Rory Johnston Movies

Tired of being given nothing but "fluff" pieces, Rebecca Chandler (Jennie Garth), a reporter for the Indianapolis Sentinel, demands to write a story with some teeth in it. Unfortunately, her dyspeptic editor Bob Bolton (Victor Raider-Wexler) doesn't see things Rebecca's way, thus he dispatches the reluctant newshound to Hamden, Indiana, there to cover a sappy human-interest story about a mysterious "Secret Santa" who each Christmas bestows money and necessities upon a selected needy person. Not only does Rebecca hate the assignment, but she hates Hamden--especially since she was originally slated to have gone on a Hawaiian honeymoon with her ex-boyfriend. Thus, our heroine is hardly full of the Christmas spirit when she arrives in Hamden and is forced by the holiday tourist crunch to take a room in a nursing home where a fellow named Russell (Charlie Robinson), who has already managed to get on Rebecca's bad side, is the main helper-outer. Inevitably, Rebecca's cold heart is warmed up, not only by the looney but likeable Russell, but also by an unusually perceptive nursing-home resident named Miss Ruth (played by the great Barbara Billingsley). However, Rebecca still has a story to file, and she thinks that she has zeroed in on the elusive "Secret Santa", fingering local millionaire John Martin Carter (Steven Eckholt) as the most likely suspect. But even if Carter is the man in question, the townsfolk aren't about to help Rebecca expose their unknown benefactor--it seems that over the years they've come to believe in the Secret Santa, and they're not about to shatter their own illusions for the sake of a cheap headline! Adapted for television by Beth Polson and Robert Tate Miller from their own novel, Secret Santa first aired December 14, 2003, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this low-budget action adventure, a former Special Operations agents becomes a mysterious crime fighter to avenge the slaughter of his beloved family by the fugitive convicts he sent to prison. He and his family were living under assumed names and believed they were safe. But despite the warnings of his former superior Derek Leigh could not save them. Two detectives show up, but Leigh will not talk to them. It is while looking at his son's simple drawing of a super hero that Leigh decides to don a costume and get the bad guys himself. Wearing a leotard, boots, a mask and painting his face to resemble the title cat, he begins brushing up on martial arts and lifting weights. He then arms himself with assorted darts, throwing stars and arrows all dipped in a special sleeping potion. Once ready, the Jaguar sets off for revenge leaving a trail of dart covered sleeping bodies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide