Norma Rae
from 20th Century Fox
Veteran director Martin Ritt (Sounder) directed this earnest and very popular tale of a naive textile worker, widow, and mother in the U.S. South who becomes empowered by standing up for her rights in the workplace. Sally Field stars in the Oscar-winning title role as a woman who has been content to go along with the status quo until she realizes that she is entitled to more and can succeed if she stands up for herself. Her fight to improve deplorable working conditions at the textile plant causes a rift between her and the people closest to her, but her determination brings a new awareness to her and to all the women with whom she works. Ritt's typical, socially conscious story uses the politics of Norma Rae's struggle and also its emotions to build the film to a rousing climax. --Robert Lane
In an Oscar-winning performance, Sally Field is unforgettable as Norma Rae, the Southern millworker who revolutionizes a small town and discovers a power in herself she never had. Under the guidance of a New York unionizer (Ron Leibman) and with increasing courage and determination, Norma Rae organizes her fellow factory workers to fight for better conditions and wages. Based on a true story, Norma Rae is the mesmerizing tale of a modern day heroine. Beau Bridges co-stars.
Back to the Beach
by Lyndall Hobbs
from Paramount
Is Back to the Beach a masterpiece of postmodernism? Or just a slaphappy hoot? Hey, why can't it be both? Either way, this is a zippy tribute to/spoof of the 1960s Beach Party pictures. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, landlocked in the Midwest since their surfing days, return to the California sun with their wild kids. There are mucho gags about the earlier films (including Frankie on a surfboard in front of a cheesy rear-projection wave), and cameos (much of the Leave It to Beaver cast, surf-guitar king Dick Dale). Pee-wee Herman sails in to perform "Surfin' Bird," and Annette teaches a thousand people "The Jamaican Ska." All that's missing is Erich von Zipper. This is a genuinely smart and funny movie, although it helps to know the original films, so you can savor the moment a beach boy gazes at Annette and marvels, "After all that surfing, her hair's perfectly dry!" --Robert Horton
Critters 3 - You Are What They Eat
by Kristine Peterson
from New Line Home Video
Flesh-starved furballs invade an L.A.
Making Love
by Arthur Hiller
from 20th Century Fox
The studio marketed Making Love as "one of the most honest and controversial films we have ever released," adding that "it may be too strong for some people." That was then, and what once seemed shocking now seems tame. Still, it's hard to imagine the more sexually explicit Brokeback Mountain without it. On the surface, Beverly Hills physician Zack (Michael Ontkean, Twin Peaks) and his TV producer wife, Claire (Kate Jackson, Charlie's Angels), are the ideal couple. A smartly-dressed Gilbert and Sullivan fan, Zack appears to have little in common with denim-clad, openly-gay novelist Bart (Harry Hamlin, L.A. Law). They meet when Bart makes an appointment for a check-up, and the two hit it off. Turns out they share a love of "corny old movies." Afterwards, Zack can't stop thinking about his vain, if affectionate patient. Lunch leads to dinner, which leads to physical intimacy (sex is suggested rather than shown). Zack is falling in love, but Bart has no interest in commitment, and Claire suspects another woman. Making Love is narrated by Claire and Bart, who speak directly to the camera. It's unclear whether Arthur Hiller, best known for Love Story, is going for documentary-style realism or foreign film-style sophistication, but the technique does differentiate Making Love from your average soap opera (story credit goes to Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. Scott Berg). Though Hamlin has maintained the highest profile since, it's the sensitive performances of Ontkean and Jackson that anchor this no longer groundbreaking, but still relevant romantic drama. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
What would you do if your husband fell in love - with another man? "Making Love" is about Zack (Michael Ontkean) and Claire (Kate Jackson) - two attractive, successful and playful affectionate partners who share the perfect marriage. He's a medic. She's a TV exec. And they're about to buy an absolutely gorgeous Beverly Hills home. Enter Bart (Harry Hamlin). He's a gay writer whose striking good looks pepper his social life with enough one-night stands so that he easily avoids commitment. When they first meet, Zack is merely curious. Gradually, he decides to take the plunge. Less about homosexuality than self-discovery, "Making Love" tackles the fundamentals of life - pain, loss, recovery - with astonishing sincerity and candor. Some critical scenes - such as when Zack tells Claire what's really happening to their marriage - are handled with a sensitivity rarely found in American movies. Highlighted by touching performances, "Making Love" really probes the depths of passion - in all of us.