Dan Mason Movies
- 2000
Best-selling mystery writer P.K. Todd (Ruthie Henshall) is shot in her apartment. Not long afterward, Todd's accountant dies. Could all this have been the result of a love triangle? And how do those two FBI agents figure into the story? To quote the original ad copy for this episode, "You WON'T BELIEVE how this one ends." Tom Berenger makes a guest appearance as Dean Tyler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Though technologically advanced far beyond most other worlds, the planet Aldea is populated by a sterile race in danger of extinction. Hoping to repopulate their world, the Aldeans kidnap a group of Enterprise children, including Wesley Crusher. It is up to Wesley's mother, the Enterprise's medical officer, to solve the Aldeans' dilemma and reclaim the stolen children. Written by Hannah Louise Shearer, "When the Bough Breaks" made its syndicated debut on February 20, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"Daddy" is Dermot Mulroney--a high-school-age kid who has no clue of what he's in for. Mulroney has gotten his girlfriend Patricia Arquette pregnant, less out of callousness than naivete. Arquette drops out of school, thinking she can drop back in anytime, while Mulroney puts his music lessons on hold for the "duration," also treating the situation as temporary. The film is remarkable in conveying the principles' utter lack of preparedness for their upcoming parental responsibilities. Some critics felt that the film should have been required viewing for teens who think themselves wise beyond their years simply because they've discovered sex. Made for TV, Daddy was first telecast April 5, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Trailer-park teenager Lance Guest regularly escapes from his humdrum existence by playing the video game Starfighter. His expertise at this recreational endeavor attracts the attention of affable stranger Robert Preston. Before he knows what's happening, Guest is whisked by Preston into the outer reaches of the galaxy! It turns out that the Starfighter game is being played in deadly earnest in outer space, and that Guest is expected to join Preston's Star League, then do battle with the wicked Kodan forces. Guest's principal ally is the lizardlike Grig (Dan O'Herlihy--and we didn't recognize him either). His great rival is the traitorous Xur (Norman Snow). The contrast between Guest's earthbound life as the son of single-mother Barbara Bosson and his new position as Starfighter is daunting at first, but soon the boy is manning a spacecraft and zapping the baddies as though he's been doing it all his life. The Last Starfighter was clearly designed with "sequel" in mind: giveaways include the resurrection of a "dead" character and the surprisingly casual escape of the villain. While the film didn't stir up enough business to warrant a sequel, the Starfighter video game remained a much-sought-after commodity by joystick-happy "warriors" all over the country. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Guest, Robert Preston, (more)
- 1984
Bikinis and rippling, manly muscles abound in this lively, youth-oriented Southern California-set adventure that chronicles the experiences of a curvaceous high school graduate who decides to work as a life guard for a summer before going to med school. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julianne Phillips, Ted Shackelford, (more)
- 1980
Bette Davis is White Mama in this custom-made TV movie. Ms. Davis plays a poverty-stricken widow who is too proud to go on welfare. Aware that she can receive a steady income if she takes in a foster child, Davis becomes surrogate mother to tough black teenager Ernest Harden Jr. The relationship is shaky at best in the beginning, but soon foster mother and foster "child" learn to love, respect and trust one another. Originally telecast March 3, 1980, White Mama garnered an Emmy nomination for Bette Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- R
Roommates arrived at the tail end of the 1960s Youth Trip. A group of teens are so disgusted with the adult establishment that they decide to shack up together. For the next 97 minutes, the kids expound at wheezy length about the evils of the older generation. Naturally, they intend to create a better world (which of course, they did....not). The only recognizable member of the cast is the decidedly over-30 Allen Garfield. The incidental music by Earth Opera is one of the few redeeming features of Roommates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
