Ann Reinking Movies
Dance star, lead actress, onscreen from the late '70s. ~ Rovi
This Broadway stage tribute to the man behind the brilliant, seductive choreography of Cabaret, Chicago, Sweet Charity, and Damn Yankees took Broadway by storm in January of 1999 and racked up several awards. Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen head an all-star cast performing Fosse standards "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries," "Steam Heat," "Mein Herr," and "Big Spender," demonstrating why Bob Fosse's physically exuberant choreography still sets the standard for the musicals today, ten years after his death. ~ Elizabeth Smith, Rovi
- 1987
It's an unofficial I Spy reunion when Bill Cosby's former TV costar Robert Culp shows up as Cliff Huxtable's rambunctious old Navy buddy Scotty Kelly (a composite of the two actors' character names on the earlier series). Cliff and Clair (Phylicia Rashad) are startled by the changes wrought on Scotty's eating habits and personality: ever since undergoing quadruple-bypass surgery, he has been on restricted diet and is forbidden to lose his temper. Is this change for the better, or does Scotty's wife Jill (Ann Reinking) yearn for the "good" old days? Meanwhile, Theo and Cockroach nervously prepare to shave their heads (with disposable razors!) in order to appear in a music video. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Micki (Ann Reinking) is the wife of Rob (Dudley Moore), an airheaded TV talk show host. Maude (Amy Irving) is an attractive musician who is unaware of Micki's existence, and with whom Rob falls in love. Rob is a guy who can't say no, thus when Maude announces that she's pregnant, Rob obligingly marries her. Trouble is, he's still married to Micki who is also pregnant. To make matters worse, Rob's wives are due to give birth on the same day, forcing the double dealer to work doubly hard to keep both demanding women happy. Matters reach their comical climax when the Big Day arrives and Rob is expected to attend both births at the same time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dudley Moore, Amy Irving, (more)
This family classic is adapted from the Broadway musical, which was based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. During the Great Depression in New York City, a plucky red-haired scrapper named Annie (Aileen Quinn) is the voice of hope for her fellow orphans who live under the supervision of drunken floozy Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett). Annie's spirit is fueled by the belief that her real parents dropped her off at the orphanage with a half of a locket, promising to return for her with the other half. One day, the dingy orphanage is visited by the sophisticated Grace Farrell (Ann Reinking), personal secretary to conservative politician Oliver Warbucks (Albert Finney). In order to improve his image, Grace brings Annie to the Warbucks estate for a weeklong visit. Annie quickly wins the hearts of servants and politicians alike, eventually even bringing her song of hope, "Tomorrow," to President Roosevelt in Washington. Warbucks and Grace even go so far as to perform a public search for Annie's parents, creating an opportunity for Miss Hannigan, Rooster (Tim Curry), and Lily (Bernadette Peters) to scam their way to the reward money. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, (more)
"It's showtime!" In this part film à clef, part musical phantasmagoria, director/choreographer Bob Fosse takes a Felliniesque look at the life of a driven entertainer. Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider, channeling Fosse) is the ultimate work (and pleasure)-aholic, as he knocks back a daily dose of amphetamines to juggle a new Broadway production while editing his new movie, not to mention ex-wife Audrey (Leland Palmer), steady girlfriend Kate (Ann Reinking), a young daughter, and various conquests. Joe cannot, however, avoid intimations of mortality from white-clad vision Angelique (Jessica Lange) that lead him to look back at his life as he heads for a near-inevitable coronary and his departure from this mortal coil with the appropriate razzle-dazzle. Taking his cue from Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963), Fosse moves from realistic dance numbers to extravagant flights of cinematic fancy, as Joe meditates on his life, his women, and his death. Following a similarly dark revisionist vein as Martin Scorsese's New York, New York (1977), Fosse shows the stiff price that entertaining exacts on entertainers (among other things, he intercuts graphic footage of open-heart surgery with a song and dance), mercilessly reversing the feel-good mood of classical movie musicals. Critics praised Fosse's daring even as they damned his self-indulgence, while Scheider was lauded for giving the best performance of his career. Though not a disastrous failure, All That Jazz came nowhere near the popularity of 1978's Grease, as late '70s audiences increasingly turned away from "difficult" movies. For all its excesses, Fosse's fiercely personal approach turned All That Jazz into another striking work from one of the few directors able to make, and experiment with, movie musicals after the 1960s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, (more)
- 1978
- PG
This spoof of a "typical" double-feature bill of the 1930s is introduced by George Burns, who explains that we're about to see two classic films produced by the legendary Warren Brothers. The first, "Dynamite Fists," is a black-and-white takeoff of such boxing dramas as Golden Boy. Harry Hamlin plays a John Garfield-like pugilist who is brought along by a tough-but-lovable fight promoter George C. Scott. Nasty gangster Eli Wallach attempts to compromise Hamlin by offering him the delectable Trish VanDevere, but Hamlin proves loyal to Scott. When Scott is killed by Wallach, Hamlin vows to become an attorney and bring the murderer to justice -- which he does in the space of one year. Along the way, Hamlin's gangster brother-in-law secures an eye operation for his nearly blind sister Kathleen Beller (whose bump-in-the-wall myopia is good for several laughs). After "Dynamite Fists," we are treated to a coming-attractions trailer for a Dawn Patrol-style aviation epic, again starring George C. Scott. The last segment, "Blansky's Beauties of 1933," is an all-stops-out Technicolor lampoon of Busby Berkeley musicals. Told by doctor Art Carney that he is dying, Broadway impresario Blansky (George C. Scott again) determines to produce one last spectacular show before the curtain goes down for good. The highlights in "Blansky's Beauties" are too numerous to mention here: memorable bits include composer Barry Bostwick's rooftop number, and the opening dialogue exchange between Carney and Scott (told that he has a month to live, Scott philosophically replies that at least he has 30 days left -- whereupon Carney dolefully reminds his patient that it's February). An additional sequence, parodying the Republic serials of the era, was filmed for Movie, Movie but cut from the final release print. Michael Kidd, who plays "Pop Popchick" in "Dynamite Fists," handled the choreography in "Blansky's Beauties." On the videocassette version of Movie, Movie, "Dynamite Fists" has been reprocessed in color. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Barbara Harris, (more)
