Art La Fleur Movies
- 2008
Snappy dialogue and a noir shadow color this stylish drama about a woman lawyer who crosses to the wrong side of the law. With the help of three criminals she successfully defended, she creates and markets an opium-like drug that will earn her money and get her revenge. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate del Castillo, Art La Fleur, (more)
- 2005
Pro baseball pitcher Hank Wiggen (Scott Foley) insists he is not a drug user, but the evidence indicates otherwise: His bones are brittle to the point of disintegration, and his kidneys have started to fail. Astonishingly, the clinic's lab test indicate that Wiggen is not currently on steroids, nor is he suffering from cancer as the symptoms might also suggest. House (Hugh Laurie) must figure out what's really wrong with Wiggen before the ballplayer's girlfriend Lola (Meredith Monroe) aborts her pregnancy in order to donate her kidneys. And in another development, Foreman (Omar Epps) is secretly dating a sexy drug representative (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), while Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) is seeing one of House's former lovers. Somehow or other, this all winds up at a monster-truck rally! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Wesley (Alexis Denisof) pretends to be Angel (David Boreanaz) while Angel consults with a shaman who turns out to be an impostor in this tale of mistaken identities. Despondent over the return of Darla (see "Dear Boy"), Angel heads to the demon karaoke bar Caritas for advice from the Host (Andy Hallett), who sends him on a weekend retreat with no-nonsense guru T'ish Magev (Art LeFleur). Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Wesley are hassled by the henchmen of Magnus Bryce (Todd Susman), a businessman who made his fortune selling spells to the rich and famous. Bryce wants protection for his comely daughter, Virginia (Brigid Brannagh), whom he claims is in danger of being assassinated by his business rivals. Bryce wants Angel and only Angel to take the job, so Wes poses as his employer (even drinking a vial of blood) and begins faking his way through bodyguard duty. Along the way, he and Virginia have a tumble in the hay. Meanwhile, Angel learns that the T'ish Magev, despite having given him some real insights into his own character, is actually an impostor in the employ of one of Bryce's rivals. It turns out that, far from desiring to protect his daughter, Bryce wants to sacrifice Virginia to the demon goddess Yeska in exchange for greater power; the fake T'ish's job was to keep Angel from protecting the young woman. Eventually, Wes, Angel, and the crew save Virginia from her father. The young heiress begins a romance the man she now realizes is not Angel but Wesley, and Wes ends up in the society pages. Originally broadcast November 7, 2000, on the WB network, "Guise Will Be Guise" marked season two, episode six of the supernatural comedy drama. Guest star Todd Susman previously played the obnoxious PA voice on the long-running television comedy M*A*S*H. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1999
In an effort to sort out his feelings about his past, present and future, Shawn (Rider Strong) hitches up the trailer and embarks upon a lengthy road trip, with Cory (Ben Savage) along for the ride. En route, the boys meet four sisters (played by the singing group Nobody's Angels), unhappily laboring away at their father's roadside restaurant. In a typical cross-purpose situation, Shawn decides he never wants to leave the girls--while the girls can't wait to escape their surroundings! Back at home, Jack (Matthew Lawrence) and Rachel (Maitland Ward) are confused by their feelings in the aftermath of their kiss; and though dead and buried, Jack's father Chet (Blake Clark) has not quite left the building. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
In this lively sports outing, a Philadelphia garbageman with a natural gift for football ends up the star of his city's pro-football team. Life is good until he gets a swelled head and has to be taught a few lessons in humbleness. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Danza, Jessica Tuck, (more)
- 1998
Phillip Rhee directed and stars in this action thriller about a martial arts expert who runs afoul of a group of Russian mobsters involved in an elaborate scheme to counterfeit U.S. currency. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phillip Rhee, Ernie Hudson, (more)
- 1998
The ER swings into action when an abortion clinic is bombed. Ross (George Clooney) tries to save teenaged mother Zoe (Sally Livingstone) and her unborn baby, while Del Amico (Maria Bello) is asked to complete an abortion. Corday (Alex Kingston) is startled when she learns who is among the bombing victims -- and even more so when she finally realizes how she feels about Benton (Eriq La Salle). And a tragic personal loss casts a pall over the staffers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Like Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, the low-budget, black-and-white thriller Running Time was edited to disguise its cuts, giving the illusion that the film takes place in real time. Cult hero Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead) stars as Carl. As the film starts, Carl is getting out of prison, and he tells the warden (veteran character actor Art La Fleur) that he plans to go into the laundry business, which he learned while working in the prison. Carl's old high school football buddy and literal partner-in-crime Patrick (Jeremy Roberts) picks him up outside the gates with a hooker in the back of his van. Things take an awkward turn when the hooker turns out to be Janie (Anita Barone), whom Carl dated and unceremoniously dumped in high school. After hitting it off and patching it up with her, Carl and Patrick head straight to their planned heist -- robbing the warden's laundry business. Along the way, they pick up their safecracker, Buzz (Stan Davis), Carl's prison buddy, and their driver. Carl is dismayed to find that Patrick has hired Donny (Gordon Jennison), a junkie with poor social skills, to drive for them. Their robbery plot goes awry when Buzz finds out that the warden replaced his safe while Patrick was supposed to be casing the office. During the delay, Patrick bickers with Carl, and there's unnecessary bloodshed. To make matters worse, the payload turns out to be far less than expected, Donny is nowhere to be found, and the police are on their tail. Wounded and desperate, Carl makes plans to meet up with Patrick at Janie's apartment. Writer/director Josh Becker shot Running Time on 16 mm, in sequence, in ten days. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Campbell, Jeremy Roberts, (more)
- 1997
Three makes for a dangerous crowd in this darkly comic crime story. Convicted murderer Lewis (Salvator Xuereb) breaks out of prison with Clark (Dan Gunther), who is doing time for computer fraud. The escapees are heading to New Mexico in search of a secret map to a gold mine that was hidden by a prisoner who recently met with a fatal accident. Clark, however, doesn't like Lewis, and Lewis only has Clark around because he's functionally illiterate and needs help reading maps. Meanwhile, George (Rose McGowan), a young woman who never speaks, has hit the highway after lifting the $10,000 that she and her boyfriend Fred (Art LaFleur) were given for a shipment of drugs that they never actually delivered. After Lewis impulsively shoots one person too many, Clark strikes out on his own, and while hitchhiking, he gets picked up by George, who has stolen a car and has a poisonous snake for protection. George learns about Clark's secret gold mine, and eager to get on his good side, she seduces him. While George spells "trouble" so clearly that she should have the word tattooed on her forehead, Clark falls for her like the proverbial ton of bricks; Lewis also finds "romance" of his own with a sleazy woman he meets in a trailer park before meeting up with Clark at the location of the hidden map. Deciding that they work better as a team, Lewis and Clark head out to Mexico in search of the gold, with George tagging along, but what they don't know is that Fred has been following her, convinced that George still has his money. This was Rose McGowan and Salvator Xuereb's second film together, after appearing in Gregg Araki's post-modern road movie The Doom Generation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rose McGowan, Salvator Xuereb, (more)
A young boy attempts to sabotage his single mother's relationship with her new fiancé in this family-oriented comedy. Ben Archer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) has become protective of his attractive mother Sandra (Farrah Fawcett) since they were abandoned by his father, and he resents the intrusion of anyone else into their lives. Despite his disapproval, however, Sandra has built up a relationship with district attorney Jack Sturges (an extremely low-key Chevy Chase), who eventually pops the question. Ben decides that marriage is out of the question, and he sets out to drive the lawyer away through a variety of schemes. These plans culminate in an effort to trick Struges into participating in the "Indian Guides," a scouting program involving all sorts of strenuous father-son activities. As one might expect, things do not quite go as Ben planned, as Jack proves himself a more suitable father figure than either expected. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Farrah Fawcett, (more)
- 1992
On the eve of his televised execution, a serial killer (Bruce Davison) takes a TV newswoman (Joanna Cassidy) hostage. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Joanna Cassidy, (more)
- 1987
The made-for-TV Three Kings stars Jack Warden, Lou Diamond Phillips and Stan Shaw as three patients in a Los Angeles-area mental institution. Dressed as the Three Wise Men for a Christmas pageant, the trio is suddenly struck with the delusion that they are really their Biblical counterparts. As TV cameras grind away, the three ersatz Kings ride out of the Pageant--on camels--and into the mean streets of LA. As the story draws to its conclusion, the three escapees find themselves providing Christmas cheer for a group of homeless people on the outskirts of the city. Aaron Spelling's original story veers dangerously close to being devoured by its own cuteness at times, but Stirling Silliphant's script for Three Kings keeps the whimsy in check and the sillier events reasonably credible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Filmed in Malta, this three-hour TV movie nailbiter was based on the novel The Gold Crew by Thomas M. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. David Soul plays the commander of a Trident submarine, engaged in an test designed to measure the crew's psychological reaction to an actual nuclear missile launch. Only Soul and two other officers (Robert Conrad and Sam Waterston) know that the war alert is false; the crew is led to believe that the crisis is genuine. Unfortunately, toxic fumes from the newly painted mess hall trigger a psychotic reaction from most of the crew--and commander Soul. Now convinced that he's on the brink of war, the near-lunatic commander orders the firing of ship's live warhead, instead of the four dummy weapons designed for the test. Officers Conrad and Waterston race against time to avert World War III. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Tony Richardson, who in his days of prominence directed the Oscar-winning Tom Jones (1963), demonstrated in 1986's Penalty Phase that the intervening years did not dim his talent in the least. Peter Strauss stars as a liberal judge, in the midst of a re-election campaign. Strauss has been under fire from his enemies for being too soft on criminals. He intends to prove otherwise while presiding over the case of a vicious mass murderer and rapist (Richard Chaves). Shortly after a guilty verdict is reached, Strauss is tipped off anonymously that the defendant right's may have been violated during interrogation. While the jury enters "the penalty phase" wherein they must decide on proper punishment, Strauss undergoes a profound moral dilemma: Should he honor the letter of the law, thereby incurring public wrath and losing all hopes for being re-elected? Scripted by former lawyer Gail Patrick Hickman, the made-for-TV Penalty Phase was originally telecast November 18, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
Originally telecast as a two-hour episode of ABC's Wonderful World of Disney anthology, Little Spies gets under way when a bunch of kids lose their adopted dog to the mean owner of a puppy kennel. Enter Jimmy the Hermit (Mickey Rooney), a reclusive WW2 hero who takes a shine to the youngsters. Harking back to his wartime experiences, Jimmy organizes the neighborhood kids into a "commando raid" of the kennel to rescue the pooch. The main characters are direct from the standard Disney stereotype manual, right down to the nerdish kid with glasses and the funny fat one. Little Spies first aired on October 5, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
The small mountain logging firm run by John and Samantha Lawrence (Joseph Lambie, Tracy Brooks Swope) has been targeted for extinction by corrupt union organizer Billy McEwan (Beau Starr). Accompanied by the strains of Monty Python's immortal "Lumberjack Song", the A-Team arrives at the scene to save the Lawrences and expose McEwan as a crook. This is the episode in which B.A. (Mr. T) gets to lift an entire tree, and Murdock (Dwight Schultz) tries to capture Bigfoot! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
In this drama, a police officer finds himself in trouble after he is promoted to lieutenant and assigned to investigate the deaths of several ex-prostitutes and finds himself falling in love with a former madam. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Ann-Margret is beyond praise in her TV movie debut as the real-life Lucile Frey. A poor, minimally educated rural Iowa mother, Lucile learns on the occasion of the birth of her tenth child in 1952 that she is dying of cancer. Reasoning that her husband (Frederic Forest) is not responsible enough to take care of her children on his own, Lucile takes upon herself the task of finding suitable foster parents for her soon-to-be motherless brood. Not as depressing as it might have been, Who Will Love My Children? closes with the implication that Lucile's children were able to retain their family ties even after being separated for 29 years. The real-life Frey children were showcased the same evening that Who Will Love My Children premiered (February 15, 1983) on an installment of the ABC TV series That's Incredible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 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
- 1983
In this sci-fi film, a journalist uses her new powers to find the guilty parties behind a million-dollar art theft. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In this comedy, a clumsy newspaper reporter visits her uncle's lab, accidently spills chemicals on herself, and finds herself invisible. She then uses her opaque state to get the scoop on a major art heist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Hardly a person is now alive who does not remember the 1978 ecological disaster at the chemical-waste deposits in Love Canal, New York. This made-for-TV film stars Marsha Mason as housewife Lois Gibbs, who suspects that her children have fallen ill due to leakage of toxic waste at the nearby deposits. The New York State Department of Health closes down the elementary school, but for Lois and nearly 700 of her neighbors, this just isn't enough. Lois begins a loud and aggressive movement to force the United States Government to relocate the residents of Love Canal, and to reimburse them for the loss of their property. Robert Gunton co-stars as Lois' husband, who faces unemployment as the result of his wife's refusal to sit down and be quiet. Written for television by Michael Zagor, Lois Gibbs & the Love Canal had its broadcast premiere on February 17, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marsha Mason, Bob Gunton, (more)
- 1982
Real-life father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez star in the made-for-TV In the Custody of Strangers. Blue-collar Sheen and his wife Jane Alexander attempt to instill discipline in their three growing children. But their 16-year-old son Estevez chafes at their authoritative attitudes, and runs seriously afoul of the law. Picked up on a drunk-driving charge, Estevez is charged with assault and battery when he fights off the sexual advances of his cellmate. His release continually delayed by judicial red tape, Estevez holds his parents, who are virtually helpless within the strictures of the Law, responsible for the mess he's in. But the real villain of the piece is not a person but an entity: The juvenile justice system, which is overworked, understaffed and swamped with dead-end bureaucracy. Scripted by Jennifer Miller, In the Custody of Strangers debuted on May 26, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Though Two of a Kind was hardly George Burns' television debut, it was his first dramatic TV appearance. Burns is cast as Ross "Boppy" Minor, who is shunted away to a nursing home by his unfeeling son-in-law Cliff Robertson. Robby Benson co-stars as Nolie Minor, Boppy's mentally retarded grandson. Both outcasts from "normal" society, Nolie and Boppy form a strong bond in this touching domestic drama. An Emmy Award went to songwriters James Di Pasquale and Dory Previn for their theme song "We'll Win the World." Two of a Kind first aired October 9, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, Robby Benson, (more)
This sequel to Every Which Way But Loose finds Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) on the road, orangutan companion Clyde in tow, as he makes his way as a bare-knuckle fighter. The action begins with Philo punching out a new victim while Clyde relieves himself on the seat of a police car, setting the tone for the rest of the story. From there, Philo and Clyde return home, where Philo, who still lives with Ma (Ruth Gordon), is offered a contest with Jack Wilson (William Smith), the Mafia-sponsored East Coast bare-knuckle champ. Philo inadvertently saves Wilson's life, but then the Mafia kidnaps his girlfriend (Sondra Locke) to force him to go ahead with the match. Philo and Wilson team up to battle the Mob, but somehow they end up fighting anyway in a grueling climactic sequence. Country music, bikers, the Mafia, an orangutan, pick-up trucks, defecation jokes, fighting, drinking, and swearing -- it's all here in this lowbrow comic stew. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, (more)
