Michael Kearns Movies

In Body Double, director Brian DePalma pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock movies Vertigo and Rear Window, adding a few grotesque touches all his own. Craig Wasson plays Jake, a struggling actor who keeps losing jobs because of his claustrophobia. To make matters worse, his girlfriend has walked out on him, so he has no place to sleep. His pal offers him the use of his apartment for the evening. The apartment happens to be equipped with a huge picture window and telescope, enabling him to spy on his beautiful neighbor Gloria (Deborah Shelton) while she undresses. He also bears witness to her brutal murder. And then he meets a porn star (Melanie Griffith), who has just taken a job posing as the late Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this bittersweet comedy drama, a man nearing the end of his life seeks closure with his family and friends, and he confronts the issues of the right to die. Nick Stark (Eric Roberts) is a successful architect who is openly gay. He was involved in a committed relationship with Brandon Theis (Gregory Harrison), a television director, until Nick discovered that he's HIV-positive. Nick's first question to Brandon is "You won't leave me, will you? I don't want to die alone." Brandon, however, doesn't have the emotional strength to deal with Nick's condition and soon moves on. Several years later, even though Nick has been mindful of his health, he begins to display symptoms of full-blown AIDS, most notably the brain lesions that indicate Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy, an AIDS-related illness that has already claimed several of his friends. Wanting to go out with his dignity intact, Nick decides to throw one last party, which will give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his friends and family while he's still lucid -- shortly after which he intends to take his own life with painkillers. Nick attempts to make peace with his mother and father (Lee Grant and George Segal), who had difficulty accepting their son's lifestyle, and he enjoys a last laugh with his close friends, until Brandon -- who is hardly welcomed by the group -- shows up. Appearing as Nick's friends and family are Margaret Cho, Bronson Pinchot, Bruce Davison, Sally Kellerman, Marlee Matlin, Roddy McDowall, and Dennis Christopher. Writer and director Randal Kleiser loosely based It's My Party on his own personal experiences when his longtime companion was diagnosed with AIDS and opted to take his own life before his symptoms became too severe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The fates of nine people are intricately tied together in director Dean Howell's thoughtful meditation on modern relationships. Ronnie is getting up there in years, and as he begins his journey into the online world he begins to reflect on the many love affairs he has had over the course of his life. Meanwhile, Tony the drug dealer Mikey finds his infatuation with smoldering hustler Bo becoming more intense as he moves dope on the streets to help provide for his mentally handicapped younger brother. On the steamy side of things, television producer Daniel, his boyfriend Corey, and their pool boy Carlos engage in a heated menage-a-trois that threatens to go bad, while Lisa and her harried husband Ralph get ready for the arrival of their firstborn child. Later, when Lisa receives a fateful telephone call, all of these disparate stories slowly begin to come together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Everything that can go wrong does go wrong as John-Boy (Richard Thomas) begins his freshman year at Boatwright College in the fall of 1934. Our hero unwittingly breaks long-standing rules, upsets protocol, misplaces important documents, and finds himself the victim of innumerable practical jokes perpetrated by the snobbish (and monumentally immature!) upper classmen. And back on Walton's Mountain, the younger Walton kids are none too pleased as Jason (Jon Walmsley) presumptively takes over the "big brother" role in John-Boy's absence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide