Bryan Jones Movies
- 2005
- PG13
- Add Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to QueueAdd Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to top of Queue
Directed by Mike Newell, the fourth installment to the Harry Potter series finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) wondering why his legendary scar -- the famous result of a death curse gone wrong -- is aching in pain, and perhaps even causing mysterious visions. Before he can think too much about it, however, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will attend his fourth year of magical education. Shortly after his reunion with his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), Harry is introduced to yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: the grizzled Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a former dark wizard catcher who agreed to take on the infamous "DADA" professorship as a personal favor to Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Of course, Harry's wishes for an uneventful school year are almost immediately shattered when he is unexpectedly chosen, along with fellow student Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), as Hogwarts' representative in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which awards whoever completes three magical tasks the most skillfully with a thousand-galleon purse and the admiration of the international wizard community. As difficult as it is to deal with his schoolwork, friendships, and the tournament at the same time (not to mention his feelings toward the ever unfathomable Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Harry doesn't realize that the most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, is anticipating the tournament, as well. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, (more)
In this road comedy, NYC film school grad Leta (Melissa De Sousa) gets a job assisting music-vid director Bleau Kelly (Downtown Julie Brown), and a group of rappers, singers, starlets, and showbiz wannabes sign on for a video to be shot in Florida. The gang gets acquainted on a decaying bus as they travel down the East Coast, encountering barroom fights and other problems en route to the vid gig. Cameo by Snoop Doggy Dogg. Not to be confused with another 1998 release titled The Ride. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malik Yoba, Melissa DeSousa, (more)
Comic Rodney Dangerfield co-wrote and stars in this outrageous comedy. Wally Sparks (Dangerfield) is the host of a sleazy tabloid-style talk show who makes Jerry Springer seem genteel by comparison. Wally's show has become so foul that he's alienated his not-especially-discriminating viewers, and his ratings are taking a nosedive. Lenny Spencer (Burt Reynolds), head of the network carrying Wally's show, gives the host an ultimatum -- he has a week to clean up the show and boost his ratings, or his show gets cancelled. Wally's producer Sandy Gallo (Debi Mazar) comes up with an idea -- Floyd Preston (David Ogden Stiers) is the governor of Georgia and a staunch conservative known for his attacks on the lowbrow content of Wally's show, so what better way to show people that Wally is trying to change his ways than having Preston on the show as a guest? In order to persuade the Governor to appear, Wally attends a reception at Preston's mansion, where he makes the mistake of getting in a drunken game of strip poker with Preston's wife Emily (Cindy Williams) and somehow involving himself in a plot to blackmail the Governor. Meet Wally Sparks is packed with cameos in which noted show business figures play themselves, ranging from Tim Allen, Jay Leno, and Bob Saget to Michael Bolton, Ron Jeremy, and Jerry Springer himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Dangerfield, Debi Mazar, (more)
- 1995
- R
A group of unsuspecting campers are faced with a threat from which no amount of bug spray can protect them in this sci-fi/horror thriller. An alien spacecraft crash-lands in a state park near a lake, and several hungry mosquitoes feed on the blood of the deceased spacemen. They soon mutate to many times their normal size, and Megan (Rachel Loiselle), a biology student, and her boyfriend Ray (Tim Lovelace), are startled when a bug crashes into their windshield -- a mosquito the size of a bald eagle. Megan and Ray soon join forces with Parks (Ron Asheton), the bumbling park ranger; Earl (Gunnar Hansen), a survivalist with a criminal past; and his pal Junior (Mike Hard), to do battle with the swarm of ever-expanding bugs. Rock fans note: Ron Asheton was guitarist with legendary proto-punks Iggy and the Stooges and penned a new song for the soundtrack, while Mike Hard was the lead singer with the group The God Bullies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gunnar Hansen, Ron Asheton, (more)
- 1994
- R
A relatively low budget follow-up to the successful original Hidden continues the story with the daughter of the cop who had faced the alien menace 15 years earlier, teaming up with a benign visitor from space to oppose his more hostile compatriots. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Workout guru Richard Simmons has made a name for himself as an energetic fitness motivator, with his long line of aerobic exercise programs featuring dancing and low-impact routines with pop music, designed to offer an experience that is both fun and healthful. He continues that tradition with Richard Simmons: Sweat & Shout, a release from Good Times Home Video that promises to deliver exactly what viewers have come to expect from Simmons. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Simmons
Wes Craven wrote and directed this surrealistic horror-comedy, which was inspired by a true story of parents keeping their children locked in a basement for years. Fool (Brandon Adams), an African-American teen, breaks into the home of the wealthy landlords who evicted his family from a ghetto tenement. A fortune in gold coins is rumored to exist inside, but Fool discovers that the mansion is a chamber of horrors presided over by a pair of incestuous, serial killer siblings (Everett McGill and Wendy Robie). The twisted couple has also tried to raise a succession of kidnapped boys. Each botched effort is handled the same way -- the victim's eyes, ears and tongues are removed, and he's sent to live in the sealed-off basement, where a colony of similarly deformed "brothers" resides. Fool is able to avoid the evil lovers as he moves through the house's maze of hidden passageways. He discovers that the occupants have a daughter, Alice (A.J. Langer), who has survived their abuse, so he rescues her and they attempt to free the "people under the stairs." Adams, who made his feature debut with in film, was familiar to viewers as the star of rock singer Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1988). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, (more)
House Party is an infectious, engaging comedy starring the rap duo Kid 'N Play. Kid (Christopher Reid) decides to throw a party where he plans to blow the roof off the joint with his rhyming skills, so he and his friend Play (Christopher Martin) throw a huge party while Play's parents are away. The day of the party, Kid is grounded by his father (Robin Harris) and he has to sneak out of the house to get to the party, where he is confronted by several rival rappers, as well as a bevy of adoring girls. Though House Party follows a standard plot-line straight out of the '50s rock & roll films, the script is inventive, providing many different twists and turns, while Reginald Hudlin's direction is assured and very, very funny. Kid 'N Play are both terrific, but the true standout is legendary comedian Robin Harris in one of his few screen roles. House Party later spawned two sequels and an animated television series. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher "Kid" Reid, Christopher "Play" Martin, (more)
- 1988
- R
Ruth Warren (Jessica Dublin) is a former movie star who hopes to restore her youthful beauty in this low-budget horror feature. She funds the research of Dr. Gregory Ashton (John MacKay), who develops a serum that reverses the aging process, and she willingly volunteers to become a human laboratory rat and takes the serum. The rejuvenated woman dubs herself Elizabeth (Vivian Lanko). What she doesn't know is that Ashton robs the brains of dead bodies to get the chemical needed for the formula, and the side effects turn monstrous for Elizabeth who resorts to murder in her lust for human brains. The special effects are excellent. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivian Lanko, John A. MacKay, (more)
- 1988
Even non-fans of Michael Jackson will be caught up in the exuberance and virtuosity of Moonwalker. This 84-minute music video casts The Gloved One as host of a futuristic TV special. Highlights include an extended Claymation sequence and a 3-D vignette put together by the Disney Company. The most endearing aspect of Moonwalker is Jackson's willingness to poke fun at his own tabloid-headline image. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Jackson, Sean Lennon, (more)
- 1985
- PG
This teen drama with a dash of humor is set in the 1960s and features a musical overview of that era. A group of college kids are out for a fun weekend at the beach, hoping to find romance and excitement. Beer is consumed in great quantities and a number of rivalries and flirtations occur. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Redmond, Robert Peacock, (more)
Largely improvised by director Rob Reiner and his cast, This Is Spinal Tap looks and sounds like a "real" documentary, with Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap. The "group" started as an informal skiffle band, eventually maturing into an R&B act called the Thamesmen (their hit was "Gimme Some Money"). After going through a psychedelic period with "Listen to the Flower People," the band mutated into Spinal Tap, a hard rock outfit responsible for such albums as "Intravenous DeMilo," "The Sun Never Sweats," and "Bent for the Rent." This Is Spinal Tap finds them in the midst of their first American tour in years as they support their new LP Smell the Glove, with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner), who specializes in TV commercials, on hand to document the occasion. Just about anything that can go wrong does: shows get canceled, stage props go wrong, wireless guitar pickups start broadcasting air-traffic reports, no one shows up for in-store appearances, David's girlfriend tries to take over the band, they wind up billed second to a puppet show at an amusement park, and the group teeters on the verge of breakup. After the film's initial release, McKean, Guest, and Shearer did a short club tour as Spinal Tap; the "band" reunited in 1992 for a new album, Break Like the Wind, followed by a full-fledged tour and TV special, The Return of Spinal Tap. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, (more)
Tim Conway as woeful boxer Bags and Don Knotts as his dim-witted sidekick Shake are out to save a gym and do the impossible in this predictable, cliched comedy from director Michael Preece. The setting is the 1930s and Bags is trying to make it as a boxer. Gangster Mike (Robin Clarke) decides to take advantage of the two losers, so he sets Bags up for a big championship match against a bruiser appropriately nicknamed the Butcher (Michael LaGuardia). At stake is more than the one-sided match, the dull duo's friend "Pop" Morgan (David Wayne) has bet all he has on Bags -- he needs money to save his gym from the clutches of the gangster. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Conway, Don Knotts, (more)
