Donna Kei Benz Movies
- 1971
For their "fifth honeymoon," Oliver and Lisa take a trip to Hawaii. They arrive at their hotel secure in the knowledge that they have reserved the Honeymoon suite. What they don't know is that the daughter (Pamela Franklin) of the hotel's owner (Don Porter) has secretly arranged for her newlywed friend to take over the suite -- and as result, both couples unwittingly end up sharing the same quarters! This (Green Acres) episode was intended as the pilot for a spinoff series starring Don Porter and Pamela Franklin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Porter, Pamela Franklin, (more)
This fun, silly thriller written and directed by Michael Crichton manages to combine the dramatic murders of beautiful models, a secret conspiracy to use TV commercials for mind-control, and an unusual seeing-eye device which makes the wearer invisible. Plastic surgeon Larry Roberts (Albert Finney) becomes the prime suspect after two models on whom he operated are killed. Larry becomes suspicious because both of the women came into his office asking for very precise and seemingly unnecessary physical alterations. Agreeing to operate, because the women's jobs depended on the surgery, Larry must now clear his own name and save his life and career. With the aid of a friend and model Cindy (Susan Dey), Larry discovers and foils the plot led by corporation-head John Reston (James Coburn). Larry must then fight for his life against Reston's thugs who are equipped with the devices, called "Lookers." This is good, if silly fun and Albert Finney does his best with a somewhat implausible script. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, James Coburn, (more)
- 1986
- R
In this provocative and scary supernatural thriller, a brides happy honeymoon aboard an Acapulco-bound yacht with her husband, two of his buddies from Vietnam and their girl friends, turns to terror when someone or something begins to kill them one by one. In the end, only she lives to tell the grisly tale via flashback. It seems that the killings have something to do with the terrible things the veterans did to the innocent back during the war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Britt Ekland, John Phillip Law, (more)
- 1985
- R
In this martial-arts actioner, a gentle Japanese immigrant endeavors to quietly run a business in America. Unfortunately, gangsters refuse to leave them alone. Finally the quiet storekeeper has enough and reveals that he is in reality, a highly skilled Ninja master. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sho Kosugi, Donna Kei Benz, (more)
- 1982
When his undercover-detective friend Michael Moroshima is killed in the line of duty, Quincy's assistant Sam (Robert Ito) recognizes the dead man's wound as having being made by a knife commonly used by the Yakuza, the "Japanese Mafia." Sam believes that Moroshima's killing is but the tip of the iceberg in a large-scale operation involving both the Yakuza and organized crime in America. Enlisting the aid of Quincy (Jack Klugman), Sam races against time to bust up this cartel--and to prevent Michael's grieving father (Mako) from exacting his own brand of vengeance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
After the excellent audience response to their teaming in Silver Streak, Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor reunited for this zany comedy. Wilder and Pryor play a couple of out-of-work numbskulls who take a promotional job that requires them to dress up like gigantic woodpeckers. Unfortunately, a pair of thieves, likewise decked out in woodpecker suits, pull off a bank job not long after Wilder and Pryor make their first public appearance. The boys are arrested and sentenced to 120 years each (at this point, we know we're not dealing with real life). After a concerted (and hilarious) effort to make the best of things "in stir," Wilder and Pryor break out of jail, hoping to track down the genuine thieves. The mess never really works itself out, suggesting that perhaps the stars had a Stir Crazy II lurking in the recesses of their minds. Written by Bruce Jay Friedman and directed by Sidney Poitier, it never did spawn a sequel, though a TV series spin-off, starring Larry Riley and Joseph Guzaldo, briefly surfaced in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, (more)
- 1982
- R
The Challenge is a classy effort directed by John Frankenheimer. Scott Glenn stars as an American boxer who finds himself in the middle of a Japanese blood feud. Toshiro Mifune and Atsuo Nakamura plays the last surviving brothers of an ancient samurai family, embroiled in a battle of the possession of the family swords. Once involved in this contretemps, Glenn must also contend with the minions of the Yakuza, a Japanese Mafia-style organization. Sword of the Ninja was co-written by John Sayles, better known as the writer/director of such films as Brother From Another Planet and Eight Men Out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Toshiro Mifune, (more)
- 1978
Originally made for television and based on true events from 1972, the story concerns an airline crash in the Everglades and the courageous adventures of the 73 survivors. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
