Wil Wheaton

Hollywood meets Bollywood in director Lorraine Senna's Pygmalion-like tale of a Tinseltown hanger-on who attempts to transform a Himalayan village belle into an A-list American celebrity. Having recently arrived in America to discover the man she was arranged to marry is far from the man of her dreams, Himalayan girl Shalini (Namrata Singh Gujral) sets out to seek her fortune in a foreign land where anything seems possible. Little does Shalini realize that southern-bred west-coast import Rob (Brad Raider) is attempting to make a name for himself in show-business, and has recently been challenged by the CEO of a Hollywood management company (Beau Bridges) pluck a superstar out of thin air. Now, as Shalini becomes Shelley and Rob does his best to school the culturally inquisitive beauty in the ways of Western society, the opportunity to see the world from an entirely different perspective prompts both to reevaluate their lives as love begins to blossom and the quest for fame takes a back seat to romance. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When lovelorn groom Danny's (Wil Wheaton) wife suffers a tragic death on the couple's wedding day, the arrival of a mysterious book places his entire future in jeopardy in this supernatural drama from filmmaker Harry Ambrose. Shortly after Danny's wife's untimely death, a mysterious courier named Jonah (Isaac Hayes) bestows the grief-stricken groom with a book that features a list of names followed by corresponding death dates. Now faced with the decision of using the book for his own financial gain or helping to protect his loved ones from their own fate at the risk of having years shaved off of his own life, Danny must make an important decision as to how to handle the otherworldly information with which he has been entrusted. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Irene Turner makes her directorial debut with this comedy-drama about goth chicks and Southern belles. College roommates Casey (none other than Soleil Moon Frye of Punky Brewster fame) and Grace (Cat Taber) are a chalk-and-cheese couple if there ever was one: the former favors sex, drugs, and all things leather while the latter is a prim and preppie straight-A student who is engaged to her frat boy beau (Wil Wheaton). Yet when Casey's teasing threatens her future wedding, Grace vows vengeance. She begins hanging out with her roommate's friend Joey (Gary Wolf), a pensive loner and one of the few guys on campus that Casey has yet to have sex with. Soon, a vicious cycle of jealousy and suspicion develops that threatens to ruin the lives of both women. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Although "flub" is defined as "to make a mess of," the word "flubber" is a contraction from "flying rubber." In this remake of the 1961 comedy-fantasy The Absent Minded Professor, Robin Williams takes on the role created by Fred MacMurray and later executed by Harry Anderson on television, while the 1961 film's Flubber with anti-gravity properties has now been digitally reincarnated as a translucent green, pulsating, bouncing blob that loves to dance the mambo. Absent-minded college professor Philip Brainard (Williams), employed at a near-bankrupt university, creates the formula for Flubber, yet he can't remember to show up for his own wedding to university-President Sara Jean Reynolds (Marcia Gay Harden). His rival, Wilson Croft (Christopher McDonald), plots to steal Sara and the Flubber from Brainard. Rich, corrupt businessman Chester Hoenicker (Raymond Barry) tries to force Brainard to pass his failing son Bennett (Wil Wheaton), but he soon takes an interest in Flubber after hearing about it from his flunkies (Clancy Brown, Ted Levine). After using Flubber to fly over clouds in his 1963 T-Bird, Brainard realizes Flubber can also improve the performance of the school's pathetic basketball team. Jodi Benson is the voice of Weebo, Brainard's talking, flying household robot, with a video display of Disney clips at odd moments. Many gags are embellishments from the 1961 film, with John Hughes (Home Alone) rewriting the original Bill Walsh screenplay (based on Samuel Taylor's short story, "A Situation of Gravity"). Though Walsh died in 1975, he received posthumous credit for this script. Filming began October 8,1996 in San Francisco. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This sci-fi thriller takes the Frankenstein story a few steps further and sets it in the near future. Using a variety of human body parts, a scientist (Rutger Hauer) creates Lazarus, a young man (Will Wheaton) with superior mental and physical capabilities. Poor Lazarus would be perfect but for the terrible nightmares that plague him. He does not know of his gruesome origins and so goes to a psychiatrist for answers. But for Lazarus, learning the whole truth may be a dangerous endeavor, not only for him, but for the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This comedy chronicles the romantic exploits of a rather stodgy young man with a traffic fetish. Even as a child Charlie Dunlap was totally fixated by freeway traffic. Charlie's biggest idol is Alan Davenport, a radio traffic reporter. As a young man, Charlie falls in love with the lively, free-spirited Amy and they become lovers the night before she leaves for college. Their relationship disintegrates during her absence and Charlie ends up moving to LA to be near the great freeways. Even his rundown apartment overlooks the freeway. Single-minded Charlie is determined to get a job working for Alan Davenport, but his efforts to get hired at Metro Traffic are thwarted by an officious employee. He goes to a neighboring cafe and there discovers Amy working as a waitress. When not working, she performs with an experimental dance troupe that stages its productions at toxic-waste dump sites. Though he wants to start up their relationship again, she tells him she has found another. Charlie ends up having a passionate affair with his landlady. Later he meets Davenport and manages to achieve his dream and become his assistant. Through it all he still longs for Amy and in the end the two do indeed come together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After returning to the Enterprise from a Klingon convention, Worf can't help but notice that the reality around him is changing. Trouble is, he's the only one who notices this phenomenon. Everyone else seems to be taking things in stride, especially Troi, who is now married to Worf. Wil Wheaton makes a return appearance in the role of Wesley Crusher. Scripted by Brannon Braga, "Parallels" was first telecast December 4, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On the eve of his graduation from Starfleet Academy, Wesley Crusher is involved in a fatal in-flight accident. Though he knows the truth behind the tragedy, Wesley is reluctant to tell all for fear of hurting his friends in the Academy. As his fate is determined during a hearing, the crew of the Enterprise arrives to offer character testimony. Ray Walston guest stars as the elderly Academy groundskeeper Boothby. First telecast on April 4, 1992, "First Duty" was cowritten by Ronald D. Moore and Naren Shaker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dead Poets Society and Die Hard bash heads in this action drama set in a Northeastern prep school. The film opens as a crazed Central American terrorist, Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff), goes on a shooting spree, attempting to gain his drug baron father's release from extradition to the United States. The following sequence introduces some malcontented rich kids from the prep school --Joey Trotta (Wil Wheaton), the son of a New Jersey mob leader; Billy Tepper (Sean Astin), a reprobate who has been to four boarding schools in as many years; Snuffy Bradbury (Keith Coogan), whose rich banker father is the chairman of the Republican Party; Ricardo Montoya (George Perez), the son of a big-shot lawyer; and Hank Giles (T.E. Russell), whose father is the head of the House Armed Services Committee. The boys disregard their studies and spend their waking hours giving Dean Parker (Louis Gossett Jr.) a hard time. The two storylines collide when Luis, with a group of terrorist goons, make their way across the U.S. border and invade the boarding school, planning to take hostage the son of his father's judge. But the authorities have already removed the boy from danger, so Luis and the terrorists decide to hold the entire student body hostage until their demands are met. Working with the FBI and the special government forces, the rebellious groups of boys have to devise a plan to short-circuit the hostage situation. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Set the day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December focuses on five prep-school students (Wil Wheaton, Balthazar Getty, Brian Krause, Jason London and Chris Young) who are of enlistment age. Though encouraged by their headmaster to enter the army, the boys are wary of battle, and discuss the pros and cons of the situation. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Having at last been accepted into the Starfleet Academy, Wesley Crusher is invited on the eve of his departure to accompany Captain Picard on an important mission to Pentaurus Five. Alas, they are forced to make an emergency landing, in the course of which Picard is seriously injured. It is up to Wesley -- no longer a boy, not yet a man -- to save Picard's life and extricate himself and the Captain from their deadly dilemma. Co-scripted by Kasey Arnold-Ince and Jeri Taylor, "Final Mission" premiered November 24, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The complete fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to DVD on this seven-disc set from Paramount. All 26 episodes are presented in standard full-frame with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Closed captions and subtitles are accessible. The special features on disc seven are specific to the show's 1991 television season. "Mission Overview: Year Four" discusses the challenges in creating some of the episodes. "Selected Crew Analysis: Year Four" looks at the characters of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and Vash (Jennifer Hetrick). "Departmental Briefing: Year Four Production" is a behind-the-scenes featurette with directors Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and David Livingston. "New Life and New Civilizations" looks at some of the shooting locations and production design. "Chronicles From the Final Frontier" is a discussion with writers Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, and Jeri Taylor. This is an excellent DVD for collectors, in keeping with the other Paramount releases in the series. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Appropriately telecast just before Halloween (on October 27, 1990, to be exact), this eerie Next Generation episode was equally appropriately titled. One by one, the crew members of the Enterprise are disappearing without a trace, and no one except Dr. Crusher has any memory of their existence! This phenomenon is the handiwork of Crusher's own son Wesley, who has been foolishly experimenting with warp fields. Only by overcoming his guilt over what has happened will Wesley be able to set things right before it's too late. "Remember Me" was written by Lee Sheldon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide