Michael Lipton Movies
- 1992
- NC17
Traci Lords stars as Vicki Stewart, an undercover cop on the trail of drug kingpin Salvador (Angelo Tiffe). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Aliens disguise themselves as radio evangelists in order to take over the planet. Earth's last hope may be a group of nerds camping in West Virginia. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1988
- R
This interesting low-budget horror omnibus from West Virginia works like a cut-price variation on Amicus Productions' horror anthologies of the '60s and '70s (particularly Dr. Terror's House of Horrors). The framing story consists of a group of travelers killing time at a lonely bus station by discussing their nightmares. The vignettes based upon these dreams involve a young woman's infatuation with a handsome swimming star whose fate is somehow tied to the pool itself; a TV anchor with disturbing nocturnal feeding habits; a Monkey's Paw variation about a man who can wish people back to life; a scout-troop leader with a beastly secret; and a college student who comes under the spell of an Aztec demon. The stories vary in quality, but there are some genuinely creepy moments, and the performances (all local actors) are of uniquely high quality for a regional production. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1980
- R
Slow-moving and dark, this Klute clone stars Talia Shire as Emily Hollander, a retiring, painfully introverted woman with a stutter who advertises her insecurity. She is attacked one day and her anguish recorded on tape by her assailant. It soon becomes apparent that her wacko lesbian neighbor Andrea (Elizabeth Ashley) is in love with her but too demented to express herself openly. She hired the assailant, though exactly why is not clear. Detective Bob Luffrono (Joseph Cortese) is called in to watch over Emily and perhaps corner her attacker. The relationship between Emily and the detective starts to slowly heat up, but meanwhile, there is Andrea with her telescope, spying on Emily and definitely up to no good. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Talia Shire, Joe Cortese, (more)
A trenchant satire of "trash TV," Network seems to grow only more relevant with each passing year. Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the dean of newscasters at the United Broadcasting System, is put out to pasture because he "skews old." Network executive Max Schumacher (William Holden), Howard's best friend, is forced to deliver the bad news. Beale can't stomach the idea of losing his 25-year post as anchorman simply because of age, so in his next broadcast he announces to the viewers that he's going to commit suicide on his final program. Network head Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall) is all for kicking Beale out then and there, but when it looks as though the UBS is going to have its greatest ratings ever on the night of Beale's self-destruction, ambitious programming exec Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) talks Hackett into treating that fateful final telecast as a special event. Naturally, Beale doesn't go through with it -- but he does begin rambling about the horrible state of the world in general and television in particular. He concludes his tirade by admonishing his viewers to "Go to the window and shout as loud as you can: 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!'" With that, Howard Beale becomes the hottest TV personality in America, and Diana becomes the network's fair-haired girl. She draws up plans to treat the nightly news broadcast as garish entertainment (complete with a psychic), all built around the rants of Beale, billed as "The Mad Prophet of the Airwaves." Network won Oscars for Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay as well as for three of four acting categories -- Dunaway for Best Actress, Peter Finch for Best Actor (in the only posthumous Oscar yet awarded), and Beatrice Straight for Best Supporting Actress, in one of the shortest-screen-time performances ever to win an Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, William Holden, (more)
Every movie star has to start somewhere, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, then little-known outside of body building circles, made his screen debut in this comic variation on the "sword and sandal" epics popular in the 1950's and '60's. Hercules (Schwarzenegger) has grown tired of his life on Mount Olympus, and wishes to visit Earth. His father Zeus (Ernest Graves) forbids such a voyage, but a misdirected thunderbolt sends Hercules tumbling down the mountain and into New York City, where he's befriended by Pretzie (Arnold Stang), who runs a pretzel cart in the park. As Hercules tries to make his way in the big city with Pretzie's help, he runs afoul of a crooked wresling promoter, gets mixed up with gangsters, rides his chariot through Times Square, descends into Hell, and dines at the Automat (which some contend is not unlike descending into Hell). Just as Hercules is getting used to life on Earth, his angry father decides it's time the boy came home, and Zeus sends Nemesis (Taina Elg) and a handful of other gods to retrieve him. For the original American release of Hercules In New York, Arnold Schwarzenegger was billed as Arnold Strong, and his voice was dubbed by another actor to remove his accent; when the film was re-released on video in 2000, Schwarzenegger's original vocal tracks were restored, though the dubbed version appears on several previous video releases. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Arnold Stang, (more)
- 1969
As the date of their wedding approaches, Tony (Larry Hagman) and Jeannie (Barbara Eden) must endure the rather hideous gifts bestowed upon them by the well-meaning Dr. and Mrs. Bellows (Hayden Rorke, Emmaline Henry). These gifts include a complete home-redecoration job, masterminded by an egotistical interior decorator (Michael Lipton) whose taste is apparently all in his mouth. Surveying the damage done by this so-called artist, Jeannie concludes that some drastic measures are way overdue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
A star-studded cast invigorates this film of a jazz trumpeter (Sammy Davis Jr.) who experiences both the prejudices of the music industry and terrible guilt following the traffic accident that killed his family, a tragedy he feels personally responsible for. Co-stars include several giants of jazz and popular music: Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ossie Davis, and Mel Tormé, as well as Peter Lawford and Cicely Tyson. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sammy Davis, Jr., Louis Armstrong, (more)
