Michael Harris Movies

His faith shaken following the murder of his cousin, Jeremy Jenkins sinks ever deeper into the abyss before finding love in the last place he ever imagined. When Jeremy turns his back on God, he finds that drugs pay the bills better than prayer. But the higher Jeremy rises through the New York underworld, the more his anger and resentment toward religion grows. Later, Jeremy reconnects with his high school sweetheart, and begins to question whether he's make the right decisions in life. Perhaps with a little help from the one girl he trusts, Jeremy can finally find the strength to come back to God. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Directed and co-written by Scott Saunders, The Technical Writer stars Tatum O'Neal as Slim, one of the tenants residing in a glamorous Manhattan apartment complex. Along with Joe (William Forsythe), her husband, Slim is determined to introduce the reclusive Jessop (Michael Harris) into her social circuit, which often involves swinging sex parties. Though Jessop isn't tempted, Slim, after having made a bet with her husband, continues to interrupt his isolated existence, and eventually succeeds in seducing the middle-aged loner out of his agoraphobia and into her bed. Once Jessop is hooked, however, Slim distances herself from him. The Technical Writer also features Pamela Gordon and Oksana Lada. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Although the popular science fiction series Babylon 5 had officially run its course, one final two-hour episode was deemed necessary to segue into the spinoff series Crusade. Thus, on January 3, 1999, the TNT Network offered the world premiere of Babylon 5: A Call to Arms. The year is 2266: After several years' development, the first destroyer prototypes based on the White Stars (proposed by B5 crew member Delenn in the fifth-season episode "Movements of Fire and Shadow") have been completed. While inspecting the results, Alliance President Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner) experences disturbing visions of a future Apocalypse -- and of a doomsaying stranger named Galen. Sheridan's visions seem poised to become reality when the Drakh, the dreaded allies of the defeated Shadows, mount a counteroffensive against humanity. It is up to a new team of space warriors, manning the twin battlecruisers "Excalibur" and "Victory," to prevent Galen's predictions from coming true. Babylon 5: A Call to Arms was written by J. Michael Straczynski, and later novelized by Robert Sheckley. As for Crusade, that oft-postponed series finally debuted on June 9, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A loosely connected group of friends, lovers, and relatives interact in the midst of a brutal heat wave in this independent comedy-drama. Ray (Bob McGrath), a New Yorker in his early 40s, works as a "headhunter," employed to recruit valuable employees from other firms. While Ray has a white collar job, he doesn't take it very seriously and isn't encouraged to; he shows up in a T-shirt and shorts, leaves early to hang out in the park, and gets paid under the counter in cash, preferring to keep his savings in his dresser drawer rather than open a bank account. Ray is newly married to Teresa (Isabel Robayo), a Colombian immigrant who speaks practically no English and makes a living doing phone-sex calls out of the Lower East Side apartment that she and Ray share. Ray's sister Linda (Elizabeth Schofield), a bit younger and more serious than her brother and smarting from recent problems with her marriage, is paying her brother a visit on a vacation from her home in California. During her stay in New York, Linda becomes involved with Harlan (Michael Harris), an addict who introduces her to heroin, his drug of choice, while Teresa, frustrated by her inability to communicate with Ray, begins an affair with Luis (Roberto de la Pena), who is only interested in her money. Ray, on the other hand, has to deal with a mugging and a baffling illness while trying to salvage what's left of his marriage. Shot and edited on Betacam video and later transferred to film, The Headhunter's Sister won honors at the Seattle Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards in 1997. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Paramedics Shep (Ron Eldard) and Raul (Carlos Gomez) respond to a call from the projects, where an abandoned row house yields 22 youngsters suffering from malnutrition. Though his actions in this crisis are compassionate, Shep nonetheless makes a careless remark which Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Malik (Deezer D) regard as racist. Benton has other problems in the form of Jeanie (Gloria Reuben), whose husband, Al (Michael Beach), wants a reconciliation. In other developments, Greene (Anthony Edwards) is served with divorce papers while on the job; and Carter (Noah Wyle) tests out a risky surgical procedure on the terminally ill wife of octogenarian Mr. Rubadoux (Red Buttons). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This sci-fi thriller takes the Frankenstein story a few steps further and sets it in the near future. Using a variety of human body parts, a scientist (Rutger Hauer) creates Lazarus, a young man (Will Wheaton) with superior mental and physical capabilities. Poor Lazarus would be perfect but for the terrible nightmares that plague him. He does not know of his gruesome origins and so goes to a psychiatrist for answers. But for Lazarus, learning the whole truth may be a dangerous endeavor, not only for him, but for the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Suture, Scott McGehee and David Siegel's self-conscious exploration of identity and individuality, evokes a flashy remake of Edward D. Wood Jr.'s Jail Bait. Dennis Haysbert and Michael Harris play half-brothers Clay and Vincent Towers. Clay travels to Phoenix to meet with Vincent, whom he hasn't seen in years. Upon seeing one another, they are amazed at their resemblance to each other. Clay remarks, "Isn't it remarkable how much we look alike?" The problem is they look nothing alike: Clay is a black man who could pass for a Dallas Cowboys linebacker, while Vincent resembles Ralph Nader. Nevertheless, after their reunion, the characters in the film have trouble distinguishing between the two, which is good for Vincent. Responsible for a murder, Vincent decides to fake his own death by substituting Clay for himself -- since no one will notice the old switcheroo. Vincent arranges for Clay's body to be discovered in the aftermath of an automobile explosion. Then Vincent can flee and start a new life. Unfortunately for Vincent, Clay survives the accident. Swaddled in bandages and ointments, Clay is attended to by the beautiful Renee Descartes (Mel Harris), a plastic surgeon who busily reconstructs his face. At the same time, his psychiatrist Dr. Max Shimono (Sab Shimono) tries to reconstruct his memories. Before the healing process ends, Vincent tries to get to Clay and make sure that this time he really dies. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

A radio dee-jay gets targeted by a crazed killer in this made-for-television thriller. Gregory Hines stars as Mark Jannek, a late-night disc-jockey who is being harassed by an anonymous killer on the telephone. The killer thinks that Shepard knows too much and decides to threaten both the dee-jay and an innocent college student (Debrah Farentino) into silence. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

While en route to the planet Lyaar, Picard crash-lands on an all but deserted planet. Here he is rescued by beautiful castaway Anna (Barbara Williams), who falls desperately in love with him. Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, barbaric Lyaaran ambassador Byleth (Michael Harris) tries to goad Worf into violence. First telecast October 2, 1993, "Liasons" was scripted by Jeanne Carrigan Fauci and Lisa Rich from a story by Roger Eschbacher and Jac Greenspon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Paul Mazursky directed this comedy, which blends a broad satire of the film industry with a thoughtful tale of a middle-aged man looking back on his life's failures. Harry Stone (Danny Aiello) is a film director who desperately needs a hit -- so desperately that he gets talked into directing an inane sci-fi film about a group of farm kids (led by Ally Sheedy) who grow an enormous pickle that they turn into a spaceship, allowing them to visit the planet Cleveland (ruled by Little Richard and his right hand man, Griffin Dunne) where everyone eats nothing but meat. Convinced that the film will flop, Harry is in a state of panic as he returns to New York with his Parisian girlfriend Francoise (Clotilde Courau), a mere 20 years his junior, and visits his ex-wife Ellen (Dyan Cannon); his mother Yetta (Shelley Winters); and his son Gregory (Chris Penn). Meanwhile Harry flashes back on his childhood and the film he could have made of it, and pitches his dream film (a historical epic about the life of Montezuma) to studio executives, who instead want him to make a movie kids can relate to. The Pickle was filmed in 1991, but only received a token theatrical release two years later. Actually, the sci-fi story with Little Richard as the undisputed ruler of Cleveland looks like it might have been an ideal vehicle for Edward D. Wood Jr.. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi