Sally Kirkland Movies

Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The November 22, 1963, assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy shocked the nation and the world. The brisk investigation of that murder conducted under the guidance of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren distressed many observers, even though subsequent careful investigations have been unable to find much fault with the conclusions his commission drew, the central one of which was that the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone. Instead of satisfying the public, one result of the Warren Commission Report was that an unimaginable number of plausible conspiracy theories were bruited about, and these have supported a sizeable publishing mini-industry ever since. In making this movie, director Oliver Stone had his pick of supposed or real investigative flaws to draw from and has constructed what some reviewers felt was one of the most compelling (and controversial) political detective thrillers ever to emerge from American cinema. Long before filming was completed, Stone was fending off heated accusations of artistic and historical irresponsibility, and these only intensified after the film was released. In the story, New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) is convinced that there are some big flaws in the investigation of Oswald (Gary Oldman), and he sets out to recreate the events leading up to the assassination. Along the way, he stumbles across evidence that a great many people had reason to want to see the president killed, and he is convinced that some of them worked in concert to frame Oswald as the killer. Among the suspects are Lyndon Baines Johnson (the next president), the CIA, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Mafia. Over the course of gathering what he believes to be evidence of a conspiracy, Garrison unveils some of the grittier aspects of New Orleans society, focusing on the shady activities of local businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones). Garrison's investigations culminate in his conducting a show trial that he knows he will lose and which he is sure will ruin his career in order to get his evidence into the public record where it can't be buried again. This movie won two of the many Academy Awards for which it was nominated: one for Best Photography (Robert Richardson) and the other for Editing (Joe Hutshing). ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This low-budget soft-core film noir stars Sally Kirkland as a wealthy wife who becomes involved with a young mechanic (Nick Corri) and later, with murder. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Fascinating documentary of artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol, combining rare footage with interviews with his friends and colleagues, including Dennis Hopper, David Hockney, Taylor Mead, and Sylvia Miles. ~ Nicole Gagne, Rovi

Two well-known directors each adapt stories by Edgar Allen Poe in this horror drama. George Romero's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" tells how the wife of an elderly, wealthy man and her lover--who also happens to be the husband's private physician--scheme to control his assets. Dying before they can carry out their plans, his soul is caught between life and death while they freeze the body to finish their work. In the Dario Argento-directed "The Black Cat" a crime photographer, known for his photos' gruesome content, kills his girlfriend's titular pet and then his girlfriend. Soon he gets a good look at what he's done. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Learning the value of teamwork, the racially diverse U.S. karate team must work through their personal troubles to successfully participate in the upcoming international competition. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Sally Kirkland stars as a good-hearted hooker named Bambi Rose in this odd crime-drama from director Amos Kollek. Bambi is getting a bit long in the tooth, and is at the mercy of a sadistic pimp named Slim (Richard Lynch), who has his fingers in nearly every sort of crime imaginable. When a greedy Wall Street stockbroker (Robert LuPone) shows up on her doorstep after being mugged, Bambi enlists his aid in ripping off Slim and saving her daughter from a life of vice. More interesting than the film is the cast, which -- aside from including some fine performances from Kirkland and Lynch -- features such future luminaries as Kathy Bates and Sarah Michelle Gellar (credited as Sarah Gellar). ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Intending to complete a master's thesis about the sexual relationships between men and women, sociology student Paul Barton sets off to capture examples on videotape. Paul's viewfinder takes him around campus and into rooms of a sleazified Hollywood motel to get first-hand study sessions. During his adventure, he meets and falls for fellow student Jeanne and begins a more personal exploration in the Love Zone. This comedy drama contains sex, nudity, and profanity. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

In spite of some interesting names attached to this low-budget, embarrassing horror film (Rafael Buñuel, son of acclaimed Luis Buñuel is the co-writer and co-producer), the result is anemic. At the core of the story, seven athletes in training for the Olympics at the Falcon Academy of Athletics in Massachusetts are violently slain by a killer with a wicked javelin toss. Most of the women in the film are portrayed as lesbians (apparently a straight woman can do no more than wield a wicked crochet hook), or their gender is indeterminate because of the drugs they imbibe -- a side issue in the film. Clichéd, predictable, and lacking in suspense, Fatal Games was never released theatrically. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Rock legend Neil Young directed this bizarre bit of sci-fi-accented satire under his nom de cinema Bernard Shakey, as well as starring as Lionel Switch, an amiable but half-bright auto mechanic who has a furious crush on Charlotte Goodnight (Charlotte Stewart), a waitress at the diner next door to his garage. Lionel dreams of becoming a professional musician, and idolizes Frankie Fontaine (also played by Young), a particularly sleazy lounge singer. One day, to Lionel's astonishment, Fontaine rolls up to his garage in a limousine, and Lionel has the spine-tingling honor of working on his car. Meanwhile, suspicious-looking bad guy Otto Quartz (Dean Stockwell) is scheming to buy the diner, which has something to do with a plot against the rattletrap nuclear power plant just down the road (the plant's maintenance staff is played by members of the pioneering new wave band Devo). Along the way, we're also treated to Lionel hanging out with his equally slow-witted pal Fred (Russ Tamblyn), enjoy the residents of the desert community performing an enthusiastic rendition of the old Kingston Trio chestnut "Worried Man," and witness Lionel and Devo jamming on a long and wildly discordant version of "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)." Financed by Young out of his pocket, and featuring Stockwell, Tamblyn, Dennis Hopper, and Sally Kirkland several years before they enjoyed critical rediscovery, Human Highway received a mostly puzzled reaction from audiences during its handful of theatrical engagements. It went largely unseen until it was released on home video more than ten years after it was completed (with the box featuring a quote from one of Young's associates: "This is so bad, it's going to be huge!"). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This Roger Corman-produced made-for-television movie was a pilot for a proposed series starring country singer Tanya Tucker. She plays a Southerner who runs an auto repair shop. She and her girlfriends become government agents and go up against a crime ring headed by a woman known as the Dragon Lady. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

Max Baer Jr. borrows liberally from George Lucas's American Graffiti for this slice-of-life look at teenage life circa 1957. The story concerns a group of adolescents whose main concerns are cars, cruising, and sex. The story centers upon Rodney C. Duckworth (Gary Springer), a shy, virginal teen, and the efforts of his friends Recil Calhoun (David Wilson) and T.J. Swackhammer (Brian Kerwin) to try to fix Rodney up with a date. Unfortunately, their libidos manage to get the better of them, and Recil and T.J. end up going out with the girls themselves. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi