Sheldon Larry Movies

Worn to a frazzle by her job at trendy "Glow" magazine, straitlaced J.J. Jenner (Carly Pope) is gratified when her boss offers her the job of writing an important food column--but only if she can finish a decent article within a two-week deadline, which will fall upon Christmas Eve. Impeding J.J.'s potential success is the breakup of her current romance, and especially the unannounced arrival of her freewheeling mother Lee (Christine Baranski), former hippie and lifelong chorus girl. To get her well-meaning but annoying mom out of her hair, and to assure that the food-column job will definitely be hers, J.J. enters into an arrangement with publicity-hungry restaurant owner Alex (Bobby Cannavale), wherein he will date Lee in exchange for a glowing review of his eating establishment. Suffice to say that things don't quite turn out as either J.J. or Alex originally planned. Produced for the Lifetime cable channel,Recipe for a Perfect Christmas debuted December 5, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After 25 years of marriage, our heroine Rose (Christine Lathi), the book editor for the "LA Chronicle", is in for a shock. Her husband Nathan (Brian Kerwin), who is also her boss at the "Chronicle", has fallen in love with his much-younger assistant Mindy (Abby Brammell). Humiliating as it is when Nathan files for divorce, it is absolutely unbearable for Rose when she is fired and Mindy is given her job! As she struggles overcome these personal devastations, Rose is reacquainted with Hal (Bryan Brown), a freewheeling novelist with whom she had been in love before she met Nathan--and whom she had rejected because of his "unreliability." All of the main characters are played by different actors in the film's many flashback sequences. Adapted from the book by Elizabeth Buchan, the made-for-TV Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman was first broadcast by CBS on September 26, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in Arizona (but filmed in Alberta), the made-for-TV thriller Children of Fortune stars James Brolin as Navy detective Dave Passenger. Assigned to investigate the murder of a sailor's girlfriend, Dave follows the trail of evidence to a small Arizona community where polygamy is still being practiced. Along for the ride is Passenger's estranged 15-year-old daughter Erica (Amanda Fuller), who has been invited to participate in the investigation by Dave in the hope that he can mend a few family fences while tracking down the culprit. Virginia Madsen appears in the role of the secretive Ingrid Bast, wife of the local sheriff (Michael Moriarty). Children of Fortune made its CBS broadcast debut on November 1, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This outdoor adventure is set in the mid-18th century. In the wilderness of Maine a boy struggles to survive and keep a promise when his father does not return from a trip to Massachusetts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Olivia Newton-John stars in this sentimental TV movie as Julia Stonecypher, an impoverished widow with two daughters. Living in a remote mountain cabin, Julia relies upon the meager income received from the cakes she bakes for the local townsfolk. Unfortunately, it isn't quite enough to pay the mortgage, and just before Christmas straight-laced bank manager Brian Harding (Gregory Harrison) shows up at Julia's doorstep, announcing that he'll be forced to foreclose on her. Startled by Julia's violent reaction, Brian rushes away from her house, only to be involved in a car accident. With a snowstorm fast approaching, Julia takes the injured Brian to her house to take care of him. Forced by the bad weather to remain longer than expected, Brian inevitably falls in love with Julia -- but will romance supersede his financial responsibilities? In addition to heading the cast, Olivia Newton-John also sings the opening song "The Way of Love." Filmed on location in Vancouver, A Christmas Romance first aired December 18, 1994, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV drama, a teenage girl named Sarah (Kathleen Robertson) is flying home to see her parents when she falls ill. While Sarah is convinced that she has simply come down with a bad cold, when she keels over and dies while crossing a street, an autopsy reveals that Sarah had in fact contracted the pneumonic plague. Dr. Nora Hart (Kate Jackson), the hospital's authority on epidemics and highly contagious diseases, now must track down as many people as possible who came in contact with the girl before the plague begins to spread -- including Calvin Phillips (Howard Hessman), a congressman Sarah met on her flight. Based on the novel The Black Death by Gweneth Cravens and John C. Marr, Quiet Killer also stars Jerry Orbach, Luis Guzman, and Al Waxman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a Solzhenitsyn book, this is the story of a Moscow official in Stalinist Russia whose future freedom depends on a technological break-through. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

This film, hosted by Shelley Duvall, is a spoof, loosely based on the exploits of Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon. The Spaniard laid claim to Florida in 1513, landing near St. Augustine. History has it that he was seeking the Fountain of Youth, a legend that he had learned from native peoples in the Caribbean. He never did find it, but a few years later he was made acquainted with an Indian arrow, which dealt him a mortal blow. The film features photography of the lands that Ponce de Leon conquered throughout the Caribbean, as well as of Florida. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Hal Holbrook stars in this TV pilot film as Colonel Calvin Turner, a special operative for the OSS during World War II. Working in cooperation with British intelligence, Turner's mission is to uncover atomic weapon secrets at a Nazi plant in occupied Norway. The task permits him time for a bit of dalliance with the lovely Anne Twomey. David McCallum and Ray Sharkey costar in this uneven location-filmed adventure caper, first broadcast December 29, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In an uneasy blend of sci fi computer hokum and human miscreants at work, this story of suspicious deaths in a hospital is ominous on various counts but not likely to keep tension high-strung. Dr. Frank Holt (Joe Spano) has already had one malpractice suit that cost him a job, so when one of his patients dies under odd circumstances he is particularly interested in finding out why -- especially when that one case is followed by others. His former lover Anna (Diane Venora) is called in, along with the hospital's attorney (Don Francks) to help investigate the deaths and discover their cause. Meanwhile, it is slowly revealed that unethical staff are placing bets on the patients' diagnoses and how long they will live. When a good friend of Dr. Holt's becomes seriously ill, he is certain these deaths are not of natural causes, and the investigation heats up. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Created by Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent as a potential TV vehicle for himself, A Gift to Last first aired as a one-off CBC special in 1976. Narrated by Melvyn Douglas, the program chronicled the lives and times of the Sturgess family, who lived in Tamarack, Ontario, at the turn of the century. On January 22, 1978, the weekly, one-hour series proper was launched. Covering the period between 1899 to 1905, A Gift to Last was told from the viewpoint of young Clement Sturgess (Mark Polley), whose widowed mother Clara (Janet Amos) did her best to raise Clement and his sister Jane (Kate Parr) in a fatherless household (Clement's father Harrison, a key character in the 1976 special, was killed off in the first episode). Aiding Clara was her mother-in-law Lizzy (Ruth Springfield) and her late husband's two brothers: James (Gerard Parkes), a mild-mannered businessman, and Edgar (Gordon Pinsent), a bombastic, globe-trotting sergeant in the Royal Canadian Regiment. Clement idolized his Uncle Edgar, even though the boastful career soldier had a habit of getting involved in shady and sometimes downright dishonest financial transactions, and despite the fact that virtually all of Edgar's grandiose dreams were doomed to spectacular failure. As the series progressed, Clara Sturgess was squired by grocer John Trevalyen (John Evans), whom she eventually married and with whom she had a child; James Sturgess entered politics, and was elected town mayor; and Edgar ended up wedding the Sturgess family maid, Sheila, in an award-winning episode. By the time the 21st and final hour-long episode rolled around, Clara had passed away and Edgar had settled down with the local militia. Sometimes described as the Canadian counterpart to The Waltons (though it was much, much more than that), A Gift to Last was syndicated internationally with great financial success; still, a "rediscovery" of the series in the United States is long overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide