Bill Raymond Movies
- 1949
Henry Devere Stacpoole's lyrical novel The Blue Lagoon was rather chastely filmed in 1921. The 1949 remake is a tad more explicit, though it's hardly as racy as the 1980 Brooke Shields version. Two British children, Emmeline (Susan Stranks) and Michael (Peter Jones), are shipwrecked on a tropical island in the company of kindly old salt Paddy Button (Noel Purcell). Eventually, Paddy dies, leaving Emmeline and Michael, now attractively grown up and played by Jean Simmons and Donald Houston, all alone. Their relationship, more along the lines of brother and sister in their youth, blossoms into love, and then passion. Emmeline has a baby, and the two live as common-law husband and wife, content in their solitude..until.. Filmed in lush Technicolor, The Blue Lagoon was considered fairly exotic and somewhat risque back in 1949, though by current standards the film is a model of decorum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Simmons, Susan Stranks, (more)
- 1954
The comfortable complacency of the British Birling family is upset when Inspector Poole (Alastair Sim) comes calling. An impoverished young working girl named Eva Smith (Jane Wenham) has committed suicide, and Poole hopes that the Birlings will help him find out why. As the evening progresses, a series of flashbacks reveal that each member of the Birling family has in some small way been responsible for Eva's demise. A twist ending adds a mystical, thought-provoking touch to the proceedings. Bryan Forbes, who plays the Birling son, matriculated into the noted director of such films as The L-Shaped Room, King Rat and The Whisperers. An Inspector Calls was based on a play by J.B. Priestley, which recently scored a huge hit when it was revived in London and New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Arthur Young, (more)
- 1977
- R
In this violent drama a pair of thugs become professional killers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
When two convicts are released from prison, they are intent upon revenge. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Not to be confused with the 1986 TV miniseries of the same name, Strong Medicine is the bizarre tale of a bizarre young woman, played bizarrely by Kate Manheim. Shunted aside by society in general, she loses all touch with reality. It helps not at all that she comes in contact with several equally "lost" souls. For an avant-garde exercise, Strong Medicine has a remarkably high-profile cast; it also features Raul Julia and My Dinner With Andre's Wallace Shawn. Filmed in 1979, Strong Medicine lay on the shelf unreleased for nearly six years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Manheim
Writer/director John Sayles' dramatization of the most infamous episode in professional sports -- the fix of the 1919 World Series -- is considered by many to be among his best films and arguably the best baseball movie ever made. This adaptation of Eliot Asinof's definitive study of the scandal shows how athletes of another era were a different breed from the well-paid stars of later years. The Chicago White Sox owner, Charlie Comiskey (Clifton James), is portrayed as a skinflint with little inclination to reward his team for their spectacular season. When a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner) gets wind of the players' discontent, it offers a select group of stars -- including pitcher Eddie Cicotte (Sayles regular David Strathairn), infielder Buck Weaver (John Cusack), and outfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (D. B. Sweeney) -- more money to play badly than they would have earned to try to win the Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Sayles cast the story with actors who look and perform like real jocks, and added a colorful supporting cast that includes Studs Terkel as reporter Hugh Fullerton and Sayles himself as Ring Lardner. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Clifton James, (more)
This made-for-TV film was originally titled simply Clinton & Nadine when it made its debut on May 28, 1988. Andy Garcia plays Clinton, who is eager to find his brother's murderer. To do so, he enlists the aid of Nadine (Ellen Barkin), a high-priced call girl. Clinton and Nadine get sucked into a plot to smuggle guns to the Contra forces in Nicaragua. The credited screenwriter for the film, Willard Walpole, was actually Robert Foster, who wasn't happy with the film and insisted his real name be removed from the credits. Clinton & Nadine was produced for the HBO cable service. The film is unrated, but contains heavy doses of violence and sexual suggestiveness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Andy Garcia, Ellen Barkin, (more)
This teen comedy from Savage Steve Holland stars Corey Parker as an underachieving high schooler who hatches a crazy plot with valedictorian Lara Flynn Boyle to gain acceptance into a prestigious university. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Edwards, Corey Parker, (more)
- 1989
- R
Loosely based on the novel by Alberto Moravia, Me and Him concerns an architect (Griffin Dunne) whose penis begins giving him advice on business and love. It urges him to leave his wife and seduce a series of co-workers and acquaintances. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Griffin Dunne, Ellen Greene, (more)
Bill Murray co-directed (along with Howard Franklin) this mixture of The Out-of-Towners and After Hours, concerning Grimm (Bill Murray), a frustrated city planner who is fed up with the corruption and venality of New York City. Getting together a couple of accomplices -- Phyllis (Geena Davis), who admires Grimm for his audacity, and Loomis (Randy Quaid), a follower to Grimm's leader since grade school -- Grimm decides to rob a bank, pocket the money, get out of town and take off to tropical splendor. Dressing in a clown suit, Grimm devises a unique way to rob a bank -- taking a group of hostages at the bank and inviting the police to surround the bank. Amazingly, although pursued by a police chief (Jason Robards), the trio manage to pull off the robbery. However, the problems really start when they try to get from the bank to the airport -- which proves to be more difficult than the robbery. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Geena Davis, (more)
This made-for-TV mini-series from the notorious horror writer centers upon a hapless old janitor who begins undergoing incredible physical changes after he is accidentally covered with experimental chemicals following a laboratory mishap. Now the government will stop at nothing to get him back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Szarabajka
- 1991
- R
Charles Lane directed Andy Breckman's script, based on an old "Saturday Night Live" sketch of Breckman's that featured Eddie Murphy. Comic Lenny Henry takes Murphy's place in True Identity as a black man forced to don white face in order to save his life. Henry plays Miles Pope, an agreeable British actor whose luck sours when he finds out that businessman Leland Carver (Frank Langella) is actually a notorious underworld mobster. Carver now wants to rub Miles out and the only way that Miles can escape Carver's retribution is to disguise himself as a man named Frank LaMotta, the Italian-American killer that Carver has hired to kill him. During the story, Miles finds that he has to assume a variety of roles to keep from getting shot --a gay real estate agent, a British lord, James Brown's brother Val, and even Othello. But the biggest shock for Miles comes when he plays the white man and discovers that he is given preferential treatment --not only by whites, but also by blacks and Hispanics. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lenny Henry, Frank Langella, (more)
- 1991
- R
A city pulses with racial problems, political corruption, and small-time crime in this ambitious microcosm of urban life, written and directed by John Sayles. Nick Rinaldi (Vincent Spano), a lost soul usually high on drink and drugs, has spent his life in one New Jersey city, getting free rides from his connected father (Tony LoBianco) and hearing the locals talk of his brother's death in Vietnam. Searching for more control, Nick quits the cushy contractor's job provided by his Dad, feeling that major events are about to happen to him. That feeling proves accurate -- by film's end his life will change, as will the lives of many others. Nick is only the center of the movie's sprawling collection of people and plotlines; Sayles takes full advantage of this expansive landscape, as he often begins shooting one conversation, only to pull back and eavesdrop on another, in one smooth, intriguing shot. By listening in, we slowly learn about the citizens and their dilemmas, as the city's woes bubble to a narrative climax. Many of Sayles' regular players are on-screen (the movie features 52 roles), including Joe Morton as a frustrated councilman and David Strathairn as a disturbed street person. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Spano, Joe Morton, (more)
Liebestraum is a moody, stylish suspense thriller written and directed by British director Mike Figgis. Nick (Kevin Anderson) is an architectural writer who goes home to be with his dying mother, Mrs. Anderssen (Kim Novak) from whom he was separated as a baby. There he meets an old friend and has an affair with the friend's wife, who was herself adopted after her mother went insane. Through a series of coincidences and a good deal of investigation Nick learns some terrible truths concerning everyone. The film, while beautiful to look at, and with a wonderful score composed by Figgis, is more interested in style and emotion rather than cogent explanations for the actions of the characters, however, taken for what it is, a mood piece, Liebestraum succeeds beautifully. Figgis has beautiful technique and is greatly aided by Juan Ruiz-Anchia's stark and evocative images. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Anderson, Pam Gidley, (more)
Stacy Cochran's debut film is a black comedy about a yuppie couple (Diane Lane and Stephen Collins) whose lives are turned upside down by the purchase of a .38 revolver. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, James LeGros, (more)
- 1992
The body of an unidentified teenaged girl is found floating in the river. The investigation conducted by Logan (Chris Noth) and Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) leads to several illegal sweatshops operating in New York, and an insidious racket which makes virtual slaves out of immigrant teens. In order to bring the villains to justice, Assistant D.A. Stone (Michael Moriarty) exhumes a century-old case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Caroline and Lloyd (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) are a married couple constantly at each other's throats, masters at crafting acid-tongued barbs at the other's expense. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop -- not even at gunpoint. Such is the premise of the acerbic comedy The Ref, which shows what happens when this quarrelsome duo is taken hostage. The gunman is Gus (Denis Leary), a thief on the run from the police, who kidnaps the couple as an insurance policy, planning to use their home as a hideout. But their incessant bickering proves more than Gus bargained for, forcing him -- for the sake of his own sanity -- into the unenviable role of peacemaker. To make things even worse for Gus, he discovers that he has taken the couple hostage the night of their big Christmas party, and the guests are already on the way. Not wanting to leave Lloyd and Caroline unattended, Gus opts to attend the party, pretending to be the couple's marriage counselor. This naturally leads to a series of comic confusions, as the hostage crisis and marital tensions head towards their inevitable conclusion. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Leary, Judy Davis, (more)
Jay Craven and Don Bredes adapted Howard Frank Mosher's novel about a 1920s Vermont logger who is being pressured to sell his land to a power company so the region can enjoy its first hydroelectric dam. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rip Torn, Tantoo Cardinal, (more)
Based on the graphic novel by James O'Barr, this fantasy follows Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), a rock musician who is murdered along with his fiancée Shelly (Sofia Shinas) by a group of marauding thugs who terrorize the decaying city in which they live. One year to the day after his death (which happens to be Devil's Night), a mystical crow appears at Eric's grave; Eric rises from the dead and, with the bird as his guide, goes on a mission to avenge himself against Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the leader of the gang who killed him. Star Brandon Lee was killed while filming a scene in which he was shot with a shell from an improperly cleaned gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks. Like his father, martial arts superstar Bruce Lee, Brandon was fated to enjoy his greatest popular success after his premature death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, (more)
An intense film about time travel, this sci-fi entry was directed by Terry Gilliam, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. The film stars Bruce Willis as James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035 who can earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague. The virus has wiped out most of the Earth's population and the remainder live underground because the air is poisonous. Returning to the year 1990, six years before the start of the plague, Cole is soon imprisoned in a psychiatric facility because his warnings sound like mad ravings. There he meets a scientist named Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the mad son of an eminent virologist (Christopher Plummer). Cole is returned by the authorities to the year 2035, and finally ends up at his intended destination in 1996. He kidnaps Dr. Railly in order to enlist her help in his quest. Cole discovers graffiti by an apparent animal rights group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, but as he delves into the mystery, he hears voices, loses his bearings, and doubts his own sanity. He must figure out if Goines, who seems to be a raving lunatic, holds the key to the puzzle. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, (more)
- 1995
Detective Logan (Chris Noth) is forced to reveal some painful, and long-suppressed, childhood memories when a longtime friend of his commits suicide. It is possible that the victim took his own life as the result of a chance meeting with former priest Father Joe Krolinsky (Bill Raymond). As the investigation proceeds, the ugly spectre of pedophilia looms large over the proceedings -- and over Logan's own childhood experiences. This episode was directed by Dann Florek, who also briefly reprises his old Law & Order role as police captain Don Cragen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Writer-director Jon Resnik's debut feature film is set in a small, secluded New England town in which seemingly everyone is obsessed with a beautiful young woman named Rachel (Arija Bareikas). There are three separate episodes, the first involving an over-the-hill boxer, The Champ (Adrian Pasdar), who is smitten with Rachel, though she does not return his affections. The second segments centers on another Rachel admirer, Bucyrus (George Dickerson). To Bucyrus, Rachel is the reincarnation of his wife, whose violent death drove him insane and into the mental hospital. The final part of the film centers on a lesbian minister who is plotting with a local shopkeeper to get revenge on the townspeople who hounded her out of the ministry. They plan to use Rachel as part of a plot to expose the hypocrisy of the citizenry. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Twenty-five years after the cult-television hit "The Junior Defenders" was abruptly cancelled, the washed-up former child stars who played adolescent superheroes in the series are kidnapped by an obsessive fan and forced at gunpoint to act in a brand new episode. Back in 1978, "The Junior Defenders" beat out such small screen hits as Happy Days and All In the Family in the ratings to become a nationwide phenomenon. Then, seemingly out of the blue, ABS suddenly cancelled the series. The fans, a young Norman Nields included, were devastated. Twenty-five years later, Norman (Fred Hazelton) continues to fume about the cancellation - until one day when he hatches a crazed plan to get "The Junior Defenders" back on the air. After stealing a Winnebago, Norman sets set out on the freeway in a cross-country race to collect the four stars of the series and hijack a Hollywood soundstage in order to shoot a brand new episode of "The Junior Defenders" that he hopes will prove effective in launching a revival of the series. As the media catches wind of the scheme, the former child stars are thrilled to learn that they have achieved folk-hero status among fans who can't wait to see the spandex-clad crime-fighters back in action. Ally Sheedy, Brian O'Halloran, Justin Henry, and Jason David Frank star in a wild story of obsessive fandom featuring special appearances by Kevin Smith, Pauly Shore, and Bill Raymond, and narration by independent film legend John Waters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Waters, Ally Sheedy, (more)
Jay Craven directed this post-WWII period drama adapted from a fact-based novel by Howard Frank Mosher. During the '50s, the service record of former Army chaplain Walter Andrews (Ernie Hudson) makes such an impression that he's hired over the telephone to serve as minister at a small town in rural Vermont. Only when Andrews arrives to begin work do the townspeople realize he's black. Despite some hostility from certain locals, he's accepted into the community. However, when young Claire LaRivierre (Jordan Bayne), is found murdered in the forest nearby, Andrews becomes the leading suspect because he gave her shelter. Contrasting accounts of Claire's final hours are revealed in the courtroom. Shown at the 1998 Hollywood Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Lansbury, Ernie Hudson, (more)
- 2000
A college coed who has been moonlighting as a stripper is found murdered. The detectives collar a pair of punkish drug dealers, who insist that the owner of the club where the dead girl worked ordered the killing. All of this somehow links up with a former porn star, a high-profile business executive, and an illegal insider-trading scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
