Mia Dillon Movies
Originally assembled by actress Joanne Woodward at Connecticut's Westport County Playhouse (where she served as artistic director), this highly praised 2002 revival of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 play Our Town enjoyed a brief Broadway stay that same year, and it was during its New York run that the production was videotaped for the Showtime cable network. The revival's principal attraction was Woodward's husband, Paul Newman, in the role of the avuncular Stage Manager, who narrates the action and occasionally converses with the characters on-stage and with members of the audience. Covering a period from 1901 to approximately 1917, the play is set in the New England community of Grover's Corners (conveyed with a bare minimum of sets and props, as dictated by Wilder's original staging notes). The focus is on the romance between Emily Webb (Maggie Lacey), daughter of the town's newspaper editor, and George Gibbs (Ben Fox). The play's three acts run the full gamut of Emily and George's relationship, from courtship, to marriage, to early death. In addition to Newman, the cast of Our Town is full of familiar TV and movie faces, among them Jeffrey DeMunn, Jane Curtin, Mia Dillon, Travis Walters, Stephen Mendillo, and Jake Robards, grandson of Jason Robards Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Maggie Lacey, (more)
Director Ron Maxwell and producer Ted Turner return to the glory and tragedy of the Civil War in this historical drama, a prequel to Gettysburg, which examines the early days of the conflict through the experiences of three men. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels) left behind a quiet life and a career as a college professor to become one of the Union's greatest military minds. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (Stephen Lang) was, like Chamberlain, a man of great religious faith who served in the defense of the Confederacy. And Gen. Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall), who led the Confederate army, was a man who was forced to choose between his loyalty to the United States and his love of the Southern states where he was born and raised. As Chamberlain, Jackson, and Lee are followed through the declaration of war and the battles at Manassas, Antietam, Frederickburg, and Chancellorsville, the film also introduces us to the many supporting players in the epic tale of the war between the States, among them the women these men left behind, among them Fanny Chamberlain (Mira Sorvino) and Anna Jackson (Kali Rocha). Based on a novel by Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals also features a new song written and performed by Bob Dylan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Duvall, Stephen Lang, (more)
- 2001
Former series regular Carey Lowell makes a return appearance as Jamie Ross, onetime assistant District Attorney, now counsel for the defense. The story begins with a school shooting in which four are killed and 12 are wounded. An interview with a school psychologist reveals that the suspect, a teenager with a long history of "violent episodes," had sent a threatening e-mail to the student council president just prior to the massacre. But this vital clue may never make it to court: Jamie Ross argues that the e-mail was privileged information, and as such is inadmissible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) from The Mary Tyler Moore Show reunite in this made-for-TV movie. In this go around, both Mary and Rhoda find themselves alone after the death of Mary's husband and Rhoda's divorce. Both try to jumpstart their dormant careers and reconnect with their daughters. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, (more)
- 1997
A young girl from a wealthy family is killed in a suspicious fire. Confronted with an incriminating answering-machine message, the teenaged stepbrother of the victim confesses. Things take an even more sinister turn when D.A. Schiff (Steven Hill) tangles with the wealthy and well-connected grandfather of the accused. Robert Vaughn makes his first Law & Order appearance as powerful, paranoiac millionaire Carl Anderton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1992
There is no shortage of suspects when a famous Wall Street corporate raider is murdered. Virtually everyone in New York had ample reason to hate the "King of the Takeovers" -- but did that hatred extend to the ailing union leader (Eli Wallach) whose gun was stolen to possibly commit the crime? Worse still, one of the prime suspects is former governor Dwight Corcoran (William Prince), a lifelong friend of District Attorney Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). This episode of Law & Order brought the series' second season to a powerful conclusion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a best-selling novel from Danielle Steele, this made-for-television melodrama tells the sad story of a highly successful businessman whose idyllic life is destroyed when his new bride dies of cancer, leaving him with her daughter. To make matters worse, his late wife's ex-husband shows up demanding custody of the child. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Shock to the System is a black comedy about a middle-aged advertising executive (Michael Caine) who loses his long-awaited promotion to a younger man (Peter Reigret). In frustration, Caine accidentally pushes a panhandler in front of a subway train--and he gets away with the death. Realizing that committing murder might be a little easier than he previously had thought, he begins plotting the murder of several of his corporate enemies. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Elizabeth McGovern, (more)
Adapting the themes of the 1948 film Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, this comedy stars Tom Hanks as Walter Fielding, who with his love Anna (Shelley Long) decides to buy a suburban New York home for next-to-nothing. Both Anna and Walter are willing to fix what ails the house and since they are both successful professionals, that should not be too difficult. Unfortunately, what ails the house might be terminal as the rest of the film chronicles the battle between the couple and the disintegrating structure. Construction workers come in to make matters either worse or better -- or both. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Long, Tom Hanks, (more)
- 1985
A middle-aged Annette Funicello stars in this made-for-Disney film about a blue-collar family whose lives are forever transformed when they win the lottery. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
