Mary Mara Movies
One of the most notorious slasher films of the 1980s returns to terrorize filmgoers with this blood-soaked remake that proves just how horrifying high school dances can truly be. Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow) has survived a terrible tragedy, but now the time has come to leave the past behind and celebrate her senior prom in style. When the big night finally arrives, Donna and her best friends prepare to enjoy their last big high-school blowout by living it up and partying till dawn. But while Donna is willing to look past her nightmares and into a brighter future, the man she thought she had escaped forever has returned for one last dance. An obsessed killer is on the loose, and he'll slay anyone who attempts to prevent him from reaching his one and only Donna. Who will survive to see graduation day, and what will Donna do when she's forced to confront her greatest fear? Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, and Dana Davis co-star in the slasher remake that will have tuxedo-clad teens everywhere nervously looking over their shoulders as they file out onto the dance floor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, (more)
A man learns being an avenger for good is tougher than it looks in this independent thriller from filmmaker Chris Chan Lee. After his best friend, Joon (Leonardo Nam), a small-time dope dealer, is murdered during a shakedown by gangsters, Sam Kim (Sung Kang) leaves the United States and spends a year in Singapore, trying to sort out his emotions. Eventually Sam decides to return to America with two goals in mind -- bring down the thugs who killed his friend, and patch things up with Vera (Kelly Hu), his estranged girlfriend. With the help of underworld kingpin Don Osa (Tom Bower), Sam sets out to get justice for Joon and make up for the pain caused to his friends and associates by his absence. However, Sam doesn't know as much as he imagines about life on the wrong side of the law, and as he deals with career criminals, corrupt police officers, and the drug trade, he is thrust into greater danger than he ever imagined. Undoing was screened in competition at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Brooke Adams, the wife of Monk star Tony Shalhoub, appears in this final episode of the series' third season as Abigail Carlyle, the mother of violin prodigy Daniel Carlyle...and a key player in a bizarre extortion plot. Monk is called in to investigate after a 22-month-old kid named Tommy (played by twins Preston Shores and Trevor Shores) shows up carrying a severed human finger in his tiny fist. The clues lead Monk to deduce that the finger belonged to a violin player, and this leads him to a meeting with the Carlyles. It doesn't take long for Monk to realize that "Daniel Carlyle" is an impostor, and that the real Daniel has been kidnapped--and to top it off, THIS crime is inextricably linked to little Tommy's grisly discovery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2005
Comedian Martin Short plays it straight (more or less) in the role of prickly Canadian psychic Sebastian Ballentine (Martin Short). Called into the SVU offices to assist in the search for an abducted teenager, Ballentine quickly drives Detective Stabler (Christopher Meloni) up the wall with his snotty, superior attitude--and his many irritating eccentricities. But Stabler may be able to turn the tables when his colleagues begin to suspect that Ballentine knows a lot more about the kidnapping than he's letting on. A bizarre plot twist caps this offbeat episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2003
No sooner had actor Joe Pantoliano's character literally lost his head as mobster Ralph Cifaretto on the HBO crime series The Sopranos than he switched to the "right" side of the law on the CBS weekly The Handler. Pantoliano was cast as veteran FBI agent Joe Renato, who was placed in charge of a group of rookie undercover agents operating in L.A. Each of Renato's chameleon charges was a master of disguise and deception, ideally suited for the various FBI stings to which they assigned -- but still not yet dry behind the years insofar as surviving deadly situations. Featured in the cast was another Sopranos expatriate, Lola Glaudini, as eager young agent Heather, Anna Belknap as Lily, Ken Weiler as Roy, Hill Harper as Darnell, and Tanya Wright as Marcy. The Handler debuted September 26, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Pantoliano, Anna Belknap, (more)
Saint Sinner begins in 1815, when two monks, played by Greg Serano and Antonio Cupo, inadvertently allow two evil female spirits to go out into the world. The spirits, Munkar (Mary Mara) and Nakir (Rebecca Harrell), travel in a time machine to Seattle at the beginning of the 21st century. The monks must follow them and track down the evildoers, who have become women of the night that kill at random. The monks must convince a police detective that they are not the ones responsible for the murders. The screenplay was penned by horror writer Clive Barker. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greg Serano, Gina Ravera, (more)
The 1995 novel by Dr. Gene Brewer becomes this drama from director Iain Softley. After a mugging incident at New York's Grand Central Station, Prot (Kevin Spacey), a man who claims to be an alien from the planet K-PAX, is turned over to a public mental hospital and the care of Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges). When medication fails to alter Prot's insistence that he is visiting from another world on a fact-finding mission, Powell gets more involved with his patient, who seems to have a calming effect on the other residents of his ward. At first convinced that Prot is a delusional who can be treated, Powell begins to wonder if his bizarre patient's story is true, particularly after the hospital's doctors find that Prot possesses the baffling ability to see ultraviolet light. As the date grows nearer when Prot claims he must leave Earth (a "class BA-III planet"), Powell becomes increasingly concerned that a psychiatric breakthrough must occur by then. K-PAX (2001) co-stars Alfre Woodard and Mary McCormack. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, (more)
In this gritty drama, a woman discovers that her long-lost mother is now her partner in a cutthroat prison gang. Treasure (Yolonda Ross) is a young African-American woman who grew up without a mother and has been in trouble with the law most of her life after falling in with a rough-and-tumble street gang. Treasure has long been told that her mother, a hard-as-nails female criminal nicknamed "Brownie," died years ago, but one of Treasure's best friends and gang-sisters tells her about meeting a hard-core "lifer" named Brownie in an adult lockup, and Treasure wonders if she might be her mother. About to turn 21, Treasure goes out of her way to break enough rules to be sent to the State Facility for Women, where Brownie (Davenia McFadden) is also held. Treasure soon meets Brownie and discovers she is indeed her mother, but finds that the longtime prisoner would prefer to regard her as a gang ally than as a daughter. Treasure also learns that not everyone welcomes her presence in Brownie's gang, especially Kit (Rain Phoenix), a drug dealer who runs with Brownie and feels that her daughter is forcing her to divide her loyalties. Stranger Inside was directed and co-written by Cheryl Dunye, who previously made the controversial independent feminist satire The Watermelon Woman; the film was premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival prior to its telecast on the premium cable network HBO, which financed the project. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yolonda Ross, Davenia McFadden, (more)
Based on an actual incident at the University of Virginia Medical Center, this made-for-TV drama stars Melissa Gilbert and Rosanna Arquette as Sarah and Linda, two expectant mothers who give birth on the same day in the same hospital. It is not until 18 months after the two women had contentedly gone home with the babies that a DNA test proves the infants were switched at birth thanks to a hospital snafu. Although Sarah and Linda both elect to keep the babies that they've grown to love, they reach an unusual compromise that has profound (and not entirely positive) effects on their respective families and friends -- leading, inevitably, to a heated courtroom battle. Originally telecast by CBS under the title Two Babies: Switched at Birth on November 24, 1999, the film has since been released to video as Mistaken Identity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, Rosanna Arquette, (more)
- 1999
The crew makes the disturbing discovery that the PeaceKeepers have planted a locator beacon -- or tracking device -- somewhere on the living starship Moya. It is now necessary to perform surgery on the vessel, but the only practical anesthetic is located on a hostile planet that has never experienced extraterrestrial contact. In his efforts to obtain the anesthetic, Crichton realizes anew that he is truly a stranger in a strange land. The second Farscape episode filmed, "I, E.T." was the seventh to be shown, making its broadcast bow on May 7, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Carolyn McCormick returns to Law & Order in the role of Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a former police psychologist now in private practice. When detective Green (Jesse L. Martin) coaxes a confession from the ten-year-old suspect in a school killing, the D.A.'s office calls in Dr. Olivet to examine the perpetrator. Is the boy indeed the killer -- and if so, is there the likelihood that he will kill again? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
A woman's body is found stuffed in a wooden box that is oozing a strange liquid. Andy (Jimmy Smits) and Bobby (Jimmy Smits) locate the victim's brother, who seems less concerned about the woman's murder than he is with his favorite soft drink. Elsewhere, Diane (Kim Delaney) wonders if the death of a child was the result of parental neglect, while Greg (Gordon Clapp) and Jill (Andrea Thompson) investigate the shooting of another child whose intensely religious parents are all too willing to forgive the killer. And while off duty, Jill lets Diane know that she knows something she isn't supposed to know. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez) respond to a call from the projects, where an abandoned row house yields 22 youngsters suffering from malnutrition. Though his actions in this crisis are compassionate, Shep nonetheless makes a careless remark which Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Malik (Deezer D) regard as racist. Benton has other problems in the form of Jeanie (Gloria Reuben), whose husband, Al (Michael Beach), wants a reconciliation. In other developments, Greene (Anthony Edwards) is served with divorce papers while on the job; and Carter (Noah Wyle) tests out a risky surgical procedure on the terminally ill wife of octogenarian Mr. Rubadoux (Red Buttons). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Hoping to put her life back together after an abusive first marriage, mild-mannered Laura Jameson (Mel Harris) weds again, thereby incurring the wrath and resentment of her rebellious teenage daughter Kelly (Nicholle Tom). Still holding Laura responsible for the suicide of her father, Kelly goes completely off the deep end, beginning with an overnight stay in juvenile custody and culminating in an eight months of legal hell in a dizzying progression of courtrooms. Clearly over her head when trying to cope with Kelly (all she can say upon her daughter's release is "Was it awful in jail, honey?"), Laura will ultimately be forced to draw upon reserves of inner strength that she never knew or believed she had. Made for the NBC TV network, What Kind of Mother Are You? was first telecast on November 18, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Having completed medical school, Carter (Noah Wyle) invites Benton (Eriq La Salle) to his graduation -- only to miss the festivities himself because he's too busy comforting his patient TC (Gabrielle Boni). Meanwhile, Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies), fed up with the bureaucracy and backstabbing of hospital politics, quits her job; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is forced to back Weaver (Laura Innes) for the job of attending physician if he wants to appoint Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) as chief resident. This final episode of ER's second season includes an unresolved plot strand involving Benton, his erstwhile lover, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben), and an HIV examination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Unable to cope with losing custody of baby Suzy, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) begins consulting a therapist, whereupon the events in this episode (directed by series regular Anthony Edwards) are unfolded in flashback form. One of the plot developments involves Carol (Julianna Margulies), who in order to save her paramedic boyfriend, Shep (Ron Eldard), from disciplinary action may be forced to lie on his behalf. Elsewhere, Ross (George Clooney) discovers that his father, Ray, has run out on Karen (Marg Helgenberger) -- and with most of Karen's money. And Carter (Noah Wyle) tries to comfort a young girl named TC (Gabrielle Boni), whose surgery will prevent her from participating in a basketball tournament. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Having endured four consecutive night shifts, Greene (Anthony Edwards) reluctantly tackles night number five with only a skeleton crew -- and an inordinately large influx of patients. Among those passing through the doors of the crowded ER are an abusive husband whose wife has retaliated in a violent fashion, a lap dancer, a teenager who has swallowed antifreeze, and a young girl who was injured in a car accident that Greene had witnessed while grabbing a sandwich at a nearby restaurant. At the end of it all, Carter (Noah Wyle) can only express admiration for Greene's handling of a near-impossible job -- not to mention a last-minute innovation in patient care. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
With baby Suzy gone, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) tries to get over the loss by throwing herself in her work. Meanwhile, Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Weaver (Laura Innes) discuss the possibility of making Lewis chief resident. Elsewhere, paramedic Shep (Ron Eldard), unable to cope with the dearth of his partner, begins to take out his anger on the job. Ross (George Clooney) begins cultivating an interest in his father Ray's girlfriend, Karen (Marg Helgenberger). And Carter (Noah Wyle) finds that his qualifications for graduation are incomplete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Benton (Eriq La Salle) strongly suspects that Vucelich (Ron Rifkin) is manipulating the results of his study on the "clamp-and-run" procedure. Elsewhere, rumors buzz throughout the ER that Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) are lovers. And Carter (Noah Wyle) risks his career when he goes ballistic while dealing with an alcoholic patient named Nathan (Mark Pellegrino) and Nathan's "enabler" girlfriend, Angel (Charlotte Ross). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly nearly set the screen on fire in this clever, female-powered twist on the standard Mob caper film. Gershon is Corky, an ex-con renovating the apartment next door to where Tilly's Violet lives. Violet is the moll of psychotic gangster Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who uses the apartment as an occasional location for meetings and beatings, and also uses Violet as an occasional plaything for his Mob cronies. Violet is attracted to the super-sexy Corky, and the two begin an intense affair. Corky hatches a plot to escape with $2 million that Caesar is planning to give to a Mob boss, and the mayhem escalates from there. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, (more)
- 1995
Unable to cope with the pressures of surrogate motherhood, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) considers giving up her sister Chloe's baby, Suzy, for adoption. Back at the ER, Ross (George Clooney) and Greene (Anthony Edwards) quarrel over subjecting four-year-old AIDS victim Chia-Chia (Joshua Hoon Cho) to a very painful medical procedure. And Benton (Eriq La Salle) takes a personal interest in his patient Vicky Mazovick (Jennifer Tighe), a victim of abuse at the hands of her police-officer husband (Thom Mathews). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
In the opening episode of ER's second season, Carter (Noah Wyle) gets off to a bad start on his first day as new surgical sub-intern by showing up extremely late and woefully unprepared. Also on hand is new third-year student Harper Tracy (Christine Elise), who endures an ordeal by fire thanks to a psychotic patient -- and who catches the eye of the still-unattached Carter. Elsewhere, Greene (Anthony Edwards) ruffles more than a few feathers with his choice of new chief resident: the contentious and highly irritating Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes). With this episode, William H. Macy returns in the role of ER chief Dr. David Morganstern. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Carol (Julianna Marguiles) goes on a fascinating and frightening ride-along with paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez). Back at the ER, Weaver (Laura Innes) continues to rub everyone (except the equally contentious Benton [Eriq La Salle]) the wrong way; Ross (George Clooney) treats Byron (Jameson Baltes), a nine-year-old fledgling pyromaniac; and Carter (Noah Wyle) goes to ridiculous lengths to impress Harper Tracy (Christine Elise). And on the domestic front, Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) has her hands full caring for her sister Chloe's baby daughter, Suzy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
