Carl Borack Movies
A place where baseball is more than just a game fights to hold on to the national pastime in this drama inspired by a true story. Norway, IA, is a little town where folks take baseball seriously -- so much so that even though Norway's high school boasts less than a hundred students, their baseball team has brought home the state championship 19 times. Jim Van Scoyoc (Powers Boothe), Norway High's baseball coach, has received national attention for his skill with players, and when passionate baseball fan Kent Stock (Sean Astin) lands a teaching position nearby, he volunteers to work as an assistant for Van Scoyoc. While Stock cherishes his time with Van Scoyoc, he takes a job working in Saint Louis, where he plans to move with his fiancée. However, he changes his plans when he gets some unexpected news -- due to shrinking enrollment and budget cuts, Norway's high school is soon to close, and their upcoming baseball season is likely to be their last. Over the fierce objections of his girlfriend, Stock passes on the job in St. Louis to spend one last spring in Norway and help Van Scoyoc as he takes one last shot at taking his team to the state championship. Meanwhile, the citizens of Norway wage a legal battle to keep the school open, and the state sends a lawyer, Polly Hudson (Rachael Leigh Cook), to Norway to represent them. While Stock and Hudson are bitter enemies at the start of the season, with time she begins to understand the sense of tradition and love of the game that fuels Stock and the people of Norway. Also featuring Larry Miller, Tom Arnold, and Michael Angarano, The Final Season received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, (more)
The third and final entry into the popular series of Shiloh films, based on the writings of author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and detailing the captivating journeys of a young boy and his loyal canine companion, find a maturing Marty standing by his troubled neighbor Judd during the drunken townie's most desperate hour. A local man has gone missing, and when authorities find out that he was last seen fighting with Judd, who is already suspected in a series of thefts, they are quick to finger Marty's neighbor as the prime suspect in the unsolved mystery. Though local gossip quickly convicts the weary loner before his case ever even goes to trial, Marty, his father, and his understanding teacher are quick to point out that in the American justice system people are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Dolley, Scott Wilson, (more)
The adventures of a boy and his beagle continue in this sequel to 1997's Shiloh. Marty Preston (Zachary Browne, replacing Blake Heron, who played the role in the first film) is a well-meaning 12-year-old who adopts Shiloh, a beagle who was treated cruelly by his first master, a bitter alcoholic named Judd (Scott Wilson). However, when Judd is hurt in an auto accident, Marty realizes Judd may have lost one of the only friends he had, even if he did mistreat Shiloh. With help from his parents (Michael Moriarty and Ann Dowd), Marty tries to help Judd get back on his feet both physically and emotionally. Rod Steiger also joins the cast returning from the first film as the crusty but lovable Doc Wallace. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Scott Wilson, (more)
Based on the Newberry Award-winning novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, this heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog reaches for greater significance and depth than the typical entry in the kids' movie genre. Blake Heron stars as Marty Preston, a kid who lives in a rural town with his mom and mailman dad (Michael Moriarty). One day, Marty finds an injured beagle that's run away from its abusive owner, a hunter named Judd Travers (Scott Wilson). Kindly neighbor Doc Wallace (Rod Steiger) tends to the dog's wounds, but Marty's father explains that they must return the beagle to its rightful owner. Travers continues to abuse the dog, and it runs away again, returning to Marty. The boy, who has named the puppy "Shiloh," attempts to hide the animal from his family in the woods, but a scrap with another stray dog leaves Shiloh hurt and in need of medical assistance once again. Now Marty's in deep trouble with his dad, until he comes up with a plan to buy Shiloh from the nocuous Travers. Shiloh inspired a sequel, Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season (1999). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Blake Heron, (more)
Oingo Boingo fans and midnight movie mavens will love this bizarre black-and-white feature packed with music, madness, and members of the Elfman clan. The story revolves around the Hercules family, who live in a house that just happens to hide a secret entrance to the Sixth Dimension in the basement. When daughter Frenchy (Marie-Pascale Elfman) skips school one afternoon, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the forbidden door, and winds up a prisoner in this alternate world. King Fausto (Herve Villechaize), the diminutive leader of the Sixth Dimension, is enamored with the beautiful young Frenchy and keeps her in the same cell as his favorite concubines, despite the disapproval of Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell). Frenchy's brother, Flash (Phil Gordon), follows her into the Forbidden Zone with Gramps (Hyman Diamond) in tow, intending to save her, but they too are captured and must call school chum Squeezit (Toshiro Baloney, aka Matthew Bright) for help. Squeezit tries to assist, but ends up captured and decapitated by Satan (Danny Elfman), though this development doesn't keep his disembodied noggin from flying about and informing King Fausto that the Queen is planning to dispose of his beloved Frenchy. The appearance of the King's first wife and the kidnapping of his topless daughter further confuse matters, but everything is wrapped up neatly with an elaborate song and dance number at the conclusion. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Herve Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell, (more)
- 1978
- PG
Richard Dreyfuss plays Moses Wine, an ex-Sixties radical who pays the bills as a private eye. Wine is hired to stem a smear campaign against a popular political candidate. Gradually the plot thickens into a murder case, involving a hippie leader whose values, like Wine's, have been severely compromised over the years - and who plans to blow up a major LA freeway as a protest. Susan Anspach provides a great deal of dramatic (and sexual) tension as Wine's boss. Among the minor players are future stars Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham. The Big Fix was adapted by Roger L. Simon from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Anspach, (more)
