Harold Perrineau, Jr. Movies
An accomplished young actor who has graced the stage, screen, and television, Harold Perrineau Jr. has earned a well-deserved reputation as a performer willing to take on just about anything, with roles ranging from drag queens to hardened criminals. A native of Brooklyn, Perrineau studied music and theatre at the Shenandoah Conservatory, but began his career as a dancer with the Alvin Ailey Company, performing with the troupe for a year and a half. A gradual shift to acting led Perrineau to the theatre, where he acted in a number of shows including Dreamgirls, the critically acclaimed Avenue X, and the off-Broadway revival of Godspell.While he was working on the stage, Perrineau also began appearing on TV in such shows as The Cosby Show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, I'll Fly Away, and Law & Order. He segued onto the big screen in the late '80s, but had his first memorable role as Rashid Cole, a young man searching for his long-absent father (Forest Whitaker) in Smoke, an acclaimed 1995 drama directed by Wayne Wang and based upon the writings of Paul Auster. The following year he gained further exposure for his flamboyant, explosive portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. At one point outfitted in a glitter miniskirt and platform heels, Perrineau proved a worthy, if idiosyncratic, foil for Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo and gave a performance that marked him as one of the more distinctive Mercutios in the play's history.
Perrineau subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles in films ranging from Auster's Lulu on the Bridge (1998) to The Best Man (1999), a celebrated romantic comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee) that saw Perrineau share the screen with other members of a group widely billed as a new generation of African-American actors, including Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long. In addition to appearances in various independent films, Perrineau starred in Woman on Top (2000), a comedy that cast him as the drag queen best friend of a young woman (Penelope Cruz) experiencing romantic woes.
In 1997, Perrineau made the move to the small screen, assuming the role of paraplegic convict and narrator Augustus Hill on the acclaimed HBO series Oz. The brutally violent, hard-hitting series generated Perrineau thousands of fans, and he stayed with the show until 2003 - the same year he took up the role of Link in The Matrix Reloaded, the second film in the explosive Matrix franchise. He would reprise the role the next year for the third and final installment in the series, The Matrix Revolutions, before returning to television just months later for the role of Michael on the cryptic ABC sci-fi/mystery/drama Lost. Playing a conflicted and sometimes morally ambiguous character, Perrineau soon proved to be a vital member of the cast, taking a hiatus from the series in 2007 only to return in 2008.
Despite becoming a pivotal component of primetime TV, the actor remained as active in movies as ever. He took on the role of Flynn in the 2007 horror sequel 28 Weeks Later, and starred alongside Michael Madsen in the 2008 thriller The Killing Jar.
~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
In this complicated crime drama, Roland Dalton (Peter Weller) is an attorney who must defend a drug dealer who claims he killed in self defense. His worthy opponent is his former flame Susan Cantrell (Patricia Charbonneau), now an effective career-minded prosecuting attorney. Richie Marks (Sam Elliott) is the detective who anticipates that legal prosecution will finally close the book on this case. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, (more)
- 1989
Even though it was his idea that he and Justine (Michelle Thomas) should start dating other people, Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is riled when he sees Justine in the company of a guy named Scott (Harold Perrineau Jr.)--so much so that he makes a fool of himself in public. Seeking a paranormal method of getting rid of Scott, Theo solicits the aid of a "spiritual scientist" named Dr. Lotus (Moses Gunn). The good doctor is more than willing to place a hex on the troublesome Scott--provided that Theo can come up with an 800-dollar fee! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In a fictionalized replay of the notorious Tawana Brawley incident, African-American teenager Astrea Crawford (Kisha Miller) claims that she was gang-raped by white policemen. As Greevey (George Dzundza) and Logan (Chris Noth) pursue their investigation, assistant D.A.'s Stone (Michael Moriarty) and Robinette (Richard Brooks) attempt to build a case against the accused -- if indeed there is a case. The inevitable racial tensions are exacerbated by the interference, and inflammatory rhetoric, of flamboyant black congressman Ronald Eaton (J.A. Preston). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The gritty underbelly of New York's complex, ethnically divided criminal world is exposed in this dark drama from director Abel Ferrara. Christopher Walken stars as Frank White, a drug lord who's just been released from a long stint in prison. Aware that feeding off of society's depravity has made him a wealthy man, Frank has become determined to give something back to the city, and he hatches a scheme to build a multimillion-dollar public hospital in one of Brooklyn's worst ghetto neighborhoods. Needing the assistance of his fellow criminals to pull it off, Frank and his adjutant Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne) encounter a wall of resistance from every faction, including drug-trade partner Lance Wong (Joey Chin) and temperamental cop Dennis Gilley (David Caruso). Frank's do-gooder efforts ultimately result in a Mob war and in a bloody showdown between the city's various ethnic criminal actions. Ferrara followed King of New York with a similarly themed film that many critics considered his masterpiece, Bad Lieutenant (1992). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, David Caruso, (more)
- 1993
Havoc reigns supreme at a diabetes clinic where several patients suddenly die or go into a coma at an alarming rate. The detectives trace this disastrous situation to a hacker that has invaded the clinic's computer system. Then things take a surprising turn when a vengeance-driven blind man emerges on the suspect list. Without revealing any further cogent plot points, it can be noted that guest star Dana Elcar was legally blind in real life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A Brooklyn cigar shop is the setting for this drama from director Wayne Wang that interweaves the stories of several characters that have fractured family relationships in common. Harvey Keitel is Auggie Wren, poetic owner of the Brooklyn Cigar Company, a store that he considers the center of the world -- a place where all of humanity eventually parades through. One of his regular customers is Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), a writer and a broken shell of a man whose pregnant wife was shot and killed near the store. When Paul's life is saved one day by a young black man named Rashid (Harold Perrineau, Jr., the writer and his rescuer strike up a friendship and begin searching for Rashid's long-lost father (Forest Whitaker). At the store, Auggie is surprised by the appearance of Ruby (Stockard Channing), an ex-girlfriend who informs him that her pregnant, drug-addicted daughter Felicity (Ashley Judd) may also be his -- and is in dire need of help. Screenwriter Paul Auster based the script for Smoke on a 1990 short story he wrote for "The New York Times." He also wrote and directed the film's sequel (of sorts), Blue in the Face (1995). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Harvey Keitel, (more)
- 1995
- R
A lover, an ultimatum, a phone call, and a gun: these elements are found in each segment of Hal Hartley's Flirt, an experimental comedy-drama that essentially repeats the same story three times. But while the basic narrative remains the same -- a congenital flirt must decide whether or not to commit to a current lover, who otherwise will marry someone else -- the details differ greatly, from the location of the film to the gender of the participants. The initial segment, set in New York, tells the tale with a male flirt in turmoil over his relationship with a woman. The film then moves to Berlin, where the same drama is played out amongst a gay male couple, with an added touch of self-reflexive humor. The third and final episode takes place in Tokyo, with a female flirt and a more abstract cinematic approach, including several sequences in traditional Japanese pantomime. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Parker Posey, (more)
- 1996
- PG13
- Add William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet to QueueAdd William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet to top of Queue
The classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy is updated by director Baz Luhrmann to a post-modern Verona Beach where swords are merely a brand of gun and bored youths are easily spurred toward violence. Longtime rivals in religion and business, the Montagues and the Capulets share a page from the Jets and Sharks of West Side Story when they form rival gangs. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) is aloof toward the goings-on of his Montague cousins, but after he realizes that Juliet (Claire Danes) is a Capulet at the end of one very wild party, the enmity between the two clans becomes the root of his angst. He relies heavily -- and with serious consequences -- on his rebel gender-bender of a friend, Mercutio (Harold Perrineau Jr.), and Father (not Friar) Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite) for protection and support. Romeo is, of course, exiled, and it looks like Juliet will be forced into an arranged marriage with the bland Paris (Paul Rudd). It ends, as Romeo and Juliet must, when Romeo hears a tragic piece of misinformation and brings his suicide wish to what was meant to be Juliet 's temporary tomb. This time, though, the turf and the weapon of choice have taken a turn toward the surreal. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, (more)
- 1996
- R
Jack Nicholson reunited with director Bob Rafelson, director of Five Easy Pieces and The King Of Marvin Gardens, for this violent, downbeat crime drama. Alex (Jack Nicholson) is a wine dealer whose business is going belly-up, along with his life. His step-son Jason (Stephen Dorff) hates him, his wife Suzanne (Judy Davis) has a drinking problem and is the constant target of Alex's abuse, and Alex is having an affair with Gabriella (Jennifer Lopez), a domestic worker from Cuba. One of the people that Gabriella cleans for has a diamond necklace worth several million dollars locked in a safe in a bedroom. Desperate for a quick score to get himself out of debt, Alex sees a opportunity for a lot of fast money and hooks up with Victor (Michael Caine), a career criminal who knows how to open safes but is desperately ill with tuberculosis. Nicholson and Rafelson first worked together on the film Head, starring The Monkees (Nicholson only had a bit part, but he also wrote the screenplay and was credited with producing the soundtrack album). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, (more)
Billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) accompanies his much-younger wife Mickey (Elle Macpherson) and a fashion photography team headed by Bob Green (Alec Baldwin) to a remote lodge in Alaska. Charles is a quiet, introspective man, fond of accumulating trivia and other facts in his encyclopedic mind; he is also troubled with the idea that Bob and Mickey may be lovers. Even though he suspects the younger man plans to kill him, Charles goes with Bob and his assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau) on an airplane trip to find a photogenic friend (Gordon Tootoosis) of the lodge owner (L.Q. Jones), but the plane crashes in a lake, killing the pilot. The crash is miles from their planned path, so they can't expect to be spotted by an aerial search; there's only one chance: they have to walk to a more likely spot.Though Robert and Stephan are more physically fit, Charles' calm wit and ingenuity proves the key to their survival, especially after a ferocious bear brutally kills Stephen. Robert and Charles' odyssey becomes more urgent when they discover that the bear is now stalking them. ~ Bill Warren, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, (more)
Seen mostly through the eyes of wheelchair-bound prisoner Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), who serves as narrator and "tour guide," the first season of Oz begins with the establishment of a "prison within a prison" on Cell Block 5 of Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary -- aka "Oz." Under the watchful eyes of Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson), Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) serves as unit manager of Cell Block 5, which he rechristens the Emerald City. It is the hope of the idealistic McManus that by allowing the prisoners more freedom and privileges, and getting them used to a daily routine, they will become rehabilitated more quickly. Perhaps it goes without saying that McManus is in for a lot of disillusionment and disappointment during the eight episodes of season one. Newly interned at "Em City" are former lawyer Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen), nervously serving time for murder; famed Muslim leader Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), who calmly informs Warden Glynn that he intends to become "top man" at Oz; pro basketball player Jackson Vayhue (Rick Fox); and cannibalistic serial killer Donald Groves (Sean Whitesell). Their assimilation into the prison population is uneventful until Governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who has sailed into office on a platform diametrically proposed to Glynn's "coddling" of prisoners, orders the removal of such newly installed privileges as smoking and conjugal visits. Going one step farther, Devlin reinstates the death penalty, resulting in the immediate execution of one of the Em City "residents." Clearly, this does nothing to alleviate the tension between cons and guards -- nor, for that matter, between the various powerful factions within the population. In the course of events, an undercover narc is found hanged in his cell, another prisoner is set afire, the Oz staffers wrestle with the problem of what to do with elderly inmates, a turf war breaks out over a game of checkers, and Kareem Said suffers a heart attack. The season ends with a bloody and destructive riot -- with no indication as to who will survive to appear in season two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
- 1997
The first patients for Carol's (Julianna Margulies) new free clinic show up a week before it is supposed to open. Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) accuses Weaver (Laura Innes) of discrimination vis-à-vis Jeanie's termination. After operating on a 12-year-old victim of a hit-and-run, Benton (Eriq La Salle) uses the boy's grieving father as grist for the mill of his upcoming journal article. And Mark (Anthony Edwards) finds out that his attorney Herb Spivak (Dan Hedaya) is slightly off-balance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Season two of Oz gets under way in the wake of the bloody riot at "Emerald City," the experimental unit set up on Cell Block 5 of Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary, in which eight are killed and 34 wounded. Though it is obvious to many observers that the ruthlessly ambitious Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek) has used the riot as an excuse to violently smash Warden Glynn's (Ernie Hudson) efforts to rehabilitate the prisoners via more freedom of movement and extra privileges, Devlin's questionable actions in the incident are condoned by the prison board. Ten months later, the convicts are herded into Emerald City's new facilities -- whereupon the old power struggles and drug trading resumes as if nothing had happened. The unit's still-idealistic manager, Tim McManus (Terry Kinney), hopes to mollify the prisoners and mold them into useful citizens worthy of rehabilitation by reinstating many of their privileges, and by attempting to bring the various factional subgroups -- the Latinos, the Italians, the Muslims -- into a homogenous "whole" in which everyone is equal and no one is mad at anyone. McManus has also convinced himself that the cons would benefit from an education program. Before long, alas, most of McManus' New Age notions are flattened beneath the juggernaut of reality. New to the Em City prisoner population this season are Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni), Agamemnon "The Mole" Busmalis, (Tom Mardirosian), and Cyril O'Reily (Scott William Winters). Events crucial to the action include the rape of Gov. Glynn's daughter by members of the Latinos; the publication of a "true" interpretation of the riot by inmate Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), the powerful and nationally famous leader of the Muslims; the governor's announcement that prisoner Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe) is to be the first woman executed by the state since 1841; and a "foolproof" escape attempt that ends in a double tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
- 1998
- PG13
This adaptation of the classic Shakespearean tale of an exiled ruler who happens to be a very powerful magician is set in a pre-Civil War Mississippi bayou, with the main characters as powerful slaveowners instead of heads-of-state. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Fonda, John Glover, (more)
Idealistic, "New Age" unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) persists in trying to mold "Emerald City" (aka Cell Block 5 of Oswald State Correctional Facility -- formerly Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary) into a model "prison within a prison" as Oz begins its third season. Part of McManus' pie-in-the-sky plan includes the hiring of his old friend Sean Murphy (Robert Clohessy) as a guard. Alas, Murphy's efforts to redirect the convicts' energies and hostilities into good, clean athletics are compromised when one inmate renders another inmate brain-dead in a boxing match. No one is more delighted at Tim McManus' frustration than the state's ambitious governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who as part of his platform to strip the cons of all perks and privileges has ruthlessly slashed the prison's budget to the bone. In addition to Sean Murphy, Officer Claire Howell (Kristin Rhode) joins the guard unit, immediately making enemies of everyone within the sound of her voice. Not only does Howell force the cons into having sex with her to lighten up punishment duty, but she also ends up suing McManus for sexual harassment. Sensing the opportunity to establish themselves as top dogs at Emerald City block leaders, convicts Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) and Wangler (J.D. Williams) likewise gang up on McManus, taking their complaints to the press. Elsewhere, the death sentence of Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe) is commuted to life without parole when it turns out she is pregnant; Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) hires Off. Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam), the son of one of Oz's former guards, only to discover that Hughes is a psycho on a revenge kick; Beecher (Lee Tergesen) hatches an elaborate revenge scheme of his own; and charismatic Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker) is among those thrown into solitary after a bitter racial showdown. The season ends with a not-so-merry Christmas for all, and to all a bad night. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
- 1999
A group of young actors rehearsing a production of Macbeth find their roles are at once reflecting and shaping their personalities in Macbeth in Manhattan. Claudia (Gloria Reuben) and Max (David Lansbury) are a couple living together who both audition for an upcoming New York production of Macbeth. They win the leading roles, but the director (John Glover) decides to recast the title character when a better-known actor, William (Nick Gregory), becomes available, and Max is instead given a smaller role as Macduff. Soon the tensions and interpersonal dramas offstage begin to parallel the events of Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy. Female lead Gloria Reuben will be a familiar face to fans of the TV series E.R., while two other cast members come from notable theatrical families; David Lansbury is the nephew of actress Angela Lansbury, while Nick Gregory's father is noted actor and director André Gregory. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gloria Reuben, David Lansbury, (more)
A non-narrative comedy that explores issues of race in contemporary America, A Day in Black and White concerns two friends who are students, identified only as Black Man and White Man. Black Man has to deliver a speech in class on race relations, and the two begin to discuss both the speech and the larger ideas involved; and, as one might expect, they have decidedly different views on the subject. As the pair go through their day, the argument continues and others add their opinions on everything from popular culture and professional sports to the O.J. Simpson case. The debut film from writer and director Desmond Hall, A Day in Black and White was shown at the 1999 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harold Perrineau, Jr., Anthony de Sando, (more)
In this romantic comedy, a writer finds out the hard way about the consequences of walking a fine line between fiction and real life. Harper (Taye Diggs) is an author whose first novel is soon to be published, just as he's been asked to be Best Man at the wedding of his friends Lance (Morris Chestnut) and Mia (Monica Calhoun). Harper is suffering a worse case of publication-day jitters than most authors, and with good reason: much of his book has been drawn from real life, and he's afraid that his friends and family will spot the sometimes unflattering literary versions of themselves. What's worse, Mia and Harper had a fling years ago, and their affair made it into the book; Lance doesn't know, and Harper would just as soon he didn't find out before the wedding. But one of the bridesmaids, Jordan (Nia Long), has gotten hold of an advance copy of the book. Since Jordan works as a television journalist and devotes her life to digging up dirt on people, Harper is convinced that she'll spill the beans and spoil his friends' big day. The Best Man was the debut film for writer/director Malcolm D. Lee; Spike Lee served as producer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Taye Diggs, Nia Long, (more)
Love, sex, and food combine in this sensuous romantic comedy. Isabella (Penelope Cruz) is a master chef who suffers from severe motion sickness, requiring her to be in control of her movements at all times. This need extends to the bedroom, but her husband Tonino (Murilo Benicio), who owns the restaurant where she works, doesn't like to make love in the fashion suggested by the title. This is hardly the only thing about their relationship that she finds stifling, and when Isabella discovers Tonino in bed with another woman, she leaves for America, where with the help of cross-dressing friend "Monica" (Harold Perrineau Jr.), she becomes a star as the host of a TV cooking show, Passion Foods Live. Woman on Top was the first American film from Venezuelan director Fina Torres. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Penélope Cruz, Murilo Benicio, (more)
As season four of Oz begins, the experimental unit at Oswald State Correctional Facility known as "Emerald City" is not living up to manager Tim McManus' (Terry Kinney) hopes. Ever since he set up the unit, wherein convicts are given more freedom of movement, extra privileges, and the opportunity for advancement, McManus has been frustrated that his good intentions have not paid off in wholesale rehabilitation. In fact, things seem to have gotten worse, with too many murders and suicides occurring within the unit. Hoping to alleviate the situation, McManus' head guard, Murphy (Robert Clohessy), suggests that all the cons -- including those in solitary -- spend an hour each day indulging in healthy recreation. Again, however, the plan fails when a killing takes place during that special hour. With more episodes this season than in previous years (16, compared to the usual eight), Oz is able to devote extra time to a plethora of subplots. One of these involves convicted murderer Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe), who after losing her unborn baby under suspicious circumstances is sent back to death row. Also, a group of illegal aliens sequestered in Emerald City is the catalyst for a rash of violence; Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) runs for lieutenant governor; an attempt to film a documentary in Oz ends in disaster; Busmalis (aka "The Mole") (Tom Mardirosian), manages to break out of prison, only to be recaptured as he stands outside the home of his favorite TV star; crooked evangelist Rev. Cloutier (Luke Perry) is tossed into the unit; and infirmary doctor Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez) is raped. Tensions continue to mount as McManus is fired and convict Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) escapes (these plot twists were designed to allow Acevedo and his co-star Terry Kinney to take leaves of absence to appear in other projects); new unit manager Martin Querns (Reg E. Cathey) cuts a sinister deal with drug-dealing con Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) to put a lid on the violence; fired guard Clayton Hughes (Seth Gilliam) tries to assassinate Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek); a plot is hatched to frame wheelchair-bound convict Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.) for a crime he hasn't committed; the children of inmate Beecher (Lee Tergesen) are placed in jeopardy thanks to orders from the "inside"; and incarcerated Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker) settles accounts with an old enemy. The season ends with a cliffhanger, sparked -- literally -- by a deadly gas explosion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
Jed Weintrob directed this look at how Internet sex sites bring people together, while simultaneously keeping them apart. John Roth (Josh Hamilton) and his friend Moe Curley (Harrold Perrineau) spend a remarkable amount of time at Intercon-X, a pornographic website. All of the characters spend a great deal of time in cyberspace. Eventually, John shares a sexual act online with Jordan (Vanessa Ferlito), another regular at Intercon-X. Eventually Jordan and Moe engage in an actual affair, which finally forces all of the characters to deal with each other in the real world, and not just in cyberspace. This film was shot on digital video and was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hamilton, Harold Perrineau, Jr., (more)
Previously fired from his job as manager of "Emerald City," the experimental unit set up at Oswald Correctional Facility, Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) has been reinstated by the time Oz's fifth season gets under way. The season begins with an accounting of the damage caused by the gas explosion at the end of season four. Not long afterward, "Emerald City" has new facilities, and a whole new crop of inmates -- all from solitary, having been relocated due to ventilation problems. In another development, a bus accident kills the relatives of several Emerald City inmates; among those devastated by the loss is wheelchair-bound Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), who makes a dangerous choice when he tries to console himself. Elsewhere, convict Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) puts his life on the line to reassert his control over the prisoners; inmate Rebadow (George Morfogen) is cheated out of a two-million-dollar lottery prize; and the prisoners put on a variety show. Season five ends with an overabundance of cliffhanger situations involving (among other things) a comatose convict and a capital murder conviction. There is also a devastating loss at season's end -- even more devastating than the one incurred at the outset of the season. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
Although Oz's longtime narrator, wheelchair-bound prison inmate Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), was killed at the end of the series' fifth season, he is still very much in attendance at the beginning of season six -- albeit from beyond the grave. Hill is, in fact, one of several ghostly prisoners, all of them victims of past tragedies occurring at the experimental "Emerald City" unit at Oswald Correction Facility, who show up to narrate the eight episodes in this, the series' final season on the air. Undaunted by previous failures and setbacks, unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) remains steadfast in his belief that the prisoners living within "Emerald City" can be rehabilitated if given freedom of movement, extra privileges, and a sense of responsibility and self-worth. Unfortunately, he may not get the chance to carry out his reforms this season, inasmuch as several prisoners have become violently ill due to faulty building substances used to renovate the unit. In another disturbing development, Emerald City's most famous "resident," charismatic Muslim leader Said (Eamonn Walker), is murdered. On a more satisfying note, the ruthlessly ambitious Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), who for six years has opposed the efforts by McManus and Warden Glynn (Ernie Hudson) to improve prison conditions, may finally be called to account for all of his crooked and underhanded dealings in the past. Oz's climactic episode, running 100 minutes, not only serves up just desserts for Devlin, but also charts the ultimate destinies of two other long-term series regulars, convicts Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) and Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen). "There's no place like home." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney, (more)
Shot back-to-back with The Matrix Reloaded, the third and final installment of Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski's sci-fi action saga picks up where the second film left off. Neo (Keanu Reeves) remains unconscious in the real world, caught in a mysterious subway station that lies between the machine world and the Matrix, and Bane (Ian Bliss) is still a conduit for Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), who continues to grow out of control, threatening to destroy both worlds. Meanwhile, as the sentinels get closer and closer to Zion, the citizens of the earth's last inhabited city prepare for the inevitable onslaught. By bargaining with The Merovingian (Lambert Wilson), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) are able to free Neo who, after meeting with The Oracle (Mary Alice stepping in for the late Gloria Foster), decides that he must leave Zion and head for the machine mainframe. As Neo and Trinity venture into the dangerous machine world, with hopes of stopping both the machines and Agent Smith, their comrades in Zion attempt to fight off the attacking sentinels with the odds stacked greatly against them. Other cast members returning include Monica Bellucci, Ngai Sing, and Harold Perrineau Jr. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, (more)
After creating an international sensation with the visually dazzling and intellectually challenging sci-fi blockbuster The Matrix, the Wachowski brothers returned with the first of two projected sequels that pick up where the first film left off. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) have been summoned by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) to join him on a voyage to Zion, the last outpost of free human beings on Earth. Neo and Trinity's work together has been complicated by the fact the two are involved in a serious romantic relationship. Upon their arrival in Zion, Morpheus locks horns with rival Commander Lock (Harry J. Lennix) and encounters his old flame Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith). Meanwhile, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) has returned with some surprises for Neo, most notably the ability to replicate himself as many times as he pleases. Neo makes his way to The Oracle (Gloria Foster), who informs him that if he wishes to save humankind, he must unlock "The Source," which means having to release The Key Maker (Randall Duk Kim) from the clutches of Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). While Merovingian refuses to cooperate, his wife, Persephone (Monica Bellucci), angry at her husband's dalliances with other women, offers to help, but only in exchange for a taste of Neo's affections. With The Keymaker in tow, Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus are chased by Merovingian's henchmen: a pair of deadly albino twins (Neil Rayment and Adrian Rayment). Filmed primarily in Australia and California (the extended chase scene was shot on a stretch of highway build specifically for the production outside of San Francisco), The Matrix Reloaded was produced in tandem with the third film in the series, The Matrix Revolutions. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, (more)
