John Sayles

[7] Robert Forster (Jackie Brown, The Black Hole) stars as a police detective in this better-than-average monster movie about a giant alligator that terrorizes the Chicago suburbs. Screenwriter John Sayles (Passion Fish, Lone Star) probably deserves most of the credit, giving Forster and co-stars just enough character and backstory to elevate them above the two-dimensional pawns you usually find in these flicks. He also makes …

[7] Writer/director John Sayles serves up this intimate character drama about a TV soap star who has to learn to find new purpose in life after a car accident leaves her permanently wheelchair-bound. A live-in nurse becomes her lifeline, which makes Passion Fish a female buddy movie of sorts. Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves, Battlestar Galactica) plays the actress and Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek, Primal …

[5] Eternal opportunist Roger Corman piggy-backs on the success of Star Wars with this low-budget space adventure about a young man who assembles a rag-tag team of mercenaries to protect his people when another race threatens enslavement. Battle Beyond the Stars is among the more watchable films in Corman’s canon. Most of that is owed to a fast-paced script by John Sayles (Matewan, Passion Fish) …