George Touliatos Movies

Ann Brashares' best-selling novel for young adults comes to the big screen in this engaging comedy drama. Carmen (America Ferrera), Bridget (Blake Lively), Lena (Alexis Bledel), and Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) are four teenage girls who have been close friends since they were babies (and even before -- their mothers all knew each other from attending the same prenatal exercise class). However, fate has dictated that for the first time ever the young women will be spending their summer apart -- Carmen will be visiting her father, whom she hasn't seen in years, Lena will be visiting her grandparents in Greece, Bridget is attending a soccer camp in Mexico, while Tibby is stuck working at a discount store. A few days before Carmen, Lena, and Bridget leave, the four go shopping, and while at a thrift shop they discover an unusual pair of blue jeans that, despite the fact they're all of different height and weight, fits all four women perfectly. The girls buy the jeans and pledge to each look after them for a week at a time, hoping they'll bring one another good luck as the girls deal with a variety of new life experiences, both good and bad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

On the planet P35636, Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) saves the life of Princess Shyla (Heather Hanson), suicidal daughter of planetary ruler Pyrus (George Touliatos). Rather than be rewarded for his fast action, Jackson and the rest of the SG-1 team are captured and put to work in the planet's Naquadah mines (an element important to the survival of Pyrus' Goa'uld enemies). Rescuing Jackson from slave labor, Shyla tells him that her father is being kept alive by the powers of a Goa'uld sarcophagus--and that once Pyrus dies, she wants Jackson to rule by her side as King. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The true story of fabled Canadian truck driver Diana Kilmury is vividly realized in this made-for-TV drama. Barbara Williams stars as Kilmury, a tough-talking, chain-smoking tyro who, as the first female vice-president of the Canadian Teamsters, fearlessly spearheads a movement to expunge the union of its most corrupt officials. Kilmury's professional struggles are counterpointed by her personal travails as the mother of a mentally challenged son. Stuart Margolin is featured as Diana's longtime lover (and staunchest supporter) John, while the really Diana Kilmury makes an appearance at the end of the film. The winner of a cable ACE award, Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story aired on Canadian television before its American TV debut over the TNT channel on October 22, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Blending action with a touch of sword and sorcery, this drama centers on the attempts of a brave cop to stop the Game, a brutal series of sword fights in which the one who survives the match is hailed the winner. To stop the fights, the cop goes undercover as "The Gladiator" and tries to stop them. But stopping the match becomes complicated when the crazy match promoter (and also champion fighter) decides to force the Gladiator to use the sword of Alexander the Great against his sword of Ghengis Khan as he is convinced he and the cop are the great warriors' reincarnations. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this Canadian thriller, uneducated, disaffected white youths known as skinheads are attacking racial minorities. A government agent (Michael Ironside) investigating the incidents traces them to a wealthy, extreme right-wing, neo-Nazi businessman who is secretly bankrolling the skinheads, using them to do what he would like to do himself, but enabling him to keep his hands clean. The agent assembles a team (as in The Dirty Dozen) to fight back. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

A modern cop meets a mythical figure in this action-fantasy. It all begins when a muscle-bound detective is assigned to find the purloined sword of Alexander the Great, which is said to have been a gift to the conqueror from Apollo. As he searches for the perpetrator, a Greek tycoon, the gumshoe begins experiencing strange flashbacks set over 2,000 years in the past in which Alexander battles his envious cousin Herodotus. He seems to get most of these strange visions after handling homicide victims. Eventually he begins to realize that the visions are related to the missing sword. He finally meets his nemesis during fencing practice and ends up getting involved in the magnate's highly illegal swordplay competition using real blades. As he progresses to the finals, the detective finally figures out that he is a reincarnation of Alexander the Great and that the murderous magnate is Herodotus. The only way the detective will be able to stop the visions is to kill the tycoon, but will he be able to do it? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this tense and surprising thriller, a parish priest is torn between honoring his vow to never violate the sacred trust between a confessor and a cleric and telling the law that one of those he listens to is a serial killer who is ritually killing the women in his congregation. Devout and kindly Father Cusack is still new to the priesthood and takes his vows very seriously. Because he cannot tell the police, he tries to stop the killer on his own and nearly loses his life in the process. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This was the "unofficial" Liberace biopic, as opposed to the error-ridden "official" Liberace (telecast one week earlier in October of 1988). The star of Liberace: Behind the Music is Broadway actor Victor Garber, who later scored a personal triumph as the devilish Mr. Applegate in the revival of Damn Yankees. Behind the Music is an unauthorized TV movie based on the recollections of the pianist's business manager, giving scriptwriter Gavin Lambert far more leeway in delineating the title character, warts and all. The closing sequences delve much deeper into the AIDS question than was possible in the family-approved Liberace starring Andrew Robinson (who, to be fair, looks more like the real entertainer than does Victor Garber). Liberace: Behind the Music could have descended into tabloidism ("Behind the rumors and the secrets" read the advertising copy), but emerges as a work of conspicuous dignity and (reasonably) good taste. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One certainly can't fault the casting in this made-for-TV biopic. After all, who better to play the title character than Ann Jillian herself. Dwelling very briefly on Jillian's early years as a child actress and her return to the limelight via the Broadway hit Sugar Babies, the film concentrates on her courageous comeback following her bilateral mastectomy in 1985. Tony LoBianco costars as husband-manager Andy Murcia, while Viveca Lindfors and George Touliatos portray her immigrant parents. Equal parts entertainment and inspiration, The Ann Jillian Story was originally telecast January 4, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This by-the-numbers comedy stars Wayne Rogers and Karen Valentine as Alex and Annabelle Grier. Alex is a well-paid ad executive who is laid off during an economic downswing. In order to continue living in the manner to which she he is accustomed, Alex's wife Annabelle decides to look for work. Unfortunately, her practical experience is nil, so Alex labors behind the scenes, training his wife to become a top-drawer copywriter. Inevitably, when Annabelle finally does land a job, it turns out to be a major blow to Alex's ego. Initially titled Paper Castles, this made-for-TV movie was first shown December 18, 1984. TV Guide/Marrill ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Inspired by stories from the fantasy graphics magazine Heavy Metal, this five-part animated feature combines the talents of hundreds of artists and animators from 17 different countries. A glowing green orb called Loc-Nar that contains the sum total of all evil in the universe travels through space and time, spreading violence and discord in its wake. The stories that follow demonstrate Loc-Nar's malevolent presence throughout the universe. In New York in the year 2023, cabbie Harry Canyon picks up a fare who turns out to have Loc-Nar in her possession, and it turns out to be one trip he wishes that he had never made. In contemporary suburban America, a nerdy high school kid finds the orb in his backyard and is transported to a comic-book universe where he's a mighty warrior and famous spoiler of women. A robot created by an alien race falls in love with a secretary from Earth who was kidnapped by his masters, while she is at once fascinated and repelled by his sexual talents. And finally, Loc-Nar crashes into a mountain, and a world of fantasy and danger spontaneously appears in its wake, ruled by The Defender, a beautiful amazon who rides on a giant bird. The voice cast for Heavy Metal includes John Candy, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, and John Vernon. The sound track features selections by Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth, Cheap Trick, Devo, and Grand Funk Railroad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi