Josh Coxx Movies
The wildly prolific cult exploitation director and Roger Corman vet Jim Wynorski (Big Bad Mama 2, Not of This Earth) returns to the thematic territory of his 1986 Chopping Mall with the direct-to-video sci-fi actioner Shockwave (2005). The premise concerns a series of top-grade, covert "Shock Wave" robots. Originally designed as Mars Rovers, these machines - shielded with thick armor and laden with state-of-the-art lasers, weapons and tracking systems - ultimately proved themselves so ubiquitous that the armed forces opted to use them in routine military operations, to root out terrorists when attempting to suppress hostile lands. As the story opens, however, a plane transporting the machines crash lands on an abandoned Pacific island. The robots then go on a rampage, and a group of hotshot Navy SEALS is assigned to bring them down, via cutting edge particle cannons. The men are hindered by one small detail: as time rolls on, the intelligence of the robots builds rapidly, enabling the machines to dismantle all of the guns. As the power of the aggressors builds, the soldiers must find an innovative way to stop the madness, before the robots gain enough force and power to wipe out the entire human race. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Lando, Lisa Locicero, (more)
- 2004
Joining the cast of the Lifetime network doctor series Strong Medicine during its fifth season is Tamera Mowry as Dr. Kayla Thornton, new first-year resident at Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic. Though raised in a rural community, Kayla has returned to her home town of Philadelphia to pursue a medical career that was inspired by the tragic death of her brother. The arrival of Kayla proves to be a blessing for the clinic's male nurse Peter (Josh Coxx), who falls in love with the attractive resident--even though his feelings are not entirely reciprocated, at least not at first. Otherwise, Season Five picks up where Season Four left off, as Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi), one of Rittenhouse's two medical directors, falls in love with Ben Sanderson (Grant Show), the hospital's chief benefactor. Even so, Lu balks when Ben begs her to come with him when he is transferred to Hawaii. Meanwhile, Lu's partner Dr. Andy Campbell (Patricia Richardson) continues having issues with her daughters Jessie (Michelle Horn) and Lizzie (Morgan Flynn) over her divorce from her abusive husband Les. Andy tries to move on with her life by dating Dr. Milo Morton (Richard Biggs), but this proves difficult thanks to the resistance of her ex-husband. Tragically, Milo is slated to be killed by a drunken motorist, which is one of the motivating factors for Andy to consider giving up the clinic and lobbying for the position of State Attorney General (the other is the fact that she is denied the position of clinic chief of staff, a post recently departed by Dr. Paul Santiago [Philip Casanoff]). Meanwhile, Lu has problems of her own, beginning with the likelihood that her son Marc (Chris Marquette) has gotten a girl pregnant.On a more positive note, Lu enters into a relationship with Jonas Ray (Nestor Carbonel), a self-made millionaire from humble Cuban-refugee origins. Guest stars this season include Olympic athlete Keri Strug) and versatile actresses JoBeth Williams, Lynn Whitfield and Charlotte Rae. The series' 100th episode "Cinderella in Scrubs" manages to find roles for the likes of Fran Drescher, Camryn Manheim and Sara Gilbert. And in the 108th episode "First Response", the series' regulars are shunted into the background while the focus is on Nicole Hiltz and Lauren Velez as Kate and Vanessa, dedicated members of Rittenhouse's EMS team, and foster sisters (one white, one black) in the bargain. Can it be that "First Response" was intended as a spinoff for a new series? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosa Blasi, Patricia Richardson, (more)
- 2003
The fourth season of the feminist-oriented doctor series Strong Medicine begins with an immediate followup to the previous season's cliffhanger ending. As the firefighter boyfriend of the Rittenhouse Clinic's director Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) hovers between life and death after being shot by one of Lu's patients, Delgado's partner Dr. Andy Campbell (Patricia Richardson) makes the painful decision to separate from her abusive husband Les (Brian Kerwin), enraging her daughters Jessie (Michelle Horn) and Lizzie (Morgan Flynn) in the process. In later episodes, Andy begins a relationship with a Dr. Morton (Richard Biggs), but hesitates to introduce him to her daughters; Lu finds herself in a delicate situation when the man who raped her in Season Two comes back into her life--as a patient in desperate need of emergency heart surgery; the clinic's handsome-hunk male nurse Peter (John Coxx) unexpectedly lodges a protest when a chimpanzee is slated to be used for an experimental transplant procedure. Guest stars this season include Diahann Caroll,Shelly Long and Laila Ali, not to mention Grant Show, who in the season's concluding story arc makes three appearances as Ben Sanderson, a wealthy benefactor to the clinic. Because he is not open and above-board in his dealings, Ben incurs the rath of the combustible Lu. The tension reaches the breaking point in the season finale "Quarantine", in which an epidemic forces Lu and Ben to share some extremely close quarters--with astonishing results. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosa Blasi, Patricia Richardson, (more)
- 2002
Season Three of "Strong Medicine" marks the departure of series regular Janine Turner as Dr. Dana Stone, who with her earthier counterpart Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) has since the outset of the series been in charge of the Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic in Philadelphia. Having resumed her romance with the clinic's arrongant resident Dr. Nick Biancavilla (Brennan Elliott), Dana suddenly hears the ticking of her biological clock, and wants to have a baby. The clinic's sensitive male nurse Peter (Josh Coxx) volunteers to be sperm donor, which of course causes friction between Dana and Nick. Although she loses her baby, Dana adopts two infant girls, one of whom is HIV-positive, then decides to give up the clinic and return to her home state of Virginia with her new family, which she does in the season's sixth episode "Discharged". Dana's exit does not rest well with Lu, who is already emotionally fragile as a result of being raped the previous season. But once Dana's decision is made, Lu sets about to find a replacement. At the same time, Rittenhouse chief of staff Dr. Jackson (Philip Casnoff) makes his own choice for Lu's new partner: Dr. Andrea "Andy" Campbell (Patricia Richardson), a former Marine sergeant who has returned to civilian life specifically to take command of Rittenhouse--and, not surprisingly, Andy's strict, rules-are-rules approach to medicine serves only to drive a wedge between herself and Lu. Meanwhile, Andy is saddled with domestic problems, specifically an abusive husband (Brian Kerwin) and a pair of troublesome daughters, Jessie (Michelle Horn) and Lizzie (Morgan Flynn). In various story develops, Lu puts aside her resentment toward Andy to forestall not one but two potentially deadly epidemics; the 9/11 tragedy is touched upon when Lu clashes with the Government over admitting a patient who may be a terrorist; briefly returning to active duty, Andy has her hands full dealing with a patient with post-polio syndrome; and Lu drops her attitude about Andy and offers moral support when her new partner is beaten by her volatile husband. In the season's cliffhanger finale, Lu's currently boyfriend, a firefighter named Mickey Arenas (Julian Acostas), has no sooner emerged unscathed from a particularly nasty fire than he is gunned down by one of Lu's more unbalanced patients! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosa Blasi, Jenifer Lewis, (more)
- 2001
The second season of Lifetime's feminist medical series Strong Medicine begins with the episode "Donors", which includes a characteristic ethical clash between Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic directors Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) and Dr. Dana Stone (Janine Turner) over treatement of a girl who tries to pay for her eduction by selling her eggs to a fertility clinic, and a tense confrontation with a husband who'll stop at nothing to find a heart donor for his ailing wife. Elsewhere, the romantic relationship between Dana and egocentric resident Dr. Nick Biancavilla (Brennan Elliott) hits the first of several snags, culminating with a "big chill when Nick balks at the notion of marriage, just as Dana suspects that she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Lu has a fling with Harry (Don Michael Paul), who says he's divorced but isn't. In other developments, Lu's son Marc is booted out of school after he is caught cheating; Rittenhouse chief of staff Dr. Jackson (Philip Casnoff) begs Dana to give his wife preferential treatment when a new, experimental anti-MS drug is made available; Dana discovers that her ex-fiance has terminal cancer; Lu has a violent run-in with radio shock jock over medical ethics, and later faces the loss of her license when she inadvertently makes public the plight of a staunch pro-life advocate who is faced with the choice of saving her own life or that of her unborn child; and long-hidden hostilities are yanked kicking and screaming into the forefront when Rittenhouse's nurses go on strike. The last three episodes of the season comprise a tense story arc in which Lu is raped by a trusted colleague, surgeon Rand Kilner (Gregory Harrison), who claims that he'd merely indulged in consensual sex. The residue of this incident culminates in Lu's son Marc swearing vengeance, Dana being forced to deal with the devil when she needs Kilner for a particularly delicate operation, and an emotional tailspin for Lu that very well may cost her her job. Guest stars during Season Two include real-life MS victim Teri Garr as a good-humored woman who is diagnosed with the disease in the episode "Control Group"; and singer Mary J. Blige as "herself" in "History", wherein Lu flashes back to the establishment of her own storefront clinic with her colleagues, receptionist Lana (Jenifer Lewis) and male nurse/midwife Peter (Josh Coxx). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosa Blasi, Janine Turner, (more)
The female-centric medical series Strong Medicine launches its first season as Dr. Lydia Emerson, played by series cocreator Whoopi Goldberg) somewhat forcibly negotiates a merger between the financially strapped South Philadelphia storefront clinic run by the feisty and outspoken Dr. Lu Delgado (Rose Blasi) and the upscale Rittenhouse Women's Health Clinic, directed by the prim, Harvard-educated Dr. Dana Stowe (Janine Turner). The instinct-driven Lu and the rule-bound Dana don't get along at first--nor, for that matter, do they get along at second, at third, or at home--forever clashing over procedural matters and bedside manners. Despite this, the ladies develop a grudging respect for one another, and by season's end they could almost be called close friends. In the course of Season One's 22 episodes, Dana develops a romantic relationship with the clinic's egotistical resident Dr. Nick Biancavilla (Brennan Elliott); Lu has issues with her fatherless son Marc (played in the pilot by Paul Robert Santiago, and in the series proper by Chris Marquette, who attends a tough inner-city school; the clinic's dazzlingly handsome but overly sensitive male nurse Peter (Josh Coxx) gets into a variety of pickles with his more eccentric patients, and at one point decides to supplement his income by working as a male model (the producers of this series certainly understand their target audience!); Rittenhouse's chief of staff Dr. Jackson (Philip Casnoff) is suspected of abusing his wife, only to be cleared when it turns out that Mrs. Jackson's many bruises are a result of the early stages of MS; and the clinic's snide, abrasive receptionist Lana (Jenifer Lewis) is given a new perspective on her prickly relationship with her clients when she ends up hospitalized herself. Highlight episodes include the two-parter "BRCA", built around the clinic's Breast Cancer Awareness Weekend; the Christmas-season "Blessed Events", wherein Dr. Jackson fires a kitchen employee for drunkenness, only to find out that woman actually suffers from MLS; and the season finale, "Mortality", in which Dana endures a crisis of faith over a "meltdown" in the OR and Lu tends to a woman who has gone on a hunger strike to save her son from execution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosa Blasi, Janine Turner, (more)
- 2000
The friends conspire -- and compete -- to find the "perfect" man to escort Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) to a fancy charity ball. Ross (David Schwimmer) continues to fret over the age gap between himself and his girlfriend, Elizabeth (Alexandra Holden), especially when he finds out about her plans for spring break in Daytona Beach. And Joey (Matt LeBlanc) plays upon the sympathies of others to finance a new refrigerator for himself. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexandra Holden, Scott Paetty, (more)
