A. Martinez Movies

A group of typical high-school students finds their foundations shaken and their beliefs challenged by a newly arrived debate teacher who makes it his mission to explore their innermost feelings on the subject of life and death. The setting is Palos Verdes, CA, and the teacher is Robert Lee (Dale Midkiff), a graduate of the Georgia Military Academy who has gained a reputation as one of the best debate teachers in the country. Every teenager has his or her fair share of problems, but when Lee specifically pairs his new students up with partners whom they don't get along with and assigns them a debate on the hot-button topic of euthanasia, high-school rivalries soon heat up to epic proportions. However, the students aren't the only ones with problems; as Lee struggles to come to terms with an adolescent trauma he has never quite been able to shake, the innermost passions of teachers and students alike begin to emerge though fierce competition and the questioning of longstanding beliefs. Beau Bridges, Danielle Harris, Kaley Cuoco, and Billy Kay co-star in a thought-provoking teen drama from director Dan Polier. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A young man struggles to sort out his feelings and his future as a wave of intolerance sweeps through a college town in this drama. Peter Thompson (Brendan P. Hines) was a student at a seminary studying to be an Episcopalian minister, until a tragic incident involving another student caused him to question his faith and his calling. Peter moves to a college town in Vermont, where he gets a job in a pizza joint run by Mike (Peter Onorati), and reconnects with Father Ed (A. Martinez), a gruff but caring streetwise priest who had been Peter's mentor. Peter also renews his friendship with a buddy from school, Alex (Kris Park), who introduces Peter to his good friend Rachel (Elizabeth Banks). Rachel is quite attracted to Peter, and before long she's deprived him of his virginity. While Peter tries to sort out the new changes in his life, a shocking gay bashing incident soon polarizes the town, and Father Ed steps forward to publicly announce that he's a homosexual -- and Mike is his lover. As tensions between anti-gay extremists and pro-gay activists increase, the murder of a gay man brings matters to a boil, and forces Peter, Rachel, and Alex to come to terms with their identities as well as their pasts. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jane Seymour stars in this made-for-TV drama as Rebecca Blake, a bookstore employee who lives contently in San Pedro, California with her construction-worker husband Joe (A Martinez). A chance meeting with a woman named Lynn Wyman (Cathy Lee Crosby), coupled with her recent nightmares and searing headaches (one of which has prompted a spectacular collapse at her local grocery store), lead Lynn to the inescapable conclusion that she is an amnesiac--and that she might be Abbie Stewart, who has another family in Fillmore County. Journeying to Abbie's hometown to learn the truth, our heroine is put off somewhat by the curiously mixed reaction of the man who might be her "other" husband, school principal Chase Stewart (Bruce Davison). The key to mystery may not be the surrealistic dreams experienced by Rebecca/Abbie, but instead that painful-looking gash in her head. Produced for the CBS network, A Memory in My Heart initially aired on March 2, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not at all sorry for committing a heinous crime, a convicted killer awaits his execution. By some miracle he survives the execution and demonstrates some profound changes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Action-veteran Joel Silver produced this taut tale of a female FBI agent who puts her career and life on the line when she falls in love with an enigmatic vigilante assassin. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this Western, a young sodbuster learns the ways of a gunfighter from one of the best quick-draw artists and then uses his knowledge for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Years after the accident that rendered her comatose, Alison Sullivan (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen) awakens with no memory of her past life or of the events leading up to the event that caused her amnesia. As she goes from person to person asking details of her life history, Alison is unaware that some of the interviewees are lying--and not without good reason. It turns out that there is a Very Powerful Person who doesn't want Alison's memory to return. . .and is willing to kill to make certain that it never does. Also in the cast is David Newsom as a kindly psychiatrist who insists upon helping Alison lift the veils from her mind--but why? Sweet Dreams originally aired September 16, 1996 on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When a woman hopes that a night of passion will grow into something deeper, she finds that her new beau may have some secrets in this erotic thriller. Ever since her divorce, Michelle Sanderson (Ally Sheedy) has tried to focus on her career in advertising, but she's become terribly lonely, and when she meets handsome stranger Jack Gillman (A. Martinez), without thinking, she joins him at his apartment for a long night of lovemaking. The next morning, she discovers that Jack is gone, along with his furniture; when she comes back later in the day, a man named Michael Joslyn (Frederic Forrest) is living at Jack's place and claims to know nothing about him. Jack eventually calls Michelle, and she sees him again; he tells her that he runs a construction business and that his wife passed away not long ago. However, Michelle later encounters Michael and his wife (Diane Salinger), and she discovers that they were the parents of Jack's late wife -- and that they're convinced that Jack is responsible for her death. One Night Stand marked the directorial debut of actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles in the Rocky films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A friend's determination to uncover the truth is the basis for the made-for television drama. Sheila Kelley stars as Sarah Vincent, a woman who leads a bizarre double-life as a woman in business by day, and a sleazy bar-hopper by night. After Sarah is mysteriously killed, her best friend Elizabeth (Rachel Ticotin) goes on a quest to uncover the true story behind her friend's secretive life and untimely death. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Farrah Fawcett stars as a struggling defense lawyer in the made-for-TV Criminal Behavior. Defending a nurse on theft charge, Farrah ends up ferreting out clues in a ticklish LA murder case. The path to the truth is labyrinthine, and no one can be trusted. A. Martinez, Andy Robinson and Cliff DeYoung costar. Based on a Ross MacDonald novel, Criminal Behavior debuted May 11, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Uh oh. An alien blob has oozed from the sky and is attempting to suck all the electricity from the earth in this sci-fi film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The road movie gets a smart update with this seriocomic tale of two Cheyenne men traveling from their reservation in Montana to New Mexico. For one of them, Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez), a quick-tempered activist, the journey is a practical one; his sister has been arrested and he is the only family member who can help her out. Buddy has no transportation, so he's forced to ride with Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer), a phlegmatic hulk of a man who is using his 1964 Buick as a vehicle for a spiritual journey of his own. Philbert's easygoing ways and insistence on frequent stops to meditate prove irritating at first to Buddy, but the men reach an accommodation as the trip wears on. Buddy comes to see that blaming the white man and what he sees as system rigged against Native Americans is distracting him from his true mission: to better understand himself and his place in the world. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Susan Seidelman directed this loose adaptation of Fay Weldon's novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil concerning the extreme revenge exacted by a dumpy housewife on her philandering husband. Mary Fisher (Meryl Streep) is a best-selling romance novelist of the manner of Danielle Steel or Jackie Collins. One night at a glamorous dinner party, Ruth (Roseanne Barr), the frumpy housewife of Bob (Ed Begley Jr.), accidentally spills wine over Mary's pink evening gown. Bob rushes to Mary's assistance, they look into each other's eyes, and it is lust at first sight. After a few clandestine interludes, Bob abandons his wife and his two smart-aleck kids to live with Mary at her palace by the seaside. As a result, Ruth goes into high gear to seek vengeance. She deposits her kids with Bob and then, with the help of a collection of other abused women -- including Ruth's mother (Sylvia Miles), nursing home attendant Hopper (Linda Hunt), and dim-witted secretary Olivia Honey (Maria Pitillo) -- she systematically sets out to destroy Bob's life. Bob calls Ruth a she-devil, and Ruth plays the role to the hilt; first she destroys his home life, then his career, then his freedom. And when he has nothing left, she proceeds to haunt and stalk him, bringing Bob to his knees. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide