Zahn McClarnon Movies
The new night watchman at New York's Museum of Natural History finds that the job comes with more responsibility than he ever dreamed in this wild fantasy comedy directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Mickey Rooney, and Dick Van Dyke. Larry Daley (Stiller) is a kind-hearted dreamer who always knew that he was destined for greatness, he just never quite knew how. None of his ideas or inventions has panned out, so with a heavy heart, he takes a regular job as a lowly graveyard-shift security guard at the Museum of Natural History in order to provide a more stable life for himself and his ten-year-old son. His first night on the job, however, he finds that guardianship of the museum is far from stable -- at nightfall, an Egyptian spell brings the artifacts and wax figures to life! With Attila the Hun charging to war through the hallways, the diorama miniatures embroiled in a deadly feud, and a two-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex nagging to play fetch, Larry has half a mind to turn tail and run. On top of cleaning up after two million years of historical chaos every night, he also has to make sure that not a single museum piece leaves the building -- from the bratty Capuchin monkey in the African exhibit, to the life-sized Neanderthal in the prehistoric display -- because if morning light falls on an escaped artifact, it will turn to dust. Larry turns to a wax replica of President Roosevelt (Williams) for a little advice on keeping things in tact, but Teddy seems to think that a man of Larry's greatness needs little help. Larry isn't sure if the former commander in chief is right; this is hardly what he signed up for, but he can't pass up the chance to care for a museum where history really does come to life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, (more)
Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the sprawling six-part, 12-hour TV miniseries Into the West covers 65 years of American history, from the first major migration westward in the mid-1820s to the massacre at Wounded Knee in the early 1890s. The story is largely seen through the eyes of two protagonists (and their families): Jacob Wheeler (Matthew Settle), a wheelwright who leaves his Virginia hometown and his family's business in 1827 to seek his destiny in the company of legendary mountain man Jedediah Smith (Josh Brolin); and Loved by the Buffalo (George Leach), a Lakota Sioux holy man who spends a lifetime seeking the answers to his profound and disturbing images about the future of his country -- and his people. Eschewing the usual "old-age makeup" route often pursued in epic tales of this nature, the main characters are played by progressively older actors in the course of the story: for example, Loved by the Buffalo is portrayed by no fewer than four different performers! In a more traditionalist How the West Was Won vein, the miniseries is festooned with major stars, some cast in very brief roles: among these are Josh Brolin, Keri Russell, Matthew Modine, Beau Bridges, Gary Busey, Tom Berenger, and Judge Reinhold. Nor is How the West Was Won the only inspiration for the multi-plotted storyline: other films echoed and emulated throughout the saga include The Iron Horse, The Big Trail, Westward the Women, The Searchers, and Dances With Wolves. As mentioned, the story is divided into six parts: "Wheel to the Stars," in which the fates of Jacob Wheeler and Loved by the Buffalo become forever intertwined; "Manifest Destiny," chronicling the first major trek to California; "Dreams & Schemes," wherein the Lakota lands are despoiled by Gold Fever and war breaks out between the North and South; "Hell on Wheels," chronicling the postwar chaos and the coming of the railroad; "Casualties of War," wherein the conflict between Native Americans and the white man results in wholesale bloodshed -- and, surprisingly, a "counter-revolution" of compassion and understanding; and "Ghost Dance," the last great stand of the Lakota, which brings the story full circle. Largely filmed in the Canadian Rockies over a six-month period, and utilizing the talents of six directors, Into the West premiered June 10, 2005, on the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Settle, Josh Brolin, (more)
- 2004
After his car accident, precipitated by his violent altercation with Shane (Walton Goggins) and Mara (Michele Hicks), Tavon (Brian J. White) is in the hospital with possible traumatic brain damage. Vic (Michael Chiklis) visits Shane at home to find out where he was last night, and sees through the couple's shaky cover story. Claudette (CCH Pounder) and Vic clash over his team's latest assignment, but it leads him to a bigger case involving a Byz Latz member sneaking contraband into Chino. Vic finds out that Aceveda (Benito Martinez) and a federal agent are interrogating his smuggling suspect, Aranis (Manuel G. Jimenez), about some marked bills in the money collected in the bust, and realizes that some of the cash from the "Money Train" robbery is marked. So while Aceveda and the fed try to track down the rest of the Byz Latz money, Vic is racing against them to make sure they don't find it. Vic's moves inadvertently lead to Aceveda having an ugly run-in with a couple of gang members. Julien (Michael Jace) and Danny (Catherine Dent) try to protect a woman who's being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. Dutch (Jay Karnes) and Claudette are called in on another two rape cases involving an elderly women, and realize that there's a serial rapist on the loose. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Throughout his life, physics professor Zach Shefford (Grayson McCouch) has regarded his telekinetic gifts as a curse rather than a blessing. This sentiment is obviously not shared by ruthless Pentagon agent Raymond Addison (Louis Gossett Jr.), who recruits Shefford for a dangerous mission in which his "second sight" talents will be taxed to the utmost. It seems that, back in 1977, Addison had overseen Project Momentum, wherein dozens of telekinetics were brought together ostensibly for the purpose of benefiting mankind. But the project got out of hand when the participants' powers became too powerful and deadly, forcing Addison to kill them all. However, one of the participants, Adrian Geiger (Michael Massee), managed to escape, and is now at large, with a vast telekinetic army at his beck and call. It is Shefford's job to infiltrate Geiger's camp and finish the job that Shefford had started. Upon falling in love with fellow telekinetic Tristen (Nicki Aycox), Shefford finds that his loyalties are wavering -- and begins to suspect that the villains in this particular melodrama may in fact be the heroes, and vice versa. The made-for-cable Momentum premiered July 26, 2003, on the Sci-Fi Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grayson McCouch, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 2002
- G
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Screenwriter John Fusco returns to the Western themes of his previous films Young Guns and Thunderheart with this animated children's adventure from Dreamworks. Matt Damon supplies the voice of Spirit, a wild Mustang stallion living free in the Old West of the late 19th century, where he's captured by human horse traders and sold to a cavalry regiment at a frontier outpost. There, a cruel colonel (voice of James Cromwell) nearly succeeds in breaking the willful horse, but not quite. Spirit escapes in the company of another captive, Little Creek (voice of Daniel Studi), a Native American youth that tries to possess the magnificent animal by more humane means, but Spirit refuses to bend to human will even when he makes the acquaintance of Little Creek's beautiful and fiercely loyal mare, Rain. After he saves Little Creek's life in an Army raid, Spirit believes that the gravely injured Rain has perished after a tumble over a waterfall. Despondent, the horse is captured again by humans, enslaved this time for work in a pack team on the transcontinental railroad. Undaunted by the tragedies that befall him, Spirit manages to escape for a reunion with Little Creek, Rain, and his long-lost brethren. Featuring songs by rock singer Bryan Adams, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron departs from other examples of its genre in that the horse protagonists do not speak or sing; only Spirit's voice is heard as voice-over narration. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Damon, James Cromwell, (more)
- 1993
Remember way back when "Political Correctness" was merely a source of humor and not the official doctrine of the United States? In this episode, both Murphy (Candice Bergen) and Peter (Scott Bakula) get into trouble for making on-the-air comments that are labeled "insensitive" by certain special-interest groups. As a result, Miles (Grant Shaud) orders the enter "FYI" staff to attend a cultural-sensitivity seminar...and the results are guaranteed to offend just about everyone!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
