William Mapother Movies

When a family of Dakota Territory pioneers is violently abducted and a posse is assembled to venture into the badlands and rescue them, the frightening truth they discover in the hills leads them to believe man may not be the only hunter stalking the Old West. The year is 1879, and beyond the fringes of civilization a handful of courageous pioneers maintain settlements while exploring the unknown territories. One night, under the shimmering Western stars, a family from one of these settlements is brutally dragged into darkness by a group of unknown invaders. At first the kidnappers are thought to be hostile Native Americans, and a posse forms to bring the family back home safely. Venturing out into the unmapped territories is an Irish immigrant desperate to find his lost love, a naïve teen eager to prove his worth, a former slave seeking his fortune after gaining his freedom, and a hardened pair of battle-weary Indian fighters. But nature's wrath and the tomahawks of hostile tribes aren't the only threats that this group will be forced to contend with, because as the bodies begin to multiply and the truth about the abductors gradually emerges, these rescuers will find out that there are forces in this world that can't be described in human terms -- and that seem to have motivations beyond our comprehension. Clancy Brown, William Mapother, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Doug Hutchison star in Soft for Digging director J.T. Petty's subterranean Western shocker. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An ambitious young intern at a prestigious Miami law firm finds his dreams of passing the bar and becoming a real lawyer thrown into question when he hastily agrees to help one of the firm's partners move -- only to discover that the attorney's new home is in Los Angeles. Rick Robinson (Ben Gourley) has what it takes to become a great lawyer, the only trouble is that he's a bit of a pushover. Though today he spends most of his time copying documents and dreaming of courtroom debate, in four short days he will take the bar and begin his professional career. Upon stepping into the office elevator and noticing one of the firm's partners, Maxwell McAllister (Rutger Hauer), the starstruck Rick jumps at the chance to help the counselor move. His patience is put to the ultimate test, however, when he arrives at the lawyer's house to find a mountain of boxes and a note demanding that he hire a moving truck and drive the load to Los Angeles. As if that weren't bad enough, the lawyer's pet pig and spoiled, college-dropout daughter, Michele (Mila Kunis), will be joining him on the drive. Not only does the tempestuous Southern belle seem intent on sabotaging Rick at every turn, but by the time he arrives in L.A. he will have to jump on a plane and race home in order to take the bar exam on time. Strong bonds have a funny way of forming in tense situations, though, and before Rick and Michele know it, they can't stand the idea of being apart. Moving McAllister also co-stars Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director Oliver Stone once again offers a powerful and provocative story based on real-life events in this drama. Sargeant John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and William J. Jimeno (Michael Pena) were two officers assigned to New York City's Port Authority who were working their beats on a quiet day in early fall when they received an emergency call. The day was September 11, 2001, and McLoughlin and Jimeno were among the policemen who attempted to evacuate the World Trade Center towers after they were struck by airliners piloted by terrorists. Both McLoughlin and Jimeno were inside the fifth building of the World Trade Center when the towers fell, and were two of the last people found alive amidst the wreckage. As McLoughlin and Jimeno struggled to hold on to their lives as rescuers sifted through the rubble, their spouses -- Donna McLoughlin (Maria Bello) and Allison Jimeno (Maggie Gyllenhaal) -- clung to the desperate hope that their husbands would survive and be found. As the McLoughlin and Jimeno families waited for word on the fate of the two men, they watched as a city and a nation came together with strength and compassion in the face of a tragedy. World Trade Center was based on the true story of John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno, both of whom cooperated with producers in the making of this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A handful of old friends learn you can go home again, but you'll also have to clear out the damage the next morning in this bittersweet comedy-drama. Valinda (Connie Britton) is a woman in her late thirties who is helping her parents sell the house where she grew up. A few days before the house is to be cleared out, Valinda decides to hold an Eighties theme party for all her old high school friends. The next morning, the house is a staggering mess, while Valinda and her pals are simply staggering. As they battle their hangovers with the hair of the dog, Valinda persuades her friends to help her clean up the aftermath, and over the course of the day everyone find themselves looking back on who they were and where they are now. Valinda's husband Will (Tate Donovan) is a solid, responsible guy who happens to be a bit boring. Zoey (Ione Skye) likes to think of herself as happily married, but she knows her relationship with Jack (William Mapother) is in trouble, especially since he still carries a torch for Valinda. Katrina (Caitlin Keats) is a doctor who enjoys a successful professional life, but on a personal level she's suffered through a long series of failing relationships that she's not sure will ever end. Corey (David Herman) enjoyed a brief fame as a child actor that has left him emotionally stunted. Claire (Sarah Clarke) is a sweet and sensible Midwestern wife and mom, but she's never been able to shake her love for her high school sweetheart, who (to her chagrin) didn't show up for the bash. And Mickey (Eric Stoltz) has hardly changed a bit -- he was a world-class party animal in his teens, and still cheerfully revels in alcohol and drugs. The Lather Effect is the first fiction feature from writer and director Sarah Kelly, who previously made the documentary Full Tilt Boogie (about the production of the movie From Dusk Till Dawn). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

CBS' spin on ABC's Lost for the 2005-2006 TV season was the weekly, hour-long sci-fi effort Threshold. The crash-landing of an alien spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean prompted the government to engage the services of a crack team of specialists, who were obliged to investigate the incident and explore its possible ramifications -- all in secret, of course, lest the populace get panicky. It soon developed that the spacecraft was the vanguard for an extraterrestrial invasion -- and more ominously, the aliens' presence caused the team members to experience bizarre physical and biological reactions (it seemed that exposure to the aliens' signal had the power to reconfigure one's DNA!). The investigative team was led by über-intellectual risk analyst Dr. Molly Anne Caffrey (Carla Gugino), and consisted of sardonic, witty, fiercely independent forensic microbiologist Nigel Fenway (Brent Spiner of Star Trek fame); former "special-ops" troubleshooter Cavennaugh (Brian Van Holt); politically ambitious Deputy National Security Advisor J.T. Baylock (Charles S. Dutton); pugnacious party-animal math and language expert Arthur Ramsey (Peter Dinklage); and timid, neurotic astronautical engineer Lucas Pegg (Rob Benedict). Created by Bragi F. Schut, Threshold was first telecast on September 16, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A determined California detective attempts to crack one of the most mysterious cases in modern crime as the tale of the fearsome Zodiac Killer comes to the screen in director Alexander Bulkley's cinematic account of the crimes that rocked San Francisco's Bay Area from December of 1968 to October of the following year. As the citizens of the small California town of Vallejo prepare for their holiday celebrations, the discovery that two teens have been viciously gunned down at a remote lover's lane leaves the citizens of a once tight-knit community fearing for their lives. In the months that follow the brutal crimes, Vallejo police inspector Matt Parish devotes his entire existence to revealing the identity of the elusive killer and ensuring that no more innocent lives are taken. With pressure from both his superiors and the local press mounting, lack of sufficient evidence and increased tensions at home lead Inspector Parish down a series of frustrating dead-end roads. When the killer strikes yet again, this time shooting a young couple in a darkened parking lot, investigators are shocked to receive a phone call from a man confessing to the crime. A letter sent to the local newspapers by the confessed killer states that if it is not published, a dozen more people will die in the coming weekend. Even more curious, the letter contains a mysterious code that, if deciphered correctly, will supposedly reveal the true identity of the man behind these shocking crimes. Though a suspect is questioned following yet another killing, this time in broad daylight, the frustrated police department fails to make an arrest as the elusive killer continues to taunt both the police and the media with a series of menacing letters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A passenger jet breaks apart in mid-air, crash-landing on a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Left without the creature comforts and basic necessities of civilization, the 48 survivors are forced to rely upon one another to stay alive -- and given the personality quirks of these survivors, this won't be easy during the first season of the ABC hit series Lost. Generally with the help of flashbacks, viewers learn a number of deep dark secrets about the castaways on a need-to-know basis, especially the demons plaguing Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and one-hit-wonder rock star Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan). Every so often, a crisis arises for the principal purpose of revealing a hitherto unknown and unsuspected aspect of one of the characters. Inevitably, hostilities both minor and serious arise from the basic fundamental differences among the survivors: Korean couple Jin and Sun Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim) are unable to uphold their family traditions under the circumstances, while their inability to speak English creates an additional barrier between themselves and the others; and the MacGyver-like resourcefulness of former Iraqi Republican Guard Sayid (Naveen Andrews) is not enough to overcome the racism of some of his fellow passengers. Then there is the unfriendly aura of the island itself, with its inscrutable topography, and the bizarre menagerie of wild animals, ranging from a polar bear to a (possible) dinosaur! Also, the discovery in one episode of two long-dead bodies certainly does nothing to uplift the rescue hopes of the hapless survivors. And finally, there seems to be someone else on the island...someone not on the passenger list...someone who kidnaps two of the castaways and threatens to kill off the rest one by one. The one overriding question near the end of season one is: who among the "major" characters will not make it to season two? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode focuses on plane-crash survivor Claire (Emilie de Raven), and her memories of the man who left her pregnant before abandoning her. We also learn that a psychic had advised Claire to make her ill-fated trip -- and now she is having a premonition of her own, one that may prove disastrous for her unborn baby. And in another part of the island, fun-loving Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is not at all amused to come face to face with another person who wasn't on the passenger list (William Mapother plays the odd man out). ~ All Movie Guide

This American remake of director Takashi Shimizu's popular Japanese movie franchise The Grudge puts Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumna Sarah Michelle Gellar back into the line of supernatural fire. When Karen (Gellar), an American student working with a Japanese health center for college credit, comes across a mysterious curse, she quickly finds herself embroiled in a fight for her own sanity, and, ultimately, her very survival. Known as a "grudge," the curse was born inside of a house after its inhabitants died while consumed by rage -- according to legend, the curse touches all who come into contact with it, and will torment those unlucky individuals until they, too, become part of the grudge . Each time the curse finds a new victim, it is, in a sense, reborn, and will continue on its path unless Karen can free herself from its control over her. This version of The Grudge is also directed by Shimizu, and features Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, Kadee Strickland, William Mapother, and Bill Pullman in supporting roles. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

In the first half of Touched by an Angel's series finale, Heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey) is at long last on the verge of being promoted to supervisor. First, however, she is required to pass one last test--and it's a formidable one indeed. Monica must somehow restore hope and faith to the profoundly grief-stricken citizens of Ascention, where all the children have been killed in a school explosion. Curiously, several of Monica's former "clients" have apparently settled in Ascention, including mentally challenged Joey (Paul Wittenberg), the sole witness to the tragedy. And what exactly is the story of happy-go-lucky handyman Zack (Scott Bairstow), who shows up in town just in time to be accused of setting off the explosion? Guest star Randy Travis sings "When Mama Prayed". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) investigates when the production of a "faked" snuff film results in the far-from-fake stabbing death of a young woman. Or did a murder actually occur? Clues are either vague or nonexistent, and Catherine finds herself running down a multitude of blind alleys. Meanwhile, Grissom (William L. Petersen) pieces together the evidence when an abandoned aluminum toolbox yields a human skeleton -- infested with imported fire ants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Dominic Sena follows up his stylish action film Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) with this high-tech thriller. John Travolta stars as Gabriel Shear, a charismatic spy who plots to steal a multi-billion-dollar fortune in illegal government funds. In order to make his scheme work, however, Gabriel needs some help from a computer hacker, which is where Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) comes in. Stanley has been paroled from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for penetrating the FBI's cyber-surveillance operations. Issued a restraining order that keeps him away from computers and living penniless in a trailer park, Stanley wants only to be reunited with his daughter Holly, who's in the custody of his ex-wife, now remarried to a pornographer. Gabriel and his partner Ginger (Halle Berry) offer Stanley the chance to get his child back in exchange for his help, but the hacker soon realizes he's a pawn in a larger operation than the high-tech bank heist he thought he was perpetrating. In the meantime, a dedicated federal agent (Don Cheadle), the same man who once arrested Stanley, is trying to expose Gabriel's operation. Swordfish also stars Sam Shepard and Zach Grenier. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

One of two filmed biographies of late track star Steve Prefontaine to be produced in the late '90s, Without Limits comes from director Robert Towne, who previously took a stab at the track-star drama with his directorial debut, 1982's Personal Best. Billy Crudup stars as the ill-fated athlete who overcame physical obstacles to win an NCAA championship and compete in the 1972 Munich Olympics. The film follows Prefontaine from his youth in Oregon where, despite one leg being longer than the other, he shows himself to be a talented runner. Later, while attending the University of Oregon, Prefontaine meets and forms a strong bond with his coach, Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland), the man who would later go on to found the Nike shoe corporation. College is also where Prefontaine falls for classmate Mary Marckx (Monica Potter), beginning a romance that lasts until his untimely death in a 1974 automobile accident. The other film about Steve Prefontaine was 1997's Prefontaine which starred Jared Leto in the titular role. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide