Lenny Montana Movies
- 1982
- PG
Tom Smothers and Carol Kane co-star with Paul Reubens and Judge Reinhold in this uneven comedy spoof of slasher films. Sergeant Cooper (Smothers) is a Canadian Mountie who investigates the death of cheerleaders attending a summer camp at Indiana's It Had To Be University. Cameo appearances by Eve Arden, Kaye Ballard, Eileen Brennan, Tab Hunter, and Donald O'Connor fail to add anything to the thin, sophomoric plot. This film should not be confused with the similarly titled 1988 Australian feature directed by Hadyn Keenan. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Smothers, Carol Kane, (more)
- 1982
Robin Masters dispatches Magnum (Tom Selleck) to Sicily to rescue the beauteous Katrina Tremaine (Ann Dusenberry) from the clutches of a nobleman with alleged mob ties. Once his job is done, Magnum returns to Hawaii and his current girlfriend Margo Perrina (Mimi Rogers). Unfortunately, Katrina has fallen in love with Magnum and follows him home--not only jeopardizing our hero's love life, but also his life, period! Further complicating matters is that shady-looking group of "tourists" whom T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) is guiding around the Islands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Professional weirdo Clint Howard plays one of his more interesting oppressed-geek roles in this occult revenge thriller about a tormented military-school nerd (apparently in his mid-thirties!) whose personal computer provides the only solace from the endless taunts and pranks of his fellow cadets. He also has an intense fascination with the occult, leading him to investigate an arcane tome secreted within an ancient, crumbling chapel. In an attempt to decipher the text, he feeds it into the computer, which translates the writings into actual working spells. As Clint's mind reels with the possibilities of sweet revenge against his cruel classmates and teachers, the demonic forces once trapped within the book begin to exert control over his mind and body. Before long, he is able to summon an army of snarling devil-pigs (no, that's not a misprint) to do his evil bidding. Though this is essentially a gender-bent rip-off of Carrie, there is enough in the way of spooky atmosphere and well-staged shocks to keep less discriminating horror fans interested. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Howard, R.G. Armstrong, (more)
- 1981
- R
Director Robert Aldrich's last film, All the Marbles stars Peter Falk as a "win-at-all-costs" type manager of a ladies tag-team wrestling combo. These girls are good and Falk wants them great. And he doesn't really care what they've got to do to get there. (This film's "R" rating is not for Raunchy, but it could be for "Revealing.") Following sort of a Rocky theme, this film finds our ladies tag team climbing its way to the top of the women's wrestling world where they face off against the world's best. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Vicki Frederick, (more)
After the death of Bruce Lee in 1973, writer/director Robert Clouse made several attempts to reproduce the success of his Enter the Dragon, which belatedly made Lee a household name in America. Clouse felt (with good reason) that Jackie Chan could be the next big martial arts star in America, and he crafted this feature with him in mind. Jerry Kwan (Chan) is a Korean immigrant trying to make good in Chicago in the 1930s. Work isn't easy to find for an Asian immigrant. Jerry is forced by Domenici (Jose Ferrer), a well-connected mobster, to represent him in a no-holds-barred, winner-take-all battle in Texas. But can Jerry handle the pressure? The Big Brawl was Jackie Chan's first starring role in an American film, but Chan wouldn't break through in the United States until the 1996 U.S. release of Rumble in the Bronx. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Chan, José Ferrer, (more)
Carl Reiner directs Steve Martin (who co-wrote the script with Carl Gottlieb) in this gag-laden comedy about an idiotic white man, raised by a poor family of black sharecroppers, who doesn't realize he's not black. Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin) is told the horrible truth when he finds himself instinctively tapping his feet to an easy listening tune on the radio, instead of a low-down blues. His mother (Mabel King) tells him he's white and Navin takes to the road (in a World War II bomber helmet and goggles) to start a new life in St. Louis. A filling station owner, Harry Hartounian (Jackie Mason), give Navin his first break, hiring him to pump gas. One day at the station, Navin has a brainstorm, concocting an invention called "The Opti-grab," a combination handle and nose-brace for eyeglasses. But Navin runs into trouble when a crazed killer (M. Emmet Walsh) picks out his name at random from the telephone book and tries to kill him. Navin escapes to a traveling carnival, where he wrangles a job as the "guess-your-weight" man. At the carnival, he discovers his sexual nature, thanks to stunt rider and S&M enthusiast Patty Bernstein (Catlin Adams). But Navin meets the beautiful Marie (Bernadette Peters) and he quickly falls in love. In the meantime, the "Opti-grab" has taken off and soon Navin is a millionaire. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, (more)
- 1979
- R
Cycle-flick veteran William Smith stars as the head of a highly trained US intelligence team, each with the requisite invaluable "special talent." Headquartered in Hawaii, the team aims its sights on a powerful crime syndicate. Since the syndicate's henchmen are all martial arts experts, a combination of brawn and brains will be required throughout. The title alludes to the seven mobsters who must be wiped out by Smith & company in order to collect their $7 million reward. One gag in Seven was later appropriated (unconsciously or otherwise) by Raiders of the Lost Ark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Smith, Barbara Leigh, (more)
- 1979
- PG
Although it is far from a perfectly contrived drama, Defiance has its moments of high emotions and rising fear. Tommy (Jan Michael Vincent) takes up temporary housing in a New York neighborhood plagued by a violent gang, the Souls. Tommy is waiting for his next assignment as a seaman and though he tries to avoid the gang and his neighbors, it does not work. Soon he is single-handedly battling the Souls and not only changing their attitudes, but the attitudes of his previously intimidated neighbors as well. They quickly back him up as the one person who can make the neighborhood safe again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Theresa Saldana, (more)
- 1978
- PG
In this broad, occasionally slapstick comedy, Dewey and Wallace (Tim Conway and Chuck McCann) are small-town lawmen who are trying to find out where some thieves have hidden their money. With the help of the governor of their state, they are able to enter the prison where the thieves are incarcerated, posing as convicted criminals in the hopes of getting the information from them. When the governor dies without informing anyone of the ruse, they are trapped in prison, as no one else knows their true identity. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Conway, Chuck McCann, (more)
- 1978
The final episode of Kojak features an impressive non-comic performance by Danny Thomas) as Howard Brocure, a hard-nosed, by-the-book police inspector who commandeers Kojak's investigation of an upsurge in mob violence. As the case progresses, Brocure turns out to be more hindrance than help, but Kojak (Telly Savalas) is duty-bound to give the veteran inspector a wide berth. As it turns out, Brocure is going through a "Captain Queeg"-like breakdown as a result of being passed over for promotion--and his desperate efforts to restore his reputation may prove dangerous for everyone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- G
A novel by Paul Gallico provides the plot for this tale of a down-on-his-luck boxing promoter (Elliott Gould). In desperation, he plots a match between the heavyweight champion of the world (Larry Pennell) and a kangaroo. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Robert Mitchum, (more)
Jimmy Angelelli (Harvey Keitel) wants to be a concert pianist. Jimmy's dad, Ben Angelelli (Michael V. Gazzo), wants his son to go into the family business. So far, so banal. But the "family business" depicted in Fingers is organized crime, and therein lies the film's perverse appeal. Fingers represents the directorial debut of screenwriter James Toback, who also wrote the script. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Tisa Farrow, (more)
- 1977
Contract on Cherry Street represented Frank Sinatra's TV movie debut--an event deemed worthy of a TV Guide cover story. Sinatra plays NYPD veteran Deputy Inspector Frank Hovannes, in charge of a special unit set up to battle organized crime. The murder of Hovannes' partner, coupled with departmental restrictions and legalities, leads the Inspector to organize a semi-vigilante group with three other like-minded officers. They murder an underworld honcho, in hopes of triggering a mob war that will result in the decimation of every gangster in the Big Apple. Edward Anhalt's script for Contract on Cherry Street can't make up its mind whether to emulate The Godfather or Kojak. Sinatra's own Artanis Productions was responsible for this film, so any praise or blame must ultimately fall upon Ol' Blue Eyes' shoulders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Martin Balsam, (more)
Popularly viewed as one of the best American films ever made, the multi-generational crime saga The Godfather is a touchstone of cinema: one of the most widely imitated, quoted, and lampooned movies of all time. Marlon Brando and Al Pacino star as Vito Corleone and his youngest son, Michael, respectively. It is the late 1940s in New York and Corleone is, in the parlance of organized crime, a "godfather" or "don," the head of a Mafia family. Michael, a free thinker who defied his father by enlisting in the Marines to fight in World War II, has returned a captain and a war hero. Having long ago rejected the family business, Michael shows up at the wedding of his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton), who learns for the first time about the family "business." A few months later at Christmas time, the don barely survives being shot by gunmen in the employ of a drug-trafficking rival whose request for aid from the Corleones' political connections was rejected. After saving his father from a second assassination attempt, Michael persuades his hotheaded eldest brother, Sonny (James Caan), and family advisors Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) and Sal Tessio (Abe Vigoda) that he should be the one to exact revenge on the men responsible.
After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
After murdering a corrupt police captain and the drug trafficker, Michael hides out in Sicily while a gang war erupts at home. Falling in love with a local girl, Michael marries her, but she is later slain by Corleone enemies in an attempt on Michael's life. Sonny is also butchered, having been betrayed by Connie's husband. As Michael returns home and convinces Kay to marry him, his father recovers and makes peace with his rivals, realizing that another powerful don was pulling the strings behind the narcotics endeavor that began the gang warfare. Once Michael has been groomed as the new don, he leads the family to a new era of prosperity, then launches a campaign of murderous revenge against those who once tried to wipe out the Corleones, consolidating his family's power and completing his own moral downfall. Nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Adapted Screenplay, The Godfather was followed by a pair of sequels. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, (more)
