Robert Thurston Movies
- 2009
- PG
- Add Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian to QueueAdd Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian to top of Queue
Ben Stiller returns as Larry Daley, the unfortunate night watchman who continues to encounter living and breathing museum exhibits in Night at the Museum 2: Escape From the Smithsonian, 20th Century Fox's tent-pole sequel from director Shawn Levy. Scott Frank, Robert Ben Garant, and Thomas Lennon provide the script, with Chris Columbus returning to handle producing duties. Amy Adams (Enchanted) and Hank Azaria join the returning cast of Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, and Owen Wilson in the 1492 and 21 Laps Entertainment co-production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, (more)
- 2000
When popular hockey player Matt Clerk dies before his time, he is promptly reincarnated as an Olympic-level figure skater. Only one problem: In his new incarnation, "he" has become a "she" -- Sarah Bryan by name. Retaining his macho-masculine sensibilities despite his curvaceous female frame, the hero (heroine?) has a lot of maturing to do before he's able to go for the gold. Aaron Smolinski plays the protagonist before the metamorphosis, while Nicholle Tom is seen as the "reborn" Sarah. Also in the cast are real-life skating stars Tara Lipinski and Nancy Kerrigan (and please note how no cracks are being made about broken limbs). Made for cable, Ice Angel was first telecast by the Family Channel on March 5, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholle Tom, Tara Lipinski, (more)
- 1999
- Add Aftershock: Earthquake in New York to QueueAdd Aftershock: Earthquake in New York to top of Queue
A major earthquake brings the City That Never Sleeps to a screeching halt in this made-for-TV suspense drama. New York City Mayor Lincoln (Charles S. Dutton) and Fire Chief Ahearn (Tom Skerritt) are contentious political rivals forced to set aside their differences and work together when a catastrophic earthquake rips into the city. Lincoln's urgency to dig the city out of the rubble becomes personal when he learns that his daughter Evie (Lisa Nicole Carson) is trapped in a buried subway car -- what's more, one of her fellow passengers is a murder suspect who has just won acquittal, but whom the mayor believes may have been guilty. Elsewhere, Dori (Sharon Lawrence) is a mother who, after accidentally injuring her child in an auto accident, becomes all the more panicked when she learns that her boy is trapped inside a damaged school building that could turn deadly in the event of an aftershock. Originally aired in November 1999, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York also features Cicely Tyson, Erika Eleniak, Jennifer Garner, and Fred Weller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Sharon Lawrence, (more)
- 1998
Michael Rohl made his directorial debut with this Canadian comedy-drama in which Brian (Benjamin Ratner) loses his San Francisco garage job and talks pal Michael (Colin Cunningham) into joining him on a fishing trip. At an unmarked gravesite, they find a key inscribed "PUMZACH." This prompts them to cross the border into Nevada in search of a shaman who can translate the enigmatic inscription. After meeting medicine-man Martin Yellowcrow (Willie John Hanna), owner of flatulent canine Zacharia, they are joined by winsome waitress Corey (Madison Graie) and nerdy numismatist Wayne Newton (C. Ernst Harth). The group arrives in a small town where the locksmith finds a match for the key with lonely Jean (Betty Linde), mother of a missing son. Minus Wayne, they head back to California. Shot in Vancouver, this film was shown at the 1998 Vancouver Film Festival and the 1998 AFI Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Cunningham, Ben Ratner, (more)
Rudyard Kipling's classic novel is re-told in this made-for-television adaptation. Robert Urich stars as Troop, the captain of a schooner who rescues a child (Kenny Vadas) after he falls overboard from a passing ship. The boy -- a spoiled, orphaned, rich kid -- learns valuable lessons about life and the sea as Captain Troop and his son make him earn his passage on their vessel. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
In this strikingly original independent drama from Canada, a young woman finds that her obsession with death is challenged when she falls in love with a handsome medical student. Sandra Larson (Molly Parker) was fascinated with the dead from an early age; as a girl, she and her best friend would find the bodies of birds and small animals and devise funeral rituals for them, though Sandra always took these adventures far more seriously than her compatriot. As Sandra matures into womanhood, her obsession with the deceased begins to develop a sexual component, but her necrophilia is not about lust so much as a spiritual yearning for the light and calm of death's embrace. In college, Sandra studies embalming, which allows her to study and embrace death on a daily basis, and she finds work at a funeral home owned by Mr. Wallis (Jay Brazeau), a man who in his way shares her obsessions. One day at a coffeeshop, Sandra meets Matt (Peter Outerbridge), who is studying to be a doctor; she senses that he knows her secrets, and a tentative romance blooms between them. But while Matt wants to "cure" Sandra of her intimate feelings for death, she finds that he's not capable of understanding her erotic nature, which is directed within herself more than outward toward others. Understandably controversial upon its initial release (though far more subtle and poetic than one might expect given the subject matter), Kissed was the first feature film from director Lynne Stopkewich, who previously distinguished herself as a production designer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly Parker, Peter Outerbridge, (more)
- 1992
In this Disney adventure, the third in a series, Chip, the android boy, must save his father from the cruel business magnate who has abducted him. To do so, he reconfigures his father's robotic look-a-like and then prepares to face the spooky Spartacus, his robotic nemesis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Thicke, Jay Underwood, (more)
A boy saves and befriends a mangy ex-circus dog and adopts him as a pet--without his father's knowledge. As the family moves across the country, the dog attempts to follow, getting into close calls and lots of adventures along the way. Will Bingo end up in the arms of his favorite boy? This spoof/adventure/comedy contains some violence and profanity. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cindy Williams, David Rasche, (more)
- 1991
Jeannie is still Barbara Eden, just as she'd been in the 1965-70 TV sitcom of blessed memory. Despite the passing years, Jeannie still looks great in those harem duds (and behold, she does have a navel). The plot of this TV reunion film has Jeannie searching for her astronaut husband Tony Nelson, who's been lost in space for twenty years. According to Genie Rules and Regulations, she must find a new master soon, or it's back to the bottle. Helping Jeannie in her quest is old buddy Roger Healey (welcome back, Bill Daily). Also on hand is Jeannie's mischievous twin Jeannie II (Ms. Eden again), her invisible dog Jin-Jin, and Chris Bolton as her son Tony Nelson Jr. (who does resemble Larry Hagman, if you squint). I Still of Jeannie was NBC's competition for Game Two of the 1991 World Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The can't-miss teaming of Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn is squandered on a clumsy, illogical romantic melodrama. Running across her old boyfriend Gibson at a Wisconsin gas station, Hawn is astounded that he seems not to recognize her. How could she have known that Gibson was put into the Witness Relocation Program after testifying against a homicidal mob boss (say, don't they usually alter your appearance when they put you in that program?) Curious over Gibson's furtive behavior, Hawn unknowingly sets herself up as a target for the bad guys. The whole affairs culminates in an after-hours showdown at a zoo (a plot device vastly improved upon in the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Eraser). While Bird on a Wire admittedly has its moments of enjoyment, most of the film is on a par with Gibson's embarrassing, homophobic scene with a pair of epicine hairdressers. And whoever heard of the Chinatown section of Racine, Wisconsin? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, (more)
