Brandon Call

Controversial and often offensive stand-up comedian Andrew Dice Clay made his debut as a feature film star in this crude comedy. Fairlane is a "rock and roll detective" who works in the music business, has an office on Sunset Boulevard, and drives a 1957 Ford, with clothing to match. He floats through the rock clubs of Hollywood, picking up women and clients, and soon stumbles into a case involving the death of a heavy metal singer, a corrupt music executive (Wayne Newton), the murder of a radio shock-jock (Gilbert Gottfried), and the kidnapping of the jock's daughter (Maddie Corman). Music stars like Sheila E. and Motley Crue singer Vince Neil also have cameos in the film, which attempts to transplant Clay's aggressively obnoxious stage persona into a movie environment. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Alberta, The Gifted One was intended as the pilot for a weekly TV series. The title character, played by Pete Kowanko, is a very young man with remarkable mental and physical powers. Raised from childhood as a modern superman, Pete begins yearning for his roots and accordingly conducts a search for his birth mother. He is then pursued by sinister characters who have their own reasons for preventing Pete from finding out the truth about himself. The whole thing sounds a lot like the 1990s series The Pretender, which managed to get past the pilot stage. Also starring Wendy Phillips, Brandon Call, G.W. Bailey and John Rhys-Davies, The Gifted One was first telecast June 25, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the concluding half of Magnum, P.I.'s final episode, Magnum (Tom Selleck) wrestles with the prospect of returning to active Naval service even as he lays a trap for the man who assaulted his former girlfriend Linda (Patrice Martinez). He also receives word that his daughter Lily, presumed murdered in an earlier episode, is still alive. Elsewhere, the impending marriage of Rick (Larry Manetti) and Cleo (Phyllis Davis) hits a few prenuptual snags, while T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) is unexpectedly reunited with his ex-wife Tina (Fay Hauser). And last but not least, the mystery of Robin Masters' true identity is finally solved...maybe. One of the highest-rated "finales" in network TV history, this episode leaves enough dangling plot strands to suggest that the producers had an elaborate "reunion" movie in mind. We're still waiting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Magnum, P.I. wraps up its eight-year run with a two-part final episode (originally telecast in a single two-hour timeslot). In Part One, Magnum returns to his home town for a family reunion, where his paternal grandfather (Howard Duff) offers to reinstate him as a Naval officer. But before Magnum can say "yes" or "no", he is summoned back to Hawaii by former girlfriend Linda Lee Ellison (Patrice Martinez), who insists that someone is stalking her. Upon his return, Magnum receives some startling information about his daughter Lily, whom he had presumed to be dead. Meanwhile, Rick (Larry Manetti) nervously prepares to marry the estimable Cleo Mitchell (Phyllis Davis). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), a pigkeeper in the mythical land of Prydain. Taran longs to be a knight, and he's given his chance to live out his dream when he is sent out in search of a magical black cauldron which can either be a powerful instrument of good or a bottomless fount of evil, depending entirely upon who should find it. However, Taran is not the only one in search of this talisman -- the Horned King (voice of John Hurt) wants the cauldron to shore up his sinister powers and raise an army of the dead, and with the help of the all-seeing pig Hen-Wren, the wicked one may make his hideous plans a reality. The Black Cauldron had the distinction of being the first animated feature from Disney to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, due to some frightening scenes of black magic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this hit thriller, a prosecuting attorney-turned-defense lawyer falls in love with a rich, charming client who's been accused of murdering his wife and her maid with a hunting knife. When an unknown assailant gruesomely slays San Francisco newspaper heiress Paige Forrester (Maria Mayenzet), her husband and business partner, Jack Forrester (Jeff Bridges), turns to corporate attorney Teddy Barnes (Glenn Close) for counsel. Teddy, who quit her job with the district attorney's office four years earlier over an ethical dilemma, has reservations about returning to criminal work; nevertheless, she accepts the assignment, convinced of Jack's innocence and eager to face off in court against her old boss, DA Thomas Krasny (Peter Coyote), who's about run for attorney general. With the help of investigator Sam Ransom (Robert Loggia), the recently divorced Teddy builds a strong defense for her client, though the work -- and her incipient romance with Jack -- cause strain in her relationship with her children. When Jack's innocence and his romantic intentions come into question, Teddy feels her life slipping back into a moral quagmire until a series of courtroom denouements set the stage for even bigger surprises. Big-name screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' follow-up to Flashdance, Jagged Edge was directed by Richard Marquand, who had previously lensed Return of the Jedi. Parts of Jagged Edge were shot on-location in San Francisco, whose City Hall provides the film's courtroom exteriors. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide