Shelby Leverington Movies
Blockbuster action director Michael Bay delivers a striking look at a strange world of the future in this sci-fi action drama. Midway through the 21st century, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in a confined indoor community after ongoing abuse of the Earth has rendered most of the planet uninhabitable. One of the only places in the outside world still capable of sustaining life is an idyllic island where citizens are chosen to live through a lottery. Or at least that's what Lincoln and his fellow citizens are taught to believe; the truth is that Lincoln, like everyone he knows, is actually a clone who is kept under wraps to provide needed organs when the person who supplied his or her DNA falls ill. When he becomes aware that his existence is a fraud, Lincoln escapes to the outside world with a fellow clone, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), though the powers that be are determined to see that no one gets away alive. The Island also stars Steve Buscemi, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Sean Bean. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, (more)
- 1992
While being transported from a Romulan ship to the Enterprise, Geordi and Ro suddenly vanish without a trace. While the crew assumes that the two have perished, they are in fact very much alive, but completely invisible. The rest of the episode focuses on Geordi and Ro's desperate efforts to communicate with their comrades, and to warn them of a Romulan booby trap. Written by Ronald D. Moore, "The Next Phase" was originally broadcast on May 23, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Hughes re-works his already over-used formulas from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and Uncle Buck in this bald-faced rip-off directed by Peter Faiman. Ed O'Neill stars as working stiff Dutch Dooley. Dutch is in love with Natalie (JoBeth Williams), who is recovering from a failed marriage to the priggish Reed (Christopher McDonald). Her 13-year-old son Doyle (Ethan Randall) blames Natalie for the break-up of the marriage. Doyle is an effete and snobbish rich kid betraying inflections of William F. Buckley. When he refuses to join his mother for Thanksgiving, Dutch heads off to Doyle's Atlanta boarding school to kidnap him and force him to go on a ride to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Doyle hates Dutch for his loutish working-class ways, but when the vengeful teenager destroys Dutch's car, the two must join forces to get to Chicago by any means necessary. Along the way the two learn to love and respect each other. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Ethan Randall, (more)
- 1987
This made-for-cable thriller stars Powers Boothe as a former policeman whose son (C. Thomas Howell) has fallen prey to a band of white supremacists. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- PG
A doctor (Tom Conti) and his wife (Teri Garr), recently divorced, are kidnapped and brought to South America by an inept jewel thief (Paul Rodriguez), just in time to help cure a tribal chief's daughter of appendicitis. Then, a series of circumstances brings the entire family together. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1984
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Jonathan (Michael Landon) assumes the earthly form of a physical therapist to help a promising young baseball player named Deke (Ken Olandt), who has been injured in a traffic accident, come to grips with the fact that he will never play pro ball -- and also prove to Deke that he is perfectly capable of participating in other forms of athletic competition. In this pursuit, Jonathan enlists the aid of Richard Halberstrom (played by Olympic gold-medal winner Bart Conner), the gymnast who was responsible for Deke's current plight. And in another development, Jonathan and his sidekick Mark (Victor French) endeavor to console Deke's father (Jim Haynie), who has been living vicariously through his son's athletic achievements. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
In this first episode of a two-part story, Jonathan (Michael Landon) is assigned to provide moral support for Deke Larson Jr. (Ken Olandt), a promising young athlete who has been crippled in a motorcycle accident. Taking a job as a physical therapist at the hospital where Deke is convalescing, Jonathan endeavors to help the boy come to grips with the fact that he will never play pro baseball, enlisting the aid of several other people -- including gymnast Richard Halberstrom (played by Olympic gold medal winner Bart Connor) the man who caused Deke's accident -- for this purpose. ~ All Movie Guide
Juvenile actor Henry Thomas, late of E.T., is the star of Cloak and Dagger. Given to telling whoppers, Thomas finds himself in a boy-who-cried-wolf dilemma when he overhears two spies plotting to smuggle valuable info out of the US. When he can't get his own father Dabney Coleman to believe him, Thomas turns disconsolately to a computer game called "Cloak and Dagger" and begins to fantasize, imagining that he is in cahoots with secret agent Jack Flack, also played by Coleman. Finally coming to grips with the fact that the mythical Jack Flack cannot help him this time, Thomas takes on the spies with the help of his schoolmates, who are also "Cloak and Dagger" addicts. Cloak and Dagger is a heavily disguised remake of 1949's The Window; both are based on the Cornell Woolrich story The Boy Cried Murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, (more)
- 1983
- R
Unmarried disc jockey Jamie Lee Curtis happens across a packet of love letters, written by her late mother. As she peruses these missives, she learns that her mother had carried on a lengthy extramarital affair. At firt appalled by mom's "double life," Curtis is slowly brought around to another way of thinking. Soon she has embarked on her own romance with an older man, the very married James Keach. Well cast and sensitively directed, Love Letters is a purposely "small" films that deserves a larger audience. The film was also released as My Love Letters and Passion Play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, James Keach, (more)
- 1983
In this lightweight made-for-television domestic comedy, a beautiful divorcee, who got the house and the kids, finds herself allowing her husband and his ditzy young fiancee to stay with them after he gets into financial dire straits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Once seen, the made-for-TV Fallen Angel can never be forgotten. Dana Hill is nothing short of brilliant as Jennifer, a 13-year-old runaway girl who is slowly but inexorably seduced into the world of child pornography. Adding depth to Lew Hunter's screenplay is the fact that the older man responsible for Jennifer's downfall, played by Richard Masur, is not a slavering villain. Instead, partly because of his own abused childhood, he is as pathetically misguided as his victim, truly believing that his filthy activities are expressions of affection. First telecast February 24, 1981, Fallen Angel was one of the highest-rated TV movies of its time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Hill, Richard Masur, (more)
In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, William Holden, (more)
The hook in Walter Hill's mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the robbery, Ed Miller (Dennis Quaid) finds himself kicked out of the gang for needlessly killing a man during the robbery. Jesse James (James Keach) hands over Ed's share of the money and tells him to leave, a feeling held mutually by Ed's brother Clell (Randy Quaid). After the killing the gang decides to split up for awhile. The James boys return to their wives and farms, while Cole Younger (David Carradine) travels to Texas with his prostitute girlfriend Belle Starr (Pamela Reed). After the brief respite, the gang reunites to rob a well-stocked bank in Northfield, Minnesota. The robbery turns out disastrously, with most of the gang either wounded or dying. The James boys are the only ones not seriously hurt, and they leave the rest of the gang behind, escaping while they can. After the James boys leave, the remnants of the gang are captured. But trailing the Jameses is a relentless posse. Frank and Jesse manage to keep one step ahead until the Ford brothers (Christopher Guest and Nicholas Guest) make a deal with the Pinkerton detectives trailing the outlaws. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Keith Carradine, (more)
- 1980
This Israeli drama is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Amos Kollek. Kollek's father is the mayor of Jerusalem and so Kollek leads a privileged life. He eventually joins the reserves and spends a few days a week fighting the Arabs. He then begins dating an American woman who lives in the Arab quarter. This creates turmoil for him. One day, he sees a notorious terrorist in the quarter. The chase is on and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Based on an autobiographical novel by Amos Kolek, the son of one of Jerusalem's more famous mayors (Teddy Kolek), this movie tells the story of an Israeli novelist with no visible means of support, who occupies the time he doesn't spend with his girlfriend, an American archaeologist, or with his best friend, a soldier, by writing a novel which he imagines no one will ever read. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelby Leverington
- 1977
Originally known as Christmas Miracle in Caulfield, USA, this made-for-TV film concerns the true story of striking coal workers who are imprisoned in a collapsed mine on Christmas Eve, 1951. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Martin Brest was a student filmmaker when he made Hot Tomorrows for $33,000 -- practically nothing even by the standards of 1977. He went on to produce major Hollywood movies, including Beverly Hills Cop. In this film, Michael (Ken Lerner) is a young New York writer who has moved to L.A. and who spends his days writing about his elderly aunt, when he is not busy exploring his obsession with death. He is spending Christmas Eve with Louis (Ray Sharkey), a visiting friend, and they choose some unusual sites in which to carry on their holiday discussions, including a mortuary and a retirement home. Though this short black-and-white feature was given high praise by critics, few have had a chance to see it. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Lerner, Ray Sharkey, (more)
- 1977
Investigating the murder of a private eye, Kojak (Telly Savalas) discovers that the dead man had somehow gained access to secret police files. He determines that best way to find out who killed the gumshoe is to spread the word that the victim is still alive. And since someone must pose as the late detective, who better for the assignment than Kojak himself? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
Amy Milner, the daughter of Adam-12 costar Martin Milner (Officer Pete Malloy), makes her dramatic TV debut in this episode. The younger Milner is cast as Debbie McMahon, the daughter of a storekeeper who is wounded in a robbery. Outraged that the perpetrator has managed to escape, Debbie holds Officer Jim Reed (Kent McCord) responsible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
