Antonia Rey Movies

Striving for a better life for his two sons, a Puerto Rican immigrant named Popi (Alan Arkin) goes about his mission in a singularly eccentric fashion in this comedy from director Arthur Hiller. So intent is Harlem resident Abraham "Popi" Rodriguez (Arkin) upon providing his boys with the American dream, that he puts off marrying his beautiful girlfriend Lupe (Rita Moreno) in order to carry out the mother of all harebrained schemes. After instructing his boys how to row with lessons in Central Park, Popi takes them to Florida and sets them adrift on the ocean, knowing that two cute "refugees from Cuba" seeking asylum in the U.S. will become celebrity cases and probably be adopted by rich WASP's. Popi's plan works like a charm, with his sons even earning an audience with the president, but a visit to the hospital where they're recovering from their ordeal at sea sinks his big plans. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Most westerns wrap their stories, legends really, with a light clothing of history and period. Any history found in them is usually a mix of legend and fantasy. By way of contrast, in this film, an attempt is made to accurately portray the lives and persons of Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, and the now-legendary events that took place in the town of Tombstone. Those looking for fast-paced action will be disappointed in this film, as it deals more in psychological character studies than action. Sheriff Wyatt Earp (Harris Yulin) is shown to be a fairly ordinary politician, and the romance of Doc Holliday (Stacy Keach) and Kate Elder (Faye Dunaway) is highlighted. As it must, however, the film concludes with the well-known gunfight at the O.K. Corral ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Screen newcomers Darren O'Connor (the brother of Glynnis O'Connor) and Pamela Sue Martin (billed here as Pamela Martin) play a pair of 16-year-olds, former childhood sweethearts and playmates from Manhattan's Upper East Side, who find their lives thrust back together when she becomes pregnant by the boyfriend of a friend's mother. O'Connor's Andy Morrison has always loved Martin's Rosalind McCarthy from afar, but she has always been too self-centered to notice or care, until she needs him "to find a man" to do the abortion. He tries to go about solving her problem his way, methodically and carefully, all the while doing his best to cope with her outbursts and her need to get the abortion while she's home for the week from the Catholic boarding school that she attends. They battle insensitive bureaucrats, hopelessly overburdened hospitals, and her pushy and dissipated parents, as well as Andy's class prejudices, and in the course of solving Rosalind's problem, each realizes that they've never really known or understood the other. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This low-budget independent film by novice directors Stephen F. Verona and Martin Davidson is a slice-of-life elegy from the leather-jacket, bobby-soxer era of 1957, set in a Brooklyn high school. The film stands out for the appearance of up-and-coming actors (circa 1974) Sylvester Stallone, Henry Winkler, and Perry King (even Armand Assante has a bit role). Stallone, Winkler, King, and Paul Mace are members of a local neighbor social club called "The Lords of Flatbush," and they spend their time exercising their hormones, hot-wiring a car, playing pool, and quaffing egg creams at the local candy store. The film finally focuses its interest on two of the "lords." Chico (Perry King), owns a motorcycle and wheels over to see Jane Bradshaw (Susan Blakely), the daughter of an army colonel who, despite Chico's motorcycle, gives him the brush-off. Then there is the muscle-headed Stanley Rosiello (Sylvester Stallone), who, like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, loves pigeons. He also loves Frannie (Maria Smith), with whom he has bedded down under the boardwalk one too many times, and now finds that she is pregnant and wants to get married. Skirting along the edges of the frame are Butchey Weinstein (Henry Winkler) and Wimpy Murgalo (Paul Mace), who, as second bananas, go along with Chico and Stanley as they adjust their testosterone to adult living. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A young thug needs money, so he visits his girlfriend while she's baby-sitting. While there, he plans to tie up the girl, kidnap the child, and hold him for ransom in the hope that his wealthy father will pay up. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Milos Forman's adaptation of the tribal rock musical Hair stars John Savage as Claude, a quiet young man from the Midwest who becomes friendly with a group of New York hippies on his way to begin basic training in the military. The repressed Claude is quite taken with Berger (Treat Williams) and the group of freedom seekers who reside in Central Park. The group encourages Claude to go after a debutante named Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp masterminded the dances, which attempt to flow from the natural settings of the film. The film includes most of the more famous songs from the original play, including "Donna," "Aquarius," "Easy to Be Hard," "Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine," "Frank Mills," and the title number. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Peter Medak's The Changeling is among a handful of films, including The Haunting (1963), Ghost Story (1981), and Lady in White (1988), that have successfully recreated the intimate, drawing-room atmosphere of supernatural horror fiction. After his wife and daughter are killed in a snowbound car accident, classical composer John Russell (George C. Scott) relocates from New York to Seattle to teach at his alma mater. Looking for a quiet place to rest and continue writing music, he is referred Claire Norman (Trish Van Devere) at the Seattle Historical Preservation Society. Claire shows John a large, sparsely furnished estate in the outlying countryside. He takes the house, appreciating its remoteness and the solitude it might afford, and diverts himself by renovating and settling in. He even starts to compose, putting aside his older work in favor of a new, sentimental piece for the piano. It is not long, however, before he begins having nightmares about the accident that killed his wife and daughter. Possibly because of this trauma, he is open to communications from the house's ghostly occupants. Pursuing a loud, repetitive pounding noise in an upper room, he stumbles on the apparition of a young boy drowning in a tub. Working together with Claire, John discovers frightening parallels between this vision and buried events from the house's past. Horror writer M.R. James once said that his goal as a writer was to make the reader feel "pleasantly uncomfortable." Those looking for a similar experience in movies will appreciate The Changeling as a gem in the horror genre. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

Made for television, The Gentleman Bandit stars Ralph Waite as a popular priest whose life is shattered by a case of mistaken identity. Waite is fingered by a witness as a holdup man; during a lineup, several other witnesses confirm this. Despite his protestations, Waite cannot account for his actions during the crime, and is vilified by the newspapers and by his own superiors. Only the priest's parishioners believe him--but that may not be enough to keep him out of prison. Based on the real-life ordeal of Baltimore priest Fr. Bernard Pagano, Gentleman Bandit was filmed under the title The Bandit Priest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This bittersweet comedy is, among many other things, a tour de force for the marvelous Anne Bancroft. The star is cast as Estelle Rolfe, an unconventional divorcee who resides in New York, in close proximity to her grown son Gilbert (Ron Silver) and his wife Lisa (Carrie Fisher). Though his wife yearns to move back to her home state of California, Gilbert cannot quite cut the silver cord that binds him to his mother. Upon learning that Estelle is dying, her dutiful son offers to honor her last request to meet the reclusive actress Greta Garbo. The rest of the film plays wonderful variations on this theme, involving such peripheral characters as a gay Garbo fan (Harvey Fierstein), an elderly Shakespearean actress (Hermione Gingold), a "female Joe Papp" director (Denny Dillon), and an ageing papparazzi (Howard Da Silva). Without giving away the ending, it is worth noting that the divine Garbo shows up in the person of playwright/lyricist/ performer Betty Comden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "wise guys" referred to in the title, Harry Valentini (Danny DeVito) and Moe Dickstein (Joe Piscopo), turn out to be not so wise after all in this crime-oriented comedy. Harry and Moe run the risk of certain death when they steal money from a Mafia don (Dan Hedaya) and then try to multiply their ill-gotten gains at the horse races. Naturally, they lose the bundle and the next thing they know they're running from hitmen and trying to come up with enough cash to pay back their debt. Wise Guys' blend of comedy and action represented something of a change of pace for director Brian DePalma, best known for his offbeat thrillers and Hitchcock homages. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, Spike Fumo (Sasha Mitchell) is a Brooklyn streetfighter with pugilistic aspirations. With Spike's mafioso father in Sing Sing, mobster and former fighter Baldo Cacetti (Ernest Borgnine) looks out for Spike by getting him some bouts and every once in a while convincing the fighter to throw a match. When Spike meets and falls for Baldo's daughter Angel (Maria Patillo), Baldo suddenly sours on Spike. The father wants Angel to marry the college-bound son of a cocaine-snorting congresswoman (Sylvia Miles), and Baldo only envisions Spikes' future as being a mob enforcer. Eventually, Spike moves away from his embittered lesbian mother (Geraldine Smith) and moves in with the Puerto Rican boxer Bandana (Rick Aviles). He soon has two women pregnant in two different neighborhoods as he contemplates his future. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

John Cusack and James Spader play against type in Kevin Wade's morality play, directed by Herbert Ross. Spader plays Tim Gerrity, a well-heeled WASP blueblood, who has dedicated his life to justice and public service. Engaged to Diana Stiles (Imogene Stubbs), the daughter of a powerful senator (Richard Widmark), Tim seems to have a rosy future ahead of him. Enter Peter Burton (John Cusack), Peter's working-class roommate at the University of Virginia. Peter, a ravenous and devouring go-getter, is out to climb the political ladder at any cost. He sees Tim and latches onto him. Their friendship blooms at the university and continues afterwards, with the weak-willed Tim constantly deferring to the antagonistic and aggressive Peter. But they finally come to blows on skis when Tim finds out that Peter has bedded Diana, who has decided to drop Tim for his lack of ambition. When Peter blackmails Senator Stiles to secure a House seat, Tim rouses himself from his lethargy to fight Peter politically. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide