Kevin Tighe Movies

As any college theater student will tell you, the title of this episode translates as "god from the machine," a theatrical device whereby everyone's problems are solved by a single, miraculous and highly unlikely climactic act of divine intervention. In this case, the deus ex machina is literally a "machine" -- an airplane found in the forest that may or may not prove a means of escape for the survivors. But there's more to the story than that, especially when an extended flashback reveals some traumatic events from Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) past. As an adult, Locke made contact with his biological father, whom he'd never known, and the two started to bond, but there was more to the situation than there seemed to be. In other events, Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is suffering from extreme headaches, and Jack (Matthew Fox) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) come up with a solution that he most certainly does not like. ~ Rovi

Money and power bring major corruption to the world's energy marketplace in this taut political drama. After a long war between the United States and a coalition of Middle Eastern nations leads to a gap in the flow of multinational oil trading, the price of gasoline in America shoots past six dollars a gallon and both the energy industry and the stock market are walking on thin ice. In the midst of this instability, Tom Hansen (Christian Slater), a leading advisor at of one Wall Street's top firms, is looking to hire new talent to help with his latest client, Condor Oil and Gas. Condor's CEO, Jared Tolson (Robert Loggia) used to employ Tom's best friend until the younger man died in a mysterious accident, and Tom is eager to do what he can for Jared. Tom hires Abbey Gallagher (Selma Blair) to assist with the Condor account; Abbey is a passionate environmental activist who is wary of associating herself with a major energy firm, but her mentor Prof. Roseman (John Heard) persuades her she can be an advocate for green concerns on the inside. As Tom and Abbey spend more time together, they become romantically drawn to one another, but Tom's love for her puts Abbey in great danger when she finds out what he knows about illegal oil trading operations and money laundering schemes that link Condor with the Russian Mafia. The Deal also stars Colm Feore, Angie Harmon, and Françoise Yip. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The third installment of screenwriter Peter Greenaway's anticipated 16-episode story finds Tulse Luper, the protagonist, whittling away his time in jail. (In the previous episode, Tulse had been arrested in a bathroom just prior to the German invasion of Belgium in 1940.) Without the company of either of his two lovers, Tulse's favorite activity is posting fictional accounts on his wall in hopes of foretelling his own future, thus cementing his status around prison as a top storyteller. Unfortunately for Tulse, his jailers are less concerned with his innocence than they are with using him for their own nefarious purposes, and do their best to fabricate evidence that Tulse is, in fact, a fascist sympathizer. The cast includes JJ Feild, Drew Mulligan, Debbie Harry, Isabella Rossellini, and Jack Wouterse. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Previously portrayed in films and on TV by the likes of Bonita Granville, Janet Julian, Pamela Sue Martin, and Tracy Ryan, author Carolyn Keene's intrepid, teenaged sleuth Nancy Drew is again brought to life in the person of Maggie Lawson. Now enrolled at River Heights University with her longtime friends and fellow "detectives" Bess (Jill Ritchie) and George (Lauren Birkell), the level-headed, no-nonsense Nancy hopes to achieve academic nirvana by being accepted to the prestigious Tri Pi fraternity. Things take a sinister turn when Tri Pi's reigning "queen" Allison Price (Sabine Singh) is accused of causing the drug overdose that has put her football-hero boyfriend in a coma. As usual, Nancy suspects that the case isn't quite as cut-and-dried as it seems, and with the assistance of her aforementioned girl friends -- not to mention her erstwhile beau Ned Nickerson (Nick Stabile) -- our heroine snoops around long enough to uncover a sinister campus-wide conspiracy. Adult authority is represented in the form of Nancy's long-suffering attorney dad Carson Drew (Brett Cullen) and her overbearing, condescending journalism teacher Professor Shifflin (James Avery). First broadcast as an episode of the ABC anthology The Wonderful World of Disney on December 15, 2002, Nancy Drew was rather blatantly designed as the pilot for a potential weekly series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Filmed in London, the cable-TV movie The Sight stars Andrew McCarthy as American architect Michael Lewis. Like the youthful protagonist in the theatrical feature Sixth Sense, the reluctantly psychic Michael "sees dead people." In fact, he sees the ghosts of 21 dead people in a single location, the old British hotel that he has been hired to refurbish. Michael's disturbing "gift" ultimately leads him to the eight victims of a contemporary serial killer -- and, armed with the cryptic clues supplied by these restless spirits, the hero races against time to prevent murder number nine. The pilot film for an unsold weekly TV series, The Sight was broadcast October 29, 2000 over the FX cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed this comedy about a young psychologist named Mumford (Loren Dean), who arrives in a small town and sets up a practice. Mumford's style is short on analytic mumbo-jumbo and long on practical advice, and he soon finds that he has a long list of satisfied clients in his new home town, including many of the city's most prominent citizens. Mumford's advice also helps love bloom among the city's single residents. However, the city already had a psychologist, Ernest Delbanco (David Paymer), who is quickly losing business to Mumford. So Ernest starts asking questions: who is this Mumford, and just what are his qualifications? Mumford's supporting cast includes Ted Danson, Martin Short, Alfre Woodard, Hope Davis, Jason Lee, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Boyd Hale and Wendy Hopkins co-direct this light comedy about the profound emptiness of existence and suicidal depression. Harley Henson (Mark Boone, Jr.) had his moment of glory 20 years ago when he broke the state football rushing record. A knee injury killed any chances at furthering his football career. Since then, he passes his days drinking and talking about the old days with his buddies, but his life has not gotten any better. His wife wants a divorce, and his teenaged son hates him. Moreover, a Korean-born athlete from a rival school threatens to break his record. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

This biographical drama from HBO recounts the rise and fall of Walter Winchell, a gossip columnist and reporter who changed the face of news reporting. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Loosely based on a true account, this family drama centers on a group of aimless Hawaiian teens who with the support of two inspirational teachers turn their lives around by building a solar powered car and racing it across the Australian outback during the World Solar Challenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

During its first year on the air, the weekly, hour-long ABC series Murder One was unique among legal dramas, in that it dealt with only a single murder case per season. Debuting September 19, 1995, the series spent all of season one focusing on the murder of a young substance-abusing woman, with her lover, obnoxious movie star Neil Avedon (Jason Gedrick), as prime suspect. Handling Avedon's defense were Chris Docknovich (Michael Hayden), Arnold Spivak (J.C. MacKenzie), Justine Appleton (Mary McCormick), and Lisa Gillespie (Grace Phillips), all ambitious young attorneys working for celebrated, controversial, and not entirely ethical criminal lawyer Theodore Hoffman (Daniel Benzali). Appearing for the prosecution were ruthless Assistant DA Miriam Grasso (Barbara Bosson), who worked for the even more ruthless DA Roger Garfield (Gregory Itzin). The Grasso-Garfield team included police detective Arthur Poulson (Dylan Baker) and investigator David Blalock (Kevin Tighe). Among the other first-season regulars were Patricia Clarkson as Theodore Hoffman's long-suffering wife, Ann; John Fleck as Hoffman's office manager, Louis; and Grace Phillips as his receptionist, Lila. While the "one case per year" gimmick attracted a lot of publicity, and -- for a while, anyway -- a lot of viewers, the ratings for Murder One fell precipitously as season one wore on. Thus, when the series returned for its second season, several changes had been imposed, the first being that three cases would be dramatized, rather than merely one. On the docket for season two were a political assassination in which DA Garfield was implicated, an O.J.-like celebrity murder case involving an arrogant basketball star, and a case involving a serial killer who preyed only on professional criminals. Series co-star Daniel Benzali was gone, replaced by younger but no less crafty and cunning defense attorney James "Jimmy" Wyler (Anthony LaPaglia). Also missing was Grace Phillips as Lisa Gillespie, whose replacement, hotheaded junior attorney Aaron Mosely, was played by David Bryan Woodside. Concluding its weekly run on January 23, 1997, Murder One briefly returned five months later in a miniseries format, remaining on the air from May 25 to 29, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An investigator seeking the truth behind the death of a noted art dealer uncovers a web of sexual deception in this erotic thriller. David Caruso plays David Corelli, a San Francisco District Attorney who faces a potential conflict of interest when he learns that the prime suspect in the murder is psychologist Katrina Gavin (Linda Fiorentino), an old flame who eventually married Corelli's close friend (Chazz Palminteri). Despite this, he continues on the case and discovers that the dealer owned a series of photographs showing prominent public figures in compromising positions with an enigmatic prostitute known only as Jade. As Corelli searches for the identity of this unknown woman, believing she holds the key to the murder's solution, he uncovers further secrets that ultimately threaten his own life. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Seemingly content living the life of a derelict, former mercenary Nick (Dolph Lundgren) agrees -- reluctantly and only after he is offered a large fortune from two mining company executives -- to gather up a unit of fellow soldiers of fortune and fly to the island of Jakarta in order to convince local peasants to give up their land. Once he arrives, Nick sees soldiers burn a peasant village. When he learns that the bloodshed is not for the control of such riches as uranium or jade, but for an ancient deposit of bat guano, he changes his alliance and begins fighting for the natives. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi