Molly Ringwald

This dramatic series from the creators of 7th Heaven focuses on teenage Amy, whose life is changed forever with an unplanned pregnancy. Probably the last girl anyone would expect to suffer such a scandalous event, Amy's world begins to expand as she discovers that virtually every student at her high school deals with some secret or unexpected problems, from the religious good-girl Grace to the tough-kid Ricky. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

The hectic early days of live television are spoofed in this irreverent made-for-cable movie. The story is told from the viewpoint of Audrey Drummond (Christina Hendricks), a naïve young script girl hired by the newly formed Empire Television Network in 1948. Among Audrey's colleagues are the network's owner, eccentric scientist Doc Powers (Christopher Lloyd); Doc's blonde, pneumatic young "trophy wife" Marion (Molly Ringwald); the Colonel (Dylan Baker), Empire's visionary programming chief; and Walt Kaplan (Michael B. Silver), a studio floor manager who aspires to be a director. The story revolves around Empire's efforts to stage the first live TV production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, while trying desperately to adhere to Doc Powers' cast-in-stone broadcast edicts: "No profanity, no suicide, no cleavage." Amidst a flurry of missed cues, fainting actors, collapsing scenery, and malfunctioning equipment, the network also manages to outrage its sponsors by allowing a black musician (Sharif Atkins) to actually (gasp! egad!) speak directly into the camera. Co-executive produced by The West Wing's John Wells and ER's Carol Flint (who also wrote the script), The Big Time debuted October 21, 2002 on the TNT network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The exciting and dangerous world of professional bull riding provides the backdrop for this drama about the pull between romantic love and a brother's loyalty. Ely Braxton (Marcus Thomas) dreams of being a star on the professional rodeo circuit, and even though he's learned from experience that bull-riding is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening sport, a long hospital stay after an accident in the ring hasn't dulled his enthusiasm. Ely's father was a champion rider, and his older brother Hank (Kiefer Sutherland) is a rodeo clown who looks after Ely as best he can. But family bonds are tested when Ely falls for a woman Hank is in love with (Daryl Hannah), and Ely isn't sure if he can count on his brother's support as he prepares for the most important ride of his life. Ring of Fire also features Pete Postlethwaite, Melinda Dillon, Bo Hopkins, Russell Means, and Molly Ringwald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Molly Ringwald stars in this Australian Scream-like horror flick that lodges a tongue in the cheek as much as a knife in the gut. The film opens in 1988 when director Hilary Jacobs (Australian uber-icon Kylie Minogue) is working on a slasher movie called "Hot Blooded" starring plucky American icon Vanessa Turnbull (Ringwald) as a teen who is being chased by a psycho with a mask and some wicked cutlery. After the climactic scene is shot, Jacobs shouts "Cut!" and then harangues the actor playing the killer. That night, the actor stabs the director and almost offs Turnbull. The film is never completed, and when a male director who takes over the project ends up dead too, "Hot Blooded" achieves a hallowed status in student film legend. Fast forward to the present -- Jacobs' assistant director Lossman (Geoff Revell) teaches at a film school and tells his favorite students -- Raffy Carruthers (Jessica Napier) and Hester Ryan (Sarah Kants) -- of his experiences on the doomed set. Raffy, who is itching to be the next Jane Campion, sets out to finish the notorious flick. She enlists Hester as a producer, assembles a crew of fellow students and manages to get Vanessa Turnbull, who hasn't worked much lately, to revisit her role as the film's main character. Of course, as soon as shooting commences, the killing begins anew. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

After the success of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and television's Dawson's Creek, screenwriter Kevin Williamson made his directorial debut with this screwball thriller in which an honor roll student and two friends kidnap their witchy teacher. Although her single mom (Lesley Ann Warren), a waitress, struggles to make ends meet, aspiring writer Leigh Ann Watson (Katie Holmes) works hard, avoids sexual temptation, and focuses on her studies. She hopes to make valedictorian and earn a scholarship to college -- and get away from her dead-end hometown. As her senior year draws to a close, however, she's dogged by harsh grades from her vituperative history instructor, Mrs. Tingle (Helen Mirren). On the same day she finds out that she's still in second place behind fellow valedictory candidate Mary Beth Carter (Liz Stauber), Leigh Ann must endure Mrs. Tingle's fierce criticism of the final project into which she's poured her heart. After commiserating with her best friend, aspiring actress Jo Lynn Jordan (Marisa Coughlan), and hunky stoner Luke Churner (Barry Watson), Leigh Ann runs even further afoul of Mrs. Tingle; Luke stashes an advance copy of the teacher's final exam in Leigh Ann's backpack and Tingle discovers it, promising to turn Leigh Ann in for cheating and ruin her chances of a better life. When the three teens turn up at Tingle's house to try to reason with her, Luke and Jo Lynn manage to accidentally kidnap Mrs. Tingle. Soon the three students are keeping their teacher a prisoner, trying to figure out how to blackmail her into silence while maintaining the illusion that nothing strange is going on. Teaching Mrs. Tingle was filmed under the name "Killing Mrs. Tingle," but the title was changed after a rash of real-life high school killing sprees made the headlines. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Someone is poisoning beautiful women and influential men with a very rare vintage of red wine while listening to classical music on WZIN-FM, 95.8 on the Philadelphia radio dial. Detectives Lou Heinz (Chris Heyerdahl) and Samantha Parks (Lynne Adams) discover the rather elegant murders occur during the nighttime shift of disc jockey Anne Winslow (Molly Ringwald), and that the killer may be leading up to slaying Anne herself. Heinz decides to protect Anne personally and follow her on her date with the creepy music professor Richard Poe (Chris Mulkey) -- good thing, too, because Poe winds up attempting date rape. Poe seems the likely suspect for the murders, but Heinz can't make the charges stick, and the killings continue. Don't look now, but Anne and Poe are reunited as moderators for a big benefit concert, which gives Poe a very tempting opportunity to see his obsession through to the end. But then there's a twist. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

In a Brussels courthouse, notoriously brutal killer Julius Mandenne stands trial for dismembering a woman and cryptically painting the letter "s" on a wall with her tongue. Attending the gruesome trial are his four illegitimate off-spring, none of whom knew the other existed. With grim Gallic humor, this serpentine tale follows what happens when the four team up to learn more about their enigmatic sire. The now-grown children couldn't be more different. Forty-four-year old Parisian barmaid Sylvette loves life and free-love while 41-year-old Sophie is utterly bourgeois and uptight. Twenty-eight-year old Susan is a radical American feminist who wants to be an actress. After their father is sentenced to 20-years in jail, the threesome encounter their half-brother Sandro who at 39, works as an auto mechanic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An up-and-coming baseball player has a fling with a woman who doesn't want it to be a one-night stand. She starts to obsess over him and move into his life until she finally becomes dangerous. This standard "psycho-chick" movie is one of the better of its kind, even though it's awfully hard to take lead Molly Ringwald seriously. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide

This Italian comedy was filmed in Sarasota, Florida and features the exploits of a would be gigolo and a violinist. Dodo, a Frenchman, is the gigolo, and Jesus is the Italian violinist who pursued his girlfriend to Florida to marry her. When Jesus finds that his gal is helping to support Dodo he is appalled. Suddenly the girlfriend mysteriously disappears. In her wake the two become fast friends and decide to both pursue a career in getting women to support them. At one point, Jesus loses his life savings to a con artist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was one of a myriad of early 1990s TV movies centering around the AIDS issue. Molly Ringwald stars as Alison Gertz, an upscale Manhattanite who thinks she knows her way around. Still, Alison conducts an "unprotected" one-night affair, which results in her contacting the AIDS virus. Despite her alleged smarts, Alison continues to seek out sexual partners and can't understand why they're reluctant to sleep with her, even though she belatedly offers to use contraceptives. Perhaps if it had been made five years earlier, and perhaps if it didn't have its characters speaking fluent pop profundities, Something to Live For might have been one of the truly important made-for-TV AIDS sagas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ian Bertram (Robert Lindsay) is a mathematical genius who works as an accountant for a multinational firm based in England. When he meets Cary Porter (Molly Ringwald), who recently started working for the same company, Ian immediately falls in love and quickly proposes marriage. Cary accepts, and they plan a modest wedding, but when Ian's accounting skills earn him the admiration of company head Herbert Dreuther (John Geilgud), Herbert offers to pay for a honeymoon in Monte Carlo and give them a ride back on his yacht. But while Mr. Dreuther means well, he has problems with his memory, and once Ian and Cary get to Monte Carlo, Herbert has forgotten all about them. Stuck at the hotel with a large bill that he can't afford, Ian works out a plan to win at roulette; his scheme works, and he earns enough to pay their bill, get them home, and have plenty left over. But his sudden success at the gambling tables makes Ian drunk with power, and Cary discovers that her new husband has turned into a power-hungry tyrant. Strike It Rich was adapted from the novel Loser Takes All by Graham Greene; it has been shown under the novel's title, as well as under the title Money Talks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Originally aired on HBO, Women and Men: Stories of Seduction is a short-film anthology that brings to life three famous short stories. Mary McCarthy's "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt" stars Elizabeth McGovern and Beau Bridges. The second, Dorothy Parker's "Dusk Before Fireworks," features Peter Weller and Molly Ringwald. The third, "Hills Like White Elephants," stars Melanie Griffith and James Woods as a couple trying to convince themselves that her abortion will not affect their relationship. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Fresh Horses features Molly Ringwald as Jewel, a Kentucky shanty gal. Jewel finds herself romantically involved with wealthy University of Cincinnati student Matt Larkin (Andrew McCarthy). Though willing to throw over his "proper" fiancee for Jewel, Matt isn't prepared for the horrible secret that Jewel holds within her. Directed by David Anspaugh, Fresh Horses is also known as The Eccentricity of People and Syntax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide