Mac Ahlberg Movies

Former USS Enterprise captain William Shatner takes the helm as director and star of this sci-fi adventure following a young couple who travel to a small-town near the notorious Area-51 military base in search of extraterrestrial life. Deep in the heart of the Nevada desert, not far from Area-51, Commander Gossner (Shatner) has been conducting highly classified experiments on captured extraterrestrials. But the government is about to shut him down, and two wandering truth-seekers are about to make his life miserable. When his alien test subject is kidnapped, the vengeful Commander Gossner resorts to extreme measures in tracking down the otherworldly visitor. Dick Van Patten, Duane Whitaker, Tom Towles, and Dan Gauthier co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

An old dog has a hard time learning new tricks in this drama set in Turku. Ari (Mikko Nousiainen), a paramedic, is a chronic womanizer; he makes it a point of pride to never sleep with the same woman twice, and his nights are a long series of brazen one-night stands. But when Ari meets Tiina (Laura Malmivaara), something unexpected happens -- he falls in love. For the first time, Ari finds himself pursuing a long-term relationship, and he makes a genuine effort to remain faithful to her. But old habits die hard; Tiina introduces Ari to her circle of friends and temptation arises as he encounters Hanna-Riikka (Irina Bjorklund), a theology student, and Ilona (Matleena Kuusniemi), who is soon to be married. Despite Ari's feelings for Tiina, he begins having affairs with both Hanna-Riikka and Ilona, leading to an unpleasant revelation on the day of Ilona's nuptials. Featuring copious nudity and sex scenes, Levottomat was a major box-office success in its native Finland. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Actor Ben Zook co-wrote and co-directed this broad comedy, in which he stars as Randy Rubio, the leader of a small-time dance troupe who hasn't let his 260-pound girth get in the way of his dreams. When Randy and his fellow hoofers are told their 15-year run at a Topeka, Kansas theme park has come to an end, they decide to pack up their bus and move to Hollywood, where he's convinced fame and fortune await them. Randy's dance partners include Saturday Night Live's Melanie Hutsell and comic Margaret Cho; Janeane Garofalo, Illeana Douglas, Noah Wyle and Laura Innes also make cameo appearances. Satirizing sad-sack showbiz hopefuls and 1980's pop musicals such as Flashdance and Footloose in equal measure, Can't Stop Dancing milks its characters' big ambitions and small talent for all they're worth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the popular Nickelodeon series All That, confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger stand, while his buddy Dexter (Thompson) also works there, but lack Ed's single-minded devotion to his job -- he's there because he accidentally destroyed the car of his teacher Mr. Wheat (Sinbad) and has to raise money to pay the damages. When Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-foot chain, opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is history, until Ed formulates a secret sauce that brings hundreds of new customers to their door. However, the monomaniacal manager of Mondo Burger, Kurt (Jan Schweiterman), is determined to get his hands on the sauce and put Good Burger out of business. Meanwhile, Ed and Dexter must rescue Otis (Abe Vigoda), the world's oldest fast food employee, from the Demented Hills Asylum, and Ed might just find love with Monique (Shar Jackson) if he could take his mind off the burgers long enough to pay attention to her. Good Burger also features basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as himself and George Clinton as one of the Demented Hills inmates. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the non-fiction best-seller, The Late Shift is an irreverent, behind-the-scenes look at the conflict over who would succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno or David Letterman. Beginning with Carson's retirement, the made-for-cable film follows the backstage manueverings of both camps. When NBC chooses, Letterman refuses to lose quietly. Hosting The Tonight Show has been his life-long dream, and he is willing to do whatever it takes, even hiring an agent, to get what he wants. Indeed, Letterman soon finds himself working with ultra-powerful Hollywood agent Mike Ovitz and receiving huge offers from competing networks. Meanwhile, NBC has more trouble with the Leno Tonight Show than expected, thanks to Leno's manager Helen Kushnick (Kathy Bates). Kushnick's acerbic, foul-mouthed manner and increasingly petty behavior infuriates the higher-ups at NBC -- so much so that some suggest they give the show to Letterman after all. A series of intense negotiations follows, under the shadow of ludicrously frenzied media attention. While the presentation of both Leno and Letterman (played by unknowns Daniel Roebuck and John Michael Higgins, respectively) is fairly sympathetic, the film is far-less charitable to Kushnick and NBC executives. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The Brady Bunch Movie pays tribute to the 1970s TV show while poking gentle fun at it. The Brady family, led by father Mike (Gary Cole), still live in their suburban, split-level home and are still throwbacks to the era that spawned them. Eternally perky wife Carol (Shelley Long) is the perfect homemaker, while the kids' behavior is as wholesome as their loud, time-warp pastel clothes. Meanwhile, the greedy, selfish modern era swirls dangerously around them, embodied in next-door neighbor and real estate agent Ditmeyer (Michael McKean), who wants to buy the Bradys' property and turn the neighborhood into a giant mall. But no amount of money or prodding can persuade the Bradys to give up their home. Director Betty Thomas contrasts the overlit sitcom look of the Brady house interiors (faithfully recreated from the series) with real locations and natural grit for the modern L.A. scenes. The result is a satire that deftly spoofs the idea of staying true to old-fashioned values without ever passing judgment on those values. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

Actor Bob Balaban directed this black comedy for Disney concerning a young zombie's love for a pretty high school girl. Johnny Dingle (Andrew Lowery) is a sweet-natured soul who has been in love with Missy McCloud (Traci Lind) ever since first grade, but he's always been reluctant to ask her out, fearing rejection. Now that the high school prom is coming, he devises a plan to make Missy say yes when he musters up the courage to ask her to the dance. Johnny and his pal Eddie (Danny Zorn) concoct a plan that will make it look as if Johnny saves her life. Unfortunately, Johnny's plan goes amiss and he's actually killed. But even death doesn't dissuade Johnny and he rises from his grave to take her to the prom. Curiously enough, Missy is more attracted to Johnny now that he is dead than when he was alive (despite his falling body parts). ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

An uneven but entertaining blend of graphic horror and black comedy from John Landis, very much in the mode of the director's successful An American Werewolf in London. French actress Anne Parillaud -- star of Luc Besson's acclaimed thriller La Femme Nikita -- plays Marie, a lithe and lovely vampire with a conscience who will not take "innocent blood" and maintains a low profile by dining exclusively on criminals and lowlifes. She finds a virtual smorgasbord in Pittsburgh's criminal underworld, arriving in the thick of a bloody mob war sparked by ruthless kingpin Sal Macelli (Robert Loggia). After preying on one of Macelli's hoods (Chazz Palminteri), Marie fumbles her attack on the boss himself and he manages to escape, eventually transforming into a vampire himself. Macelli soon comes to appreciate his new superhuman condition and hatches a diabolical scheme to control the syndicates by turning his underlings into vampires -- including his beleaguered lawyer, Emmanuel Bergman (Don Rickles). Marie, faced with a new and powerful undead enemy, is forced to take matters into her own claws. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid (and eventual affection) of undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia), whose cover has just been leaked to the press, making him a target for Macelli and his growing army of blood drinkers. Landis has crafted a dark and brooding film, pumped up with bouts of extreme gore and gangland violence -- but where American Werewolf's occasional comic touches helped to ground the story and give the "straight" horror scenes more punch, most attempts at humor here seem jarring and out of place. The film's highlights come from numerous horror in-jokes, including cameos from Sam Raimi, Clive Barker, Dario Argento and Linnea Quigley; Rickles' explosive death scene ranks among the weirdest in cinema history. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Sylvester Stallone gives comedy another try in this farce set in the 1930s. Angelo "Snaps" Provelone (Stallone) is the wealthy and powerful head of the Chicago mob, but his ailing father (Kirk Douglas) doesn't approve of his life in crime, and on his deathbed, Dad makes Snaps promise to go straight. Determined to honor his late father's wishes, Snaps decides to go into banking -- just as his life has fallen into chaos. Anthony Russano (Vincent Spano) informs Snaps that he's hijacked $50,000 of his money and wants to marry his daughter. Snaps discovers that his daughter Lisa (Marisa Tomei) is actually involved with the chauffeur, Oscar (Jim Mulholland), but Anthony's girlfriend Theresa (Elizabeth Barondes) has convinced her beau that Snaps is her father. Snaps hopes to use this misunderstanding as a way of getting his money back, but in the meantime, he has to deal with a wary banking board, rival mob boss Vendetti (Richard Romanus), prissy elocution coach Thornton (Tim Curry), and Snaps' one-time girlfriend Roxanne (Linda Gray). Oscar's stellar supporting cast includes Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, Harry Shearer, Eddie Bracken, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Bruce Davison. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Sherilynn Fenn heads the cast of Full Moon Productions' Kiss of the Beast. Fenn plays an art student who inherits a mysterious, accursed Italian castle. Before long, a troupe of Felliniesque circus performers take shelter in the drafty old manse. Assuming that Fenn is there against her will, a few of the performers draw up plans for her rescue. Malcolm Jamieson enlivens the proceeding as a pair of doppelganger twins. Also known as Meridian, Kiss of the Beast can best be described as Beauty and the Beast with blood and nudity. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi