Joseph Long Movies
Television director Andy Cadiff turns toward feature films to direct the romantic comedy Chasing Liberty, which appears to be loosely based on the 1953 Audrey Hepburn classic Roman Holiday. Mandy Moore stars as Anna Foster, the 18-year-old daughter of President of the United States James Foster (Mark Harmon). Anna has led quite a privileged life, but she has grown to resist the constant presence of Secret Service agents getting in the way of her independence. While on a family trip to Europe, Anna manages to get away from security for a brief time. She inevitably falls into the romantic arms of British boy Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), with whom she enjoys a fresh and clean European vacation. Not wanting to ruin her fun, she doesn't tell him about her upper-class social status. But, alas, Ben surprises her with a secret identity of his own. Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra play two Secret Service agents. Caroline Goodall plays the wise, conventional First Lady. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode, (more)
- 1999
Based on the first of Dorothy Gilman's popular novels about a senior citizen who joins the CIA, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax stars Angela Lansbury as Emily Polifax, an elderly woman who feels out of sorts and unsure of what to do with herself after the death of her husband. Her doctor tries to cheer her up by telling her this is a perfect time to try new things and fulfill ambitions set aside earlier in life. Emily decides this is fine advice and takes a shot at the career of her dreams -- she writes a letter to her congressman asking how one goes about becoming a CIA agent. The letter is passed along and the CIA agrees to an interview. However, Emily is mistakenly sent on a mission to Morocco before anyone realizes she isn't actually an agent, and operative Jack Farrell (Thomas Ian Griffith) is sent out to keep an eye on her. When Emily and Jack are unexpectedly taken hostage, Jack discovers Mrs. Pollifax is far more clever and resourceful than anyone expected. The first in a proposed series of TV movies aimed to appeal to the large and loyal audience Lansbury attracted with the show Murder, She Wrote, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax was produced for CBS television, who first aired it in May 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Lansbury, Thomas Ian Griffith, (more)
This romantic historical drama is based on the diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, who while serving as a nurse during World War I had a love affair with a young man who would later become one of the great literary figures of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway. In 1918, 18-year-old Hemingway has volunteered to fight in the great war; while he goes into battle imagining it to be a lark, he soon discovers that the realities of warfare are far more grim, and during a shelling attack in Italy, his leg is severely wounded. Hemingway has taken a great deal of shrapnel, and the doctors at the field hospital decide that amputation would be the quickest and most effective way to deal with the injury. However, the idea of losing a leg horrifies Hemingway, and he pleads with Agnes (Sandra Bullock), the Austrian nurse looking after him, not to let the doctors cut off his limb. Moved by Hemingway's concern, Agnes convinces the doctors to pursue other treatments, and she looks after him during his long and difficult convalescence. Love and passion bloom between the young and naive soldier and the 26-year-old nurse, but while he's eager for her to return home with him as he follows his muse as a writer, she regards him not as the love of her life but as a passing fling and thinks that he's too young to marry. Agnes eventually sends Hemingway a "Dear John" letter; later Hemingway would use her as the basis for several characters in his novels and short stories, not always flatteringly. In Love and War was directed by Richard Attenborough, previously an Academy Award winner for Gandhi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Chris O'Donnell, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
John Glen directed this throwback to the costume dramas of the 1930s and 1940s, but without a smidgen of their energy and verve. George Corraface plays Christopher Columbus as a dynamic and muscular comic-book hero. He has a dream to set sail to find a new passageway to India, but he needs the backing of the Spanish government to do it. First, he must undergo a grilling by Tomas de Torquemada (Marlon Brando in, hands down, his worst performance). After passing muster with Torquemada, he gets the blessing of Queen Isabella (Rachel Ward) and King Ferdinand (Tom Selleck). Columbus then sets sail in a series of picture-postcard travelogue shots as he sails the ocean blue and discovers a new world of wonders -- particularly the Indian chief's well-endowed daughter. As a sop to revisionists, a rat is seen scampering down the plank as Columbus' vessel lands on "undiscovered" turf. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck, (more)
- 1989
- R
Simon Dutton revived the character of, Simon Templar, AKA The Saint, in 1989, with a series of six two-hour action films, made for (and originally aired on) television in the UK. The first of these features, The Brazilian Connection, opens with the abduction of a baby from a pram in Knightsbridge, England. Beginning at the scene of the disappearance, Templar follows the trail to an underground, multicontinental ring of black market infant traders and attempts to shut them down. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- PG
The Queen of Hearts is an essentially Italian story given full and proper treatment by a virtually all-British crew. Anita Zagaria plays a lovely Italian lass, consigned to an arranged marriage with a wealthy Sicilian man. She balks at the altar and runs off, while the jilted bridegroom swears revenge. She marries another Italian (Joseph Long), and together they set up the quaint "Lucky Cafe" in the middle of London. Though the family vendetta that results from this union has its unfortunate consequences, there are quite a few laughs along the way as well. The Queen of Hearts was directed by Jon Amiel, best known for his handling of the quirky TV serial The Singing Detective. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Duse, Joseph Long, (more)
In this exploitational slice-n-dicer masquerading as a police thriller, a college coed can do nothing while all her friends are being murdered by mysterious man wielding a meat cleaver. In true exploitational style, most of the women are killed in various states of undress and are not even assigned character names other than things like "Girl Stabbed in the Kitchen." A zealous cop begins investigating the case to stop the bloody butcher of bosomy babes. Look closely and you will see that the serial killer is played by a young Kevin Costner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Kulzer, Elizabeth Trosper, (more)
A muscular pair of Yankee brothers visit a backwater Georgia town and end up involved with rednecked mutant zombies. The campy horror begins when brother Mike suddenly disappears. Puzzled brother Josh, with the help of Sheriff Will Stewart and schoolmarm Holly begin a desperate search. Unfortunately more trouble ensues when they find that toxic waste has transformed their normally peaceable neighbors into scary monsters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wings Hauser, Bo Hopkins, (more)
