Peter Kent Movies
After squaring off in 1995 with competing movie biographies of frontier lawman Wyatt Earp, actors Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner co-star in this action crime caper as former cronies engaged in a series of double-crosses over some stolen loot. Michael Zane (Russell) and Thomas Murphy (Costner) are the leaders of a gang of ex-convict thieves using an Elvis Presley impersonator convention to pull off a daring heist in a Las Vegas casino. The gang also includes Gus (David Arquette), Hanson (Bokeem Woodbine), and Franklin (Christian Slater). Although they manage to retrieve the money, the crooks turn on each other in bloody fashion and Murphy (who believes he's actually the illegitimate son of Elvis) makes off with the illegal funds. In hot pursuit are the police and Michael, who's encumbered by his girlfriend Cybil (Courtney Cox-Arquette) and her young son Jesse James. Written and directed by music video creator Demian Lichtenstein, 3000 Miles to Graceland also stars Kevin Pollak, Ice-T, and Howie Long. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, (more)
- 1992
Made for cable television, a TV-show homemaker (Dyan Cannon) invites a local hero (Kris Kristofferson) over for a live-broadcast Christmas dinner, but her lack of cooking skills could cause a problem. The film was directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Dark Angel begins its two-season run with a feature-length episode establishing both characters and premise. Back in the year 2009, young Max Guevara (Geneva Locke) escaped from Manticore, a sinister laboratory creating human prototypes with heavy doses of animal DNA. A lab creation herself, Max managed to get away with several of her "siblings" from Manticore's X-5 program. Now it is 2019: The world is in turmoil in the wake of "The Pulse," a seismic phenomenon which destroyed all computer technology. The 19-year-old Max (Jessica Alba) lives in a crime-ridden ghetto with a group of alienated teens and dopers, working as a bicycle messenger by day and a cat burglar by night. (And why not? Max's cat DNA has endowed her with superhuman strength and agility.) She pulls this "double shift" in order to finance an ongoing search for the secrets of her past, and for her genetically engineered brothers and sisters. Enter scruffy cyberjournalist Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), a crusader against the corruption that has engulfed the government and its police. Persuading Max to join his cause, Logan gives her her first assignment: to guard a federal witness and her daughter. But Max may not be around to help -- not if she is tracked down and captured by Manticore minion Donald Lydecker (John Savage), the obsessed scientist who "created" her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Although many genre filmmakers have managed to blend horror and humor with great success, movies employing this formula often run the risk of both elements canceling each other out, resulting in a horror comedy that is neither scary nor funny. Alas, Dead Heat is a textbook example of this kind of failure. It details the weird misadventures of a pair of mismatched L.A. cops -- the straitlaced and by-the-book Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and wisecracking loose cannon Doug Bigelow (muscle-headed Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo). Their quest is to reach the heart of a sinister crime ring that employs indestructible undead henchmen. In a strange twist, their inept handling of the case results in both cops -- first Williams, then Piscopo -- being killed in action and subsequently reanimated in a secret laboratory managed by the barely seen Vincent Price (whose walk-on role is more entertaining than the combined performances of the two leads). The potential for "splatstick" comedy in the mode of Evil Dead 2 or Peter Jackson's Bad Taste is defeated by two major obstacles: first, the painfully unfunny mugging of Piscopo, who was unwisely allowed to ad-lib much of his performance; and second, the MPAA's trimming of several minutes from Steve Johnson's sensational makeup effects in order to avoid the dreaded X rating -- including a clever scene involving a zombie go-go girl played by Linnea Quigley. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, (more)
- 1987
- R
Penelope Spheeris, director of the infamous documentary The Decline of Western Civilization may well have given the world its first punk-rock Western in the form of Dudes, a sort of Suburbia meets High Noon meets Deliverance. Three East Coast punks (Jon Cryer, Daniel Roebuck, and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) opt to leave behind the filth and gloom of New York City to become modern-day pioneers on the trail to California; that is, until a gang of redneck road warrior-types led by Lee Ving (of the punk band Fear) waylay the trio and kill Flea in a fashion brutal enough to justify the inevitable retribution. After their pleas to the local sheriff fall on deaf ears, Cryer and Roebuck decide instead to follow the law of the West and serve their own brand of justice as what appear to be a bondage-oriented cowboy and a squirrel on steroids. While the plot seems contrived and asinine, the violence often gratuitous, and the characters paper-thin, Spheeris nonetheless manages to create a likeable and highly watchable -- if often silly -- film. Cryer and Roebuck do the best they can with the material, Ving plays an adequately loathsome villain, and Flea lends a glimpse of his acting ability by offering a convincing portrayal of a dead body. Nowhere near being the time capsule that is The Decline of Western Civilization, Dudes still offers some insight into the punk subculture of the '80s. Spheeris later directed the hugely successful Wayne's World as well as The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Cryer, Daniel Roebuck, (more)
- 2008
- Add Freezer Burn: The Invasion of Laxdale to QueueAdd Freezer Burn: The Invasion of Laxdale to top of Queue
The hottest summer on record turns downright chilly when some unexplainable crop circles appear in a local field, and representatives from a mysterious foreign oil company turn up hoping to buy the local grain elevator in this comedy starring Tom Green and Crispin Glover. As night falls over Laxdale, a series of strange events culminate in the discovery of some elaborate crop circles on a local farm. Before the locals have a chance to try and make sense of all the strangeness, Petrocon General Manager Veirgacht (Glover) appears in town and announces plans to purchase the local grain elevator. This plan doesn't sit well with former NHL player Bill Swanson (Green), because should Veirgacht succeed in convincing the locals to let Petrocon start searching for oil, Bill will be out of work. Later, Bill finds his old minor league hockey coach Arnie locked in his house and dying from hypothermia. Arnie claims that the only thing protecting him from some mysterious invaders is the cold, but promptly freezes to death before giving Bill any concrete information about who "they" are or why "they've" come to Laxdale. Now convinced of foul play, Bill enlists the aid of local barmaid Gina Larson in getting to the bottom of this extraterrestrial mystery. When local gear-heads Randy and Dwayne spontaneously combust during a joyride down a country road, the time finally comes to uncover Veirgacht's true intentions. Upon discovering that Petrocon is actually an "off world" time-share company intent on transforming the Earth into a lavish resort for extraterrestrials, Bill and Gina team up to find the aliens' Achilles heel and save the entire human race from being enslaved as cabana boys and chambermaids. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Green, Crispin Glover, (more)
- 2003
Dylan (Kevin Hunt) is invited to attend the launching of the "Crimson Sunrise," the first Commonwealth ship to be constructed in the last three centuries. Unfortunately, the ship blows up before its maiden voyage can even begin, sending the passengers hurtling into space in dozens of escape pods. Thus, Dylan and the crew are obliged to find out the identity of the saboteur before another strike can harm the passengers or anyone else -- and the pressure brought to bear upon our heroes results in some dangerously short tempers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Made for television, Heart of Fire stars Patrick Duffy as Max Tucker, a veteran firefighter who has seen so much in his lifetime that he regards himself immune to the tragedies and heartaches of the world. Tucker's cynicism is put to the test when he tries to save a little girl named Katy (Alex McKenna), trapped beneath a burning tanker. Though the other firefighters have given up the girl for dead, Tucker puts his own life on the line in hopes of pulling off an "impossible" rescue--and restoring his faith in miracles. Produced by Arnold Shapiro of Rescue 911 fame, Heart of Fire (cable TV title: The Tanker Incident) first aired January 7, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The political thriller B-movie Ignition was released straight to video in the U.S. Bull Pullman stars as Conor Gallagher, a former military helicopter pilot who was discharged due to his violent rage. He is assigned to protect Federal Judge Faith Mattis (Lena Olin) after a mail bomb goes off in her office. Meanwhile, the U.S. is about to put a man on the moon and corrupt military officials plan to assassinate the President. Colm Feore plays the corrupt bad guy, General Joel MacAteer, and Peter Kent plays his henchman Brunson. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Pullman, Lena Olin, (more)
A has-been wrestler (Hulk Hogan) spends most of his time fishing, but decides to become a bodyguard to make some money. He is hired by a rich professor (Austin Pendleton) to supervise his children, but the wrestler finds that the kids are more than he bargained for. An evil scientist (David Johansen, aka Buster Poindexter) decides to kidnap the professor's children as a blackmail scheme to gain control of a microchip capable of taking over the world. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hulk Hogan, Sherman Hemsley, (more)
Kelsey Grammer stars as Nick St. Nicholas, a Miami-based playboy philanthropist who is about to make his life complete by wedding the girl of his dreams, gorgeous TV weathercaster Heidi Gardelle (Elaine Hendrix). Not known to the general public is that the profligate St. Nicholas is really the son of none other than Santa Claus (Charles Durning)--or, as the jolly old elf is known in this story, Nicholas XXX. Expected to take over the "family business" at the North Pole before his father's power fades, Nick balks, choosing instead to remain in Miami, where he is about to launch his latest charity at the behest of his fiancee Heidi. By the time he realizes that his "dream girl" is actually a mercenary nightmare, Nick finds himself besieged by a vindictive INS agent (Colin Cunningham)--and racked with guilt over the gloomy fate awaiting his father and the North Pole toy factory. It is up to Santa's head elf Jasper (Brian Bedford) and Nick's lovely Latino cook Lorena (Ana Ortiz) to come to the rescue. Armed with a surprising number of sexually suggestive jokes for an ostensible family film, Meet St. Nick was coproduced by Disney Films and Hallmark Entertainment, and was first broadcast as an episode of ABC's Wonderful World of Disney anthology on November 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelsey Grammer
Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is a brilliant medical student who has perfected a green-glowing serum for regenerating life into dead things -- or even parts of dead things. But a corrupt superior, Dr. Carl Hill (David Gale), assumes control of West's experiments and winds up, by ghastly necessity, using the stuff on his own severed head and body. West and in-over-his-head co-worker Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) struggle to control the now out-of-control effects of the serum, but the bone-saws and zombies complicate their plans. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, (more)
- 2003
Gallant Clark Kent (Tom Welling) protects Lana (Kristin Kreuk) from three college-age hooligans by tossing one of the miscreants, Andrew Connors (Michael D. Adamthwaite) onto the hood of a police car. As a result, Clark is arrested and sentenced to community service, and the Kent family is slapped with a million-dollar civil lawsuit by the injured Connors. Elsewhere, the romance between Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Helen Bryce (Emmanuelle Vaugier) is threatened by the arrival Helen's psychotic ex-boyfriend Paul Hayden (Anson Mount). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
In the first episode of a two-part story, Matouf (JR Bourne), a member of the Goa'uld resistance movement Tok'ra, tells the SG-1's crew that Samantha Carter's (Amanda Tapping) father Jacob (Carmen Argenziano)--and Jacob's Tok'ra symbiote Selmak--have been kidnapped by Sokar (David Palffy). In order to rescue Jacob/Selmak, the SG-1 draw up plans to infiltrate the prison moon Netu, which has been altered by Sokar to resemble Hell in the minds of the prisoners. The success of this plan hinges on the memories of Jolinar (Tanya Reid), the only prisoner ever to have escaped from Netu--and those memories are cloaked in obscurity within the mind of Samantha Carter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
In the conclusion of a two-part story, the SG-1 crew and the Tok'ra Matouf (JR Bourne) have infiltrated the prison moon Netu in order rescue Carter's (Amanda Tapping) father Jacob (Michael Shanks)--and to thwart the invasion plans of the evil Sokar (David Pallfy). Since the prisoners have been mesmerized into believing that Netu is actually Hell, the SG-1 must use a dangerous hallucinogenic, "The Blood of Sokar", to counteract Sokar's mind control and foment a prison rebellion. Meanwhile, Teal'c (Christopher Judge) tries to enter into an alliance with the Tok'ra to stop Sokar--but the result of these negotiations may result in the deaths of the SG-1 team. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A sequel to the sci-fi action thriller that made him and star Arnold Schwarzenegger A-list Hollywood names, writer/director James Cameron upped the ante with this follow-up by employing a more sweeping storyline and cutting-edge special effects. Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, now a single mother to rebellious teen John Connor (Edward Furlong), during the late nineties. Having been informed by a time-traveling soldier in the first film that John will one day grow up to become humanity's savior from a computer-controlled Armageddon, Sarah has responded by becoming a muscle-bound she-warrior bent on educating John in survival tactics and battle strategies. Her ranting about humankind's future has landed Sarah in an insane asylum and John in the foster care system. The rebellious John has responded to his situation by getting into scrapes with the law. When a new and improved Terminator android called the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) arrives from the future to eliminate John, an older model T-800 (Schwarzenegger) is sent to protect the boy. The T-1000, however, has the ability to morph itself into any shape it desires, allowing it chameleon-like powers and near indestructibility. The T-800 saves John's life and helps break Sarah out of the institution. Staying only one step ahead of the dogged T-1000, Sarah leads her son and the T-800 to the headquarters of Cyberdyne Systems, the company that will invent a robotic intelligence that will eventually take over the world. There, they attempt to convince inventor Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) to help them stop the future from ever occurring by destroying his work. Dyson sacrifices himself in an explosion to save the world, leading to a final showdown between the two Terminators at a steel foundry. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which won four Oscars in technical categories for its groundbreaking effects, was followed by a short sequel filmed exclusively as an attraction for theme parks, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time (1996). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, (more)
In this science-fiction thriller set in the very near future, DNA cloning has been perfected and has become an accepted part of everyday life -- cattle and fish are cloned for sale at the market, genetically engineered fruit and vegetables are found in most family's kitchens (nacho-flavored bananas, anyone?), and if your pet dies, you can even order a cloned replacement. But laws have been passed that strictly forbid the cloning of human beings. However, helicopter pilot Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who believes people should live and die the old-fashioned way, discovers that someone has been violating these regulations. After Adam luckily avoids being on a copter that crashes, he comes home to discover someone has duplicated him. Now Adam is on a mission to find out who cloned him and why, as he struggles to take back his life from a scientifically created impostor, his boss Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), and a pair of thugs (Sarah Wynter and Rod Rowland) who have been cloned into near-indestructibility. The 6th Day also stars Robert Duvall as cloning expert Griffin Weir, Michael Rooker as Drucker's right-hand man Robert Marshall, and Michael Rapaport as Adam's partner, Hank Morgan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, (more)
WWE superstar "Stone Cold" Steve Austin stars as a death row inmate who gets a rare second shot at life in director Scott Wiper's adrenaline-charged action thriller. Jack Conrad (Austin) is a dangerous convict currently awaiting execution in a corrupt Central American prison. "Purchased" by a wealthy television producer and transported to a deserted island, the formidable inmate is offered the opportunity to avoid capital punishment and win back his freedom by fighting to the death against nine other condemned criminals in an illegal game to be broadcast uncensored over the Internet. Rick Hoffman and Vinnie Jones co-star in a brutal battle royal of non-stop carnage. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Robert Mammone, (more)
Undercover cop Terry Martin (Nick Moran) has spent six months getting close to unctuous playboy kingpin Simon Bacig (Stephen Lang) and gathering evidence that will bring the brutal mobster to his knees. But when Bacig has a birthday party, Terry and his wife are invited, and attendance is not optional. There's a small problem: Terry doesn't have a wife, but he's been using one as an excuse to get out of tight situations with Bacig. With the help of his police commander (Mick Kaposa), Terry is paired with policewoman Susan Reese (Jennifer Esposito), a lovely cop with ambition and courage but no undercover experience, to attend the party as his bride. Terry, already nervous about the deadly fate awaiting him should Bacig discover he's a cop, now has real problems, as naïve Susan decides to pursue an affair with Bacig to help the case. To complicate Terry's fragile ruse, the FBI decides to close its own investigation of Bacig with firepower despite the danger to Terry and Susan. Furthermore, Susan's affair with Bacig seems to be turning serious even as her feelings for Terry heat up. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Esposito, Nick Moran, (more)
Borrowing liberally from the French film La Totale, this is an action picture, domestic comedy, and political thriller rolled into a crowd-pleasing ball of entertainment. Producer James Cameron wrote and directed the film. Henry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a workaholic computer salesman neglecting his mousy wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), a legal secretary. Simon (Bill Paxton) seduces Helen with the lie that he is a secret agent; he's really a used car salesman. Harry suspects that Helen is cheating on him, and he sends a few colleagues to kidnap them. Helen then discovers that Harry is a secret agent by night, working for a shadowy group called the Omega Sector. Harry and his partner Gib (Tom Arnold) are trying to find four nuclear warheads that have disappeared from a former Soviet republic. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, (more)
