Mary Kay Bergman Movies

A boy's best friend is his robot in this animated adventure from Brad Bird, best known for his TV work on such series as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and The Critic. Set in 1957, The Iron Giant focuses on Hogarth (voice of Eli Marienthal), an imaginative nine-year-old boy who daydreams of alien invasions and doing battle with Communist agents. One day, Hogarth hears a local fisherman talk about something that surpasses anything he could dream up: a fifty-foot robot that fell from the sky into a nearby lake. Needless to say, Hogarth's mom, Annie (voice of Jennifer Aniston) finds this a little hard to swallow, but when Hogarth finds the robot (voice of Vin Diesel) and fishes him out of the water, his pal Dean (voice of Harry Connick Jr.), a beatnik sculptor who also runs a junkyard, offers to help by hiding the robot with his salvage. A government agent named Kent Mansley (voice of Christopher McDonald) soon gets wind that there's a mechanical invader of unknown origins in the neighborhood and wants to wipe out the potential threat. However, the robot (which loves to eat metal and is learning to talk) turns out to be friendly, and the boy in turn tries to teach his new pal the ways of humans. The Iron Giant is loosely based on the book The Iron Man by late British poet Ted Hughes, previously adapted for the stage by rock musician Pete Townshend, who executive produced the film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

More outrageous behavior from the South Park kids distinguishes the series' third season. Only one thing is sure in this year's crop of 18 episodes: Kenny won't survive till fadeout time...ever. Episodes include "Rainforest Shmainforest" (the horrible consequences of pro-environmentalism); "Spontaneous Combustion" (don't hold in those farts!); "The Succubus" (Cartman gets glasses, Chef gets a good woman); "Jackovasaurus" (some prehistoric beasts just shouldn't raise families); "Tweek vs. Craig" (the manly art of dirty boxings, and Kenny goes to Home Ec); "Sexual Harassment Panda" (Kyle's dad gets rich by suing everyone -- and we mean everyone); "Cat Orgy" (cats just wanna have fun -- at Cartman's house); "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" (Charlie's Angels meet the "Melvins"); "Jewbilee" (summer camp with that spoilsport Moses); "Korn's Groovy Pirate Coast Mystery" (rock music, defiled graves, and an Antonio Banderas blow-up doll); "Chinpokomon" (looks like Pearl Harbor is under siege again -- this time from a gigantic, er, member); "Hooked on Monkey Phonics" (dirty duct-tape doings at the big dance); "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (the planet Marklar is a great place for the undernourished -- but watch out for "Sally the Hutt"); "The Red Badge of Gayness" (the Civil War we never fought); "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" (all your favorite vocalists, from Satan to Hitler); "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" (Ground Hog Day for the Son of Man); and "World Wide Recorder Concert" (Yoko Ono and Kenny G., together again for the last time). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season two of South Park offers 18 raunchy misadventures with Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and (he should live so long!) Kenny. This year's crop includes "Terrance & Phillip in Not Without My Anus" (saving Canada from Saddam Hussein); "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut" (not really -- but she is a hermaphrodite); "Ike's Wee Wee" (Stan doesn't want his brother to "lose it" at his bris); "Chickenlover" (book reports are a cinch if you don't read books); "Conjoined Fetus Lady" (the title character is Kyle's nurse -- and there's even Chinese dodgeball!); "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka" (Jesus imitates Jerry Springer as the boys learn about Vietnam); "City on the Edge of Forever" (a missing bus and remembrances of things past); "Summer Sucks" (no fireworks, no Mr. Hat, but plenty of snakes); "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" (an independent film festival collides with "The Call of Mr. Hankey"); "Chickenpox" (exposing "the parental conspiracy" and a herpes revenge as a bonus); "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" (an evil planetarium and exploding heads); "Clubhouses" ("Truth or Dare," Colorado style); "Cow Days" (never let cows see a statue); "Chef Aid" (Johnnie Cochran vs. Chef in a copyright suit, and Ozzy Osbourne gives up bats); "Spookyfish" (the one with the goateed Cartman and "hella cool"); "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson" (Charlie escapes, just as the boys visit Mr. Hankey in the Mall of Nebraska); "Gnomes" (a Harbucks coffee shop fights for the hearts and minds of the kids, while the gnomes demand underpants); and "Prehistoric Ice Man" (or "The Thing from 1996!"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originating as (of all things!) a video Christmas card in which Jesus Christ duked it out with Santa Claus, the Comedy Central cartoon series South Park was one of the most outrageous and irreverent adult cable series of the 1990s and beyond -- not to mention one of the funniest. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the series took place in the tiny, somewhat inbred village of South Park, CO, where there dwelt a quartet of potty-mouthed fourth graders: sensible but nervous Stan Marsh; neurotic and self-flagellating Kyle Broflovski; fat, obnoxious, and thoroughly me-oriented Eric Cartman; and parka-wearing Kenny McCormick, who never spoke above a mumble -- and who (during the series' first five seasons) was invariably killed off in a grisly manner in each episode ("Oh my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards!"). During season six, Kenny was assumed to be permanently dead, and his place in the foursome was taken by prissy Butters, who openly resented being the obligatory "TV series replacement regular." When Kenny returned in season seven, his "deaths" were far less frequent; reportedly, the producers were sick of figuring out new and unique ways of knocking him off. Though the kids were repulsive, they were none too good for the adults of South Park, who included the whiny, sexually ambivalent schoolteacher Mr. Garrison; Cartman's pushy, hermaphrodite mother, Liane; Kyle's loudmouthed, activist mom, Sheila; and the very stupid police chief Barbrady; and "Mrs. Mayor." The only grownup worth his salt (and pepper) was ex-soul singer "Chef" McElroy (voiced by Isaac Hayes), though his position in South Park as moral authority and the voice of reason was compromised a bit by his overactive libido.

Animated in a deliberately crude, jerky fashion (though brilliantly timed and paced), and featuring characters who resembled kindergarten cutouts, South Park took pride in butchering every sacred cow and toppling every icon known to conservative and liberal alike. The individual episodes managed to find laughs in such otherwise risky topics as homosexuality, mental and physical handicaps, child molestation, AIDs, anti-Semitism, Alzheimer's, global warming, and the war in Iraq. By being an "equal opportunity offender," the series managed to take both sides and no sides in every issue. Also adding to the hilarity were the occasional "guest" appearances by badly drawn (and voiced) celebrities, with Sally Struthers, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Mel Gibson, Saddam Hussein, and especially Barbra Streisand among those mercilessly skewered. In addition, the series poked big holes in its "competition," the equally raunchy Beavis and Butthead, by introducing a pair of flatulent cartoon Canadians named Terrance and Phillip. Debuting August 13, 1997, and churning out between 13 and 18 episodes per year, South Park was the archetypal "You Either Love It or You Hate It" cartoon show -- but the majority of viewers loved it! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard. Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus (voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command. However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda (voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander), a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Crystal Bernard stars as a woman searching for answers about her eccentric grandfather's death, in this made-for-television movie. Bernard stars as Shelly, a woman who wants to find out why her grand-dad was killed after she uncovers that he and a partner were secretly masquerading as costume-wearing, crime-fighting, super-heroes. The film was intended as the pilot for a series. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide