Dennis Murphy Movies

The title of Beth Murphy's heart-rending activist documentary Beyond the 11th (also known as Beyond Belief) refers to 9/11, and her two chief subjects are Patti Quigley and Susan Retik, a pair of American women who lost their husbands in the September 2001 World Trade Center attacks, while each was pregnant with a daughter. Though unspeakably moved by the outpouring of support they received, Susan and Patti soon became aware of the comparative lack of assistance for Afghani widows, who number over 50,000 in the city of Kabul alone. Determined to ease the circumstances, and sensing a deep-seated emotional bond with these victims of tragedy, the American women launched their own grass-roots fundraiser for this subset of the Afghani populace: a 275-mile bicycle run from Ground Zero to Boston on September 11, 2004. Their efforts did not stop there, however -- Quigley and Retik ultimately felt moved enough by the plight of the Afghani women to jet off to Afghanistan themselves, and assist the bereft one-on-one, thus fighting terror in a most unusual and deeply felt manner. Murphy recounts Quigley and Retik's story, from 9/11 through their voyages to the Middle East. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Debuting January 27, 2003, the weekly, hourlong supernatural-drama series Miracles starred Skeet Ulrich as Paul Callan, a sincere, self-effacing young seminarian whose job it was to investigate "miraculous phenomena" on behalf of the Catholic church. At first, Paul adhered to the party line, declaring that most miracles could be logically explained. All this changed when, after a near-fatal accident, Paul was brought back to life by the mysterious healing powers of a boy named Tommy -- who paid for his act of grace with his life. Just before his recovery, Paul had seen the words "God Is Now Here," scrawled in his own blood. Galvanized by this sign from above, Paul quit his job and became a freelance investigator of miracles, hoping not only to prove beyond doubt the authenticity -- or lack of authenticity -- of those miracles, but also to ascertain the reason that his life was spared and Tommy's was not. Paul was joined on this mission by ex-Harvard professor Father Alva Keel (Angus MacFadyen), an expert in the paranormal -- and like Paul, the sort of true believer who demanded complete verification of his beliefs. Alva also headed a strange Boston-based organization called "Sodalitas Quaerito" ("Brotherhood in Search of Truth"), whose acolytes seemed to be preparing for an as-yet-undetermined "large event" that might well have culminated with the end of the world. The two investigators were occasionally assisted by a sympathetic former policewoman, Evelyn Santos (Marisa Ramirez), likewise a member of Sodalitas Quaerito. A presentation of the ABC network, Miracles might have lasted longer than its six episodes had the series not been constantly pre-empted by news coverage of the unrest in the Middle East. The show was canceled on March 27, 2003, but not before it had attracted a sizeable cult following. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

14-year-old Holly Nolan (Gina Philips) lives unhappily with her hyperjudgmental mother Donna (Talia Shire) and her brother Ted (Eddie Mills). To escape the pressures of her home life and make herself feel important, Holly begins hanging out with an older crowd, and in the course of events falls in love with 19-year-old Chris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) an Army reservist who has been disowned by his family. When Donna violently objects to Holly's romance with Chris, the couple elope and head off to Calfornia, certain that all they need to survive in the "outside" world is their love for each other. But it isn't enough: Repeatedly battered down by disillusionment and deprivation, Holly and Chris can't even return to her home town, where Chris faces charges for being AWOL--and, thanks to Holly's vengeful mother, for statutory rape. With apparently no other alternative, Chris resorts to the "easiest" way to stay alive, becoming a male prostitute on the mean streets of LA. Innovative direction and a driving musical score featuring such artists as Van Halen, Peter Himmelman, Lisa Cerbone and Sarah McLaughlin) helps sustain the viewers' interest and fascination in this sordid (but not sordidly told) made-for-TV movie. Born Into Exile made its NBC network debut on March 17, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Millstone is the all-too-appropriate name of the Texas hometown of sophisticated career woman Martha (Loni Anderson). No sooner has Martha returned home after a 15-year absence than she witnesses a murder. Relating this information to her sisters, Martha is confused by their reaction. Only when it is nearly too late does the truth come out: The killer is Martha's own brother-in-law Eddie (Greg Evigan). This shock from the present only serves to dredge up long-buried secrets from the heroine's past--hence the title of this made-for-TV melodrama. First telecast by NBC on December 14, 1995, Deadly Family Secrets was based on Franklin Coen's novel Vinegar Hill--and also bears eerie echoes of the 1951 Ginger Rogers theatrical-movie vehicle Storm Warning. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The highly acclaimed and famously eccentric classical pianist Glenn Gould is the subject of this idiosyncratic film portrait. As the title suggests, Gould's life is explored through a series of thirty-two self-contained but interrelated vignettes, a structure inspired by Bach's "Goldberg Variations," the compositions that were the basis for one of Gould's most famous recordings. Fictional recreations, many starring an excellent Colm Feore as Gould, follow the musician from his precocious childhood to his early death at the age of fifty. Juicy biographical details like a surprising early retirement from public performance and an addiction to prescription drugs are featured prominently, but equal attention is paid to Gould's challenging theoretical ideas. Director Francois Girard refuses to provide easy explanations for the pianist's quirks, instead using his unconventional structure to provide great insight while suggesting the real Gould remains essentially unknowable. Especially interesting is the film's mix of dramatization and documentary, as it juxtaposes its fictional recreations with actual interviews with Gould's friends and associates. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

The Canadian documentary Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media presents a lengthy, detailed look at the political beliefs of celebrated intellectual Noam Chomsky. Casting only passing glances at Chomsky's groundbreaking work in the field of linguistics and his eventful life, filmmakers Mark Achbar and Peter Witonick instead focus on his activities as a political dissident and media critic. Particular attention is paid to his contention that the American mass media serves as a form of "thought control in a democratic society," with major news organizations systematically bending the truth to support the status quo. Chomsky defends this belief in numerous public appearances, lectures, and debates, siting as examples the widely divergent media treatment of genocidal activities in Cambodia and East Timor and the unquestioned acceptance of America's Gulf War policy. While opposing viewpoints and rebuttals are sometimes aired, the filmmakers quite clearly are in general agreement with Chomsky and even include humorous visual illustrations of his political theories, utilizing stock footage, on-screen diagrams, and the like. Despite its clear favoritism, the film nevertheless succeeds in making a thought-provoking case for these ideas and provides an intriguing glimpse into the life of a complex, driven thinker. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, the made-for-television movie Runaway Father is about a husband who fakes his death so he can abandon his family. After surviving 20 years of poverty, his wife discovers he is still alive, and she sues him to collect 17 years of back child support. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Rutger Hauer plays a blinded Vietnam vet who also happens to be an expert swordsman. Twenty years after the war, Hauer finds himself waist-deep in gangsters when he tries to help the son (Brandon Call) of an old army buddy. Along the way, he reforms an ex-comrade in arms (Terrance O'Quinn) who was responsible for the accident that blinded him. Based on a series of Japanese films about a blind samurai (released under the blanket title of Zatoichi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this sex comedy, the hope of landing a profitable contract sets two rival valet services, the Fraternity Parkers and the Valet Girls, into competition with each other. In an attempt to outsell their competition, both services offer special bonuses and incentives to their lucky customers. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Two months after the events of the original Friday the 13th, Alice (Adrienne King), the lone survivor or Mrs. Vorhees' killing spree, meets a grisly end in her city apartment. Five years later, a new group of co-eds converges near Camp Crystal Lake, scene of the original massacre and the drowning of Jason Vorhees that preceded it. This time around, the horny collegians attend a nearby training school for camp counselors. As half the group parties in town, an unseen assailant picks off the other half one by one. Only when camp leader Paul (John Furey) and his girlfriend, Ginny (Amy Steel), return to camp do they uncover the identity of their stalker -- none other than Jason (Warrington Gillette) himself, alive but grotesquely deformed as a result of his childhood drowning. Flashbacks chronicle Jason's behind-the-scenes activities in the first film (perhaps explaining how his mother was able to throw the dead bodies of muscular youths through windows with such apparent ease). The young couple's only hope to defeat the fiend lies in psych major Ginny's insights in Jason's mental state. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Long before "don't ask, don't tell," this melodrama made a mishmash of the issue of homosexuality in the military. Rod Steiger stars as Master Sergeant Albert Callan, a hero of WWII who is stationed at a U.S. Army base in France in 1952. A gruff, tough taskmaster, Callan turns the base from a shambles run by the alcoholic Captain Loring (Frank Latimore) into a model of efficiency and discipline -- though the lazy troops resent Callan for his efforts. Callan's been hiding his attraction to men for some time, and his eye is turned toward his attractive clerk, PFC Tom Swanson (John Phillip Law). Callan jealously refuses to grant Swanson permission to visit his French girlfriend (Ludmila Mikael) -- and even orders the younger man to stop seeing her. At first, Swanson interprets Callan's odd behavior as loneliness and forgives it, but after Callan kisses him, Swanson understands that his superior's attentions are sexual. Rebuffed, Callan tortures Swanson with unfair punishments and criticisms, earning his subordinate's animus. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide