Bill Smille Movies
Christopher Nolan steps back into the director's chair for this sequel to Batman Begins, which finds the titular superhero coming face to face with his greatest nemesis -- the dreaded Joker. Christian Bale returns to the role of Batman, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins), and Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger dons the ghoulishly gleeful Joker makeup previously worn by Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. Just as it begins to appear as if Batman, Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) are making headway in their tireless battle against the criminal element, a maniacal, wisecracking fiend plunges the streets of Gotham City into complete chaos. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, (more)
- 2003
Jenny McCarthy, Melody Perkins, and Jennifer Sky guest star as the Stillman sisters, a trio of trampish bleach-blonde witches. Envious of the Charmed Ones, the Stillmans steal the girls' identities and powers. Whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) is now convinced that the Stillmans are actually Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and Paige (Rose McGowan) -- and if he doesn't learn the truth soon, there will be serious long-range consequences. In separate developments, Phoebe is still having difficulty reigning in her empath powers, especially when her lover, Jason (Eric Dane), is concerned; and Piper tries to get baby son Wyatt to bond with his Whitelighter father, Leo (Brian Krause). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Dorian Gregory, (more)
- 1993
- R
Three stalwarts of made-for-TV productions -- Harry Hamlin, Michael Ironside, and Steve Railsback -- team up for this erotic thriller. Hamlin plays a mild-mannered accountant who takes up with an intriguing stranger (Lysette Anthony), who happens to harbor multiple personalities: seductress, prude, and saint. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
Set amidst the burgeoning Seattle alternative music scene of the early '90s, Singles follows a group of twentysomethings as they try to find love and try to come to terms with their passage into adulthood. Arranged as an episodic comedy, the film follows a group of friends who live in the same apartment building and hang out at the same coffee shop. The central couple is Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott) and Linda Powell (Kyra Sedgwick), a pair who meet at an Alice In Chains concert and eventually fall in love. Singles follows the tumultuous relationship between Steve and Linda and their friendship with Janet Livermore (Bridget Fonda), who is trying to win the affection of grunge-rocker Cliff Poncier (Matt Dillon). The film also has a number of cameos, including actors Eric Stoltz, Tom Skerritt, Peter Horton, director Tim Burton and the film's author/director, Cameron Crowe. From the musical side of the fence, Singles features appearances by Sub Pop executive Bruce Pavitt, musicians Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), Pat DiNizio (Smithereens), Tad (Tad), and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, and Stone Gossard, who play Dillon's backing band, Citizen Dick. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, (more)
- 1992
A rookie detective's investigation of a particularly brutal murder takes a personal turn for her when her lover turns out to the their main suspect. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jaclyn Smith, John Spencer, (more)
- 1991
In this family-fun type of film, two brothers who have apparently inherited their recently deceased father's inventor-type genes decide to finish their pop's robot invention, sell it for big bucks, and keep mom out of the poorhouse. They put together the metal man named Newman who somehow has absorbed the dead dad's spirit and can talk. The boys are wowed to find that Dad's back! But then the bad guys arrive (of course) in the form of an electronics company wanting in on the Newman-robot invention and by an abrupt gal reporter who wants the big scoop. Looming out in the troubled fringes too, are the dopes responsible for the kids' dad's demise. These kids are up to all of this and, along with the robot, they're out to rack up one for the 'good guys.' ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Joshua Miller, Edan Gross, (more)
"Another basement, another elevator...how can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?" asks John McClane (Bruce Willis), in what is doubtless the key question of this film. A year after foiling the terrorist takeover of a high-rise office building in the first movie, McClane is waiting to pick up his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), at Dulles International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve. Scheduled to arrive the same evening is Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), a South American political figure who is being brought to the United States to stand trial for his role in a drug-smuggling ring. However, a group of terrorists, led by renegade American military officer Col. Stuart (William Sadler), take control of the airport, scuttling radio transmissions and placing their own men in the control tower. Stuart and his men ensure that Esperanza's plane lands safely, and then demand that Stuart and his men be given a fully-fueled 747 and free passage wherever they choose to go. Otherwise, they will guide the many circling jets waiting for landing instructions into definite crash landings, killing the many passengers on board. Not willing to stand aside as terrorists once again threaten his wife's life, the wise-cracking McClane once again leaps into action to foil Stuart's plans and bring the passenger jets safely to the ground. William Atherton, John Amos, Dennis Franz, and John Leguizamo highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, (more)
- 1989
This is the notorious episode which incurred the wrath of housewife-activist Terry Rakolta, who promptly mounted a campaign to get Married. . .With Children banned from the air. The plot involves a journey to "Francine's of Hollywood", a lingerie store in exotic Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Surrounded by such well-endowed fellow customers as former Playboy centerfolds Devin Devbasquez and Lynne Austin, Al endeavors to purchase a designer bra as birthday surprise for wife Peg (Katey Sagal. Ironically--if not surprisingly--Ms. Rakolta's crusade against Married. . .With Children served primarily to increase the series' viewership by a huge percentage! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1988
A cocky, irresponsible professional golfer discovers that he will have to clean up his act if he wants to compete in the PGA tour. Based on a novel by Dan Jenkins, this drama originally aired on cable television. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1987
- PG
Housekeeping is the film in which Christine Lahti invites a guest into a living room half-submerged in water. This is hardly the oddest moment in this characteristically quirky Bill Forsyth film (his first American production). When their grandmother dies, Idaho pre-teens Sarah Walker and Andrea Burchill are watched over by their late mother's sister (played by Ms. Lahti). This strange young woman has throughout her life made unconventionality a life form. The girls are at first embarrassed by their loopy aunt, but when Burchill moves in with another family, Walker draws closer to the older woman. They hit the road, where Lahti has spent most of her life, and experience several picaresque episodes before the more sober-sided Burchill informs the authorities about their vagabond lifestyle. Threatened with losing custody of Walker, Lahti makes an effort to clean up her act, but by this time her niece has become just as endearingly unpredictable as she. Director Forsyth adapted his script from a novel by Marilynne Robinson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christine Lahti, Sarah Walker, (more)
This science fiction thriller was inspired by a mythical real-life event, the WWII era disappearance of an entire naval vessel during a radar-cloaking test. In 1943, David Herdeg Michael Pare and Jim Parker Bobby DiCicco are sailors stationed aboard a Virginia battleship. Their vessel is undergoing an experiment conducted by brilliant scientist Dr. Longstreeet (Eric Christmas), who is attempting to render Allied craft invisible to radar. The ship becomes briefly invisible, but the test is a disaster and most of the crew are horribly killed. However, two crewmen are missing. In 1984, Herdeg and Parker emerge in the Nevada desert, having somehow traveled through time. Longstreet, still trying to perfect the device after 40 years, is running another experiment that pulls the missing sailors into the present. Realizing what's occurred, Herdeg and Parker flee, fearing for their lives. Fugitives, they befriend a skeptical modern woman, Alison Hayes (Nancy Allen). An effect of time pulls Parker back into 1943, leading to a bizarre reunion between Herdeg, still trapped in the future, and Parker, now a senior citizen. The film was followed by a sequel nine years later. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, (more)
- 1982
Real-life father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez star in the made-for-TV In the Custody of Strangers. Blue-collar Sheen and his wife Jane Alexander attempt to instill discipline in their three growing children. But their 16-year-old son Estevez chafes at their authoritative attitudes, and runs seriously afoul of the law. Picked up on a drunk-driving charge, Estevez is charged with assault and battery when he fights off the sexual advances of his cellmate. His release continually delayed by judicial red tape, Estevez holds his parents, who are virtually helpless within the strictures of the Law, responsible for the mess he's in. But the real villain of the piece is not a person but an entity: The juvenile justice system, which is overworked, understaffed and swamped with dead-end bureaucracy. Scripted by Jennifer Miller, In the Custody of Strangers debuted on May 26, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
After producer Irwin Allen highlighted the dangers of fire in the Towering Inferno and the dangers of water in the Poseidon Adventure, he is back to fire again but this time it is within the earth, at least for awhile. This fairly routine disaster film is set on a resort island with a volcano that is beginning to rumble. Stars include a long list of names: Paul Newman is Hank, the savvy oil driller who gets people to safety even against their will, Jacqueline Bisset is the woman he is interested in, William Holden, Eddie Albert, Barbara Carrera, Veronica Hamel and several others play individuals trapped on the island. Hank convinces some people to follow him to the highest part of the island as the volcano gets set to blow its top. They encounter several dangerous situations after the dormant volcano wakes up but nothing quite like the non-stop, action filled, death-defying scenes from the explosion of volcano movies that hit the screens in 1997: Dante's Peak, Volcano, Eruption, Volcano: Fire in the Mountain, and a few more from around the world. They formed a virtual 1997 "ring of fire." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 1980
- PG
Ever wonder what happens to your car when you give it to a parking lot attendant? Find out in this zany slapstick comedy set in an exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel. There the attendants gleefully smash and bash the expensive cars of patrons while trying to get them parked. The story really perks up when an enamored and fabulously wealthy sheik joins the attendants in hopes of attracting a certain beautiful woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The sophomore effort for director Joe Dante, a future protégé of Steven Spielberg, this low-budget, high-camp horror spoof of Jaws (1977) features several chiller stars of yesteryear. Insurance investigator Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) is dispatched to find two missing teenage hikers near Lost River Lake. She hires surly backwoods drunkard Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) to serve as her guide. Searching the area, they find an abandoned military facility. The only resident is Dr. Robert Hoak (Kevin McCarthy), former head of a top-secret project to breed piranha for use in the Vietnam War. The project was closed down years ago, but Hoak has continued raising a deadly strain of the flesh-eating fish. When Hoak is knocked unconscious, Maggie and Paul accidentally release the piranha into a local river, which leads to the lake where a children's summer camp and a newly opened tourist resort will provide plenty of fish food for the hungry predators. Maggie and Paul race to warn the locals, but their pleas fall on skeptical ears, such as those of resort owner Buck Gardner (Dick Miller) -- until the piranha reach the swimmers. Piranha (1978) was co-written by John Sayles, making his motion picture debut. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, (more)
- 1976
While driving through a particularly treacherous stretch of woods, Olivia (Michael Learned) and her two youngest children Elizabeth (Kami Cotler) and Jim-Bob (David W. Harper) are stranded by a flat tire. In their efforts to find their way home, the three Waltons end up getting lost. After briefly taking refuge in a cabin owned by a bootlegging family, they are driven even deeper into the bear-infested woods--and now, storm clouds are ominously gathering on the horizon. Without tipping off the climax of this episode, it can be noted that the "hero" turns out be the least expected candidate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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