Queen Kong Movies
Whoopi Goldberg headlines this youth-oriented comedy fantasy set in a near future where scientists for some reason have genetically resurrect dinosaurs. This time, the revitalized reptiles are intelligent and equipped with humanoid articulatory tracts so they can speak. They also wear shoes. Goldberg plays a leather-clad smart-alecky detective who is assigned the odious task of teaming up with Teddy Rex, a dino-detective. Naturally lizards and leather don't mix and the two constantly bicker their way into buddyhood as they investigate the death another dinosaur, a death that turns out to be linked with a crazed scientist's nefarious, chilling plot. Goldberg (to her credit) attempted to back out of making this film soon after production started. Were it not for the threat of major legal retaliation by the studio, she may have succeeded. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Whoopi Goldberg, Armin Mueller-Stahl, (more)
- 1993
- R
Andrew Dice Clay trades in dumb yucks for numchucks in Brainsmasher: A Love Story as Ed Molloy, a part-time comic and bouncer who takes on a belligerent gang of ninjas. The story kicks in when supermodel Samantha Crains (Teri Hatcher) receives a red lotus flower from her sister that has to be delivered to Seattle. Samantha makes the delivery only to find that her sister is has been held captive by Shaolin Monks who want the red lotus because it contains "the key to the ultimate power." The two sisters manage to escape the clutches of the mad monks but the Shaolins immediately give chase. Samantha runs into Ed's nightclub, where he prevents her from entering, but when the monks come to get her, Ed holds them off. Impressed by Ed's brawn, she hires him to protect her. The chase continues as Ed and Samantha run from the ever one-step-behind ninjas, climaxing in an extended battle in a go-go bar. During the fight, Ed is captured by the Shaolin monks and Samantha and her sister have to decide whether they should exchange the red lotus flower for Ed. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andrew Dice Clay, Teri Hatcher, (more)
- 1993
- PG
In this comedy-adventure for the family, Heather (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is a girl who can't stand her foster parents, so one day she runs away from home in order to track down her real mother. However, Heather's stepmother wants her back -- not because she cares about her, but because Heather is worth several million dollars, and she wants to make sure that she doesn't lose her meal ticket. Private detective Nick Frost (Howard Hesseman) is hired to find Heather and bring her back home, but it turns out that the stepmother has a trick up her sleeve -- once Nick finds Heather, rather than pay him, stepmom calls the FBI and tells them that Nick has kidnapped her daughter. Home for Christmas was originally released under the title Little Miss Millions. Jennifer Love Hewitt was 14 at the time -- a year away from her star-making role in the TV series Party of Five. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Someone is murdering lovely dancers and leaving their corpses in the ramshackle Van Slake Theater. This low-budget thriller chronicles the attempts of courageous, beautiful detective Tori Raines to find their killer. Naturally the best way to do this is to masquerade as a dancer. Unfortunately, she mistakes an innocent man for the killer and this causes her superiors to remove her from the case. Violence ensues. Despite the video's lurid cover, there is no nudity and relatively little graphic violence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Maranne, James Carrol Jordan, (more)
If you've seen TV wrestling, you know what a "caged" bout is. In Cage, it's for real; two testosterone-pumped behemoths are placed in a cage where they duke it out to the death. Lou Ferrigno plays Billy Thomas, the muscle-bound Vietnam vet who is finagled into cage-fighting by a group of mobsters. Scott Monroe (Reb Brown), the man whose life Billy saved in Nam, finds himself (through a series of ludicrous plot twists) facing his former savior in the dreaded cage. We suppose this was meant to be taken seriously, but audiences didn't get the hint; Cage has been greeted with raucous, derisive laughter ever since its 1990 release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lou Ferrigno, Reb Brown, (more)
This teen comedy from Savage Steve Holland stars Corey Parker as an underachieving high schooler who hatches a crazy plot with valedictorian Lara Flynn Boyle to gain acceptance into a prestigious university. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Edwards, Corey Parker, (more)
- 1987
- R
Quite different from the original Deathstalker, this fantasy sequel finds the title character (here played by John Terlesky) as a medieval contract man. Deathstalker is hired by a beautiful princess (Monique Gabrielle) to regain her throne, stolen by an evil wizard. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Terlesky, Monique Gabrielle, (more)
A criminal on the run finds going home after a decade is harder than he expects in this drama from French filmmaker Claude Sautet. Gangster Abel Davos (Lino Ventura) is wanted for murder in France, and has been living underground in Italy for ten years. Since then, Abel has married Therese (Simone France) and fathered two sons, and he's decided it's time to come home. Abel has planed an elaborate scheme in which he'll steal a fortune to finance his journey and head home with Therese and the boys, but little goes as planned, and he arrives in Paris without his wife and running from the law with two kids in tow. An underworld boss who owes Abel some favors helps him put together a plan to travel across France in an ambulance to avoid suspicion, and recruits a headstrong young gangster, Eric (Jean-Paul Belmondo), to serve as Abel's driver and right-hand-man. En route, Abel tries to settle some old score with criminal associates who betrayed him. Based on a novel by Jose Giovanni, Classe Tous Risques was the first feature film from Sautet, who previously had worked as an assistant director for some of France's most prestigious filmmakers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lino Ventura, Jean-Paul Belmondo, (more)
