Barry Bell Movies
- 2001
Ami Canaan Mann, the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann, follows in her father's footsteps with this, her first feature as a director. Johnny (J.R. Richards) and Trick (Kieran Mulroney) grew up together in a small North Carolina community, but now that they're edging into their thirties and living in New York, their lives have taken different paths; Johnny is still trying to make his mark as a rock musician, while Trick is a low-level advertising man stuck in a failing marriage with Lily (Annabeth Gish). Johnny and Trick have a bitter argument, and Johnny responds by stealing Trick's car; Trick and Lily give chase, with their pal King (Steven Schub), who runs a neighborhood delicatessen, in tow. Eventually, Trick catches up with Johnny, only to discover that he died in an auto accident which he appears to have caused on purpose. When Trick breaks the bad news to Johnny's parents (Tess Harper and Pat Hingle), they express concern that Johnny's strange life and stranger death would make him unfit for a Christian funeral; as a last gift to his friend, Trick sets out to make that possible, though the project soon proves to be a great deal more complicated than he ever imagined. Along the way, Lily begins to develop a new respect for Trick, while King finds romance with Shelly (Laurel Holloman), who works at a supermarket. Morning features an original score co-written by actor J.R. Richards and noted songwriter and instrumentalist Lisa Germano. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kieran Mulroney, Annabeth Gish, (more)
- 1998
Ever since the 1950s, the area around the city of Springfield, Illinois has been plagued by mysterious 3-day abductions, with the victims returning just as quickly as they disappeared, seemingly none the worse for wear. In truth, however, these victims have been harvest by aliens, who, using implants on their human prey, are laying the groundwork for a mass takeover of the world once those implants are activated. But the only person who has an inkling of what is really going on is police detective Sam Adams (Christopher Meloni), a local "character" whom no one takes seriously. Things begin to intensify when Sam investigates the case of a local six-year-old girl who has undergone a sudden change of personality. Dabney Coleman and Chad Lowe play key roles in this made-for-TV derivation of the old favorite Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Target Earth originally aired February 5, 1998, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
When her little nephew visits her and her overbearing sisters, a rather naïve, simple-minded young woman finds herself inundated with terrifying memories of a childhood trauma. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A blend of screwball farce and whodunit murder mystery, this madcap period piece was the brainchild of executive producer George Lucas. In 1939, Penny Henderson (Mary Stuart Masterson) is the harried general secretary and de facto manager of a new fourth radio network, WBN. On the night that the Chicago station goes live on the air, a mysterious voice interrupts, and a series of murders soon follows, each one described by the same sonorous phantom. While Penny and her staff desperately try to keep WBN's roster of shows afloat during the unfolding crisis, her estranged husband Roger (Brian Benben), a staff writer, becomes the chief suspect. Roger is forced to dodge a detective, Lieutenant Cross (Michael Lerner), find the real killer, win Penny back, and perform last-minute script rewrites for an unhappy sponsor. As the backstage hysteria reaches a fever pitch, the show goes on with real-life radio-era pros such as George Burns and Rosemary Clooney. Although never explicitly pointed out in the film, Radioland Murders (1994) was a pseudo-prequel to an earlier Lucas feature -- Roger and Penny are the future parents of Curt Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) from American Graffiti (1973). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Benben, Mary Stuart Masterson, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
The title of this earnest anti-drug drama from distinguished black television journalist Tony Brown, the long-time host of the PBS show Tony Brown's Journal, has a double meaning: it refers to a slang term for cocaine, and also to the deeper problem of the lead character, a woman who has lost touch with her African-American heritage. Kim grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with plenty of love and material things, including a drop-dead gorgeous wardrobe. She was an exceptional high-school student and dreamed of becoming an attorney. She goes to college, discovers cocaine, and finds her life falling apart. Eventually she is convinced to become a member of the Black Student Union and there she meets good-hearted and handsome Bob, a pre-med student who helps her move away from drugs and back to her studies. He is the first African-American boyfriend Kim has ever had. Things look up, until the driven, conniving, drug-addicted Vanessa becomes Kim's dormmate. Vanessa desperately wants to become a TV anchor woman and will do anything, even sleep with studio execs, to get there. She has a terrible influence on the weak-willed Kim and gets her involved in a rapid downward spiral of humiliating sex and increased drug use that results in tragedy for both girls. Ultimately though, it leads to Kim's redemption. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Troy Beyer, Teresa Yvon Farley, (more)
Writer-director Stephen King falls short in his debut at the helm with Maximum Overdrive, an absurd tale about a radiation storm that somehow animates machines across the world, causing them to turn on their makers. The film focuses on a group of survivors held captive at the Dixie Boy Diner by a group of bad-tempered semis. Led by Emilio Estevez, the diner-goers do their impression of Ten Little Indians, waiting their turn until each gets bumped off one by one. There are holes in the plot big enough for the semis to drive through; for example, why don't the trucks run over the diner at the start of the film rather than wait for ninety minutes? Maximum Overdrive's only distinction is that it is, without question, one of the worst films released in the '80s. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, (more)
Character actor Charles Martin Smith directed this quirky horror film about a dead rock star who wreaks vengeance on a small town. When a rock musician is banned from performing at a high school Halloween dance and ends up perishing in a hotel fire, he vows vengeance on the town and comes back from beyond the grave to obliterate the population. He does this through one of his most rabid fans, the nerdy Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price), a high school outsider. He is such a fan that he plays the rock star's final album "Songs in the Key of Death" in reverse, looking for instructions on how to live his life. The rock star willingly obliges Eddie with helpful hints and soon Eddie is able to face down the high school bullies and gain the attention of an attractive girl. But soon Eddie begins to suspect that the ghost is using him. With the ghost intent on destroying the town, Eddie uses his newfound self-confidence to stand up to the ghost and save the town from destruction. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Price, Tony Dean Fields, (more)
- 1983
Tom Conti stars as a drunken Scottish poet who preys upon the lasses of a New England college town by swooning over them with poetry and bedding them with a passion. He'd probably have continued in such fashion for who knows how long, were in not for his encounter with a lovely homespun gal (Kelly McGillis), who sets his head spinning in a lovesick swirl and forces him to get his life on track. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Conti, Kelly McGillis, (more)
- 1977
A married preacher and the woman he had been having an affair with are found brutally murdered. A local religious fanatic, Mose Cooper (director Pat Paterson), is charged with the crime, found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair. However, at the last minute he is reprieved and the authorities arrest a local nutcase named "Crazy Billy" for the crime. The tension increases as residents start to wonder if either one (or neither one) actually committed the crime. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
