David McCharen Movies

In this romantic comedy-drama, two people whose lives were touched by the same tragedy find love. Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck) is a successful L.A. advertising executive who has a way with the ladies, but inside he longs for a meaningful long-term relationship. One day Buddy sells his seat on a sold-out airline flight to a stranger; he's shocked when the jet crashes and the man is killed. A year later, still haunted by the incident, Buddy looks up Abby Janello (Gwyneth Paltrow), the victim's widow, who is now selling real estate to support her children. Buddy soon finds himself attracted to Abby, and the feeling is mutual, but while he's interested in marriage, he isn't sure how (or if) he should tell her that he was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. Bounce was written and directed by Don Roos, who made a splash with his independent debut The Opposite of Sex; supporting Affleck and Paltrow are Natasha Henstridge, Jennifer Grey, David Paymer, and Joe Morton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Laurence Fishburne and Ellen Barkin star in this complex tale of former C.I.A. agents who now specialize in freelance espionage. As the film opens, Nelson Crowe (Fishburne) is being interviewed for a position with the Grimes Organization, which focuses on industrial espionage. He is hired by Margaret Wells (Barkin), who then takes Crowe to her boss, Grimes (Frank Langella). Grimes and Wells visit a man named Walter Curl (Spalding Gray) to tell him that they can bribe a state judge so that Curl's company doesn't have to pay a $25 million fine for the toxic poisoning of some children. The judge himself (David Ogden Stiers) is deep in gambling debts. Meanwhile, Wells aligns herself with Crowe and tries to convince him that the two of them could do away with Grimes and take over his entire organization. The plot thickens from there, with several surprises. The first-time original screenplay is by famous crime writer Ross Thomas, ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

This stop-motion animated fable was a big hit when it was released -- not only at the box office, but critically. It was praised for its stunning originality and for the excellence of its execution. In addition, it was praised for being a completely absorbing fable that both grownups and children can enjoy, so long as the children are able to its handle scary bits (beginning perhaps at age seven or eight). In the story, Jack Skellington (voice of Chris Sarandon) is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, a realm of reality where the inhabitants make it their life's work to scare humans on Halloween. He's good at his work, and is very popular around town, but it all bores him. In a funk one day, he wanders into a wood where every tree is the doorway to realms serving one or another human holiday, and falls through the doorway into Christmas. There, he sees scenes of such glee and good will that he is overwhelmed. He returns to Halloweentown with the inspiration to persuade his fellow citizens to kidnap Santa and do Christmas in their own Halloweentown way -- complete with snakes and shrunken heads. Despite strong arguments against this project by Jack's otherwise loyal girlfriend, Sally (voice of Catherine O'Hara), Santa (voice of Edward Ivory) is duly captured, and the townspeople prepare a very special Christmas for everyone. Jack is excited about the new plan, and at first doesn't notice that Sally isn't around much anymore. Meanwhile, Oogie Boogie (voice of Ken Page), a sinister opponent of Jack's, has re-kidnapped Santa and has captured Sally as well. Since Sally is the true love of Jack's life and (he eventually realizes) the only one who can be relied upon to tell him the truth in every circumstance, a confrontation with Oogie Boogie becomes inevitable. In addition to being a monumental work of animation (it took over 120 animators and many more technicians more than two years to film it), this show features ten very appropriate musical numbers by composer Danny Elfman, who also supplies Jack's singing voice. In October 2006, fans of the innovative animated classic got to experience The Nightmare Before Christmas in a whole new dimension when the film was re-released into theaters in Disney Digital 3-D -- a process developed to add remarkable new depth to films that were originally released in standard 2-D. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The crime-fighting Turtles -- Michaelangelo (Michelan Sisti), Donatello (Leif Tilden), Raphael (Kenn Troum), and Leonardo (Mark Caso) -- return in this quickly made sequel to the popular superheroes' first film. The story concerns arch-enemy Shredder, who kidnaps nutty professor Jordan Perry David Warner, the man who invented the infamous ooze, in order to use the ooze to destroy the Turtles. Shredder enlists his hapless German shepherd puppy named Rahzar and a baby snapping turtle named Toko and dips them in the ooze to turn them into horrible and imposing ninja warriors. But on the Turtles' side is proficient kick-boxing pizza boy Keno (Ernie Reyes Jr.), who uses his moves to help the Turtles stop Shredder and his monster warriors. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie is the live-action, feature film adaptation of the cult comic book and the popular animated television show. After prolonged exposure to radiation, four teenage turtles--Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello--have mutated into ninjas and have begun living in the sewers of a large city. Under the guidance of a ninja master Splinter the Rat and television reporter April, the Turtles embark on a mission to run crime out of the city and battle the warlord Shredder. The Turtles have been designed by Jim Henson Productions and effortlessly fit into the live-action surroundings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

In the late '80s, good-time girl Stacy (Lea Thompson) and her timid friend, Melissa (Victoria Jackson), decide to hit a health spa for singles in hopes of spicing up their unfulfilled sex lives. Afraid of AIDS, Stacy has gone celibate, while Melissa has only ever managed to get it on with two lame guys. Arriving at the resort, the women spend their time working out, flirting with staff members, making friends and enemies with their fellow singles, and avoiding the attentions of the oafish Vinny (Andrew Dice Clay). When a cruel psychologist plays mind games with Melissa, she finds solace with Vinny, then flees the spa, interrupting an incipient romance between Stacy and a cute aerobics instructor. Wendy Goldman and Judy Toll adapted their own stage play, while Casual Sex? provided director Genevieve Robert her only feature credit to date. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

"Fatal attraction" has become a household term for love turned to murderous obsession, thanks to the success of Adrian Lyne's 1987 movie. Dan (Michael Douglas) is a family man whose one-night affair with Alex (Glenn Close) turns into a nightmare when she insists on continuing the relationship, claiming to be carrying his baby. Alex systematically terrorizes Dan, even temporarily kidnapping his daughter, in her attempts to win back his affection. Douglas' besieged family man guiltily tries to preserve his marriage and family from the consequences of his own indiscretion. Close's performance as the love-struck psycho-siren remains her signature role: She conveys the buried feminist message of the film in her challenge to Dan to take responsibility for his sexual behavior. Though many critics acknowlegded the film's striking similarities to Clint Eastwood's 1971 film Play Misty for Me, Fatal Attraction spawned numerous other movies about middle-class families besieged by a lone psychotic intent on infiltrating and destroying the fabric of the family unit, including The Stepfather (1987), Pacific Heights (1990), The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992), and Fear (1996). ~ Laura Abraham, Rovi

A humorous and skilful parody of the cliches and plot contrivances of 50's horror films, this monster movie is set in California, where closets can be large and quite important. The monster (Kevin Peter Hall) is straight out of Alien, if not quite as gruesome. It hides out in closets and wait for victims to unsuspectingly grab a shirt or slacks. After several closet deaths, a San Francisco obituary writer (Donald Grant) is sent to cover the story. He soon teams up with a science teacher (Denise DuBarry) and her son, a super-smart child prodigy, and they set out to solve the murders. The plot thickens when the gruff, brash Gen. Turnbull (Donald Moffat) enters the picture. It seems the monster is bullet-proof, laser-proof and bomb-proof -- a challenge to capture, kill, or subdue. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This lively, funny Faerie Tale Theatre production of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is about a thumb-sized girl (Carrie Fisher) who has to find her way back home after being kidnapped by a toad and a mole. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Based on the long-running comic strip created by E.C. Segar (and less on the animated cartoons created by Max Fleischer, which were decidedly different in tone and approach), Popeye follows the sailor man with the mighty arms (played by Robin Williams in his first major film role) as he arrives in the seaside community of Sweethaven in search of his long-lost father. Popeye meets and quickly falls for the slender Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall, in the role she was born to play), but Olive's hand has already been promised to the hulking Bluto (Paul Smith), of whom Olive can say little except, well, he's large. Eventually, Popeye and Olive are brought together by Swee' Pea (Wesley Ivan Hurt), an adorable foundling, and Popeye finally meets his dad, Poopdeck Pappy (Ray Walston). Director Robert Altman in no way tempered his trademark style for this big-budget family opus, crowding the screen with a variety of characters and allowing his cast to overlap as much dialogue as they want. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi