Underwood, Jay

Uncle Buck

John Candy has one of his finest opportunities in this film by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) about a perpetual screw-up (Candy) who gets his act together enough to watch over his brother's kids effectively. The late actor scores big points resurrecting elements of his more decadent persona from SCTV days, but he also has some persuasively touching, sentimental moments. Hughes's direction is not as focused as it was only a few years before, but there's no mistaking his touch. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, production notes, biographies, Dolby sound, optional Spanish and French soundtracks. --Tom Keogh

John Candy stars in this John Hughes comedy as an idle good-natured bachelor who is left in charge of his nephew and nieces during a family crisis. Unaccustomed to suburban life fun-loving Uncle Buck soon charms his younger relatives Miles and Maizy with his hefty cooking and his new way of doing the laundry. But his carefree style doesnt impress everyone including Tia (Jean Kelly) his rebellious teenage niece and Chanice (Amy Madigan) his impatient girlfriend. Uncle Buck is the last person you would think of to watch the kids. But with a little luck and a lot of love he manages to surprise everyone in this heartwarming family comedy. System Requirements:Starring: John Candy Jean Kelly Gaby Hoffmann Macaulay Culkin and Amy Madigan Director: John Hughes Produced by John Hughes & Tom Jacobson; written by John Hughes; running time of 100 minutes; Closed Captioned. Copyright: 1989 Universal Pictures Cast/Crew Bios Film Highlights Interactive Menus Production Notes Widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio Anamorphic Widescreen Subtitles: Spanish Track Info: English: Dolby Digital Surround French: Dolby Digital Surround Spanish: Dolby Digital SurroundFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 025192031724 Manufacturer No: 61020317

The Boy Who Could Fly

Saddened by the untimely death of their father and husband, a family moves to a new town and confronts the usual--bullies, demanding new job--and the unusual: an autistic neighbor boy who believes he can fly. Bonnie Bedelia is the stressed-out mom, and Bedelia-look-alike Lucy Deakins plays the perceptive daughter who braves ridicule to reach out to the boy under the tutelage of wise teacher Colleen Dewhurst. This earnest film's melancholy is tempered by its fantastical ending and the fun of seeing a pre-Wonder Years Fred Savage as the soldier-obsessed little brother, not to mention one of the future denizens of Beverly Hills 90210 (Jason Priestley). Parents may wax nostalgic over early '80s fashions and may take delight in appearances by Mr. Munster (Fred Gwynne) as an alcoholic with self-knowledge, Facts of Life gal Mindy Cohn as a chatty neighbor, and Louise Fletcher playing a kindly psychologist. Slow pacing and heavy dollops of tragedy make this most appropriate for ages 8 and up. --Kimberly Heinrichs

A poignant, uplifting fable about a young girl and her relationship with a mute boy who dreams of flying. Together they learn if you wish hard enough, anything is possible.Year: 1986Director: Nick CastleStarring: Lucy Deakins, Jay Underwood, Bonnie Bedelia, Fred Savage

Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! (Widescreen Edition)

To improve their client's tarnished image, the managers of movie heartthrob Tad Hamilton (TV star Josh Duhamel) trump up a contest in which an innnocent middle-American girl will win a date with the hunk. A West Virginia grocery clerk named Rosalee (Kate Bosworth, Blue Crush) wins, much to the dismay of her friend Pete (Topher Grace, Traffic), who's secretly in love with her. A summary of the romantic triangle that follows won't capture the charm of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!. Though formulaic in structure, the movie is constantly surprising and engaging in its details. All romantic comedies should have such a smart script, understated but spot-on acting (Grace, Bosworth, and Duhamel are delightful and given excellent comic support from Nathan Lane, Sean Hayes, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Gary Cole), and clean, clear direction (from the director of Legally Blonde, another formulaic but irrepressibly fun movie). --Bret Fetzer

Imagine meeting your favorite big-screen idol and he winds up idolizing you! That's what happens to Rosalee (Kate Bosworth, Blue Crush), a star-struck small-town girl, who wins a date with handsome Hollywood hunk Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel, TV's Las Vegas). And while it may be Rosalee's dream-come-true, it means complete chaos for her best friend, Pete (Topher Grace, TV's That `70s Show). He's the boy back home who's deeply, hopelessly - and secretly -in love with her, too.

A Reason to Believe

Billy Graham Presents - Road to Redemption

Christian comedy Road to Redemption has a lot going for it, including a cute concept, sharp comic direction, and a winning cast bound to give the film crossover appeal to secular audiences. A financially strapped couple, Amanda (Julie Condra) and Alan (Jay Underwood), "borrow" $250,000 from Amanda's mobster boss, Santoro (Leo Rossi), and bet it all on a racehorse that doesn't come through. Terrified of Santoro's wrath, Amanda goes in search of her wealthy grandfather, Nathan (Pat Hingle), who is in ill health but agrees to give her the money if she'll go fishing with him in Montana--more than a thousand miles away. Meanwhile, Alan is forced by Santoro to accompany an enforcer, Vincent (Tony Longo), and a tracker (Wes Studi) to catch up with Amanda and get the cash. The latter situation yields a lot of laughs, especially through feckless Alan's unlikely friendship with Vincent, with whom he bonds over eight-track recordings of David Cassidy's greatest hits. Amanda and Nathan are also funny together but have many poignant experiences as well, including Nathan's gentle explanations about the comfort he takes in his relationship with God. Writer-director Robert Vernon makes it all crackling entertainment with a real heart. --Tom Keogh

A young couple struggling with their finances is looking for a way to make quick money. Amanda's boss is involved in the mob, and she finds a stash of money and a list of rigged winners for an upcoming horse race. She and her boyfriend Alan decide to take a chance and "borrow" the money, bet on a winning horse, and get out of debt. Her plan goes awry and the mob goes after them. She has no choice but to ask her estranged, wealthy grandfather for help. She embarks on a cross country trip to visit her grandfather, and unsuspectingly, finds herself on a spiritual journey as well.

Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! (Full Screen Edition)

To improve their client's tarnished image, the managers of movie heartthrob Tad Hamilton (TV star Josh Duhamel) trump up a contest in which an innnocent middle-American girl will win a date with the hunk. A West Virginia grocery clerk named Rosalee (Kate Bosworth, Blue Crush) wins, much to the dismay of her friend Pete (Topher Grace, Traffic), who's secretly in love with her. A summary of the romantic triangle that follows won't capture the charm of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!. Though formulaic in structure, the movie is constantly surprising and engaging in its details. All romantic comedies should have such a smart script, understated but spot-on acting (Grace, Bosworth, and Duhamel are delightful and given excellent comic support from Nathan Lane, Sean Hayes, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Gary Cole), and clean, clear direction (from the director of Legally Blonde, another formulaic but irrepressibly fun movie). --Bret Fetzer

Imagine meeting your favorite big-screen idol and he winds up idolizing you! That's what happens to Rosalee (Kate Bosworth, Blue Crush), a star-struck small-town girl, who wins a date with handsome Hollywood hunk Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel, TV's Las Vegas). And while it may be Rosalee's dream-come-true, it means complete chaos for her best friend, Pete (Topher Grace, TV's That `70s Show). He's the boy back home who's deeply, hopelessly - and secretly -in love with her, too.

Desert Bloom

A quartet of fine performances support this bittersweet story about coming of age in the shadow of the atomic bomb. Rose Chismore (Annabeth Gish, in her movie debut) is a shy girl measuring out her teenage days in Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1950. Both Rose and Las Vegas are on the cusp of change--the girl is experiencing the first awkward pangs of maturity thanks to a local boy, while the town is suddenly abuzz with scientists en route to the nuclear testing facilities at nearby White Sands and Alamogordo. But at Rose's home, life is at a standstill. Her stepfather (Jon Voight) is a traumatized World War II vet whose drinking and nightmares are leading to physical abuse, and her mother (JoBeth Williams) labors under a gambling addiction that threatens to tear down her sunny veneer. Rose finds herself sitting at both a physical and emotional ground zero. All that's needed is a spark to set off an explosion--which comes in the curvy form of Aunt Starr (Ellen Barkin), a brassy former beauty queen who's come for a quickie divorce and, hopefully, a new husband, just in time for the first A-bomb test. Desert Bloom is a gently moving film about growth, change, and maturity, for better and worse. It's buoyed by the strength of its leads; Gish, in particular, is a revelation. A fine sleeper for the whole family, with only a smattering of language and violence. Corr later wrote the similarly unsung Prefontaine. --Paul Gaita

Dancing in September

A major TV network looking for a way into the hot urban market hires their first black executive. For George it's a great opportunity to prove he's got what it takes. George brings in Tomasina a writer with vision and she in turn brings him a hit new comedy series. Together they manage as their young star says to "Keep It Real" and they soon find the excitement of working together pays off in the boardroom and the bedroom. But when the ratings begin to slip so does their relationship and the distance between keeping it real and selling out gets shorter and shorter.Running Time: 106 min.System Requirements: Running Tiem 106 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 026359177828

Afterglow

Nick Nolte Julie Christie Lara Flynn Boyle and Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller star in director Alan Rudolph's wry romance about a handyman who wreaks havoc and builds romance in two marriages. Desperate to have a baby Marianne hires Lucky Mann to remodel a nursery. There's just one problem: Marianne's not pregnant and her husband isn't interested in sex. So what's a handyman to do? Intimate intelligent reckless and romantic "you'll delight in this one and you'll leave in an AFTERGLOW of pleasure!" Gene Shalit Today NBC-TVSystem Requirements:Running Time: 119 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: R UPC: 043396085602 Manufacturer No: 08560

Right from the start there's a wink in Alan Rudolph's dry comedy of sad characters. This film, touted for its Oscar-nominated performance by Julie Christie, is a solid entry for fans of Rudolph's Choose Me and Love at Large. First we meet the amorous Mr. Fix-it, aptly named Lucky Mann (Nick Nolte). Lucky is a big teddy bear who finds joy in construction and womanizing. Nearly every sentence is a smooth entendre or a typical Rudolph witticism. This arrangement seems to be fine with his longtime wife Phyllis (Christie), an ex-B-movie actress who acts as if much of her life is still a bad movie. Lucky's latest client is a young housewife (Lara Flynn Boyle) who also has a muddle of a marriage: Marianne swoons for Lucky's attention, because her husband, Jeffrey (Jonny Lee Miller), has energy for his high-rise business career but little else. Soon Jeffrey espies sad and stunning Phyllis and is on the prowl, unaware that she is Lucky's wife.

Many filmmakers have made statements about the rarity of monogamy but Rudolph is one of the few who finds so much strength in fooling around. He has deep, long answers to why his characters are the way there are, and this leads to scenes that actors relish, even if they don't ring true. Certainly Christie has not had a part this juicy in years, and Nolte, warm and energetic, simply shines. Miller, usually the young ruffian in films such as Trainspotting, gives an intriguing slant to a stuffed shirt. Rudolph has never reached the complexity nor the mastery of his mentor Robert Altman, but he has created his own niche: the comedy of characters usually found in urban dramas. There are laughs in this movie that you simply won't find in the typical Hollywood comedy. Like Altman, he proves that being an independent voice is not about the methods of filmmaking, it's about talent. --Doug Thomas

The Girls Room

Pert proper Southern Belle Grace (Cat Taber) and bohemian Casey (Soleil Moon Frye - Punky Brewster Sabrina the Teenage Witch) are adversarial dorm roommates who couldn't be more outwardly opposite. While Grace makes after-graduation wedding plans for her and her fraternity boy fiance (Wil Wheaton - Stand by Me Star Trek: Next Generation) Casey mopes drinks has illicit affairs and hangs out with her bi-sexual friend Sweetie. When Casey's antics accidentally threaten her roommate's plans for a perfect future Psych major Grace follows her life philosophy and embarks on a vengeful mission to "right the balance." When she insinuates herself into Casey's chaotic life the entanglement threatens to destroy each girl's carefully constructed reality. Irene Turner (co-producer Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss) directs this dramatic comedy which is considered a fresh departure from the stereotype of the good girl vs. bad girl conflict as both modern young women struggle to understand what they want from their wide open futures.System Requirements: Running Time 101 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: NR UPC: 787364570195