Todd Stashwick Movies

This typically iconoclastic FX network comedy-drama series was dedicated to the proposition of "Stealing the American Dream." The Malloys were a family of "travellers," roving con artists who lived perpetually on the fringes of society and just outside the reach of the law. After years of running scams and fleecing the unsuspecting, Wayne Malloy (Eddie Izzard) began to wonder if it was all worth the effort. At the same time, Wayne's drug-addict wife Dahlia (Minnie Driver) had been released from prison after a two-year stretch, and was raring to go back on the road with her husband and her equally disreputable children Sam (Aidan Mitchell), Cael (Noel Fisher) and Dehliah (Shannon Marie Woodward). While barreling through the Southland in their RV, the Malloys were involved in a traffic accident (not their fault, for a change!) in which the other drivers, a married couple, were killed. Rifling through the dead motorists' belongings, Wayne and Dahlia discovered that the victims were Doug and Cherein Rich, an upper-middle-class couple who'd just purchase a mansion in a gated community somewhere in Louisiana. Thus handed an opportunity to start life anew, the Malloys "became" the Riches and moved into that selfsame mansion, using their conning-and-hustling skills to convince their new neighbors that they were whom they claimed to be. Carrying the charade to the ultimate, Wayne, alias Mr. Rich, sweettalked his way into a job with family lawyer Hugh Panetta (Gregg Henry), while Dahlia found work as a dental hygienist and the kids tried to fit in at the local high school. Of course, there was always the possibility (or rather the likelihood) that the Malloys would revert to their old dishonest ways, especially whenever the former crooked associates would breeze into town. Forever playing fast and loose with manners, morals and audience expectations, the weekly, 60-minute The Riches made its cable-TV bow on March 12, 2007. Hal Erickson

An act of sabotage causes a string of power blackouts in San Francisco--not to mention three deaths. Monk (Tony Shalhoub) unearths evidence indicating that the man responsible for the chaos is anti-military activist Winston Brenner. Well and good--except that Winston Brenner died nine years ago. This doesn't stop Monk from ardently pursuing the murderous "corpse", who has apparently struck again and claimed a fourth victim. Watch for a fleeting reference to Silence of the Lambs (1991), in which Monk regular Ted Levine (Captain Stottlemeyer) played wily serial killer "Buffalo Bill." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Beck (The Rock) is a "retrieval specialist" in hock to a powerful and not particularly nice gentleman named Walker (William Lucking). Beck is anxious to retire from his dangerous work and open a small restaurant. Walker tells Beck he'll be free and clear with enough cash to fulfill his dream if he does one more job. He sends Beck into the Brazilian rainforest to bring back his wayward son, Travis (Seann William Scott). Travis is down there looking for a legendary idol, El Gato Diablo, which he could sell for millions if he found it. A pretty local, Mariana (Rosario Dawson), offers Travis the use of her boat in exchange for a cut of the take on the statue. But the powerful Hatcher (Christopher Walken) owns the area's huge mine, where locals work for slave wages, and feels that anything found in the area is his property. He refuses to let Beck take Travis back to the U.S. until the statue is in his hands. Using his estimable fighting prowess (he doesn't like guns), Beck manages to get Travis out of town, but Travis doesn't want to go home, and he ends up getting them stranded in the jungle, where they're confronted with horny monkeys and angry guerrillas. To make matters worse, Hatcher and his thugs are hot on their trail, and Mariana turns out to have her own motives for getting involved. The Rundown, the second film directed by actor Peter Berg (Very Bad Things), features a brief, uncredited cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Despite the return of her beloved former watcher, domestic and financial issues compound the dark depression in which the Slayer has wallowed since her return from the dead. A flooded basement sends Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) scrounging for a loan when she learns that her mother's insurance money has long since been exhausted. Just as she's being turned down by the loan officer, Buffy witnesses a demon attacking the bank. During the confusion, the fiend's unseen accomplice makes off with a wad of cash. Angry about losing out on her loan and letting the demon escape, the exhausted Slayer heads to the training room to let off some steam. Soon Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) appears, fresh off the plane from England and full of reassuring wisdom. Worried that Buffy doesn't seem quite herself, he chastises an unrepentant Willow (Alyson Hannigan) for her foolhardy trafficking in dark magic. Elsewhere, three other former Sunnydale High misfits make use of the black arts: nerdy inventor Warren (Adam Busch, see "I Was Made to Love You"); class dork Jonathan (Danny Strong, see "Superstar"); and Andrew (Tom Lenk), the science fiction-obsessed younger brother of Tucker, the villain of "The Prom." These three hapless self-styled super-villains plan to use their ill-gotten gains from their earlier bank robbery to take over the entire town. The demon who assisted in their larceny tries to take out the Slayer, but Buffy vanquishes it -- without learning a thing about the creature's three very human accomplices. Originally broadcast October 16, 2001, on the UPN network, "Flooded" marked episode 104 of the cult-favorite series. Andrew, Jonathan, and Warren would appear throughout the rest of season six as both comic relief and the year's unlikely "big bad" villains. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Wesley (Alexis Denisof) attempts to translate the Scrolls of Obearsain after Angel (David Boreanaz) stole them from Wolfram & Hart (see "Blind Date"). Eventually, he learns that a key word, "shanshu," means "to die" and interprets the passage as a prophesy that Angel, the "vampire with a soul," will die. When Angel acts nonplussed at the news, his friends worry that he has become callous after so many years among the undead. Meanwhile, Wolfram & Hart enlist a powerful demon named Vocah (Todd Stashwick) to sever Angel's ties to the Powers That Be. It kills the oracles, drives Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) mad with a continuous, painful vision, and blows up the headquarters of Angel Investigations while stealing back the ancient scrolls. Angel once again turns to Gunn (J. August Richards) for help, this time to watch over Cordy and the injured Wesley. The spirit of one of the oracles helps Angel track down Vocah, who is using the scrolls to preside over a mystical ceremony with the Wolfram & Hart lawyers. Angel interrupts the ceremony and kills Vocah, then severs the hand of Lindsey McDonald (Christian Kane) when he attempts to burn the scrolls. Later, with everyone recovered from their tribulations, Wesley takes another crack at translation and learns that "shanshu" actually means "to live." It seems that Angel may one day become mortal again. Back at Wolfram & Hart, a snarling creature lurks in a cage -- Darla (Julie Benz), Angel's slain vampire sire, brought back from the dead as an instrument of vengeance. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

The victim of a brutal assault refuses to help detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) in their investigation of the crime. This curious incident serves to stymie the efforts by the NYPD to track down the alleged rapist of two women, one of whom was comatose when she was attacked. Is it possible that one of the victims' parents is concealing a horrible secret? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi