Charlie Brill Movies
- 1998
The four Sliders are separated and cast to the four corners of an Alternate Earth, with only an hour at their disposal to find each other or else be stuck on this world forever. Making matters more difficult is that the travelers have all been placed in ludicrously inescapable predicaments: Colin (Charlie O'Connell), for example, is forced to be the bridgroom in a cash-driven marriage of convenience. In a desperate effort to communicate with the others, Quinn (Jerry O'Connell) wangle a guest appearance on the planet's only TV show, a tabloid talker called "Lipschitz Live!" (Inside joke: the show's host Barry Lipschitz is played by Charlie Brill, better known for his portrayal of Larry Lipschitz on the popular crime series Silk Stalkings). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1998
The eighth and final season of the slick and sophisticated cop drama Silk Stalkings finds undercover detectives (and former husband and wife) Tom Ryan (Chris Potter) and Cassy St. John (Janet Gunn) continuing to solve perplexing crimes on behalf of their superior officer, Captain Harry Lipschitz (Charlie Brill), at a Palm Beach, FL police department. Highlights this season include the episode "Forever," a virtual replay of the series' third season finale, with Cassy relentlessly hunting down the lowlife who shot and nearly killed Tom (In a novel twist, Tom assists in the investigation, albeit as a part of an "out of body" experience!); and "A Clockwork Florida Orange," a perverse spin on Stanley Kubrick's already perverse 1971 film of (almost) the same name. The series ends with the tense and curiously downbeat two-parter "Noir," in which Tom is framed for murder by his duplicitious fiancée; Cassy is suspended; and Lipschitz is forced to resign. The climax occurs at an island casino, with several plot strands deliberately left dangling...but with the promise of even more intrigue (sexual and otherwise) in the near future! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Potter, Janet Gunn, (more)
- 1997
Evidently, the chemistry between Silk Stalkings' new stars Chris Potter (as Det. Sgt. Tom Ryan) and Janet Gunn (as Det. Sgt. Cassandra "Cassy" St. John) registered quite well with fans during their first appearances in the series' sixth season. Thus, as season seven roles around, Tom Ryan and Cassy St. John continue to go undercover to solve "crimes of passion" amongst the wealthy elite of Palm Beach, FL, under the aegis of their dyspeptic superior officer, Captain Harry Lipschitz (Charlie Brill). The fact that Tom and Cassy used to be husband and wife serves to add a layer of sizzling sexual tension to the proceedings. Plus, both detectives periodically undergo personal crises involving their individual pasts, which can be charitably described as "checkered." Some interesting guest stars appear during this season's allotment of episodes, among them Morgan Brittany, Adam Carl, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Michael Dorn (the latter is cast as a lawyer with whom Cassy has a brief fling). Season seven ends with the by now traditional cliffhanger, with Cassy being framed for murder...by a pscyhopathic computer! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Potter, Janet Gunn, (more)
- 1996
First telecast November 4, 1996, this Deep Space Nine episode was a harkback to the classic 1967 Star Trek installment "The Trouble with Tribbles." Charlie Brill, a holdover from the original episode, reprises his role as renegade Klingon agent Arne Darvin, who sets the plot in motion by hurtling the Defiant and its crew some 105 years into the past. Upon getting their bearings, the crew finds themselves on board the original Enterprise, where they come face to face with James T. Kirk, not to mention thousands and thousands of those pesky and prolific Tribbles, one of which has been booby-trapped. "Trials and Tribble-ations" was scripted by Ronald D. Moore and Rene Echevarria from a story by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1996
As Silk Stalkings enters its sixth season, undercover cops Michael Price and Holly Rawlins, a team created in season five by Palm Beach, FL police captain Lipschitz (Charlie Brill) as replacements for detectives Chris Lorenzo (deceased) and Rita Lance (retired), are nowhere to be found -- and in fact their disappearances are never completely explained. Now handling the assignments formerly allotted to the Price-Rawlins and Lorenzo-Lance teams are detective sergeants Tom Ryan (Chris Potter) and Cassandra "Cassy" St. John (Janet Gunn). Lipschitz had previously teamed Tom and Cassy to solve crimes of passion amongst the wealthy elite of Palm Beach, and had been pleased with the results. But there's a catch: Tom and Cassy are not only former partners, but former husband and wife. The sexual tension between the two cops is so palpable as to be overwhelming in several of the season six episodes, even though both Tom and Cassy struggle valiantly to get over one another by dating other people. Tension of another sort arises in the form of D.A. Alexander (Kent McCord), a "rules are rules" type for whom Cassy has nothing but contempt -- and for good reason. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Chris Potter, Janet Gunn, (more)
The first of two radical cast turnovers occurs during the first half of Silk Stalkings' fifth season. Having worked together as undercover cops on the Palm Beach, FL police force for nearly six years, detectives Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes) and Rita Lance (Mitzi Kapture) have fallen in love, and are married in a secret ceremony. Upon finding this out, Chris and Rita's ulcerated superior officer Captain Harry Lipschitz (Charlie Brill) breaks up their professional partnership. Chris is then teamed with Det. Holly Rawlins (Tyler Layton), a Southern gal who has never quite gotten over the drug-induced death of her sister. Rita's new partner is Det. Michael Price (Nick Kokotakis), a Chicagoan with plenty of his own emotional baggage. Less than one month after his marriage, Chris is gunned down and killed while trying to save his pregnant wife from kidnappers. Traumatized by this occurrence, Rita quits the police force cold, whereupon the saddened Lipschitz teams Holly Rawlins with Michael Price. This remains the status quo until the season's cliffhanger finale, in which Mike is falsely accused of murder and Holly is breaking every rule in the book to clear Mike's name; Lipschitz, on the verge of losing two crack "dog and cat" teams in a row, is seriously thinking of retirement. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Estes, Mitzi Kapture, (more)
Season four of the stylish cop drama Silk Stalkings opens with a two-part episode. In "Natural Selection," Sgt. Rita Lance (Mitzi Kapture), an undercover cop specializing in solving crimes of passion amongst the wealthy residents of Palm Beach, FL, goes it alone to track down a gang of serial killers while her partner, Sgt. Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes), shot down and left for dead at the end of season three, recovers from his wounds and undergoes several grueling sessions of physical therapy. It is crystal clear at this point in the series that Rita is in love with Chris, but she may very well lose him to the female doctor who saved his life. On the rebound, Rita enters into a relationship with a man named Eric. One thing leads to another, and finally the series arrives at its cliffhanger season finale, in which Rita thinks she is pregnant with Eric's baby -- while Eric himself is shot down and killed right in front of Chris' eyes! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Estes, Mitzi Kapture, (more)
Season three of Silk Stalkings finds the series missing from its familiar late night berth on the CBS detective anthology Crimetime After Primetime. However, the series will continue to air on the USA cable network, turning out first-run episodes for the next six years. Back to solve more crimes of passion amongst the rich and well-connected citizens of Palm Beach, FL, are undercover detectives Chris Lorenzo (Rob Estes) and Rita Lee "Sam" Lance (Mitzi Kapture). This season, Chris and Rita take their marching orders from a new superior officer: Captain Harry Lipschitz, a bombastic but likeable hypochondriac played by comedian Charlie Brill. Also added to the cast is Brill's wife and comedy partner Mitzi McCall as Harry's overbearing wife Fran. Highlights during the third season include the episode "The Party's Over," which boasts a plot transparently lifted from the 1944 film noir Laura: a grieving Chris investigates the brutal murder of his partner Rita -- only to be shocked and surprised when Rita turns up alive and well a few days after "her" body is found. Similarly, the season's final episode, "Dark Heart," takes a few pages from the 1972 Clint Eastwood flick Play Misty for Me, as Chris is stalked by a lovelorn female psychopath. This situation sets up the chilling cliffhanger finale, with Chris hanging onto life by a thread after being shot full of holes...and Rita finally realizing how much she loves him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Estes, Mitzi Kapture, (more)
- 1992
- NC17
Poor Michael Moore is one messed-up screenwriter who is more depressed than usual when his girl friend abruptly dumps him. His life forever changes when he saves a diminutive old man from street thugs. The little man has magical powers and as a reward for Michael's kindness gives him a notepad. This is no ordinary pad for anything Michael writes upon it will come true. This comedy-adventure follows what happens when the writer begins to use it. First he scrawls his wish that the lovely bank teller Diane Jacobs will enter his life. Unfortunately, he should have been clearer for they meet after they are both abducted by bank robbers. Fortunately, Mike has his trusty pad and they get out of the situation. Next he makes the mistake of telling his avaricious sister Jody about the magic pad. Wanting all of the family fortune for herself, she promptly plans on getting him declared insane. A trip to the courtroom ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1991
- PG13
Television anchor Barry Barron (Elliott Gould) is killed after he becomes involved with a breaking story, but is raised as a zombie by a voodoo spell. Not quite the stumbling idiot that most of the undead are known for, Barron has to solve his own murder and uncover the story. He is helped in his quest by a spiritualist (Mabel King). ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Mark Moses, (more)
- 1990
Al (Ed O'Neill) stands to inherit half a million dollars if he names his next child after his Uncle Stymie. First, however, he must have a "next child", and this means several months of bedroom sessions with wife Peg (Katey Sagal). But Peg doesn't want to go through the ordeal of pregnancy for the third time--as she explains it, Bundys take ten months to deliver because they "never wanna go out" and once out "never wanna go back in"--so she surreptitiously takes birth control pills. Ultimately Al finds out, and plots a fiendish revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
An ancient Indian spirit terrorizes a beach town in the form of a bloodthirsty shark in Joe D'Amato's Jaws rip-off, Deep Blood. Seems that a Native American elder once warned a group of youngsters about this great evil in the sea, and years later, the friends are forced to face their fears when one of them is killed by a shark in a series of attacks along their coastline. It's up to the remaining few to make sure that this monster is killed -- even if it means heading out to sea to do it. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
David Hasselhoff plays one of three bounty hunters in search of a much-wanted criminal. The reward is astronomical, so it's understandable that the cops want Hasselhoff and company to make themselves scarce. No matter what the law throws in their path, however, the three heroes will not be deterred. Bail Out costars Linda Blair and John Vernon. Though filmed in 1988, Bail Out wasn't released until 1990, upon Hasselhoff's success on television's Baywatch. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Hasselhoff, Linda Blair, (more)
Filmed on location in Tamil, India, Bloodstone stars Brett Stimely and Laura Albert as a pair of newlyweds, honeymooning in the Middle East. Unbeknownst to our billing-and-cooing couple, villains have slipped a valuable stolen ruby into their luggage. It isn't long before the anticipated cross-country chase has commenced. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brett Stimely, Anna Nicholas, (more)
- 1987
This time Jessica (Angela Lansbury) travels to Quebec, there to attend the trial of an old friend who has been charged with murdering his wife and then torching his house. In order to prove her friend's innocence, Angela ends up agreeing to serve as a witness. . .for the prosecution. The lawyers in the case are played by Claire Trevor and Patrick McGoohan, the latter making an amusing courtroom reference to the astonishing number of Jessica's nieces and nephews who've been accused of murder in the past! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1986
- R
Two dissimilar brothers inherit the venture described in the title, and spend most of their time hitting on the customers. The film is rated R due to nudity and profanity. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael David Wright, Bruce Greenwood, (more)
- 1983
- R
Sam Cooper (Steve Gutenberg) is an attaché in the U.S. State Department when, on the day before his wedding, a dying scientist hands him a formula that induces invisibility, and Sam finds himself fleeing with the maid of honor to escape both Russian and U.S. agents. Hotly pursued by everyone, Sam has to use the formula on himself, inviting a series of minor disasters. The very decision to make a movie about an invisible man in 3-D should have warned of trouble ahead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Guttenberg, Jeffrey Tambor, (more)
In this comedy, a group of randy young interns turn City Hospital upside down with their romantic liaisons and their blunders. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael McKean, Sean Young, (more)
The crux of this limited, juvenile comedy is a complex game that begins at midnight and ends by morning. Of main interest is the fact that a young Michael J. Fox plays one of the students involved in the game. Leon (Alan Solomon) has spent a year creating the game and practically needs that long to convince his fellow students to play it. Eventually he wins out, and the various teams of classic stereotypes -- the nerd, the well-groomed hero, the obnoxious sorority sister, the easily duped freshman, and others -- all converge on Los Angeles at midnight. Their treks take them through the Griffith Observatory which because of those odd hours astronomers keep, could conceivably be open. Other locales are interestingly open too, apparently Los Angeles never sleeps. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Naughton, Debra Clinger, (more)
Blackbeard's Ghost was one of the first Disney productions released after Walt's death. Peter Ustinov stars as the eponymous wraith, who returns to Earth to come to aid of his descendant, elderly Elsa Lanchester. The villains want to kick Lanchester and her friends out of their group home so that they can build a crooked casino. Good guy Dean Jones evokes the spirit of Blackbeard to thwart the bad guys. The supporting cast ranges from Richard Deacon to Gil Lamb, while Peter Ellenshaw performs the visual effects with mattes, miniatures, and process screens. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, (more)
- 1967
While the Enterprise is stopped at a space station to provide security for a valuable shipment of grain, Lt. Uhura purchases a new pet from ethically questionable station trader Cyrano Jones: a "tribble," which is basically a lovable, cooing ball of fur. The animals have some unexpected drawbacks, however; they have a ravenous appetite, and whenever they eat, they multiply themselves. Soon enough, the crew of the Enterprise finds themselves up to their necks in the furry creatures. This comes at about the worst possible time for the Enterprise, since a Klingon vessel has also arrived at the station, and the enemy crews are soon getting into barroom brawls. The tribble problem doesn't help the Enterprise's diplomatic effort much either, especially since the creatures don't like Klingons very much, and emit a high-pitched squawk whenever one comes near. This episode of the original Star Trek television series is particularly beloved for its charming humor; the tribbles themselves are so popular amongst Trek fans that they have reappeared in episodes of the animated series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
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