Neil Vipond Movies
- 2005
In what may be the series finale, Louis Lewis (Bill Saluga) awakens from his coma, and refuses to give Richard (Richard Lewis) one of his kidneys, leaving Larry (Larry David) as Richard's best hope for survival. Omar Jones (Mekhi Phifer) calls Larry to tell him that he was, in fact, adopted. Larry goes to Arizona to visit his birth parents, the Cones (Hansford Rowe and June Squibb) and is shocked to learn that he is not actually Jewish. After an inspirational visit to the Cones' church, Larry has a change of heart, and races back to Los Angeles to donate his kidney to Richard. On the way into the operating room, he learns that there's been a terrible mistake. Larry also pays a brief but illuminating visit to the afterlife, where he gets into an argument with his guardian angels (Dustin Hoffman and Sacha Baron Cohen of Da Ali G Show) over his system for making sure he doesn't misplace his DVD cases. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2001
En route to a peace conference, the shuttle carrying Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) is damaged, marooning them on a seemingly primitive planet populated by a backward, isolated race called the Ventu. It soon develops that a higher intelligence on the planet has deliberately cut off the Ventu with an energy barrier -- and the Voyager crew wants to learn the reason. Meanwhile, Paris is required to pass an exacting Starfleet test, which may force him to bypass an opportunity to rescue his colleagues. "Natural Law" first aired on May 9, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roxann Dawson
- 1997
Filmed in Vancouver, this Hallmark Hall of Fame takes place during the '70s in the U.S. After the death of her mother, Charlotte (Glynis O'Connor), 10-year-old Ellen Foster (Jena Malone, who narrates) suffers abuse from her alcoholic father (Ted Levine) and is ill-treated by her maternal aunts Nadine (Debra Monk) and Betsy (Barbara Garrick) and also by Nadine's mean daughter Dora (Kimberly Brown). Ellen is sent to live with her grief-stricken grandmother Leonora (Julie Harris), but her problems continue since the mean-spirited Leonora blames Ellen for Charlotte's death. Harry Nilsson's song, "Remember Christmas," is featured. This TV movie premiered December 14, 1997 on CBS. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Harris, Jena Malone, (more)
- 1996
Filmed for television, Once You Meet a Stranger is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, using the same Patricia Highsmith novel as its source but transforming the protagonists into females. A chance meeting brings together former child star Sheila Gaines (Jacqueline Bisset) and the deceptively charming social butterfly Margo Anthony (Theresa Russell). As the ladies converse, two major facts come to light: Sheila is saddled with an ex-husband who refuses to give him a divorce, while Margo despises her wealthy mother and wishes her dead. In what seems to be a playful hypothesis, Margo suggests that she and Sheila "trade murders"; she will kill Sheila's former husband, Sheila will do in Margo's mom, and the authorities won't be any the wiser. Figuring that Margo is a harmless eccentric at best and a nutcase at worse, Sheila laughs off the notion of such an "arrangement"--but she isn't laughing when her troublesome ex-hubby turns up dead! If you've seen Strangers on a Train, you know how this one turns out, so best to find another way to spend 95 minutes. Once You Meet a Stranger originally aired September 25, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Donald O'Connor guest stars as Harlow Safford, an elderly, decidedly eccentric timber baron. A sanity hearing in court will determine the disposition of Mr. Safford's fortune. Two psychiatrists are called to testify, one for the defense, one for the prosecution. One believes that Safford is harmless and in full possession of his wits; the other is convinced that the old man is cuckoo. And, oh yes: One of the psychiatrists is Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer); the other is Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Paul (Paul Reiser) makes a vivid impression when he reveals a secret about a bride to her father on the girl's wedding day. In time-honored "Truth or Dare" fashion, Jamie (Helen Hunt) is required to reveal a secret from her past -- and oh, does she ever. (Incidentally, who is Stan Franklin and what is he doing in London?) This episode marks the first series appearance of John Pankow as Paul's cousin Ira. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
- Add Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story to QueueAdd Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story to top of Queue
Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was one of a myriad of early 1990s TV movies centering around the AIDS issue. Molly Ringwald stars as Alison Gertz, an upscale Manhattanite who thinks she knows her way around. Still, Alison conducts an "unprotected" one-night affair, which results in her contacting the AIDS virus. Despite her alleged smarts, Alison continues to seek out sexual partners and can't understand why they're reluctant to sleep with her, even though she belatedly offers to use contraceptives. Perhaps if it had been made five years earlier, and perhaps if it didn't have its characters speaking fluent pop profundities, Something to Live For might have been one of the truly important made-for-TV AIDS sagas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
With Marilyn Monroe permanently unavailable for comment, everybody and his uncle has come out of the woodwork since 1962 claiming an intimate relationship with the legendary film star (how did she ever find the time to be a film star?) Marilyn and Me is based on the reminiscences of one Robert Slatzer, who claimed to have been secretly married to Monroe back in her Norma Jean days. Jesse Dobson manages to keep a straight face as he recites his lines as Slatzer, while Susan Griffiths is as good a Monroe impersonator as any. Better still is Joel Grey as Marilyn's first and most influential agent Johnny Hyde, whose own close relationship with La Monroe is a bit easier to believe. Actress Terry Moore, who in the early 1950s was briefly groomed as a Monroe "substitute," plays a bit as Johnny Hyde's widow. Marilyn and Me is about as convincing as the Bugs Bunny cartoon What's Opera, Doc?, and not nearly as entertaining. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This slow-moving occult thriller has Pamela Sue Martin and hubbie Tim Matheson menaced by a coven of witches when they move to an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Director Carl Schenkel -- who went on to make the interesting Knight Moves -- does the best he can with a tedious script and a lot of miscasting, but it doesn't make the movie any more interesting. It looks like a who's who of '80s sitcoms, with Woody Harrelson, Jeff Conaway, and Inga Swenson along for the evil doings, but some viewers will be rolling on the floor when they see Leave It to Beaver's Barbara Billingsley as a 300-year-old witch. The highlight of the film is an exploding church, which may just be loud enough to wake you up so you can rewind the tape. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Pamela Sue Martin, (more)
- 1982
- R
A "The Blue Lagoon" set in the Sahara Desert, this romantic adventure is set at the turn of century and chronicles the story of two beautiful teens who end up traveling alone from Bagdad to Damascus after their respective parents are killed by a the henchmen of a sheik who wants the girl for himself. During their travels the youths learn about life, love and the joys of sex. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willie Aames, Phoebe Cates, (more)
- 1981
- PG13
Patrick McGoohan stars in this thriller as a loutish talk-show host who is held hostage by a band of terrorists who plan to use his program to broadcast their demands. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick McGoohan, Alexis Kanner, (more)
- 1980
- R
In this grim horror movie, the only one ever made by director John Huston, patients from a psychiatrist's phobia group are being murdered in ways that reflect their deepest fears. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Michael Glaser, John Colicos, (more)
- 1977
In the second of four New Avengers episodes filmed in Canada, a rogue KGB agent has trained a band of mercenary criminals to destroy a top-secret security installation, thereby hurtling the Canadian Intelligence system back to the 1950s. Worse still, the bad guys are all-powerful and virtually invulnerable. Steed (Patrick MacNee, Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley) must find a way to stop these modern-day gladiators, who have already left behind a trail of murdered secret agents. This episode was briefly banned from British TV due to "excessive violence." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1973
The Canadian The Hard Part Begins stars Donnelly Rhodes as a struggling country-western singer. Rhodes is left in the lurch when his partner Nancy Belle Fuller dumps him in hopes of reaching the Big Time. Adding to Rhodes' headaches is the unpredictable behavior of his grown son and the vindictiveness of his ex-wife. This is no uplifting "second chance" tearjerker, but a cold-eyed glance at one of life's losers. The Hard Part Begins was written by John Clifton Hunter, who co-produced the film with Garrett G. Lee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
