Beau Billingslea Movies

An African-American family sits down for supper and all hell breaks loose in this independent comedy. Humphrey Rump (Clent Bowers) has told his parents (Beau Billingslea and Marilyn Sue Perry) that he's bringing someone special over for Sunday dinner at their place, hoping to introduce them to his fiancée Lacy (Jennifer Alden) under calm and quiet circumstances. However, when he arrives, Humphrey discovers that's hardly how the evening is going to play out -- his folks decided to also invite his brother Darnell (Donn Carl Harper), sister Eve (Alisa Banks), their grandparents (John Gipsun and Sheridan French) and a handful of cousins and other distant relations. The Rump Family doesn't get along especially well in large groups, and Humphrey and his girl are mortified by the non-stop arguing, insults and off-color ranting. Meanwhile, most of the family is a bit taken aback to discover that Lacy is pretty, polite...and white. Meet the Family was the first feature from producer, director and writer Stan Lerner. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the manga works of Hiro Mashima, the half-hour anime series Rave Master took place 50 years after a phenomenon called the "Overdrive" resulted in the near-destruction of the world. Before this catastrophe, the Rave, or power of light, had managed to vanquish the Dark Bring, or power of darkness. But after the Overdrive, the Dark Bring was reactivated, and intended to gain control of the world by sending its Power Guard minions to retrieve the five precious Rave Stones. It was up to 16-year-old Haru Glory, son of legendary warrior Gale Glory, to lead the resistance against the Power Guard, and to fulfill his destiny as the new Rave Master. Leaving the safety of his home on Garage Island at the behest of the shaman Shiba, Haru assembled a team of like-minded warriors, including amnesiac gambler Ellie, former thief Musica (whose family had been wiped out by the Shadow Guard), "morphing" fighter Griff, and rave bearer Plute, who looked like a dog and thus obligingly "sniffed out" the missing Rave Stones. Another valuable member of Haru's team was his transforming sword, the Ten Powers. Among the villains were Shadow Guard leader King Gale, his son Blonde Demon (who possessed the powerful Shadow Stone Sinclair), and the King's six flunkeys Shuda, Reina, Jegan, Berial, Iulius, and Haja. Rave Master made its American debut over the Cartoon Network on June 1, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Detective John Clark Jr. (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is put in the uncomfortable position of choosing between his father, John Sr. (Joe Spano), and his new partner, Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Back on the job, John Jr., Andy, Greg (Gordon Clapp), and Baldwin (Henry Simmons) investigate the death of an unstable Rikers correction officer, and a reluctantly teamed Connie McDowell (Charlotte Ross) and Eddie Gibson (John F. O'Donohue) look into another murder. Both cases reach dead ends until the eleventh-hour discovery of a drugstore receipt and a startling confession from an elderly woman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After innumerable false alarms, it looks as though Jamie (Helen Hunt) is going to have her baby. But before this blessed event can take place, Jamie is unexpectedly reunited with old flame Alan (Eric Stoltz), while her husband, Paul (Paul Reiser), is given a guided hospital tour by a very big movie star. Originally telecast as the hour-long finale of Mad About You's fifth season, this episode has since been divided into two half-hour installments for syndication. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This earnest, intelligent, and well-written romantic comedy is enjoyable and optimistic in classic Hollywood style, even if its idealism doesn't seem quite so credible against the cynical political backdrop of the Nineties. President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas), an unabashedly liberal Democrat, is just gearing up for re-election when he meets an attractive and sharp environmental lobbyist named Sydney Wade (Annette Bening). The two fall in love and the President must soon deal with the political repercussions (Sydney is trying to get legislation through Congress), as well as the cynical machinations of Republican opponent Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss), who attempts to paint Sydney as a radical and use "family values" rhetoric to smear Shepherd. With the attacks affecting his standings in the all-important polls, and his love's legislation causing him headaches in the Capitol, Shepherd must decide whether he can risk continuing his relationship. A rich supporting cast, solid characterizations by Douglas and Bening, and an articulate approach make this an appealing, if not particularly weighty, study of the tensions between public and private life. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

A young boy is forced to learn some adult lessons about violence in this made-for-television movie based on a true story. Kate Jackson and Gerald McRainey star as parents of an 11 year-old boy who shoots and kills some intruders who break into his home. The film shows how the boy and his family struggle to overcome the lingering anguish caused by the incident. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Hoping to overcome her fear of speaking in public, Marcy (Amanda Bearse) tries the time-honored tactic of pretending that she is somewhere else. During her next speech before her fellow bankers, her strategy proves successful--far too successful, as Marcy gets carried away in her own bizarre fantasy world. At that, her experience is not nearly so bizarre as Al Bundy's (Ed O'Neill) sudden obsession with rap music. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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, Rovi

After the phenomenal box-office and critical success of David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of The Fly, a series of big-budget remakes of '50s horror favorites rode in on its coattails in the late 1980s -- though none managed to rise above mere camp clones of their elders, albeit garnished with modern makeup effects in an attempt to draw modern teen horror-junkies. One remake that managed to live up to its cheesy inspiration was Chuck Russell's version of The Blob, in which the title goo crashes to earth and promptly begins digesting the residents of a small California town while growing to gargantuan proportions. The clean-cut teen hero originally portrayed by Steve McQueen (his first starring role) is replaced here with a rebellious outsider (Kevin Dillon) whose preppie rival (Donovan Leitch) for the affections of the cute heroine (Shawnee Smith) is quickly eliminated by the all-consuming space-gelatin. No sooner has the plasma menace set up house in the town sewers when a shadowy government Blob Squad shows up under the direction of the grandfatherly Dr. Meddows (Joe Seneca), to clean up the mess... or not. This high-spirited remake replaces the '50s "Daddy-O" conventions of the original with '80s cynicism -- not even likeable characters are spared from the slaughter -- and anti-government sentiment. It also pushes the gore envelope in ways unavailable to its low-budget parent -- e.g. the scene in which one victim is sucked through a sink drain was only hinted at in the 1958 film, but here viewers are treated to the entire bone-crunching ordeal. Though the quality of blob effects seems inversely proportional to the creature's size (some of the climactic "wall-of-blob" footage is painfully cheap-looking), the end result is more blob for the monster-movie fan's dollar. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

The A-Team's Thanksgiving celebration is put on hold when Stockwell (Robert Vaughn) orders our heroes to capture exiled political adviser A.J. Bancroft (Jeff Corey), who carries a diary implicating several high-ranking government officials in a sinister conspiracy. It turns out that Bancroft is willing to trade the diary for a reunion with a young woman who claims to be his long-estranged daughter Ellen--a woman whom Face (Dirk Benedict) is presently wooing. The situation reaches the crisis stage when the possibility arises that Bancroft is actually Face's father...which of course radically alters his relationship with Ellen! This is the famous episode in which the ending was originally determined by the call-in votes of the viewers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The A-Team goes on a fishing trip, partly for recreation, partly to hide out from the minions of their relentless pursuer Col. Decker (Lance LeGault). Unfortunately, the vacation is interrupted by the arrival of four desperate bank robbers, who have taken ranger Roy Sherman (Ken Swofford) and his daughter Jenny (Kristen Meadows) hostage. The challenge facing the Team is to thwart the villains before Decker can catch up to them. This is the final episode of The A-Team's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi