Craig Wasson

A young girl learns to believe in herself and value her intelligence in this critically-acclaimed, family-friendly drama. Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old being raised by her mother, Tanya (Angela Bassett), who was left on her own after the death of her husband. While Akeelah is a very bright girl, she's hardly a star student and seems afraid of acting like a bookworm around her friends and classmates. However, Akeelah's teacher sees genuine potential in her student and encourages her to enter the school's spelling bee, convinced Akeelah has the brains and the talent to win. Akeelah applies herself and emerges victorious in the local competition, but discovers the going gets tougher when she goes to a statewide bee, studying for the regionals under the aegis of strict English teacher Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who consents to act as her coach A college professor who was a spelling-bee champ as a child, Larabee is a stubborn taskmaster who questions Akeelah's ability and commitment, but in time he develops a respect for his pupil and helps her prove her talent as she climbs the ladder to the National Spelling Bee. Meanwhile, Tanya feels intimidated when she finds the contests are dominated by children from wealthy families and privileged backgrounds, and argues that the competition may not be in Akeelah's best interest, believing instead that homework should be the one and only priority in Akeelah's life. It soon becomes apparent that if Akeelah has any intention of entering the national spelling bee championships in Washington, D.C., she will not do so with Tanya's permission or blessing. This marks the first onscreen reunion of Bassett and Fishburne since their Academy Award-nommed performances as Ike Turner and Tina Turner in Brian Gibson's 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former TV Superman Dean Cain stars in this sci-fi horror film reminiscent of James Cameron's 1986 classic Aliens. Boa sets its action in the not-too-distant future, where volatile criminals are shipped off to a place called Facility Number One, a super-high-security prison located -- just to be safe -- in the distant, icy confines of Anarctica. What the prisoners and their wardens don't know, however, is that there's a presence more dangerous than all of them combined: A giant, prehistoric, flesh-eating snake, hibernating in the ground just underneath the facility. When the creature gets a whiff of what's going on above ground, the oversized boa decides it's time for a little light snacking, and the good and bad guys have to join together to escape the carnage. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

One man's fascination with pornography leads him down a path of destruction, hurting both himself and others. In this independent drama, Paul (Michael DeGood) is a young man who has problems with women, who falls into the habit of purchasing pornography and hiring prostitutes. After making a few amateur porn videos on his own, he meets Spano (Craig Wasson), a major producer of adult films who tells Paul he could go far in pornography if he could find the right star. When Paul meets Kate (Katheryn Cain) -- a naive, aspiring actress who has just moved to L.A. -- he thinks he may have found just the right girl to build his career on. But Paul is blind to the dangerous and sordid world he has moved into, and the deeper he goes, the more damage is done to himself and to Kate. Co-star Craig Wasson also served as associate producer for this film, which was shown at the 1999 Santa Barbara Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Two teenagers, each dealing with a different set of emotional burdens, find love and understanding with each other in The Last Best Sunday. Lolly Ann (Angela Bettis) is a high-school student in Pickley, a small agricultural community in California where she's growing up under the thumb of her strict, deeply religious mother (Kim Darby). Joseph (Douglas Spain), on the other hand, is struggling to get along without his parents; he came to Pickley with his family as migrant workers, but opted to stay on after his folks left so he could finish his final year of high school and earn his diploma. However, Joseph finds Hispanics are not always welcome here; a pair of bullies beat him savagely, and when he tries to get revenge, he finds town's bigoted sheriff (William Lucking) is after him. On the run, Joseph breaks into what he thinks is an empty house, only to find Lolly Ann at home while her parents are away for the weekend. Once she overcomes her initial fear and distrust, Lolly Ann finds she has a lot more in common with Joseph than she thought, and a grudging respect soon grows into affection. The Last Best Sunday was directed by Don Most, who as Donny Most is best remembered for playing Ralph Malf on the sit-com Happy Days; his former co-star Marion Ross briefly appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Convicted of espionage by the Argathia, O'Brien is punished by having memories of 20 years' imprisonment implanted in his brain. As a result, when he returns to DS9 he is convinced that two decades have passed, and he refuses to be persuaded otherwise. The painful false memories of his prison time not only threaten O'Brien's sanity, but also the safety of his fellow crew members. First broadcast April 15, 1996, "Hard Time" was scripted by Robert Hewitt Wolfe from a story by Daniel Keys Moran and Lynn Barker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Winfield makes his first series appearance as Special Agent Angel Sam. After completing an assignment in the town of Roxford, Tess (Della Reese) makes a return visit to help Dr. Joanne Glassberg (Talia Balsam) open an AIDs hospice. Unfortunately, Joanne is injured in a bombing masterminded by a group of white supremacists led by Tim Porter (Craig Wasson)--to whom Tess had previously been assigned as a Heavenly caseworker. So angry is Tess over her failure to "convert" Tim that Sam is forced to strip her of her powers and take charge of her next assignment: foiling a hate-mongering politician (John Schneider) who is actually Satan in disguise! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This story revolves around piano prodigy Leslie Walden (Jenny Lewis) and her demanding mentor Byron (Ronald Guttman). Believing that Leslie would be nothing without him, Byron bristles at the likelihood that he is losing control of the girl's career. Soon afterward, Byron is found murdered--and it is up to Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to perform a few arpeggios and glissandos (metaphorically speaking, of course) to determine the killer's identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Writer-director Spike Lee's epic portrayal of the life and times of the slain civil rights leader Malcolm X begins with the cross-cut imagery of the police beating of black motorist Rodney King juxtaposed with an American flag burning into the shape of the letter X. When the film's narrative begins moments later, it jumps back to World War II-era Boston, where Malcolm Little (Denzel Washington) is making his living as a hustler. The son of a Baptist preacher who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, Little was raised by foster parents after his mother was deemed clinically insane; as an adult, he turned to a life of crime, which leads to his imprisonment on burglary charges. In jail, Little receives epiphany in the form of an introduction to Islam; he is especially taken with the lessons of Elijah Mohammed, who comes to him in a vision. Adopting the name 'Malcolm X' as a rejection of the 'Little' surname (given his family by white slave owners), he meets the real Elijah Mohammed (Al Freeman, Jr.) upon exiting prison, and begins work as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam. Marriage to a Muslim nurse named Betty Shabazz (Angela Bassett) follows, after which X spearheads a well-attended march on a Harlem hospital housing a Muslim recovering from an episode of police brutality. The march's success helps elevate X to the position of Islam's national spokesperson. There is dissension in the ranks, however, and soon X is targeted for assassination by other Nation leaders; even Elijah Mohammed fears Malcolm's growing influence. After getting wind of the murder plot, X leaves the Nation of Islam, embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca that proves revelatory; renouncing his separatist beliefs, his oratories begin embracing all races and cultures. During a 1965 speech, Malcolm X is shot and killed, reportedly by Nation of Islam members. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

This is a Whodunit-type film, where someone is using a nasty pair of scissors to play a one-by-one elimination game with a troop of group-therapy patients. The group is made up of attractive women who soon realize that they could be next. ~ All Movie Guide

The best of the Elm Street sequels, this creepy, surreal fantasy features terrific effects, a fine young cast, and an air of grim fatalism that sets it apart from its giggly successors. Patricia Arquette stars as Kristen, whose nightmare leads to a slashed wrist which looks suspiciously like a suicide attempt. She is placed in a hospital psychiatric ward with a group of six other troubled teens who all dream about the same horribly burned man (Robert Englund) trying to kill them. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this picture, however, is the unexpected depth of sadness running through it. There are some achingly sweet moments in this otherwise frightening film which, though not disruptive, are impossible to analyze. The first and most bizarre of these is Heather Langenkamp's entrance, which inexplicably causes most viewers to get misty-eyed, and there are several similar scenes throughout the film. One answer can be found in the sensitive direction of Chuck Russell, who emphasizes the tragedy and utter hopelessness in these kids' lives and manages to wring some unexpectedly perceptive turns from his cast. This is a film in which a great deal of care was obviously lavished on individual scenes (the sets are outstanding) and performances. The results are well worth repeated viewings, and prove that sequels don't necessarily have to be inferior films. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In Body Double, director Brian DePalma pays homage to the Alfred Hitchcock movies Vertigo and Rear Window, adding a few grotesque touches all his own. Craig Wasson plays Jake, a struggling actor who keeps losing jobs because of his claustrophobia. To make matters worse, his girlfriend has walked out on him, so he has no place to sleep. His pal offers him the use of his apartment for the evening. The apartment happens to be equipped with a huge picture window and telescope, enabling him to spy on his beautiful neighbor Gloria (Deborah Shelton) while she undresses. He also bears witness to her brutal murder. And then he meets a porn star (Melanie Griffith), who has just taken a job posing as the late Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location in France, Italy, Greece, and Egypt, Innocents Abroad was adapted by Dan Wakefield from the 1869 book by Mark Twain. The Twain original was an amusing, semi-satiric account of the author's Grand Tour of Europe and the Holy Land in 1867. Most of the humor derived from the contrast between the iconoclastic Twain and the tacked-on "reverence" of his fellow tourists. The cast includes Craig Wasson as Twain, David Ogden Stiers as a ship's doctor, Barry Morse as Captain Duncan, and-best of all--Luigi Proiette as the glib, effusive tour guide. Innocents Abroad premiered May 9, 1983 on PBS' Great Performances series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this skewed, unreal view of a woman's choice in men, almost nothing is believable. Amy (Lucie Arnaz) is a savvy, well-educated lawyer in Santa Fe who divorces her husband, an exec in the banking business, to become involved with Will (Craig Wasson) a street musician with the same iron-clad brain as her ex when it comes to women. The musician is regularly picked up by the police for his loitering, though he seems never to fully realize why they are doing this to him. Amy drops him at last, and when she finds out she is pregnant, she goes to the hospital to have an abortion -- and is introduced to a Boris Karloff-type doctor. Before anything further happens, Will comes along and forcibly carries her off to a remote, run-down building in a ghost town where he ties her to a bed intending to keep her there until she has the baby. Hard to believe, but things only get worse from here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide