Billy Mayo Movies
- 2007
Another of the many serialized adventure shows created in the wake of such similar efforts as 24 and Lost, ABC's Traveler starred Matthew Bomerand and Logan Marshall-Green as Jay Burchell and Tyler Fog, a freewheeling pair of graduate students who have fallen under the spell of an inveterate--and highly secretive--prankster calling himself Will Traveler (Aaron Stanford). For two years, Traveler had been goading Jay and Tyler into performing a variety of prankish stunts, climaxed by a roller-blading excursion in the vicinity of a famous museum. Almost on cue, the museum is blown up, and the boys were suspected of being terrorists. Seeking out Will Traveler to provide them an alibi, the unlucky duo not only found out he had completely disappeared, but also that there was no evidence that he ever existed! Hotly pursued by FBI agents Naj Marlow (Viola Davis) and Fred Chambers (Steven Culp), Jay and Tyler embarked upon a country-wide odyssey, hoping to track down the elusive Traveler and clear their names. As was often the case in such series, there was a vast and sinister conspiracy pulling the plot strings, and also a few "rotten apples" amongst the federal authorities. Traveler was introduced with a limited eight-episode run beginning May 10, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Bomer, Logan Marshall-Green, (more)
- 2007
In the second episode of a three-part story arc, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has fallen in the water at the scene of a horrendous ferryboat disaster, and is still among the missing. Izzie (Katherine Heigl) takes medical instructions by phone as she performs emergency cranial surgery on a victim trapped between two cars. George (T.R Knight) tells a mother that her son has been found safe so she would agree to undergo surgery--and now must conduct a frantic search for the boy. And while trying to mollify the victims' families, Alex forms an unusual bond with an unidentified pregnant woman (Elizabeth Reaser) who has sustained mulitple injuries. With all this going on, Cristina and Burke still find time to announce their upcoming wedding--only to start quarrelling the moment the words are out of their mouths. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2007
In the first episode of a three-part story arc, the staff at Seattle Grace swings into action when disaster strikes on Coleman Dock. A cargo ship has plowed into a ferryboat, killing several people and seriously injuring many more. Some of the survivors are in such bad shape that Dr. Webber (James Pickens Jr.) must literary play God, deciding on the spot who can be saved and who can't. Cristina (Sandra Oh) takes special interest in a grotesquely disfigured and very pregnant "Jane Doe" (Elizabeth Reaser), while Alex (Justin Chambers) must keep his arrogance in check as he deals with the victims' anguished relatives. The situations worsens when, while providing aid and comfort to an eerily calm child victim (Madison Leisle), Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) loses her footing and falls in the water--and she can't swim! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Monk (Tony Shalhoub) runs the risk of offending the entire country when he suspects that much-beloved astronaut Steve Wagner (Jeffrey Donovan) has murdered his ex-lover Joanne Raphaelson (Brianna Brown). Unfortunately for Monk, Wagner has an alibi that is literally air-tight: At the time of Joanne's death, he was in outer space! But setbacks of this nature have never kept Monk down for long, and as the story progresses he gathers the clues necessary to keep Wagner permanently grounded--and the "clincher" may be nothing more out-of-the-ordinary than a faulty garage door. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Frequent Star Trek actor and director Jonathan Frakes gets behind the camera again for this teen-sci-fi/action-drama in the Back to the Future (1985) mold. Jesse Bradford stars as Zak Gibbs, a teenager who discovers the latest invention to spring from the mind of his scientist father (Robin Thomas) and a research team that includes his dad's eccentric colleague Dr. Earl Dopler (French Stewart). It seems that they have developed a wristwatch that manipulates "hypertime," speeding up the passage of regular time 25 times for the wearer and those near him, making it appear that the rest of the world has become essentially "frozen" in time. Zak is delighted with the ability that he initially treats as the ultimate gag and superpower, until the National Security Agency begins pursuing both him and the device, intending to confiscate it for nefarious political purposes. Clockwatchers (2002) co-stars Michael Biehn, Paula Garces, and Julia Sweeney. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jesse Bradford
- 2002
Nine of the 23 passengers in a bus traveling from L.A. to Las Vegas are killed in a crash. As he lies dying, the bus driver offers evidence indicating that the bus was sabotaged. Led by Grissom (William L. Petersen), the CSI team sifts through the wreckage of a sports car that was following the bus at high speed -- then shift their attention to locating one of the passengers, a recent parolee who has apparently vanished from the face of the earth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this thriller, Brennan (William Baldwin) is an honest cop whose partner is murdered during an investigation of an organized crime syndicate. Determined to get to the mobsters who killed his partner, Brennan searches for the man who ordered his friend's assassination. Double Team offers two Baldwins for the price of one, with Adam Baldwin (no relation to William Baldwin) in the supporting cast alongside Elizabeth Mitchell and John Seda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Elizabeth Mitchell, (more)
In October 1991, a dying tropical hurricane from Bermuda collided with a cold front from the Great Lakes, resulting in a "perfect storm" of previously unknown destructive impact that resulted in 100-foot waves; tragically, the crew of a fishing boat was lost in the midst of the fearsome storm. Based on the best-selling book by Sebastian Junger, The Perfect Storm tells the story of the ship's brave and hard-working crew. Billy Tyne (George Clooney), captain of the Andrea Gail, hasn't had much luck finding catch on his most recent trips to sea, and with money short, he and his crew -- Bob Shatford (Mark Wahlberg), Dale Murphy (John C. Reilly), and David Sullivan (William Fichtner) set out again when they hear that the fish are running. Billy's hunch proves correct, but when the ship's refrigeration system goes haywire, they have to return to shore as quickly as possible before the fish spoil, sending them into the middle of the worst storm in history. The supporting cast includes Mary Elziabeth Mastrantonio, Diane Lane, Bob Gunton, and Karen Allen; Wolfgang Petersen, whose breakthrough film was the aquatic wartime drama Das Boot, directed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, (more)
Dorothy Dandridge was a singer, nightclub entertainer, and actress who became the first African-American woman to receive an Academy award nomination as Best Actress (for her standout performance in 1954's Carmen Jones; she lost to Grace Kelly). However, despite her striking beauty and obvious talent, Dandridge was a sexy, glamorous black femme fatale at a time when Hollywood pin-up queens were supposed to be giggly blondes. The film industry didn't know what to do with her, and while her nightclub act was a bit too smooth for the Southern roadhouse circuit, as a black performer she wasn't allowed to stay in many of the hotels and resorts where she performed. Dandridge also had a sad personal life, filled with tragedy and romantic disappointment, and she died of an overdose of pills in 1965, at the age of 41. This made-for-cable biographical drama stars Halle Berry as Dorothy Dandridge, supported by Brent Spiner, Obba Babatunde, and Klaus Maria Brandauer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Brent Spiner, (more)
- 1999
In this first episode of a two-part story, Ross' (George Clooney) maverick behavior catches up with him when his unauthorized treatment of ALD patient Ricky Abbott (Kyle Chambers) has fatal consequences. This tragedy has long-reaching consequences for others in the ER, beginning with the closing of Carol's (Julianna Margulies) free clinic. Elsewhere, former antagonists Carter (Noah Wyle) and Lucy (Kellie Martin) grow quite fond of one another; Benton (Eriq La Salle) all but depletes his bank account to pay for a sign-language tutor (Marlee Matlin) so that he can communicate with his son, Reese; and Nigerian janitor Mobelage (Djimon Hounsou) balks at telling his wife the real reason that he suffers from severe back pains and impotence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This made-for-television drama is based on the true story of a female prison inmate who fought for women's rights while still behind bars. Stephanie Zimbalist stars as Lynn Shaffer, a wife and mother who gets convicted of white-collar crime and is sentenced to ten years in prison. While behind bars she witnesses prison guards assaulting female inmates and carting them off to hotels as part of a prostitution ring. Her initial attempts to speak out are squelched by a crooked guard (Dan Luria). Determined to expose the crime, she enlists the help of her husband (Gary Frank) and her attorney, and fights to get the information into the hands of the proper authorities. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephanie Zimbalist, Dan Lauria, (more)
- 1995
In his zeal to prove his value to the ER and impress Harper (Christine Elise), Carter (Noah Wyle) loses his first patient, a barfly named Ed. Meanwhile, Carol (Julianna Margulies) and Shep (Ron Eldard) work together to subdue a drug-crazed patient, and Ross (George Clooney) copes with a four-year-old Asian child suffering from AIDS. And perhaps inevitably, the ongoing conflict between Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and Weaver (Laura Innes) reaches another crisis point, compelling Lewis to go over Weaver's head and file a complaint with Greene (Anthony Edwards). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Season Eleven of Murder She Wrote opens with an episode that would seem to have been inspired by the 1933 horror film Murders at the Zoo. Jessica Fletcher ($Angela Lansbury) pays an extended visit to a California animal park, there to research her latest mystery novel. Inevitably, a real-life mystery begins to unfold when Mark Atwater (David Beecroft), fiancé of one of the park's workers, is killed by the venom of a deadly black mamba snake. It looks like an accident, but Jessica believes that the actual killer was of the two-legged rather than no-legged variety. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this taut urban drama, two detectives are put on the case when a serial killer begins leaving a trail of bodies in Los Angeles. The detectives soon learn this is a killer with a difference -- the culprit is a woman, and her motive is to seek revenge for all the wrong men have inflicted upon women over the years. The cops find themselves taking a long look at their own actions as they hunt down the murderer. Deadly Sister stars Donnice Wilson, Billy Mayo, and Joyce Sylvester. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
