Lisa Blount Movies

This film, aired on television as 24 Hours of the Rebel, delves into the hero-worship aura that surrounded James Dean following his tragic death. This stars The Waltons' Richard Thomas (getting a break from his usual "goody-goody" roles), who, as character "Jimmy J," is stunned by Dean's death and gathers his friends in a drinking foray where the stupor comes more from their turbulent emotions than from the suds. Quite respected for its real-life glimpses, this film is the debut of Dennis Quaid. ~ All Movie Guide

Richard Gere plays Zack Mayo, an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he's arrived at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill sergeant Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr.). Mayo --or "Mayonnaise," as he is dubbed by the irascible Foley -- is an excellent cadet, but a little cold around the heart. Foley rides Mayo mercilessly, sensing that the young man would be prime officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with working girl Paula Pokrifi (Debra Winger) is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself. Only after Mayo's best friend Sid Worsley (David Keith) commits suicide over an unhappy romance does Zack come out of his shell and mature into a real human being. Take away the R-rated dialogue and the sex scenes, and Officer and a Gentleman could have been a 1937 MGM flick, maybe with Robert Taylor as Zack, Wallace Beery as Foley, and Jimmy Stewart as Sid. An Officer and a Gentleman was nominated for 7 Oscars, with wins to Gossett and to the hit song "Up Where We Belong." The closing scene has surely become a classic of movie romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this whimsically absurd comedy, Al Fountain (John Turturro) is an rigidly self-controlled electrical engineer who has discovered his first gray hair and has begun seeing things (bicycles running backwards, coffee pouring from the cup into the pot). To Al's shock, he's fired without notice from his job and told to go home. Instead, he rents a car and heads out in search of Splatchee Lake, a vacation spot he remembers visiting as a child (and one of the few places where he ever felt truly content). Al discovers that the lake is too polluted to swim in, but he finds The Kid (Sam Rockwell), a genial eccentric who wears a coonskin cap and lives in the woods with a large collection of junk scavenged from trash heaps. The Kid encourages Al to be spontaneous and take some chances in his life; an opportunity to do so presents itself when Dupree sisters Floatie (Catherine Keener) and Purlene (Lisa Blount) appear, and love (or a reasonable facsimile) is in the air. Writer/director Tom DiCillo had originally intended this project to follow his debut feature, the hipster comedy Johnny Suede, but problems with financing and production delays led him to make the indie film satire Living in Oblivion first. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Actor Ray McKinnon (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) makes his debut behind the camera with Chrystal, a psychological drama written, directed, and produced by the long-time character player. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton as Joe, a man who returns home after a 16-year prison stint. Before his conviction, Joe was involved in a car wreck while being pursued by the authorities. Though he survived, Joe's wife Chrystal (Lisa Blount) suffered permanent injuries and the couple's young son was killed. While Joe seeks redemption, he must also contend with Snake (McKinnon), a drug dealer who is less than kind to the ex-con. Chrystal premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the screenwriters behind the highly successful Alien, turned their attention to earthbound terrors with this creepy horror tale. Dead and Buried focuses on Dan Gillis (James Farentino), a man who has recently returned to his hometown of Potter's Bluff to be its sheriff. His job becomes difficult when a series of strangers who visit Potter's Bluff begin dying in violent and mysterious ways. To make matters worse, his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson), has begun to act strangely, taking an odd interest in voodoo and acting like she might be having an affair. As the murder victims pile up, Gillis discovers that all his troubles have an occult origin that has to do with the town's elderly mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson, in his final feature film role). Gillis gets to the bottom of the mystery, only to discover that the truth is much worse than he imagined. Despite effective direction and solid acting, Dead and Buried got lost in the shuffle of the early '80s horror boom and failed to click with the movie-going public. However, it later gained an audience via home video and cable and remains a minor cult favorite today thanks to its singular blend of creepy atmosphere and gruesome shocks. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

Small-time Texas businessman Arlis Sweeney (Dennis Quaid) can never shake the memory of his father's (James Caan) wasted life. What particularly sticks in his craw is the murder committed years earlier by his father and a teenaged accomplice. While going through the by-rote motions of his job (he supplies vending machines), Arlis strikes up a friendship with hardcase hitchhiker Kay Davies (Meg Ryan). Slowly, Kay helps Arlis put his life in order. And then, Arlis suddenly realizes where he's seen Kay before. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Until its last 10 minutes or so, this filmed biography of controversial recording star Jerry Lee Lewis plays like a live-action cartoon. As played by Dennis Quaid, "the killer" is a very mixed-up individual: a saintly sinner, a world-wise naif, a skilled performer with zero sense of discipline, a loving husband who uses his wife for a punching bag. The story takes place during the years 1956 through 1958, as Lewis rises to the top of the charts with such hits as "Crazy Arms," "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and the title tune. Along the way, he falls in love with his second cousin Myra (Winona Ryder), eventually marrying the girl. When it is revealed that Myra is only 13 years old, Lewis is condemned as a molester and pervert by the public (his disastrous tour of England during this crisis is depicted in hilarious Tex Avery fashion). After establishing a brisk, satirical tone through most of the proceedings, the film plummets into heavy dramatics in its final portions, jarring disastrously with all that has gone before. Otherwise, Quaid is terrific as Lewis (expertly lip-synching to the original records,) and Ryder is equally good as the long-suffering Myra. Featured in the cast are Alec Baldwin as Jerry's cousin Jimmy Swaggart (the same!), Michael St. Gerard as Lewis' great rival Elvis, and Steve Allen as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A judge is set up for murder in this suspenseful thriller. Criminal court judge Gwen Warwick is about to be appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court. One night she engages in sex with law clerk Martin in his office. They begin a torrid affair. A colleague of Gwen's, Charles Matron, is discovered murdered in his office. She is asked to judge the case. However, increasing evidence points to her as the prime murder suspect. Now she must prove that she is being set-up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Evidently, David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) have come down to earth after sharing their first kiss in the previous episode. It's back to business this week, as David uses information supplied by a gorgeous prostitute (Lisa Blount) to solve a few recent murders; it seems that one of the girl's more prominent clients has a habit of talking in her sleep. David's "sleuthing" skills make him famous overnight--and also target him for extinction by certain parties who don't like all the publicity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Keith Michell dominates this episode in the role of Dennis Stanton, ex-jewel thief turned insurance investigator. While probing into a theft and double murder, Dennis decides to use his own criminal knowhow to trap the culprit. At the center of the intrigue is a rare silver dollar, an icy dowager, and a few random suspicious-looking gentlemen with accents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The special effects are the highlight of this routine science fiction saga. A scientific exploration team bound for the planet Volcryn encounter an evil spaceship helmed by the villainous Jon Winderman (Michael Des Barres), who resembles a composite parody of heavy metal rockers. Not so far fetched an idea -- as in real life, Des Barres took the place of lead singer Robert Palmer in the short-lived 1980s rock group Power Station. He is probably most famous for being the husband of Pamela Des Barres, author of the tell-all groupie expose I'm With The Band. Michael Des Barres's film career began with To Sir, With Love in 1967. He also has been a songwriter and television actor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Proving that you can never guess what you'll find when you clean out the basement, a man of the cloth discovers that ultimate evil has made a hiding place in his cellar in this tale of terror. Father Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is a priest who discovers a strange object in a church basement -- a canister filled with a swirling and volatile green substance. With the help of Professor Birack (Victor Wong), Loomis discovers the startling truth about his find -- it seems that Satan, who is actually an alien life form, had a son, and the essence of the devil's spawn is trapped inside the canister. The evil spirit has been guarded by a group calling themselves "The Brotherhood of Sleep," but the spirit has the ability to free itself whenever it decides the time is right...and it seems that time is just around the corner. Prince of Darkness was directed by horror master John Carpenter; he also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Martin Quatermass. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A good ol' boy from the middle-class suburbs of Atlanta becomes indebted to the mob in actor-turned-director/screenwriter Ray McKinnon's quirky crime comedy. Randy (McKinnon) is about as American as baseball and apple pie. Randy's wife (Lisa Blount) is a clinically depressed baton teacher who also suffers from a painful case of carpal tunnel syndrome, and his identical twin brother, Cecil (also McKinnon), is openly homosexual. When Randy runs into financial trouble, he seeks a quick fix by borrowing money from some local mobsters. Just when it begins to appear as if Randy has gotten in way over his head, the unanticipated appearance of mysterious mobster named Tino Armani (Walton Goggins) leads to a decidedly bizarre turn of events. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide