Michael Alldredge Movies
This episode is set in Ireland, where Jessica (Angela Lansbury) has arrived to research a new book in the company of her college colleague, retired Irish detective Sean Culhane (George Hearn). Invited to stay at the home of wealthy developer Neal Gillen (Dakin Matthews), Jessica and Sean are among those present when Gillen suddenly dies, presumably of natural causes. It turns out, however, that Gillen's death may have been premeditated--and may also have been tied in with a local legend concerning the spirit of a "crying woman." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Football hero Boomer Hayes (Ken Wahl) finds he is in the middle of a looting scheme in this non-stop actioner. Billionaire and owner of LA's pro football team, Bat Masterson (Robert Davi), has arranged a fake toxic chemical spill to provide an opportune situation for his group of ex-cops to plunder an evacuated community in Beverly Hills. Surprised by the state of things when he comes out of the bathroom, Boomer soon grasps the opponent's play and takes it upon his able-bodied self to tackle the situation. Luckily, he not only has the support of his girlfriend, Laura (Harley Jane Kozak), but ex-cop and bad-turned-to-good guy Ed (Matt Frewer) also decides to play on the home-team. With a plethora of explosions and stunts, it shows how the heroes semi-effectively defend their lush neighborhood. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Wahl, Harley Jane Kozak, (more)
Australian star Paul Hogan just couldn't seem to come up with a hit comparable to his 1986 international hit Crocodile Dundee. Hogan's Almost an Angel was a nice try, but no cigar. The star plays a lifelong thief who suffers a potentially fatal accident. While "in limbo", Hogan is visited by God (amusingly played by Charlton Heston-well, why not Charlton Heston?). When he recovers, Hogan is convinced that he'd been returned to the land of the living in order to do God's work. He turns over a new leaf, coming to the assistance of wheelchair-bound Elias Koteas and his pretty sister Linda Kozlowski (the real-life Mrs. Hogan). At first suspicious of Hogan, Kozlowski is finally won over by his new-found sincerity. So lightweight that it threatens to float away at any moment, Almost an Angel is held together exclusively by Paul Hogan's star appeal. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to insure a box-office success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Hogan, Elias Koteas, (more)
In this thriller a married woman in an unhappy marriage takes off to get some time alone and finds herself entangled with professional killers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Sometime far into the future international powers settle their differences in gigantic arenas where each nation sponsors an incredible robot gladiator. These gladiators duke it out to determine the distribution of world territories. This might be best appreciated by pre-teen video warfare fans. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Graham, Anne-Marie Johnson, (more)
Johnny Walker (Anthony Michael Hall) is a hot-shot high-school quarterback who receives intoxicating offers from spirited college recruiters in this adolescent teen comedy. Bathroom humor and sight gags are strung together in a story involving booze, broads, and other benefits for the coveted quarterback. Robert Downey Jr., Uma Thurman, and Paul Gleason co-star. Even cameos from Jim McMahon and Howard Cosell can't save this feature from itself, though it isn't the fault of the cast. Originally rated PG-13, it was reedited to R (with scenes added) for a home video release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Jr., (more)
This interesting fusion of the horror and Western genres involves a modern-day sheriff (Franc Luz) whose search for a missing heiress leads him into the title locale, a frontier-age Arizona township whose residents are cursed with immortality. He eventually discovers that the abductee (Catherine Hickland) has been spirited off to the lair of an evil black-clad gunslinger (Jimmie F. Skaggs), who sees her as the reincarnation of the dance-hall girl he murdered a hundred years before. Excellent photography by Mac Ahlberg and a gritty Sergio Leone-inspired ambience lend a great deal of quality to this otherwise mundane production from Charles Band's outfit, which is saddled with a weak script that fails to put its unique concept to adequate use. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Franc Luz, Catherine Hickland, (more)
John Ritter stars in this made-for-television comedy as a lonely philanderer who falls in love with a one-night-stand (Connie Sellecca) who is about to marry another man. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
David Mamet's play Sexual Perversity in Chicago was adapted for the big screen by fellow Chicago citizen Tim Kazurinsky and became About Last Night... The film stars Rob Lowe as Danny and Demi Moore as Debbie. The pair meet and engage in a torrid sexual relationship, but then slowly negotiate if there is anything more between them. Lowe seeks advice from his loudmouthed friend Bernie (Chicago native James Belushi), whose offers little more than outrageous tales of his randy exploits. Debbie confides in her best friend Joan (Elizabeth Perkins), a bitter, single kindergarten teacher who has lost any hope of finding the right person on the dating scene. Although Danny and Debbie talk, they have trouble communicating. The film ends on a coda that suggests the pair are still unsure as to where their relationship may be headed. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, (more)
A seat-of-the-pants militia attitude gets a boost from this conventional drama about the heroics of a teen son anxious to free his father from captivity in a small Middle Eastern nation. Doug's (Jason Gedrick) father is an Air Force pilot who was shot down on a mission near the border of an Arab country and is now held hostage. Failing adequate U.S. intervention causes a desperate Doug to enlist his school chums in a wild plan to essentially sneak away with two Air Force jets and take off on a mission to rescue his father. He convinces the veteran Chappy (Louis Gossett, Jr.) into flying one plane, while Doug himself flies another (he learned how to pilot from his father). Yes. If audiences believe all this, then the ending should come as no surprise either. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Gossett, Jr., Jason Gedrick, (more)
Vera's police officer husband Elliot (Charles Levin) has not exactly been a credit to the force, but thus far he hasn't screwed up so much as to lose his job. But when Elliot manages to shoot himself with his own gun, he decides on his own that he's not cut out for a life in law enforcement. Trouble is, he's not really cut out for a life in any other profession! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Atlanta Child Murders is a five-hour, two-part dramatization of one of the most tragic and controversial homicide cases of the past twenty years. From 1979 through 1982, some 28 African-American children and young adults disappeared from Atlanta--some without a trace, but others to later turn up as murder victims. Part One (which debuted February 10, 1985) details the beginning of the manhunt conducted by the Atlanta Chief of Police (James Earl Jones). Screenwriter Abby Mann uses the actual events as a springboard for his thesis that the case and its outcome revealed many uncomfortable truths about the still-fragile state of race relations in the New South. Both parts of The Atlanta Child Murders were later combined into one 245-minute "feature film."
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The second part of the five-hour TV docudrama The Atlanta Child Murders originally aired February 12, 1985. After 28 African-American children and young adults have either disappeared or been murdered, the Atlanta police finally have a suspect in custody: Small-time show business entrepreneur Wayne Williams (Calvin Levels). Scriptwriter Abby Mann utilizes actual court transcripts of Williams' trial, which results in a conviction on one count of murder. This decision in essence leaves the cases of the other 27 victims unresolved--and in so doing, Mann opens the door to speculations that Williams, a black man, was a "convenient" suspect, who might possibly have been railroaded in the authorities' haste to find a solution to the sordid case. Whatever Mr. Mann may have felt concerning Williams' guilt or innocence, the fact remains that the murders and disappearances stopped cold once Williams was in custody (as of this writing, Williams persists in his efforts to reopen the case, claiming that he was framed by the white power structure). Morgan Freeman served as narrator for both installments of The Atlanta Child Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Made for television, Hostage Flight fomented a well-publicized controversy when first aired by NBC on November 17, 1985. On a domestic flight headed for Detroit, 65 passengers are held hostage by four international terrorists. The demands of the hijackers are simple: Release their imprisoned leader or the hostages will be executed one by one. Only after innocent blood is shed do the outraged passengers form a united front to rebel against their captors, and, ultimately, to take justice in their own hands. The film's original ending found the passengers, having staged their own "trial" of the hijackers, doling out punishment in a gruesome manner (and a highly unlikely manner, given the limited head-space on a typical jetliner). This denouement proved too horrifying for the NBC executives, who demanded that a modified ending be filmed (though the original climax was shown when the film was released outside the United States). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Inamusch as Deputy Enos (Sonny Shroyer) has become too honest for their own good, Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Roscoe (James Best) get him out of the way by promoting him to a civilian job. Enos' replacement is Billy Joe Coogan (Michael Alldredge), as dishonest and corrupt as the day is long. Alas, Boss and Roscoe aren't given much time to congratulate themselves over their choice of new deputies: No sooner has Billy Joe accepted the job than he double-crosses his patrons by threatening to open Hazzard Dam and flood the county unless he is paid an enormous ransom! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The "Bells" are an all-female singing group who once attended St. Mary's Orphanage with Face (Dirk Benedict; in fact, the lead singer is Face's sister. When the girls are threatened with violence by their former record label unless they sign a binding contract, the A-Team steps in to help out. Joseph Wiseman, the sinister "Dr. No" in the James Bond film of the same name, appears as the evil billionaire who is calling the shots at the record company; and in another development, can it be true that Murdock (Dwight Schultz) has chosen B.A. (Mr. T) as his personal hero??? This episode was originally scheduled to air on October 12, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Grant
The A-Team shows up in rural California, where ruthless landowner Chuck Easterland (Stuart Whitman) is trying to drive Penhall Produce Farms out of business. Championing the cause of Joe Penhall (Robert Sampson) and his daughter Ellen (Devon Ericson), the team volunteers their services to deliver the farm's crop of watermelons to market. Unfortunately, they're blocked every inch of the way by Easterlands hired goons--and melons are a mighty perishable commodity. This is the episode in which the precious car owned by reporter Amy Allen (Melinda Culea) is reduced to a pile of scrap iron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Single mom Elaine (Marilu Henner) is having problems at home with her son Jason (David Mendenhall), who has just declared that he's "had it" with his oboe lessons. Sensing that a man's influence might help Jason get his head on straight, Elaine follows the advice offered her by Alex (Judd Hirsch) and agrees to let Jason sign on for the junior boxing program headed by Tony (Tony Danza). As it happens, however, Jason is possessed of a glass jaw -- and when he is flattened in his first bout, guess whom Elaine holds responsible? ~ All Movie Guide
Congregating at a French restaurant, the A-Team is reunited with Lin Duk Coo (Mako), formerly the cook at the Vietnamese POW camp where they'd been imprisoned during the war. Naturally, Lin is in desperate need of the team's help, thanks to the villainous machinations of the prison camp's sadistic former commandant General Chow (John Fujioka), who, in league with traitorous ex-soldier Tom Anderson (Marjoe Gortner), is currently smuggling heroin into the country. Disguising himself as a golf caddy, Hannibal (George Peppard) is able to figure out that the drugs are being hidden in bread produced at the Angel Bakery--thereby setting up the climax in which a modified bakery truck functions as a tank! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Initially titled The Far Shore, the made-for-TV Another Woman's Child was co-produced by Linda Lavin, who also starred. Lavin and Tony LoBianco play a long-married couple who are confronted with a flash from the past. Young Jenny O'Hara shows up at the couple's doorstep, announcing that she is LoBianco's illegitimate daughter. Once over the initial shock, the couple makes arrangements to adopt O'Hara, but complications ensue when the girl's natural mother takes a hand in things. Another Woman's Child was first telecast January 19, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Although penned by the same screenwriter, David S. Ward, this sequel to The Sting (1973) is tarnished by comparisons to its predecessor. Jackie Gleason fills the shoes of Paul Newman as Harry Gondorff and Mac Davis slips into the Robert Redford role of Johnny Hooker, two con men pals whose latest "sting" involves Hooker pretending to be a down on his luck boxer. Their goal is the fixing of a prizefight, which will rook a tacky nightclub owner (Karl Malden) out of a fortune while simultaneously getting revenge on their old nemesis, Doyle Lonnegan (Oliver Reed). On their side is Veronica (Teri Garr), a seasoned scam artist, but what Gondorff and Hooker don't know is that Lonnegan is manipulating events behind the scenes. Director Jeremy Paul Kagan followed up this terribly unfunny and inferior sequel with the much better received The Journey of Natty Gann (1985), while Ward became a director of such comedies as Major League (1989) and King Ralph (1991). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Gleason, Mac Davis, (more)
Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, an exiled Cuban criminal who goes to work for Miami drug lord Robert Loggia. Montana rises to the top of Florida's crime chain, appropriating Loggia's cokehead mistress (Michelle Pfeiffer) in the process. Howard Hawks' "X Marks the Spot" motif in depicting the story line's many murders is dispensed with in the 1983 Scarface; instead, we are inundated with blood by the bucketful, especially in the now-infamous buzz saw scene. One carry-over from the original Scarface is Tony Montana's incestuous yearnings for his sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). The screenplay for the 1983 Scarface was written by Oliver Stone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, (more)
Randy Stern (Mary-Margaret Humes) hires the A-Team to help her uncle Mickey (Norman Alden), the owner of a small construction firm. A group of mobsters is determined to sabotage Mickey to prevent his excavation of some rather incriminating evidence--namely, the murdered body of his former partner. Inasmuch as this episode begins at the Universal studios where A-Team leader Hannibal is doing stunt work for a horror picture (dressed as the Creature from the Black Lagoon), expect a number of cute movie in-jokes, ranging from the name of the head villain (Carl Denham!) to a chance meeting between series regular Dirk Benedict and one of his former "co-stars" from Battlestar Gallactica. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Another "true story" of dubious authenticity, The Entity concerns a libidinous invisible presence. This unseen force repeatedly rapes poor Barbara Hershey, who can't get anyone to believe her stories of sexual assault. Frankly, she doesn't believe them herself until she undergoes therapy conducted by experts in both psychology and the supernatural. The entity, a great, hairy blob, is ultimately tricked into materializing, an act of revelation that proves to be its downfall. The Entity was adapted by Frank de Felitta from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Hershey, Ron Silver, (more)
Director Alan Parker and writer Bo Goldman chronicle the emotional disintegration of an unhappy marriage. Albert Finney and Diane Keaton play George and Faith Dunlap, a seemingly happily married couple living with their four daughters in a converted farmhouse in Marin County, California. George is inwardly empty and decides to have an affair with Sandy (Karen Allen), who has doubts about how long their affair will last. Faith is also suffering from ennui and takes up with Frank Henderson (Peter Weller), the contractor for the Dunlap's tennis court. Frank, after discovering about Faith's affair, is in a confused state: he wants to leave and live with Sandy but doesn't want his wife to date other men and demands the love of his daughters -- all of whom now detest him. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Diane Keaton, (more)
























