Art La Fleur Movies

Cute but geeky high-school student Samantha Martin (Hilary Duff) is knocked off her feet by her father's untimely death, which leaves his diner and Samantha's well-being in the care of Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), Sam's thoroughly wicked stepmother. Not one to take on such menial tasks as dishwashing and mopping floors, Fiona exploits Sam's dependence as a method of hoisting any dirty work off her own shoulders. School is hardly a break for Samantha, particularly when Shelby (Julie Gonzalo) is around; spoiled, wealthy, and popular, Shelby treats Samantha nearly as badly as Fiona does. Samantha's life is irrevocably changed, however, by two events: a makeover of epic proportions and a sudden electronic correspondence with a mysterious young man. Due to a misplaced cell phone and a series of fateful coincidences, Samantha and her Prince Charming develop a romance through text messages and e-mails, and ultimately promise to meet face-to-face at the biggest school dance of the year. Of course, getting there doesn't go smoothly, and Samantha may miss her chance to meet her dream date -- none other than Austin (Chad Michael Murray), the most popular boy in school. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Wesley (Alexis Denisof) pretends to be Angel (David Boreanaz) while Angel consults with a shaman who turns out to be an impostor in this tale of mistaken identities. Despondent over the return of Darla (see "Dear Boy"), Angel heads to the demon karaoke bar Caritas for advice from the Host (Andy Hallett), who sends him on a weekend retreat with no-nonsense guru T'ish Magev (Art LeFleur). Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Wesley are hassled by the henchmen of Magnus Bryce (Todd Susman), a businessman who made his fortune selling spells to the rich and famous. Bryce wants protection for his comely daughter, Virginia (Brigid Brannagh), whom he claims is in danger of being assassinated by his business rivals. Bryce wants Angel and only Angel to take the job, so Wes poses as his employer (even drinking a vial of blood) and begins faking his way through bodyguard duty. Along the way, he and Virginia have a tumble in the hay. Meanwhile, Angel learns that the T'ish Magev, despite having given him some real insights into his own character, is actually an impostor in the employ of one of Bryce's rivals. It turns out that, far from desiring to protect his daughter, Bryce wants to sacrifice Virginia to the demon goddess Yeska in exchange for greater power; the fake T'ish's job was to keep Angel from protecting the young woman. Eventually, Wes, Angel, and the crew save Virginia from her father. The young heiress begins a romance the man she now realizes is not Angel but Wesley, and Wes ends up in the society pages. Originally broadcast November 7, 2000, on the WB network, "Guise Will Be Guise" marked season two, episode six of the supernatural comedy drama. Guest star Todd Susman previously played the obnoxious PA voice on the long-running television comedy M*A*S*H. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Snappy dialogue and a noir shadow color this stylish drama about a woman lawyer who crosses to the wrong side of the law. With the help of three criminals she successfully defended, she creates and markets an opium-like drug that will earn her money and get her revenge. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi

This highly anecdotal film centers upon Doc (Nick Nolte), a self-employed marine biologist who lives by the ocean and interacts with the neighborhood denizens, trying to conceal a troubled past. Across from Doc's digs stands the local bordello, the Bear Flag Restaurant. Across the entrance ambles Suzy (Debra Winger), a drifter who tries to become one of the girls and fails miserably. However, she does set her sights on Doc and acts accordingly. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Crime is the disease and Sylvester Stallone is the cure in Cobra, a high-octane rehash of the Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry films, burnished to a 1980s action sheen. Stallone is Marion Cobretti, a cop called in when regular police methods have failed. Cobra is sent to get a cult of Charles Manson-like serial killers and to protect Ingrid (Brigitte Nielsen), a beautiful, statuesque witness who is set to testify against them. Cobra deposits Ingrid in an out-of-the-way town for safe-keeping, but a mole in the police department tips off the killers. The gang comes racing into town to get Ingrid, but Cobra is there waiting for them, ready to spring into action. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Lensed on videotape, Emergency Room was the first presentation of the syndicated Commworld Prime Time Showcase. Sarah Purcell and LeVar Burton star in this hospital melodrama. Purcell plays the doctor in charge of the E.R., dealing not only with an onrush of patients but also with hospital red tape and an on-again, off-again romance with a fellow physician (Gary Frank). The guest cast includes Penny Peyser, Paul Stewart, Julie Sommars, Gary Lockwood and Conchata Ferrell. Most markets first saw Emergency Room in mid-July 1983. The film was barter-sponsored to local stations by Procter and Gamble, as was the second and last Commworld Prime Time Showcase effort, Desperate Intruder (see separate entry). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Some say that to be the leader of a country is one of the loneliest jobs in the world. But being the child of a world leader can be doubly so. Constantly surrounded by security officers, restricted in movements and having almost every waking moment carefully monitored makes normalcy an impossibility. No one knows this better than young Luke Davenport, the son of U.S. President Davenport. He vents his loneliness, frustration and feelings of isolation from family and friends by being a brat to his private Secret Service agent. When the agent snaps from the strain in front of the First Lady, a new agent is assigned to Luke. He turns out to be the enormous Sam Simms, a bit of a rogue who managed to rise through the ranks by sheer determination rather than strict adherence to Secret-Service protocol. At first, Luke tries all his old tricks upon Sam. But instead of getting angry, Sam seems to actually understand. This touching comedy follows the eventual friendship that forms between the two misfits. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A supposedly powerless production assistant shows a major movie mogul just how important he can be in this satiric comedy. Kevin Conroy (Henry Thomas) is a film student from Michigan who moves to Hollywood in hopes of getting his foot in the door of the movie industry. Kevin has a script he's been trying to shop around entitled "Three Days in a Salt Mine," but in the meantime he gets a job as a production assistant on the upcoming summer blockbuster Moby Dick II. Michael Lawrence (Mark Metcalf), the film's producer, has made a career out of taking classic novels and turning them into money-spinning tripe, and he expects this will be no exception; Michael is a terror to work for, and his lazy and stunningly foul-mouthed assistant Russell Bernside (Scott Thompson) is even worse. But Kevin and his roommate Tad Sheen (Neil Mandt) come up with a plan that will allow Kevin to get revenge and funding for his own project at the same time. One of Kevin's many jobs is to supervise the shipping of the exposed film to the processing lab; by hijacking Moby Dick II's very expensive special effects sequences and holding them for ransom, he's taken the future of the very expensive project into his own hands, though things hardly work out the way he expected. Hijacking Hollywood marked the feature debut for writer and director Neil Mandt, who also plays Tad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Neil Simon based his screenplay for I Ought to Be in Pictures on one of his more serious theatrical pieces. Walter Matthau is top-billed as Herbert Tucker, a struggling screenwriter who suddenly finds his 19-year-old daughter, Libby(Dinah Manoff), on his Hollywood doorstep. Having deserted his family years earlier, Herbert isn't keen on having his daughter around to cramp his lifestyle, which at this point consists of drinking his meals and telling lies to his faithful girlfriend, Stephanie (Ann-Margret). Libby takes it upon herself to put Herbert's life in order. There are plenty of angry outbursts and recriminations between father and daughter before the tearful, upbeat conclusion. Incidentally, Dinah Manoff is the daughter of actress Lee Grant, who'd previously co-starred with Walter Matthau in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite -- which, like I Ought to be in Pictures, was directed by Herbert Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Real-life father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez star in the made-for-TV In the Custody of Strangers. Blue-collar Sheen and his wife Jane Alexander attempt to instill discipline in their three growing children. But their 16-year-old son Estevez chafes at their authoritative attitudes, and runs seriously afoul of the law. Picked up on a drunk-driving charge, Estevez is charged with assault and battery when he fights off the sexual advances of his cellmate. His release continually delayed by judicial red tape, Estevez holds his parents, who are virtually helpless within the strictures of the Law, responsible for the mess he's in. But the real villain of the piece is not a person but an entity: The juvenile justice system, which is overworked, understaffed and swamped with dead-end bureaucracy. Scripted by Jennifer Miller, In the Custody of Strangers debuted on May 26, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Robert Louis Stevenson's novel is satirized in this comedy about a scientist (Mark Blankfield) who is hopelessly addicted to his latest invention, a strange white powder. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Three makes for a dangerous crowd in this darkly comic crime story. Convicted murderer Lewis (Salvator Xuereb) breaks out of prison with Clark (Dan Gunther), who is doing time for computer fraud. The escapees are heading to New Mexico in search of a secret map to a gold mine that was hidden by a prisoner who recently met with a fatal accident. Clark, however, doesn't like Lewis, and Lewis only has Clark around because he's functionally illiterate and needs help reading maps. Meanwhile, George (Rose McGowan), a young woman who never speaks, has hit the highway after lifting the $10,000 that she and her boyfriend Fred (Art LaFleur) were given for a shipment of drugs that they never actually delivered. After Lewis impulsively shoots one person too many, Clark strikes out on his own, and while hitchhiking, he gets picked up by George, who has stolen a car and has a poisonous snake for protection. George learns about Clark's secret gold mine, and eager to get on his good side, she seduces him. While George spells "trouble" so clearly that she should have the word tattooed on her forehead, Clark falls for her like the proverbial ton of bricks; Lewis also finds "romance" of his own with a sleazy woman he meets in a trailer park before meeting up with Clark at the location of the hidden map. Deciding that they work better as a team, Lewis and Clark head out to Mexico in search of the gold, with George tagging along, but what they don't know is that Fred has been following her, convinced that George still has his money. This was Rose McGowan and Salvator Xuereb's second film together, after appearing in Gregg Araki's post-modern road movie The Doom Generation. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi