Michael Bowen Movies
Prolific and versatile, actor Michael Bowen joined the casts of some of the most critically respected and lucrative pictures of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, nearly always enlisted as an unremarkable everyman. Bowen launched his career with bit parts in such pictures as Valley Girl (1983), Iron Eagle (1985), and Less Than Zero (1987), then graduated to supporting roles by the late '90s. He was particularly memorable as cop Mark Dargus, the partner of ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction follow-up, Jackie Brown (1997), then turned in a haunting portrayal of Rick, the dysfunctional father of game show contestant Stanley (Jeremy Blackman) in Paul Thomas Anderson's mosaic of contemporary L.A. life, Magnolia (1999). In the following decade, Bowen re-teamed with Tarantino for the neo-martial arts opus Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and delivered an intense performance as a cruel and vile counselor at a rehab center in first-time director Monty Lapica's psychodrama, Self-Medicated (2005). He also took on a recurring role on the hit TV drama Lost as Danny Pickett, a hotheaded, tough member of the Others, during the second and third seasons of the series (2006-2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
In this satirical sci-fi comedy, Samantha (Kelli Maroney) and Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) are two sisters whose father was a hard-bitten Green Beret, but who've grown into typical Valley Girls. They end up spending the night in a steel-lined room just as a comet passes close to the earth, vaporizing the people in its wake. When Samantha and Regina emerge, they discover that they have the city to themselves, and they begin the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees. En route to the mall, they discover Hector (Robert Beltran), the only survivor they've found so far, and they argue over who gets the last boyfriend on Earth. However, the mall holds an unpleasant surprise -- a small army of zombified stockboys who the gals must battle using an arsenal they shoplifted along the way (while lamenting that "Daddy would have gotten us Uzis!" after a MAC-10 fails to fire). Meanwhile, a cadre of soldiers from a special military experiment have come out of hiding, but it seems that they need fresh blood to survive, and Samantha and Regina look like just the refreshment they need. Cult figure Mary Woronov also appears in a supporting role as a scientist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catherine Stewart, Kelli Maroney, (more)
A satiric romantic comedy, Martha Coolidge's Valley Girl is a testimony to the short-lived Southern California '80s craze. Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a good-natured teenager following a swarm of pastel pink valley girls, who utter "gag me" at every opportunity. To her friends' dismay , Julie breaks up with her egotistical boyfriend, Tommy (Michael Bowen), while shopping at the mall. All the valley kids go to a party that night, and Tommy immediately tries to bed one of Julie's friends. Randy (Nicolas Cage), a bad boy from Hollywood, shows up and crashes the party. Open-minded Julie flirts with him before he is literally thrown out, presumably just for looking different. Smitten with Julie, Randy sneaks back into the party to talk to her again. Julie drags a whimpering valley friend with her to spend the night cruising with Randy in Hollywood. After an extended courtship, Randy is in love with Julie, and she must choose between him and Tommy, who wants her back. Her friends refuse to accept Randy, who makes many exaggerated attempts to win back her love. Finally, after she has a heartfelt talk with her dad (Frederic Forrest), love triumphs at the prom. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, (more)
- 1982
- R
Fans of outrageously bad drive-in fare from New World Pictures will find much to love in this bargain-bin science fiction weirdness -- one of several Alien rip-offs foisted on defenseless audiences by Roger Corman's legendary B-movie factory. The plot -- which, of course, is irrelevant to the action -- involves a food-research team on a distant planet, whose latest genetic product decides it would rather eat than be eaten...and boy, is it hungry. Then enters our hero, an undefined government specialist (Jesse Vint) whose dreams in hypersleep find their way into almost every scene in the film -- his apparent powers of precognition, however, are never mentioned. Vint responds to the team's distress signal and shows up with his robot pal to blast the slime-beast to smithereens -- and, of course, to engage in a little intergalactic nookie with the team's female personnel. Meanwhile, the constantly mutating monster chews its way through virtually the entire cast before one cancer-ridden scientist devises a highly original (and extremely disgusting) solution. The ever-thrifty Corman recycled sets and scenes from Battle Beyond the Stars and Galaxy of Terror to pad out this weekend wonder, making up for its threadbare production values (which include plenty of cheap scares, nudity, and graphic gore). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesse Vint, June Chadwick, (more)
