Mike Tollin Movies

A sort-of Saturday Night Live for the preteen set, Nickelodeon 's All That features a blend of comedy skits, musical guest performances, and kid-friendly guest stars. Following in the footsteps of its adult inspiration, the series spawned a movie from one its sketches (Good Burger) and served as a career launching pad for several of its cast members, including Amanda Bynes, Nick Cannon, and Kenan Thompson who, appropriately enough, joined the cast of SNL in 2003. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

Taking a "revisionist" approach to several DC Comics favorites, the weekly adventure series Birds of Prey could easily have been retitled "Charlie's Superheroines." Dina Meyer headed the cast as Barbara Gordon, who in her younger days fought crime in Gotham City as the caped-and-cowled Batgirl. Confined to a wheelchair since being attacked by the archvillain Joker, Barbara, now calling herself "Oracle," continued to battle evil as the mentor of her ward Helena Kyle (Ashley Scott), the out-of-wedlock daughter of stalwart hero Batman and slinky villainess Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman. Donning the crimefighting guise of "the Huntress," Helena likewise had a score to settle with the Joker, who was responsible for Catwoman's demise. Joining these two courageous ladies in their ongoing war on villainy was telepathic teenager Dinah Laurel Lance, aka "the Black Canary." Others in the cast included the perfidious Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Mia Sara), otherwise known as Harley Quinn (a character introduced on the various Batman animated cartoon series of the early '90s), and "official" lawman Detective Jesse Reese (Shemar Moore), whose dedication to his work was born of a disreputable childhood. Birds of Prey first aired on October 9, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The true-life story of a coach who tries to teach his players that there's more to life than basketball is brought to the screen in this sports drama. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) was once a star player on the Richmond High School basketball team in Richmond, CA, and years later, after establishing himself in publishing and marketing, he returns to the school and to the team as the new basketball coach. Carter quickly sees that his work is cut out for him -- the team is having an awful season, and their fights off the court are more decisive than their play on the court. While Carter wants to make the Richmond cagers into a winning team, he also wants a lot more -- to teach the boys to respect themselves and one another, and that they must excel in the classroom as well as in the gymnasium. Under Carter's guidance, the team turns their losing season around, with the state title a genuine possibility. However, when Carter learns that a number of his players have let their grade point averages slip below 2.3, as mandated in a contract he entered into with the students, he decides to lock the team out of the gym and send them into study hall until their marks improve. Carter's plan quickly becomes a subject of controversy among parents and team boosters, and their objections are soon picked up by the local news media, many of whom are not sympathetic to Carter's belief that his players must have goals beyond college ball or the NBA. Coach Carter also features Rob Brown and Rick Gonzalez as members of the team, and R&B diva Ashanti in her film debut as the girlfriend of one of Carter's players. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Created by Marco Pennette, ABC's Crumbs was an off-kilter sitcom dealing with such warm-and-fuzzy issues as mental illness, attempted homicide, divorce, closeted homosexuality, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and bitter sibling rivalry. In one of the most spectacular examples of non-typecasting in TV history, Fred Savage starred as Mitch Crumb, a gay screenwriter who was unable to follow up the success of his first film, which he based upon the death of his older brother. While starving in Hollywood, Mitch was summoned to his New England home to help his mother Suzanne Crumb (Jane Curtin), recently released from the Cedar Hill nursing home after suffering a mental breakdown, readjust to life on the outside. Suzanne had been institutionalized primarily because she had tried to kill her philandering ex-husband Billy (William Devane), the owner of a local restaurant called the Stone House Grille. Mitch's surviving brother Jody (Eddie McClintock), a near-sociopathic womanizer and the current manager of the family restaurant, deeply resented the return of his "famous" brother and made no secret of his feelings. As for Mitch himself, he hadn't yet informed his family that he'd come out of the closet -- the only person who knew his secret was his old friend Andrea (Maggie Lawson), a waitress at the Stone House. Also in the cast was Reginald Ballard as Elvis, a young orderly at Cedar Hill with whom Suzanne was having an affair. Crumbs made its first network appearance on January 12, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A man and his young daughter face almost impossible odds as they struggle to help an injured horse return to the racetrack in this family-friendly drama. Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) is a horse trainer whose career has gone into a bit of a slump, and after years as his own boss, he's signed on to work for Palmer (David Morse), a breeder whose wealth and success has given him a certain degree of arrogance. While Ben has learned to keep his mouth shut around his boss, he forgets himself when one of his favorite horses, Sonador, breaks its leg during an important race. Palmer insists that the horse should be put down on the spot, but Ben doesn't have the heart to kill the animal, especially since his young daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), is in the stands watching. Ben and Palmer have harsh words with one another, and Ben is fired, but is allowed to take Sonador with him when he leaves. Ben has a hard time convincing anyone that the injured horse has any potential, especially his father, Pop (Kris Kristofferson), a fellow trainer who rarely sees eye to eye with his son. But Cale loves the horse, and Ben believes that Sonador can make a comeback with the right care, and together with stable men Balon (Luis Guzman) and Manolin (Freddy Rodriguez), he sets out to put the filly on the road to recovery. As its subtitle suggests, Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story was based on the story of Mariah's Storm, a filly who broke a leg during a race in 1993, but a year later came back to win the Arlington Heights Oaks, and in 1995 won the Turfway Breeder's Cup. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, stars of the popular Nickelodeon series All That, confront the ogre of faceless corporate tyranny and have fun doing it in this comedy for young people. Ed (Mitchell) is a teenager who lives for his job at Good Burger, a small but friendly neighborhood hamburger stand, while his buddy Dexter (Thompson) also works there, but lack Ed's single-minded devotion to his job -- he's there because he accidentally destroyed the car of his teacher Mr. Wheat (Sinbad) and has to raise money to pay the damages. When Mondo Burger, a mammoth fast-foot chain, opens across the street, it looks like Good Burger is history, until Ed formulates a secret sauce that brings hundreds of new customers to their door. However, the monomaniacal manager of Mondo Burger, Kurt (Jan Schweiterman), is determined to get his hands on the sauce and put Good Burger out of business. Meanwhile, Ed and Dexter must rescue Otis (Abe Vigoda), the world's oldest fast food employee, from the Demented Hills Asylum, and Ed might just find love with Monique (Shar Jackson) if he could take his mind off the burgers long enough to pay attention to her. Good Burger also features basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as himself and George Clinton as one of the Demented Hills inmates. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Television actor-turned-director Brian Robbins follows up Varsity Blues (1999) and Ready to Rumble (2000) with another sports comedy. Keanu Reeves stars as Conor O'Neill, an underachiever and inveterate sports gambler who needs a bailout loan from a friend to pay off his mounting debt. As a condition for receiving the necessary funds, Conor is saddled with coaching a corporate-sponsored Little League baseball team for underprivileged youth in Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green housing project. Reluctant at first, Conor slowly begins to enjoy his new authority role, especially when he makes the acquaintance of his players' attractive teacher, Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane). Based on the real-life chronicle Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Outside magazine editor Daniel Coyle, Hardball also stars D.B. Sweeney and Mike McGlone. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

According to the NBC publicity department, the creators of the weekly, hour-long series Inconceivable, Oliver Goldstick and Marco Pennette, had drawn inspiration from their own lives, in which surrogate parents and in vitro fertilization had been utilized to expand their families. The weekly, 60-minute series was set at Family Options Fertility Clinic, headed by Dr. Rachel Lu (Ming-Na). Although she had had her own baby through the in vitro process, she was a "strictly business" type, never allowing her emotions to dictate her work. In sharp contrast, Lu's partner, Dr. Malcolm Bower (Jonathan Cake), was driven by his gut instincts -- not only on the job, but also in his life choices, especially when it came to romantic relationships. Also on hand was rebellious, headstrong fertility doctor Nora Campbell, played by former Law & Order co-star Angie Harmon (an eleventh-hour addition to the series, replacing actress Alfre Woodard, who'd signed as a regular on Desperate Housewives). The other staffers at Family Options included Scott (David Noroña), Patrice (Joelle Carter), Marissa (Mary Catherine Garrison), and Angel (Reynaldo Rosales). The plots dealt not only with the efforts to provide infertile couples with viable conception options, but also with the unintended ramifications of such procedures; in the opening episode, for example, a white couple is outraged when they find out that their baby will be black. In an intriguing example of "life imitates art," Angie Harmon had just given birth before filming started, while her co-star Ming-Na became pregnant not long after production got under way. Inconceivable was first brought into the world on September 23, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A meek and lovable milquetoast married to an overbearing, overweight tyrant finds his life turned upside down when he meets the woman of his dreams in this romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy, Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Eddie Griffin. His entire life, Norbit (Murphy) has been picked on and put down, and after being bullied into marrying the most obnoxious woman in town (also Murphy) it appears as if that's the way things will remain until the day he dies. Upon meeting the one woman who seems to accept him for who he is, Norbit is instilled with a newfound sense of hope for the future. In order to find true happiness, however, Norbit will first have to gather the courage to stand up to his monstrous spouse once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The big news that broke during the finale of One Tree Hill's first season -- namely, the marriage between wealthy, arrogant high school basketball star Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) and Haley James (Bethany Joy Lenz), the lifelong friend of Nathan's half brother, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) -- determines much of the action and most of the dicier plot complications in the series' second season. The season opens as Lucas and his uncle Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer) abandon plans to leave the North Carolina community of Tree Hill when Lucas' father and Keith's brother, Dan (Paul Johansson), suffers a heart attack. As for Dan, he persuades everyone that the coronary has changed him and that he wants to mend fences -- not only with Lucas and his mother (and Dan's high-school sweetheart), Karen Roe (Moira Kelly), but also with Dan's estranged wife, Deb (Barbara Alyn Woods, who this year joins the cast as a regular). In reality, Dan is just as evil as ever, scheming to destroy Haley and Nathan's nuptials, ruining Deb's life, and vying with high school basketball coach Whitey (Barry Corbin) to control Nathan's future. Meanwhile, two of the women in Lucas' life, Peyton (Hilarie Burton) and Brooke (Sophia Bush), both nurse grudges toward Lucas. In later developments, Nathan goes to work for Keith; new neighbor Felix (Michael Copon), a specialist in mind games, forces everyone to look deep into their souls; Karen opens a club called "TRIC" where Peyton runs an "all-ages" night; Lucas ends his romance with Anna (Daniella Alonso) when he realizes that he's still in love with Brooke, and worries that his dad's heart condition may be hereditary; Nathan and Haley's marriage seems to be on the rocks even before it can properly get under way, especially when Nathan finds out that he'd once had a fling with Haley's sister Taylor (Lindsey McKeon), and Haley launches an e-mail tryst with Chris (Tyler Hilton). And these only represent a few of the season's many melodramatic hooks! As the season concludes, Karen considers moving to Australia with her new love, Andy, until an unidentified "spoiler" enters the scene to threaten everyone's future happiness. ~ All Movie Guide

A pair of sewage-truck drivers attempt to rescue the tarnished reputation of their favorite pro wrestler in this comedy from Varsity Blues director Brian Robbins. Gordie Boggs (David Arquette) and Sean Dawkins (Scott Caan) live vicariously through superstar grappler Jimmy King (Oliver Platt). But when King's manager (Joe Pantoliano), in a fit of ego, arranges to have his client dethroned to make way for the next hot property, the guys hatch a plan to force a rematch. The only problem is, their no-good hero has sunk into a black hole of self-pity and liquor. Enlisting the help of old-time trainer Sal (Martin Landau) to whip "The King" into shape, Gordie and Sean run afoul of Gordie's father, who wants his son to settle down and become a cop like him. Meanwhile, curvaceous Sasha (Rose McGowan) moves in on Gordie, but has ulterior motives. So does The King's son (Tait Smith), who's willing to put his girth to good use in order to exact revenge on his dad for abandoning him. Ready to Rumble features a large cast of real-life WCW wrestlers portraying themselves. McGowan and Arquette previously appeared together in Wes Craven's Scream. Lewis Arquette, the star's father, also appears alongside his son as he did in Scream 2. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide