Betty Moyer Movies
A serial killer with a sickening knack for showmanship and a keen sense of technological know-how sets up a graphic website to taunt the FBI and display his gruesome handiwork in this dark thriller directed by Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear and Frequency) and starring Diane Lane. As a cybercimes investigator on the frontline of the war against virtual criminals, Special Agent Jennifer Marsh (Lane) thought she had seen it all. She realizes just how wrong she is, however, when she learns of a technologically advanced psychopath who has set up the world's first-ever snuff website. Audience participation is key on the ingenious killer's website, because the more hits his page gets the quicker he is to dispatch his victims. But how does one catch a killer who has covered their cyber-tracks with the web-savvy skills of a world-class hacker? Now, as the hunt becomes personal, Marsh vows to use every resource at her disposal in order to catch the killer before he logs on for another round of cyber slaughter. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Billy Burke, (more)
- 2007
Though filmed in Oregon, this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation is set in the American South, several months after the end of WW2. Decorated war hero Noah (Chris Klein) returns home to find his parents dead, his brother Travis (Jackson Rathbone) in prison, and his family farm in the hands of strangers. With literally nothing to keep him in his home town, Noah embarks on a personal odyssey, using his remarkable fishing skills to stay alive. In the course of his perambulations, he meets a mysterious old codger named Hoke (Robert Prosky), who claims a gift for "seein' the other side." Hoke guides Noah to another small town "over the ridge", where he is immediately made welcome by the townsfolk, and before long has become a local legend by virtue of his fishing prowess. He has also bonded with a lonely war widow named Eleanor (Gretchen Mol), and with a fatherless mute boy named Matthew (Zach Mills). But when tragedy strikes again, will the disillusioned Noah desert his new home, to say nothing of his new friends and loved ones? Throughout the latter half of the story, Noah's fate is inexorably linked with that of a huge bass which has eluded capture for years--and which has transformed the town into a mecca for fishing enthusiasts throughout the nation. Made for television and first seen over the CBS network on January 28, 2007, Valley of Light is based on the novel by Terry McKay. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Klein, Gretchen Mol, (more)
Two rebellious young lovers set out on a crime spree in hopes of finding a better life together in this tender, modern-day fairy tale from director Nick Lyon. Sarah (Emma Bing) is a fifteen year-old girl from a small papermill town. Bored by the fact that nothing ever happens in her town and hungry for the love that she can't find at home, Sarah falls in love with Spike - an ambitious, drug addicted rocker who longs to join a band and break big. In order to support themselves along the way, Sarah and Spike collaborate on a series of small-time con jobs. When Spike has a successful audition, he clings to the dream that things can only get better for the hapless couple. But just as it begins to seem as if Spike's dreams are about to become a reality, fate deals the aspiring rock star and his girlfriend a devastating blow. Their future looking especially grim, man-child Spike and vulnerable Sarah must rely on their unconditional love for one another if they hope to overcome the odds and break the vicious cycle of despair. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chad Lindberg, Emma Bing, (more)
An elderly community handyman and notorious curmudgeon effectively isolates himself from his friends and neighbors by suing his lifelong best friend over a minor transgression in director Neal Miller's character-driven comedy drama. Flagg Purdy (Alan Arkin) is a cantankerous old coot who prides himself on principle. Despite Flagg's gruff exterior, his longtime wife, Ada (Barbara Dana), still cherishes her husband, and knows that his heart has always been in the right place. The pair's six grown children know too that their father has always meant well, even in times when his questionable parenting skills may have fallen a little on the heavy-handed side. One day, while playing his weekly game of checkers with friend and neighbor Gus Falk (Austin Pendleton), Flagg angrily accuses his nonplussed opponent of cheating. Though Gus is initially able to laugh off the accusation, the conflict soon escalates when Flagg storms into Gus' general store complaining that his friend's sheep have been relieving themselves a little too close to the well that supplies the Purdys' drinking water. When Gus retorts by pointing out that it is his well, and that the sheep are also his, the enraged Flagg responds by suing his neighbor. Though a surprise witness nets Flagg an unexpected win in the courtroom, the resulting effect that his litigious actions have on the family's already tenuous community relations soon leave his family in the lurch. Subsequently retiring to his "deathbed" and requesting the presence of his children before he bids the cruel and uncaring world a final farewell, Flagg is forced to consider that he may be more like his stubborn father than he would care to admit as, one by one, his offspring fail to bring their father back from the "brink." ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Arkin, Austin Pendleton, (more)
Here's something you don't see every day: A romantic comedy about chemotherapy. Kate Nelligan stars as Kathryn McClain, a judge undergoing treatment for cancer. In the midst of this crisis, Kathryn somehow finds time to hold down her job full time, and to renew her love for her long-estranged former husband Tom Ainsworth (Ron Silver). The question eventually boils down to this: Even if Kathryn survives, will her relationship with Tom be as fortunate? Best line: "Don't be so dramatic! You aren't dead yet! Produced for the Lifetime cable channel, Love Is Strange first aired on February 8, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Filmed on location in Oregon, the made-for-cable Halloweentown stars Debbie Reynolds as Aggie Cromwell, the peppery grandma to typical American kids Marnie (Joey Zimmerman), Dylan (Joey Zimmerman) and Sophie (Emily Roeske). During her annual visit to the youngsters' mother Gwen (Judith Hoag), Aggie reveals that she is a benevolent witch, and that Gwen and the kids all have latent magical powers. Whisking the three little ones off to Halloweentown, Aggie subsequently does battle with evil forces conjured up by Gwen's old flame Kalabar (Robin Thomas), a warlock with delusions of grandeur and a nasty habit of transforming children into zombies. Telecast by the Disney Channel on October 22, 1998, Halloweentown was followed three years later by a sequel, also starring Debbie Reynolds, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, (more)
