Category: 1990s

In this made for television movie, Kellie Martin wants to be rich and popular like Tori Spelling, trying her darnedest to make it happen. Unfortunately Tori is kind of awful so it’s not a surprise that she is the cheerleader in the title. It’s the best quality you can expect from a TV movie based on a true story, which makes it trashy but entertaining. Oddly they made the murderer the most sympathetic character and the victim someone you’d hate. There’s also the added 1990s moral panic that the girl who dresses in black is bullied and also considered the prime suspect.

I really enjoy the portrayal of the mind-numbingness of office drudgery at a credit company and the bonding between the four female temps who find themselves working there. It’s filled with 1990s indie flair. Parker Posey, Toni Collette, Lisa Kudrow, and Alanna Ubach are perfect in each of their roles inside this quartet. There is a realness to the two aspects of the story, especially that it doesn’t shirk from also portraying the cruelty that can creep up in office culture and female relationships.

I went into this with fair warning, but it’s sad with the cast it has, that this film about the behind the scene antics at a daytime soap opera is not good. Sally Field is the aging actor worried about keeping her job, while producer Robert Downey Jr. and his girlfriend Cathy Moriarty connive to get her kicked off the show. The whole thing is way over the top, particularly the writing, acting, neon sets, and everything. Whoopi Goldberg has the only bit of sanity in the whole production and remains its bright spot.

I’m pretty sure I watched this before if only because the personality quirk of being into building Civil War battlefield models seemed familiar and unique. It’s a fairly middling thriller with Wesley Snipes as a Washington DC detective paired with Diane Lane’s Secret Service agent to solve the murder of a White House staffer. It’s entertaining enough and has a cast that includes Alan Alda, Dennis Miller, and Tate Donovan, but it’s not particularly memorable or ground breaking. The twists and turns are fairly expected, it’s just a matter of watching them play out.

I’ve owned and enjoyed the soundtrack for this film for more than twenty-five years. It’s disappointing how bad this film is in comparison. I might have even watched this a number of years ago but made myself forever almost every thing about it. It’s another Bonnie and Clyde rehash that were so popular in the 1990s, this one starring Gil Bellows and Renée Zellweger. It’s very dumb with completely useless antagonists; there are dozens of similar films that are better in quality and entertainment value. The really sad thing is the opening scene sets up a lot of promise. It should have just ended it at that scene.

When I started this, I thought it was a TV movie, but then various language choices cast doubt in my mind. After watching the whole thing, I’m still not sure. Brad Pitt and Ricky Schroder are brothers who live in a trailer with their mother Carrie Snodgress. Whomever cast the family did a great job, since they look believably related. Brad is a straight A student hoping for a track scholarship to Stanford; Ricky is a delinquent just released from detention. There’s some thought that the roles should have been reversed, but I think it wouldn’t have mattered since Pitt obviously has the greater charm and star power. From beginning to end, it plays off like an afterschool special with extreme character changes and over the top villains that are only seen on TV.