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Frank Novak
- 1995
Connie Sellecca portrays another 1990s woman in peril in this made-for-television thriller. Sellecca stars as Sharon Blake, a successful career woman who has a passionate affair with a possessive man (Gregory Harrison). When she tries to break off the relationship though, she uncovers the dark side of her former lover, who starts stalking and harassing her. Harrison (Trapper John, M.D.) is effectively creepy as the obsessed, spurned ex-lover. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Connie Sellecca, Gregory Harrison, (more)
- 2000
- R
Filmmaker Frank Novak debuts with this wild satire about a white trash marriage that's coming apart at the seams. Fanatical toy collector Don (Bob Mills) and his Italian-born wife Donatella (Petra Westen) are so estranged from one another that they use their only child Don, Jr. (Andrew Eichner) as a go-between. The warring couple both still live in their rundown North Hollywood bungalow, even though their divorce court date is in only two weeks. Donatella is too afraid of losing all of her belongings to move out, while Don is using every trick in the book to drive her out. When he learns that Donatella, who works as a forklift operator, has the hots for female company manager Marion (Tracey Adams), Don goes berserk. He builds a wall clean through the middle of the house with a little doggy-door so that Don, Jr. can shuttle between the two halves. As the film progresses, the tranquility of Donatella and Marion's half contrasts sharply with the high-school basement party atmosphere of Don's, which is populated with an increasingly motley array of drug-addled toy collectors and general freaks. His loser brother-in-law Chuck (Zia) agrees to act as a house security guard in exchange for being allowed to live in Don's car with his crack-addict girlfriend Tiffany (Maeve Kerrigan). Meanwhile, men's rights advocate and gun nut Joe (Al Schuermann) arms Don with guns and eventually a rocket launcher -- after which things get really out of control. This film won the Grand Prize at the 2000 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Mills, Tracey Adams, (more)
- 1991
The second entry in the Body Chemistry film series, Voice of a Stranger stars Lisa Pescia as a talk-radio sex counselor (a recurring character in the films). Ex-cop Gregory Harrison costars as a troubled victim of child abuse who is currently into "rough sex." Harrison places a call to Pescia, who gives him erotically-tinged advice. He takes her all too much to heart-and it could mean murder. Real-life radio personality Morton Downey Jr. costars as Big Chuck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Mr. Turner (Anthony Tyler Quinn), who hencefore shall be referred to as Jonathan, decides that it is time to become legal guardian of homeless teenager Shawn (Rider Strong). But Shawn himself has other ideas; he wants to hit the road and return to his biological father Chet (Blake Clark). . .and what's more, he's gotten it into his head that Jonathan is not sincere in his wish to take care of him. Meanwhile, Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) assigns Eric (Will Friedle) to tutor a high school athlete named Jeff (Bobby Jacoby)--a curious choice, in that Eric's grades aren't much better than Jeff's. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
Frequent TV-movie costars Stephanie Zimbalist and Gregory Harrison are teamed once more in Breaking the Silence. Harrison plays a lawyer defending a teenager (Chris Young) accused of murdering his father. As the boy details a lengthy history of abuse at the hands of his father, Harrison flashes back to his own miserable childhood. Zimbalist costars as Harrison's law partner (and former lover), who must not only contend with mounting an adequate defense for their client, but also must come to grips with her bitter childhood memories. Breaking the Silence first aired January 14, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
Paul Millander (Matt O'Toole), the serial killer who taunted the squad throughout the first season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, is back in business. Claiming a third victim, Millander repeats his previous M.O., leaving behind a tape suggesting that the victim committed suicide. But Grissom (William L. Petersen) not only concludes that no suicide has occurred, but also ascertains that the victim's birth date was August 17, the same day in 1959 that Millander's own father was killed -- and, more chillingly, the same day in 1956 that Grissom himself was born. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) is determined to prevent a sexual predator, who has broken into the apartments of several single women and terrorized the occupants without actually harming them, from crossing the line into physical assault -- or even murder. On another front, Sara (Jorja Fox) investigates when her DA friend Melissa Winters (Elizabeth Mitchell) undergoes surgery to remove the bullet she received in the attack that killed her husband three years earlier. And Grissom (William L. Petersen) continues to suffer from a hereditary hearing loss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the more popular features from Roger Corman's "B"-factory Concorde/New Horizons, Carnosaur perpetuates the grand Corman tradition of zeroing in on a big-budget Hollywood studio moneymaker, then dashing off a quick-and-dirty poor man's version before moss gets a chance to grow on the larger film's concept. This bargain-basement spin on Jurassic Park was actually based on a novel by John Brosnan (under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight). It features Diane Ladd (whose daughter Laura Dern took the high road on Spielberg's film) as a kooky mad scientist whose experiments on human and dinosaur DNA result in dual disasters -- first, a rubbery midget Tyrannosaurus bred from dinosaur and chicken DNA (imagine the barbecue potential!) which escapes the lab and goes on the requisite bloody rampage; and second, a specially-engineered virus with the ability to replace human beings with dino-babies. Although this exploitation quickie doesn't waste too much time delivering the standard Corman cargo (blood and breasts), the mayhem is too often derailed by endless genetic techno-babble from Ladd, whose freaked-out performance is the film's sole plus. The downbeat ending is pure '80s, and paves the way for the inevitable sequels. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Ladd, Raphael Sbarge, (more)
- 1992
When a TV producer strikes up a romance with an old flame, a star in his new TV series, their relationship is threatened by mysteries she won't explain to him. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story, this made-for-television drama chronicles a couple's downward spiral into drug addiction. Meredith Baxter stars as Mary Ann Guard, a nurse who gets romantically involved with heroin abuser Guy Grand (Stephen Lang). Guy turns Mary Ann onto drugs and her once-stable life is suddenly out of control, with Mary Ann stealing from her hospital in order to support their habit. Her family decides to get her clean and get Guy out of her life by checking her into rehab. Mary Ann's rough road isn't over though, and she has to decide for herself which life she wants to lead. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meredith Baxter, Stephen Lang, (more)
The made-for-TV Earth Angel stars Cathy Bodewell as Angela, a prom queen who dies in 1962. Unfortunately, Angela has not always lived up to her name, and her entry into Heaven is held up indefinitely. She is given a chance to redeem herself by returning to earth in 1990, where she is to successfully complete an important mission. Thing of it is, she has no idea what her mission is-though she suspects it has something to do with romance. Clearly intended as a hybrid of Ghost and Peggy Sue Got Married, Earth Angel was first telecast March 4, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cathy Podewell, Cindy Williams, (more)
- 1999
In the second part of Friends' fifth-season finale, everyone is still in Las Vegas -- including Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), who can't leave their hotel room until the mustache Ross drew on Rachel comes off (if ever). At the casino, Monica (Courteney Cox) tells Chandler (Matthew Perry) she will accept his proposal if he rolls the dice a certain way. Elsewhere, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) gets in trouble in a variety of ways, and has a run-in with Joey's (Matt LeBlanc) "hand twin." The now-famous climax occurs at a wedding chapel, where a most unexpected turn of events bids fair to change the lives of the friends forever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
As if losing both her husband and her money isn't enough, a woman in her mid-20s also finds herself married to a 12-year-old boy (who doesn't even like her) in the comedy Holy Matrimony. Havana (Patricia Arquette) is an aspiring showgirl who is working at a sleazy carnival while she dreams of her big break. Short on cash, Havana's boyfriend Peter (Tate Donovan) comes up with a plan; while Havana flirts with her boss, Peter will swipe his keys and lift the day's take from the carnival's safe. After grabbing the cash, Havana and Peter hightail it to Canada, where Peter figures that they can hole up with his family. However, Peter didn't always lead a life of crime; he was raised in a Hutterite community, and while Peter's Uncle Wilhelm (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and younger brother Ezechiel (Joseph Gordon Levitt) are glad to see him, they don't think much of Havana, whose brassy personality convinces them that she was the one who led Peter down the wrong path. To make peace with his family, Peter marries Havana, but not long after, he dies in a car wreck. Hutterite custom demands that when a man dies, his widow is to marry his brother; the catch in this case is that Ezechiel is only 12 years old and understandably not interested in matrimony. However, Havana agrees to the marriage, largely because Ezechiel knows where Peter stashed the earnings from the robbery and Havana does not. Havana's ignorance of Hutterite traditions and lack of enthusiasm for their austere lifestyle is a matter of no small annoyance to her, but Ezechiel shrewdly uses his knowledge about Peter's hidden bankroll to persuade Havana to lead a more righteous life. Holy Matrimony was directed by Leonard Nimoy in one of his periodic breaks from acting. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (more)
- 2005
While Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is in bed with the flu, Natalie (Traylor Howard) takes it upon herself to solve the murder of a pizza deliveryman. First off, she finds that the man killed is not man she thought he was. Next, she turns burglar to harvest a few likely clues, only to discover that a sinister figure has been watching her every move. And finally, she is taken hostage by the chief suspect in the case that Monk had been working on before he fell ill. As so often happens on Monk, two seemingly unrelated homicides are inextricably linked--but Natalie may not live long enough to find this out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
In an episode blatantly inspired by current events (those of early 1991, that is), the network carrying "FYI" is taken over by a huge corporation called American Industrial Enterprises. Almost immediately, the company's barracudalike VP Barbara Boyle (Nancy Youngblut) begins imposing Draconian budget limitations on the "FYI" staffers; at one point, investigative reporter Frank [Joe Regalbuto] is forced to go undercover wearing only a ludicrous pair of "Groucho glasses" as a disguise. Finally, Murphy (Candice Bergen) decides to stage a revolt--with astonishing results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
The men of the 15th precinct come to the aid of troublesome cop Szymanski (Christopher Stanley) when his cousin is mixed up in a bar brawl that ends in tragedy. Diane (Kim Delaney) investigates when the wife (Cordelia Richards) of Capt. Bass (Larry Joshua) is the victim of a stabbing. As Bass puts pressure on Fancy (James McDaniel) to track down the perp, Diane learns that the case is not as cut-and-dried as it seem. Gay cop John Irvin (Bill Brochtrup) may be able to sell an item from his toy collection for a hefty sum. And after hours, Andy (Dennis Franz) again goes out with Cynthia (Juliana Donald), while Baldwin (Henry Simmons) and Valerie (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) embark upon a "doo-wop" date. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Two men meet in a diner on a desert highway--an uptight, reserved motorist (Lance Henriksen) and an overbearing, insistent hitchhiker (Eric Roberts). A dangerous balance results when it becomes clear that one of the two is a serial killer known in the media as "The Hatchet Man," while the other is a fugitive who has robbed a casino. With two capable actors and plenty of tension, it is slowly revealed which one is which. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Roberts, Lance Henriksen, (more)
A failed effort to revive the big-budget movie musical, Newsies attempted to create toe-tapping, song-and-dance excitement out of the true story of an 1899 strike by newspaper boys against publishing magnate Joseph Pulitzer. The "newsies" band together to protest a pay cut by Pulitzer (Robert Duvall), organizing a union to protect their rights and ensure fair wages. They are helped along the way by Medda (Ann-Margret), a local dance-hall performer who befriends the boys and provides an opportunity for an additional song or two. Director Kenny Ortega had previously choreographed Dirty Dancing, and composer Alan Menken had provided the acclaimed scores for Beauty and the Beast and Little Shop of Horrors, but their work here failed to capture the spark of their popular successes. Unable to connect with older or younger viewers, Newsies gained a reputation as a major bomb that cut short an attempt to bring back the live-action musical, though in the intervening years it has gained a small but appreciative cult. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Bale, David Moscow, (more)
- 1994
- NR
In this taut thriller, a Las Vegas taxi driver must run for his life after stealing a cool million's worth of Mafia money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Glenn, Andrew McCarthy, (more)
- 1991
When a self-involved real estate agent is given fifty hours of community service to do by a judge, he becomes the coach for a basketball team of developmentally challenged adults. In trying to teach them, he learns. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Larroquette, Kathy Baker, (more)
A woman discovers that a part of her family history may be more complicated -- and more famous -- than she ever imagined in this comedy. Thirtysomething Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston), who has spent most of her adult life in New York City, is flying home to California with her long time boyfriend, Jeff Daly (Mark Ruffalo), for the wedding of her annoyingly perky younger sister, Annie (Mena Suvari). While Sarah and Jeff have recently announced they're engaged to be married, Sarah has been having second thoughts, and she isn't excited about the prospect of spending time with the family where she's always felt like the odd duck. As Sarah tries to decide what she should do with her personal and professional lives, she turns to her sharp-tongued and still youthful grandmother, Katharine (Shirley MacLaine), for advice, and Katharine shares a little-known bit of family history -- that Sarah's now-deceased mother left her father, Earl (Richard Jenkins), a few days before their wedding and ran off with another man for several days before coming back and marrying Earl. However, after hearing this Sarah is also treated to some long-simmering local gossip about a young man who ran off with a bride-to-be after he was seduced by her mother...and that the story became the basis for the hit movie The Graduate. Sarah begins to wonder, was Katharine the real-life Mrs. Robinson of this story? And if it's true, who was the man who had affairs with Sarah's mother and grandmother? Was it dashing and wealthy family friend Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner), who has also turned Sarah's head? Rumor Has It... was produced from an original screenplay by Ted Griffin; Griffin was originally set to direct the film, but shortly after production began he was replaced, with Rob Reiner taking over the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, (more)
- 1991
Based on a true story, the made-for-television movie Runaway Father is about a husband who fakes his death so he can abandon his family. After surviving 20 years of poverty, his wife discovers he is still alive, and she sues him to collect 17 years of back child support. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Mills, Jack Scalia, (more)
Stephen King wrote his first original screenplay for this horror gore fest that features cameos by directors Clive Barker, Joe Dante, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, and King himself (playing a cemetery attendant). The story concerns a twilight people named "sleepwalkers" --creatures similar to vampires and werewolves whose faces turn animalistic whenever they are frightened or angry and who require the lifeforce of a virgin to survive. A single-parent sleepwalker family, consisting of Mary Brady (Alice Krige) and her son Charles (Brian Krause), have taken up residence in a small Indiana town. Charles has expressed a romantic interest in the attractive Tanya Robertson (Madchen Amick), a girl in his high school literature class. Mary wants Charles to lure Tanya home so that she can suck out her life force, but it appears that Charles has fallen in love with her --that is, until their first date, at a picnic at the cemetery. There Charles changes from a shy romantic suitor into a brutal and violent force, slapping Tanya around and attempting to rape her. But Tanya wards off his advances by plunging a corkscrew into his torso. Charles staggers back home to mother, where she nurses him back to health. Then Charles and his mother seek vengeance upon the Robertson family. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Mädchen Amick, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this horror sequel, the members of a female rock group set off to spend the weekend in a deserted condominium. However, when Courtney's (Crystal Bernard) dreams of a drill-wielding, murderous rock singer (Atanas Illitch) prove to be more than mere nightmares, the girls must struggle to survive their weekend getaway. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Crystal Bernard, Kimberly McArthur, (more)
