Kevin Weisman Movies
You can take the clerks out of the Quick Stop, but you just can't take the Quick Stop out of the clerks as Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and Randall (Jeff Anderson) prove in this long-awaited sequel to Kevin Smith's breakthrough comedy. Years after we last saw them, Dante is still toiling behind the counter at a New Jersey convenience store and Randall is still annoying customers at the video shop next door -- or at least they are until a fire burns down the strip mall, forcing Dante and Randall to look for work. Times are tough, and the guys find themselves embracing the ultimate indignity as they take jobs at Mooby's, a fast-food outlet where the burgers are advertised as "udderly delicious." While Randall's snarky attitude toward the public remains unchanged, Dante is trying to make the best of the situation as he plans to marry his fiancée, Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith), and move to Florida. However, Dante's plans are complicated when he falls for Becky (Rosario Dawson), a funny and tart-tongued woman who happens to be his boss at Mooby's. Lurking about in the background, as always, are Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), who for good or ill have changed even less with the passage of time than Dante and Randall. Clerks II also features Wanda Sykes, Ethan Suplee, and Trevor Fehrman, with cameo appearances from Kevin Smith regulars Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, (more)
Despite its late start in January of 2005 after a hiatus of eight months, the fourth season of Alias more than made up for lost time with a plethora of trials, tribulations, jaw-dropping revelations, big-time betrayals, and near-death experiences for the series' secret-agent heroine, Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner). Reeling from the disillusionment and embarrassment of her demotion, Sydney quits the CIA flat; however, it turns out that this is part of a master plan hatched by new CIA director Hayden Chase (Angela Bassett) to arrange Sydney's membership in Authorized Personnel Only (APO), a top-top secret black-ops organization. Sydney's co-workers at APO include several longtime associates: her father, Jack (Victor Garber); her partner and sometime lover, Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan); her steadfast previous partner Dixon (Carl Lumbly) -- and, much to our heroine's surprise, her duplicitous ex-chief, Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who has proven time and again that he can't be trusted. For her first APO assignment, Sydney is sent to Rio, where she has a fateful encounter with her latest adversary, Tamasaki (Rick Yune), a self-styled 21st century samurai. Previously a recurring character, Sydney's half-sister, Nadia Santos (Mía Maestro), becomes a full regular this season, the better to throw a monkey wrench into Sydney's volatile relationship with her father, Jack -- and to share with Jack a startling secret about Sydney's supposedly dead, supposedly traitorous mother. At the same time, Vaughn has a great deal of difficulty overcoming the treachery of his former wife, Lauren, and an equal amount of difficulty assimilating new and disturbing information about his own father. Major developments this season include a huge revival of interest in the Rambaldi code, which when broken may spell the doom of humankind; the surprising temporary recruitment of another of Sydney's longtime enemies, Julian Sark (David Anders), for a special APO mission; a grim prognostication that Sydney and Nadia are destined to duke it out to the death; and the resurrection of a long-presumed-dead central character, who will reveal anew to Sydney that she can never completely rely upon anyone or believe in anything, not even the evidence of her own eyes. Though the season ends with the good news that Sydney and Vaughn are engaged, any hopes for lasting happiness are dashed by still another shocking revelation -- and a spectacular car crash. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Director Michael A. Goorjian's Illusion tells the tale of a dying film director who, after leading a lavish life of fame and fortune, finds out too little too late what it truly means to live and be loved. Mr. Baines (Kirk Douglas) is a Hollywood icon who has agreed to grant one final interview before drifting into that good night. As Mr. Baines drifts wearily in and out of consciousness throughout the course of the interview, his long deceased editor returns to join him in going back over the footage of his life. While Mr. Baines never married, he did father an illegitimate son named Christopher (Goorjian) whom he abandoned as a child and never returned to. Now, on the screen before him, Mr. Baines watches mournfully as the tragic life of his long lost son plays out to its devastating conclusion. Upon viewing the heartbreaking footage Mr. Baines begins to realize that it was his own cowardice that ultimately fed his son's crippling sense of worthlessness and cemented the boy's grim fate. Despite Christopher's lifelong love of his childhood sweetheart Isabelle, an endless series of fateful mishaps constantly seemed to prevent the boy from finding true happiness with the ethereal beauty. As the film of Christopher's life careens towards tragedy time and again, the dying director implores his faithful editor to allow him the final cut that will save the picture. After living a lifetime of missed opportunities, the man who thought he had it all will now attempt to summon the dying might for one last opportunity to let his son know what it truly means to love, and be loved in return. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Michael A. Goorjian, (more)
As season three of the ABC espionage series gets under way, secret agent Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) has still not entirely adjusted to the startling revelation that she has somehow lost track of two years in her life -- and that her partner and erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan) is now married to Lauren Reed (Melissa George). Also, she is informed that her double-agent father, Jack (Victor Garber), who thought Sydney was dead, has been jailed -- in solitary confinement -- for a year, and her duplicitous boss, Sloane (Ron Rifkin), has disavowed his evil ways and "gone straight." But just as in previous seasons, what seems true on the surface is a different story as Sydney digs deeper into the mystery of her missing years. Placed back on active duty, Sydney tortuously tries to put the pieces back together, with Vaughn at her side and Lauren agonizing over the likelihood that her marriage is doomed. Various links to Sydney's past include her old nemesis Julian Sark (David Anders), who has hatched a scheme to cripple the nation's satellite system; and freelance thief Simon Walker (Justin Theroux), whose team is involved in stealing a dirty weapon. There are also unexpected encounters with Sydney's old friend Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), newly dragged from the bowels of the Witness Protection Program, and the redoubtable Allison Doren (Merrin Dungey), the evil doppelganger of Sydney's murdered roommate, Francie. Throughout, there is a concerted effort to prevent Sydney's memory from coming back -- an effort engineered not only by her enemies, but by those who know that she is harboring a terrible secret that will destroy her once she knows all. In the mid-season episode "Full Disclosure," Sydney finally receives the whole shocking story about those lost two years, and her complicity in the murder of a Russian diplomat. Thereafter, we're back to the basics, with Sydney and Vaughn collaborating on a variety of top-secret missions, several tied in with the ubiquitous Rambaldi code, which when broken will lead to a super-weapon capable of wiping out all of humankind. And in the time remaining in season three, the scorned Lauren is at the center of a startling betrayal -- and, ultimately, Sydney is slapped with a bitter disillusionment that makes all past disillusionments in her life pale in comparison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Cunningly presaged by the cliffhanger at the end of season one, the first episode of Alias' second season confirmed what heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) -- college student by day, counterespionage agent the rest of the time -- had feared most: that "The Man," the evil leader of a vast criminal cartel, was no man at all, but instead Sydney's supposedly dead mother, former KGB agent Irina Derevko (played by new series regular Lena Olin). Though Irina would eventually claim to have reformed and insisted that she was looking out for Sydney's best interests, her actions -- which included innumerable double-crosses, sellouts, and betrayals -- would seem to indicate otherwise. Even so, nothing that was ever "indicated" on Alias was ever quite what it appeared on the surface. Meanwhile, both of the spy organizations for which Sydney worked, the CIA and the more sinister SD-6, were dedicated to destroying the cartel formerly run by Irina and now in the hands of her mercurial lieutenant, Sark (played by another new series regular, David Anders). The two rival agencies also continued their search for the missing Rambaldi fragments, which when assembled would become a terrifying weapon of mass destruction, as well as "The Bible," the operations manual used by Irina's old criminal empire.
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Still embittered by the knowledge that she had been used all her life by SD-6, Syd persisted in covertly working against the organization by throwing in with the CIA, under the supervision of agent Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), who by the time season two rolled around, was making no secret of his love for Syd. Two other SD-6 operatives, computer genius Marshall Flinkman (Kevin Weisman) and agent Marcus Dixon (Carl Lumbly), likewise crossed over to the CIA, with tragic results for at least one of them. Syd was given even more reason to despise the espionage business when she learned that, as a child, she had been a guinea pig for a program designed to indoctrinate spies at an early age -- a program developed by her own father, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber). There was another "father figure" in Syd's life in the form of her SD-6 boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), who despite his cruel cunning and ruthlessness was genuinely fond of both Bristows. Sloane would launch a second career as a solo villain when, disillusioned by the SD-6, he bolted the organization and set about to harness the awesome power of the Rambaldi device for his own purposes. His replacement at SD-6 was the no-nonsense Geiger (Rutger Hauer), who, shall we say, harbored no great love for either Syd or Jack. In addition to Rutger Hauer, season two of Alias would feature guest-star turns by Faye Dunaway as the duplicitous head of SD-6 counterintelligence; Richard Lewis as a CIA counterintelligence analyst investigating Vaughn; and Christian Slater as a scientist who was kidnapped by the renegade Sloane -- and whose past life experiences bore striking resemblances to those of the Bristow family.
Elsewhere, it was business as usual for crusading journalist Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), who doggedly continued his crusade to expose and destroy SD-6 and all the other agencies in the Alliance of Twelve. The basic through line of Alias took off on a radical and wholly unanticipated new direction with its January 26, 2003, episode "Phase One." In this truly shocking entry, Syd's roommate, Francie (Merrin Dungey), was murdered and replaced by an exact double, thereby further blurring the series' distinction between its heroes and its villains. Also in that episode, the CIA put an end to SD-6, thus freeing Sydney from her double-agent balancing act and allowing her and Vaughn to finally express their feelings for each other. But even those developments paled in comparison with Alias' second-season cliffhanger finale, in which after being rendered unconscious in a fight with the "bad" Francie, Syd awoke to discover that two whole years had passed -- and her erstwhile lover Michael Vaughn was now beyond her reach! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
Viewers who tuned into the premiere episode of ABC's espionage series Alias did so already knowing the basic premise: Heroine Sydney A. Bristow (Jennifer Garner) lived a double life, as a "typical" college undergraduate and as an uncover agent for a government organization which she assumed to be the CIA. Sydney never told either her fiancé, Danny Hecht (Edward Atterton), or her roommate, Francie Calfo (Merrin Dungey), about her covert off-campus activities, not out of any great fear of blowing her cover, but merely because she assumed no one would believe her. Then came the fateful day that Sydney let slip her secret to Danny -- who turned up murdered not long afterward. It was then that Sydney began to suspect that her CIA bosses were not all they seemed to be -- and indeed, the truth came out that she wasn't working for the CIA at all, but for a rival agency, SD-6, one of several such organizations gathered together in a rather sinister group known as the Alliance of Twelve. The cruel ruthlessness with which SD-6 went about its business was personified by Sydney's boss, Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin), an enigmatic character who was obviously very fond of Syd and the other agents, but who would not hesitate to sell anyone out who got in his way. Sloane was particularly nasty when dealing with those who would dare prevent him to carry out his obsessive, lifelong search for the fragments of the Rambaldi device, a doomsday weapon concocted some 500 years before by a Renaissance artist who happened to possess a Nostradamus-like gift of prophecy. Other perplexing facets of Sloane's personality were revealed in his curious relationship with Sydney's father, veteran SD-6 operative Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), as well as in an ongoing subplot involving Sloane's terminally ill wife, Emily (Amy Irving) -- who happened to be very close to Syd.
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Upon realizing that she'd been a dupe of sorts, the embittered Syd allowed herself to be enlisted as a counterspy by the real CIA; thereafter, whenever she went on a mission for SD-6, she was given a countermission by her new bosses. Her contact at the CIA was Michael C. Vaughn (Michael Vartan), a man with quite a history of his own. As for Syd's father, Jack, he spent much of season one trying to make amends for so perilously misleading his daughter -- all the while trying to shield her from the truth about her supposedly long-dead mother, Laura, who in keeping with the title of this series was actually Irina Derevko, a KGB agent who'd been assigned to seduce Jack nearly a quarter of a century before. Other recurring characters included Francie's chronically faithless fiancé, Charlie (Evan Dexter Parke); Syd's fellow SD-6 employees, agent Marcus R. Dixon (Carl Lumbly) and computer expert Marshall J. Finkman (Kevin Weisman), who was blessed with a photographic memory; and Will Tippin (Bradley Cooper), investigative journalist for the Los Angeles Chronicle, whose determination to find out the facts behind the death of Danny Hecht and expose the activities of SD-6 rendered him a marked man. Getting back to Syd, she spent most of season one chasing and being chased, never quite knowing her friends from her enemies. A mid-season brush with a dangerous rogue agent (played by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino) put Syd on the trail of a vast criminal cartel, whose leader was known only as "The Man." The season's cliffhanger ending revealed that "The Man" was actually a woman -- none other than Syd's "late" mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, (more)
- 2000
As the hospital-bound Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) continues to battle her brain cancer, she's unaware that several of her fellow patients are people driven insane by having their mental energy devoured by the ravenous Glory (Clare Kramer). One such unfortunate tells Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) that there's nobody inside of her, but Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) -- eager to protect her sister from the truth that she's actually the human incarnation of the mystical Key that Glory seeks -- reassures the girl that the patient's ramblings mean nothing. Soon, though, the sisters become concerned about their own mother's sanity when the cancer causes Joyce to experience bouts of dementia. Even more acute danger presents itself when an apparent UFO sighting by Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Tara (Amber Benson) turns out to be the arrival of a demon whose breed feeds exclusively on the insane. Xander (Nicholas Brendon) suspects that Glory summoned the demon, but the truth turns out to be more surprising. Meanwhile, the mental patient who unnerved Dawn becomes the creature's first victim. Then Joyce, who has returned home to await surgery, almost falls victim to it in her own bedroom. Buffy defeats the beast with help from Dawn -- and from Spike (James Marsters), who just happens to be in the Summers' basement filching photographs of his beloved Slayer. After the dust settles, a less loopy Joyce tells Buffy that in her altered mental state, she was able to recognize the truth about Dawn. Nonetheless, she declares that Dawn is precious to the world and that Buffy must protect her -- especially if something happens to Joyce. As the Scoobies watch forlornly, Joyce heads into surgery. Meanwhile, Riley remains convinced he's being shut out of Buffy's life and continues his kinky vampire encounters. Originally broadcast November 28, 2000, on the WB network, "Listening To Fear" marked episode 87 of the cult-favorite series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) learns that her mother is suffering from brain cancer and feels helpless to do anything about it. Anya (Emma Caulfield) and Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) counsel her and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) that a healing spell might make things worse because the magical and the medical aren't supposed to mix. Riley (Marc Blucas) comforts Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) and tries to do the same for Buffy, but she pushes him away. She's too busy seeking out the giant snake-demon that Glory (Clare Kramer) has dispatched to find the mystical Key that, unbeknownst to the vivacious demon, has actually been incarnated into human form as Dawn. Buffy is furious to discover that Glory procured the materials for her enchantment from Giles and Anya's shop -- walked right in and out under their noses. Nonetheless, after receiving another butt-kicking from Glory, the Slayer tracks down the she-demon's minion and savagely mutilates it, thereby saving Dawn and venting some of her own feelings of powerlessness. Back at the hospital, she affects steely determination, once again shutting Riley out. Of course, she has no clue that he's been getting his kicks by letting a vampire tart suck his neck and then staking her. Originally broadcast November 21, 2000, on the WB network, "Shadow" marked episode 86 of the cult-favorite series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1998
A toxic benzine spill in the ER waiting room forces the evacuation of all the patients. With Weaver (Laura Innes) suffering the ill effects of the spill, Carter is placed in charge of the "exodus." Meanwhile, Corday (Alex Kingston) goes on an EMT ridealong, ultimately risking her life to treat Leo Lepziger (Joey Perillo), whose arm is trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building. This episode won an Emmy award for Best Sound Editing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Season Four of The Drew Carey Show begins with a series of bizarre work-related accidents befalling our hero Drew Carey (playing himself). It couldn't be that there is a conspiracy against Drew, could there? Oh, yes, there could--and the conspirators turn out to be a trio of Winfred-Louder coworkers (Kevin McDonald, Kevin Weisman and Tracy Letts) who for various reasons have been sabotaging Drew for nine whole years! Elsewhere, Mimi (Kathy Kinney) tries out some "mood makeup" which yields fascinating results during her brief romantic fling with a guy named Ron (Gregory Jbara; and Oswald (Diedrich Bader) still hasn't forgiven Kate (Christa Miller) for jilting him at the altar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Aghast at finding a tiny scratch on his otherwise flawless hardwood floor, Frasier calls in a contractor to repair the damage. What begins as a relatively small job mushrooms into a vast and expensive undertaking -- one that threatens to ruin a wine-tasting party being held at Frasier's home. The reason? Well, it all stems back to Niles (David Hyde Pierce), who is jealous over the attention paid by Daphne (Jane Leeves) to handsome hunk contractor Joe DeCarlo (Tony Carreiro). This episode earned an Emmy award for "best sound mixing." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
