Anthony Michael Hall Movies

Dean Cain and Anthony Michael Hall go toe-to-toe at 30,000 feet in this action-packed mini-series that finds a radical terrorist poised to take down domestic flight or die trying. FBI hostage rescue specialist Jack Bender (Cain) is traveling across the country on a domestic flight when the members of the People's Separatist Movement attempts to take control of the aircraft. The leader of the terrorist group is Greg Gilliad (Hall), an unpredictable fanatic with visions of nuclear grandeur. When Jack's ex-wife, an FAA employee, announces that the only way to defeat Greg and his group may be to shoot the plan right out of the sky, the seasoned hostage rescue specialist attempts to draw on his extensive combat training in order to ensure that the flight touches down without incident. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A street performer whose luck in love could best be described as abysmal is subjected to a complete image overhaul by his womanizing best friends in a laid-back romantic comedy about love in the city starring Anthony Michael Hall and directed by Jeff Oppenheim. Despite his kind nature and keen sense of humor, street-busker Josh (Anthony Michael Hall) just can't seem to land a date. Though things start to look up for Josh when his worldly buddies Tim (Lord Jamar) and Sean (Ivan Martin) vow to share their secrets of seduction with Josh, clean up his image, and place a personal ad to help him find a date, Josh soon begins to realize that he may have already found the love he is looking for in working single mother Doreen (Marlo Marron). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A frustrated New York actor whose sick of being typecast due to his Italian-American heritage sets out to seek help from the one actor who could provide his big break in a satirical showbiz comedy starring William DeMeo, Carmen Electra, Sandra Bernhard, and Tyson Beckford. Johnny Argano is Brooklyn born and bred. Though he's confident that he has the skills to make a name for himself on the big screen, he resents the fact that casting directors only seem to select him for stereotypical roles. In Johnny's eyes, the only way to break the vicious cycle of typecasting is to get the attention of his screen idol Robert De Niro, and in order to make that happen Johnny will have to pen a screenplay that truly stands apart from the pack. With his career on the line and nothing left to lose, the frustrated actor gathers together a dedicated team of die-hard filmmakers to raise the money they need to get their film made, and convince the star of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to accept a starring role in the movie that will make them all famous. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The second season of the Stephen King-inspired TV series The Dead Zone begins with the conclusion of the cliffhanger introduced at the end of season one, as schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall), who ever since awakening from a six-year coma has had the ability to predict people's futures and read their thoughts simply by touching their hands, begins his mission to destroy political candidate Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery), whom Johnny knows will destroy the world if he ever becomes president. His crusade against Stillson encounters innumerable unexpected twists and turns throughout the season, notably in an episode wherein Johnny throws his support behind Stillson's political opponent, Harrison Fisher (Gerald McRaney), only to discover that Fisher may prove even more dangerous in the long run. Meanwhile, Johnny's gifts allow him to arrive at the sobering conclusion that his former fiancée, Sarah (Nicole de Boer), would have married Sheriff Walt Bannerman (Chris Bruno) even if Johnny hadn't been rendered comatose by his car accident -- but would Sarah have borne Johnny's son J.J., who now has no idea of his true parentage? Also, more questions arise as to the extent of televangelist Gene Purdy's (David Ogden Stiers) involvement in the death of Johnny's millionaire mother. Season two was to have ended with the episode "Playing God," but the USA network decided to extend the season by several weeks. As a result, audiences were treated to such choice episodes as "Zion," in which Johnny's therapist and best friend, Bruce (John L. Adams), experiences paranormal visions of his own; "The Storm," the series' first episode filmed in the letterboxed format; and "The Hunt," which was titled "The Hunt for Osama" until late-breaking events in the Middle East dictated a name change. The season finale provides a payoff to a recurring plot strand, in which Johnny is stalked by a mysterious man in black (Frank Whaley) -- who turns out to be a visitor from the future that Johnny has so often peered into, and who has a vital message that may or may not save the world from annihilation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) awakens from a six-year coma to discover himself a stranger in his own land as the TV-series version of The Dead Zone launches its first season. Johnny's wealthy mother has died under mysterious circumstances, and a flamboyant televangelist named Gene Purdy (David Ogden Stiers) is in control of the Smith millions. Worse still, Johnny's fiancée, Sarah Bracknell (Nicole de Boer), is married to Sheriff Walt Bannerman (Chris Bruno), and has a young son named J.J. -- who, unbeknownst to himself and Walt, is Johnny's biological son. Of utmost significance is the fact that Johnny, who harbored minor ESP powers before the car accident that had plunged him into a coma, is now a full-blown psychic, endowed with the ability to predict the future and read people's thoughts by touching their hands. As the season progresses, Johnny dedicates himself to using his mental gifts to help people and to prevent impending disasters -- all the while holding down his old teaching job. Johnny's friend and therapist, Bruce Lewis (John L. Adams), and our hero's reporter girlfriend, Dana Bright (Kristen Dalton), both suspect there is more to Johnny's uncanny ability to prognosticate than meets the eye, but in general he keeps his awesome powers to himself. Season-one highlights include Johnny's brief cosmic romance with a woman who may have died 60 years before, his psychic link with a century-old Native American shaman, his disturbing visions while serving on a jury, and his growing suspicion that Rev. Purdy murdered Johnny's mother for her money. In one episode, "Netherworld," Johnny awakens in what seems to be a parallel world in which his accident never occurred and he is happily married to Sarah...but appearances, here as elsewhere, are most deceiving. The season ends with "Destiny," the first episode of a two-part cliffhanger loosely derived from the 1983 film version of The Dead Zone, in which Johnny receives truly negative "vibes" when he touches the hand of ruthlessly ambitious congressional candidate Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flanery). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Noted baseball fan Billy Crystal directed this made-for-cable drama set in the summer of 1961, as two of the strongest hitters in the major leagues, Mickey Mantle (Thomas Jane) and Roger Maris (Barry Pepper), find themselves neck and neck in a battle to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record for most home runs in a season. Both men were playing for the New York Yankees at the time, and as the two men came within grasping distance of Ruth's record, their loyalty as friends and teammates was put to the ultimate test. 61 also features Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Anthony Michael Hall, and Renee Taylor; the scenes set in Yankee Stadium were filmed at Michigan's Tiger Stadium, shortly after the Detroit Tigers shuttered the venerable playing field and relocated to a newer facility. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Television star Tom Green makes his directorial debut with this gross-out comedy. Green stars as Gord Brody, a 28-year-old slacker who aspires to be an animator of Hollywood cartoons. After his dreams of working for studio mogul Dave Davidson (Anthony Michael Hall) temporarily wash out, along with his thankless job at a cheese factory, Gord returns home to live with his parents, Jim (Rip Torn) and Julie (Julie Hagerty). Jim wishes that Gord would simply grow up, move out of the basement, and get a real job like his younger brother Freddy (Eddie Kaye Thomas), who works in a responsible position at a bank. When the battle of wills between Gord and Jim heats up, Gord devises various stunt-like schemes to drive his father bonkers, including the bogus charge that their father molested Freddy as a youngster. Marisa Coughlan co-stars as Gord's wheelchair-bound, nymphomaniac, amateur rocket-scientist girlfriend Betty, while comedian and Green's fellow Canada native Harland Williams plays Gord's oddball neighbor Darren. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The saga of pop metal superstars Def Leppard is told in this biopic, produced by cable television music channel VH1. The film traces the band's history from their origins as a teenage hard rock act in the English industrial town of Sheffield to the massive success they enjoyed worldwide as multi-platinum recording artists. Def Leppard's rise to the top is depicted as driven by rabidly dedicated lead singer Joe Elliott (Orlando Seale), though along with the money, supermodels and parties there are tragedies as well. Original guitarist Pete Willis (Nick Bagnall) is sacked when excessive drink affects his performance, drummer Rick Allen (Tat Whalley) loses an arm in a car accident and must endure grueling effort to learn how to play again, and lead guitarist Steve Clark (Karl Geary) struggles with alcoholism as he bounces in and out of rehab centers. Through all the tribulations and excess, however, the band sticks together like brothers and fights to keep rocking as a unit. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Several stalwarts of the New York independent film scene make appearances in this tale of a creatively frustrated photographer and his search through the streets of Manhattan for ten mysterious snapshots which may hold the key to continued success. The film opens as Max (Reg Rogers), a former wunderkind in the city's art scene, awaits his eagerly-anticipated follow-up show. Although it's been a year since his big splash, Max has nothing to show for himself -- the pressure of his success has left him creatively stunted. His luck changes, however, when an enigmatic barfly shares a beer and some conversation with Max at a bowery-area watering hole. On the bar, the man leaves behind an envelope with ten stunning photographs. Hoping to pass them off as his own, Max leaves, elated -- only to have his artistic gift nabbed by muggers. Our hero spends the rest of the evening on a goose chase through the armpits of the city, encountering lovable misfits at every turn. Writer-director Jeremy Stein populates his debut feature with a wide array of notable N.Y.C. character actors, including John Heard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tom Noonan. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

This tech-world biopic traces the fortunes of personal-computer companies Apple and Microsoft from their obscure dorm-room and backyard origins to their very public battle for corporate supremacy. Writer/director Martyn Burke follows the parallel lives of Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) and Apple co-founders Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick) -- the former a crafty Harvard dropout, the latter a pair of hippies with jobs at Hewlett-Packard and a yen to sell miniature versions of corporate mainframes to small businesses and at-home enthusiasts. Much like the personal-computer industry itself, the action starts with Apple then gradually shifts to Microsoft. The former plot thread recounts how Jobs and Wozniak "borrowed" key concepts from a Xerox computer lab, eked out their success as countercultural businessmen, and finally fell out with one another over the pressure of success. The latter thread focuses on the way Gates learned from, then surpassed, the brains behind Apple and turned his company into the global powerhouse that it is today. Based on Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine's Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, the film actually focuses only on that book's final chapters. Produced for cable channel TNT, Pirates of Silicon Valley debuted June 18, 1999. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide