Alyssa Milano Movies

Daniel Simpson (Justin Theroux) is headed to the home of his wealthy family to celebrate Thanksgiving, with his girlfriend Suzanne (Alyssa Milano) at his side, but Daniel is not looking forward to the holiday. He's long felt like an outcast in his family, and his staunchly conservative parents don't much care for him or his ideals. Thanksgiving dinner turns into an ugly argument, as Daniel's father insists that his son should take over the family business, a prospect that holds no interest for Daniel. Wanting to take a break from the ugliness, Daniel and Suzanne head down to the basement to cool off and collect their thoughts. However, while Daniel and Suzanne are trying to relax, a gang of thieves, led by Jim (Ice-T) and Tiny (Tiny Lister Jr.), break into the house and murder the family. Daniel and Suzanne realize that they're the only survivors, but do they hide in the cellar as the gang robs the house of its valuables, or try to escape before they're found and executed? Below Utopia was released on home video under the title Body Count, doubtless thanks to the presence of Ice-T in the cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Three of the most gorgeous TV witches since the days of Elizabeth Montgomery were the heroines of the hour-long WB fantasy series Charmed, which first materialized on October 7, 1998. Reunited in their ancestral San Francisco mansion, the Halliwell sisters -- Prudence (aka Prue, played by Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), and came upon a dusty tome titled the "Book of Shadows," which by and by revealed a secret that had long been withheld from them: the sisters were witches known as the "Charmed Ones," blessed with extraordinary powers which they were expected to use in the never-ending fight of good against evil. Prue, the oldest, had the gift of telekinesis, enabling her to move objects at will; middle child Piper was able to stop time; and Phoebe, the baby of the family, was able to see the future. The ritual enabling them to combine their powers involved the linking of hands and chanting in unison, "The power of three will set us free." Of course, now that the girls knew they were witches, they were immediately targeted for destruction by all manner of warlocks, sorceresses, and malevolent spirits, many of these hoping to steal the Halliwells' powers for themselves. Also, in their efforts to lead "normal" lives and not give away their secrets, the ladies encountered a great deal of difficulty in the romance department -- not to mention the holding and maintaining of regular employment.

During season one, Prue worked for the Buckland Auction House, whose owner turned out to be a warlock; she also lost her policeman boyfriend, Andy Trudeau (T.W. King), who was killed in an effort to save the Halliwells from a demon. Phoebe's private life was not quite so tempestuous, though she had a bad habit of losing jobs due to the bad things happening around her. The impressionable Piper, who managed to find work as a caterer and later as the owner of the "P3 Club" nightspot, thought she had found true love in the form of hunky handyman Leo Wyatt (Brian Krause), until learning that Leo was a "Whitelighter," a guardian angel fated to protect all good witches from harm -- and as such, was off limits. In later seasons, however, Leo was demoted to "mortality" and was able to marry Piper, with whom he had a "bewitched" son named Wyatt. By the time Leo's powers were back to full steam in season five, he'd been appointed an "Elder" Whitelighter; his former job of protecting the sisters was taken over by another Whitelighter named Chris Perry (Drew Fuller), who turned out to have a hidden agenda.

Season three saw quite a few upheavals in the lives of the sisters, with Phoebe falling for Assistant DA Cole Turner (Julian McMahon) -- who turned out to be the demon Belthazor, and whose mission was to kill the sisters. Cole managed to purge himself of evil, only to revert to wickedness -- a cycle that continued to repeat itself until, in season four, the "bad" Cole married and impregnated Phoebe with his evil seed. Eventually the baby was stolen by a demon called The Seer (Debbi Morgan), and poor, mixed-up Cole wound up trapped in another dimension before being "vanquished" permanently. (At least Phoebe landed a permanent job as a newspaper advice columnist once the dust had settled!) As for Prue, season three of Charmed turned out to be her last when she was killed during a "demon assault." Her place in the Halliwell household was taken in season four by the girls' half sister, Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), who like the late Prue possessed telekinetic powers. Paige would eventually find "civilian" employment as a social worker, enabling her to emulate the other girls by applying her powers for the forces of good on a full-time basis.

There were scores of additional plot complications and story arcs occurring in and out of the "real world" and back and forth in time (at one point, for example, the heroines were converted into Greek goddesses). "Charmed" though the Halliwell girls may have been, it didn't mean that they exactly led charmed lives. Perhaps it was the unstable nature of the world in which our heroines dwelled that made Charmed one of the WB's most successful offerings; viewers literally never knew what to expect from one week to the next! ~ All Movie Guide

As season five of Charmed begins, Piper's sister Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) has at last landed a steady job as a newspaper advice columnist (with Rebecca Balding joining the cast in the recurring role of Phoebe's boss, Elise), and has started divorce proceeding against her husband, Cole (Julian McMahon), whom she suspects is still a malevolent demon despite his protestations of turning over a new leaf. And the girls' telekinetic half sister Paige (Rose McGowan) is being kept busy with her new responsibilities as a social worker. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Cole's baby, whom some believe is slated to be ruler of the Underworld, has been kidnapped by The Seer, a female demon who in the previous season had briefly taken Cole's human form and trapped Phoebe into marriage. Informed by a fellow demon that the baby is destined to become the new Source (a powerful demonic entity who caused all sorts of trouble for the Halliwells in earlier episodes), the conscience-stricken Cole begs "Charmed Ones" Piper, Phoebe, and Paige to help him exorcise all the evil within him -- and, remarkably, they succeed in this endeavor as season five reaches its halfway point. Later on, Piper gives birth to baby son Wyatt, who even in infancy possesses the power to create a force field that will deflect all demonic activity (no wonder Piper was impervious to injury during her pregnancy!). Meanwhile, Paige finds her job too confining, and becomes a freelance do-gooder, determined to use her witches' powers for the benefit rather than the detriment of humankind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This campy remake of Roger Corman's 1957 drama Sorority Girl was part of a series of made-for-cable adaptations of old American International Pictures titles, prepared by original co-producer Samuel Z. Arkoff. Uli Edel captures just about the right over-the-top theatrics in this period drama, set at the end of the 1950s at a small college campus. Jamie Luner of TV's Profiler and Melrose Place, plays Sabrina, a troubled and sadistic co-ed newly arrived at college, who proceeds to try and dominate the students around her, manipulating the men and tormenting and disrupting the lives of the women. She's not above blackmail and fabricating vicious lies to get what she wants, showing a potentially murderous streak as well. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A group of mischievous teen-agers get a notoriously difficult instructor that becomes their summer driving school teacher. ~ All Movie Guide

In keeping with his background in television sitcoms, Sam Weisman directs the cameo-filled comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Dickie Roberts (David Spade) was a child actor on the hit TV show "The Glimmer Gang" and remains remembered for a particular catch phrase. Now in his thirties, he finds work as a parking valet and spends time with other nominal child stars (enter cameos by Danny Bonaduce, Corey Feldman, and the like). Wanting to make a comeback, he manages to get an audition with director Rob Reiner. When the role requires him to be normal, he decides to hire a normal family in order to relive the childhood he missed out on. He ends up with sleazy salesman George Finney (Craig Bierko) and his loving wife, Grace (Mary McCormack). Dickie shares a room with their two kids: sunny daughter Sally (Jenna Boyd) and impressionable son Sam (Scott Tessa). Former child star Alyssa Milano appears as Dickie's girlfriend, Cyndi. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In this futuristic martial arts drama based on a popular video game, Los Angeles has been transformed into a watery New Angeles after a long-threatened earthquake devastates the West Coast. Billy Lee (Scott Wolf) and his brother Jimmy (Mark Dacascos) are two martial arts experts who were raised by a woman named Satori (Julia Nickson) after the death of their parents. Satori has come into possession of one half of a magic amulet; if joined with the other half, it gives whomever possesses it remarkable powers. However, the other half of the charm is now held by Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick), a martial arts master and business tycoon who is obsessed with ruling New Angeles. Satori gives her half of the amulet to Billy and Jimmy, hoping they can keep it safe while trying to win the other half away from the unscrupulous Koga Shuko. In their adventures, the brothers encounter Marian (Alyssa Milano), the leader of a gang called "The Power Corps," and Linda Lash (Kristina Malandro Wagner), Koga Shuko's beautiful but deadly female bodyguard. George Hamilton and Vanna White appear in cameos as themselves, and Andy Dick has a small role as the Smogcaster. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It's Opening Day for the Boston Red Sox, so Peter (voice of Seth MacFarlane) decides to keep the kids out of school and take them to Fenway. He calls in sick to work, telling Mr. Weed (voice of Carlos Alazraqui), "I was in a terrible plane crash. My entire family was killed and I am a vegetable. See you tomorrow." Later, he runs into Mr. Weed at the ballpark, and expects to be fired, but the next day, the El Dorado Cigarette Company buys out the toy company, and Weed loses his job. The cigarette guys turn out to be poodle-shooting evil madmen who are using toys to get children addicted to their cigarettes. When Peter brings home a "Baby Smokes-A-Lot," Lois (voice of Alex Borstein) expresses her disapproval. When Peter confronts his new bosses, they make him president of the company to keep him quiet. Peter gets an executive parking space and his own personal yes man. The company hires an ugly girl to hang out with Meg (voice of Mila Kunis) at school, so she'll look prettier by comparison. They even hire Martha Stewart to help Lois out around the house. Lois is so enamored of all the perks that she forgets about her moral qualms. When an anti-smoking bill comes before Congress, a tobacco exec suggests, "They're all idiots in Washington. Instead of a smart guy, we should send a moron they can relate to." Thus, Peter becomes a tobacco industry lobbyist. Alyssa Milano makes an appearance in this episode, with the episode's writer, Ricky Blitt, playing her attorney. There's also a parody of the theme from That Girl, and Jack Sheldon, who worked on the original Schoolhouse Rock shorts, plays the bill. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

"El Rancho," a sort of punk rock Animal House, is the setting for this college drama. Five roommates live in this group house on the cusp of college graduation. Jack (a mohawk-wearing Ben Affleck) is an art major pining over his ex-girlfriend, while Rob (Sam Rockwell) fears domestication after graduation. The artist of a popular campus comic strip, Mickey (Vinnie DeRamus), is still too shy to talk to girls. Slosh (Vien Hong) is an A-student who gave up his education in favor of drinking and partying. The elder of the crew is Dennis (French Stewart), who, despite the wisdom and advice he offers to his younger housemates, is unaware of the less-than-academic attentions of his professor (John Rhys-Davies). The five consider whether they can postpone their lives to stay for one more year. The film missed the trend in Generation X films (Reality Bites, Singles, Kicking and Screaming) by a few years; as a result, the punk characters and soundtrack of this latecomer probably provide a more authentic atmosphere. The rowdy debauchery distinguishes itself through genuine honesty -- drinking and destroying furniture may not be the healthiest way to deal with youthful angst, but it is certainly popular. Spalding Gray, Matt Damon, and Matthew McConaughey make interesting cameo appearances. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide