Mike Winlaw Movies
Stressed out LA detective John Berlin gets too near the edge following the destruction of his marriage and decides to leave the violence an un-ending hub-bub of the big city and take a job in the supposedly quiet northern tow of Eureka. Unfortunately, he isn't there long before he finds himself obsessed with pursuing a serial killer with a thing for blind young women. The case isn't new and Berlin's old-time buddy, Freddy Ross and his boys have spent the last six months investigating a string of seven murders. They have dubbed the case "Jennifer 8" because Berlin is positive that he knows the identity of the next victim. She is beautiful blind student Helena Robertson, the roommate of the latest victim. As he steps up his investigation, Berlin finds himself falling for Helena. Meanwhile, he has become so obsessed with finding the killer that pal Ross begins worrying that Berlin is having a breakdown and so goes with him on a late night surveillance of Helena's school. A tragedy ensues leaving Berlin to not only go it alone, but also to clear his own name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, (more)
- 1989
- R
Chris Walas, the makeup and animatronics director on David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, takes a stab at directorial duties in this sequel. Before Seth Brundle morphed into scrap metal in the original The Fly, he managed to leave behind the seed of his legacy, and at the start of The Fly 2 his son, Martin (Eric Stoltz), has suffered an accelerated growth, thanks to his fly genes. Although played by Stoltz, Martin is supposed to be only five human years old, and unaware of his imminent transformation into a fly. All his life, Martin has been confined to a laboratory at Bartok Industries, where evil CEO Bartok (Lee Richardson) plans to breed a new race of super flies. Martin spends his days working in the lab experimenting with teleportation. But then Martin meets Beth (Daphne Zuniga), an attractive researcher. Martin is attracted to her, but not only do his hormones kick in, so do his fly genes. Soon, Martin begins to transform into a bug just like his father. Desperate to stop his transformation, he wreaks revenge upon Bartok while trying the find a mate with which to swap his unwanted fly genes before it's too late. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga, (more)
Based on a real-life 1983 incident, The Accused tells the story of Sarah Tobias (Jodie Foster), a working-class party girl who likes to live it up with her friends and flirt hard with the guys. After a fight with her boyfriend, she heads to a local bar to cool down -- and after a few drinks, plus some dancing and flirting, she finds herself thrown on top of a pinball machine and gang-raped by a bunch of locals, while others watch and cheer the proceedings. District attorney Kathryn Murphy (Kelly McGillis) takes Sarah's case but quickly negotiates a plea bargain in which the attackers' charges are reduced to reckless endangerment. Her reason: defense attorneys could use Sarah's not-so-pretty past to paint her as "asking for it," getting their clients off completely. But a stunned Sarah accuses Murphy of selling her out, and when the lawyer sees how the incident continues to destroy Sarah's life, she decides she must seek true justice. This time, she goes after the crowd of onlookers for "criminal solicitation" -- those who were egging the rapists on. Foster won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly McGillis, Jodie Foster, (more)
First Blood is the Sylvester Stallone film that unleashed "Rambo" onto an unsuspecting world. Wandering into a small, hostile town, ex-Green Beret John Rambo (Stallone) is targeted for persecution and abuse by potbellied Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy). When he can stand no more, Rambo goes bonkers, killing a deputy and heading into the surrounding hills, armed to the teeth. Only after Rambo has picked off practically every law enforcement officer within a radius of 50 miles do the local authorities bring in his former commanding officer, Trautman (Richard Crenna), for advice. Trautman's response -- that the locals had better get a lot of body bags ready -- is hardly encouraging. First Blood proved to be one of Stallone's biggest non-Rocky hits. Kirk Douglas had originally been cast as Trautman, but he quit the project when the producers refused to cave in to his demand that Trautman kill Rambo in the finale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, (more)
