James Manos, Jr. Movies

Onetime Six Feet Under regular Michael C. Hall stars in this characteristically kinky, cutting-edge crime series from Showtime, based on a character created by novelist Jeff Lindsay. Hall was cast as Dexter Morgan, a likeable, self-effacing Miami police forensic expert specializing in blood-splatter analysis -- who secretly moonlighted as a serial killer. Early on, Dexter's homicidal tendencies were detected by his adoptive police officer father, Harry (James Remar), who encouraged his son to channel his violent impulses in a positive manner, and also pounded a strict moral code into the boy. As an adult, Dexter vowed to "take out the trash" and continue "honing his craft" by murdering other serial killers, and similar miscreants who would have otherwise slipped through the fingers of justice. Remarkably, Dexter managed to emerge a sympathetic figure via inner monologues wherein he explained his motives and modus operandi, all but encouraging the viewer to cheer him on in his bloody crusade against crime. Such was Dexter's harmless-looking veneer that no one suspected him of being a killer: not his adoptive sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), a Miami cop; nor his emotionally scarred girlfriend, Rita (Julie Benz), who'd only recently escaped an abusive relationship with her ex-husband; nor his police superior Lt. LaGuerta (Lauren Velez). Only his colleague Sgt. Doakes (Erik King) had an inkling that there was something...er...strange about the personable Dexter -- an inkling that earned Doakes Dexter's respect. Dexter began its weekly Showtime run on October 1, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Texas housewife plots hire a hit man to kill the girl who beat out her daughter for a place on the cheerleading squad in this made-for-cable satire based on a true story. Holly Hunter stars as Wanda Holloway, a twice-married Baptist mother of two who becomes obsessed when her daughter, Shanna (Frankie Ingrassia), gets disqualified from the election for the eighth-grade cheerleading squad because of overly manipulative campaign tactics (i.e. handing out free rulers imprinted with her name). Looking down her nose at neighbor Verna Heath (Elizabeth Ruscio), whose daughter, Amber (Megan Berwick), made the squad, Wanda becomes convinced that there's a conspiracy afoot and decides to do something about it. Getting in touch with her ex-husband's brother, Terry Harper (Beau Bridges) -- a lowlife with a liquor and drug habit and a wife (Swoosie Kurtz) who sees imaginary creatures on the floor -- Wanda all but orders him to find her an assassin on the cheap. Terry chickens out, contacts the police, and helps get the goods on his former sister-in-law before she can do any actual damage. A media circus soon engulfs the participants' small Texas town as Wanda heads to court and tries to prove she was the victim of a setup. Set against the backdrop of the Gulf War and the fall of communism, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom was filmed for HBO by Bad News Bears and Smile director Michael Ritchie. In adapting the Wanda Holloway story for the small screen, the film followed Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story, a 1992 ABC TV movie starring Lesley Ann Warren. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide