Bodhi Elfman
Ambitious young advertising man Phillip Fielder (Chad Lowe) has no time for relationships, and seems to have affection only for his creature comforts -- a source of great dismay for his erstwhile girlfriend, Holly Ford (Marin Hinkle). When his orphaned nephew, an autistic eight-year-old named Zachary (K'Sun Ray), comes to live in Phillip's lavish apartment, Phillip wants no part of surrogate fatherhood and tries to pass the youngster along to his cousin Rose (Miriam Flynn), who happens to live near a group home for special children. But Zach nixes this idea and insists upon living with Phillip, thus throwing together two extremely self-absorbed, obsessive-compulsive characters under one roof. This being a Hallmark Channel presentation, Fielder's Choice will undoubtedly work its way toward a happy and heartwarming finale, though it definitely takes some doing! The film made its TV bow on June 18, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A taxi driver is unexpectedly taken on the ride of his life in this stylish thriller from acclaimed director Michael Mann. Max (Jamie Foxx) is a cab driver who hopes to some day open his own limo company; one night behind the wheel begins promisingly when he picks up Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), an attorney working with the federal government who is attractive, friendly, and gives him her business card after paying her fare. Max thinks his luck is getting even better when his next fare, Vincent (Tom Cruise), offers him several hundred dollars in cash if he'll be willing to drop him off, wait, and pick him up at five different spots over the course of the evening. Max agrees, but he soon realizes Vincent isn't just another guy with errands to run -- Vincent is an assassin who has been paid to murder five people who could put the leaders of a powerful drug trafficking ring behind bars in an upcoming trial. As circumstances force Max to do Vincent's bidding, the cabbie has to find a way to prevent Vincent from killing again and save his own skin, a task that becomes especially crucial when he discovers Annie is one of the names on Vincent's hit list. Collateral also stars Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, and Bruce McGill as police detectives hot on Vincent's trail. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, (more)
- 2004
Gideon (Gildart Jackson) has reached the point in his sinister scheme against baby Wyatt that he doesn't want the Charmed Ones to expose his evil intentions. Thus, he conspires with various Darklighters to embroil the girls in the demonic TV reality show "Witch Wars," where the contestants hunt down and vanquish good witches. Meanwhile, Whitelighter Chris (Drew Fuller) is in possession of disturbing news regarding his impending mortal birth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Krause, Drew Fuller, (more)
- 2003
When gunshots ring out in a tragic roadside shooting, police officer Delbert Nez winds up dead. His close friend Officer Jim Chee (Adam Beach) is the first on the scene, and upon spotting an elderly, drunken Navajo Shaman named Ashie Pinto (Jimmy Herman) with the murder weapon tucked in his belt, he takes the man into custody as the prime suspect. Though Pinto does not confess to the crime, the case against him is strong, and Detective Joe Leaphorn (Wes Studi) begins to look into the case at the behest of his wife, Emma (Sheila Tousey) -- who remains staunchly convinced that her relative was set up. As Chee and Leaphorn investigate the case, they are troubled to discover a number of inconsistencies in the murder. How did Pinto get to the scene of the crime when he has no means of transportation? And how could the elderly Pinto be the man that Officer Nez said he apprehended as a vandal in his final communication to police headquarters? When their investigation leads Chee and Leaphorn to a local trading post run by a shady man named John McGinnis (Keith Carradine), the case soon begins to come into focus as the body count rises and the spirit of the coyote lurks in the shadows awaiting its next victim. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Beach, Wes Studi, (more)
- 2000
A handful of ragtag warriors take it upon themselves to win back America's freedom in this weekly action series. In the near future, the democratic government of the United States of America is overthrown in a military takeover, with Col. Devon (James Morrison) ruling the land through martial law. Those who dare to oppose Devon and his forces are imprisoned, but four inmates of William Jefferson Clinton Federal Prison are plotting an escape -- Holt McCallany (Owen Decker), who lost his wife and son during the overthrow; James Barrett (Darius McCrary), a street fighter of remarkable skill; Becca Shaw (Scarlett Chorvat), a beautiful but deadly martial arts master; and Londo Pearl (Bodhi Elfman), whose sense of humor does not disguise his keen strategic skills. Once the foursome manage to escape, they organize an underground movement to depose Col. Devon and restore the rule of the people to the United States. Freedom's regular cast also includes Georg Stanford Brown and Francoise Yip; the series debuted on the UPN network on October 27, 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Holt McCallany, Bodhi Elfman, (more)
Police Capt. Adam Greer (Dennis Farina) needs some new cops who can go where other cops can't. Greer finds three young people on their way to jail: Lincoln Hayes (Omar Epps), the black one, is up for arson; Pete Cochrane (Giovanni Ribisi), the white one, is up for robbery; and Julie Barnes (Claire Danes), the blonde one, is up for assault. The three are given a choice: go to jail, or become a special undercover unit that will infiltrate L.A.'s underbelly and bring down the drug dealers and parasites that are preying on the young. Their only rules: no badges, no guns, and no turning in other kids. This "mod squad" encounters a major problem when a cache of drugs disappears from the police evidence locker. All clues point to dirty cops, while the cops want to close ranks and blame the new kids. With their first big case, the squad realize they'll receive no help from the L.A.P.D. and must solve it their own way. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, (more)
In this action-suspense thriller, orphaned nine-year-old autistic savant Simon (Miko Hughes) deciphers a government code hidden in a puzzle magazine. Calling for his prize, Simon triggers an alarm at the National Security Agency: NSA chief Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin), who says the code protects covert American operatives all over the world, sends an assassin to do away with Simon. Simon's parents are killed, but Simon survives, hiding in a secret closet crawlspace where he's later discovered by maverick FBI agent Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis). Simon is emotionally unpredictable, complicating matters as Art drags him all over Chicago, eluding Kudrow's hitman in a variety of interesting locations (train tracks, street scenes, heliport, Wrigley building) and improbable situations. Based on the novel Simple Simon by Ryne Douglas Peardon, the film features Industrial Light & Magic special FX/animation. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1998
Moving from the Fox network to the Sci-Fi Channel for its fourth season, Sliders picks up the action some three months after Season Three left off. After innumerable "slides" through various wormholes taking them from one parallel Earth to another, extradimensional travelers Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell) and Maggie Beckett (Kari Wuhrer) have finally arrived at Quinn's homeworld, Earth Prime--only to discover that the planet has been enslaved by the fascistic Kromagg Dynasty which Colin had briefly encountered two seasons earlier. The Kromaggs have captured fellow "sliders" Rembrandt Brown (Cleavant Derricks) and Wade Wells, enslaving Remmy and placing Wade in a breeding camp from which she will never return (actress Sabrina Lloyd) had left the series in 1997). More shocking news comes Quinn's way when, upon being reunited with his mother (Linda Henning), he is told that he was adopted--and that his actual homeworld is Kromagg Prime. Joining an underground resistance movement in hopes of liberating Remmy, Quinn and Maggie simultaneously embark upon an odyssey to find Colin Mallory, the brother Quinn never knew he had...until now. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Veteran horror director Wes Craven was responsible for the hit 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street, which introduced the character of Freddy Krueger. After Craven sold the rights to his character, Krueger became filmdom's top grossing monster, with five sequels by 1991, none of them involving Craven. In this post-modernist horror film, Craven plays himself, a filmmaker working on a script for a movie that seems to be spinning out of control. Also playing himself, as well as playing his customary character Krueger, is Robert Englund. The original teenage hero of the first Nightmare film, Heather Langenkamp, also plays herself. She is still haunted by Freddy dreams, but Craven convinces her to make another Krueger film to exorcise her demons. Unfortunately, her son Dylan (Miko Hughes) is being taken over by Freddy himself, who materializes and kills Dylan's beloved nanny, Julie (Tracy Middendorf). Dylan, possessed by the evil spirit, escapes from the hospital and tries to cross a freeway with his mother in pursuit. Craven finds that his character has literally become a creation out of his control. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, (more)
- 1994
Compelled to do community service, Bud eagerly accepts a job at "Virgin Hotline", an emergency call-in service for girls on the verge of surrending their maidenhood. Needless to say, Bud would rather that the callers--er--consult him first before doing anything rash. Meanwhile, Al and Peg conduct a fruitless search for a good movie at the local video store, which apparently stocks nothing but garbage like Dutch (starring some guy named Ed O'Neill) and such X-rated goodies as Forrest Hump! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
An enthusiastically brain-damaged outing from Charles Band's prolific B-Movie outfit Full Moon Entertainment, this cult-move manqué, directed by Oingo Boingo co-founder Richard Elfman (brother of composer Danny Elfman) is weird even by Full Moon's unique standards. The demented plot begins with a modern-day Bowery Boys-type bunch foiling a street gang's robbery scheme only to bring down the wrath of hilariously butch crime boss "Big Mo" (Meg Foster, complete with Elvis pompadour), who commands her chief axe-man to rub them out. Thanks to the voodoo skills of newsstand vendor Sumatra (Julius Harris), the three boys' severed heads are reanimated (it is never specified why this is all Sumatra could salvage) as tiny airborne mini-zombies with assorted super-powers. This leads to the inevitable blow-out between the Heads and Big Mo's legions, as well as one of the weirdest romantic subplots on record. Initially an abortive bid for midnight-movie infamy (much like the director's Forbidden Zone), this wacko twist on the basic comic-book superhero scenario has a playful nature that distances it from cult-horror territory but gives it a certain kooky charm; it features a main-title theme by the director's big-shot brother. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Meg Foster, Julius Harris, (more)
- 1993
In classic noir tradition, the protagonist of the made-for-TV Double Deception is hard-boiled private eye John Kane (James Russo), who provides the first-person narration for the deliciously convoluted plotline. Kane knew that former call girl Pamela Sparrow (Alice Krige) was a keg of dynamite the minute she uncrossed her beautiful stems in his seedy office. "Please help me," pleaded Pamela in that come-hither voice, "My husband is missing." But the dame wasn't up front at first, failing to mention that her soul-mate was tied in with a 10-year-old murder case. Funny thing: Pamela reminded Kane of his dead wife -- and funnier still, there are some things just don't stay dead. It figured that Kane would get a few lumps on the casaba along the way, and that he'd have a couple of waltz-arounds with the top brass. But a case is a case, and when murder's involved, someone's got to do something about it, or it's bad for business. Double Deception was originally broadcast by NBC on June 21, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this tech-thriller from director Phil Alden Robinson, a group of five renegade computer hackers, led by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford), are hired by the government to steal a black box, containing a code-breaking machine, from the mathematician who invented the device. The government is able to persuade Martin to take the job by convincing him that they will drop a decades-old federal warrant for his involvement in computer fraud. Martin agrees and he takes his team on the mission, eventually taking the box. Shortly after the hackers have stolen the device, the mathematician turns up dead. Before long, the quintet realize that they've gotten themselves into more than they'd originally bargained for, as Bishop's old rival Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) enters into the fold. The eclectic ensemble also includes River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, and James Earl Jones. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, (more)
In this made-for-TV drama, a New England family's secrets all come tumbling out at once as they spend a weekend together to celebrate the engagement of their youngest son. Lisa Carter (Bibi Besch) and her military husband, Phil (James B. Sikking), couldn't be happier when their youngest son, Matt (William McNamara), brings his rich bride-to-be, Allison (Lori Loughlin), home from Yale. Col. Carter views Matt as the perfect son, especially given the way his other children have turned out. Tim (Jim Carrey) has sunk into alcoholism after dropping out of college, while Karen (Jayne Brook) must support her husband, Tom (David Byron), a struggling art photographer who wants to start a family despite his father-in-law's financial misgivings. As Allison gets acquainted with the Carter clan and its dysfunctions, her fiancé's artfully constructed facade of perfection begins to crumble, ultimately threatening his family's reputation, his impending nuptials, and his very life. Doing Time on Maple Drive debuted March 16, 1992, as a "Fox Night at the Movies" feature on the Fox network; it was later nominated for several Emmy awards. Directed by thirtysomething star Ken Olin, the film features a number of additional television staples among its cast, from Loughlin, star of Full House, to Carrey, then best known as Fire Marshal Bill on In Living Color. Two additional TV personalities from the cast -- Hill Street Blues actor Sikking and Northern Exposure actress Besch -- both share the distinction of being Star Trek vets, Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Sikking in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James B. Sikking, Bibi Besch, (more)
