H.E.D. Redford Movies
- 1997
Monica (Roma Downey) is transformed into an eighty-year-old woman to gain the trust of a bitter, self-loathing, desperately lonely WW2 veteran named George Zarko (Darren McGavin), aka "The Colonel". Our heroine's efforts to help Zarko succeed only in incurring the wrath of Stefanie Hancock (Christina Pickles), the martinet head nurse at the retirement home where the elderly soldier resides. Worse still, Monica's elderly roommate Lorraine (Gwen Verdon) insists upon playing matchmaker between the incognito angel and "The Colonel", even though Tess (Della Reese) has explicitly warned Monica not to get too close to the old man. The various crises are alleviated only when "The Colonel" reveals an embarrassing secret about his past. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Oscar-winner Kathy Bates stars in this tearjerker about a strong-willed widow determined to make it on her own. Bates is Frances Lacey, mother of six, left alone to provide for the family after her husband dies. Hoping to steer the kids away from the hazards on the streets of Los Angeles, she packs the brood up in the family car and heads out to find a new place to plant some roots. When Frances spots the unfinished frame of a house owned by a lonely Japanese man (Soon Tek-Oh), she cuts a deal with him to get the house in exchange for chores done by the family. Despite the trappings of poverty and the miseries that accompany financial uncertainty, Frances refuses to allow herself or her children to wallow in self-pity and instead forges ahead teaching them valuable life lessons. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathy Bates, Edward Furlong, (more)
An FBI agent stationed in Cleveland is assigned to investigate a case in Utah where a serial killer is molesting and murdering children. The agent discovers ties between the murders and a bearded, crazed religious fanatic who believes himself to be Noah and who is building a huge ark in a cave. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Jesse Cameron-Glickenhaus, (more)
- 1989
- R
An obsessed government agent and a ruthless terrorist have some grudges to settle in this intense actioner. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Knox, David Warner, (more)
Randy Quaid plays the mayor of a small town in Alberta. Quaid also doubles as a the local high school history teacher, and it is in this capacity that he poses a threat to housewife Lindsay Wagner. Ms. Wagner takes a peek at her teenaged son's classroom notes, and comes to the correct conclusion that Quaid is espousing a philosophy of anti-Semitism. She is successful in having Quaid removed from his teaching job, but finds herself blocked by her own neighbors in getting Quaid ousted as mayor. Standing her ground against community hostility and physical threats, Wagner takes Quaid to court, hoping to exercise the Canadian laws against promoting race hatred. Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Evil in Clear River is a frightening glance at what can happen when "revisionist history" is filtered through the mind of a bigot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Offended parents and others protested this slasher film when it was released in 1984 because it portrays Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) as a toy-store Santa Claus who goes on a rampage and axes people to death while still in his Santa garb. Four sequels prove the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity. When Billy was just a boy he saw someone dressed as Santa murder his parents at Christmastime. Billy's stint in an orphanage did nothing to unwarp his mind (he is tied to his bed for "misbehavior"), and when he starts playing Santa in the store -- much against his wishes since he is deathly afraid of both Christmas and Santa Claus, he first only frightens the children who come to see him. Then his mind snaps, and he repeats the scene he saw as a child, on one person after another, in full gory color. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, (more)
In this lively adolescent-oriented musical, a city kid attempts to adapt to life in an ultra-conservative backwater Midwestern town. Once there, he ends up leading the repressed teenagers into a rebellion against the town fathers, who have outlawed rock & roll and dancing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, (more)
- 1983
In this unremittingly serious, undistinguished, yet well-acted tale of the supernatural, two different men are possessed by spirits of Native Americans after they separately wander into a sacred burial ground, angering the spirits enough for them to retaliate. When John (Gabriel Walsh) and Sybil (Susan Strasberg) come home with their son after a trip to the Mojave Desert, they bring an unusual stone back as a memento of the trip. The stone seems to cause strange noises and other inexplicable phenomena, and then one day their son is killed by a truck driver in a freak highway accident. As the father's mental condition deteriorates from that point onward, it is revealed that both John and the truck driver are possessed by angry spirits of Native American warriors, and unless the spirits are exorcised, the two men are destined to meet in a battle to the death. Director John Bender cuts back and forth between the truck driver and the father, which might confuse (or even irritate) some viewers since in the beginning there is no explanation of how or why the two men are connected. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriel Walsh, Susan Strasberg, (more)
Tommy Lee Jones won an Emmy for his searing performance as wanton killer Gary Gilmore in The Executioner's Song. The film covers the last nine months of Gilmore's life, beginning with his release from prison in 1976. Linking up with teen-age divorcee Nicole Baker (Rosanna Arquette), Gilmore makes a half-hearted effort to go straight, but ends up embarking on a robbery spree that culminates in two cold-blooded murders. Arrested and sentenced to be executed, Gilmore insists upon being put to death (Utah law required a firing squad for this); he spends his final days as a poster boy for anti-death penalty activists and as a "client" for an entrepreneur (Steven Keats) who wants to make a film of Gilmore's life. Adapted by Norman Mailer from his own book, The Executioner's Song originally aired in two parts on November 28 and 29, 1982. It has since been boiled down to a 97-minute theatrical film for European consumption, with additional scenes of violence and nudity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Lee Jones, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
- 1981
Huckleberry Finn joins Tom Sawyer and Jim, a runaway slave, as they escape down the Mississippi River on a raft. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
In this sci-fi film, a spaceship crash lands in the Midwest and strands an alien family. A gentle innkeeper takes in the marooned group. Except for their green chimpanzee that eats light bulbs, the aliens look like normal humans. Unfortunately, the family is pursued by a government agent determined to see that the aliens don't intermingle with the humans. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burl Ives, Christopher Connelly, (more)
- 1981
Linda Purl stars as Nellie Bly, famed 19th century female journalist, in this "Classics Illustrated" TV movie. A tireless crusader, Nellie exposes corruption amongst the rich of New York and miserable working conditions amongst the poor. In her most famous exploit, Nellie decides to emulate Jules Verne's Phineas Fogg by travelling around the world in 80 days-or less. Gene Barry, Raymond Buktenica, J.D. Cannon and John Randolph costar, the last-named actor playing Nellie's boss Joseph Pulitzer. Filmed in 1979, The Adventures of Nellie Bly was first telecast June 11, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Could it be true? Is the U.S. government really hiding an alien spaceship in the mysterious Hangar 18? According to the producers at Sunn Classic Pictures, the answer is yes, and this sci-fi drama sets out to prove it. The trouble begins when an orbiting satellite runs into the UFO and it crashes. Inside are alien bodies, and the President, who is busy with his re-election campaign, is most eager to conceal them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darren McGavin, Robert Vaughn, (more)
