Al Sapienza Movies

A woman trying to escape traumatic memories from her past finds history repeating itself in this gory horror story. Joan Burrows (Brittney Wilson) was an ordinary teenager growing up in a small Colorado town until she and a friend were abducted by Ernie Bishop, who ran the local funeral parlor. Joan and her friend discovered to their horror that Ernie was a violent lunatic who performed elaborate torture rituals on young women, and while Joan was able to escape with her life, her friend was killed. Sixteen years later, Joan (now played by Angela Bettis), who bears a facial scar and vivid memories of the attack, returns home for the first time to visit her older brother Jeff (Christopher Titus) and his daughter Olympia (Kirby Bliss Blanton), who has been voted queen of the local high school's senior prom. However, the mutilated bodies of Olympia's friends and classmates are soon littering the town, and both Joan and Jeff suspect that Ernie is back and up to his old tricks. Scar was produced in two versions -- one in a new 3-D process, the other shot using High Definition digital video technology. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Burt Reynolds, Robert Loggia, and Charles Durning star in this crime comedy following three retired war veterans who stumble upon $4million in stolen mob money and quickly find themselves targeted by both the Mafia and the Feds. Sam (Reynolds), Carl (Loggia), and Eddie (Durning) have all managed to survive their turbulent tours of duty, and now all they want is to settle down and enjoy their retirement in the desert paradise of Sunrise Park - located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Up until now, the biggest concern for these three friends was who would wind up winning the affections of their sultry neighbor, a former Las Vegas showgirl named Christine (Raquel Welch). The stakes get more than a little higher, however, when the Witness Protection Program drops mob-informant Angelo Nitti in their midst. Having recently turned evidence on some of the most dangerous underworld heavies around, Angelo has been given a new name and a new home in Sunrise Park. But despite the fact that he's come clean about his criminal life, Angelo still harbors a whopper of a secret: He's quietly stashed $4million in stolen mob money, and he's planning on spending the rest of his days in style. His plan hits a hitch, however, when his three neighbors discover the loot and head out on a wild spending spree. Now, as Angelo's secret spreads among both the underworld and the authorities, unsuspecting trio Sam, Carl, and Eddie soon find themselves pursued by trigger-happy treasure hunters on both sides of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In the course of a murder investigation at the magic school, Paige (Rose McGowan) and Agent Brody (Kerr Smith) find themselves plunked into the middle of a detective novel that was started 20 years earlier, but never completed. In order to escape their literary prison, Paige and Brody must figure out how the novel was supposed to end -- and they must also locate the book's long-missing author, Eddie Mullen (Bug Hall). As indicated by its title, this episode uses the Charmed format as a framework for an affectionate homage to the shadow-laden film noir genre of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

From the writer of Ted Bundy and The Hillside Strangler comes this biopic of another one of America's most notorious serial killers Charles Starkweather. Starring Brent Taylor in the title role, Starkweather details the bloody escapades of the 19-year-old murderer and his fourteen-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate (The O.C.'s Shannon Lucio), as they cross 1950s middle America leaving a trail of dead in their path. Directed by Byron Werner, the film also stars veteran character actor Lance Henriksen. Terrence Malick dramatized the same story thirty years prior in Badlands. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A young man with a troubled past expresses himself through street art in this independent drama. Anthony (Mark Webber) is a 19-year-old kid living in New York City who was introduced to "bombing" -- graffiti art sprayed on public walls when the cops aren't looking -- by his older brother. When his brother died, Anthony took up bombing himself, and with the help of his pals Justin (Gano Grills) and Kevin (Jade Yorker) he does murals under the street name "Blest," while struggling to avoid the NYPD's anti-graffiti Vandal Squad. Anthony's mother (Donna Mitchell) is after him to quit bombing and attend art school, while his girlfriend (Jaclyn DeSantis) wants to get out of New York, and would like him to join her. However, it takes a run-in with Bobby Cox (Al Sapienza), a Vandal Squad cop with a hair-trigger temper, to push Anthony into making a decision about his life. Bomb the System was the first feature film from writer and director Adam Bhala Lough, who was only 23 years old when the picture was made. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the Roaring '20s Chicago, three young men newly arrived from Liverpool find themselves working for Al Capone (Julian Littman). Capone's ruthless right-hand man Georgio (Al Sapienza) exploits Jimmy's (Marc Warren) explosive right uppercut by scheduling him in a boxing match against the local champ; in preparation, Georgio has Jimmy train with the aging coach Boom Boom (Richard Roundtree). Only later do they realize the fight is fixed and Jimmy is ordered to take a dive in the fifth round, something he's reluctant to consider. Jimmy makes things worse by having an affair with Georgio's girlfriend Edith (Kirsty Mitchell), and hot-tempered Georgio is not happy. Meanwhile Jimmy's mates are implicated in the kidnapping of Capone's young son, an accusation they compound by robbing the mob safe. Can these adventures possibly have happy endings? ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

A small town baseball announcer embarks on the journey of a lifetime after facing the prospect of being placed in a retirement home against his will in this bittersweet drama featuring Academy Award-winning actor Rod Steiger in his final film role. Despite the fact that his health is fading, and having recently suffered a mild stroke, Charlie McCabe is reluctant to give up his announcing position for the local baseball team and settle quietly into a local nursing home. Recalling an unfulfilled promise that he had made to his late wife that he would make amends with his estranged son, Charlie and his loving granddaughter Biddy set out to make good on his word and lay old ghosts to rest. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Actor-director Clarence Williams III guest stars as Lateef Miller, a former member of the militant Black Panther party. A prominent 1960s activist, Miller again makes headlines when he is accused of murdering a white police detective. Media coverage of the subsequent trial serves as a forum for the personal attacks leveled by Miller against arresting detective Eddie Green (Jesse L. Martin). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Looming betrayals within a mob family cloud the horizon in this episode of the popular HBO crime series. Crooked police officer Vin Mazakian (John Heard) tells New Jersey crime boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) that his best friend and trusted lieutenant Big Pussy Bompenseiro (Vincent Pastore), who was arrested by the feds, may have turned and could be working as an informant. Although he's incredulous, Tony orders another of his men, Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) to find the truth. Tony cautions Paulie not to kill their old friend until he's absolutely certain that he's a snitch, as it's possible Mazakian is framing Pussy to get out of his gambling debts. Before Tony can learn more, Mazakian is arrested in a sting operation and, his career in tatters, commits suicide as Paulie's plan to get Pussy to disrobe at a steam bath to see if he's wearing a wire fails. At the same time, Tony's uncle and rival within the family, Junior (Dominic Chianese) orders a hit on Tony, giving the bloody assignment to his top soldier Mikey (Al Sapienza), who tells his wife he's moving up in the family. After the incident at the steam bath, Pussy disappears. This episode first aired March 21, 1999. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The final episode of the HBO crime series' first season contains several startling plot twists. After she suffers a disorienting episode, Livia Soprano (Nancy Marchand), the manipulative mother of a powerful New Jersey crime boss, is moved to the nursing wing of her retirement home. Her son Tony (James Gandolfini) doesn't want to face the possibility, raised by his therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), that his own mother may have been in on an assassination attempt that nearly took his life. Later, however, the FBI plays tapes of Livia's conversations with Tony's uncle and family rival, Junior (Dominic Chianese), which proves she knew about the attempt and that Junior ordered it. Visiting with Livia, Tony's friend Artie Bucco (John Ventimiglia) discovers Tony's role in the destruction of his restaurant and confronts Tony with a shotgun, but Tony is able to convince his friend that Livia is losing her mind. Tony's cousin and muscle man Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and Soprano family lieutenant Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) murder Junior's top soldier, Mikey (Al Sapienza), while he's out jogging. Before Tony can also rub out his uncle, Junior and his men are arrested by the Feds on racketeering charges. Tony informs Dr. Melfi that a gang war could be brewing, putting her life in danger, and that she should leave town for a while. Livia has a stroke, and an incensed Tony confronts her about her role in the attempt on his life as she is wheeled away. "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" first aired on April 4, 1999. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Revelations mark this fourth episode of the series, involving a schoolyard fight brewing between Anthony Soprano Jr. (Robert Iler) and a bully who unexpectedly backs down. Anthony Jr. fails to understand the boy's fear, so his sister Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) explains that their father, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), is not really a "waste management consultant" but a New Jersey mob kingpin. After he begins having erotic dreams about his psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), Tony hires a crooked cop, Vin Makazian (John Heard) to investigate Melfi's background, and the detective accidentally ruins her romance with a lawyer. Frantic after the mock execution he suffered, Soprano soldier Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) believes that his cousin and boss, Tony, ordered the incident because he gave Tony's daughter, Meadow, some crystal methamphetamines; however, after Christopher and his girlfriend, Adriana (Drea de Matteo), discover the corpse of his murdered friend, Brendan Filone (Anthony de Sando), he realizes that his uncle, Junior (Dominic Chianese), ordered the slaying in retaliation for a botched truck hijacking. Exacerbated by Junior's bloodthirsty soldier, Mikey (Al Sapienza), tensions rise between Tony and Junior when their boss and head of the family, Jackie Aprile (Michael Rispoli), passes away from cancer. Tony is left to decide whether he will make a play for the top job in the family or concede control to his uncle. "Meadowlands" first aired on January 31, 1999. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Beverly Hills 90210 star Tori Spelling and Star Trek: Voyager actress Jeri Lynn Ryan headline this made-for-TV movie about a hardworking college student who thinks she's found the answer to her financial and self-esteem issues when she falls into the lifestyle of a high-priced escort. Lonely, plain-Jane, cash-strapped Joanna Halbert (Spelling) attends university classes while also helping out at the bakery run by her no-nonsense, widowed mother, Teri (Susan Blakely). When her classmates jokingly leave Joanna's name and number on the voicemail of a Malibu escort service, Joanna finds her curiosity piqued. After finding a new best gal pal in the form of the vivacious escort Kimberly (Ryan), Joanna soon finds herself working for Kimberly's boss, Ron Tamblin (Scott Plank), who promises her that she doesn't have to sleep with the clients she "dates." Soon, Joanna is dressing like a grown-up, stepping out with fabulous men -- and getting paid hundreds of dollars a night for her trouble. This secret double life soon, however, takes a toll on Joanna's relationships with her mother, her friends and her would-be beau, Jack (Barry Watson). Although Joanna chooses to sleep with one of her clients, she refuses to sleep with another. But when Ron threatens to fire her, she acquiesces, and soon Joanna finds herself going on more dates where the sex is not only compulsory, but kinky. When she tries to quit, violence ensues, ultimately leading Joanna to criminal court, where she must defend herself against a charge of attempted murder. After first airing on CBS in 1996, Co-Ed Call Girl enjoyed a second life on cable, including the Lifetime network. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide