Wren T. Brown Movies

David Mamet wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his play about a man who suddenly stumbles into a new and dangerous life. Edmond Burke (William H. Macy) is on his way home from work one evening when he impulsively stops to have his fortune read by a woman who informs him, "You are not where you belong." When he does arrive home, Edmond soon falls into an argument with his wife (Rebecca Pidgeon), and he storms out into the city, where he stops at a bar for a few drinks. There, Edmond finds himself talking with a man (Joe Mantegna) who freely shares his racist views about the role of African-Americans in society, and suddenly Edmond begins letting go of the sense of self-control that has always governed his actions. After a crawl through the city's underbelly of watering holes, strip clubs, gambling dens, and brothels, Edmond comes face to face with the violence of this world, and unexpectedly finds himself responding in kind. Edmond also stars Julia Stiles, Denise Richards, Mena Suvari, Bai Ling, and Dylan Walsh; it was directed by Stuart Gordon, who worked often with David Mamet during their early days at Chicago's Organic Theater Company. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The conventions of the slasher movie genre get a new twist in this independent horror story. It's late October, and Eddie (Dylan Fergus) aspires to be a cop on the West Hollywood Police Force's roster, though a vision problem has kept him from passing the physical. Eddie gets the assignment to look into a grisly murder in which two men were found decapitated in a car parked on a remote lover's lane. Eddie tries to put the crime out of his mind when he heads out with three friends -- Joey (Hank Harris), Tobey (Matt Phillips), and Chaz (Andrew Levitas) -- for West Hollywood's over-the-top gay Halloween celebration. While festivity is in the air and hunky guys abound, Eddie soon discovers that the same killer he's been looking for is on the prowl at the block party, wielding a scythe and lopping off heads with aplomb. Can Eddie stop the killer before he murders his friends? And who is this fiend and what is his motivation? Hellbent received its world premiere at the 2004 San Francisco Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A group of Klingon refugees, unaware of the long-standing treaty between their people and the Federation, arrive on the Voyager. Thanks to a coincidental chain of signs and portents, refugee leader Kohlar (Wren T. Brown) becomes convinced that B'Elanna Torres' (Roxann Dawson) unborn baby is destined to be the Klingon messiah. A chilling confrontation between Torres' lover, Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), and Klingon religious fanatic T'Greth (Sherman Howard), who believes that Torres has "mongrelized" his race, climaxes the story. "Prophecy" initially aired on February 7, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Monica (Roma Downey) is assigned to help mayoral candidate Carrie Carver (Sheila Kelly) make an important--and possibly life-altering--decision about friendship. When her college friend Bill (Erich Anderson) is arrested on a charge of sexual misconduct with a minor, Carrie wonders if she should make a public statement in defense of Bill, or keep her distance lest she damage her political career. As it happens, the only way to "save" Bill is for Carrie to tell a lie...and in the final analysis, Monica can do little but stand aside and allow Carrie to follow the dictates of her own heart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After Ally's first date with Greg Butters (Jesse L. Martin) ends in a car accident, she defends him in court against the plaintiff's lawyer---a 9-year-old genius (Josh Evans). ~ TV Guide, Rovi

Clive Barker's horrific creation Pinhead (Doug Bradley) returns to the screen for the fourth (and purportedly final) time in this time-juggling horror opus. In 18th century France, Phillip Lemarchand (Bruce Ramsay) constructs a black puzzle box for the wizard Duc de L'Isle (Mickey Cottrell); however, the box has potentially deadly consequences when it's discovered that it can be used to open the gates of hell, freeing the demonic Pinhead. Two hundred years later, the box finds its way into the hands of John (also played by Bruce Ramsay), a New Yorker and distant descendant of Lemarchand who is being pursued by Pinhead and his minions, while another 200 years hence, Dr. Paul Merchant (Ramsay again) is trying to make his way aboard a space station in hopes of reclaiming the puzzle box, hoping to destroy it before it can be used to once again release the demons upon the world; Merchant is also attempting to build a second box that can close the gates that the first box opens. While makeup artist Kevin Yagher made his directorial debut with this film, the final cut was taken away from him and considerably shortened, which in his mind severely compromised the film's complex, time-traveling narrative. He opted to instead credit his work to Alan Smithee, which was the Directors Guild's official pseudonym for directors who feel their work has been tampered with. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the original box-office smash Under Siege, action hero Steven Seagal played Casey Ryback, a U.S. Navy SEAL who saved the world from nuclear destruction by outsmarting and killing off terrorists who had commandeered a submarine. In this sequel, Seagal's Ryback character does the same sort of thing aboard a train. Ryback now has retired from the Navy and is taking his niece Sarah (Katherine Heigl) on a vacation. They board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains. Criminal mastermind Travis Dane (Eric Bogosian) is using the train as a control center in his effort to kidnap a top-secret government outer space super-weapon. Dane built the weapon but then was fired by the government before it was deployed. He has hooked up with shadowy Middle Eastern terrorists who have offered him $1 billion to use the satellite to blow up the Eastern seaboard by targeting a secret nuclear reactor underneath the Pentagon. Dane shows the Pentagon that he's got control of the weapon by blowing up a Chinese chemical plant. Officials can't stop him because they can't locate his headquarters. As long as the train keeps moving, his location can't be fixed. Ryback learns of the plot and enlists a porter named Bobby (Morris Chestnut) to help him in his battle. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

To escape his persistent--and dishonest--corporate sponsors, a Nobel Prize-winning microbiologist fakes his own death. It's a clever ruse, but not a particularly healthy one: soon afterward, the missing scientist turns up murdered for real. Typically, the wrong man is accused of the crime, obliging Jessica (Angela Lansbury) to take over investigation of the case herself...while her old friend Lt. Artie Gelber (Herb Edelman) fusses and fumes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Both Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Roz (Peri Gilpin) are nominated for the "SeaBea," Seattle's most coveted broadcasting award. At the urging of his mercenary agent, Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris), Frasier mounts a shameless campaign to win the award, culminating in the promise of expensive gifts for the voters. But our hero's euphoria turns to abject shame when he realizes that neither he nor Roz are the most deserving contestants. This episode marks the first time that canine thespian Moose receives on-screen credit as Eddie the dog. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Ron Underwood follows up his crowd-pleasing hit City Slickers (1991) with this likable, feel-good comedy drama about a selfish businessman who discovers that he's permanently being followed by a group of ghosts. In 1959, a bus accident links the spirits of four fatally injured passengers to a newborn baby whose birth is caused by the crash. For 25 years, Milo (Tom Sizemore), Harrison (Charles Grodin), Penny (Alfre Woodard) and Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) remain bound to Thomas Reilly (Robert Downey Jr.), who believes the quartet to be imaginary childhood friends that have long since disappeared. When the four spooks suddenly realize that they are meant to use Thomas as a conduit to bring closure to their unfinished corporeal lives, they reemerge, causing Thomas to think that he's gone insane. As he becomes reattached to his supernatural companions, however, Thomas' innate decency asserts itself and he begins helping them to right the wrongs in their lives, allowing them to possess his body to achieve their goal of settling accounts and moving on into the afterlife. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this action-comedy, an eccentric detective ends up working with a lost gnome who has accidentally burrowed up from his subterranean world. He is searching for something valuable he lost so he can win the heart of a winsome gnomette. Wacky mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Complete with real ABC News footage shot in Iraq, this made-for-TV film chronicles the lives of a group of American soldiers battling in the Persian Gulf War. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi