Carlos Lacamara Movies
A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she's hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school's spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson's 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It.
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, (more)
The true story of a man who never gave up on his dreams of doing something big -- and doing it very, very fast -- provides the basis for this engaging comedy drama. Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) was born in 1899 in Invercargill, New Zealand. From childhood, Munro had a passion for machines that moved fast, and when he was 21 he bought his first motorcycle, an Indian model with a 600 cc engine. Motorcycles became an obsession that stayed with Munro for the rest of his life, as he constantly tinkered with his beloved Indian machine, modifying the engine and frame, determined to see just how fast he could make it run. In 1967, Munro decided it was high time he proved to himself and the world just what he and his machine could do, and he booked passage for the United States, with the goal of breaking the world's land speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. As Munro made his way across America to Utah, he discovered not everyone took his dream seriously, but some did, and he made a handful of friends along the way, including Ada (Diane Ladd), a widow who fell for Munro's rough charm, and Fernando (Paul Rodriguez), a car dealer who offered to help him. However, when he finally arrived at Bonneville, Munro was told his machine was unsafe to participate in the time trials, and -- far worse -- he was too old to ride. It took some intervention from a ranking American driver, Jim Moffett (Chris Lawford), before Munro was given his chance to ride the famous Salt Flats. The World's Fastest Indian was written and directed by Roger Donaldson, who early in his career made a documentary about the real Burt Munro, Offerings to the Gods of Speed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd, (more)
- 1998
Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is slated to begin work on Charlton Heston's new movie -- but he hasn't had time to take a shower, something he really, desperately needs to do. Meanwhile, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is still stuck on Joshua (Tate Donovan). And Ross (David Schwimmer), set up on a blind date with Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) boss' niece Emily (Helen Baxendale, in her first series appearance), ends up spending the weekend with the girl. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
Having been ignominiously booted from the PhD program, Kirsten (Paula Devicq) takes a job as hostess at Salinger's--and quickly allows her depression to get the better of her, despite the herculean efforts by Charlie (Matthew Fox) to cheer her up. Elsewhere, when his sister Julia (Neve Campbell) begins to date his roommate Cooper (Harold Voight), Bailey (Scott Wolf) discreetly moves into a new place and picks up a new roomie in the form of the extremely high-spirited Callie Martel (Alexondra Lee in her first series appearance). And in her efforts to repair the plumbing in the family home, Claudia (Lacey Chabert) succeeds primarily in depleting the Salinger bank account. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
To boost the sagging morale of the "FYI" personnel, Kay (Lily Tomlin) orders the staff to spend a weekend at a retreat in Mexico. Sounds like a lot of fun, right? Wrong! Among the disaster befalling our heroes and heroines: Murphy (Candice Bergen) ends up face to face with the employees of a corrupt company that she exposed on the air, Corky (Faith Ford) gets way too much sun as she pines away for for the absent Miles, Frank (Joe Regalbuto) becomes convinced that he's about to be fired, and newly-single Jim (Charles Kimbrough) forgets to pack his undies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A group of intrepid humans attempts to save the Earth from vicious extraterrestrials in this extremely popular science-fiction adventure. Borrowing liberally from War of the Worlds, Aliens, and every sci-fi invasion film inbetween, director Roland Emmerich and producer and co-writer Dean Devlin present a visually slick, fast-paced adventure filled with expensive special effects and large-scale action sequences. The story begins with the approach of a series of massive spaceships, which many on Earth greet with open arms, looking forward to the first contact with alien life. Unfortunately, these extraterrestrials have not come in peace, and they unleash powerful weapons that destroy most of the world's major cities. Thrown into chaos, the survivors struggle to band together and put up a last-ditch resistance in order to save the human race. As this is a Hollywood film, this effort is led by a group of scrappy Americans, including a computer genius who had foreseen the alien's evil intent (Jeff Goldblum), a hot-shot jet pilot (Will Smith), and the President of the United States (Bill Pullman). While some critics objected to the film's lack of originality and lapses in logic, the combination of grand visual spectacle and crowd-pleasing storytelling proved irresistible to audiences, resulting in an international smash hit. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Bill Pullman, (more)
- 1995
An "accidental" explosion turns out to have been an attempt on the life of Cardassian Garak (Andrew Robinson). Launching an investigation of the incident, Odo uncovers a conspiracy of epic proportions. What he does about it will not be fully revealed until the following week's episode, "The Die Is Cast." Originally telecast April 24, 1995, "Improbable Cause" was scripted by Rene Echevarria from a story by Robert Lederman and David R. Long. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Starring Martin Lawrence and including Mark Curry, Tone Loc, Inez Edwards, John Witherspoon and Rene Jones among many others, Talkin' Dirty After Dark is a behind-the-scenes look at a Los Angeles black comedy club. Lawrence's character, Terry, will seemingly do about whatever it takes to get a gig at Dukie's comedy club. The subplots involve the goings-on of employers and employees of the club in the span of one evening. This comedy contains profanity, nudity, and adult situations. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Lawrence, John Witherspoon, (more)
Ricochet, a suspenseful, exciting police thriller that loses its way at the end, is the story of a good cop whose life is destroyed by an obsessed psychotic criminal whom he sent to prison years before. Nick (Denzel Washington) is a successful happily married police officer with a distinguished record. He is drugged, kidnapped and framed by Blake (John Lithgow) who has never forgiven him for arresting him years before. Nick must redeem himself both to the police force, his family and the public who had come to love and respect him. Denzel Washington is excellent in his role of the good man in an impossible situation. John Lithgow, while always interesting, is completely over-the-top as the psychotic criminal, and the film looses plausibility during an extended and highly improbable and unbelievable final chase sequence around the Watts Towers. Despite these flaws, Ricochet is an exiting suspense film with a fine performance by Washington and worth watching despite its disappointing conclusion. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, (more)
- 1990
Mary Cadorette) makes her first appearance as aggressive, self-assured court reporter Margaret Turner. Judge Harry (Harry Anderson) is smitten by Margaret, but she barely acknowledges his existence. In desperation, he turns to notorious womanizer Dan (John Larroquette) for advice on how to woo and win "the scribe in the skirt"--but his efforts succeed only in further distancing Margaret from both men! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
In the conclusion of a two-part story, ALF and a burglar confront each other in the Ochmoneks' living room. Before long, the local neighborhood-watch group has formed a circle around the house, and the police have been summoned. Unfortunately, the cops are convinced that ALF is the criminal, and that he has taken hostages to boot! It is up to Willie (Max Wright) to dodge the bullets of a SWAT team to save the hapless alien (who hopes that he can stay alive long enough to finish his pizza). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
A kiln explosion nearly wipes out an art class attended by Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer). Though at first it looks like an accident, McCall receives a tape suggesting that the explosion was deliberately triggered. The subsequent murder of an EPA inspector who had been investigating reports of toxic waste dumping leads McCall and Hunter (Fred Dryer) to conclude that the intended victim of the explosion was elderly art student Emily Hill (Louise Latham)--who happens to be romantically linked with a powerful business mogul. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
Sensing that Kim (Charnele Brown) is homesick, Whitley (Jasmine Guy) suggests that they spend their Thanksgiving somewhere other than The Pit. With the help of Kim's fake ID, the two girls end up at a nightclub, where they have a riotous time--until the dreaded Col. Taylor (Glynn Turman) shows up. Meanwhile, Walter (Sinbad) is convinced that he'll finally be able to make time with Jaleesa (Dawnn Lewis) if he offers to drive her home from for the Holidays; unfortunately, Freddie (Cree Summer) and Dwayne (Kadeem Hardison) invite themselves along for the ride. Guest star George DeLorenzo sings "La Bamba", while series regular Jasmine Guy rips through a spirited rendition of "Twist and Shout". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
After the Ochmoneks' home is robbed, a neighborhood-watch group is formed, using the Tanner garage as headquarters. Figuring that he'd better take charge of things, ALF inadvertently sends the group scurrying off in several wrong directions thanks to his false alarms. But circumstances are considerably altered when ALF confronts a prowler in the Ochmoneks' living room. This is the first episode of a two-part story. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
On the eve of his Hawaiian vacation, irresponsible high school teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is forced into teaching a summer-school class. His students are all malcontents and layabouts with the standard repertoire of teenaged hang-ups and hostilities (two of the kids, who can't see enough slasher movies to suit them, are hilarious precursors to Beavis and Butt-Head). Harmon would rather spend his time with history teacher Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley), but she doesn't think much of his laziness and lack of dedication. Shoop finally begins to take his job seriously when he realizes his students' problems are not all of their own making. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, (more)
- 1986
Blind Justice is a fact-based TV movie starring Tim Matheson, here made to look "normal" with glasses and mustache. The innocent Matheson is fingered by witnesses as an armed robber/kidnapper/rapist. For the next 14 months, his life is hell. Too much circumstantial evidence surrounds the case, and too much information leaks out to the public; even if Matheson beats the rap, he'll be ruined in his community. Blind Justice was first telecast on March 9, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Mimi Kuzyk, (more)
- 1986
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Hurricane Mel bears down upon New York City just as four very pregnant defendants simultaneously go into labor in Harry's courtroom. In the course of events, one of the mothers-to-be (played by action-film diva Pam Grier) decides it's about time to marry her baby's father, while Dan (John Larroquette) is pressed into service as an emergency obstetrician! And just to make things even more difficult, Harry (Harry Anderson) must deal with the trailer-trash excesses of the Wheeler family (headed by future Star Trek: The Next Generation costar Brent Spiner). Florence Halop makes her last appearance as court matron Florence Kleiner in this, the final episode of Night Court's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
In the first episode of a two-part story, New York City battens down in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Mel. Several people end up being trapped in Harry's courtroom, with no supplies or utilities. Among those huddled together are four very pregnant defendants--not to mention those inimitable indigents, the Wheeler family from West Virginia! Former blaxploitation-film diva Pam Grier plays one of the moms-to-be, while future Star Trek: The Next Generation costar Brent Spiner repeats his role as Bob Wheeler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
B.A. (Mr. T) comes to the aid of little Maria (Edie Marie Rubio), who along with her ailing mother has been illegally smuggled into the States by a criminal gang. The lead crook is a lout named Presley (Dennis Lipscomb), whose chief henchman is corrupt border patrol officer Taggart (played by Jack Ging, long before becoming an A-Team regular as General Fullbright). Following a plan purportedly hatched by Murdock's pet cockroach Herman (!), the team sets about to rescue the hapless aliens--but first they must rescue their own leader Hannibal (George Peppard). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
- NR
This made-for-TV comedy postulates that, someday, members of carpools will be selected by computer. The four so anointed herein are Harvey Korman, Peter Scolari, T.K. Carter and Stephanie Faracy. Their lives go along in their usual luckless fashion until the quarter of mismatched "poolers" find themselves in possession of a million dollars that has fallen from an armored car. But ex-cop Ernest Borgnine has his eyes on the loot as well, and the chase is on. Basically a bargain-basement It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Carpool first aired October 5, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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