A.J. Langer Movies
A.J. Langer was intrigued by acting from the age of five, but it was a high school algebra teacher who gave her the little push she needed to get into the business. Langer first found success playing young teens on television, but as she matured, switched to feature films. To millions, she is best known for having played the free-spirited but troubled Rayanne on the short-lived but highly acclaimed ABC drama My So-Called Life (1992-1993).She was born Allison Joy Langer in Columbus, OH, but raised in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, where her father worked as a retailer of formal wear and her mother, an audiologist, owned a hearing aid business. She received her nickname at age five, when she played on an all-boy little league team. Her teammates thought Allison too girly a name and so shortened it to the cooler-sounding A.J. She entered show business in ninth grade, after the math teacher spotted her during a speech contest. Impressed by Langer's gift for gab, the teacher pulled some strings with an agent and got her signed up. Her first role was that of Melissa Drexell, Dabney Coleman's daughter in the short-lived Fox sitcom Drexell's Class (1991-1992). The same year, she made her feature film debut playing Alice in Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs (1992). Langer was also busy making television guest-starring appearances on series such as Blossom and The Wonder Years, and playing small roles in a few television movies.
Portraying Rayanne Graff on My So-Called Life made Langer a cult figure among the show's many youthful fans. With all the work she obtained, she dropped out of high school, but she later earned a General Equivalency Diploma. Following the demise of the show, Langer co-starred with Kurt Russell in Escape From L.A. (1996), playing the mayor's kidnapped daughter Utopia, and then played a supporting role in Meet the Deedles (1998). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2002
With his wedding day rapidly approaching, Drew continues seeking out a bride, turning to his former coworker Larry (Ian Gomez), now a professional matchmaker, for help. Balking at Robin (Lori Loughlin), Larry's choice for the "ideal" mate, Drew wants a girl who will literally make sparks fly--and meets that girl during a bus ride! Meanwhile, the war between Mimi (Kathy Kinney) and Traylor (Kaitlin Olson) heats up over something as trivial as a keyboard. The Goo Goo Dolls make a guest appearance in the opening scene of this, the first episode in a two-part story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Drew (Drew Carey) has fallen in love with Dawn (A.J. Langer), whom he met by chance during a bus ride. Now he must gently let down Robin (Lori Laughlin), the girl chosen as his future bride by professional matchmaker Larry. But there's another problem that needs an instant solution: Drew is never permitted a moment alone with Dawn, thanks to her ex-boyfriends who keep hanging around her house (in fact, one of them is still living above her garage!) And what about Kellie (Cynthia Watros), who still hasn't gotten over her high school crush on our hero? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The world of competitive figure skating takes a pratfall in this satiric comedy. Professor Robinson (Chris Hogan) is a documentary filmmaker whose latest project presents an in-depth look at three figure skaters hoping to someday rise from the lowest rungs of amateur competition into the ranks of the U.S. Olympic Team. Robinson's subjects are Veda Tilman (Barret Swatek), a high-strung young woman who suffers from an eating disorder; J.C. Cain (A.J. Langer), a chain-smoking trailer-park refugee with more than her share of attitude; and Wendy Wodinski (Marissa Winokur), whose rotund build would make her seem like an unlikely contender for a skating championship. As Veda, J.C., and Wendy train for their next match, seen-it-all Zamboni driver Phil (Jason Alexander) offers his perspective on the action. On Edge features cameos from noted comic actors Kathy Griffin, Michael McKean, and Wendie Malick, as well as appearances by real-life skating champions Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tai Babilonia, Randy Gardner, Steven Cousins, and Peter Carruthers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Alexander, John Glover, (more)
- 1998
- PG
Hawaiian surfer dudes Stew (Steve Van Wormer) and Phil Deedle (Paul Walker), fraternal twins, are about to be expelled from school, so their wealthy and concerned father (Eric Braeden) offers summer camp in Wyoming as a solution. Arriving in Jackson Hole with their wet suits, the Deedle twins are like fish out of water, and a series of accidents put them in a hospital. Mistaken for new recruits by Yellowstone Park ranger Capt. Pine (Douglas Ashton), the duo go along with the error after meeting their training officer, the attractive Lt. Jesse Ryan (A.J. Langer), but they are unprepared to adapt to life in the wild, as they cope with mountainside rappelling, sleeping in tents, eating worms, and dealing with hordes of prairie dogs unleashed by ex-ranger Frank Slater (Dennis Hopper), who seeks vengeance for his past problems in the park. There are several pop-culture references, including a cameo by Bart the Bear (of The Edge). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Van Wormer, Paul Walker, (more)
- 1997
Manhattan pediatrician Meg Salter (Priscilla Presley) impulsively flies to Paris to surprise her professor husband Brian (Ben Masters). But it is Meg who is surprised, and not pleasantly so: Also on board the plane is Brian's pregnant mistress Olivia (A. J. Langer)--who goes into labor during a heavy rainstorm. With Monica (Roma Downey and the other angels occupied elsewhere, rookie caseworker Celeste (Hudson Leick) may have to straighten out this situation all by herself, a task that becomes more problematic with each passing minute! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Escape from L.A. finds Kurt Russell once again in the role of Snake, which he played in the 1981 film, Escape from New York. Los Angeles has finally had the really big earthquake everyone was afraid of, and what remains is now an island. Because the country's ultra-righteous President-for-Life (Cliff Roberton) wants it that way, all the weirdos and freaks that previously inhabited New York in large numbers, and the rest of the U.S. in smaller concentrations, have been quarantined on the island of L.A. The president has Snake taken from the nice, decent prison he was living in for a special mission in L.A. The president's daughter has joined the resistance movement determined to overthrow his one-man rule, and has stolen his secret "black box" (a doomsday machine) to boot. Snake is given a poison which will kill him in a few hours unless he returns to the president for the antidote. His mission is to recover the black box and kill the president's daughter. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kurt Russell, Stacy Keach, (more)
- 1996
Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is impressed by the fact that his current girlfriend has a mentor -- but less than impressed when he discovers that the mentor is none other than his comedy bête noire Kenny Bania (Steve Hytner). Unable to fire an employee, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) lives to regret her moment of weakness. Kramer (Michael Richards) organizes the first Jewish Singles Night at Newman's Knights of Columbus Hall, relying upon George's father, Frank (Jerry Stiller), for cooking advice. And George (Jason Alexander) pretends to be blind to get free books on tape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
The struggle of country music's mother-daughter duo The Judds is told in this made-for-television drama. Kathleen York stars as Naomi Judd (then known as Diana Judd) a single mother of two daughters, who turned to music as way to help positively influence her increasingly belligerent and rebellious eldest daughter Wynonna (then known as Christina). The movie chronicles Naomi's struggle to provide for her daughters (the youngest is actress Ashley Judd), the singing duo's rise from Nashville fame to national celebrity, the ups and downs that accompanied a working family relationship, and Naomi's eventual retirement from the music business. The movie was based on Naomi's autobiography Love Can Build A Bridge. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
For the first time ever, all 19 episodes of the critically-acclaimed television show My So-Called Life, starring Claire Danes, are available in one 5 disc DVD box set. Her portrayal of Angela Chase, the angst-ridden, introspective teen earned Clare Danes a Golden Globe. Even today, after being off the air since early 1995, the show has thousands of fans all around the world.
- Starring:
- Claire Danes, Bess Armstrong, (more)
Night of the Living Dead meets Gone with the Wind, in which the Blue and the Gray have to battle the Ghoulish and the Undead. When the Confederate army accidentally unleashes a supernatural voodoo baddie, the spirit starts organizing an army full of dead soldiers, and soon a take-no-prisoners Civil War battle ensues -- one not found in the Ken Burns documentary. This film stars reigning straight-to-video king Corbin Bernsen. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- 1993
This long-delayed sci-fi/horror project from Charles Band's "B"-factory Full Moon Entertainment features Megan Ward and Peter Billingsley (once the cuddly hero of A Christmas Story) as a pair of suburban teens who discover that the neighborhood's most popular virtual-reality video game -- unimaginatively-dubbed Arcade -- is possessed of a malevolent intelligence and a hunger for young souls. After several Arcade junkies are captured by the digital demon, our heroes decide to strap on their virtual helmets and go head-to-head with the computer to rescue them, facing a confounding series of elaborate puzzles and eventually squaring off against the soul of Arcade itself. "B"-movie journeyman Albert Pyun handles the virtual reality fantasy scenes with verve, though the mediocre effects are hardly worth the endless delays that hounded this production. This film's entire premise was explored far more expertly 10 years earlier in Disney's Tron, and with far more interesting characters than this brooding bunch. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Megan Ward, Peter Billingsley, (more)
- 1992
Following a terrible auto wreck, a woman reawakens but can remember nothing about herself or the events leading up to the tragedy. This makes it all the more painful when she discovers that a man and his little boy were killed in the crash, one that she may have caused. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lynda Carter, Dee Wallace, (more)
Wes Craven wrote and directed this surrealistic horror-comedy, which was inspired by a true story of parents keeping their children locked in a basement for years. Fool (Brandon Adams), an African-American teen, breaks into the home of the wealthy landlords who evicted his family from a ghetto tenement. A fortune in gold coins is rumored to exist inside, but Fool discovers that the mansion is a chamber of horrors presided over by a pair of incestuous, serial killer siblings (Everett McGill and Wendy Robie). The twisted couple has also tried to raise a succession of kidnapped boys. Each botched effort is handled the same way -- the victim's eyes, ears and tongues are removed, and he's sent to live in the sealed-off basement, where a colony of similarly deformed "brothers" resides. Fool is able to avoid the evil lovers as he moves through the house's maze of hidden passageways. He discovers that the occupants have a daughter, Alice (A.J. Langer), who has survived their abuse, so he rescues her and they attempt to free the "people under the stairs." Adams, who made his feature debut with in film, was familiar to viewers as the star of rock singer Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1988). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, (more)
- 1991
In this family-fun type of film, two brothers who have apparently inherited their recently deceased father's inventor-type genes decide to finish their pop's robot invention, sell it for big bucks, and keep mom out of the poorhouse. They put together the metal man named Newman who somehow has absorbed the dead dad's spirit and can talk. The boys are wowed to find that Dad's back! But then the bad guys arrive (of course) in the form of an electronics company wanting in on the Newman-robot invention and by an abrupt gal reporter who wants the big scoop. Looming out in the troubled fringes too, are the dopes responsible for the kids' dad's demise. These kids are up to all of this and, along with the robot, they're out to rack up one for the 'good guys.' ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joshua Miller, Edan Gross, (more)
