Elya Baskin Movies
Tall, instantly identifiable Eastern European actor Elya Baskin fit the bill in Hollywood for ethnic character portrayals, especially characters with a Slavic background and an amiable demeanor; he also frequently exhibited a slightly zany undercurrent that became something of a trademark. A native of Latvia in the former USSR, Baskin attended Moscow's Theatre and Performing Arts College, then built a formidable reputation on the European stage. He achieved his international breakthrough, however, at the hands of Hollywood giant Paul Mazursky, who cast him opposite Robin Williams as the clownish Russian circus performer Anatoly in the masterful seriocomedy Moscow on the Hudson (1984). (When coupled with the sad demeanor that Baskin projected in that role, the actor's birdlike arm-flapping -- a symbol of the character's need for freedom -- became one of the film's most poignant and memorable images). An additional collaboration with Mazursky followed, the 1989 smash Enemies: A Love Story; in the meantime, Baskin began to rack up a litany of roles in additional A-list projects, including 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), Vice Versa (1988), and Love Affair (1994). The Pickle (1993) re-teamed Baskin and Mazursky for a third occasion; unfortunately, it failed to match the critical or commercial success of its predecessors. Baskin remained in full flower through the end of the following decade, with a memorable comedic turn as Vladimir on the sitcom Mad About You and prominent roles in the big-screen projects Spider-Man 3 and The Dukes (both 2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
After writing, directing, and starring in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, Gene Wilder added the producer's hat to his three-headed beast in The World's Greatest Lover. Wilder plays Rudy Valentine, a Milwaukee baker who enters a talent search in the Hollywood of the 1920s, initiated by movie studio mogul Zitz (Dom DeLuise), to find a new Rudolph Valentino. He travels to Hollywood with his wife Annie (Carol Kane) in hopes of taking a screen test, but Annie falls in love with the real Valentino. Jealous of the Latin Lover, Rudy disguises himself as a sheik in an attempt to look like Valentino. Rudy then invites Annie to a rendezvous at the studio, where he tries to seduce his own wife. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Carol Kane, (more)
- 1979
- R
- Add Butch and Sundance: The Early Days to QueueAdd Butch and Sundance: The Early Days to top of Queue
This "prequel" to the Newman/Redford vehicle Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was written by TV sitcom veteran Allan Burns and stars Tom Berenger as Butch and William Katt as Sundance. The film, per its title, traces the formative days of Butch and Sundance's careers as soft-hearted western outlaws, and their creation of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. There's no Etta Place this time around; the fictional heroine, named Mary, is played by Jill Eikenberry. Only Jeff Corey, as Sheriff Ray Bledsoe, repeats his role from the original film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Katt, Tom Berenger, (more)
Having lived his life as the gardener on a millionaire's estate, Chance (Peter Sellers) knows of the real world only what he has seen on TV. When his benefactor dies, Chance walks aimlessly into the streets of Washington D.C., where he is struck by a car owned by wealthy Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). Identifying himself, the confused man mutters "Chance...gardener," which Eve takes to be "Chauncey Gardiner." Eve takes him to her home to convalesce, and because Chance is so well-dressed and well-groomed, and because he speaks in such a cultured tone, everyone in her orbit assumes that "Chauncey Gardiner" must be a man of profound intelligence. No matter what he says, it is interpreted as a pearl of wisdom and insight. He rises to the top of Washington society, where his simplistic responses to the most difficult questions (responses usually related to his gardening experience) are highly prized by the town's movers and shakers. In fact, there is serious consideration given to running Chance as a presidential candidate. Both a modern fable and a political satire, Being There was based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski and costars Melvyn Douglas, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Eve's aging power-broker husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, (more)
- 1980
- PG
This box-office bomb is about some schemers' hell-bent efforts to raise the fated vessel from its murky grave when they suspect that there's a fortune in radioactive cargo aboard. To add a little excitement, a bunch of Russians decide they want to get there first. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Robards, Jr., Richard Jordan, (more)
This belated sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is directed by Peter Hyams. Roy Scheider plays the astronaut/skipper of a U.S.-Soviet space mission, sent to find out what happened to the missing Discovery flight that carried Keir Dullea into the beyond in the original 2001. Scheider's polyglot crew includes Americans John Lithgow and Bob Balaban (the latter a computer whiz, responsible for the notorious HAL 9000) and Russians Helen Mirren, Elya Baskin and Natasha Schneider. The reason for this international mixture is that the world is on the brink of nuclear war, and it is hoped that the space mission will assure east-west solidarity (in this respect, 2010 dates far more than 2001, given the collapse of the Iron Curtain). When the astronauts catch up with Dullea, still in orbit around Jupiter, producer/director/writer Hyams attempts to demystify the enigmatic climax of 2001. Arthur C. Clarke, author of the story upon which 2001 was based, appears in 2010 as a man on a park bench. Incidentally, the voice-over credited to Olga Mallsnerd is actually Candice Bergen. (The name Mallsnerd is a play on the name of one of the characters created by her ventriloquist father Edgar.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, (more)
Robin Williams stars as Vladimir Ivanoff, a Russian sax player working in a circus whose home life with his warm and colorful family does not compensate for his feelings of repression and lost opportunity in his native land. When the circus comes to New York, Williams goes on a shopping trip to Bloomingdale's -- where he suddenly announces his intention to defect. Befriended and given a place to stay by security guard Lionel Witherspoon (Cleavant Derricks), Vladimir makes the slow and sometimes painful transition from Russian to American citizen, helped along by his lady love (and fellow immigrant), Lucia Lombardo (Maria Conchita Alonso), and immigration attorney (and onetime Cuban refugee) Orlando Ramirez (Fernando Rey). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, (more)
- 1985
Nick Mancuso stars in the made-for-TV Embassy. Cast as an American ambassador stationed in Rome, Mancuso's life is thrown into turmoil by a crucial computer chip. When not trying to keep U.S. defense secrets from falling into the wrong hands, he must juggle the affections of his press-attache-girlfriend, (Mimi Rogers), and his girlfriend's chief rival (Blanche Baker). Embassy was intended as the 2-hour pilot for a weekly series; it didn't sell, but Nick Mancuso's next venture in the TV-pilot field, Stingray, proved successful. Embassy was initially telecast on April 21, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted from Umberto Eco's best-selling novel, director Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose is a 14th century murder-mystery thriller starring Sean Connery as a Sherlock Holmes-esque Franciscan monk called William of Baskerville. When a murder occurs at a secluded Benedictine Abbey, William is called in to investigate. As he and his apprentice, Adson von Melk (Christian Slater), delve deeper and deeper into the case, more dead bodies begin to turn up. Eventually, Bernardo Gui, an inquisitor played by F. Murray Abraham gets involved, but he may not have the best intentions. Sean Connery's performance earned him the award for Best Actor at the 1988 British Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
- 1986
In this youthful film, to juvenile delinquents must spend a year in a military academy. They immediately begin driving their superior officers crazy. The film is also titled Combat Academy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Culp, Keith Gordon, (more)
- 1986
- R
Klaus Maria Brandauer stars in this drama as Alek Neuman, a one-time boxing champion in the Soviet Union. While he was one of the top-ranked Russian fighters of his day, he was never allowed to box in the Olympics, because the Soviets would not permit Jews to compete on their national teams. Many years later, an elderly Alek is able to emigrate to the United States; he settles in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, where he makes ends meet as a dishwasher. Alek is depressed and starts sinking into alcoholism until he meets Timmy Boyle (Adrian Pasdar) and Roland Jenkins (Wesley Snipes), two up-and-coming amateur boxers. Alek thinks that the two young fighters have potential, and he offers to coach them. While Timmy and Roland aren't sure at first if they trust Alek (or each other), in time they grow to respect each other, and it looks as if they may make the United States Olympic team -- where they may fight against the Russian team that wouldn't accept Alek years before. Brandauer won critical acclaim for his performance in Streets of Gold, which also featured Wesley Snipes several years before his breakthrough role in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Klaus Maria Brandauer, Adrian Pasdar, (more)
A magical jeweled skull makes the wish of 11-year-old Charlie (Fred Savage) come true in this routine but entertaining situation comedy. Charlie wishes he can switch places with his father Marshall (Judge Reinhold), a shallow junior executive of a toy-manufacturing company. Marshall retains his adult form but has the mind of an 11 year old. Charlie still looks 11 but has all the cynical wisdom and experience of his father. The switch provides for many amusing episodes, as father and son try to cope in each other's worlds. Marshall (as Charlie) goes to school while Charlie (as Marshall) tackles the pressures of the corporate boardroom. The performances of Reinhold and Savage are the highlights of this amusing comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, (more)
Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham helmed this sea-monster opus about a team of engineers on an undersea missile platform who disturb the slumber of a huge, killer crustacean, which soon develops a taste for human-flavored snacks. The rubbery-looking beastie is quite a laugh, but there are some genuine freak-outs as it chomps away at the crew -- that is, while they're not reducing their own numbers through sheer incompetence. In the end, it's B.J. & the Bear's Greg Evigan (alas, minus chimp) who saves the day. One of a dozen-or-so subaqueous Alien clones (half of which were produced by Roger Corman) designed to trade on the building hype of James Cameron's long-awaited The Abyss, this soggy little picture managed to reach theaters first. Not that it's the least impressive of the lot -- actually, it succeeds on its own terms as a thoroughly intense and fast-paced "B"-monster flick, aided by good performances (Evigan is a likable, sensitive hero, and Miguel Ferrer quaffs the scenery as a high-strung jerk). At least it's better than Leviathan, which tells essentially the same story but wastes considerably more money. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Taurean Blacque, Nancy Everhard, (more)
Ron Silver stars as Herman, a Holocaust survivor who believes that his wife Tamara (Anjelica Huston) perished in the concentration camps. He marries fellow immigrant Yadwiga (Margaret Sophie Stein), whose family sheltered him from the Nazis, and resettles in the Coney Island area of New York. Not all that devoted to Yadwiga, Herman begins an affair with Masha (Lena Olin), who becomes pregnant by him. Reasoning that, since Yadwiga is a gentile, his marriage is not legal in the eyes of his religion, Herman marries Masha as well. The triangle metamorphoses into a quadrangle when Tamara, who was not killed after all, reappears. Olin and Huston were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Silver, Anjelica Huston, (more)
- 1992
When four bright young adolescents formulate secret plans (based on some of their toys) in blueprint form, suddenly the kids find themselves on everyone's most wanted list when the KGB is sold these plans and the CIA would really like to talk to the kids about it. Good family movie. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
Paul Mazursky directed this comedy, which blends a broad satire of the film industry with a thoughtful tale of a middle-aged man looking back on his life's failures. Harry Stone (Danny Aiello) is a film director who desperately needs a hit -- so desperately that he gets talked into directing an inane sci-fi film about a group of farm kids (led by Ally Sheedy) who grow an enormous pickle that they turn into a spaceship, allowing them to visit the planet Cleveland (ruled by Little Richard and his right hand man, Griffin Dunne) where everyone eats nothing but meat. Convinced that the film will flop, Harry is in a state of panic as he returns to New York with his Parisian girlfriend Francoise (Clotilde Courau), a mere 20 years his junior, and visits his ex-wife Ellen (Dyan Cannon); his mother Yetta (Shelley Winters); and his son Gregory (Chris Penn). Meanwhile Harry flashes back on his childhood and the film he could have made of it, and pitches his dream film (a historical epic about the life of Montezuma) to studio executives, who instead want him to make a movie kids can relate to. The Pickle was filmed in 1991, but only received a token theatrical release two years later. Actually, the sci-fi story with Little Richard as the undisputed ruler of Cleveland looks like it might have been an ideal vehicle for Edward D. Wood Jr.. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Aiello, Dyan Cannon, (more)
The 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer romance Love Affair, remade with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in 1957 as An Affair to Remember, became a vehicle for real-life couple Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in this 1994 rendition. The well-worn story remains the same, as a man and a woman, both engaged to other people, fall madly in love while traveling, indulge in a brief but intense affair, then agree to part and sort out their feelings. They are to meet again at the top of the Empire State Building if their feelings persist, but a series of unfortunate circumstances threatens to keep the lovers apart. Despite polished visuals and a time-tested narrative, this variation suffers in comparison to its two predecessors, not to mention the previous year's Sleepless in Seattle, which had drawn on An Affair to Remember for several of its most memorable sequences. It does features Katherine Hepburn's first film appearance in 13 years. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, (more)
- 1995
The job of a television producer can be highly stressfull and greatly under-appreciated, as Artie (Rip Torn) finds out when little things around the office begin to add up. After Artie's close friend Ryan O'Neal is bumped from an appearance on the show, Hank's (Jeffrey Tambor) incessant complaining and Larry's (Garry Shandling) indifference begin to grate on the already high-strung Artie. After he befriends Russian janitor Nikolae (Elya Baskin) while burning the midnight oil, the newfound friends leave obscene messages on Larry's machine to blow off some steam. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The first of several sight gag and slapstick-rich comedies he produced without the team of Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams, this lowbrow comedy from executive producer and star Leslie Nielsen suffers by comparison to his work with the "ZAZ" team. Nielsen plays Dick Steele, secret agent WD-40, called out of retirement to stop the world-conquering plans of his old nemesis, General Rancor (Andy Griffith), an armless madman determined to avenge himself upon Steele (who is responsible for Rancor's lack of appendages). With the help of Russian agent Veronique Ukrinsky (Nicolette Sheridan), Steele prepares to battle Rancor at his tropical island lair, where the daughter of Steele's long-ago love is being held captive. Along the way, such films as True Lies (1994), Speed (1994), Jurassic Park (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) are spoofed. Director Richard Friedberg had previously directed Nielsen in a series of automobile rental commercials and goofy "how-to" golf videos. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, (more)
- 1996
Though told to give up coffee during her pregnancy, Jamie (Helen Hunt) must somehow stay awake while burning the midnight oil on Lance Brockwell's political campaign. Meanwhile, Paul tries to decide how best to spend a large financial grant. Coming to Paul's rescue (if not Jamie's) is his aphorism-spouting Uncle Phil (guest star Mel Brooks). With this episode, Harry Groener replaces Alan Ruck as Lance Brockwell. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1996
Paul (Paul Reiser) and Jamie (Helen Hunt) very belatedly keep an appointment with a therapist. This creates a major conflict with Paul's family, who are primed to begin helping him film his latest documentary project, "Buchman." Mo Gaffney makes her first series appearance as pragmatic therapist Sheila Kleinman. ~ All Movie Guide
In this action drama, Harrison Ford plays James Marshall, a onetime combat hero in the Vietnam War who is now President of the United States. While visiting the former Soviet Union, Marshall gives a speech in which he supports a get-tough attitude against both terrorists and a right-wing general and war criminal from Kazakhstan imprisoned in Moscow, earning him few friends in the Eastern Bloc. While flying back to the United States aboard Air Force One, Marshall and his staff discover that one of the journalists returning with them is actually Ivan Korshunov (Gary Oldman), a Kazakhstani terrorist, who hijacks the plane with three associates and holds the president hostage -- with his wife and daughter on board. Marshall must use his strength and intelligence to keep the terrorists at bay and devise a plan to allow his family to escape to safety, while on the ground the vice-president (Glenn Close), the secretary of defense (Dean Stockwell), and the attorney general (Philip Baker Hall) grapple over what to do and how much control to take in this crisis. Slam-bang action sequences and plot twists fly fast and furious in this nail-biter from director Wolfgang Petersen, who previously generated suspense under water (rather than in the air) with Das Boot. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, (more)
- 1997
Three years after the cancellation of her popular series Murder She Wrote, Angela Lansbury returns for the first of several TV-movie followups to that selfsame series. Once again, Lansbury is cast as Jessica Fletcher, best-selling mystery writer and amateur sleuth. As indicated by the film's title, Hitchcock references abound in the plotline, beginning when a lady vanishes on the train that Jessica is taking to El Paso to deliver a lecture. Helpful Jessica accepts a message for the mystery woman, whereupon she is attacked by an assailant in search of "it." Our heroine is rescued by a journalist who may not be a journalist, then when attempting to ascertain the missing woman's whereabouts Jessica is warned to mind her own business by a guy identifying himself as an FBI agent. Inasmuch as such warnings have never stopped Jessica in the past, she follows the trail of clues to the desert town of Agua Verde, Arizona, adopting a few aliases alng the way. The climax is an echo of Hitch's The 39 Steps, wherein Jessica not only solves the mystery but also unmasks the Least Likely Suspect (or in this case, Least Likely Suspects). Produced and directed by Angela Lansbury's sons, Murder She Wrote: South by Southwest first aired November 2, 1997 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
The title character in this episode manages to disrupt the lives of Paul and Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt, Paul Reiser) without even trying. Complicating matters is Jamie's insistence upon seeing all sorts of sinister conspiracies at her workplace -- the result of a quick reading of Julius Caesar. And incidentally, you can't sneak up on a cockatoo the way they did on Daktari. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
