Olivia Barash Movies

Noted independent film producer Peter McCarthy made his writing and directing debut (Angie Brown served as co-director) with this surreal comedy. John Boyz (James LeGros) is an aimless sad sack who is wandering Los Angeles in the wake of the 1992 riots. John is in an unclear state of mind; he can't find a job (and doesn't really want one), the IRS has confiscated his money, his girlfriend Jessica (Lisa Zane) is sleeping around, he can't figure out what the beautiful but mysterious Elle (Marzita Rivera) wants from him, his drug-addicted brother Jimmy (Ethan Hawke) needs 3,000 dollars for a detox program, and police chief Merryl Fence (Nelson Lyon) is encouraging the citizens of L.A. to kill themselves. A stellar roster of actors and musicians appear in cameo roles, including John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Piven, Dave Navarro, Dave Alvin, and Exene Cervenka. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A newspaper heiress is kidnapped, brainwashed, and forced to join a group of terrorist bank robbers in this docudrama, based on the saga of Patricia Hearst. In 1974, Hearst (Natasha Richardson), the granddaughter of publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was a student at the University of California. On February 4, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a radical political group, broke into the Berkeley home she shared with her boyfriend and kidnapped her. Hearst then allegedly spent 57 days locked in a closet as she was indoctrinated into the group's revolutionary beliefs by their charismatic leader, Cinque (Ving Rhames). Eventually, Hearst joined (or at least pretended to join) the SLA, adopted the name Tania and participated in a number of high-profile bank robberies. After several SLA members died in a police fire storm, Hearst and fellow members Bill and Emily Harris (William Forsythe and Frances Fisher) went on the lam and were later arrested. Although she claimed her participation in the group was a ruse carried out to protect herself from further rape, torture, and mind control, Hearst eventually served several years in prison after her 1976 conviction for bank robbery. Based on the novel Every Secret Thing, Hearst's own account of the events, Paul Schrader's film tells the story from the heiress' own viewpoint, with little in the way of conflicting evidence. After President Carter ordered her release from prison in 1979, Hearst went on to act in several films, including Cecil B. Demented, a John Waters spoof whose plot bears some resemblance to her own life story. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This routine film catalogues what happens to a teen's life when he is wrenched from an easy existence in affluent, East Coast suburbia and dropped into the lean, mean streets of a downscale L.A. suburb. James Spader is Morgan Hiller, displaced with his parents and brother when his father loses some of the wealth to which they were accustomed and the family moves to California. Morgan soon attracts Frankie (Kim Richards), the girlfriend of Nick (Paul Mones), a high school tough who does not appreciate Frankie's change of heart. The antagonism between Morgan and Frankie mounts as they both approach a high-noon showdown. Aside from some musical numbers which seem to have wandered in from another film about teen singers and dancers, the story is compelling and the film is notable for one of the early performances of Robert Downey in a subsidiary role. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Alex Cox's directorial debut was a wickedly funny and willfully bizarre story that became a major cult item once it began making the art-house rounds a year after its release (an initial run in a string of Southern grind houses and drive-ins, where it was billed as an action film, was a resounding failure). Having lost his job and his girlfriend, punk rocker Otto (Emilio Estevez) meets a guy named Bud (Harry Dean Stanton) who offers him $25 to drive his wife's car out of a "bad area." When a handful of angry people start chasing Otto, he realizes that something is up, and he discovers that Bud repossesses cars for a living. With few immediate prospects, Otto joins Bud at the repo yard and is soon "ripping" cars with the best of them. When an anonymous source posts a $20,000 reward for a missing 1964 Chevy Malibu, it turns out that what's valuable isn't the car itself, but what's in the trunk, which is very hot, glows brightly, and kills anyone who comes in contact with it. A vaguely surreal modern-noir science-fiction comedy with echoes of Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Repo Man is packed with more incongruous sight gags than anyone can absorb in one viewing; keep your eyes peeled for the air fresheners, the generic newspaper box, and the watches without hands. Harry Dean Stanton gives a superb comic performance as the intense but laid-back Bud, Emilio Estevez delivers perhaps the best work of his career as the petulant but goofy Otto, and Tracey Walter is hilarious as the spaced out repo-yard man Miller. Iggy Pop wrote and performed the theme song and The Circle Jerks appear as a lounge band. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of a two-part story, Albert's classmate Sylvia (Olivia Barash) has been impregnated by a masked rapist, whereupon her "disgraced" father forcibly removes her from town. Already suspected of being the father of Sylvia's unborn baby, Albert (Matthew Laborteaux) courts further scandal by helping the girl run away from her intolerable home situation. Unfortunately, Albert unwittingly tips off the rapist to the girl's hiding place, leading to a terrifying denouement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The two-part TV movie Through the Magic Pyramid stars Chris Barnes as a contemporary youngster who is whisked back to the days of King Tut. Neither the Egyptian ruler nor his minions are any match for the Yankee resourcefulness of Master Barnes, as he wriggles in and out of various misadventures. Among the people who cross Chris' path in Days Gone By are Hans Conried, Vic Tayback, Gino Conforti, and (as Nefertiti) Elaine Giftos. Ron Howard executive-produced and directed, while Ron's dad Rance Howard coproduced and wrote the script. Through the Magic Pyramid was originally offered in two one-hour helpings, which first aired December 6 and 13, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alice's 14-year-old son Tommy (Philip McKeon) is in the throes of his first case of puppy love. Not that there's been any real physical contact: in fact, Tommy mostly conducts his courtship by telephone. And it is precisely for this reason that mom Alice (Linda Lavin) is up in arms--the kid spends so much time yakking that she can never get to the phone herself. Appearing as the father of Tommy's girlfriend is Bruce Kirby, the father of comic actor Bruno Kirby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lively musical comedy pays tribute to the birth of rock & roll in the late 1950s and the instrumental role played by disc jockey Alan Freed who helped bring the new sound into vogue. Much of the story centers on the daring deejay's attempts to put on the very first live rock & roll stage show at the Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn. To do this he must overcome the protests of concerned and angry parents, conservatives, and local police. Several performers of the era appear in the film including Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide