Gregory Prange Movies

Flush with success from writing the hit film Scream, Kevin Williamson created the teen drama Dawson's Creek for the fledgling WB network. The series was quickly embraced by a large teen following. A rating success from the outset, Dawson's Creek never earned much critical praise. However, spawning hit songs and film careers for the four lead performers, the show left an indelible mark on the pop culture of its time. In the course of five seasons, the show saw Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), Joey (Katie Holmes), Pacey (Joshua Jackson), and Jen (Michelle Williams) fall in and out of love with each other and with new additions to the gang. The show occasionally courted controversy by including an affair between Pacey and his high-school English teacher, and by showing television's first ever onscreen kiss between two gay teens, but the squeaky-clean image of the cast always managed to deflect any serious protests. Owing more than a little to the '70s series James at 15, Dawson's Creek may remain a Generation Y pop culture touchstone for a very long time. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The erotic thriller French Silk stars Susan Lucci as the owner of a very successful lingerie company. An influential television preacher who has spoken out against her and her company dies. The lead detective (Lee Horsley) into the death believes she is the number one suspect, but he also begins a sexual affair with her. Soon she begins to get him to act in ways that may be detrimental to his own investigation. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

When a family's boat is capsized by a school of whales, they are left adrift in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific Ocean in this true survival story. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

A mother is determined to keep her daughter from the seedy world of prostitution in this made-for-television movie. Jane Alexander stars as Peggy Ryan, a busy single mom who doesn't have much time for her daughter Charly (Roxanna Zal). Lacking guidance, Charly drifts from the wrong crowd into prostitution. Realizing what Charly has gotten herself into, Peggy refuses to accept this as her daughter's fate and sets out to get her back home. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Soap opera queen Susan Lucci stars as an orphan adopted by a mobster family who grows up to be a star attorney, but still dreams of getting revenge on the killers who murdered her parents. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

In this drama, the daughter of an Appalachian miner is determined to get revenge against the cruel mine owner who destroyed her family with his greed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In Armed and Dangerous, John Candy plays a cop who has been kicked off the force on a trumped up charge. Eugene Levy costars as a disbarred lawyer. The two outcasts take low-paying jobs as security officers at a company controlled by mob boss Robert Loggia. In their own stumblebum fashion, Candy and Levy uncover a smuggling operation masterminded by Loggia. Meg Ryan also shows up in an early leading role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This comedy makes fun of teen comedies as it chronicles a Midwestern town's feverish preparations for a big weekend party. Much of the story centers around the mad scramble for both youngsters and adults to find appropriate dates. The story was penned by Saturday Night Live alumni Al Franken and Tom Davis. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Ralph Maccio plays teenaged Billy Grier, the victim of a rare degenerative disease that speeds up the ageing process. With only a few months left on earth-if that-Billy wants to realize three goals. He wants to be reunited with his long-gone father; he wants to play sax in a jazz band; and he wants to know a woman, in the Biblical sense. The story isn't as touching as the producers hoped it would be, but Macchio's character makeup (courtesy of Emmy-winner Michael Westmore) is astonishing. Made for television, The Three Wishes of Billy Grier was originally telecast November 1, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this detective drama set in Hollywood, a private investigator uses logic to solve the murder of a famous mystery writer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Tony Bill is a happy single parent, blessed with a violin prodigy daughter (Ari Meyers). Enter Deborah Raffin, Bill's ex, who deserted husband and child 12 years earlier. Now a sophisticated world traveller, Raffin implores Bill to let her see her daughter. Running Out is the sort of TV movie with such "warmhearted" highlights as the 13-year-old daughter stealing a car in order to rush to the airport for a final embrace with her mother. Wallowing in syrup, Running Out was a singularly disappointing GE Theatre presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

By the admission of its own producers, the made-for-TV Marian Rose White was "extremely loosely based" on a true story. The real Marian Rose White was a 1930s teenager who suffered from a congenital visual defect. This led to her being misdiagnosed as "feebleminded," and locked away in a Sonoma, California institution. Despite the entreaties of sympathetic staffers, Marian was forced to undergo a legally mandated sterilization--which her widowed, impoverished mother readily agreed to. Thirty years passed before this terrible wrong was addressed and Marian was allowed to re-enter society. For the purposes of this film, those three decades were telescoped into four years. The result is a sincere (if somewhat rushed) "injustice of the week" TV effort. Katherine Ross is top-billed as a compassionate nurse, while Valerie Perrine is cast as Marian's unfeeling mother. Marian Rose White is brilliantly essayed by Nancy Cartwright, who is best known today as the voice of cartoon character Bart Simpson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi