Margaret Loesch Movies
- 2009
- Add Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story to QueueAdd Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story to top of Queue
Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as real-life neurosurgeon Ben Carson in this made-for-TV biographical drama from TNT. Directed by Thomas Carter (Coach Carter), the film reveals Carson's inspiring life story as a poor, inner-city youth who overcame great odds to become one of the world's best surgeons, thanks to the love of his determined single mother (played by Kimberly Elise) and an unswerving Christian faith. ~ Sandra Bencic, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cuba Gooding, Jr.
- 2005
Overseen by TV-animation veteran Margaret Loesch, the daily, half-hour educational cartoon series The Zula Patrol was set in the "Zulaverse," where dwelt a band of zany aliens who traversed the galaxy, getting in and out of trouble while learning a lot of valuable information about science and astronomy -- and not a few vital lessons about tolerance and problem solving. Bula was the diminutive, green-skinned leader of the Zula Patrol; Bula's crew included the pink-colored female spaceship pilot Zeeter, multi-eyed absentminded professor Multo, anthropomorphic flying dictionaries Wizzy and Wigg, and the crew's versatile shape-shifting animal mascot, Gorga. The principal villain was oval-headed Dark Truder, who sported a living toupee (and a female one to boot!) named Trixe. Described by its parent network PBS as "Intergalactic Brain Fuel," The Zula Patrol was first telecast in the U.S. on September 11, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
The fourth and final season of the original Transformers cartoon series is actually a three-part miniseries titled "The Rebirth." The age-old war between the two rival Transformer factions, the Autobots and the Decepticons, takes the combatants to Nebulos, a planet controlled by evil telepaths. In the course of events, the lines of battle are blurred when, thanks to those aforementioned telepaths, several Decepticons, disguised as good-guy Autobots, infiltrate the other side. As the climax approaches, the fate of everyone concerned rests in the hands of the Autobots' human ally Spike -- with a bit of assistance from the revivified Optimus Prime, head of the Autobots, who has merged his intelligence and resources with the "super computer" Vector Sigma. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
In this animated children's film, G. I. Joe and his friends must defend the world when it is threatened by Golobulus and his evil COBRA team. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Season three of the cartoon series The Transformers opens with an elaborate five-part story (eminently suited to be "transformed" into a single two-hour TV movie), "The Five Faces of Darkness," set largely on Cybertron, home planet of the warring Autobots and Decepticons. This plotline serves to introduce a new human ally for the good-guy Autobots, Marrisa Fairborne of the Earth Defense Command. In other developments this season, the Autobots' earthling chum Spike, long married to a girl named Carly, inadvertently involves his son Daniel in the neverending Autobot-Cybertron conflict; the ghost of Decepticon Starstream goes on a relentless search for a new host body; and several new groups of characters are brought into the action, the better to sell more toys for the Hasbro company: among these are the Technobots, the Junkions, and the Quintessons. The season ends with a two-parter wherein Autobot mentor Optimus Prime, long presumed dead, makes a spectacular return in an all-out final(?) assault against the despicable Decepticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
The robotic cartoon adventure series The Transformers begins its second season with the episode "Autobot Spike," in which one of the human allies of the Autobots in their ongoing battle against the Decepticons literally loses his mind to a super-Transformer. "Autobot Spike" is one of the few single-episode storylines to be found this season. Many of the other scenarios take up two episodes or more, notably "Dinobot Island," wherein the discovery of a remote island populated by prehistoric beasts leads to a serious schism in the time-space continuum; "Megatron's Master Plan," in which the leader of the evil Decepticons does his best to turn public opinion against the Autobots; and "Desertion of the Dinobots," which finds the title characters rebelling against their enslavement by the robots and trying to claim the Autobots' home planet as their own. The best of The Transformers' two-parters during the series' second season is "The Key to Vector Sigma," a story built around a computer from the planet Alpatrian with which the Decepticons intend to bestow artificial intelligence upon their newly created flunkies, the Stunticons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
Season one of the "cartoon commercial" The Transformers begins with the three-part "More Than Meets the Eye," which explains how the two warring Transformers armies from the planet Cybertron, Optimus Prime's good-guy Autobots and Megatron's bad-guy Decepticons, were placed in suspended animation when they attempted to expand their battle to prehistoric Earth. "Thawing out" in 2005 A.D., the combatants resume their war as if nothing had happened, with the Autobots gaining a bit of an advantage by winning two human earthlings, Spike and Sparkplug, over to their side. A later episode, "Roll for It," introduces another major human ally of the Autobots, computer whiz Chip Chase. Subsequent season-one highlights include the three-part story, "The Ultimate Doom," wherein Megatron enlists the aid of a mad (Do you hear? Mad!) human scientist in attempting to bring Cybertron into Earth's orbit. And "A Plague of Insecticons" introduces a brand-new threat to Autobots and Decepticons alike -- not to mention a fresh new line of Hasbro-licensed Transformer toys! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, (more)
- 2007
- PG
- Add R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It to QueueAdd R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It to top of Queue
When thirteen year-old goth girl named Cassie (Emily Osment) moves into a new neighborhood with her family and starts pulling spooky pranks on the popular kids, the appearance of a mysterious books finds events taking a truly terrifying turn. Cassie isn't comfortable in her new surroundings, and feels rejected by her new classmates. Frustrated, she launches a tireless campaign to frighten the wits out of the entire student body as well as her younger brother Max (Alex Winzenread). With Halloween just twenty-four hours away, Cassie discovers an odd little book entitled "The Evil Thing." Despite the warning that implores owners never to read the book aloud, Max demands to hear the story and as a result, Cassie begins reading. Curiously, the story begins in the darkened woods behind their home, and soon introduces a mysterious stranger who may alter the course of the young sibling's lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Osment, Cody Linley, (more)
Directed by Joe Camp, Benji: Off the Leash! follows the plight of three underdogs: Benji, who is literally a dog; the funny but none-too-bright Sheldon; and Colby, a 14-year-old facing some real problems. The unlikely trio is brought together by the nefarious efforts of an ill-intentioned puppy breeder who wants to use Benji's mother in an irresponsible backyard puppy mill. The film serves as a prequel of sorts to the Benji franchise, and features Chris Kendrick, Nick Whitaker, Duane Stephens, Randall Newsome, and, of course, Benji the Dog. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benji, Nick Whitaker, (more)
