Toby Huss Movies

This film represents the first cinematic venture by the comic troupe Duck's Breath Mystery Theater. Sight gags abound. The story concerns the efforts of a Hollywood type to make a low-budget horror film in his home state of Iowa. His family's proximity causes endless complications. The film-within-a-film concerns the adventures of a giant radioactive cow. The film's comic highlight is the difficulty faced by extras when the cow horns stuck to their heads with super strong adhesive won't come off. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Michelle Trachtenberg and Iggy Pop make their first series appearances as the unusually perceptive preteen Nona Mecklenburg and her thick-eared father Mr. Mecklenburg during season two of the surreal Nickelodeon sitcom The Adventures of Pete & Pete. The first of the season's 13 episodes, "Grounded for Life," finally solves the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa -- but you'll have to be paying very close attention! In other season highlights, Bebe Neuwirth of Cheers fame appears as Mail Lady McGintee in "The Call"; LL Cool J and Chris Elliot show up in "Sickday" (an episode reportedly banned in those countries where playing hooky from school is practically a capital offense); and Steve Buscemi and Janeane Garofalo are on hand for the existential entry "X=Why?" Season two's final episode, "On Golden Pete," guest stars David Johansen, (aka "Buster Poindexter,") as a park ranger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Very loosely based on the memoir of the same name, The Basketball Diaries transposes the late '60s adolescence of writer/artist Jim Carroll to some unspecified time period at least 15 years later, further confusing the timeframe with three decades of rock music, some by Carroll himself. Jim (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Catholic school chums are on the hottest basketball team in New York, but their friend Bobby (Michael Imperioli) languishes in the hospital with leukemia. In-between typically boyish adventures, Jim scribbles in his notebook and experiments with sex and drugs. His group of friends begins to disintegrate after coach Swifty (Bruno Kirby) not only makes a pass at Jim, but also catches him and his pals using drugs on the court and kicks them off the team. Out of school and on the streets, Jim turns tricks, betrays friends, robs stores, and deals drugs to feed his heroin addiction. Not even the efforts of former addict Reggie (Ernie Hudson) can cure Jim. Mark Wahlberg appears as one of Jim's basketball and drug buddies, while Carroll himself makes a memorable cameo as an addict who describes the almost Catholic rituals of shooting heroin. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This program follows the travails of three young ladies as they try to make their way through the mean streets of Manhattan. To make ends meet, the girls decide to start a bookie joint (an illegal gambling parlor) with predictably quirky results. Beyond the focus on their careers, this comedy takes a wry look at relationships, and how they've changed in the face of changing gender roles. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Combining drama, comedy, and romance, Jerry Maguire was a critical and commercial success built on an original script by writer/director Cameron Crowe and an Oscar-nominated performance by Tom Cruise. Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise) is an agent with a major sports management firm. He's enthusiastic, successful, a great negotiator and people like him. But it begins to dawn on Jerry that there's something wrong with what he's doing, and not long after a troubling encounter with the son of an injured athlete he represents, Jerry has a serious crisis of conscience. In the midst of a sleepless night, Jerry writes a memo calling on himself and his colleagues to think more about the long-term welfare of the clients they represent and less about immediate profits. While everyone around him applauds the sentiment, Jerry's superiors think his ideas are bad for business; Jerry is fired, and, rather than standing in solidarity with him, his "friends" in the firm scramble like sharks to claim Jerry's clients. At the end of his last day, the only people willing to join Jerry as he strikes out on his own are staff accountant Dorothy (Renee Zellweger), a single mother secretly in love with him, and Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a football player whose pride and arrogance have gotten in the way of his reaching his potential. Jerry Maguire earned an Academy Award for Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance as Tidwell and provided a breakthrough role for Renee Zellweger; it also made "Show me the money!" an unavoidable catchphrase for several months. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The first season of King of the Hill opens with its pilot episode, in which suburban Texas redneck Hank Hill is falsely accused of child abuse when his chubby son Bobby turns up with a black eye, and Luanne Platter, niece of Hank and his wife Peg, moves in with the Hills after her mom is carted off to jail for knifing Luanne's dad. Luanne wastes no time linking up with motorcyle-driving Buckley, whom she dates while pursuing a career as a cosmetician. In later episodes, substitute teacher Peg wrestles with the embarrassment of teaching her son's sex education class; a snipe hunt turns sour; and in the series' first utilization of guest voices from the world of country music, Willie Nelson can be heard in the episode "Hank's Got the Willies"; and another singer, Chuck Mangione, makes his inaugural series "appearance" in "Luanne's Saga." Other highlights amongst King of the Hill's first 12 episodes are "Hank's Unmentionable Problem," cited by co-creator Greg Daniels as his favorite episode; "Westie Side Story," in which the Laotian Souphanousinphones move into Hank's neighborhood; and "Shins of the Father," introducing the character of Hank's loud, hyper-judgmental war veteran father Cotton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those tuning in as the animated redneck sitcom King of the Hill began its second season may have noticed that the characters have been slightly redesigned; made to appear more appealing and less grotesque. The season opener is "How to Fire a Rifle Without Really Trying," one of several installments in which macho Hank Hill is publicly embarrassed by his "not quite right" son Bobby. Other episodes include the Halloween entry, wherein a character who's even more conservative than Hank has everyone believing that the holiday is the Devil's work and that Hank is a Satanist for setting up a haunted house; a touching half hour in which Bobby's self-esteem shoots up when he is hired as a photographer's model (for overweight children's clothes); and Hank's loss of an important propane contract when he and his family don't measure up to a client's image of "the typical Texan." Ultimately, Hank loses his job with Strickland Propane, forcing him into the humiliating position of working for motorcycle bum Buckley at the local Mega Lo Mart. Also: Hank and Peg Hill's niece Luanne inaugurates a Christian TV puppet show, "The Manger Babies"; Peg learns several years after the fact how her hubby Hank really got mono back in high school; Hank's obnoxious father Cotton plots to steal the leg of General Santa Ana; Luanne's homicidal mom Leanne is released from prison; and the intensely inarticulate Boomhauer aspires to drive in the NASCAR race. The season literally ends with a bang when the Mega Lo Mart is destroyed in a propane explosion -- and viewers won't find out who survives the disaster until the beginning of season three. Guest voices heard during season two of King of the Hill include Wallace Shawn, James Carville, John Ritter, Burt Reynolds, Stockard Channing, Carl Reiner, Tammy Wynette (as Hank's mom Tilly), Troy Aikman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Rodriguez, and John Amos. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season three of King of the Hill begins by resolving the cliffhanger ending of season two; specifically, did anyone survive the propane explosion at the Mega Lo Mart? The good news is that practically everyone emerged intact, although Luanne, niece of series protagonists Hank and Peggy Hill, has lost her hair and eyebrows (inspiring her to become "the second Sinead O'Connor"). The bad news is that Luanne's store manager boyfriend Buckley has been killed, though he will ultimately return in ghostly form to advise Luanne to give up beauty school and enroll in junior college. In other developments this season, the Hills' son Bobby begins dating "an older woman" (he's 12, she's 14); Peggy Hill finds out about the clandestine relationship between Native American masseuse John Redcorn and Nancy Gribble, the wife of Hank's pal Dale Gribble (Who, despite seeing sinister conspiracies at every turn, fails to notice his own wife's peccadillos!); the men of the neighborhood attend a "lawn mower focus group"; Hank's inability to get Peggy pregnant proves doubly embarrassing when Hank's obstreperous dad Cotton announces that his trophy bride DeeDee is expecting; mooning over his divorce (for the past three years), Bill Dauterive begins taking on the personality -- and the wardrobe -- of his ex-wife Lenore; substitute teacher Peg is fired for spanking one of her students, and later finds out that one of her former charges is on death row; and Bobby may be forced to marry Luanne. Closing out the season is Peggy's ill-fated decision to do something daring and unexpected on the occasion of her 20th anniversary -- namely, take up skydiving. Guest voices heard during King of the Hill's third season include Sarah Michelle Gellar, William H. Macy, Erik Estrada, Mary Kay Place, Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Matthew McConaughey, and Mary Tyler Moore. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season three of King of the Hill had ended with the fate of Peggy Hill literally up in the air when, while skydiving, her chute failed to open. Season four begins with Peggy in a full body cast -- and it will be several episodes before she will make a full recovery. (Who knew that cartoon characters could sustain serious injuries?) Also on the docket this season: Hank Hill's obnoxious dad Cotton becomes the proud papa of a baby boy courtesy of his young trophy wife DeeDee -- a baby whom Cotton contemptuously names "Good Hank." Taking over his recuperating wife's substitute teacher duties, Hank runs afoul of Tom Landry Middle School's zero-tolerance policy. The Hill family's Thanksgiving trip is "fowled up" when airport security mistakes a frozen turkey for a bomb. Hank and Peggy's son Bobby accidentally sees his cousin Luanne "nekkid," and later launches a standup comedy career. Confirmed conspiracy theorist Dale Gribble goes "oh-wow" on psychedelic mushrooms, while Dale's wife Nancy tries to end her affair with John Redcorn. (An infidelity which everybody in town but Dale knows about!) The Y2K computer-crash scare hits Arlen. Barber Bill Dauterive "borrows" an American flag from the Army base where he works. Peggy finally comes to terms with her big feet when they become the "stars" of an Internet fetish site. And in a two-part story, Hank is promoted to manager of Strickland Propane, only to be implicated in the mysterious death of his sexy co-worker Debbie. Guest voices heard during King of the Hill's fourth season include Randy Travis, Clint Black, Lisa Hartman, Martina McBride, Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Wynonna Judd, Mac Davis, Meryl Streep, Don Meredith, Drew Carey, Heather Locklear, Kathleen Turner, Reese Witherspoon, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Tony Danza, Teri Garr, and Sydney Pollack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

How far will a man go to win the woman he loves? That's the devilish question behind this satirical romantic comedy. Elliot Richards (Brendan Fraser), a low-level white-collar worker, has fallen in love with his co-worker Allison (Frances O'Connor), who barely knows he exists. Desperate to win her love, sad sack Elliot is approached by the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley), who offers him seven wishes in exchange for his soul. Elliot accepts, but none of his wishes works out quite the way that he had hoped; after transforming himself into a South American tycoon, a champion NBA basketball player, a famous author, the most sensitive man in the world, and even the president of the United States, Elliot discovers that the Devil has added a crucial loophole each time, and for all his troubles, Allison still isn't interested in him. Directed by Harold Ramis, Bedazzled was adapted from the 1968 cult movie of the same name written by and starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The fifth season of King of the Hill opens as the Hill family of Arlen, TX eagerly prepares to meet then-governor George W. Bush, in an episode ironically titled "The Perils of Polling." In later episodes, Peggy Hill gets into a fierce blood-donating competition with her Laotian neighbor, Minh; Bobby Hill turns 13 and has a vicious attack of puberty; Arlen's Thanksgiving celebration is blighted when mention is made of the cannibalism in the history of John Redcorn's Native American tribe; Hank Hill's obstreperous father Cotton moves out of his retirement home; big-hearted barber Bill Dauterive is victimized by a wheedling juvenile delinquent; a trip to Austin on the occasion of Bill's birthday ends up disastrously when Hank moons former Texas governor Ann Richards; Hank learns to his horror that he isn't a native Texan; and Peggy and Bobby become hopelessly addicted to charcoal-grilled burgers. Also: Hank befriends a pretty co-worker and finds himself accused of being a pimp; the Hill's niece Luanne signs up for her church's "born again virgin" program, prompting an unexpected confession from Peggy; and Dale Gribble's wife Nancy turns 40, loses her job as a TV weather girl, and tries to sue a cigarette company for making her homely. In the season finale, Bobby poses as a high school student, thereby enmeshing himself in a plan to get the rock group No Doubt to play at the prom. Guest voices heard during King of the Hill's fifth season include Carl Reiner, James Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Amy Hill, John Ritter, Jack Carter, Ellen Barkin, Tom Poston, Snoop Dog, Renée Zellweger, Lisa Kudrow, Owen Wilson, and Robert Stack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Video director Michel Gondry and scriptwriter Charles Kaufman -- who shot to fame after penning Being John Malkovich -- collaborate on this bizarre fable about human behavior in and out of society. The film opens by quickly introducing the three leads -- Lila (Patricia Arquette) who is locked away in prison; Puff (Rhys Ifans) who is testifying before Congress; and Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins) who is sitting in a glowing white afterlife waiting room with a bullet hole in his head. Rewinding to the beginning of the story, the film shows Lila as a girl about to enter womanhood. Unfortunately, puberty goes horribly awry and she starts to grow thick hair all over her body. After performing as Queen Kong in a circus freak show, she chucks it all and goes to live in the forest, where she becomes the best-selling author of a misanthropic hard-line ecological tome. At age 30, her itch for male companionship becomes overwhelming and she ventures back into the city. She is helped by electrolysis guru Louise (Rosie Perez), who not only makes Lila presentable to society, but introduces her to Nathan, a 35-year-old virgin who, as a scientist, has devoted his life to teaching table etiquette to lab mice. While showing Nathan the joys of the wild outdoors, Lila and her new beau discover an extremely hirsute feral man whom they dub Puff. Placing him a cage in his lab, Nathan sets out to teach Puff the ways of polite society while dreaming of fame and fortune. The first task is to curb Puff's enormous sexual appetite -- any time he catches sight of a female, Puff either tries to hump her or masturbates vigorously. Nathan yokes him with an electric collar that shocks him any time he acts unseemly. Unfortunately, the humans on the other side of the cage can't quite control their libidos either: Nathan succumbs to the incessant double entendres of his saucy French assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto) while Lila finds an animalistic lust for Nathan's science experiment. This film was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This family musical enjoys the dubious distinction of being the first film ever based on a theme park attraction, the "Country Bears Jamboree" at Disneyworld. Beary Barrington (voice of Haley Joel Osment) is an adolescent bruin raised by a human family after he was found by a park ranger, abandoned in the forest. Curious about his biological roots, Beary travels to Tennessee to seek out his birth parents while attempting to locate the members of his favorite musical group -- a defunct country music act called the Country Bears -- along the way. Country Bear Hall, the famed venue where the band was launched, is facing imminent destruction at the hands of greedy banker Reed Thimple (Christopher Walken), but young Beary has a plan to save the hall by staging a reunion benefit concert. Beary's path takes him through a guitar duel, a vintage coffee house, and a car wash, as he's pursued by a pair of bumbling cops (Diedrich Bader and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell) trying to reunite him with his adoptive parents. Meanwhile, a panoply of musical legends including Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Queen Latifah appear Behind the Music-style to comment on the Country Bears' alleged artistic influence on their work. The Country Bears, the first in a pair of planned Disney projects based on the company's theme park rides (the second is slated to be based on "Pirates of the Caribbean"), co-stars Stephen Tobolowsky, Brad Garrett, Alex Rocco, and Stephen Root. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide