Paul Maxwell Movies

A woman preparing for the biggest day in her life finds her wedding plans thwarted by his well-intending brother and his painfully immature friends in a matrimonial comedy with a decidedly Samoan twist. Sione is about to get married, but he knows that when his brother and his friends show up chaos will be quick to follow. Though the rowdy foursome are all well into their thirties, their reckless behavior suggests a maturity level of sixteen at best. When Sione bans the entire group from his upcoming wedding, they are forced to find dates in hopes that the bride will relent if they each arrive in the company of a true lady. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged determination to take historical artifacts out of the hands of bad guys and into the museums in which they belong. A grown-up Indy (Harrison Ford) reveals himself shortly afterward in a familiar classroom scene, teaching archeology to a disproportionate number of starry-eyed female college students in 1938. Once again, however, Mr. Jones is drawn away from his day job after an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches him with a proposition to find the much sought after Holy Grail. Circumstances reveal that there was another avid archeologist in search of the famed cup -- Indiana Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) -- who had recently disappeared during his efforts. The junior and senior members of the Jones family find themselves in a series of tough situations in locales ranging from Venice to the most treacherous spots in the Middle East. Complicating the situation further is the presence of Elsa (Alison Doody), a beautiful and intelligent woman with one fatal flaw: she's an undercover Nazi agent. The search for the grail is a dangerous quest, and its discovery may prove fatal to those who seek it for personal gain. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade earned a then record-breaking $50 million in its first week of release. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The title of this Anglo-Canadian TV production is tinged with irony. So far as the main characters are concerned, home is a still a long way to go. Set in the months following World War I, the film takes place in a squalid Welsh "halfway" camp, where Canadian soldiers are kept for an interminable period of time before the British government deigns to ship them home. Fed up with go-nowhere bureaucracy and the shabbiness of their surroundings, the Canadians stage a violent revolt. Based on a true story, Going Home represented the directorial debut of veteran costume designer Terry Ryan. Heading the cast are veteran Canadian actors Nicholas Campbell, Paul Maxwell and Eugene Lipinski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cloud Waltzing was the second of the Showtime Cable service's "Harlequin Romance" films. Kathleen Beller stars as the daughter of a prominent financier who supports herself as a journalist. While working on an investigative report about the top financial wheeler-dealers in Europe, she falls in love with a handsome but reclusive French vintner, played by Francois Eric-Gendron. The film's title refers to hot-air ballooning, the sport that brings hero and heroine together. Not rated, this film contains a brief nude scene. Based on a novel by Harlequin stalwart Tony Cates, Cloud Waltzing was first telecast February 14, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Big-budget special effects, swiftly paced action, and a distinct feminist subtext from writer/director James Cameron turned what should have been a by-the-numbers sci-fi sequel into both a blockbuster and a seven-time Oscar nominee. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, the last surviving crew member of a corporate spaceship destroyed after an attack by a vicious, virtually unbeatable alien life form. Adrift in space for half a century, Ripley grapples with depression until she's informed by her company's representative, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) that the planet where her crew discovered the alien has since been settled by colonists. Contact with the colony has suddenly been lost, and a detachment of colonial marines is being sent to investigate. Invited along as an advisor, Ripley predicts disaster, and sure enough, the aliens have infested the colony, leaving a sole survivor, the young girl Newt (Carrie Henn). With the soldiers picked off one by one, a final all-female showdown brews between the alien queen and Ripley, who's become a surrogate mother to Newt. Several future stars made early career appearances in Aliens (1986), including Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Reiser. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Although it is based on an intriguing premise -- Dale (Brooke Shields), disguised as a man, takes the place of her late father in a 1927 car race through the Sahara -- this film perversely falls flatter than a blow-out, and just as quickly. After starting the race and because of tribal warfare, Dale winds up a prisoner of the thug Rasoul (John Rhys-Davies) but is appropriately rescued by a dashing sheik (Lambert Wilson). Then after she is back in the race, she is captured and thrown into a leopard's cage by another desert villain. The Indy 500, this is not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Three attractive women turn into Robin Hoods in order to save a kindergarten in this routine comedy-caper. Eva (Wendy Hughes), Fiona (Chantal Contouri), and Millicent (Carmen Duncan) are ready to help out a charitable cause when they see one, but their hearts are bigger than their wallets. The only solution is to take money from those who have it to burn and judiciously redistribute it. With that thought in mind, the three recruit a few extra women to their cause -- they plan on robbing from the rich in a posh island resort. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Most Inspector Clouseau fans regard The Pink Panther Strikes Again as the best of the clumsy Parisian detective's "comeback" films of the 1970s. Driven insane by the stupidities of Clouseau (Peter Sellers), ex-inspector Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom) transforms into a master criminal. Kidnapping the inventor of a death ray, Dreyfuss threatens to use the demon device indiscriminately unless Clouseau is offered as a "sacrifice." A hunted man, Clouseau is forced to adopt one transparent (but hilarious) disguise after another. He is rescued from being incinerated by Dreyfuss when Soviet spy Olga (Leslie Ann Down) falls in love with him and strives to protect him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

June Wyndham-Davies directs this made-for-TV version of the classic children's novel Pollyanna, written by Eleanor H. Porter. This miniseries was broadcast in six half-hour episodes on the BBC in 1973. Elizabeth Archard plays the overly optimistic orphan Pollyanna who goes to live with her lonely, bitter old Aunt Polly (Elaine Stritch). Despite being paralyzed in an accident, her chipper attitude brightens the lives of everyone she encounters, including an old hermit (Donald Bisset), an orphaned boy (Stephen Galloway), and her doctor (Paul Maxwell). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The first appearance of Bette Davis in a made-for-television film has an evil mastermind (Davis) plotting against a CIA agent (Robert Wagner) for control of a deadly submarine. Aired in 1971, Madame Sin was the most expensive TV movie of the time. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This animated, futuristic puppet fantasy finds Lady Penelope and Professor Brains working for the organization International Rescue. The professor has developed an aircraft for the New World Aircraft company. Corporate spies secretly working for the NWA organization steal the experimental flyer. The Lady and the Professor chase the villains around the world in their quest to return the plane to the rightful owners in this action-packed children's feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the novel by C. Virgil Gheorghiu, this satirical concentration-camp drama from Turkish-born French director Henri Verneuil stars Anthony Quinn as Johann Moritz, a Romanian peasant who experiences the horrors of World War II when the Nazis invade his country. Because local police chief Dobresco (Gregoire Aslan) is anamorous towards Moritz's wife Suzanna (Virna Lisi), he has the lowly fieldhand falsely labeled a Jew and sent to a work camp. Moritz's troubles continue to mount, as his wife is threatened with losing their property unless she divorces him. Also starring Michael Redgrave, La Vingt-cinquième heure is also known as The 25th Hour, though it should not be confused with and bears no resemblance to the 2002 Spike Lee film of the same name. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

A prominent professor is abducted by a demented devil of a man who forces the scientist to place a superior brain into his head in this Italian sci-fi outing. Fortunately for the scientist, his daughter has enlisted the aid of a handsome hero to help her find him before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide