Jay O. Sanders Movies

Regarded by naturalists as one of the greatest environmental tragedies of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the systematic depletion of Pacific salmon populations seemed to call for a swift and immediate solution. In response, engineers and biologists began a series of attempts to recreate various stages of the fish's life cycle, from spawning through death - with a life history radically redesigned via genetic engineering. This both raised serious ethical and moral dilemmas, and gave rise to a bizarre situation where the majority of consumed salmon were bred in laboratories and/or raised in tanks. Meanwhile, questions still lingered in the background about the most effective way to save the dwindling population of wild Pacific salmon. Nature: Salmon - Running the Gauntlet explores the many facets of this complex and often murky situation. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Bestselling author James Bamford teams with Emmy Award-winning producer Scott Willis to expose the National Security Agency's failure to prevent the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, and the controversial eavesdropping program that allows them to listen to the conversations of millions of Americans without a warrant. Based on Bamford's 2008 best-seller of the same name, The Spy Game utilizes dozens of interviews with agency insiders, transcripts from terrorist trials, and an FBI chronology of terrorist movements to chronicle the NSA's role in spying on the American public. The NSA is three times bigger than the CIA, and infinitely more secretive. In this program, curious viewers learn that the NSA started tapping Osama bin Laden's now-disconnected satellite phone in 1996, and get a look at the three-story house in Yemen that once served as Al Qaeda headquarters. For years prior to the attacks, the NSA had been listening to calls to and from that house, so how is it that they could have been caught completely off-guard on the morning of 9/11 as claimed? By following the path of a single e-mail sent from Asia to the U.S., the producers of The Spy Game reveal how the top linguists, mathematicians, and technologists employed by the NSA are able to not only intercept the vast majority of Asian e-mail messages, but monitor the entire U.S. internal Internet traffic as well. But why do they suddenly feel the need to monitor the communications of ordinary Americans? And what implications does this have on the future of personal freedom? As the NSA's massive archive of phone calls and e-mails grows exponentially, former NSA, CIA, and FBI analysts and officials such as Mark Rossini reveal how intelligence turf wars can actually cause more harm than good. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The apparent acceleration in the melting of glaciers and ice sheets is documented through the efforts of photojournalist James Balog, who places time-lapse cameras in 26 alpine and arctic locations, including Alaska and Greenland. The long-term consequences of the melt: sea levels would rise by some 200 feet and force massive numbers of people -- from Bangladesh to Florida -- to move inland. Includes interviews with scientists Richard Alley (Penn State), Tad Pfeffer (UC-Boulder), and Jim White (UC-Boulder). ~ Jeff Gemmill, Rovi

This documentary explains how archeologists and other scientist managed to decode the ancient carving of Mayan civilization, a fact that led to a greater understanding of what day-to-day life might have been like during that era. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Hop in the cockpit and strap yourself in for one of the wildest rides ever in this documentary that allows the viewer to experience exactly what it was like to do battle in some of the fiercest dogfights in the history of aviation. The year was 1950, and the Korean War was raging. High above the Korean-Chinese border, MiG-15 fighters and F-86 Sabres exchanged gunfire in a notorious strip of airspace known as MiG Alley. Now, for the first time ever, historians and thrill-seekers alike can discover the fear and adrenaline experienced by the fearless pilots on the planet. An additional exploration into the mysterious fate of over thirty U.S. and British pilots who went missing in MiG Alley follows investigators hired by the U.S. government, forensics experts, and families of the missing wartime aviators as they attempt uncover the ultimate fate of those who were never declared dead, but never returned home from combat. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

It represents a dark and all but unsung side of U.S. history: though millions are familiar with the 1950s "Space Race" that pitted the United States and the Soviet Union against one another in the contest to put a man on the moon, less publicized were the countries' attempts to spy on one another by launching military- trained astronauts (known as "astrospies") into orbit. The United States built and launched a covert satellite known as MOL (for Manned Orbiting Laboratory), designed for advanced espionage and piloted by the astrospies; it incorporated a super-powered telescope capable of viewing and identifying an object as small as three inches. The Soviets, in turn, devised a station called Almaz, with like capabilities - but theirs traveled a "step beyond," by including a cannon designed to attack occupants of MOL. For decades, this history retained a 'covert' status and went largely unacknowledged among the general public; the PBS documentary NOVA: Astrospies represents the first attempt to tell the full story of these events. It features extended interviews with the participants of the original missions, a "mock-up" of MOL, a detailed exploration and discussion of the men's training, and much more. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The romantic comedy Wedding Daze stars Jason Biggs as Anderson, a young man all set to ask his girlfriend to marry him when, during the actual proposal, she dies. After spending a year in a depression, Anderson impulsively asks a waitress named Katie (Ilsa Fisher) to marry him even though they have never met. When she surprisingly agrees, the two must deal with the reactions of their respective friends and families. The supporting cast includes Joe Pantoliano as Katie's convict father. Michael Ian Black, formerly of The State and Ed, made his directorial debut with this film. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

As the prom draws near and the popular head cheerleader of Echo Lake High dumps her star quarterback boyfriend in favor of attending the dance with the biggest loser in school, the raging footballer plots murderous revenge in cult animation icon Bill Plympton's darkly satirical take on the teen tragedy radio hits and high-school melodramas of the 1950s and '60s. High-school sweethearts Cherri (Sarah Silverman) and Rod (Dermot Mulroney) are a match made in popularity heaven. When nerdy new student Spud (Eric Gilliland) makes the fateful mistake of offending both Cherri and Rod on his first day at Echo Lake High, his punishment is to serve as Cherri's "slave" until both she and her brutish boyfriend decree that he has made up for his unintentional transgression. Though the mere sight of Spud at first makes Cherri's skin crawl, the unlikely pair soon grow exceptionally close until, one day, love blossoms between them. Upon learning that his onetime sweetheart will now be attending the prom on the arm of the socially awkward Spud, Rod angrily forces their car off of the road on and into the icy waters of Echo Lake as the couple makes their way to the big dance. Though cunningly successful in thwarting attempts made by local authorities to locate the missing teens, Rod soon discovers that sometimes the dead have a curious way of exposing the crimes of their killers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Ten years after South Africa abolished apartheid in 1993, there was still a disturbing amount of racial inequality in the nation. While whites in South Africa earned a yearly average of 6,300 dollars, blacks averaged a mere 950 dollars. And of the country's 16 million blacks, half lived in direst poverty, a far greater percentage than the rich-to-poor ratio amongst whites. But there were many in the country who were determined to improve the bleak financial situation shared by most of South Africa's population. As part of the African National Congress' overall Empowerment Policy, a consortium of black-owned companies called Uthigo created a national lottery, designed not only to stimulate the economy but to provide new hope for those who'd all but given up trying. Focusing on Uthigo, in general, and its black CEO, Humphrey Khoza, in particular, Road to Riches was first telecast in America as part of the PBS documentary series Wide Angle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the tradition of Arthur Miller's McCarthy-era play The Crucible, this two-part TV dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials was heavily influenced by the present-day political scene. Rev. Parris (Henry Czerny), spiritual leader of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, needs a unifying issue to end the intramural squabbling between the town's Puritans. When the daughters of Ann and Thomas Putnam (Kirstie Alley and Jay O. Sanders) begin behaving in a bizarre, disruptive fashion, Parris knows that he has found something that can be transformed into a target of unilateral hatred for his flock. Before long, the Putnam girls and the family's servant Titubea (Gloria Reuben) have been labeled as witches, and eventually the hysteria spreads throughout the town, with anyone who doesn't agree with the status quo running the risk of public ostracism, and ultimately, execution for witchcraft (the eventual fate of 20 unfortunates). The climax is devoted to the notorious witch trials, staged at the behest of the Massachusetts colony's politically ambitious deputy governor (Peter Ustinov). Shirley MacLaine makes a rare TV appearance as the ill-fated Rebecca Nurse. Salem Witch Trials was presented by CBS on March 2 and 4, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In another episode loosely inspired by actual events, the limo driver for star baseball player Kevin Seleeby (Reynaldo Rosales) is murdered. When it turns out that the victim was regularly supplying steroids to his boss, Seleeby becomes the prime suspect. But, as often happens on this series, the DA's office discovers that nothing is cut and dried, not even what seems to be irrefutable evidence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi