Christine Estabrook Movies

2005  
 
What sinister scheme can George Williams (Roger Bart) have in mind to steal Bree (Marcia Cross) away from Rex (Steven Culp)? Will Lynette (Felicity Huffman) suffer from the presence of her husband Tom's former girlfriend Annabel Foster (Melinda McGraw) when Annabel is hired by Tom's firm? Does Susan's daughter, Julie (Andrea Bowen), have anything to fear from the increasingly obsessive Zach (Cody Kasch)? How will Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) explain away her illegal home invasion? And here's a question we can answer without any problem at all: will Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) be lonely during the eight months that Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) is in jail? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2005  
 
As of now, the only people who know what actually happened to busybody Mrs. Huber are the viewers -- and her killer. Meanwhile, Mrs. Huber's equally problematic sister, Felicia (Harriet Sansom Harris), makes an unexpected appearance. Bree (Marcia Cross) comes to grips with her separation from her husband and tentatively re-dips her toes into the dating scene with pharmacist George Williams (Roger Bart, in his first series appearance). Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) must take drastic measures to compensate for her past extravagances. Susan (Richard Burgi) once more goes head-to-head with ex-husband Karl (Richard Burgi). And Lynette (Felicity Huffman) has reason to regret hiring her new nanny, Claire (Marla Sokoloff). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2005  
 
The journal of the late Mrs. Huber forces Susan (Teri Hatcher) to tell all to Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) about the fire. Bree (Marcia Cross) is having second thoughts about dating George Williams (Roger Bart). Lynette (Felicity Huffman) allows a misunderstanding to go uncorrected to get her son in daycare while she does yoga. And the financial situation of Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) has been set on its ear thanks to recent unpleasant plot developments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
The predatory Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) horns in upon the romantic dinner date between Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Mike (James Denton). Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) wonders if her wealthy husband, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), knows about her indiscretion with her 17-year-old gardener, John (Jesse Metcalfe). Lynette (Felicity Huffman), who would have no trouble handling a boardroom, continues to struggle with riding herd on her kids. Bree (Marcia Cross) makes more trouble than intended when coercing Rex (Steven Culp) into therapy. Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) obviously knows something about Susan's role in the burning of Edie's house. And the mysterious Paul Young (Mark Moses), husband of the late Mary Alice (Brenda Strong), just simply can't keep a bad secret down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
The reasons for suburban housewife Mary Alice Young's suicide -- in the middle of her immaculate living room -- is but one of the many puzzles posed in the opening episode of Desperate Housewives. From the afterlife, Mary Alice (Brenda Strong) narrates with amusement and bemusement the continuing activities of her best friends -- and her best friend's secrets. Of particular interest to Mary Alice (and to the viewer) is the strange nocturnal behavior of her far-from-bereaved husband, Paul (Mark Moses), not to mention the disintegrating marriage of the neighborhood's resident control freak Bree Van De Camp (Marcia Cross), and the difficulties facing Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman), who is still struggling to come to terms with her decision to give up her career and devote her full time to her children and husband (Doug Savant). And can it be that Mrs. Martha Huber (Christine Estabrook) knows more about the recent indiscretions of divorcée Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) than she's letting on? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
Carlos, the wealthy husband of the wandering Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) strongly suspects that she's cheating on him; trouble is, he suspects the wrong guy. Meanwhile, Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) wants Susan (Teri Hatcher) to pay her hush money to keep her from telling Edie (Nicolette Sheridan) who was responsible for torching Edie's house. Lynette (Felicity Huffman) uses a method of her own to deal with her twin sons' attention deficit disorder. And the true odious nature of young Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom) makes itself known. Richard Roundtree makes his first series appearance as the enigmatic Mr. Shaw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
In memory of their dear departed friend Mary Alice (Brenda Strong), the women of Wisteria Lane go through with her planned dinner party -- at their own peril. An inquisitive nine-year-old may blow the whistle on Gabrielle's (Eva Longoria) trysts with hunky John (Jesse Metcalfe). Susan (Teri Hatcher) leaves nothing to the imagination when confronting her ex-husband, Karl (Richard Burgi). Bree's (Marcia Cross) marriage is rapidly deteriorating, but you'd never know it from her sunny demeanor. And the contents of the box that Mary Alice's husband, Paul (Mark Moses), threw into the river are revealed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
Having already made trouble for Susan (Teri Hatcher), Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) now turns her sights on Bree (Marcia Cross) -- who has plenty of marital headaches already. As for Susan, she is kept busy spying on Mike (James Denton) during his tête-à-tête with the toothsome Kendra (Heather Stephens). Elsewhere, Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) finds herself vying with Bree's daughter (Joy Lauren) for the attentions of hunky gardener John (Jesse Metcalfe). Bree's shiftless son, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom), causes an accident that puts Gabrielle's mother-in-law (Lupe Ontiveros) in the hospital. And Lynette (Felicity Huffman) is secretly partaking of the medication prescribed for her twins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2004  
 
Susan (Teri Hatcher) begins to fear that Mike (James Denton) may have had darker motives for moving to Wisteria Lane when she snoops around his house. Lynette (Felicity Huffman) tries to break her dependence upon her twins' medication. Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) has what she thinks is a real estate meeting with the enigmatic Mr. Shaw (Richard Roundtree) -- who in turn may know something about Paul Young's strange behavior. The accident that put Gabrielle's mother-in-law, Juanita (Lupe Ontiveros), in the hospital is taking its toll on Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) as well -- as witness her confession of her past peccadilloes. And the snoopy Mrs. Huber (Christine Estabrook) leaves the scene in a decisive -- and violent -- fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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2002  
 
2000  
 
Although her parents Charlie (Gary Cole) and Kate (Gary Cole) are out of touch with modern technology, 13-year-old Sarah Radcliff (Evan Rachel Wood) is an experienced internet surfer. But Sarah is still a child, with a child's innate curiosity. When her parents take away her computer privileges when she accidently taps into a porn website, Sarah begins seeking answers to her questions about sex at a cyber-café managed by angel Andrew (John Dye), who has been assigned to help patch up the differences between Sarah and her folks. The episode takes a sinister turn when Sarah naively strikes up a cyberspace friendship with a person who identifies himself as a 16-year-old boy--but is actually a middle-aged sexual predator! This is the final episode of Touched by an Angel's sixth season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1998  
 
In this TV sitcom, exiled black Englishman Desmond Pfeiffer (Chi McBride) arrives at Abraham Lincoln's White House where he becomes a trusted confidante of the President (Dann Florek). Desmond details all he sees in his journal, and that includes the sexually frustrated First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln (Christine Estabrook), clumsy manservant Nibblet (Max Baker), alcoholic General Ulysses S. Grant (Kelly Connell), and airhead blonde secretary Mona (Cindy Ambuehl). Farcical anachronistic parallels are drawn with the Clinton administration. After some claimed this was a slavery spoof with inherent racism, protests were aimed at the series. Filmed in L.A., it premiered October 5, 1998 on UPN. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Chi McBrideMax Baker, (more)
1997  
 
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In the middle of a live talk-show telecast hosted by the supremely arrogant Pia Postman (Marg Helgenberger), audience member Frank McGrath (David Morse) suddenly pulls out a gun and seizes control of the studio. Slapping a piece of tape over Pia's mouth (a moment that is invariably applauded by viewers surfeited with "confrontational" TV talkfests!), Frank threatens to kill her on the air, holding her responsible for the suicide of his daughter -- and just in case the police think of storming the broadcast, Frank has strapped a bomb to himself and will blow up everyone in the studio, including himself, if anyone tries to stop him. Ultimately, Pia is allowed to speak in her own defense before her execution is carried out, and what follows is a grotesque parody of the Jenny Jones-Jerry Springer school of in-your-face tabloid television, with both Pia and Frank trading verbal barbs with the terrified audience and crew members, not to mention the viewers calling in. Meanwhile, SWAT leader Clay Maloney (Peter Horton, who also co-wrote the film) races against time to defuse the situation before blood can be shed in living color in front of an audience of millions. Filmed in "real time" (just as if it were really a talk-show broadcast), Murder Live! borders on the ridiculous on occasion, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining. The made-for-TV meller first aired over NBC on March 9, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Marg HelgenbergerDavid Morse, (more)
1995  
R  
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Near the end of The Usual Suspects, Kevin Spacey, in his Oscar-winning performance as crippled con man Roger "Verbal" Kint, says, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." This may be the key line in this story; the farther along the movie goes, the more one realizes that not everything is quite what it seems, and what began as a conventional whodunit turns into something quite different. A massive explosion rips through a ship in a San Pedro, CA, harbor, leaving 27 men dead, the lone survivor horribly burned, and 91 million dollars' worth of cocaine, believed to be on board, mysteriously missing. Police detective Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) soon brings in the only witness and key suspect, "Verbal" Kint. Kint's nickname stems from his inability to keep his mouth shut, and he recounts the events that led to the disaster. Five days earlier, a truckload of gun parts was hijacked in Queens, NY, and five men were brought in as suspects: Kint, hot-headed hipster thief McManus (Stephen Baldwin), ill-tempered thug Hockney (Kevin Pollak), flashy wise guy Fenster (Benicio Del Toro), and Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), a cop gone bad now trying to go straight in the restaurant business. While in stir, someone suggests that they should pull a job together, and Kint hatches a plan for a simple and lucrative jewel heist. Despite Keaton's misgivings, the five men pull off the robbery without a hitch and fly to Los Angeles to fence the loot. Their customer asks if they'd be interested in pulling a quick job while out West; the men agree, but the robbery goes horribly wrong and they soon find themselves visited by Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite), who represents a criminal mastermind named Keyser Soze. Soze's violent reputation is so infamous that he's said to have responded to a threat to murder his family by killing them himself, just to prove that he feared no one. When Kobayashi passes along a heist proposed by Soze that sounds like suicide, the men feel that they have little choice but to agree. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Gabriel ByrneStephen Baldwin, (more)
1993  
 
In Frasier's first holiday episode, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) makes plans to spend Christmas with his son Frederick (remember him from Cheers?). But when these plans fall through, a disappointed Frasier volunteers to fill in for sports-show host Bulldog at radio station KACL on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, all of his callers are just as depressed as he is, leading Frasier to seek comfort after his gig by going to a diner he has never previously visited. Our hero's uncharacteristically shabby appearance and dour demeanor have an unusual effect on the diner's regular customers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1991  
 
When a self-involved real estate agent is given fifty hours of community service to do by a judge, he becomes the coach for a basketball team of developmentally challenged adults. In trying to teach them, he learns. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
John LarroquetteKathy Baker, (more)
1990  
R  
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Rusty Sabich (Harrison Ford) is a bland, oppressed man who burns with a quiet, corrosive intensity that can flare uncontrollably. A Philadelphia prosecutor, Sabich's fire seems to have one outlet: his job. He loves prosecuting people. Otherwise, his life is dead-ended. He has a loveless marriage to a neurotic woman (Bonnie Bedelia) and an overbearing boss (Brian Dennehy) in a labyrinthine law enforcement world of corruption and twisted relationships. Then Carolyn Polhemus (Greta Scacchi) comes into his life. Lovely and seductive, Polhemus easily entices him to break his marital vows, but she schemes to get him to try for his boss' job. When he refuses, she leaves him. When she turns up dead, the victim of an apparent rape-murder, clues begin to point to Sabich. His blood type almost perfectly matches that in the semen found in the victim, carpet fibers at the crime scene match those found in his house, and most damning, his fingerprints are found on a beer glass in Polhemus' apartment. His protestations of innocence ignored, Sabich is put on trial for the murder and hires his biggest adversary (Raul Julia) to defend him. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Harrison FordBrian Dennehy, (more)
1989  
R  
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Sea of Love is a sexy, atmospheric thriller, very much in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, with involving characters, steamy love scenes, and surprising plot twists. Frank Keller (Al Pacino), is a lonely, tired, disillusioned, police detective, who has a problem with alcohol. Frank is investigating a serial killer, whom he believes finds victims by using personal ads in magazines, killing them while playing the old record "Sea of Love." In a scene both amusing and touching, Frank and his partner, Sherman (John Goodman) --aided by Frank's father (William Hickey in a lovely cameo) place a personal ad, hoping to lure the killer. Helen Cruger (Ellen Barkin), a tough, sexy single mother answers the ad and begins an affair with Frank, despite the fact that she is one of the prime suspects in the case. The suspense builds as Frank, though deeply drawn to Helen, becomes more and more suspicious of her. In a splendidly crafted script from Richard Price, the plot is compelling, with plenty of action, terrific authentic dialogue and superb characterization. Ellen Barkin gives a marvelous performance as an independent, sensual and intriguing femme fatale; John Goodman is excellent as Sherman, giving a likable, shrewd, and subtly comic performance; and Pacino, in perhaps his best performance since Dog Day Afternoon, plays Frank as a man on the edge, reckless and self-destructive, lost and alone. Frank falls in love with Helen, in spite of himself, because of his loneliness and need. Pacino's skill in showing the vulnerability and neediness of Frank explains the somewhat implausible actions of his character in continuing their affair despite the mounting evidence against Helen. Harold Becker directs with great flair, bringing the story believability, without lapsing into false sentimentality. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Al PacinoEllen Barkin, (more)
1989  
PG  
Wills, an ex-cop (John Larroquette), and Bobby (Bronson Pinchot), who's a psychic, team up as sleuths in Wills's new "Second Sight Detective Agency." To add a little spice, there's a very pretty nun who catches the eye of the laughable detective. ~ All Movie Guide

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Starring:
John LarroquetteBronson Pinchot, (more)
1984  
 
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After Griffin Dunne's wife Brooke Adams is injured in a car crash, Dunne begins an affair with Adams' nurse Karen Young. You think that takes gall? Dunne also becomes best friends with Young's boyfriend Marty Watt. Believe it or not, Griffin Dunne is the most likeable character in the movie. After testing poorly at 110 minutes, Almost You was whittled down to 96 minutes. Those who have trouble wading through this prime example of mid-1980s self-indulgence are advised to keep an eye out for the brilliant monologist Spalding Gray in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Brooke AdamsGriffin Dunne, (more)
1983  
 
Produced in France, The Wall (aka Le Mur) was the last work of Turkish writer/director/political activist Yilmaz Guney. Like most of his best works (e.g. Yol), Guney based the wall on his own unhappy personal experience in his native country. The principal characters are a group of young disenfranchised orphans, detained in a prison in Ankara. Here the children are regularly brutalized and raped by the guards. The young prisoners ultimately stage an abortive revolt against their tormentors. Cowritten by Guney and Marie-Helene Quinton, The Wall was considered a disappointment by Guney's devotees, but has since been redefined as one of the director's most powerful works. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Tuncel KurtizAyse Emel Mesci, (more)
1983  
 
This made-for-TV film is an Americanized remake of the 1975 German film The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (based on the novel by Heinrich Böll). Shorn of most of her movie-star glamour, Marlo Thomas plays Kathryn Beck, whose one-night stand with handsome Ben Cole (Kris Kristofferson) all but ruins her life. Cole is suspected of being a political terrorist; as a result, Kathryn is seized by the authorities and relentlessly questioned. Her ordeal intensifies when she becomes the target of a ruthless investigative reporter. When she seeks legal aid, Kathryn finds that her basic civil rights aren't even as well protected as those of the fugitive Cole. Act of Passion: Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck premiered on January 24, 1984, minus the Act of Passion portion of the title, which was added later to pump up rerun ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1982  
 
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It could be said that without the incredible success of the ABC miniseries Holocaust in 1978, CBS might have thought twice before greenlighting the ambitious, three-hour TV docudrama The Wall four years later. Adapted by Millard Lampell from his own 1960 Broadway play, which in turn was inspired by John Hersey's 1950 novel, The Wall is the heartbreaking but inspiring story of the heroic Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. When it becomes obvious that every Jew in Poland is doomed to be shipped off to the Nazi work and death camps, some 650 members of the newly formed Jewish Fighting Organization mount a last, brave stand against nearly 3000 German soldiers. The story is told through the eyes of Warsaw Jew Dolek Benson (Tom Conti, in his first American TV appearance), who is a passive observer of the atrocities all around him until he learns the truth about the Nazi's "resettlement" program. Rachel Roberts, cast as a former schoolteacher, made her final appearance in this film; she passed away shortly after production ended. Filmed on location in Sosnowiec, Poland and first telecast February 16, 1982, The Wall earned a Peabody Award the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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