Stuart Cooper Movies

The Z Channel wasn't America's first premium cable outlet specializing in feature films, and it wasn't the most commercially successful, but few, if any, had as strong an impact on the film industry or a more influential list of customers. Based in California and blanketing sections of the state dominated by the movie business, Z Channel had been operating for several years before former screenwriter Jerry Harvey took over as head of programming in 1980. Under the guidance of Harvey and his staff, the channel became a film buff's dream, screening rare classics, important foreign films, and maverick American titles that had fallen through the cracks of commercial distribution. Harvey and his staff also programmed original and uncut versions of films which had only played American theaters in altered form (including Heaven's Gate, Once Upon a Time in America, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Leopard) long before the concept of the "director's cut" had currency beyond the most hardcore of film fans. And The Z Channel aggressively championed pictures they believed were overlooked, and programmed deserving Oscar-nominated movies during the Academy's voting period, years before studios began distributing video "screeners" to potential voters. (More than one industry expert has credited Z Channel's showings of Annie Hall as a key factor in the film winning Best Picture.) But Jerry Harvey was also a deeply troubled man, and when legal and economic problems began dogging the company in the late '80s, he snapped, leading to a horrible and tragic murder and suicide. The Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession is a documentary that looks at the channel's short but remarkable history as well as Harvey's damaged personal life. It includes interviews with Robert Altman, Quentin Tarantino, James Woods, Jim Jarmusch, Alexander Payne and a number of other filmmakers and critics who attest to Z Channel's lasting impact. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Easily (if somewhat too glibly) describable as "The Terminator in drag," the futuristic made-for-TV drama Chameleon revolves around a female cyborg killing machine at large in the year 2028. Designed expressly to destroy all enemies, the robotic Kam (Bobbie Phillips), who can change her appearance at will and is virtually unstoppable, abruptly and unexpectedly develops maternal feelings. The object of her compassion is Ghen (Eric Lloyd), the young son of the leader of a liberation movement that the dictatorial government is doing its best to eliminate. Despite orders to kill every member of the movement, Kam instead dedicates herself to saving Ghen from his evil human pursuers. First telecast October 23, 1998, on UPN, Chameleon later spawned a handful of direct-to-video sequels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this modestly suspenseful backwoods thriller, a hostage situation turns an ordinary mom into a fearsome huntress, thereby bringing her family together. Set in a heavily forested part of the Oregon coast, the tale of terror begins when a quartet of desperate bank robbers botch their escape and end up taking a young boy (Brendan Fletcher) hostage. His mother (Stephanie Zimbalist) and sister (Sarah Chalke) were saved from capture when the mother drove their car into frozen water. The crooks hightail it to the deep forest where they force the boy, who is experienced in wilderness survival and navigation like his mother, to locate a remote airstrip. Meanwhile, the angry mother grabs her trusty bow and sets out to find her endangered son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, a woman must fight to preserve her new life after a bounty hunter shows up and threatens to reveal that she has changed her identity so that no one will know that she was once accused of murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jack Coleman plays a down-on-his-luck baseball player who becomes a Beverly Hills masseur. One of his male clients hires Coleman to make love to the man's wife (Michelle Phillips) to provide grounds for a divorce. Needless to say, the client ends up dead, and Coleman is the prime suspect. American Gigolo, anyone? Made for cable, Rubdown does little to enhance the careers of supporting players Alan Thicke, William Devane or Catherine Oxenberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a self-involved real estate agent is given fifty hours of community service to do by a judge, he becomes the coach for a basketball team of developmentally challenged adults. In trying to teach them, he learns. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, murder begets vengeance and violence ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Christmas Eve was actually first telecast on December 22, 1986, but nobody cared about the "error" then, so why should we? Making her first television appearance in 23 years, Loretta Young (her ageless beauty undimmed by her silvery hair) plays a wealthy New York matriarch who learns that she is dying. This strengthens her determination to be reunited with her three grandchildren, whom she hasn't seen in 16 years thanks to a bitter argument with her avaricious son Arthur Hill. As Hill wages a court campaign to have Young declared incompetent and thus get his mitts on her millions, private eye Ron Leibman races against time to locate her lost grandkids before Christmas. Do you honestly think you'll get through Christmas Eve without a box of Kleenex handy? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Tunisia on a budget of 30 million dollars, the five-part, 12-hour miniseries A.D. was the final installment in a historical trilogy which included Moses the Lawgiver and Jesus of Nazareth. Covering the years 30 to 69 A.D., the teleplay, co-written by Anthony Burgess, chronicled the political intrigue which plagued the Roman Empire, with such key players as the emperors Tiberius (James Mason in his final role), Caligula (John McEnery), Claudius (Richard Kiley), and Nero (Anthony Andrews) calling the shots. Meanwhile, the death of Jesus Christ (played by Michael Wilding, son of Elizabeth Taylor) not only sparked a widespread monotheistic religious movement, but also resulted in devastating factionalism amongst the various Jewish sects of the era. Offsetting the true events are a number of fictional subplots, among them the romance between Jewish slave girl Sarah (Amanda Pays) and Roman soldier Valerius (Neil Dickson), and the tempestuous relationship between male and female gladiators, Caleb (Cecil Humphreys) and Corinna (Diana Venora). The huge cast included Ava Gardner, making her TV-movie debut as the scheming Agrippina. The winner of an Emmy award for Best Film Editing, A.D. was broadcast by NBC from March 31 through April 4, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Generous doses of newsreel footage highlight this British wartime drama. Tom (Brian Stirner) is a typical 18-year-old Briton who goes into military service early in 1944. The film follows the protagonist through the rigors of training and the shock of his first battle. Tom is killed on D-Day--hence the film's title, an allusion to "Operation Overlord." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

CIA agent Donovan (Gene Barry) travels to Britain to untangle a web of international spies. He falls for the estranged wife of local secret agent Langley (Tom Adams). Anne (Joan Collins) starts a romance with Donovan before her son is kidnapped by rival agents. While any other mom would worry herself sick, Anne spends her time getting her hair done and selecting a fabulous gown in which she appears in the following scenes. Donovan narrows the suspects down to a trio of agents, all who may have reason to turn double agent and place their country in political turmoil with counter espionage. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The imprisoning aspects of Success are humorously analyzed in this British-made film. Oliver Reed plays a wealthy advertising man who feels he has sold his soul and wishes to return to his happier earlier existence as a poor but swinging Londoner. Reed is goaded on by his boss, Orson Welles, who represents all the mercenary crassness that Reed despises. Handed a crucial commercial account, Reed plans to destroy himself by producing as offensive and confusing an ad campaign as possible. But Welles and the client are delighted by the "insult," and the disgruntled Reed is more successful than ever. Directed in the fragmentary "psychedelic" style typical of the late 1960s, I'll Never Forget What's'is Name gained notoriety upon its initial release by being the first mainstream British film in which the "F" word was spoken on-screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide