Mary Black Movies

In a 1950s-era alternate universe where domesticated zombies play a functional role in society by delivering the milk, carrying the mail, and even helping out with household chores, one boy is about to find out just how big of a personal responsibility "pet" ownership truly is. When the Earth passed through a cloud of space dust and the dead arose from their graves to devour the flesh of the living, it first seemed that all hope for humanity was lost. Society's rapid slide into chaos, however, was soon halted when scientists at a company called ZomCom created a special collar that turned the rampaging animated corpses docile. Now, thanks to ZomCom, everything is under control -- or is it? Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) isn't quite convinced. Quiet and withdrawn, the skeptical young boy spends so much time locked away in his room that he's almost become invisible around the household. His mother Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss) has recently purchased a zombie to help keep things tidy around the house though, and when the creature attempts to engage the curious youngster in a game of catch, a friendship is forged between boy and zombie that finds the amiable gut-muncher nicknamed Fido (Billy Connolly) practically becoming a part of the family. Things take a turn for the worse however, when Fido's collar malfunctions and Timmy's neighbors begin dying in droves. When ZomCom's top zombie control specialist Mr. Bottoms (Henry Czerny) moves in across the street from Timmy, the increasingly complicated situation threatens to place a serious stumbling block in the path of human-zombie relations. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Season One of Monk begins with this first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "TV" movie). On psychiatric leave from the San Francisco PD since the unsolved 1997 murder of his wife Trudy, former police detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) returns as a private eye to help the department solve two seemingly unconnected murders. The first victim is a woman named Nicole Vasquez; the second is a professional bodyguard killed during an assassination attempt on mayoral candidate Warren St. Claire (Michael Hogan). Monk determines that the link between the two murders may well by St. Claire's wife Miranda (Gail O'Grady), but his efforts to solve the crimes are impeded every inch of the way by the emotional "tics" he has developed since his wife's death: Namely, an obsessive-compulsive streak to end all obsessive-compulsive streaks, and a veritable laundry list of phobias including fear of the dark, of heights, of crowds, and especially of milk! Although most of the Monk trademarks are established in this opening episode (the lead character's obsessive-compulsiveness, his photographic memory, et.al.), there are a few significant departures from the weekly series proper: For one, the character played by Jason Gray-Stanford is named Lt. Deacon rather than Lt. Disher; and for another, the role of Sharona's son Benjy is played by Kane Ritchotte instead of Max Morrow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Tim Boland, the made-for-TV drama In the Name of the People stars Scott Bakula as death-row inmate John Burke. Facing execution for the murder of a teenaged girl, Burke's only concern is over the future of his own 13-year-old daughter Lisa (Robin Ann Phipps). Connie Murphy (Amy Madigan), mother of the murdered girl and the unforgiving leader of the activist group which lobbied for Burke's death, finds that there is a curious bond between the soon-to-be orphaned Lisa and Connie's own husband Jack (Richard Thomas), to whom forgiveness and compassion are second nature. The garrulous nature of Richard Leder's teleplay led one TV critic to characterize the film as "Dead Man Talking." In the Name of the People originally aired on February 2, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Part two of the acclaimed PBS series explores the path taken by new Irish arrivals in the New World. Irish roles in the building of the American nation are examined, as well as the emergence of Irish-American heroes including such figures as John L. Sullivan and John Mackey. Still dogged by prejudice and often persecuted because of their heritage, the Irish often had no one but each other to turn to. The video examines such groups as the Molly Maguires and their role in the fight for early acceptance. Serious in tone and well documented, this tape is appropriate for use in the college classroom. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Part one of this acclaimed PBS series explores the earliest roots of the Irish people in the New World. Centering on the crucial event of the Potato Famine, this tape examines the causes of what would become one of the greatest mass migrations in world history. The conditions faced by early arrivals in the United States are examined, including the prejudice that made the end of the remarkable journey so bittersweet for thousands of families in search of a new life. Serious in tone and well documented, this tape is appropriate for use in the college classroom. ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Two men in their mid-twenties chase their dreams to the big city with tragic results in this acclaimed piece of low-key neorealism from Canada. Joey (Paul Bradley) and Peter (Doug McGrath) are best friends from a small town in Nova Scotia. With jobs scarce and prospects slim at home, Joey and Peter decide to pack up their meager belongings and head west to Toronto, where they're convinced better luck awaits them. Joey's uncle refuses to take in the travelers, and Peter's friends turn out to be short on job leads, but after a few rough nights, Joey, a practical sort, lands a job loading cases in a ginger ale bottling plant. Peter has aspirations toward better things, but it quickly becomes obvious he lacks the education or the temperament for office work, and before long he's hefting cases alongside Joey. For a while, the guys get along on their 80 dollars a week, and Joey finds a girlfriend in Betty (Jayne Eastwood), a pretty but tough-talking waitress. Peter has his eyes on Nicole (Nicole Morin), a beautiful woman who works in the plant's office, but after he gathers up the courage to take her out on the town, Nicole rejects his advances and he's left alone and humiliated. When Joey learns that Betty is pregnant, the two marry, but within a few weeks, both Joey and Peter are laid off, thanks to a seasonal slowdown, and their new lives begin to slip through their fingers. Shot in 16 mm on a shoestring budget, Goin' Down the Road became an unexpected critical success in both Canada and the United States and was named the best English-language Canadian feature of the century by the Toronto-based newsweekly MacLean's. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide