Tommy Ryan Movies

A mythological creature stalks the halls of a museum during a society fundraiser in this cheap sci-fi horror genre knock-off of Alien (1979). Penelope Ann Miller stars as Dr. Margo Green, an evolutionary biologist at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History who receives a shipment of artifacts from a colleague performing fieldwork in Brazil. Among the contents are leaves containing a rare fungus that, unbeknownst to Green or anyone else, attracts the palate of a rapidly mutating, lizard-like monster called Kothoga that has stowed away on a Brazilian freighter and has found a subterranean route into the museum from Lake Michigan. Before long, several museum employees have become decapitated snack food for the beast, which prefers to dine on human hypothalamuses and pituitary glands. Despite dire warnings from the museum staff, a gruff coroner (Audra Lindley) and the investigating detective, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta (Tom Sizemore), the Windy City's oblivious mayor orders a black-tie museum fundraiser to proceed. During the event, the building's high-tech security system locks Green, D'Agosta, the mayor, and many chi-chi party guests in with the hungry animal, forcing everyone to attempt an escape through an underground waterway with which Kothoga is all too familiar. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Developed by Tina Sinatra and approved by Frank himself, Sinatra is a made-for-television mini-series following the life and times of Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular and acclaimed singers of the 20th century. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's (Philip Casnoff) rise to the top in the '40s, through the dark days of the early '50s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-'50s, to his status as pop culture icon in the '60s, '70s and '80s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Even with the presence of Tina Sinatra as executive producer, Sinatra doesn't gloss over the more unsavory portions of Frank's life, which makes it all the more impressive. With the exception of a couple of early songs, all the music in the movie is taken from the original Sinatra recordings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

The acting of its stars saves She Said No from the "lurid dreck" category. Judd Hirsch is a successful but utterly amoral attorney who rapes Veronica Hamel. She sues, but he uses his legal expertise to walk free. Then Hirsch turns around and sues Hamel for slander (or for libel, depending on whether you believe the ads or the synopsis)--to the tune of ten million dollars! The lizardlike lawyer comes acropper when he forgets the unwritten rule of jurisprudence and acts as his own attorney. Lee Grant plays the DA on the case, who was denied the opportunity to retry Hirsch and is smarting for a chance to show the creep up. She Said No is better written than it deserves to be by Michael O'Hara. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An impulsive but determined white principal brings order and respect to a predominantly African-American and Latino high school in this comedy-drama from the director of Young Guns and That Was Then, This Is Now. Rick Latimer (James Belushi), a high-school teacher, is in the process of a divorce when he sees his estranged wife at a bar having drinks with her attorney. Drunk and enraged, he smashes the guy's car up and receives a reprimand from the school board -- a new job as principal at rough-and-tumble Brandel High. Security guard Jake Phillips (Louis Gossett Jr.) is soon teaching his new boss the ropes, but Rick isn't willing to accept the violent and drug-ridden status quo. With a two-word motto -- "No More!" -- he sets about cleaning out the riff-raff, also taking time out to tutor students and get to know Jake. But when chief thug Victor (Michael Wright) refuses to back down, the violence escalates. Eventually, Victor's vengeance threatens the lives of steely history teacher Hilary Orozco (Rae Dawn Chong) -- and Rick himself. Kelly Minter, who plays one of Brandel High's troubled students, portrayed a dyslexic in the similarly themed Summer School the same year The Principal was released. Screenwriter Frank Deese would go on to write the Corey Haim/Corey Feldman vehicle License to Drive. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

On the eve of his Hawaiian vacation, irresponsible high school teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is forced into teaching a summer-school class. His students are all malcontents and layabouts with the standard repertoire of teenaged hang-ups and hostilities (two of the kids, who can't see enough slasher movies to suit them, are hilarious precursors to Beavis and Butt-Head). Harmon would rather spend his time with history teacher Robin Bishop (Kirstie Alley), but she doesn't think much of his laziness and lack of dedication. Shoop finally begins to take his job seriously when he realizes his students' problems are not all of their own making. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A moribund nightclub on the fringes of Liverpool's sprawl is the primary setting for this frenetic, dark, and confusing comedy done in a heavy regional "dialect" by director Peter Smith. Set on New Year's Eve, the film chronicles the rivalry between elderly Irish Catholic and Protestant attendees at a party held in a gritty pub in Liverpool. Mixed in with the warring oldsters are some shady types such as Billy the Beast, the killer of an Ulster terrorist. The club's new manager has a talent for dealing with mayhem and violence, but his first challenge lies in handling the punk rock band perversely scheduled to entertain the oldsters by the disgruntled former manager. After that challenge, he is faced with a magician on the verge of a nervous breakdown and other kinds of chaos that tear through the place. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The thin storyline for this film is that three young women hope to gain a foothold in the acting profession, so they perform nude in front of the window of the disk jockey (Mad Man Jack played by Al Music) who is running a contest that would launch their careers. Along with many songs by a wide variety of groups -- from The Police to Blondie -- are crowds of young women cheerleading, doing aerobics, hang gliding, wind-surfing, and performing any number of physical feats. Other than music and nubile women in sporting events, the film has little to say and was never released theatrically. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This inept, obviously low-budget, poorly-acted horror-comedy is primarily a showcase for Nai Bonet a belly-dancer turned actress in her role as Nocturna, the last descendant of Count Dracula. Nocturna has followed her love interest -- rock guitarist (Tony Hamilton) -- from Transylvania to Manhattan in spite of the wrath of her infamous grandfather, who proceeds to follow her. But his thirst for revenge is thwarted by Jugulia (Yvonne de Carlo), a vampiress with a protective bent toward Nocturna, her musician, and their friends. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi