Greg Blanchard Movies
Though not quite as bad as it might have been, the 1994 "reunion" TV-movie I Spy Returns was some distance removed from great. Written by Michael Norell, this two-hour film is set some 25 years after the conclusion of the original I Spy weekly series. Former secret agent Alexander "Scotty" Scott (Bill Cosby), now a romance-language professor at a tweedy California college, is aghast to learn that his feisty daughter Nicole (Salli Richardson) has signed up as a spy with Special Services. Making a beeline to the organization's director Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), who'd once been his partner in the espionage business, Scotty demands that Nicole be bounced from the program. Kelly merely chuckles and replies that the girl couldn't be in safer hands: Her partner is the organization's most gifted and resourceful young agent-Kelly's own son Ben (George Newbern). Realizing that he will never be able to win an argument with his old pal Kelly, Scotty agrees to join Robinson in surreptitiously supervising Nicole and Ben as they head to Vienna to tackle their first assignment: Providing protection for defecting Russian scientist Cherbakov (Nikalous Parlya) and his wife (Lynsey Baxter). When they discover that their former adversary Baroodi (Jonathan Hyde) is also in Vienna, Kelly and Scotty take an active hand in matters-and the results are, if not hilarious, certainly diverting. The film's high points include the lengthy "bickering banter" exchanges between old pros Culp and Cosby. I Spy Returns originally aired as a "CBS Movie Special" on February 3, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Versatile Canadian comedian Martin Short plays a 10-year old boy in this comedy aimed at younger audiences. The tale is told in flashback to another little boy. Clifford is a manipulative brat. Clifford really wants to visit Dinosaur World in Los Angeles. Clifford wants to go so badly that he manages to force the Hawaii bound plane he and his parents are on to land in L.A. His parents need to attend a convention in Hawaii so they leave him with his Uncle Martin who despises children. Martin's fiance adores kids, so he pretends to be ecstatic about Clifford's visit. He must also pretend that Clifford is the angel child he isn't. Because Martin reneges on a promise to take him to Dinosaur World, Clifford begins an elaborate plot for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Short, Charles Grodin, (more)
- 1992
In the process of trying to rediscover her identity, a young amnesiac leads herself and her employer on an investigation into her past that leads them into danger. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1990
- R
Set in the further reaches of the galaxy, this sci-fi horror film, a cross between Forbidden Planet and Alien, tells the story of a spaceship commander's battle to protect the universe against the terrifying mutation-causing virus that threatens to wreak havoc upon the planet Phabton. The creatures created by the disease are nearly unstoppable so Commander Steve Kreiger has his hands full. The irony of the situation is that the sharp-fanged virus monsters came about as the result of Phabton scientist's attempts to create a virus to destroy the deadly Delta-Five virus ravaging the planet. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marc Singer, Laura Tate, (more)
