David Wohl Movies

Terms of Endearment covers three decades in the lives of widow Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Fiercely protected by Aurora throughout childhood, Emma runs into resistance from her mother when she marries wishy-washy college teacher Flap (Jeff Daniels). Aurora is even more put out at the prospect of being a grandmother, though she grows a lot fonder of her three grandkids than she does of her son-in-law. Flap proves that Aurora's instincts were on target when he enters into an affair with a student (Kate Charleson). Meanwhile, Emma finds romantic consolation with an unhappily married banker (played by John Lithgow, who registers well in a rare "nice guy" performance). As for Aurora, she is ardently pursued by her next-door neighbor, boisterous astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson). After 75 minutes or so of pursuing an episodic, semi-comic plotline, the film abruptly shifts moods when Emma discovers that she has terminal cancer. Terms of Endearment won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay for TV veteran James L. Brooks making his first feature film, Best Actress for MacLaine, and Best Supporting Actor for Nicholson. It was followed by a sequel, The Evening Star (1996), which again featured MacLaine as Aurora. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Revenge of the Nerds is the juvenile sex comedy perhaps most synonymous with the 1980s, alternating gags and scantily clad women with a power to the underdogs mentality that prompted three sequels. The handsome jocks of Alpha Beta, led by Stan (Ted McGinley), run Adams College, which means that when they burn down their house after a stunt involving grain alcohol and an open flame, they kick a bunch of socially inept freshman out of their dorm and into the gymnasium. But sleeping on cots is only the beginning of their worries, as the so-called nerds soon become the target of pranks by Alpha Beta, assisted by Betty (Julie Montgomery) and the gorgeous gals of Pi Delta Pi. Instead of taking the abuse sitting down, the displaced freshman, led by Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine), buy a ramshackle house, affiliate themselves with the only national chapter who will take them (the all-black Lambda Lambda Lambda), and use their superior intellect to launch a counterstrike. The bespectacled but loveable geeks set up surveillance cameras in the Pi bathroom and put liquid heat in the athletes' jock straps, then draft a sister sorority of misfits (Omega Mu) to strengthen their resources. The frats quickly become bitter rivals, and the goal is to win the annual fraternity decathlon, which involves such feats as a burping contest and a go-cart race, with bragging rights (and perhaps peace of mind) at stake. Look for John Goodman and future thirtysomething cast member Timothy Busfield in small roles, and expect a torrent of nasal laughter. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Based on the true story that took place in Harlem during 1971, this made-for-TV crime drama centers on assistant district attorney Robert Tanenbaum's desperate search for a trio of cop killers. Tanenbaum (James Woods) is assisted by an equally determined detective (Yaphet Lau Kotto). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The seventh cinema adaptation of the venerable stage farce Brewster's Millions stars Richard Pryor as Montgomery Brewster, a third-rate baseball player. Much to his amazement, Brewster discovers that he is related to deceased millionaire Rupert Horn (Hume Cronyn, who appears only in a videotaped "living will"). Even more amazing is the fact that Horn has left Brewster his entire $300 million fortune. The catch? Brewster must spend $30 million within 30 days, or he'll be left with nothing (in the earlier incarnations of Brewster's Millions, the hero was required to spend only a million, but this was, after all, the inflationary '80s). Aiding and abetting Brewster in his efforts to divest himself of his money are his catcher pal (John Candy) and an erstwhile lady friend (Lonette McKee), while his principal antagonist is a snotty attorney (Stephen Collins). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Gotcha!" is a puerile but popular campus game at UCLA in which students stalk one another armed with paint-spewing pellet guns. Veterinary student Anthony Edwards may not be any great shakes in the classroom, but he's a whiz at Gotcha. His skills come in handy when Edwards, on vacation in Paris, becomes acquainted with the mysterious Linda Fiorentino. She gets him mixed up in international espionage; fortunately, the well-armed spies aren't quite as adept at "Gotcha" as Edwards is. Most of the film was lensed in Paris and Berlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Armed and Dangerous, John Candy plays a cop who has been kicked off the force on a trumped up charge. Eugene Levy costars as a disbarred lawyer. The two outcasts take low-paying jobs as security officers at a company controlled by mob boss Robert Loggia. In their own stumblebum fashion, Candy and Levy uncover a smuggling operation masterminded by Loggia. Meg Ryan also shows up in an early leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Island Sons stars real-life brothers Timothy, Joseph, Samuel and Benjamin Bottoms as fictional brothers named Tim, Joe, Sam and Ben (too bad there wasn't any Zeppo Bottoms). When their mogul father disappears in Hawaii in the aftermath of a scandal, the four brothers bury their own differences and head to the Islands. There they operate all of dad's neat stuff (his yacht, his limo, his hotel), while assistant DA Sam investigates the death in prison of his father's head bookkeeper. The boys get to the bottom of the scandal that ruined their father, and find more than they ever imagined. They don't, however, find enough to encourage a network and a sponsor to pick up Island Sons as a weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dr. Jack Hammond (Dudley Moore) is a noted heart surgeon whose personality is switched with his teenage son Chris (Kirk Cameron) in this uninspired comedy. The ingestion of a brain transference serum is the catalyst for the comic catastrophe and the confusion that follows. Sean Astin and Patrick O'Neal co-star with Margaret Colin and Catherine Hicks. A decent idea for a comedy that has since been done better in Brian Gilbert's 1988 comedy Vice Versa starring Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This interesting low-budget horror omnibus from West Virginia works like a cut-price variation on Amicus Productions' horror anthologies of the '60s and '70s (particularly Dr. Terror's House of Horrors). The framing story consists of a group of travelers killing time at a lonely bus station by discussing their nightmares. The vignettes based upon these dreams involve a young woman's infatuation with a handsome swimming star whose fate is somehow tied to the pool itself; a TV anchor with disturbing nocturnal feeding habits; a Monkey's Paw variation about a man who can wish people back to life; a scout-troop leader with a beastly secret; and a college student who comes under the spell of an Aztec demon. The stories vary in quality, but there are some genuinely creepy moments, and the performances (all local actors) are of uniquely high quality for a regional production. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Shelly Long stars in this comedy as a spoiled Beverly Hills wife who decides--wanting to prove her husband's accusation of her selfishness wrong--to become the leader of her daughter's wilderness group. Though taking them on outings at the mall rather than in the woods, she later must prove her worth as a legitimate troop leader. After some zany incidents, all parties learn lessons of teamwork and selflessness. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this Halloween episode, the Conners decorate the house as the "Castle of Terror," while Dan and Roseanne pull pranks on each other. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Divorce lawyer Danny De Vito warns his prospective client that the story he's about to tell isn't a pretty one, but the client listens with eager intensity -- as do the folks out there in the movie in the audience. The War of the Roses can best be described as a slapstick tragedy concerning the decline and literal fall of a marriage. After 17 years, Oliver (Michael Douglas) and Barbara (Kathleen Turner) Rose want a divorce. Not for this couple is there anything resembling a "civilized understanding": Barbara wants their opulent house, and Oliver isn't about to part with the domicile. Barbara nails the basement door shut while Oliver is downstairs, Oliver disrupts Barbara's fancy party by taking aim at the catered dinner, Barbara lays waste to Oliver's sports car....and so it goes, culminating in a disastrous showdown around, about and under the living room's fancy chandelier. DeVito and screenwriter Michael Leeson never let us forget that the couple's self-indulgent imbroglio exacts an awful price upon their children (Sean Astin and Heather Fairfield). The War of the Roses was adapted from the novel by Warren Adler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide