Peter Onorati Movies

Martin Scorsese explores the life of organized crime with his gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi's best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life account of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill. Set to a true-to-period rock soundtrack, the story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the "wise guys" in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill (Ray Liotta) is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a "stand-up guy" by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy (Joe Pesci), he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that, like his mentor Jimmy (Robert DeNiro), his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a "made guy," an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings. Goodfellas was rewarded with six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture; Pesci would walk away with Best Supporting Actor for his work. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Mike Nichols lends some comic structure to Carrie Fisher's best-selling confessional novel concerning a woman's struggles with drug addiction and mother-daughter rivalry (subjects Fisher admits to understanding all too well). Meryl Streep, in her most full-blown comic performance up to that point, plays Suzanne Vale, a popular movie actress well on her way to a Hollywood crack-up. Suzanne suffers from blackouts and memory lapses, and awakens in the beds of men she doesn't remember; she is a barely-functioning wreck on the set of her latest movie. When a coke dealer who delivers stops by her dressing room between takes, she swiftly finds herself being rushed to the hospital, suffering the effects of a narcotics bender. While in detox, Suzanne attempts to piece her life and career back together, but her confidence is shattered when her mother arrives at the rehab clinic -- Doris Mann, a famed film icon from the 1950s and 1960s (Shirley MacLaine). Doris is soon soaking up the adulation and applause of Suzanne's fellow recovering drug addicts. Upon Suzanne's release, she must compete with her mother for attention and fame as she tries to walk a thin line as a recovering drug abuser. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV suspense story, Maggie (Victoria Principal) is a divorced mother of two who is invited on a rafting trip by the new man in her life. She is nervous that something could happen along the way, and her intuition proves to be right on the money when one of the members of the rafting party turns out to be a psychopathic killer. Maggie finds herself battling the elements as she tries to escape from the killer, while her former stepson races to find her when he hears about foul play along the river. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this drama a transplant recipient learns the deeply disturbing truth about his donor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Bored Anita (Joanna Pacula) wants to escape small-town life but finds herself stuck in the middle of nowhere until her scientist husband finishes his research in a local swamp. Thus, Anita is understandably thrilled when brother and sister John and Janet Jones move to town and make life interesting; although John is a bit of a nutter, his sister is fun and lively, and she and Anita become fast friends. Unfortunately, things get weird and bodies start piling up, and Anita begins to suspect that maybe her new pal isn't who she claims to be. Paul Bartel and Annabelle Gurwitch co-star. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

The detectives of the 15th investigate the baffling murder of five Ecuardorians at a nightclub. Working undercover, Simone (Jimmy Smits) agrees to do a favor for mobster Joey Salvo (Peter Onorati) -- and then another. Diane (Kim Delaney) and Medavoy (Gordon Clapp) explore the possibility that a girl was raped by her own stepfather. And after office hours, Medavoy keeps his most unusual promise to Abby (Paige Turco). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Simone (Jimmy Smits) regrets his covert participation in an FBI sting against Joey Salvo when he is suspended from the force by Internal Affairs. An arrogant journalist who earlier wrote an article smearing the New York Police Department continues rubbing people the wrong way after he is mugged. And the detectives investigate a particularly vicious murder which, suggests the victim's psychiatrist, may have been perpetrated by the dead woman's father. This final episode of NYPD Blue's fourth season comes to a characteristically jarring climax when Simone and Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) are caught in the crossfire of a mob hit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In NYC's Spanish Harlem, Puerto Rican emigrant Juan Jose (Bryan Burke) enters a new school where he becomes friendly with Joey (Kyle Gibson) and Louie (Mario Renden), who call their new pal J.J. The three unite as a tight trio of close friends, hoping to someday open a bar together. The story leaps 15 years into the future, revealing they never opened the bar. J.J.'s life is beginning to unravel as he moves from cocaine to heroin, and his two buddies take steps to help him. The story features a voiceover narration by J.J., and the soundtrack songs include performances by Otis Rush, Jerry Vale, and Jamie Rollins. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A wacky screwball sex comedy for the kids and grandpa too? Seinfeld's Jason Alexander makes his directorial debut with this gentle but funny coming-of-age story set in 1955 about Lenny (Ryan Merriman), a 14-year-old from the Bronx who is dedicated to witnessing a copulating couple. His early attempts at spying on his mom and her new corpulent husband Polinsky are thwarted when he is sent to live with his aunt Norma and uncle Phil in Queens for the summer. He soon learns that Norma is pregnant. No sex. All looks lost until he meets Hedy (Gretchen Mol), a fetching though lovelorn night nurse. Lenny also befriends the equally randy John, who informs him that he has started a sex club with a couple of neighborhood gals. Though the club is all talk, they all discuss the mechanics of coital engagement with language that is equal parts gutter and sex-ed. Meanwhile, as Lenny spies on Hedy, he inadvertently befriends her. Together they muse about the complexities of love and wistfully remember their respective dead fathers. Just Looking is a sweet-minded film about the great mystery of the teenaged years. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Reggie Rock Bythewood makes his directorial debut with this sharp comedy-drama about love, compromise, and TV. The film opens with the parallel childhoods of Tomasina "Tommy" Crawford (Nicole Ari Parker) and George Washington (Isaiah Washington). Both were utterly shaped by television -- watching Roots was one of the few times that Tommy's parents stopped fighting long enough to sit on the couch together, while George was traumatized by being banned from TV for a month after swiping some church donation cash. As adults, George is a programming executive at the WPX network where fledgling writer Tommy tries to pitch shows. On the strength of both her passion for her craft and her striking good looks, George decides to champion her show called "Just Us," a serio-comedy about a juvenile offender adopted by a judge. They shoot the pilot, the network greenlights the project, and eventually they fall in love. Even though Tommy longs to present her characters in an uncompromised, unvarnished manner, pressure from network execs and advertisers forces her to water down the plot. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi drama, Dr. Peter Crawford (Dennis Hopper), a gifted astronomer, discovers that a massive comet is heading toward Earth. Convinced that a major disaster is imminent, Crawford attempts to convince the world's scientific minds that drastic steps must be taken. No one appears to agree with him, so he begins constructing an underground city, which he plans to populate with a cross-section of intelligent people who will be able to reconstruct civilization after the comet destroys the cities. Jake Lowe (Peter Onorati), a down on his luck photojournalist, gets wind of Crawford's plan and attempts to join the underground community to get the full story from the inside. Tycus also features Finola Hughes and Chick Vennera. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The victims of a rampaging gunman are brought into the ER. It soon develops that the man responsible for the shootings is Derek Fosson (Ted Marcoux), the father of the boy whom Greene (Anthony Edwards) treated for abuse in the previous episode. Fosson is out to kill anyone connected with the foster-care facility where his son is currently residing -- meaning that Greene and his family may be the next targets. Elsewhere, Abby (Maura Tierney) discusses her future with a disapproving Kovac (Goran Visnjic). And Weaver (Laura Innes) confronts Romano (Paul McCrane) over the firing of her former lover Legaspi (Elizabeth Mitchell). This final episode of ER's seventh season ends with a cliffhanger involving a grim life-or-death decision in a hospital elevator. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide