Raphael Sbarge Movies

Ann Margret looks too healthy to portray Blanche DuBois, the physically and mentally fragile Southern-belle protagonist of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, but we forget this discrepancy five minutes into her marvelous performance. This TV-movie version of Streetcar costars Treat Williams as faded aristocrat Blanche's rude 'n' crude brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski; Williams is persuasive, though he tries so hard not to be Marlon Brando that he comes off as a bit mechanical. The 1984 Streetcar is more realistically staged than the near-impressionistic 1951 Vivien Leigh/Marlon Brando filmization. The storyline, concerning the battle of wills between the earthy, pragmatic Stanley and the delusional Blanche, remains the same in both films, as does the script's tendency to avoid the homosexual elements that were so important to Williams' original play. The newer film's photography is bathed in an ambler tint throughout, conveying both nostalgia for the era in which it is set (the late 1940s) and a visual literalization of Blanche's "yellowed with antiquity" former lifestyle. The 1984 Streetcar Named Desire is less a remake of the 1951 version than a companion piece--a praiseworthy alternate version of the same sturdy material. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This highly acclaimed animated version of the classic children's holiday tale features the voices of several stars, notably Christopher Plummer, James Belushi and Bronson Pinchot. The story is set in mythical Toyland two days before Christmas and centers on the attempts of young Jack and Jill to stop the wicked Barnaby (Plummer) from shutting down the Toyland factory and spoiling the holiday for children everywhere. The heroic children receive help from Toyland residents, Tom Piper, Mary Lamb and Humpty Dumpty. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

First telecast October 21, 1990 on the Disney Channel cable service, Back to Hannibal: The Return of Huckleberry Finn is set 20 years after the Mark Twain novel. Tom Sawyer (Mitchell Anderson) is now a budding lawyer, while Huck Finn (Raphael Sbarge) is a reporter. They descend upon their old home town of Hannibal when their friend, ex-slave Jim Watson (Paul Winfield), is accused of murdering the husband of Tom's childhood sweetheart Becky Thatcher (Megan Follows). Roy Johansen's script even manages to haul in the King and the Duke (Joe Bova, Ned Beatty) from Huckleberry Finn. It's rather pointless, but it goes down easily enough. But, say: doesn't Back to Hannibal smell like a TV series pilot to you? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the more popular features from Roger Corman's "B"-factory Concorde/New Horizons, Carnosaur perpetuates the grand Corman tradition of zeroing in on a big-budget Hollywood studio moneymaker, then dashing off a quick-and-dirty poor man's version before moss gets a chance to grow on the larger film's concept. This bargain-basement spin on Jurassic Park was actually based on a novel by John Brosnan (under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight). It features Diane Ladd (whose daughter Laura Dern took the high road on Spielberg's film) as a kooky mad scientist whose experiments on human and dinosaur DNA result in dual disasters -- first, a rubbery midget Tyrannosaurus bred from dinosaur and chicken DNA (imagine the barbecue potential!) which escapes the lab and goes on the requisite bloody rampage; and second, a specially-engineered virus with the ability to replace human beings with dino-babies. Although this exploitation quickie doesn't waste too much time delivering the standard Corman cargo (blood and breasts), the mayhem is too often derailed by endless genetic techno-babble from Ladd, whose freaked-out performance is the film's sole plus. The downbeat ending is pure '80s, and paves the way for the inevitable sequels. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The first TV movie to utilize the "new" drug of crack cocaine as a plot peg, Cracked Up stars James Wilder as a 17-year-old top student and athlete. Wilder and his best friend Rafael Sbarge make the fatal error of experimenting with Crack; while Sbarge is able to resist the drug's more debilitating effects, Wilder becomes a hopeless addict in a matter of minutes. Sbarge is forced to keep his friend's addiction a secret from Wilder's clergyman father, played by Ed Asner. But with Wilder stealing everything that isn't nailed down in order to feed his habit, it is only a matter of time before Asner will be forced to breach the communications gap between himself and his son. Cracked Up was originally an ABC Theatre of the Month presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam was first telecast April 3, 1988, over the HBO cable service. Based on the book of the same name, the program is devoted to poignant recitations of letters to and from American participants of the Vietnam war. The letters are heard over images culled from news footage, home movies and still photography, with contemporary music added to put things in the proper historical context. The 2-hour film, featuring readings from various well-known actors (see cast list), was a co-production involving Bill Couturie, a previous Emmy winner for Vietnam Requiem, and the Vietnam Veterans Ensemble Theatre Company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Addison (Kate Walsh) heads to LA for a reunion old medical-school friends, blissfully unprepared for what it is in store for her. Meredith's stepmom Susan (Mare Winningham) is brought in with a truly bad case of hiccups, just as Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) thinks she has come to terms with their relationship. "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser) has been identified as "Ava", and Alex (Justin Chambers) is happy with her by any name. And Cristina (Sandra Oh) prepares for her wedding with the dubious input of her own mother (Tsai Chin) and Burke's mom (Diahann Carroll). This episode serves to introduce the future costars of the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice: Tim Daly (Pete), Amy Brennerman (Violet), Taye Diggs (Sam), Chris Lowell (Dell) and Paul Adelstein (Cooper) (the character of Naomi, here played by Merrin Dungey, would be taken over by Audra McDonald in Private Practice). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A group of intrepid humans attempts to save the Earth from vicious extraterrestrials in this extremely popular science-fiction adventure. Borrowing liberally from War of the Worlds, Aliens, and every sci-fi invasion film inbetween, director Roland Emmerich and producer and co-writer Dean Devlin present a visually slick, fast-paced adventure filled with expensive special effects and large-scale action sequences. The story begins with the approach of a series of massive spaceships, which many on Earth greet with open arms, looking forward to the first contact with alien life. Unfortunately, these extraterrestrials have not come in peace, and they unleash powerful weapons that destroy most of the world's major cities. Thrown into chaos, the survivors struggle to band together and put up a last-ditch resistance in order to save the human race. As this is a Hollywood film, this effort is led by a group of scrappy Americans, including a computer genius who had foreseen the alien's evil intent (Jeff Goldblum), a hot-shot jet pilot (Will Smith), and the President of the United States (Bill Pullman). While some critics objected to the film's lack of originality and lapses in logic, the combination of grand visual spectacle and crowd-pleasing storytelling proved irresistible to audiences, resulting in an international smash hit. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, Message In A Bottle stars Robin Wright Penn as Theresa Osborne, a writer for the Chicago Tribune. While her son visits her cheating ex-husband, Theresa goes on a vacation by herself. One day, while running on the beach, she finds a bottle washed up on the shore. She opens it and inside finds a love letter unlike any she's ever read. Captivated by the author's words of love, she returns to her job at the Tribune where she convinces her boss to run an article about the mystery writer, known only as "G." He approves, and Theresa begins her hunt. Scrutinizing every physical detail of the letter and the path the bottle may have taken, she eventually locates Garret Blake (Kevin Costner), a North Carolina boat-restorer who has not been the same since the tragic death of his beloved wife Catherine. Since her death, Garret has written several letters to his dead wife, put them in a bottles, and let them loose in the sea. As Theresa spends time with Garret, she quickly falls in love with him, though she neglects to tell him she knows about the letters. Garret, prodded by his cantankerous, no-nonsense dad, Dodge (Paul Newman), emerges from his shell of grief and develops an interest in Theresa as well. Theresa returns to Chicago and Garret soon visits her; he meets her son, Jason (Jesse James), but also discovers her knowledge of the letters. Eventually the two, who have both lost love, must cast off their emotional baggage and decide if they will pursue love even if it can't always last. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide

After English professor Charles Lattimore (Pierce Brosnan) assigns his class to plot the perfect murder, he finds himself the prime suspect in a police investigation after a student and another faculty member wind up dead. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is in Ireland, staying at a bed-and-breakfast at Ballynook Castle. Rumor has it that the castle is haunted by the ghost of a murdered woman, and the locals are convinced that the spirt is responsible for the death of a kitchen worker. Suspecting that the victim was murdered by "live" culprits who are searching for a hidden treasure, Jessica follows a trail of clues that may well lead her into a death trap! Rod Taylor and Fionnula Flanagan, both of whom had appeared in previous episodes filmed in Ireland, show up here in different roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adam Swit (Raphael Sbarge) is hounded by his consumer parents in their plush L.A. home, beset by his sexually deprived sister, and faces agony at school at the hands of the tougher kids. In order to escape his troubles, he daydreams about a fantastic young woman. Lo and behold, a dead-ringer for his dream woman shows up at school one day as a transfer student (Page Hannah) and Adam sets out to befriend her right away. On their first date they find a teacher in the parking lot who has just been severely worked over by a gang of thugs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide