Catherine Lough Haggquist Movies

Made for television and first telecast April 22, 2007 by CBS, Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness) is based on the true story of Kansas City contractor Bruce Murakami, played by Dean Cain. On November 16, 1998, Bruce's wife Cindy (Chelah Horsdal) and daughter Chelsea (Katie Pezarro) are killed in a street accident by drag-racing teenager Justin Suarez (Shiloh Fernandez). Despite the admonitions of Bruce's surviving sons Brody (Landon Liboiron) and Josh (Ryan Kennedy), and those of family friend Melissa (Julie Warner), the bitter, vengeance-driven Murakami hires attorney Erin Teller (Peri Gilpin) to see to it that Suarez is punished to the full extent of the law. But during the boy's trial, Bruce experiences an epiphany, and realizes that revenge is not the answer. Without tipping off the ending of the film (which unfortunately was telegraphed by CBS' publicity campaign--to say nothing of the film's title itself), it can be noted that the real Bruce Murakami is the founder of Safe Teen Driver Inc. Filmed in British Columbia, Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness was the 230th presention of The Hallmark Hall of Fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Freshly escaped from Manticore, Max (Jessica Alba) touches base with her inner-city pal Original Cindy (Valarie Rae Miller), who now knows that crusading journalist Logan (Michael Weatherly) is leading the "Eyes Only" resistance movement against the corrupt power structure. With Cindy's help, Max takes several of Manticore's youthful transgens under her wing, determined to protect them from the Manticore minions. Meanwhile, the sinister Ames White (Martin Cummins) intends to "correct" the mutant mistakes made by Manticore's Madame X -- through the simple expedient of killing them all, beginning with Max. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dark Angel begins its two-season run with a feature-length episode establishing both characters and premise. Back in the year 2009, young Max Guevara (Geneva Locke) escaped from Manticore, a sinister laboratory creating human prototypes with heavy doses of animal DNA. A lab creation herself, Max managed to get away with several of her "siblings" from Manticore's X-5 program. Now it is 2019: The world is in turmoil in the wake of "The Pulse," a seismic phenomenon which destroyed all computer technology. The 19-year-old Max (Jessica Alba) lives in a crime-ridden ghetto with a group of alienated teens and dopers, working as a bicycle messenger by day and a cat burglar by night. (And why not? Max's cat DNA has endowed her with superhuman strength and agility.) She pulls this "double shift" in order to finance an ongoing search for the secrets of her past, and for her genetically engineered brothers and sisters. Enter scruffy cyberjournalist Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), a crusader against the corruption that has engulfed the government and its police. Persuading Max to join his cause, Logan gives her her first assignment: to guard a federal witness and her daughter. But Max may not be around to help -- not if she is tracked down and captured by Manticore minion Donald Lydecker (John Savage), the obsessed scientist who "created" her. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An otherworldly investigator learns of a secret which could mean the end of civilization as we know it in this thriller based on the popular video game Alone in the Dark. Edward Carnby (Christian Slater) is a detective with Bureau 713, a secret investigative team affiliated with the United States government that explores supernatural and paranormal events. One of Carnby's assignments leads him to discover the secrets of the Abskani, an ancient tribe that worshiped demonic forces which gave them incredible powers. Carnby's findings suggest that the Abskani are poised to return to take over the world, and only one person has the knowledge to stop them -- archeologist Aline Cedrac (Tara Reid), who happens to be Carnby's former girlfriend. But Carnby's psyche has been tainted by his encounter with the Abskani demons, and he must now fight against their attempts to take over his mind as well as their attempts to conquer the Earth. Alone in the Dark also stars Stephen Dorff, Will Sanderson, and Françoise Yip. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

America's favorite teenage canine-led crime fighters earn a second shot at the big screen in this sequel to the hit comedy Scooby-Doo. The reunited Mystery Inc. team -- Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Velma (Linda Cardellini), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (voice of Neil Fanning) -- return to their hometown of Coolsville as heroes when a local criminology museum offers an exhibition of the many ghostly disguises used by villains they've subdued over the years. However, their warm welcome is not long-lived; mean-spirited television reporter Heather Jasper-Howe (Alicia Silverstone) has aired a series of stories calling the team's intelligence and bravery into question, and even worse, a number of the weird creature costumes on display in the museum are coming to life and wrecking havoc on the people of Coolsville. Some of the clues seem to point to Old Man Wickles (Peter Boyle), whose attempts to pose as the Black Knight Ghost were foiled by the Mystery Machinists in the past, but is he looking for revenge or just a red herring? And what is Velma supposed to do about Patrick Wisely (Seth Green), a curator at the museum who's warm for her helmet-haired form? Scooby-Doo 2 also co-stars Tim Blake Nelson and features a cameo appearance from American Idol star Ruben Studdard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide