodward and Bernstein "follow the money" all the way to the top of the Nixon administration. Despite Deep Throat's warnings that their lives are in danger, and the reluctance of older Post editors, Woodward and Bernstein are determined to get out the story of the crime and its presidential cover-up. Once Bradlee is convinced, the final teletype impassively taps out the historically explosive results. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Oliver Stone takes on professional football, a sport whose grace and delicacy are a good match for his filmmaking style. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), the head coach of the Miami Sharks, won back-to-back championships four years ago. But new team owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) has little enthusiasm for the finer points of the game and is concerned only with the bottom line. The longtime strongman of Tony's team has been "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid), a 39-year-old quarterback, but Christina balks at renewing his contract. When Cap is injured during a game, third-string rookie quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) goes on in his place and becomes a major star. But Beaman is mostly interested in fame and money, and he has little regard for Tony and his teammates. Any Given Sunday also stars James Woods as the team's doctor, LL Cool J as a star running back, Jim Brown as a former football great turned Sharks' defensive coordinator, Ann-Margret as Christina's alcoholic mother, Bill Bellamy as a wide receiver, Elizabeth Berkley as Tony's favorite prostitute, and Charlton Heston as the football commissioner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The 8-hour TV miniseries Blind Ambition was originally telecast May 20 through 23, 1979. This 105-minute feature-film version, prepared in 1982, seems a bit rushed at times, but overall does a credible and coherent job of storytelling. Based on John Dean's book Blind Ambition, with elements of Maureen Dean's Mo woven in by screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg, this is the saga of the Watergate affair, as experienced by Dean (Martin Sheen) and hia wife Maureen (Theresa Russell). As the Nixon administration goes down in flames, the Deans' marriage is sorely tested-as is Dean's success-at-any-price credo. Rip Torn plays Nixon like something out of a Greek Tragedy; some viewer accepted his interpretation, others found it jarringly inaccurate. Others in the cast of "usual suspects" include Michael Callan as Charles Colson, Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, William Daniels as G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Grandy as Donald Segretti, Christopher Guest as Jeb Magruder, Lawrence Pressman as H. R. Haldeman, William Windom as Richard Kleindienst, James Greene as E. Howard Hunt, Logan Ramsey as J. Edgar Hoover, and Al Checco as judge John Sirica. Also known as The John Dean Story, Blind Ambition earned two Emmy nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much to the mounting horror of psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), Carla (Rhea Perlman) begins dating Frasier's erudite mentor, Dr. Bennet Ludlow (James Karen). Even more shocking is the revelation that Carla is pregnant. But all this pales into insignificance (at least so far as the apoplectic Frasier is concerned) when Ludlow agrees to marry Carla without even knowing if he's really the father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary presents interviews and clips with some of cinema's best loved cult figures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Most of the original cast members of TV's Eight is Enough are on hand for the "retro" feature Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion. The single most conspicuous defector is Betty Buckley, who is here replaced by Mary Frann in the role of Abby Bradford. The premise: On the eve of his 50th birthday, Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten) is in danger of losing his job as a journalist. He is offered moral support by his offspring, who have gathered together to celebrate Tom's half-century mark. Grant Goodeve, Willie Aames, Susan Richardson, Lani O'Grady, Adam Rich, Connie Needham, Dianne Kay and Laurie Walters portray the Bradford kids. The warm-and-fuzzy script is by Gwen Bagni-Dubov, who'd been churning out teleplays since the black-and-white era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

F.I.S.T. is author Norman Jewison's chronicle of an innocent and idealistic young man corrupted by power and success as seen through the rise of the United States labor movement. Sylvester Stallone plays a Jimmy Hoffa-inspired figure who rises through the union ranks during turbulent labor times. The film begins in 1937 during the burgeoning of the labor movement. Johnny Kovak (Sylvester Stallone) works on the dock unloading trucks for Win Talbot's (Henry Wilcoxon) trucking company. He turns to organizing the truckers for union representative Mike Monahan (Richard Herd). When Monahan is killed in a fight by strong-arm men hired by the company, Johnny becomes involved with Vince Doyle (Kevin Conway), the local gangster. After an angry response by the union, culminating in a massive riot, Johnny firmly aligns himself with Doyle, and the mob gets its meathooks further into the union. Thanks to the infusion of mob support, the union grows rich and powerful, along with Johnny. By the end of the 1950s, Johnny has so much power that he even manages to blackmail international union leader Max Graham (Peter Boyle) out of his job. Johnny is sitting on top of the world -- that is, until crusading United States senator Andrew Madison (Rod Steiger) targets Johnny's union for a federal investigation. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Hoping to utilize the Supreme Court in the same dramatic manner that West Wing utilized the White House, the weekly, 60-minute CBS series First Monday focused on the nine Justices who laid down the law for the United States. Joe Mantegna headed the cast as Joseph Novelli, the newest member of the nine-person Supreme Court. Entering a political arena that was evenly divided between Conservative and Liberal, the "moderate" Justice Novelli generally acted as the tie-breaker in matters of national jurisprudence (though supposedly noncommittal politically, Novelli's beard and pugnacious personality indicated that he was the "champion of the underdog" type). James Garner co-starred as staunchly conservative Chief Justice Thomas Brankin, who displayed his contempt for contemporary political correctness by puffing away on a cigarette in his "officially" smoke-free private office. Brankin's chief ally was the whimsical, womanizing Justice Henry Hoskins (Charles Durning), while on varying extremes of the political spectrum were Jewish jurist Esther Weisenberg (Camille Saviola) and black Justice Jerome Morris (James McEachin). Created by Jag's Donald P. Bellisario, First Monday premiered on Tuesday, January 15, 2002, before settling into its standard Friday-night slot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As played by Jessica Lange, Frances Farmer is a rebel from the word go, winning a high school essay award by writing a piece in defense of Communism. Determining to become an actress, Frances is equally determined not to play the Hollywood game: she refuses to acquiesce to idiotic publicity stunts, and insists upon appearing on screen sans makeup. Her defiance attracts the attention of Broadway playwright Clifford Odets, who convinces Frances that her future rests with the Group Theatre. But once she leaves Hollywood for New York, Frances learns to her chagrin that the Group intends to exploit her movie fame in order to draw in customers. Her desperate attempts to restart her movie career, combined with her increasing dependence on alcohol and the pressures brought to bear by her monster mother (Kim Stanley), result in a complete mental breakdown. Even while institutionalized, Frances is abused by the powers-that-be; she is forced to undergo an injurious brain operation, is treated like a mad animal, and periodically raped by the inmates. Frances is released in the custody of her mother, who persists in browbeating her tortured daughter until Frances discovers the legal means to break away. The real-life Frances spent her last years as host of a local Indianapolis TV program, dying in 1970 at age 57; the film comes to a climax when Frances is feted on the smarmy network program This is Your Life. Other actual personages depicted herein include Clifford Odets (played by Jeffrey DeMunn), Harold Clurman (Jordan Charney) and Ralph Edwards (Donald Craig). Frances' first husband Leif Erickson is fictionalized as "Jeffrey York", and played by Lange's real-life inamorata Sam Shepard. And if you listen closely, you'll hear the voice of Kevin Costner, whose minor role was whittled down to one line when he, like Frances Farmer, had the temerity to argue with the director. The unhappy life of actress Frances Farmer was also covered in Farmer's autobiography, Will There Ever Be a Morning? While the film rights for that book were sold to a TV-movie concern, the producers of the theatrical feature Frances were able to ship their production out to the public first. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Footage from three separate horror projects was assembled for this semi-anthology, framed by the premise of a mad scientist (Martin Kove) who uses virtual-reality technology to delve into the phobias of three different subjects. The first tale, "Jenny Porter," describes a paranoid woman (Vivian Schilling) trapped in her house by a pack of mad dogs; "The Roommate" features Bill Paxton as a psychotic living companion; and "Mr. Petrified Forest" is the story of a death-obsessed photographer (Sam Clay) who experiences a surreal close call with mortality. There are a few inspired moments -- particularly in the final segment -- but overall the weakly plotted stories will likely fail to maintain viewers' interest. The unrated version contains several minutes of gory footage excised from the R-rated print. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

With its catchy title and over-the-top premise, this fairly amusing horror comedy plays like a kinder, gentler variation on the type of fare offered by the bad-taste moguls at Troma Studios. The story begins in the thick of a metaphysical battle between a decidedly female Satan (Lezlie Deane) and one of Heaven's less-than-angelic "Chasers" (Twin Peaks, pretty-boy Dana Ashbrook), ending with the former hiding out in the body of timid wallflower Maggie (Liane Curtis), whose blind date turns even more disastrous. Only after the seriously over-vamped Maggie has seduced and destroyed (literally) every man in sight does the Chaser finally catch up to her. The battle ensues with renewed gusto, the bodies and souls of countless mortal bystanders hanging in the balance. It seems this ever-escalating conflict (employing everything from rocket launchers to possessed restaurant entrees) is a mere extension of an ongoing lovers' spat between the devil and her heavenly pursuer, whose obnoxious philandering first incurred her satanic wrath. Fans of camp horror should find ample laughs here -- others need not apply. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide