William B. Davis

A man who is suddenly without feelings is motivated by a love he isn't quite sure is there in this offbeat independent comedy. Hudson (Matthew Perry) is a screenwriter who has enjoyed a modest success in Hollywood, but one day he suddenly and inexplicably sinks into a strange funk -- he feels strangely removed from the world around him, as if reality has slipped away and he can't physically or emotionally feel his surroundings. Hudson's writing partner Tom (Kevin Pollock) is more than a bit disturbed by the sudden change in Hudson's demeanor, and on his advice he begins seeing the first of several psychiatrists, most of whom prescribe a dizzying variety of drugs, except for Dr. Blaine (Mary Steenburgen), who is turned on by Hudson's condition and ends up having an affair with him. As Hudson seems to be running out of ways to reconnect with himself, he meets Sarah (Lynn Collins), a beautiful woman who is quite taken with him and decides to introduce him to as many positive and compelling experiences as possible. The first feature-length directorial project for screenwriter Harris Goldberg, Numb received its North American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Cradle Will Fall stars Angie Everhart as a prosecutor who is investigating a serial killer terrorizing a hospital where she herself is being treated fertility problems. As she begins to uncover the truth about what is going on, she fears that she may be involved much more deeply than she had ever imagined. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Introduced in the first-season episode "Stray," Ryan Kelley (Ryan James), a teenager gifted with the ability to read minds, is reunited with his friend Clark Kent (Tom Welling). Upon finding out that an unscrupulous scientist (Martin Cummins) is conducting experiments on Ryan, Clark vows to shield the boy from further exploitation -- thereby bringing the scientist's wrath down upon the Kent family. And in another development, former X-Files regular William B. Davis (aka "Cigarette-Smoking Man") guest stars as Smallville's crooked mayor, with whom Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) has a tense confrontation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV movie, shown on the E! network, Richard Breggs (Harland Williams) is a super-swell guy. An aspiring actor, he drives a taxi so that he can afford to buy his girlfriend Maggie (Elizabeth Berkley) a set of window shades for their apartment. All is dandy until Richard's friend Nick informs him that his niceness is the source of his career problems, and that he'll only be able to get ahead as an actor if he becomes a class-A jerk. Richard decides to give Nick's advice a try, and four years later he wakes up with amnesia to discover that he's the star of a monstrously popular TV show called, appropriately enough, "Dick." Living in a mansion, he is informed by his butler Edward (Robert Wagner) that yes, he has become a bonafide schmuck. This news horrifies Richard, who sets about trying to find Maggie and mend his wicked ways. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Upon returning from India with her friend Xena (Lucy Lawless), Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) is accosted by Zehra (Jennifer Ward-Leland), "Queen of the Cons." In league with another sharpster named Milo (Mark Hadlow), Zehra persuades Gabrielle to write a play about Xena's exploits, to be given a lavish and expensive world premiere. What Zehra doesn't reveal is that she intends to pull a "Max Bialystock," producing a sure-fire flop so that she won't have to pay back the play's many wealthy investors. In addition to its Mel Brooks trappings, this episode also features such esoterica as "Buffus the Bacchae Slayer" and "Dustinus Hoofmanus." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A virulent virus erupts aboard a cruise ship. The government wants to blow it up, but a scientist is determined to find a cure or at least a way to contain the deadly disease. He must hurry, for time is short and the government is getting impatient. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The X-Files: Season Six marked an important moment in the evolution of the series in several ways -- for one, the show's production was moved from Vancouver to Los Angeles, but more importantly, the sixth season followed The X-Files: Fight the Future (i.e. the X-Files feature film). Armed with firsthand experience of the bee-carried alien virus and knowledge of the existence of the most classified government research facility yet, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are closer to the heart of the conspiracy than they have ever been. After some of the series' signature lighter fare -- in this case, a body-swapping scenario between Mulder and bored Agent Morris Fletcher (Michael McKean) in "Dreamland" and a tale of a baseball player who may have left his home planet due to love of the game ("The Unnatural") -- the season comes to a head when Scully travels to Africa to find the cause and cure for Mulder's neurological deterioration and finds the long-buried remains of an alien spacecraft. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Now five years into their partnership, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have developed a bond deep enough to contend with the conspiracy they're faced with both inside and outside their professional lives. Unfortunately, between Scully's cancer and Mulder's guilt regarding his role in her condition, any potential romance is shelved while Mulder searches to find a cure, and Scully, while unsuccessful, comes closer than anyone to proving the government's role in hiding their knowledge of extraterrestrial involvement on Earth from the people of the world. In addition to addressing some of the series' very early mythology, the vast alien cover-up continues to build; ultra-clairvoyant Gibson Praise (Jeff Gulka) is introduced, as well as Cassandra Spender (Veronica Cartwright), Agent Jeffrey Spender (Chris Owens), and Mulder's former flame, Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers). Despite all the doom and gloom, The X-Files: Season Five nonetheless included some lighter fare, including a much-needed retrospective on Mulder's relationship with The Lone Gunmen, a town obsessed with talk-show host Jerry Springer, and a tale of vampirism as told from Mulder and Scully's wildly differing perspectives. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Iconoclastic director John Dahl used a screenplay by John Geddie as the basis for this far-fetched story of a man -- suspected of killing his wife -- who borrows murder victims' memories to track the real culprit. Ray Liotta plays Dr. David Krane, a Seattle medical examiner charged with murdering his wife Cara (Caroline Elliot). Charges are dropped because a police officer mishandled evidence. Krane has recovered from alcoholism and is obsessed with proving his innocence. While investigating a store shooting, he discovers clues that convince him that the murderer also killed his wife. Krane attends a lecture by researcher Dr. Martha Briggs (Linda Fiorentino), who is studying a technique to transfer memory that involves injecting rats with the spinal fluid of other rats combined with a serum that she has perfected. Krane steals the serum, breaks into a police evidence room and steals his wife's spinal fluid, and injects himself, even though Briggs has warned that the technique may lead to heart attacks in humans. It's not until Krane has injected himself with the fluid of the store shooting victims that he gets a clear picture of the presumed killer, Eddie Dutton (Kim Coates). ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Just when it seemed as though the conspiracy couldn't get any weirder, The X-Files: Season Four brought FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) even more nefarious government escapades with which to contend. In addition to the discovery of the Consortium, an elite international shadow government that includes the mysterious Cigarette Smoking Man (William B. Davis) among its membership, the bureau investigators are now privy to highly dangerous Alien Bounty Hunters, virus-carrying bees, and a cruel Russian experiment involving the extraterrestrial black oil. While Mulder is infected with the oil, Scully finds herself with her own potentially fatal affliction when the neck implant she had removed after her abduction appears to have caused the onset a rare form of cancer; several other alleged abductees, all female, are in the same deadly predicament. Meanwhile, the already small group of people Mulder and Scully trust outside one another continues to dwindle in size -- even the motives of steadfast Assistant Director Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) and Mulder's own mother are in question. In the midst of the cover-up, Mulder and Scully are still faced with their other assignments, which include a strange case of human inbreeding, past lives, shape shifting, and the ability to make oneself invisible. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

The conspiracy spiraled even further in the third season of The X-Files, which picks up with FBI Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) on a desperate search for her missing partner, Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny). Though Mulder was left for dead after having suffered serious bodily harm in a train explosion, a group of Navajo Indians nursed him back to health and offered what help they could to the agents' quest to find the ever-elusive truth. Considered one of the strongest seasons of The X-Files, the 24 episodes in the third season contain some of the most complex and integral aspects of the series' far-reaching mythology, including a heavily encrypted digital tape which may hold the key to government knowledge of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and perhaps even insight into Scully's own abduction. Alien life does, indeed, make an appearance on this season, though not in the form of a little green man. Rather, an insidious, ancient, and alien black oil is unearthed, leaving Mulder and Scully to question its potential impact on humankind, and what the government may already know. Of course, The X-Files wouldn't be complete without its stand-alone, or "monster-of-the-week," episodes, and this season is no exception -- from evil spirits to astral murder and killer cockroaches, The X-Files: Season Three has more than its fair share of earthly, if bizarre, occurrences to its name. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Two women forced to deal with the ugly specter of domestic violence find support in one another in this made-for-television drama. Beth (Donna Mills) has spent years in a violent relationship with her husband Tim (Corbin Bernsen), who batters her on a regular basis. One day, Beth reaches the end of her rope, packing up her children and leaving her husband behind. Tim, however, isn't about to let Beth go, and begins following her every move. In order to put an end to his stalking, Beth enters a shelter for abused women, where she meets Kaye (Robin Givens), a fellow beaten spouse. Beth and Kaye become fast friends, and they decide to find a house together. However, Kaye unfortunately also has a husband who refuses to leave her be, and when her former spouse violently attacks her, it's up to Beth to see that justice is done. Dangerous Intentions was inspired by a true story. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide