Wiley M. Pickett Movies
- 2004
Two men are found executed with their feet cut off, and it's soon determined that they're members of the Armenian mob. While Dutch (Jay Karnes) investigates the case, Vic (Michael Chiklis) and his Strike Team realize that the Armenians think the "Money Train" robbery (from season two) was an inside job. A routine drug bust leads to a cache of ammo, which Vic discovers intended for a large number of MP-5 weapons that were stolen from the military. Vic works his contacts in the Byz Latz and the One-Niners in an effort to track down the guns before they are used in a potential gang war. Claudette (CCH Pounder) clashes with Aceveda (Benito Martinez) when he delays turning control of The Barn over to her. Corrine (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) hires Owen (Vincent Angell) to tutor Matthew (Joel Rosenthal) and informs Vic that she is going back to work to help pay for it. Vic also argues with Shane (Walton Goggins), who wants to buy a car for his new girlfriend, Mara (Michele Hicks). Danny (Catherine Dent), working as a school security guard while she appeals her firing, learns that Aceveda can get her back on the force if she'll agree to keep an eye on her fellow officers for him. An agent from the treasury department shows up at The Barn to speak with Aceveda because some of the money stolen from the Armenians had been marked during a sting operation. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- 2003
A decomposed body is found in a chemical-waste drum abandoned in the mountains. Their subsequent investigation leads Catherine (Marg Helgenberger), Nick (George Eads), and Sara (Jorja Fox) into the wacky world of robot "demolition wars." And in another development, Warrick (Gary Dourdan) and Grissom's (William L. Petersen) probe of a murder in an alley is complicated when the medical examiner "misplaces" the evidence -- for well over a week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Assuming the mantle of "The Voice of the Resistance," Susan Ivanova delivers her first newscast. Garibaldi accepts a new job on Mars, only to come face to face with an old --- and not altogether fond--acquaintance. And Franklin is forced to make several unpleasant executive decisions. Denise Gentile appears as Lise Hampton, a key figure in the life of one of the series' major characters. First telecast during the week of May 5, 1997, "Conflicts of Interest" was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
- 1996
Fresh from the recently closed South Side hospital, new ER chief of staff Anspaugh (John Aylward) imperiously asserts his authority by imposing patient quotas on each doctor. Though they resent Anspaugh, the staff is more politely inclined to the other South Side expatriates, doctors Abby Keaton (Glenne Headly) and Maggie Doyle (Jorja Fox). Elsewhere, Jeanie (Gloria Reuben) has trouble keeping her HIV-positive status a secret from Weaver (Laura Innes), while Benton (Eriq La Salle) is uncertain that Jeanie should even continue working; and Greene (Anthony Edwards) is taken aback when Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) suggests that they both take a vacation to Hawaii. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Corbin Bernsen, fresh out of LA Law, plays a real-life attorney in Line of Fire: The Morris Dees Story. As Dees, Bernsen goes head to head with the Ku Klux Klan in the Alabama of the 1980s. Despite having his name included on the "hit list" of every wacko white supremacist in the Nation, Dees manages to break the back of the KKK is his own particular corner of the world. Line of Fire is elaborately produced and hits all the right emotional buttons, but falls short of perfection thanks to stereotypical villains and excessive melodrama. The film was first telecast on Martin Luther King Day in 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1988
A group of Texas kids find their holiday disrupted by the emergence of a powerful demon -- the embodiment of a curse conjured by an Indian shaman, placed upon the family of one of the youths (John Langione) whose grandfather had stolen the land from the tribe. The curse had promised that the demon would pay a visit to the family once every ten years -- a curse which has consistently come true (first for the boy's grandfather, then for his uncle). It seems the next ten-year cycle is drawing to a close, and this time the bell threatens to toll for our young hero. Despite this intriguing premise -- and occasional creative use of the wilderness locations -- the horror potential is subverted by a dull script and the overall amateurish look of the production. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
A reporter (Ewan McGregor) delves into the world of experimental psychic U.S. military units during the Iraq War in this adaptation of the Jon Ronson book The Men Who Stare at Goats. George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges star in the Smoke House/BBC Films production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, (more)
Clive Owen stars in this gritty, over the top action thriller as Mr. Smith, a gun-toting badass with a hair trigger and an unknown past. He's far from a doctor and farther from a parent, but when he unwittingly discovers an innocent woman delivering a baby right in the middle of a gunfight, Smith enters the fray to save her and though the woman expires, he is the one left in care of the orphaned child. He thinks that the killers were after the woman, but soon he realizes that they had a far more unlikely target: the baby. Smith's regular company is a seedy underworld full of unsavory characters, so he takes the child to the closest thing he knows to a mother: a sultry prostitute played by Monica Bellucci, who specializes in clientele with a mommy fetish. Teamed with his hot but unlikely partner, Smith unloads barrel after barrel to protect the mysterious baby from Mr. Hertz, a ruthless criminal mastermind played by Paul Giamatti. Smith plans to figure out why Hertz and his thugs are after the baby, but if he can't uncover the truth, he'll settle for leaving them all dead in the process. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, (more)
A thesp-turned-crook gets a chance at career in movies as well as crime scene investigation in this offbeat action comedy with nods to Raymond Chandler. Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr.) is a struggling New York actor who high-tails it to Los Angeles. Once there, Lockhart winds up at the posh home of the aptly named homosexual private eye Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) amid a lavish Hollywood party, hoping to score a life-changing role in a Hollywood feature. Harry becomes reacquainted with Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), a girl he had a major crush on in his small-town Indiana high school, who may be a bit more interested in him now than she was years ago. He takes both her and her girlfriend home with him, but -- in a moment of drunken stupor -- accidentally sleeps with the wrong woman. Meanwhile, when a series of female bodies turns up across L.A., Harry slowly breaks into detective work, mentored by Perry. The biggest twist? Shane Black riffs Adaptation and other films by having Harry (via satirical narration) write the movie while he is living it. Harry assures the audience that unlike Lord of the Rings, this one won't have 17 endings. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang marks the first directorial credit for Black, who created the Lethal Weapon franchise. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, (more)
A thief and a lawman join forces to hunt down a common enemy in this action thriller. Tony Fait (DMX) is a master thief who, along with his crew (Gabrielle Union, Anthony Anderson, and Drag-On), pulls off a major score when they steal a cache of highly valuable black diamonds. However, the hard-as-nails Tony has a soft spot for his young daughter Vanessa (Paige Hurd), and Ling (Mark Dacascos), a former detective turned ruthless criminal, kidnaps Vanessa, demanding a ransom from Tony for her return -- the stash of black diamonds. The jewels have already been stolen, however, from Tony's fence Archie (Tom Arnold), and are now in the hands of a powerful underworld boss (Chi McBride). Determined to get back his daughter whatever the cost, Tony and his gang set out to find both Ling and the diamonds, but he soon gets some invaluable help from an unlikely corner -- Su (Jet Li), a government agent from Taiwan who was once Ling's partner, and has an old score to settle with him. Cradle 2 the Grave also features Kelly Hu and Roxana Brusso. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The interstellar battle between the Autobots and Decepticons rains destruction down on planet Earth as director Michael Bay adapts Hasbro and Takara's popular Transformers franchise into a big-budget, live-action summer tentpole extravaganza in this ambitious sci-fi action feature starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Bernie Mac, John Turturro, Jon Voight, and, of course, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Long ago, on the planet of Cybertron, a massive, powerful alien race divided into two factions, the noble Autobots, and the devious Decepticons. They fought for the sole access to a talisman known as the Allspark, a cube with the capacity to grant infinite power, and eventually the Autobots smuggled it off the planet's surface, hiding it in an unknown location on Earth. Now, hundreds of years later, the Deceptacons have come looking for it, and if the Autobots don't find it first, the Earth will be enslaved or destroyed by the evil aliens' use of its massive power. The Autobots don't know where the cube was hidden, but the information may be stored in the most unlikely of sources, as a gangly young Earthling named Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) who's just picked up his first car, has a strange connection to the Allspark's history, making him the unlikely ally of these enormous creatures, as they fight for humankind's survival and the chance to return home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, (more)
Shim Hyung Rae's monster movie Reptilian (also known as 2001 Yonggary) plays like a tribute (a low-budget, grade-Z tribute) to the classic Japanese monster movies of the fifties. General Murdock (Dan Cahman) must stop the destructive dinosaur before the president attacks it with nuclear weaponry. Enthusiasts of old Godzilla movies, as well as all those who miss the glory days of Mystery Science Theater 3000, will certainly enjoy this unintentionally campy romp. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
