Jack Younger Movies
A professional poker player whose astounding luck at the table fails to translate into his lonesome love life attempts to win the World Series of Poker while simultaneously earning the affections of a beautiful Las Vegas singer in a high-stakes emotional drama from L.A. Confidential director Curtis Hanson and Munich screenwriter Eric Roth. When his personal problems threaten to distract him from what could be his biggest win ever, seasoned poker pro Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) finds comfort in the company of singer Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore). Upon preparing for the biggest card game in the country, however, Huck soon realizes that his problems have only just begun when he finds that his opponent at the table will be none other than his estranged father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), a poker legend whose mythical reputation makes him a more than worthy opponent for his troubled son. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, (more)
- 1985
Jeff Bridges plays an LA sheriff who loses his job due to his inability to stay away from booze. While attending an AA meeting, Bridges is invited to attend a party, where he meets the beauteous Alexandra Paul. Also at the party is an old enemy of Bridges', druggie Randy Brooks. It doesn't take long for Bridges to figure out that Brooks is a pimp and Paul is one of his hookers. She begs Bridges to help her break away from Brooks. Not long afterward, Paul is killed, and Bridges crawls back into the bottle. Eventually sobering up, he vows to avenge Paul's death. Much blood is spilled before the killer is revealed (it isn't who you think); along the way, Bridges gets a new lease on life when he falls in love with ex-hooker Rosanna Arquette. An enormous flop, 8 Million Ways to Die is redeemed by Jeff Bridges' powerful performance. One hopes that the orignal Lawrence Block novel wasn't quite as confusing as the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
- 1963
This tuneful romp offers about an hour of good, trashy low-budget fun as it tells the tale of wealthy teens' struggles to keep their favorite hot spot intact after they learn that a real estate dragon-lady has set her avaricious eye upon it with the hopes of building a new high-rise there. Much of the tale centers on the land magnate, Roberta Crawford, and her vivacious teen-age niece, Vicki, who visits the club with her blue-blooded, arrogant beau Roger Kelly. Vicki is in the dark concerning her aunt's machinations until she hears the club's handsome star singer Mel Hudson talking about how he is trying hard to resist Roberta's onslaught of pressure to sell. Vicki falls for Mel right away and immediately decides to help him. Trouble ensues when the club mysteriously burns down and Roberta Crawford is accused of arson. Fortunately, the truth is revealed, someone has a change of heart, and amidst much celebration, a romance blooms. Songs include: "Come to the Party," "Mad, Mad, Mad," "Come A-Runnin'," "Watusi Surfer," "Greenback Dollar," "I Can't Get You out of My Heart," and "You Pass Me By." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Lauren, Molly Bee, (more)
- 1962
Air Patrol is a 62-minute Cinemascope programmer, specifically designed for lower berths in 20th Century-Fox double-feature programs. Willard Parker and Robert Dix play a pair of airborne detectives, in search of a couple of art thieves. The criminals have made a clean getaway, courtesy of a helicopter. Using what few clues they have (including a cryptic ransom note), Parker and Dix climb into their own copter and take chase. The high-above-the-clouds climax, photographed by John M. Nickolaus Jr., is the best part of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
A reworking of the first-season Twilight Zone episode "Mr. Bevis," "Cavender Is Coming" was, like its predecessor, the pilot for a proposed comedy-fantasy TV series. Carol Burnett stars as klutzy Agnes Grep, whose combination of overeagerness and ineptitude costs her job after job. Enter Agnes' guardian angel Cavender (Jesse White), who, as big a screw-up as the heroine, has been assigned to Agnes to see if he is worthy of earning his wings. Transforming Agnes into a poised, sought-after fashion plate, Cavender discovers that she was happier when she was a "loser" -- meaning that Cavender will be stuck on Earth a long, long time, in search of someone whose life he can really turn around. Written with a heavy hand by Rod Serling, "Cavender Is Coming" benefits from the play between its two stars and from a rich and varied supporting cast including John Fiedler and Donna Douglas; in the final analysis, however, it is defeated by CBS' decision to add a raucous laughtrack, which is at its loudest when absolutely nothing funny is happening. "Cavender Is Coming" was originally telecast May 25, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Burnett, Jesse White, (more)
- 1962
Scientist Alex March (John Agar) is working on developing what he hopes will be a new, non-lethal form of nerve gas -- but following an accident in his lab, he discovers that not only is the gas deadly, but also that it has invaded his entire body, and his touch is instantly fatal to any other living thing. He also realizes that the only thing keeping him alive is the partial immunity that he has developed over the course of months of work, which will soon wear off. He goes into hiding in his employer's home, hoping that a cure can be found, but he's already begun to go mad, tormented by the deaths he's caused and the mounting pain as the gas begins to affect him. Finally, the gas transforms him into a scaly, misshapen creature (vaguely resembling the Lizard from Marvel Comics, who was also, interestingly, a stricken research chemist). He goes on a rampage through suburban Los Angeles while the police hunt for him, and his fiancée (Paula Raymond) desperately hopes that he'll come to his senses long enough to surrender and allow himself to be confined to a hospital. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Director John A. Bushelman makes a departure from his usual western and action films to guide this respectable, canine-centered, family film about a big dog by the name of Pete with definite separation anxiety. When the impoverished Brancato family takes off from their Nevada home to look for a better life in Los Angeles, they are forced to leave their dog in the care of a dubious-looking neighbor. Their son is heart-broken, and no one is particularly happy, especially Pete. Not willing to stand for this kind of treatment, Pete takes off to cover the hundreds of miles to L.A. and hunt down his family, meeting all kinds of hoboes, truckers, and other characters along the way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Mobley, David McLean, (more)
Slipping along an ill-defined track between seriousness, subtle farce, and all-out slapstick, this sci-fi comedy-drama by director Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr. (The Blob, 1958) would be entertaining enough for the moppet set and highly amusing in many spots for adults as well. What sets the ball rolling is that a tyrannosaurus rex, a brontosaurus, and a neolithic man are brought back to life from their prehistoric world. As desperate leaders of the modern world try their best to kill off the carnivorous tyrannosaurus rex, the caveman is receiving high-voltage culture shock from the "civilization" he encounters all around him. One sequence has him coming face to face with a woman in full make-up -- and both go screaming off in terror. Gregg Martell is the confused Neanderthal, Julio (Alan Roberts) is a boy who tries to make friends with the brontosaurus, and Mike Hacker (Fred Engelberg) is the requisite villain. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather, (more)
