Tanya Berezin Movies
- 2001
Season 12 of Law & Order featured a new face in the D.A.'s office: feisty young A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn, played by Elisabeth Rohm. The opening episode, based on a real-life California case, gets under way when a jogger and her pet terrier are mauled by a vicious pit bull. Further investigation reveals that the attack dog's original owner, now serving two life terms in Attica, bred the animal for illegal dog fights. It is up to the D.A.'s office to prove that the pit bull's current caretakers, Sherri and Roger Quinn (Melissa Leo, Bruce McCarty), were fully aware of how dangerous their "pet" was when they bought it. Originally slated to air on September 19, 2001, this episode was moved forward to the following week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole, husband and wife in real life, guest star as a couple of high-rolling and none-too-honest monetary advisers. When six people are killed in a helicopter bombing, the detectives follow a lead provided by the wife of one of the victims. The D.A.'s office subsequently goes after "New Age" financial pundits Elias and Valerie Grace (McKean and O'Toole). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
The sixth-season opener of Law & Order finds detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) teamed with a new partner, Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt). For their first assignment together, Briscoe and Curtis try to piece together the last hours in the life of a murdered girl, using an ATM machine film to determine what happened to the victim between her classroom and her music lesson. The results of the investigation lead to a revenge killing -- which many observers regard as "justice." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan affair is deftly fictionalized in this episode. Just before an important tournament, tennis player Korey Burke (Stacey Moseley) is attacked by a mysterious assailant and her wrist is broken. Not surprisingly, Burke's principal competitor Alison Hall (Allison Dunbar) ranks high on the list of suspects. But this is fiction, not fact, and events play themselves out in a most surprising fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Sebastian Roche guest stars as "C Square" Carmichael, a flamboyant rock star described by detective Logan (Chris Noth) as "number one on Tipper Gore's hit list for dirty words." C Square also has quite a reputation as a womanizer, so it comes as no surprise when he is accused of raping college co-ed Julia Wood (Lucy Deakins). But was it really rape, or was it consensual, as the singer's defense attorney claims? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Havoc reigns supreme at a diabetes clinic where several patients suddenly die or go into a coma at an alarming rate. The detectives trace this disastrous situation to a hacker that has invaded the clinic's computer system. Then things take a surprising turn when a vengeance-driven blind man emerges on the suspect list. Without revealing any further cogent plot points, it can be noted that guest star Dana Elcar was legally blind in real life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Season Two of Law & Order begins on a shockingly tragic note, as Detective Sergeant Max Greevey is shot down and killed in front of his own home (former regular George Dzundza had already departed the series when this scene was filmed). In his grief, Greevey's partner Logan (Chris Noth) vows to track the murderer to the ends of the earth -- a promise complicated by his difficulty in adjusting to new partner Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino). Ultimately overstepping his bounds, Logan may ironically prevent the D.A.'s office from successfully prosecuting the killer. In addition to introducing Paul Sorvino to the cast, this episode also represents the first appearance of Catherine McCormack in the recurring role of police psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Real-life sweethearts and film directors Ken Kwapis and Marisa Silver co-directed this throwback to the silver-screen romantic comedies of the 1940s, examining the different ways men and women view reality. Kwapis takes the male character's point of view, recalling a burgeoning relationship. Silver then takes a crack at the same story, recalling the same events from the woman character's point of view. Unfortunately, both perspectives are not that much different. Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins star as Dan Hanson and Lorie Bryer, two reporters from the Baltimore Sun who are assigned to share space on the editorial page debating opposing viewpoints. Dan is the conservative philanderer. Lorie is the sensitive liberal. The new column becomes a big hit -- a shop owner exclaims, "Hey, it's the people who argue!" Although originally antagonists, Dan and Lorie become lovers. As their relationship grows, so does their popularity, and they end up hosting a popular television program. But Lorie wants commitment, and Dan doesn't. Frustrated, Lorie shies a coffee cup off Dan's noggin live on the air. Their ratings soar. And then the whole routine is played out again. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Perkins, (more)
- 1991
An old "urban legend" is woven into this complicated tale of illegal medical procedures. The DA's office brings charges against a prominent surgeon (Paul Roebling) and the millionaire father (Fritz Weaver) of a kidney-transplant patient. It appears that the much-needed kidney was "harvested" against the will of the donor. "Sonata for a Solo Organ" represents a reunion of sorts for series regular Michael Moriarty and guest star Fritz Weaver, who previously appeared in the landmark miniseries Holocaust. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story as related by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings stars Robin Williams as the Sacks counterpart, here named Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Something of a klutz and naif, Dr. Sayer takes a job at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. Here he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic patients who, under Sayer's painstaking guidance, begin responding to certain stimulati. Apprised of the efficacy of a new drug called L-DOPA in treating degenerative-disease victims, Sayer is given permission to test the drug on one of his patients: Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), who has not communicated with anyone since lapsing into catatonia as a child. Gradually, Lowe comes out of his shell, encouraging Sayers to administer L-DOPA to the other patients under his care. Julie Kavner and John Heard also star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Robert De Niro, (more)
At the time of Longtime Companion's release in 1990, the devastating disease of AIDS was seen as a mysterious and deadly scourge, replete with rumors, lies, and panic. As the first narrative film to examine the AIDS epidemic, screenwriter Craig Lucas and director Norman René place the disease in an historical context, dramatizing the impact of the disease through time in a series of vignettes involving seven gay men. AIDS first made its presence felt surreptitiously, as an article in The New York Times reported on a rare cancer attacking gay men called Karposi's syndrome. Then the Village Voice began a series of in-depth articles concerning a "gay plague" which later became known as AIDS. The film follows the AIDS crisis through the lives of the seven main characters so that they are only aware of AIDS in the historical framework of each episode. The characters include former gay couple Willy (Campbell Scott) and John (Dermot Mulroney), first seen partying at a Fire Island club, who don't pay much attention to the mysterious article in The New York Times but become intimately effected by the disease. There is also Sean (Mark Lamos), a soap opera writer whose mind is slowly deteriorating because of the disease, and his supportive friend David (Bruce Davidson). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Davison, Campbell Scott, (more)
- 1985
- R
Director Frank Perry brings Susan Issacs' comedic whodunit novel to the screen with Susan Sarandon as a Long Island housewife who tries to escape her deadening suburban life by trying to solve the murder of a philandering local dentist. The dentist, Bruce Fleckstein (Joe Mantegna), is the kind of swinging ladies' man who wears gold chains and jazzy clothing. He also arranges to meet his lonely housewife patients in hotel rooms for afternoon quickies. When he is found murdered in his office, the suspects are as numerous as the names in the Nyack telephone directory, especially since Fleckstein had the habit of taking incriminating Polaroid snapshots during his one-on-one sessions. Judith Singer (Sarandon) is an ex-Newsday reporter and bored wife of Bob Singer (Edward Herrmann), a stuffy business executive, and she was one of the last people to see Fleckstein alive. Considered a suspect by police detective David Suarez (Raul Julia), she determines to solve the case herself, interviewing suspects and searching for evidence. If she solves the crime, Judith hopes to write an article about it and get her old job back at the newspaper. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, (more)
In this feature comedy, a womanizer (Tim Matheson) marries his live-in girlfriend (Kate Capshaw) only to quickly resume his wicked ways. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Kate Capshaw, (more)
- 1978
- PG
One of the first fictional efforts by former documentary maker Claudia Weill, Girlfriends focuses on a pair of roommates, Susan Weinblatt and Anne Munroe, played by Melanie Mayron and Anita Skinner. Anne gets married, leaving the plump, insecure Susan alone for virtually the first time in her life. A mild flirtation with a rabbi leads to a whole new life for Susan when she becomes a portrait photographer for Jewish weddings and bar mitzvahs. Claudia Weill wrote the (presumed) autobiographical screenplay with Vicki Polon. Filmed in New Jersey, Girlfriends was an expansion of a short subject subsidized by the American Film Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Mayron, Eli Wallach, (more)
