Ken Kimmins Movies
- 1973
ABC Afterschool Special opened its second season with one of its most popular and best-beloved efforts. Eleven-year-old Jodie Foster stars as Sharon Lee, a peppery young baseball enthusiast who lands a spot on her brother's all-male Little League team. Despite Sharon's talent and enthusiasm, she runs up against the stone wall of gender prejudice. But by the time we've reached the last of the ninth, everyone has learned a valuable lesson -- especially the boys! The script for the Emmy-winning Rookie of the Year was written by Gloria Banta, of The Mary Tyler Moore Show fame. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jodie Foster, Dennis McKiernan, (more)
A trenchant satire of "trash TV," Network seems to grow only more relevant with each passing year. Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the dean of newscasters at the United Broadcasting System, is put out to pasture because he "skews old." Network executive Max Schumacher (William Holden), Howard's best friend, is forced to deliver the bad news. Beale can't stomach the idea of losing his 25-year post as anchorman simply because of age, so in his next broadcast he announces to the viewers that he's going to commit suicide on his final program. Network head Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) is all for kicking Beale out then and there, but when it looks as though the UBS is going to have its greatest ratings ever on the night of Beale's self-destruction, ambitious programming exec Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) talks Hackett into treating that fateful final telecast as a special event. Naturally, Beale doesn't go through with it -- but he does begin rambling about the horrible state of the world in general and television in particular. He concludes his tirade by admonishing his viewers to "Go to the window and shout as loud as you can: 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'" With that, Howard Beale becomes the hottest TV personality in America, and Diana becomes the network's fair-haired girl. She draws up plans to treat the nightly news broadcast as garish entertainment (complete with a psychic), all built around the rants of Beale, billed as "The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves." Network won Oscars for Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay as well as for three of four acting categories -- Dunaway for Best Actress, Peter Finch for Best Actor (in the only posthumous Oscar yet awarded), and Beatrice Straight for Best Supporting Actress, in one of the shortest-screen-time performances ever to win an Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, William Holden, (more)
- 1977
- PG
In this comedy based on a play by Herb Gardner, a zany, disparate couple tries to beat the odds and stay together. The man runs a posh private school and cannot see why his lover prefers teaching in the Lower East Side where they were raised. The two temporarily split, and each of them has an affair. The experience teaches them that they are meant to be together. Unfortunately, when the humbled two return to their luxurious apartment, they again begin arguing. In the heat of anger, the man grabs the gun her father gave him and fires three shots into the ceiling. With the police sirens encroaching, the woman realizes that inside, he is still the wild and crazy guy she fell for years before, and romantic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlo Thomas, Charles Grodin, (more)
My Old Man was adapted from Ernest Hemingway's short story of the same name by Jerome Kass. Hemingway's story told of a down-on-his-luck horse trainer who is given a second chance at making something of his life by his son. This made-for-TV version changed the son to a daughter, played by Kristy McNichol; the "old man" was portrayed by Warren Oates. Eileen Brennan also stars as a waitress who acts as surrogate mother for McNichol--and who'd like to act as wife to Oates. Filmed at Saratoga Springs, New York, My Old Man premiered on December 7, 1979. An earlier, less sentimental theatrical-feature version of the same Hemingway tale was filmed in 1950 as Under My Skin, with John Garfield in the lead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Norm (George Wendt) hopes to curry favor with his boss by holding the annual office party at Cheers. Swept up in preparing for the festivities, Diane (Shelley Long) suggests that Norm throw a toga party. What she doesn't know is that Norm has arranged for Diane to be his boss' date for the evening -- and "the old man" doesn't need a toga to have a good old fashioned Roman orgy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Originally telecast as an ABC Theatre of the Month special, My Body, My Child nobly attempts to tackle the abortion issue--but does so with a painfully contrived, mazelike Perils of Pauline script. Irish-American schoolteacher Vanessa Redgrave, married to Italian fireman Joe Campanella and already the mother of three daughters, believes that she's pregnant. Her doctor pooh-poohs the notion and prescribes several forms of drugs to counter her "faux" morning sickness. The effect of the narcotics, coupled with the fact that Redgrave's invalid father (Jack Albertson, in his final role) has been charged with the mercy killing of her mother, lead the poor schoolmarm to attempt suicide. This time the doctor on the scene announces that Redgrave is pregnant, and that her previous drug intake will result in a deformed, retarded child. Now arrive at the abortion issue: With all the cards stacked against her, what will Redgrave do in regards to her body and her child? Unfortunately, after raising so many diverse social issues, My Body, My Child drops many of those issues in order to rush towards its climax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Determined to prove that the men who answer advertisements for mail-order brides are nothing more than jerks and lechers, Chicago magazine writer Kate Tosconi (Valerie Bertinelli) places a typical "object matrimony" ad and awaits the inevitable drooling replies. Meanwhile, L.A. lawyer Robert Fitzgerald (Ted Wass) has bet his practical-joking friends that if he were to answer such an ad, he could easily remain celibate for two weeks after meeting his "bride." Anyone who can't guess what happens next should be drummed out of the TV room in shame. A fascinating example of what passed for "feminism" and "male compassion" back in the early '80s, the made-for-TV I Was a Mail Order Bride was first broadcast by CBS on December 14, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Alan Parker and writer Bo Goldman chronicle the emotional disintegration of an unhappy marriage. Albert Finney and Diane Keaton play George and Faith Dunlap, a seemingly happily married couple living with their four daughters in a converted farmhouse in Marin County, California. George is inwardly empty and decides to have an affair with Sandy (Karen Allen), who has doubts about how long their affair will last. Faith is also suffering from ennui and takes up with Frank Henderson (Peter Weller), the contractor for the Dunlap's tennis court. Frank, after discovering about Faith's affair, is in a confused state: he wants to leave and live with Sandy but doesn't want his wife to date other men and demands the love of his daughters -- all of whom now detest him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, (more)
- 1982
Jean Stapleton stars as Eleanor Roosevelt in this made-for-TV biography, first telecast May 12, 1982. The film recounts Mrs. Roosevelt's life after the 1945 death of her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At the request of new president Truman, Eleanor serves as a United Nations delegate, spending much of her time tilting with dedicated anti-FDR politico John Foster Dulles (E.G. Marshall). She goes on to spearhead the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proving to Dulles--and to Soviet delegate Freddie Jones--that she's anything but soft on Communism. The winning teleplay for Eleanor: First Lady of the World was by Caryl Ledner and Cynthia Mandenberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In this made-for-TV comedy, a group of single adults attempt to find their perfect mates in the harsh world of dating. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bonnie Franklin, Robert Klein, (more)
- 1983
Lensed on videotape, Emergency Room was the first presentation of the syndicated Commworld Prime Time Showcase. Sarah Purcell and LeVar Burton star in this hospital melodrama. Purcell plays the doctor in charge of the E.R., dealing not only with an onrush of patients but also with hospital red tape and an on-again, off-again romance with a fellow physician (Gary Frank). The guest cast includes Penny Peyser, Paul Stewart, Julie Sommars, Gary Lockwood and Conchata Ferrell. Most markets first saw Emergency Room in mid-July 1983. The film was barter-sponsored to local stations by Procter and Gamble, as was the second and last Commworld Prime Time Showcase effort, Desperate Intruder (see separate entry). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tom Hanks stars in this raunchy teen comedy from veteran screenwriters Pat Proft and Neil Israel, who had previously collaborated on the amusing sketch film Tunnelvision (1976) and the disappointing Americathon (1980). Bus-driver Rick Gasko (Hanks) is engaged to wealthy Debbie Thompson (Tawny Kitaen), much to the chagrin of her father (George Grizzard), who considers Rick a loser. To keep an eye on her future groom, Debbie and her friends dress as prostitutes to attend his bachelor party, which quickly turns into a bacchanal of smutty debauchery. Familiar faces in the cast include action stars Michael Dudikoff and Ji-Tu Cimbuka, pin-ups Monique Gabrielle and Rosanne Katon, and teen-movie regulars Adrian Zmed and Wendie Jo Sperber. It's an occasionally hilarious excursion into bad taste, although one which two-time Oscar winner Hanks would probably like to forget. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Tawny Kitaen, (more)
- 1984
It was perhaps inevitable that the breakdancing craze of the early 1980s would pervade even a traditionalist sitcom like Alice. In this episode, a group of talented breakdancers are hired to perform at an art festival held at Mel's Diner; unfortunately, Mel (Vic Tayback) mistakes the dancers for hoodlums and boots them out. Featured in this episode are professional dancers Steven "Sugar Pop" DeSilva and Jason "Elf" DeSilva), not to mention a veritable chorus line of familiar faces, among them What's Happening!!'s Fred "Rerun" Berry, Coach's Kenneth Kimmins, and singer-model Donovan Leitch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Made for television, Why Me? is the true story of Air Force nurse Leola Mae Harmon (Glynnis O'Connor), whose face is all but destroyed in a head-on automobile accident. As Leola recuperates in a military hospital, her will to live is seriously tested, not only by her shattered face, but also by the loss of her unborn child and the breakup of her marriage. The one person who refuses to feel sorry for Leola -- and who, in fact, admires her spunk -- is dedicated plastic surgeon James Stallings (Armand Assante). Persuading Leola to allow him to rebuild her face, Stallings puts his patient through 40 operations in the next four years. Understandably, the film's dramatic impact is greatest in the early sequences, wherein actress O'Connor, her face obscured by bandages (and by Michael Westmore's disturbingly realistic, Emmy nominated makeup), must convey her thoughts and moods through her eyes, her body language, and an occasional incoherent grunt. Why Me? originally aired March 12, 1984, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynnis O'Connor, Armand Assante, (more)
- 1984
Made for cable television, The Ratings Game was directed by Danny DeVito, who co-starred in the film with his wife Rhea Perlman. DeVito plays the owner of a New Jersey trucking firm who yearns for a televison career. He offers several TV-series ideas to a receptive network programming head. On the verge of being fired, the network exec decides to have his revenge on his ex-bosses by selecting the very worst of DeVito's concepts. The "born to fail" series becomes a hit, and soon DeVito is the hottest programmer in the industry! More truthful than many of us are willing to admit, The Ratings Game premiered with astonishingly little fanfare over The Movie Channel cable service on December 15, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, (more)
- 1985
A woman fears that her amnesia-stricken husband may be a serial killer in this made-for-cable thriller. After family man Ed Vinson gruesomely murders his wife and kids and skips town, police investigator Joe Steiner (Richard Widmark) becomes obsessed with capturing the monster -- even after he's forced to retire from the force. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a traffic accident kills one man and leaves another (Keith Carradine) a hideously disfigured amnesiac. Police can't figure out who the survivor is, so he takes the name Allen Devlin and, after reconstructive surgery, falls in love with and marries his recently divorced nurse, Chris Graham (Kathleen Quinlan). Several years later, Steiner shows up in town, convinced Devlin is really Ed Vinson; his dogged pursuit threatens the happiness the Devlins have carved out for themselves and their children -- especially after a series of gruesome rapes begins to occur. The evidence seems to implicate Allen in the attacks, but Chris suspects that her old boyfriend, cop Mike Patterson (Michael Beck), is trying to frame him. The tension escalates as Chris suffers through a series of anonymous phone calls from a man who seems to think he's Ed Vinson; when her son finds a grotesque fetish mask in the garage, even Chris begins to doubt her husband's innocence. Directed by British horror veteran Douglas Hickox and written by Amityville 3D scribe David Ambrose, Blackout premiered on the Home Box Office network in 1985. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dameon Clarke, Richard Widmark, (more)
- 1985
The Atlanta Child Murders is a five-hour, two-part dramatization of one of the most tragic and controversial homicide cases of the past twenty years. From 1979 through 1982, some 28 African-American children and young adults disappeared from Atlanta--some without a trace, but others to later turn up as murder victims. Part One (which debuted February 10, 1985) details the beginning of the manhunt conducted by the Atlanta Chief of Police (James Earl Jones). Screenwriter Abby Mann uses the actual events as a springboard for his thesis that the case and its outcome revealed many uncomfortable truths about the still-fragile state of race relations in the New South. Both parts of The Atlanta Child Murders were later combined into one 245-minute "feature film."
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Real-life married couple Cindy Williams and Bill Hudson star as New York yuppies Lisa and Tom Burke, who moved to Arizona when both are hired by a new ad agency. The couple's boss is big on "family values" and encourages his employees to project an appropriate image. Unfortunately, the Burkes are childless, and for a while it looks as if their fabulous new job will end before it begins. But not to worry: Lisa and Tom hit upon a foolproof scheme to create an "instant" family by advertising for a pair of rambunctious youngsters to pose as the Burkes' children. Since this film originally aired as an installment of ABC's Disney Sunday Movie anthology, one can easily guess the outcome from the moment the opening credits fade from view. Help Wanted: Kids debuted on February 2, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Williams, Bill Hudson, (more)
- 1986
Something in Common is a made-for-television comedy about a middle-aged, widowed career woman (Ellen Burstyn) who discovers that her grown son is having a love affair with a woman (Tuesday Weld) her own age. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1986
First telecast October 6, 1986, A Fight for Jenny is the compelling study of an interracial couple's struggle for happiness. White Kelsey Wilkes (Leslie Ann Warren) is married to African American David Caldwell (Philip Michael Thomas). Casting a shadow over the couple is Kelsey's first husband Ben (Drew Snyder). Using antiquated laws as his weapons, Ben demands custody of his daughter Jennifer (Jaclyn-Rose Lester), insisting that a mixed-marriage household is the wrong environment for the girl. A Fight for Jenny enjoyed a healthy second life in reruns, thanks to the Miami Vice-generated popularity of co-star Philip Michael Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Invaders from Mars, horror-film director Tobe Hooper's remake of the classic 1950's science fiction film, directed by William Cameron Menzies, centers on a young boy named David (Hunter Carson) who tries to stop an invasion of his town as aliens take over the minds of his parents George (Timothy Bottoms) and Ellen (Laraine Newman), his teachers and the townspeople. With the help of the school nurse (Karen Black), the boy enlists the aid of the U.S. Army to help save the world. With makeup effects supplied by Stan Winston and visual effects by John Dykstra, Invaders From Mars is a wild sci-fi feast that hearkens back to the 1950's invasion films, made popular by the original film and others like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Karen Black, Hunter Carson, (more)
- 1987
Made for TV on a feature-film budget, Love Among Thieves stars Audrey Hepburn and Robert Wagner--but fails to be worthy of the talents of either star. Ms. Hepburn plays a widowed baroness and classical pianist, who steals three Faberge eggs from a museum in order to ransom her kidnapped fiance. En route to the "drop", Audrey is rescued from a mysterious assailant (Jerry Orbach) by suave stranger Robert Wagner. Wagner proceeds to demonstrate that he's not all he seems by swiping the valuable jeweled eggs. The rest of the film is a maelstrom of double-crosses, clinches and hairbreadth escapes, all evidently intended to emulate Hepburn's 1963 theatrical feature Charade and Wagner's popular 1960s TV series It Takes a Thief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Elayne Boosler makes her first appearance as Joy Buscaglia, a blind woman hired as Judge Harry T. Stone's (Harry Anderson) new assistant. Before long, Joy's abrasive, insulting sense of humor is driving everyone up a wall--everyone, that is, except Bull (Richard Moll). Meanwhile, Dan (John Larroquette) suffers from temporary impotence, just when a prospective female employer (Janice Lynde) comes on to him. This episode was originally scheduled for November 12, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a gender-reversed version of his previous hit Pretty in Pink, John Hughes retreads all-too- familiar ground in Some Kind of Wonderful, the story of a sensitive, young would-be artist, Keith (Eric Stoltz), who vies for the affection of his high school's popularity queen, Amanda (Lea Thompson), seemingly out of some deep-rooted insecurity regarding his social ineptitude. He enlists the help of his butch best friend and fellow misfit, Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), unaware that she secretly pines for him. While she goads him to give up his pointless pursuit of Amanda, he encounters one other small obstacle -- Amanda's rich bully of a boyfriend, Hardy (Craig Sheffer), who threatens Keith with a face rearrangement. Undeterred, Keith decides he will, by any means necessary, escort his dream girl to the prom -- but not before he buys her expensive jewelry with the money from his college fund in order to impress her. (Hughes expects the audience to side with Keith when his father protests.) Some Kind of Wonderful is pure fantasy, but the plot is too tired and flawed for it to be completely satisfactory escapism. Still, the performances are all-around good and the ending is slightly more likeable than its predecessor's. Hughes decided to use the original Pretty in Pink ending, which had been dropped from the original after poor audience response at the advance screenings. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
This '80s teen comedy involves a youth (Robert Leonard), who is seduced by a sexy schoolgirl and then transforms into a blood-sucking vampire. Instead of fighting his affliction, he tries to cope with the change. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Sean Leonard, Evan Mirand, (more)
