Mandy Patinkin

Untimely ripped from the land of the living by a stray piece of bathroom porcelain from the MIR space station, teenaged girl George Lass (Ellen Muth) joins several other disgruntled decedents in pursuing her heavenly job of "reaper," helping ordinary mortals pass from this life to the next with comfort and dignity in the first season of Dead Like Me. In many of the early episodes, George eavesdrops to see how her highly dysfunctional family is bearing up under the weight of losing her. Otherwise, she is hard at work fulfilling the assignments given her by her celestial supervisor, Rube (Mandy Patinkin). In the opening two-hour episode, the newly dead George is told that she has been chosen to be a "reaper" -- and also learns to her chagrin that, in death, she has become famous as "The Toilet Seat Girl." Later on, she tries to wriggle out of her reaper duties, only to discover that if she doesn't follow the rules, dire consequences will befall those who are about to die. Also, she finds out that she still has certain "mortal" emotions intact when she becomes close to a fellow reaper named Betty (Rebecca Gayheart), and when she falls in love with a living schizophrenic whose disease allows him to see her even though he's not "due" yet. Additionally, she must suffer the intrusion of obstreperous new reaper Daisy Adair (Laura Harris), who is briefly her "roommate." Finally, she is made aware that a reaper's job is never done when, on a day that no one dies, she is swamped with heavenly paperwork. At end of the first season, George finds herself on the verge of losing her office "day job" at Happy Time Temp Agency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Flight 323 has crashed in the Colorado Rockies, killing everyone on board. Was the disaster the result of carelessness, incompetence, malfunctioning equipment--or terrorism? To answer these question, a team of experts from the National Transportation Safety Board, headed by Al Cummings (Mandy Patinkin) painstakingly recreate the events leading up to the tragedy, and also trace the movements of the various passengers in the last hours on earth. As the impatient media and the victims' grieving families demand answers immediately, Cummings and company do their best to remain calm and detached while using a flight simulator and other such devices to try out innumerable scenarios, in the manner of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (and before that, Rashomon). A compelling example of "procedural" drama, with a logical if not altogether satisfying outcome, the made-for-TV NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323 was originally telecast March 22, 2004, by ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Miguel Pinero became a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s as a poet, actor, and playwright whose vibrant, often pointed, work spoke directly to the lower classes and to disenfranchised minorities. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, his poetry soon became recognized as a forerunner to rap and hip-hop music. TV screenwriter turned director Leon Ichaso spins this impressionistic biographical look at this artist. Raised in an abusive family, Pinero (Benjamin Bratt) turns to streets for solace. Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe. Though Pinero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Originally aired on the History Channel and hosted by Mandy Patinkin, Ellis Island: The Immigrant Experience offers a comprehensive look at what the immigration process was like when America officially opened its doors to all other nationalities. In addition to old photographs and archival footage, interviews from the Ellis Island Oral History Project -- that is, a group dedicated to preserving the firsthand accounts of immigrants -- are also included. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable TV drama is based on the book of the same name by Wall Street Journal reporters Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson. Delroy Lindo stars as Justice Clarence Thomas, whose proposed appointment to the Supreme Court by President Bush in October 1991 turns into a media frenzy that threatens to ruin his career when a former subordinate, Anita Hill (Regina Taylor), accuses him of sexual harassment before congressional confirmation hearings. In the meantime, Bush administration spin doctor Kenneth Duberstein (Mandy Patinkin) takes charge of the rapidly deteriorating scandal in a successful campaign to discredit Hill and save Thomas' nomination. Louis Gossett Jr. as Vernon Jordan and Paul Winfield as legendary jurist Thurgood Marshall co-star in this Peabody Award-winning film directed by cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Harry Houdini was performing in a circus with his wife when he began dreaming about an even bigger career. This film recalls the highlights of his career, including his 1912 stunt that established him as the world's greatest escape artist. In that instance, Houdini had himself lowered into New York's East River in a crate that was wrapped in chains. In less than a minute, he escaped and came to the surface as both an admired and famous man. Archival footage and dramatic re-creations performed by professional escape artist Bob Fellows allow viewers to revisit some of Houdini's major stunts. On-camera interviews with such people as illusionist David Copperfield, psychic claims investigator James Randi, and many others shed light on Houdini's performing techniques. Actor Mandy Patinkin narrates this probing looking into this performer's life. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide

A powerful political allegory set in an unnamed Latin American country, Men With Guns concerns Dr. Fuentes (Federico Luppi), an elderly physician long involved with a group that trains young people to provide health care for the poverty-stricken citizens of the outlying hill country, where small agricultural communities struggle to survive under primitive living conditions. The doctor has heard rumors that many of his former students are lost and feared dead, so he goes into the hills to investigate. The deeper he digs into the jungle, the more Fuentes finds that the people are menaced by "men with guns'" -- military forces who use torture and execution to intimidate the people, and guerillas from opposition groups whose agenda is only marginally more benign. Accumulating several travelling companions -- a defrocked priest, a deserter from the Army, a boy who survives by stealing, and a woman who has turned mute since she was raped -- Fuentes finds that his journey becomes more revealing but also more perilous the deeper he ventures into the hills. American writer and director John Sayles filmed most of Men With Guns in Spanish (an language he speaks fluently), as well as several indigenous dialects; he claims to have based most of the film's incidents on actual events that have occurred in a number of different Third World nations. Mandy Patinkin has a brief role as an American tourist Fuentes encounters in his travels. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A Mobil Masterpiece Theater adaptation of the Arthur Miller play, the film is set in 1938 Brooklyn and involves unhappily married Jewish couple Mr. and Mrs. Gellburg. When Mrs. Gellburg suffers paralysis in her legs, Dr. Hyman (Mandy Patinkin) diagnoses her problem as psychologically stemming from her anxiety over both her failing marriage and the brewing catastrophe in Germany. This film version of the play is infused with acclaimed performances from Mandy Patinkin, Margot Leicester, Henry Goodman, and Elizabeth McGovern. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide

This video is part of a series that looks at the Biblical stories in the book of Genesis. A group of experts, with journalist Bill Moyers moderating, discuss the meaning and relevance of the stories in today's world. This episode includes Genesis: A Living Conversation -- In God's Image, which considers the creation story. How long did the process take? And what is God's image? Genesis: A Living Conversation: Temptation, is a study of the story of the fall from innocence into consciousness, when Adam and Eve ate the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, given to them by Satan. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

This video, hosted by journalist Bill Moyers, is part of a series that examines some of the stories presented in Genesis, in the Old Testament of the Bible. A panel of experts from diverse backgrounds discuss the meaning and relevancy of the age old stories for modern people. This episode includes a look at Genesis: A Living Conversation -- Exile, takes a look at the story of Jacob's betrayal and enslavement, and ultimate triumph and Genesis: A Living Conversation -- God Wrestling, and features an analysis of the story of Jacob's dream of a stairway to heaven. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide