Mike Starr Movies
A character actor whose beefy, imposing build (a magazine once listed him as 6'3" and 245 pounds) typecast him as thugs, hoods, and underworld heavies, performer Mike Starr was raised in the Manhattan area, as the son of a meatpacker and a five-and-dime clerk. He attended Long Island's Hofstra University on a drama scholarship, and -- after graduation -- toiled at menial jobs as a bartender and club bouncer before landing his first film role in William Friedkin's gay-themed cop thriller Cruising (1980). Many projects ensued over the following decades, including The Natural (1984), Uncle Buck (1989, in a memorable bit as a drunken clown), Ed Wood (1994), and Jersey Girl (2004). Fans of the gangster-themed comedy Mad Dog and Glory (1993), in particular, might remember Starr -- he played Harold, the wife-beater husband who gets on David Caruso's bad side, and physically suffers for it. In 2007, Starr essayed a rare lead in the character comedy Osso Bucco; he played a gangster unknowingly targeted for death and due for extermination by his cousin. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Cat's Eye is an uneven, tepid trilogy of stories written by Stephen King connected by a cat which appears at the beginning of each story. The best story, and first episode, concerns chain-smoker Morrison (James Woods) who joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti, played with great relish by Alan King. In the second episode, a gambler named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan) makes a bet with his wife's lover. In the third episode, a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is terrorized by a tiny troll. Although he wrote the screenplay, Stephen King was disappointed with the results and thought the interconnection of the stories using the cat clumsy and distracting. Directer Lewis Teague does an average job of directing the confusing and sometimes foolish script. However, James Woods' fine performance and the special effects by Jeff Jarvis make the film worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Barrymore, James Woods, (more)
The film version of The Natural pulls off the neat trick of conveying the spirit of the Bernard Malamud novel upon which it is based, even while changing both the outcome and the meaning of Malamud's closing chapters. In his first film appearance in four years, Robert Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a farm boy with a hankering to be a great baseball player. With his faithful homemade bat "Wonderboy" in hand, Roy heads to the big city. En route, he arouses the fascination of the mysterious Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey). Luring the boy to a hotel room, Harriet asks Roy what he wants out of life. Roy brashly responds he wants to be "the best there is," whereupon Harriet whips out a gun and shoots Roy down. Sixteen years later, a humbler Roy Hobbs emerges from the bush leagues to become a 35-year-old "rookie" on the 1939 lineup of the New York Knights. He soon becomes the team's star player, and in so doing once more attracts enigmatic woman Memo Paris (Kim Basinger), the glamorous niece of the Knights' manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley) and the mistress of Rothstein-like gambler Gus Sands (a curiously unbilled Darren McGavin). Roy's fascination with Memo compromises his ability to play, but this time he finds salvation in the form the angelic Iris Gaines (Glenn Close), his childhood sweetheart. From this point forward, the script for The Natural bears very little resemblance to the Malamud original. Without giving anything away, it can be said that Roy Hobbs is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compensate for the mistakes of his youth, despite the demonic intrusion of inexplicably spiteful sports writer Max Mercy (Robert Duvall). The Natural elevates the art of slow-motion photography to new heights; while this technique would become precious and boring in later baseball films, it works beautifully here, as does the decision by director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel to convey the symbolism inherent in the story in purely visual rather than blatantly verbal terms. (If the characters told you that the story was a retelling of the Camelot legend in baseball terms, would you have watched?) Another plus is the pastoral theme music by Randy Newman, which has been well utilized on sports broadcasts and "human interest" TV documentaries ever since. The baseball scenes in The Natural were staged at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, (more)
New York City detective Steve Burns Al Pacino receives orders from Captain Edelson Paul Sorvino to solve a series of brutal murders in the gay community. Steve scours the gay bars that caters to same-sex sadomasochism in a desperate attempt to solve the crime. As he infiltrates the scene, he slowly comes loose from the moorings of his own reality, and an innocent victim is tortured by the cops in an effort to exact a confession. The story is based on actual murders that took place between 1962 and 1979. The film gained considerable publicity because of the controversial subject matter while censor argued between an X and R rating for the feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, (more)
The Bushido Blade is set in 19th century Japan, at the time of American Commodore Matthew Perry's opening up of the ancient oriental nation. As played by Richard Boone (in his last film), Perry is a megalomaniac mercenary who makes Custer look like a humanitarian. The plot involves Perry's efforts to locate a sacred sword. The rest of the cast includes James Earl Jones, Frank Converse, and Toshiro Mifune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Boone, Sonny Chiba, (more)
