Mike Warren Movies

This direct-to-cable sequel in the Species film series follows the next legacy of the sexually frustrated alien species as the daughter of Eve (Natasha Henstridge) is born into an uncaring human world. Newcomer Sunny Mabrey plays Sara, the first genetically perfect specimen of her species, who is kidnapped upon birth by a professor who has his own selfish reasoning to keep her alive. Hounded by the army and other human-alien DNA hybrids bent on breeding, the hunt is on for the professor and Sara to create another perfect offspring any way they can. Premiering on the Sci-Fi channel in November of 2004, the erotic sci-fi thriller came to DVD a month later in a director's cut supervised by the director, Brad Turner, a TV veteran whose show credits include Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, and the '90s revamp of Outer Limits. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

A high-school senior finds himself walking a fine line between daydreams and reality in the comedy Trippin'. Gregory Reed (Deon Richmond) is soon to graduate from high school, and he frequently drifts into a Walter Mitty-style fantasy land where he's the coolest guy in town, has money to burn, and fine ladies are throwing themselves at him around the clock; however, back in the real world, Gregory has a lousy job, no girlfriend, and no solid prospects of a date for the prom. A much bigger worry to his parents is the fact that Gregory has done almost nothing about planning for his future after graduation; he's so preoccupied by his problems with women that he hasn't even started applying to colleges. His best friend, June (Donald Faison), has got girls to spare, but while he has a future ahead of him, it isn't a good one -- he's started selling stolen goods for low-level crime boss Kenyatta (Stoney Jackson). The girl of Gregory's dreams is Cinny Hawkins (Maia Campbell), who's beautiful, smart -- and has a boyfriend. Figuring he'll settle for whatever attention he can get, Gregory asks Cinny if she can help him with his college applications, as she's been through the route and has already been accepted. Cinny agrees, and as she and Gregory become friends, she starts to wonder if her pushy boyfriend is really the guy she wants to take to the prom. Balancing typical teen-flick humor with a pointed message about personal responsibility, Trippin' was a surprise box-office success in the spring of 1999. Director David Raynr's own teenage years included a brief stint as a regular on the TV series James at 15. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This two-part TV miniseries, adapted from Dorothy West's novel The Wedding, takes a look at mid-century issues of race and class in well-to-do black society. On Martha's Vineyard in 1953, debutante Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) stirs discord in her social-climbing family when she chooses to marry impoverished white musician Meade Howell (Eric Thal). At the Shelby family estate, weeks prior to the wedding, Meade informs her parents, Corinne and Clark Coles (Lynn Whitfield, Michael Warren), that his family won't be attending the wedding, and the irony of upper-crust blacks being rejected by poor whites hangs heavy. In a later plot twist, the single black father (Carl Lumbly) of three mixed-race daughters takes a very strong interest in Shelby that quickly turns into an overly persistent pursuit. Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, the miniseries premiered February 22-23, 1998 on ABC. Also known as Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Frank Military and Susan Rhinehart scripted this western, a look back at the post-Civil War Black cavalry troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers, the fierce fighting unit previously covered in a PBS four-parter (1970) and an NBC pilot (1979). In the New Mexico Territory, ex-slave Sgt. Wyatt (Danny Glover) and the Buffalo soldiers arrest Captain Draper (Robert Knott) and other Texas Rangers, but politics mean the Rangers are quietly freed later. Back at Fort Craig, Wyatt reports to anti-black General Pike (Tom Bower) and Col. Grierson (Bob Gunton), a white responsible for assembling and supporting the black regiment. A search is underway for Indian chief Victorio (Harrison Lowe). Indian prophet Nana (Chesley Wilson) is tortured in an effort to get him to reveal Victorio's whereabouts. Determining that Victorio is at Rattlesnake Springs, the Buffalo Soldiers head in that direction for a confrontation. Filmed in the desert of Arizona's Cochise County, Buffalo Soldiers premiered December 7, 1997 on TNT. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Scott Bakula inagurates an illicit romance with the very married Chelsea Field. When Field's husband turns up murdered, Bakula can't help but feel that his bedmate is responsible. Should he act upon his suspicions, or just live for the moment? Here's an added wrinkle: Bakula is a psychiatrist. Never entirely predictable, this steamy melodrama contains what used to be called a "wow finish". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Mark Frost, the writer and director best known for his work with David Lynch on the TV series Twin Peaks, made his feature film directorial debut with this convoluted thriller. Cray Fowler (James Spader) is running for congress, partly to satisfy his own political aspirations and partly to resolve certain controversies in his life; he divorced his wife after discovering that she was unfaithful, and his father committed suicide after he became involved in a scandal regarding valuable oil rights. While on the campaign trail, Fowler is persuaded to visit Lee Tran (Charlotte Lewis), a waitress he meets at a fund raiser. Fowler and Lee Tran have sex, which is caught on videotape; as if this isn't strong enough blackmail material, Lee Tran's father turns up dead in the room where Fowler wakes up. But Lee, not Fowler, is charged with the murder, and Fowler, a lawyer, agrees to defend her in court. Fowler wins the case against beautiful District Attorney Natalie Tate (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), Fowler's former girlfriend, but now he needs to find out who is trying to set him up and for what reason; he hopes he can get some help from his uncle, Clifford Fowler (Jason Robards), a political kingmaker of the old school who knows all the family's secrets. The supporting cast includes Piper Laurie, Michael Parks, Chuck McCann, and Woody Strode. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV drama--Sammy Davis, Jr.'s last--stars Trent Cameron as a young orphan who must fight against social workers in order to remain with his adoptive father, a widowed jazzman. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

A cop is determined to avenge his father's death in this action-drama. Brad Davis stars as Johnny Modine, a Los Angeles cop whose father is murdered on Christmas Eve. The investigation leads to a bitter and disfigured killer known as Iceman (Jonathan Banks), who has links to Johnny's past as a police cadet. Rocker Adam Ant co-stars and Dorothy Ann Puzo, daughter of famed author Mario Puzo, directed. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

"Let's be careful out there..." So ends each roll call session at the Hill Street station house. As the cops and detectives head out to the streets, Captain Frank Furillo begins the delicate balancing act of providing enough protection for the law-abiding citizens without inciting the neighborhood gangs and local criminal elements who are openly hostile towards any police presence. Yet as dangerous as his inner city precinct can be, Furillo's biggest battles often involve protecting his own cops from the Public Defender's office, self-serving bureaucrats, and even each other.

After wife Beatrice (Pearl Bailey) runs off to Mexico, a despondent Ben Chambers (Redd Foxx) travels to California to visit his son, Norman (Michael Warren). To Ben's dismay, Norman admits that he's gay -- and that his lover is a white man. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

A professional basketball team is taken hostage by a band of Middle Eastern terrorists. The captors refuse to let their captives go until the authorities meet their demands, including a large sum of money, an escape plane, and the release of all political prisoners throughout the world. It is up to the SWAT team to rescue the athletes and prevent a full-scale, Munich-like bloodbath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tamara Dobson stars as Cleopatra Jones in Jack Starrett's blaxploitation programmer that, in its own way, deals effectively with the ravages of drugs in inner-city black communities. Cleopatra Jones is a jive female James Bond, a special drug agent for the United States government who wears sleek and hip clothes, drives a fancy car with a submachine-gun compartment in the front door, and travels all over the world to stomp out drugs at their source. Cleopatra has a loving relationship with Ruben (Bernie Casey), the well-meaning head of a drug rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles. When Cleopatra travels to Turkey to oversee the destruction of poppy fields owned by Mommy (Shelley Winters) -- a lesbian drug dealer -- Mommy becomes upset. She exacts her revenge on Cleopatra by having the police close down Ruben's drug clinic. Nevertheless, Cleopatra continues to wreak havoc upon Mommy's drug business, and Mommy continues to try to do Cleopatra in, until finally there is a major confrontation between Cleopatra and Mommy and her minions. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide