Peggy Miley Movies
- 2005
Accompanied by Natalie (Traylor Howard), Monk (Tony Shalhoub) goes on his annual pilgrimage to wine country, there to check in at the same bed and breakfast where he and his late wife Trudy spent their honeymoon. But this sentimental journey is interrupted by an obnoxious guest named Larry Zwibell (Daniel Roebuck), and by Monk's uncharacteristic display of drunkenness. Upon sobering up, Monk is amazed to learn that no one else has seen the intrusive Mr. Zwibell; indeed, it is highly likely that the man never existed! As it turns out, this little mystery is interwoven with a murder in which the victim was a mob accountant (Larry Clarke)--and inevitably, Monk must put his vacation on hold to solve both cases (but not before getting drunk a second time!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
After his car accident, precipitated by his violent altercation with Shane (Walton Goggins) and Mara (Michele Hicks), Tavon (Brian J. White) is in the hospital with possible traumatic brain damage. Vic (Michael Chiklis) visits Shane at home to find out where he was last night, and sees through the couple's shaky cover story. Claudette (CCH Pounder) and Vic clash over his team's latest assignment, but it leads him to a bigger case involving a Byz Latz member sneaking contraband into Chino. Vic finds out that Aceveda (Benito Martinez) and a federal agent are interrogating his smuggling suspect, Aranis (Manuel G. Jimenez), about some marked bills in the money collected in the bust, and realizes that some of the cash from the "Money Train" robbery is marked. So while Aceveda and the fed try to track down the rest of the Byz Latz money, Vic is racing against them to make sure they don't find it. Vic's moves inadvertently lead to Aceveda having an ugly run-in with a couple of gang members. Julien (Michael Jace) and Danny (Catherine Dent) try to protect a woman who's being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. Dutch (Jay Karnes) and Claudette are called in on another two rape cases involving an elderly women, and realize that there's a serial rapist on the loose. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons) goes after the low-life who may be hiding the identity of the stalker who attacked Valerie Haywood (Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon). A murder brings Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) in contact with a lapsed alcoholic and a former loan shark who claims to have mended his ways. And in her efforts to prevent the parents of her scummy brother-in-law, Frank, from gaining custody of baby Michelle, Connie (Charlotte Ross) tracks down Frank's sister, Adrian (Katy Selverstone), who may have been raped by a member of her own degenerate family. Chandra West makes her first appearance as Dr. Jennifer Devlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Simmons
- 2003
As the Fisher and Diaz funeral home fills up with clients, Nate (Peter Krause) continues his frantic search for the missing Lisa (Lili Taylor). The police recover her car from a parking lot up the coast, but Lisa herself is nowhere to be found. Federico (Freddy Rodriguez), meanwhile, finds out about the prescription-drug abuse that led to his wife's recent collapse. His concern turns to anger, however, when sister-in-law Angelica (Melissa Marsala) treats Vanessa (Justina Machado) to some expensive retail therapy on Rico's dime, then talks trash about him to his face. Brenda (Rachel Griffiths), too, suffers through familial angst when she gathers with Billy (Jeremy Sisto) and her mother (Joanna Cassidy) to scatter her father's ashes. The ceremony goes about as well as any Chenowith family get-together, though Brenda later finds refuge in the confines of her scrappy new apartment. Ruth (Frances Conroy) also seeks solace from an unexpected source, George Sibley (James Cromwell), a funeral mourner who happens to meet her when she's at her weepiest about daughter-in-law Lisa's probable fate. There's no comfort for Claire (Lauren Ambrose), either, when she fights with traitorous ex-mentor Olivier (Peter MacDissi) and sexually confused ex-boyfriend Russell (Ben Foster). As if things couldn't get any worse, the baby of the Fisher clan also finds out she's going to have a baby. Originally broadcast May 11, 2003, on HBO, "Death Works Overtime" marked season three, episode 11 of the made-for-cable drama. With three separate passings chronicled in its atypically comic opening sequence, this episode marks a departure from the show's usual solemn, single-death sequence. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Director Barry Levinson follows up the low-budget An Everlasting Piece (2000) with another comedy, this one of the homegrown variety from former Twin Peaks (1990) TV series writer Harley Peyton. Bruce Willis stars as suave bank robber Joe, who has escaped from prison with his hypochondriac buddy Terry (Billy Bob Thornton). Together, the two men have devised a clever scheme to take a bank officer hostage the night before a heist, then simply escort the executive to work early the next morning when they clean out the vault. Their ingenious methods have led to the men becoming media darlings dubbed "the Sleepover Bandits," but all Joe and Terry want is to make a nice pile of money before crossing the Mexican border to a life of freedom and legitimacy. Their quest gets more complicated when Terry is struck by a car driven by Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett), a bored housewife who's then forced to join their crime spree. Soon both Joe and Terry are in love with Kate and she with them, realizing that the two friends put together pretty much equal the perfect man. Bandits co-stars Troy Garity, son of actress Jane Fonda. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, (more)
- 2000
Cory (Ben Savage) panics when he finds out that Topanga (Danielle Fishel) has gained weight. She is certain that it is the result of overeating, but he is convinced that she's pregnant. Once the initial shock is over, Cory decides to make the best of the situation (as he perceives it, that is!) by throwing Topanga a baby shower, replete with expensive gifts from various relatives. And on the subject of extra poundage, Eric (Will Friedle) goes on a diet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Things get off to a deceptively light-hearted start as popular professional wrestler Kornberg (Nils Allen Stewart) is brought into the ER with a twisted knee. But the story quickly turns deadly serious when, stuck in the middle of a street riot, Carter (Noah Wyle) is forced to man the wheel of the paramedic ambulance -- and in so doing sparks an even worse situation when he accidentally runs over a youngster. Meanwhile, Carol (Julianna Margulies), still mooning over the departed Ross, receives confirmation of her pregnancy. And Lucy (Kellie Martin) comes face to face with an intransigent Asian family who refuse to let their mother know that she is in dangerously declining health. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Howard Deutch directed this sequel to the The Odd Couple (1968), originally adapted from the 1965 Broadway comedy by Neil Simon. Thirty years later, Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and retired sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) meet at LAX and drive a rental car across the desert to attend the wedding of Oscar's son Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) to Felix's daughter Hannah (Lisa Waltz), but a breakdown leaves them stranded at some distance from the main highways where they are sprayed by a cropduster and hang out with two flirtatious women (Christine Baranski, Jean Smart) in a small-town bar before getting a lift from slow-driving elderly Beaumont (Barnard Hughes), eventually arriving at the wedding. Composer Alan Silvestri brings in Neal Hefti's original theme from the 1968 film, music also featured in ABC's 1970-75 TV series with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Another Odd Couple sequel is the TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again (CBS, 1993, repeated July 1997), starring Randall and Klugman; it also involved the wedding of Felix's daughter. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, (more)
- 1998
Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe (Dan Butler), KACL's resident sports call-in host and all-around jerk, suddenly finds himself being hailed a hero. It seems that a gunman had invaded the restaurant where Bulldog was having a cozy dinner with a woman other than his wife -- and when the dust settled, the criminal had been subdued, apparently as a result of Bulldog's courage. Only Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) knows the real story, and he is all for exposing Briscoe as a philandering coward -- but then he relents figuring that Bulldog will eventually crack under the strain of his own conscience (assuming, of course, that he has one). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
After her nervous breakdown, Diane (Kim Delaney) agrees to seek out professional help. Geri Turner (Debra Christofferson), the "kinky" assistant whom Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) had transferred from the department, is the main suspect in a hanging which may have resulted from a session of rough sex. A murder at a construction site reveals a larger conspiracy. And Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) draws closer to the convalescing Gina (Lourdes Benedicto). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Another Tom Clancy political thriller is put to film with this made-for-television movie. Harry Hamlin stars as Paul Hood, the new director of an obsolete government crisis management center. Hood is assigned to downsize the center, but during first day on the job some nuclear warheads are hijacked by terrorists. Hood has to rise to the occasion and prove himself as a leader in unfamiliar territory. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Hamlin, Deidre Hall, (more)
This comedy chronicles the romantic exploits of a rather stodgy young man with a traffic fetish. Even as a child Charlie Dunlap was totally fixated by freeway traffic. Charlie's biggest idol is Alan Davenport, a radio traffic reporter. As a young man, Charlie falls in love with the lively, free-spirited Amy and they become lovers the night before she leaves for college. Their relationship disintegrates during her absence and Charlie ends up moving to LA to be near the great freeways. Even his rundown apartment overlooks the freeway. Single-minded Charlie is determined to get a job working for Alan Davenport, but his efforts to get hired at Metro Traffic are thwarted by an officious employee. He goes to a neighboring cafe and there discovers Amy working as a waitress. When not working, she performs with an experimental dance troupe that stages its productions at toxic-waste dump sites. Though he wants to start up their relationship again, she tells him she has found another. Charlie ends up having a passionate affair with his landlady. Later he meets Davenport and manages to achieve his dream and become his assistant. Through it all he still longs for Amy and in the end the two do indeed come together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Charles, Anne Heche, (more)
A privileged, free-spirited young girl tries to adapt to life in a strict boarding school in this charming, critically acclaimed children's fantasy. Adapting a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, also the author of The Secret Garden, the film shifts the story's setting to World War I. 10 year-old Sara Crewe (Liesel Matthews) has been left in a respected New York City boarding school while her British father heads overseas to fight. Filled with wild stories and a playful attitude, the unconventional Sara becomes popular amongst her classmates but quickly comes into conflict with the harsh headmistress, Miss Minchin (Eleanor Bron), who attempts to quash the child's individuality. The young girl's situation takes a serious turn for the worse when she unexpectedly receives word of her father's death, and, suddenly impoverished, is forced into life as a servant. Treated as a lesser class of person by her former companions, Sara instead befriends her fellow servants and turns to the power of imagination in order to maintain hope for the future. In addition to changing the story's setting, screenwriters Richard LaGravenese and Elizabeth Chandler add a layer of Indian mythology to the tale, allowing director Alfonso Cuaron the chance to punctuate the riches-to-rags fable with a series of lush, imaginative fantasy sequences. Though A Little Princess had difficulty attracting audiences during its initial run, its visual splendor and touching storytelling were praised by many critics, several of whom proclaimed the film one of the best family-oriented productions of its time. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, (more)
This fascinating chronicle of the life and times of a twenty dollar bill was originally written by Endre Boehm in 1935 and languished forgotten on the shelf until his son Leslie resurrected it after his father's death, and updated the script. (Both received screenwriter credit for the released version). The scrap of currency's journey begins after it is spit out of a downtown Minneapolis ATM machine into the hands of a busy young mother. It's a windy day, and the crisp bill is blown out of her hands into those of a bag lady who uses it on the lottery because she believes the serial numbers are lucky. Unfortunately, the bill is plucked from her hands by a light-fingered skate boarder who uses the money at a local bakery. From there the bill's odyssey takes it to a wide variety of places including a wedding, a stripper's g-string, a con artist's scam, and a robbery. It ends up used as a note pad, a birthday present, a coaster, and a fishing contest trophy. Interestingly, every one who encounters the bill changes in some way. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Hunt, David Rasche, (more)
Woody Allen's character study of a well-kept, upscale Manhattan woman (Mia Farrow) takes the title character on a journey through a Wonderland of her own making, in which she learns some truths about herself, her relationships, and the universe in general. Alice leads a comfortable life, except for some nagging aches and pains, but when she visits the mysterious Dr. Yang (Keye Luke), he discovers that what really ails Alice is her own lack of true human experience. Alice has been married for sixteen years to Doug (William Hurt), an emotionally detached stockbroker, and she lives a perfectly maintained life in a perfectly maintained apartment, with a pair of children and the requisite support staff. All that changes when a chance meeting with a neighbor (Joe Mantegna) leads Alice to consider an affair. Dr. Yang, seizing the opportunity, gives Alice herbal potions that make her both invisible and seductive, allowing her to free herself from her inhibitions. Plunging into her new fantasy world, Alice ultimately comes to terms with her family, her husband, and her life. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, (more)
- 1987
This drama is based on a play by Mones and is set within a grim New York neighborhood where a new kid comes to the neighborhood. Unlike the street-wise and life-toughened gang members around him, the youth is a sensitive poet who teaches the kids about the meaning and beauty of life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Savage, David Jacobson, (more)
