Alexandra Powers Movies
- 1998
The ad copy for this ABC TV movie (part of the network's "Crimes of Passion" series) pretty much says it all: "Lying. Manipulation. Murder. The Things We Do For Love." Police detective Rick Barrish (Greg Evigan) is enmeshed in a sordid love triangle with his female partner Dusty (Alexandra Powers) and his mysterious new fiancée Laura Trevelyn (Brenda Bakke). At the same time, Barrish is piecing together the distrurbing clues--and following the trail of corpses--involved in a major heroin case. The two separate plot strands are inextricably intertwined as the story races to a truly unexpected climax. Based on a novel by a former Miami crime reporter, Edna Buchanan's Nobody Lives Forever originally aired March 26, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Greg Evigan, Kevin Dobson, (more)
The traditions of the western and the gangster film meet head-on in this dark crime drama. Jericho is a small town in Texas that in the 1920s looks much like it did in the 1860s, except that two violent gangs of rival bootleggers have driven away nearly all of the citizens not involved in the booze racket. Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg) leads a gang of Italian rum-runners with the help of his right-hand-man Giorgio (Michael Imperioli), while Doyle (David Patrick Kelly) is the head of an Irish mob, with Hickey (Christopher Walken) serving as his enforcer; the town's sheriff, Ed Galt (Bruce Dern) is powerless to stop the crime in Jericho, and he mainly tries to stay out of the way and keep an uneasy peace between Strozzi and Doyle. John Smith (Bruce Willis) is a ruthless and amoral gunman on the run from the law who passes through Jericho on his way to Mexico. Sizing up the situation, Smith quickly hatches a scheme by which he'll sell his services first to one of the gangs, and then the other, eventually turning the two sides against each other while he stays in the middle and takes the profits generated by both sides. Writer and director Walter Hill based his screenplay on Akira Kurosawa's classic samurai picture Yojimbo, which also inspired Sergio Leone's ground-breaking spaghetti western A Fistful of Dollars. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, (more)
Ann-Margret stars as a recently widowed woman who pursues her dream of becoming a country singer by heading to Nashville on a bus tour. ~ Carly Wray, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, George Segal, (more)
When Michael Crichton wrote his best-selling thriller Rising Sun, he wrote the character of hero John Connor with Sean Connery in mind. For Philip Kaufman's film version of the novel, Sean Connery, needless to say, fits seamlessly into the role of a legendary police detective who is an expert in Japanese culture. The story takes place in the towering office building of the Japanese Nakamoto Corporation in Los Angeles, who are negotiating a deal with Microcon, an American electronics firm. During a gala held one night in the Nakamoto offices, the body of a woman, Cheryl Lynn Austin (Tatjana Patitz) is found murdered in the main conference room. Arriving quickly on the scene is high-amped police lieutenant Tom Graham (Harvey Keitel), who oozes hatred for anything Japanese from every pore. When he has trouble getting cooperation from the Nakatomo executives, Graham calls in Web Smith (Wesley Snipes), a Special Services liaison, and John Connor (Connery), a man well-versed in Japanese culture and traditions. Together they form a team as they investigate the crime. Connor questions computer video expert Jingo (Tia Carrere), who works on a security system computer disc that captures the killer's identity. The only problem is that the image of the killer on the disc has been altered to conceal the murderer's face. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes, (more)
In this made-for-TV drama, Patty Duke plays a mother who vows to do everything possible to keep custody of her grandchild following the murder of her son. Though no one believes her, Duke is convinced that her boy was murdered by his suspiciously worldly ex-wife-to-be. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Patty Duke, (more)
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1992
- PG13
Emil Saber (Peter O'Toole) travels to Jerusalem to seek the seventh coin of King Herod to complete his collection. As Saber searches for the coins, he becomes more and more unhinged, eventually believing that he is the murderous incarnation of King Herod. When he discovers that the coin is in the possession of two youngsters, American tourist Ronnie (Alexandra Powers) and pickpocket Salim (Navin Chowdhry), the two must struggle to avoid becoming Saber's next victims. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Navin Chowdhry, (more)
- 1991
- R
This clever and well-crafted production (produced for Home Box Office) goes the distance with its innovative concept, which is equal parts Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft. Taking place in 1948 Hollywood -- in an alternate reality where magic spells, curses and demons are commonly used and accepted -- the story revolves around hard-boiled gumshoe Harry P. Lovecraft (Fred Ward, looking nothing like his character's namesake and everything like Mike Hammer), the only detective in the business who relies on brains and instinct instead of gazing into a crystal ball or casting runes. This pure perspective is sought out by wealthy eccentric Amos Hackshaw (David Warner), who is trying to retrieve the legendary "Necronomicon" (a key component in the works of the real H.P. Lovecraft). The book is reputed to have the power to release the "Elder Gods" from their cosmic confines and return them to Earth, whereupon Hackshaw believes they will appoint him ruler of all mankind. The chief rival for possession of the book is a seedy gangster (Raymond O'Connor) whose favorite nightclub singer (Julianne Moore) takes a shine to Harry. Followed by a sequel, Witch Hunt, which applies a more sublime (if unnecessary) re-interpretation of the material, and features Dennis Hopper in the Lovecraft Role. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fred Ward, David Warner, (more)
Robin Williams toned down his usually manic comic approach in this successful period drama. In 1959, the Welton Academy is a staid but well-respected prep school where education is a pragmatic and rather dull affair. Several of the students, however, have their thoughts on the learning process (and life itself) changed when a new teacher comes to the school. John Keating (Williams) is an unconventional educator who tears chapters of his textbooks and asks his students to stand on their desks to see the world from a new angle. Keating introduces his students to poetry, and his free-thinking attitude and the liberating philosophies of the authors he introduces to his class have a profound effect on his students, especially Todd (Ethan Hawke), who would like to be a writer; Neil ( Robert Sean Leonard), who dreams of being an actor, despite the objections of his father; Knox (Josh Charles), a hopeless romantic; Steven (Allelon Ruggiero), an intellectual who learns to use his heart as well as his head; Charlie (Gale Hansen), who begins to lose his blasé attitude; unconventional Gerard (James Waterston); and practical Richard (Dylan Kussman). Keating urges his students to seize the day and live their lives boldly; but when this philosophy leads to an unexpected tragedy, headmaster Mr. Nolan (Norman Lloyd) fires Keating, and his students leap to his defense. Dead Poets Society was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Williams; it won one, for Tom Schulman's original screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, (more)
- 1989
Originally made for cable TV, the story concerns a waitress who sleeps with a man and finds out that he is a hired gun. Years later, she is married to a cop and living across the country, but realizes that the killer is back and ready to strike again. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1988
- R
The story contained in this bizarre psychological drama/horror movie adds a new dimension to the term "dysfunctional family." It is set in a small town in New Mexico and is told through the eyes of "Sonny Boy," a horribly abused child who was raised by the brutal giant Slue, who rules Harmony with an iron fist and makes his money stealing and fencing televisions. Slue's "wife" and fellow gang member is the cross-dresser Pearl. They get Sonny Boy after their fellow gang-mate Weasel botches a car theft and kills the owners. He brings the car back and that's when they find the baby, whom Slue would have fed to the hogs had not Pearl begged him to let him raise the child. The kid might have been better off dead, for Slue constantly tortures the boy and even sets him afire one day. When not "toughening the boy up," Slue keeps him in a water tower and only feeds him live chickens to give him a craving for fresh blood. Seventeen years pass in this way. One day, Slue gets angry with the town mayor, loads Sonny in an ice cream truck and takes him to visit the town leader. Sonny Boy rushes in and bites the hapless mayor in the neck. From then on, Slue uses the poor teen to terrorize the town. One day, he leaves the boy briefly in a bar where Sonny meets seductive Sandy and is attracted to her. Had Slue not cut out his tongue, to keep Sonny from telling secrets to the police, he would have talked to the girl. Later Slue goes off on a business trip and Weasel and another take Sonny Boy out to kill a prospector for his gold. This is the final straw and the townsfolk finally retaliate. Sonny Boy survives the ensuing massacre and for the first time in his life is given a chance for normalcy and maybe even happiness. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Paul L. Smith, (more)
- 1988
In this detective drama, a private investigator from Phoenix is determined to prove that a young woman's death was caused by a psychologist and a mail-order minister. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1988
- PG
Arliss Howard plays a baby-faced undercover cop, posing as a high school student. Howard is investigating the murder of a teacher, a task made difficult when his own brother (Loren Dean) becomes the primary suspect. Meanwhile, the ersatz student falls in love with Alexandre Powers, the daughter of the school's gym instructor. Before long, Howard is having trouble separating his "real" self from his fictional persona: he event develops a crush on home-room teacher Suzy Amis! Director Martha Coolidge and scriptwriter A. Scott Frank seem to be having a lot of fun pushing the credibility envelope in the amusing but unnecessarily convoluted Plain Clothes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arliss Howard, Suzy Amis, (more)
- 1985
- PG13
- Add Mask to Queue Add Mask to top of Queue
This is the true story of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a personable young man suffering from "lionitis," a fatal disease which causes hideous facial disfigurement. The son of freewheeling biker Rusty Dennis (Cher), Rocky is accepted without question by his mom's boyfriends and cycle buddies, but treated with pity, condescension, and disgust by much of the outside world. The local high school principal tries to get Rocky classified as brain-damaged so he won't have to enroll the boy in his school, but Rusty fights for her son's rights with the ferocity of a mother lioness. Rocky makes friends easily both at school and at summer camp. He also falls in love with Diana (Laura Dern), a blind girl who cannot see his deformed countenance and is entranced by the boy's kindness and compassion. Now that he's got his own life in order, Rocky sets about to wean his chronically depressed mother from her drug habit. Mask is the sort of story that might have ending up wallowing in its own pathos had the acting, direction and scriptwriting (by Anna Hamilton Phelan) been anything less than very good. The film proved a much-needed financial success for director Peter Bogdanovich, though unfortunately it didn't come soon enough to stave off his declaring personal bankruptcy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cher, Sam Elliott, (more)
- 1984
A 17-year-old boy (Chad Lowe) is killed in an automobile accident. As the facts begin to assert themselves, it appears that the boy actually took his own life. His mother (Mariette Hartley) and sister (Dana Hill) try to learn the truth, even as his father (Howard Hesseman) digs in his heels and refuses to face the possibility of a suicide. While this plot line is unravelling, the boy's best friend (Charlie Sheen) is tormented by the possibility that he could have prevented the tragedy. The emphasis in Silence of the Heart is the effect of suicide on the survivors rather than the victim, and the realization that one does not have to be "crazy" to end one's own existence. This made-for-TV movie was originally telecast October 30, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
- PG
In this conservative drama, a family begins to fall apart after each member succumbs to the many temptations of modern life. They are only saved by turning back to their church. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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