Joan Rivers

As one of the few heavyweight comedians of Vegas's "Golden Age" to topline standup routines in 21st century Glitter Gulch - a time and place that saw him still reeling in massive audiences well into his 70s and 80s - Don Rickles qualifies as a show business legend. Rickles, of course, pioneered the use of insult comedy to mercilessly rib, skewer, and cut down to size anyone who happened to fall into his line of fire, earning him the sobriquets "Mr. Warmth" and "The Merchant of Venom" and lending a whole new meaning to the term "hockey puck." This approach, which seemed unprecedented and even outrageously uncouth in the late 1950s and early 1960s, eventually won Rickles legions of fans and innumerable protégés within show business - everyone from Richard Pryor to Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman. Director John Landis (National Lampoon's Animal House, Trading Places) stands at the forefront of Rickles's fan club and created the documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project as an homage to the comic's life and career. Landis intercuts footage from the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts and Rickles's appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, with extended clips from the shtickmeister's comedy routines and on-camera interviews in which the comedian reflects at length on his approach to comedy and journey through showbusiness. Admirers, colleagues and followers of Rickles also turn up to offer their views on the comedian - including Martin Scorsese, Christopher Guest, Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, Sidney Poitier, Clint Eastwood and many others. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Get an up close look at the man behind the notorious drag queen persona with this intimate portrait of artist Kent Fuhr - who has been entertaining audiences from Los Angeles to Berlin with spitfire live performances offering a hilariously twisted slant on pop-culture. Before he dons his wig and make-up, Fuhr's life is a swirling mass of insecurities, but when the outrageous performer transforms himself into the acid-tongued Jackie Beat, all bets are off. From hilarious song parodies to verbal sparring matches with his adoring, but good humored, audience, Jackie Beat offers nothing less than pure, unadulterated, entertainment. Now fans can find out just what happens when the make-up comes off and the artist goes to work in a revealing documentary that examines two compelling personalities for the price of one. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A very special student deals with exams, first love, and national security issues in this teen-oriented romantic comedy-drama. Samantha MacKenzie (Katie Holmes) is a seemingly ordinary college freshman with one important exception -- her father happens to be the President of the United States (Michael Keaton). Samantha, however, would prefer to be as inconspicuous as possible as she begins her studies at Redmond University, so she asks a favor of her father -- remove the two Secret Service agents who follow her everywhere, and allow her to fend for herself at school. The president agrees, but out of concern for her safety, he sends in a young undercover agent, James (Marc Blucas), who will pose as the Resident Advisor at her dorm to keep an eye on her. Samantha and James strike up a fast friendship that grows into a romance, but when Samantha discovers the truth about James, she wonders if his love for her is real or just part of his cover. First Daughter was directed by actor-turned-director Forest Whitaker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is the perfect suburban housewife and mother. She likes to cook, her home is immaculately clean, she's always well-groomed and cheerful, and she loves her husband Eugene (Sam Waterston) and her two children, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). There's just one problem with Beverly -- if you do anything to make someone in her family feel bad, you're dead meat on a stick. While she does a great job of hiding it, Beverly has a vicious and vengeful streak, and when she's not making obscene prank calls to the neighbors or bribing her garbagemen to save embarrassing items from her neighbors' trash, she's mowing down whoever would be so rude as to make her husband go into his office on a Saturday, break up with her daughter, or suggest that her son watches too many horror movies. Taking John Waters back to R-rated territory after the relatively sedate Hairspray and Cry Baby, Serial Mom captures a comfortable middle ground between Hollywood professionalism and Waters' subversive sense of humor, and Kathleen Turner has a field day as the sweet-on-the-outside, evil-on-the-inside Beverly. The supporting cast includes such Waters favorites as Patty Hearst, Traci Lords, Mink Stole, and Susan Lowe; Joan Rivers and Suzanne Somers appear as themselves, and all-female grunge-metal band L7 plays the all-female grunge-metal band Camel Toe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Popular comedienne Joan Rivers and her real-life daughter Melissa portray themselves in this made-for-television movie about their family's trials and tribulations in the 1980s. After suffering through some public blows to her career, Rivers' husband Edgar (often the butt of her jokes) committed suicide. The film shows how the mother and daughter struggled to save their already troubled relationship in the wake of the devastating death. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

More than 40 high-profile women share their views about why so many men are passionate followers of pro football. Are most men just trying to relive past glory days or entertain unspoken fantasies about their own hidden male prowess? Does pro football simply offer a great way to relax? Can a woman really enjoy watching TV sports games as much as men? These are the types of questions addressed by such women as feminist Gloria Steinem and former President Clinton's press secretary Dee Dee Myers. The women's views are lighthearted at some moments and rather penetrating and insightful at others. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

Shalom Sesame: Chanukah is the sixth episode in the Muppets special edition series Shalom Sesame, an educational journey through ancient and modern Israel. Kids meet old and new Muppet friends on "Rechov Sumsum," the Israeli version of Sesame Street, including Grover, Cookie Monster, Moishe Oofnick the grouch, and Kippy ben Kipod, a large porcupine. In Shalom Sesame 6: Chanukah, the Muppets and Jeremy Miller celebrate the Festival of Lights and travel to ancient Modin, the land of the Maccabees. Alan King, Nell Carter, Joan Rivers, and Joshua Rifkind guest star. ~ Betsy Boyd, All Movie Guide

The millionaire of the title is Joan Rivers, an over-aged Beverly Hills brat whom many of the film's characters want to see dead or in rags. Armed with only her mile-a-minute mouth, Rivers fends off con men, fortune hunters, and would-be murderers--among them, possibly, her own husband (Alex Rocco). Thank heaven for her faithful household staff, headed by manic chef Mesach Taylor. The villains include Morgan Fairchild and David Ogden Stiers, for whom the audience may be rooting after fifteen minutes or so. How to Murder a Millionaire was made for TV--but not for my TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A space bum helps rescue a princess from an evil overlord with the help of a benevolent elder in this Star Wars send-up written and directed by Mel Brooks. Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog co-pilot, Barf the Mawg (John Candy), are content to scour the galaxy living the easy life. But they reluctantly come to the rescue when Druish Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) is threatened by the evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), who wants to steal all of the air from her planet, Druidia. Trapped on a harsh desert world with Vespa and her robot chaperone, Dot Matrix (voice of Joan Rivers), Lone Starr and Barf are helpless to prevent Helmet from kidnapping the girl. But assistance arrives in the form of Yogurt (Brooks), a wizard who turns Lone Starr on to a mysterious power known as The Schwartz. Catching up with Helmet just as he's transforming his spaceship into a giant vacuum cleaner in orbit around Druidia, the reluctant heroes stage a dramatic showdown. Although it borrows most of its plot from the Star Wars series, Spaceballs also pokes fun at Star Trek, Snow White, and Planet of the Apes -- as well as the entire videocassette and movie marketing industries. The large supporting cast includes Dick Van Patten, Jim J. Bullock, and the voice of Dom DeLuise. John Hurt makes a cameo in a parody of the exploding chest scene he played in Alien. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide