Penn Jillette Movies

This 1985 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Teri Garr and features musical guests Dream Academy and the Cult. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

This 1985 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Madonna and features musical guest Simple Minds. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

This 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Griffin Dunne and features musical guest Rosanne Cash. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

This 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Tony Danza and features musical guest Laurie Anderson. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

In this charming comedy that lives up to its title, Judge Reinhold stars as Joe Gower, a librarian's assistant posing as a police officer and trying to win the heart of a beautiful police officer, Rachel Wareham (Meg Tilly). A complex chain of events is put in place when Joe agrees to help out a good friend who's a policeman by taking his place at an audition for the cop's annual benefit show. Once at the auditions, Joe falls for Rachel, who will be dancing in the benefit. Joe starts hanging out with the choreographer in order to spend more time with Rachel. Unfortunately, this gets him into his borrowed police uniform more than he would like, and soon he's carrying out the duties of a beat cop while wearing his disguise. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Released by the now-defunct Simitar Entertainment rather than Rhino Video, which handles the other Comic Relief videos, Comic Relief II is featured on two separate 60-minute videos. A 1987 live charity event benefiting America's homeless, part one of Comic Relief II is hosted by Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and Billy Crystal, and features comic turns by Elayne Boosler, Louie Anderson, Judy Tenuta, and Michael J. Fox. Part two of Comic Relief II is a continuation of part one, boasting an all-star lineup that includes comic luminaries Richard Lewis, Steven Wright, Steve Allen, Arsenio Hall, and Roseanne. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

Isaac Asimov wrote the English translation for this animated sci-fi tale about the prince of the planet Gandahar, who is sent to the future in order to avenge an attack on his home world. The film is re-edited from the original French version (Ghandahar (1987), created and directed by Rene Laloux). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Penn & Teller are magicians who are known for putting on a jet-black, fake blood-soaked comedy magic show. This inky comedy is imbued with their off-beat humor as it chronicles Penn's newest scheme to have a fan try to kill him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This film is one of a series that explores the creative process by going behind the scenes with a variety of renowned artists to see the nature of their work. The series is aimed at a youth audience, to inspire creative endeavors by example. In this segment, American Ballet Theater choreographer David Parsons shows how he gets his ideas for a dance by starting with everyday movements. On the tape, Parsons and his students create a dance based on sleeping patterns. Magicians Penn and Teller host this award winning series. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Behind the Scenes is a public television series that explores the "magic and mystery of artistic creation." It exposes children to the arts in an effort to deepen their appreciation. There are shows on painting, drawing, music, dance, sculpture, photography, and theater. The format used for this series is very similar to the successful, fast-paced format pioneered by Sesame Street. Max Roach, a jazz percussionist, is the featured guest of this program. His love for jazz and for playing the drums is quite clear. Roach comes across as a personable man and a dedicated musician. After watching this show, many children are sure to realize that a number of smart and talented people are attracted to the arts. Other segments, such as cartoons, have also been included on this 30-minute tape.
~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

This documentary highlights the magic and mystery of artistic expression. Hosted by magicians Penn and Teller, this award-winning series goes behind the scenes to explore the talent of many gifted artists of diversified mediums. This volume profiles painter David Hockeny, whose various works embodies painting, drawings, book illustrations, photo-collage, and even set design. Some of the finer points of this art/education video include the illusion of depth and the vanishing point as David draws a virtual walk around a chair. Produced and Directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, this 30-minute magic show from First Run Features Home Video is a peek at the man/woman behind the curtain and the world they create. ~ C. Dwayne Smith, All Movie Guide

Toy Story was the first feature-length film animated entirely by computer. If this seems to be a sterile, mechanical means of moviemaking, be assured that the film is as chock-full of heart and warmth as any Disney cartoon feature. The star of the proceedings is Woody, a pull-string cowboy toy belonging to a wide-eyed youngster named Andy. Whenever Andy's out of the room, Woody revels in his status as the boy's number one toy. His supremacy is challenged by a high-tech, space-ranger action figure named Buzz Lightyear, who, unlike Woody and his pals, believes that he is real and not merely a plaything. The rivalry between Woody and Buzz hilariously intensifies during the first half of the film, but when the well-being of Andy's toys is threatened by a nasty next-door neighbor kid named Sid -- whose idea of fun is feeding stuffed dolls to his snarling dog and reconstructing his own toys into hideous mutants -- Woody and Buzz join forces to save the day. Superb though the computer animation may be, what really heightens Toy Story are the voice-over performances by such celebrities as Tom Hanks (as Woody), Tim Allen (as Buzz), and Don Rickles (as an appropriately acerbic Mr. Potato Head). Director John Lasseter earned a special achievement Academy Award, while Randy Newman landed an Oscar nomination for his evocative musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this high-tech thriller, Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller) has been fascinated with computers all his life; at the age of 11, he was able to break into the computer network of several top Wall Street investment and banking firms, and he nearly caused a major stock market crash in the process. As punishment, Dade was forbidden to use a computer until his 18th birthday, but now that he's of age, he's diving back into his PC head first. Dade meets up with a group of fellow hackers: tough-talking cyber gamer Kate, aka Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), junior hacker Jesse Bradford, born prankster Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), Nikon (Lawrence Mason), named for his photographic memory, and telephone expert Phantom Phreak (Renoly Santiago). Dade and his pals aren't out to destroy systems or do cybercrime for profit; they simply want to know more about the systems they encounter, and they like raising some good-natured havoc. But in their travels through cyberspace, they discover The Plague (Fisher Stevens), a former hacker turned computer security expert with a huge multinational corporation. The Plague has not only done the unthinkable and gone into anti-hacker enforcement, he's secretly allied himself with a group of criminals and is using his expertise to drain funds from corporate bank accounts and transfer them to himself and his mistress, Margo (Lorraine Bracco). The Plague is also smart enough to leave clues that would lead investigators to someone else -- in this case, Dade and his friends -- and has a secret weapon at his disposal, a computer virus that could wipe out the entire world wide web in a matter of minutes. Several sequences for Hackers were shot at New York City's Stuyvesant High School, where coincidentally several months after filming, several students were arrested by F.B.I. agents for their involvement in computer hacking. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide