Bovie Movie

A perfectly ghastly entry in what was shaping up as an eagerly anticipated annual event, A&E’s end-of-Summer dramatization of a Spenser novel.

As I was initially fearful, the re-casting of Ernie Hudson was a blunder… a shaven head and a leather coat does not a “Hawk” make! The new co-henchman character of “Vinnie,” who didn’t have a line of dialogue in the entire screenplay, was infinitely more interesting. Hudson makes one long for the over-the-top version portrayed by Avery Brooks in the Robert Urich TV series and subsequent tele-flicks.

A washed-up actor finds an unlikely path back to the big screen in this offbeat family comedy. Bill Williams (Tom Arnold) is an actor whose career has gone into a severe tailspin ever since his brief fling with fame — a supporting role in the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies. Sinking into a well of alcohol and depression, Williams unsuccessfully attempts suicide before his agent (Henry Winkler) tells him he’s finally found a project for him. Aaron Roman (Eric Gores) is a teenager with cerebral palsy who loves action movies, especially True Lies. Aaron’s father, Davis Roman (Joe Mantegna), is a very wealthy man — so wealthy that, as a present for his son’s 18th birthday, he’s going to bankroll a professionally shot action movie which will star Aaron. Would Williams be willing to write and co-star in Aaron’s birthday movie? Williams isn’t so sure this is a great idea, even with a million-dollar payday, until he meets Aaron. Charmed by the kid’s pluck and determination, Williams signs on for the world’s most expensive home movie. Williams and producer Susan Mandeville (Linda Hamilton) hire Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris to helm the project, and persuade bikini model Arielle Kebbel to appear as Aaron’s love interest, but what started out as strictly a job-for-hire becomes something more as Williams and his fellow cast and crew members get to know their challenged young star. The Kid & I actually was written by co-star Tom Arnold, and Penelope Spheeris directed the film as well as playing herself. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Shaquille O’Neal also appear in cameo roles.

The crime comedy More Dogs Than Bones starts with female gangster Victoria Galetti hiding one million dollars in cash in the bags of Raj Lukla — a foreigner flying into town in order to visit his nephew Andy. Victoria’s underlings are assigned to retrieve the cash, but learn that the task is far more complicated than they expected after Andy’s dog discovers the money first.

After a break of more than 15 years, director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo returned to the well for this third and final story of the fictional Corleone crime family. Two decades have passed, and crime kingpin Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), now divorced from his wife Kay (Diane Keaton), has nearly succeeded in keeping his promise that his family would one day be “completely legitimate.” A philanthropist devoted to public service, Michael is in the news as the recipient of a special award from the Pope for his good works, a controversial move given his checkered past. Determined to buy redemption, Michael and his lawyer B.J. (George Hamilton) are working on a complicated but legal deal to bail the Vatican out of looming financial troubles that will ultimately reap billions and put Michael on the world stage as a major financial player. However, trouble looms in several forms: The press is hostile to his intentions. Michael is in failing health and suffers a mild diabetic stroke. Stylish mob underling Joey Zaza (Joe Mantegna) is muscling into the Corleone turf. “The Commission” of Mafia families, represented by patriarch Altobello (Eli Wallach) doesn’t want to let their cash cow Corleone out of the Mafia, though he has made a generous financial offer in exchange for his release from la cosa nostra. And then there’s Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), the illegitimate and equally temperamental son of Michael’s long-dead brother Sonny. Vincent desperately wants in to the family (both literally and figuratively), and at the urging of his sister Connie (Talia Shire), Michael welcomes the young man and allows him to adopt the Corleone name. However, a flirtatious attraction between Vincent and his cousin, Michael’s na?ve daughter Mary (Sofia Coppola) develops, and threatens to develop into a full-fledged romance and undo the godfather’s future plans.

Directed by Reverge Anselmo, Stateside revolves around the unique love story of two very different teens — namely, the rich but lonely Mark Deloach (Jonathan Tucker) and Dori Lawrence (Rachael Leigh Cook), a schizophrenic singer and actress — whose lives spiral out of control in separate but nonetheless connective ways. After Mark’s prank on a local girl (Agnes Bruckner) results in a deadly drunk-driving accident, and Dori’s mental health continues to deteriorate, Mark is forcibly sent to the Marines as Dori is admitted into a mental hospital. Despite the state of havoc in their lives, however, Dori and Mark are drawn to each other — it would appear that their mutual need for love and some semblance of understanding has bonded them more tightly together than all of their more traditional relationships combined. Of course, those very relationships are insisting the young couple stay as far apart as possible; Mrs. Hagen (Diane Venora), head of Dori’s halfway house, is particularly insistent. When Mark is deployed to a combat unit overseas, it looks as though Mrs. Hagen’s wishes have been granted. Unable to forget each other, Mark and Dori do their best to heal one another in spite of the distance between them. Stateside features supporting performances from Ed Begley Jr., Carrie Fisher, Val Kilmer, and Joe Mantegna

John Hughes sticks to his seemingly fool-proof formula for success in Baby’s Day Out, a cross-pollination of Home Alone and a Swee’ Pea cartoon. The plot seems all-too familiar: posing as baby photographers, a group of three would-be kidnappers (led by the usually outstanding character actor Joe Pantoliano) enter an unsuspecting wealthy Chicago couple’s home and make off with Baby Bink after leaving a ransom note. However, while waiting for the delivery of the ransom money, Baby Bink manages to escape and subsequently embarks on a series of cutesy-poo adventures in downtown Chicago (including a crawl through a skyscraper construction site), leaving the hapless crooks in hot pursuit.

Two recent college graduates hatch an ingenuous scheme to increase their income while having a bit of naughty fun on the side in this sexy comedy that proves just how wild lonely housewives can be when left unattended. For Spence and Hogan, the carefree days of college come crashing to an end when they are forced to go to work for a group of heartless divorce lawyers who seem to take great joy in tormenting the dejected young slackers. Subsequently presented the opportunity to start a club in which older women can discreetly experience the joys of being with a younger man, these two put-upon legal workers set about rounding up a group of their most libidinous young men to launch a successful start-up business that thrives on pleasure. Faye Dunaway, Carrie Fisher, Izabella Scorupco, and Joanie Lauer star in a scorching age-disparity comedy from cinematographer and special effects artist-turned-director Christopher Duddy.

A man in a suit at a Manhattan firm leaves work on Friday; he looks unhappy. He stops at a fortune teller’s for a Tarot reading: “You are not where you belong,” she tells him. That evening he quits his marriage and walks the streets of New York, passing from a classy bar to a gentleman’s club, then to a high-class bordello, a mugging, a pawnshop, and a diner where someone does listen. He shares his insights with her and later with others. Violence, disappointment, and musings entwine as Edmond loses his moorings while believing he’s found them. Where does he belong?

They’ve kept television viewers laughing for nearly 20 years, and now the most popular animated family on the small screen makes the leap into theaters as Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart, ad Maggie embark on their first-ever feature-length adventure. Directed by David Silverman and written by a whole host of Simpsons veterans including Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, The Simpsons Movie also features special guest appearances by Albert Brooks among others.

A young couple sinks their life savings into a house that was trashed by a rock group to the extent that it no longer has a main stairway or water. This creates strains on their relationship. Every home owner will recognize some of the situations they encounter.