Tom Allard Movies
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey find the two obtuse pals battling The Grim Reaper, God, robots, great philosophical questions, and girls -- although not necessarily in that order. In this loose parody of the Terminator movies, directed by Peter Hewitt, the ultimate has happened -- at Bill and Ted University of the future, for many years now the people of the world have been "excellent to each other." But fed-up with Bill and Ted's peaceful world and even more fed up with heavy metal, the evil De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) decides to do something about it. De Nomolos creates a cyborg Bill and Ted, who travel back in time to kill the original Bill and Ted, win the Battle of the Bands and pave the way for the hellish reign of De Nomolos. In the past of 1990, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are immediately dispatched by the time-traveling cyborgs. And while the cyborgs Bill and Ted make time with the real Bill and Ted's girls (Sarah Trigger and Annette Azcuy) and prepare to take the real Bill and Ted's place in the Battle of the Bands, Bill and Ted are forced to deal with Hell ("Just like an Iron Maiden album cover"), the Grim Reaper (William Sadler), and God himself. When Bill and Ted are asked the secret of the universe, they get it right and as a reward a pair of Martians construct a set of "good" Bill and Ted robots to go head-to-head with the "bad" Bill and Ted robots at the Battle of the Bands. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, (more)
Kathleen Turner stars as V.I. Warshawski in Jeff Kanew's film version of the hard-boiled detective character from Sara Paretsky's series of crime novels. Warshawski is a freelance private investigator in Chicago, who lives the part of the hard-boiled detective. But in her heart of hearts, she is a softy. One night, while she is drinking at her favorite bar, she meets an ex-Blackhawks hockey player named Boom-Boom Grafalk (Stephen Meadows). The two connect and a romance appears to be in the making. But Warshawski is nevertheless surprised when Boom-Boom appears at her doorstep later that night with his 13-year-old daughter, Kat (Angela Goethals) in tow. He asks Warshawski if she could watch her and Warshawski agrees. Later that night, Boom-Boom is killed in a boat explosion and Kit hires Warshawski to track down her father's killer. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Jay O. Sanders, (more)
83 Hours 'Til Dawn utilizes a plot device originally seen on another fact-based TV movie, The Longest Night (1972). Robert Urich stars as a wealthy business executive whose 20-year-old daughter is abducted by sociopathic Peter Strauss. The kidnapper seals his victim in a small box and buries it deep underground, with an air-tube as her only conduit to the outside world. Strauss threatens to never reveal the girl's whereabouts unless Urich ponies up half a million dollars. The original telecast of 83 Hours 'Til Dawn ran a distant second to a competing network showing of the theatrical feature Three Men and A Baby (87). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
- R
John McNaughton's flawed but interesting follow-up to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer languished in distribution limbo for years before its brief theatrical run and subsequent video release. It presents a completely different breed of killer: an alien criminal who is exiled to life on Earth in human form. As if that weren't punishment enough, the creature's human guise is susceptible to frequent head-eruptions, creating the constant need for replacement heads. This leads to a grim and violent series of episodes in which the creature pops the tops of various citizens, ranging from a kindly, homeless eccentric (Antonio Fargas) to a lascivious doctor (Tony Amendola)... at one point, he even "borrows" the head of a dog! Following the trail of discarded heads are two cops (Rae Dawn Chong and Don Gordon), who eventually begin to suspect they're not dealing with the M.O. of the average serial killer. A few creative plot twists (particularly at the conclusion), grim atmosphere and generally good performances enliven this one-note material, which nevertheless fails to measure up to the harrowing, character-driven horror of McNaughton's acclaimed debut feature. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rae Dawn Chong, Don Gordon, (more)
- 1987
Halloween always seems to bring disaster of some kind or other to the Night Court gang. For example, Dan (John Larroquette) is literally bedeviled by a strange little man (Zale Kessler) in a satanic costume, who seems to know every intimate detail of Dan's life--and who offers to buy the prosecutor's soul for a measly hundred bucks. Meanwhile, Harry (Harry Anderson) ends up being locked in a safe while preparing a magic trick for his Halloween party, affording him time aplenty to review his previous misdeeds. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Based on true incidents, this movie follows the plight of a young American girl who travels to Japan to start work as a club singer, only to discover that she has been tricked into working as a prostitute for the Yakuza. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
