Michael Butler Movies

Based on a true story, this crime drama is adapted from Emily Mann's play about the murder of Harvey Milk (Peter Coyote), the first openly gay City Supervisor in San Francisco, who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone (Stephen Young) in 1978. While city employee Dan White (Timothy Daly) was found guilty of the crime, the charge was reduced from murder in the first degree to voluntary manslaughter when his lawyers claimed that White became emotionally unstable after eating too much junk food; this controversial and much-derided legal tactic became known as the "Twinkie Defense." White served five years in prison for the double murder before committing suicide in 1985. Execution of Justice was produced for the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a best-selling novel by Elmore Leonard, this crime drama centers upon a Florida bookie's attempts to leave behind his sordid life and to build a clean new life for himself and his ex-stripper girlfriend. He has a nice little nest egg to help him do it and plans to live on the Italian Riviera. Trouble is, the bookie got the money by quietly embezzling from a prominent and potentially dangerous mob boss. The boss's number one assistant discovers the bookie's crime and so begins planning to have him killed. Matters only get worse after the U.S. government tries to convince the bookie to provide important evidence against his former employer. To protect him, the G-men assign a U.S. Marshal. This only further complicates matters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A video of four short films on controversial subjects. A profile of "Sexual Personae" author Camille Paglia; a documentary on Annie Sprikle, pornographic film star; a profile of Carol, a woman who supports S-M; and a short look at transsexualism. ~ All Movie Guide

Unspeakable Acts is the all-too-true story of a 1984 Dade County (Florida) sexual abuse case. Frank and Ilana Fuster (Gregory Sierra and Bess Meyer), who operate an upper-class day care center in a Florida suburb, are accused of committing appalling acts upon their young charges. The prosecution's case hinges on the testimony of one emotionally scarred child. Jill Clayburgh and Brad Davis play Lauri and Joseph Braga, the husband-and-wife child development specialists who must convince the abused youngster to testify without causing additional damage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Billy Graham Ministry is behind this pro-Christian propaganda film that centers on an emotional kayaking trip between a father and a son. The father has taken his boy into the deep Alaskan wilderness to tell him that he is divorcing the boy's mother, who is pregnant and waiting for them back home. While on the trip, the father and son get involved in a potentially fatal accident. Fortunately, an enigmatic mountain man appears to save them. Later he helps the troubled twosome find hope and salvation through God. Meanwhile, the wife, also finds a new life through old-time religion and happiness ensues all around. Billy Graham himself appears to deliver a special message. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Not to be confused with the 1960 film of the same name, this fast-paced karate action flick stars Chuck Norris, still riding high on his karate film successes of the early '80s, and several years away from starting his popular Walker: Texas Ranger TV series. In this story he plays Eddie Cusak, a painfully honest police sergeant who just misses pulling off a drug bust -- it seems another gang got there before him, wiped out the competition, and made off with a fortune in white powder. A bad move -- this means nothing less than all-out war between the two rival gangs, with the police caught in the middle. Cusak has other problems as well, one of his team killed an innocent bystander during the raid and he is duty-bound to squelch any cover-up. With enemies on both sides of the law, he then has to take on the drug cartel with nothing more than cannons, machine guns, shotguns, pistols, a robot car, and other sundry artillery to help him out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this conservative drama, a family begins to fall apart after each member succumbs to the many temptations of modern life. They are only saved by turning back to their church. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Actor/producer Robert Blake tried and failed three times to launch a TV detective weekly titled Joe Dancer. The first such attempt was the feature-length pilot The Big Black Pill. As Joe Dancer, Blake struts and frets his way around Beverly Hills in search of a killer. Blake's then-wife Sondra co-stars as Joe Dancer's physically challenged assistant. The Big Black Pill went down in one gulp on January 29, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Milos Forman's adaptation of the tribal rock musical Hair stars John Savage as Claude, a quiet young man from the Midwest who becomes friendly with a group of New York hippies on his way to begin basic training in the military. The repressed Claude is quite taken with Berger (Treat Williams) and the group of freedom seekers who reside in Central Park. The group encourages Claude to go after a debutante named Sheila (Beverly D'Angelo). Legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp masterminded the dances, which attempt to flow from the natural settings of the film. The film includes most of the more famous songs from the original play, including "Donna," "Aquarius," "Easy to Be Hard," "Let the Sunshine In," "Good Morning Starshine," "Frank Mills," and the title number. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Playing police stooge Ben Shockley, Clint Eastwood sends up his Dirty Harry-ness in this 1977 cop film-action movie-romantic comedy. Ben is assigned to escort tough Vegas hooker Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) to Phoenix for a Mob trial because, he thinks, he always "gets the job done." But corrupt commissioner Blakelock (William Prince) chose alcoholic Ben precisely because Ben does not get much done at all, and Blakelock has no intention of letting them get to Phoenix alive. Once Gus figures this out and makes Ben see the truth, Ben resolves to prove Blakelock wrong, even if it means surviving car bombs, a house shot to pieces, a helicopter-motorcycle chase, and finally driving an armored bus through a gauntlet formed by scores of shooting cops. Amidst the mayhem, Ben falls in love with the smart-mouthed, college-educated Gus, and she insists on riding out the gauntlet with her Ben. An obedient cop who is not as clever as his female charge, Ben Shockley is the opposite of Eastwood's ultra-capable loner Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry series, allowing Eastwood to poke fun at his image even as Shockley eventually does get the job done. While the exaggerated action set pieces also parody the Eastwood cop hero's usual invincibility, their efficient, energetic staging still makes them effective; The Gauntlet was another popular success for Eastwood as director as well as star. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

This offbeat John Wayne vehicle casts the Duke as Detective Jim Brannigan, an Irish-American detective at large in London. After the requisite culture-clash routines, it's down to business as Brannigan teams with Scotland Yard official Commander Swann (Richard Attenborough) to corral a crook who has absconded to England to avoid extradition. Judy Geeson co-stars as Jennifer Thatcher, a cute lady constable who spends most over her time fending off Brannigan's inbred chauvinism. Brannigan was co-written by Christopher Trumbo, the son of former blacklistee Dalton Trumbo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Telecast April 17, 1974, Nakia was the pilot film for the shortlived ABC drama series of the same name. In the tradition of Billy Jack, Native American deputy sheriff Nakia Parker (Robert Fortier) tries to protect his people from the machinations of villainous whites. In this instance, Nakia stands up against an insensitive city council which plans to sell a historic mission to an evil land developer (is there any other kind on TV?) Nakia was filmed on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as was the weekly series itself, which ran from September 21 to December 28, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this organized crime drama (one of many that came in the wake of The Godfather, Tony (Frederic Forrest) and Vince (Al Lettieri) are two brothers whose father is a high-ranking Mafia kingpin; they've followed him into the family business, operating a profitable drug ring. While waiting for a delivery of a large supply of heroin, the pair are ambushed, which leads them to suspect their associate Frank (Robert Forster) is a snitch. They soon realize that the corruption within their organization runs deeper than expected when they discover that their father has been assassinated. Don Angelo (Anthony Quinn) is chosen to be the new boss in a tense meeting of the Mafia brass, but Tony and Frank refuse to follow his leadership. Meanwhile, Orlando (Charles Cioffi), a mob accountant whose boss, Don Bernardo (J. Duke Russo), is behind bars, has a plan to bring himself to a position of power in the mob; he engineers a situation that will put Frank's fiancée Ruby (Angel Thompkins) into the arms of Don Angelo, thereby sending Frank into a murderous rage. Cult figure Sid Haig has a supporting role as The Arab. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide