Howard Kaylan Movies

Although he later received notoriety as a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and as half of the duo Flo & Eddie, Howard Kaylan is likely best remembered as the lead singer of the 1960s pop band the Turtles. It is this period of his life that Kaylan illustrates in his autobiographical screenplay for My Dinner With Jimi. Beginning right before the band hit it big with their single "Happy Together," the film follows Kaylan (played here by Justin Henry from Kramer vs. Kramer) as he and his bandmates struggle through gigs at small clubs and spend their free time hanging out in a deli, discussing the draft with Jim Morrison (Bret Roberts), Mama Cass (Lisa Brounstein), and Zappa (Adam Tomei). When their song hits number one on the charts, the Turtles head out to tour England, where they catch up with their old friend Graham Nash (Chris Soldevilla). Nash takes the band to a club where they meet the Beatles and Kaylan has a lengthy chat with John Lennon (Brian Groh). Further cementing his rapid transformation from fan to star, Kaylan is then introduced to Jimi Hendrix (Royale Watkins), leading to the titular dinner. Featuring a supporting cast led by George Wendt, John Corbett, and Curtis Armstrong, My Dinner With Jimi was directed by Bill Fishman, best known for his cult-classic directorial debut, 1988's Tapeheads. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

In an entertaining animated children's film for the youngest moppets only (no adult double takes here) a red, white, and blue rabbit miraculously appears to save the day like "Superhare." When not zooming about on roller skates, his special powers lie hidden in a mild-mannered alter ego named Rob Rabbit (voice of Barry Gordon). Rob is a normal bunny until one day some friends are threatened by a crashing boulder at a picnic. At that moment he is transformed into the "American Rabbit" and saves them. Then a crickety old rabbit overflowing with wisdom comes to tell him that his destiny is to go forth and conquer evil. So Rob heads out to conquer, first getting a job playing at the Panda-Monium piano bar in the city in order to support himself. There he tackles a nasty gang of jackal bikers that appear again and again in different contexts. They finally burn the bar to the ground, and so the die is cast and the gauntlet thrown down to the floppy eared super-rabbit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

While X-rated cartoons were not an unknown commodity when this film was released in 1974 (Fritz the Cat had been around since 1972), animation which has a clearly pornographic intent was (and remains) a novelty. This film features voices by two former members of The Turtles and later of The Mothers of Invention, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan. The story involves a shy man who has not been able to figure out what sex is actually about until he meets a large-breasted duck(!). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this musical farce, a dim-witted fellow finally gets his chance to become a secret agent like his brother when the former receives an important phone call meant for the latter. He then begins looking into a conspiracy to sabotage an upcoming beach party. He learns of this plot from a concerned teen who over head a fellow who has been "driven mad by rock'n'roll" scheming with another. The film is filled with music from the day's popular stars including: "Malibu Run" (Jim Karstein, Leon Russell, Gary Lewis, T. Leslie, sung by Gary Lewis and the Playboys), "Out on the Floor" (Fred Darian, Al De Lory, sung by Dobie Gray), "She'll Come Back" (Nita Garfield, Howard Kaylan, sung by the Turtles), "Baby Please Don't Go" (Joe Williams, sung by the Astronauts), "It's Not Unusual" (Gordon Mills, Les Reed, sung by the Knickerbockers), "Funny over You" (Freddie Garrity, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "A Love Like You" (Quinn & Jones, sung by Freddie and the Dreamers), "What's Her Name," and "Hip City" (Darian, De Lory). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide