Ismael Carlo Movies

William Dear (Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann) helms the period baseball drama The Perfect Game, a cinematization of real-life events that transpired in 1957. Clifton Collins Jr. stars as Cesar Faz, a 1950s baseball player who immigrated from Mexico to the U.S. with the intent of making it as a Major League player. After encountering racism and hostility that stand squarely in the way of his success, Faz high-tails it south of the border and decides instead to coach a Little League team, ultimately guiding it all the way to the Little League World Series. The film co-stars Emilie de Ravin (Lost); W. William Winokur authored the script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A girl poised on the brink of adolescence finds herself shouldering a whole new set of responsibilities in this made-for-TV drama based on the autobiographical book by Esmeralda Santiago. In 1961, Mami Santiago (Wanda De Jesus) decides to leave her life in a Puerto Rican farming community behind and move herself and her six children to New York City in search of a better life -- and better medical care for her ailing son. Mami's oldest daughter, Esmerelda (Ana Maria Lagasca) -- Negi for short -- not only has trouble adapting to her new environment, but doesn't quite fit in at her new school, where she's lumped in with other Spanish speaking students with whom she shares no common culture. Negi's burden is intensified by the fact her mother and siblings are counting on her to learn English and serve as the family's interpreter. One of Negi's teachers senses her creative gifts and arranges for her to audition for the Performing Arts School in Manhattan, but as Negi struggles to learn a monologue in a new language she has yet to master, she isn't sure if she has what it takes to make the grade. Esmeralda Santiago penned the screenplay for Almost A Woman from her own memoir; the film was first broadcast as part of the award-winning PBS anthology series Masterpiece Theater. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Returning to his home town after the death of the grandfather who raised him, slick and cynical Wall Street trader Will Martin (Neil Patrick Harris) feels decidedly out of place, and not at all in tune with the Christmas preparations being made by the local citizenry. But Will isn't really taking a sentimental journey at all: He's merely in town to modernize and streamline his family's real-estate company. While going through his grandfather's effects, Will and his grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) come across the old man's diary--which reveals a lengthy relationship with a woman named Lillian. Determined to locate this mystery mistress (if indeed that's who Lillian is), Will learns a few vital lessons about love, forgiveness, and recapturing the Yuletide spirit that has so long eluded him. Adapted from a novel by Richard Siddoway, the made-for-TV The Christmas Wish premiered December 6, 1998, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Top-notch action sequences and exciting stunt work highlight this fast-moving thriller. John Kruger (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a top agent in the U.S. Marshalls' Witness Protection Program; it's his job to "erase" the pasts of Federal witnesses under his watch and deal with anyone who tries to hurt them. Kruger's latest assignment is to protect Lee Cullen (Vanessa Williams), who while working for a major weapons manufacturing firm discovered evidence that the company was selling new, high-tech weapons to intentional terrorists groups with the cooperation of a faction of enemy agents within the United States government. However, when Kruger discovers that the Witness Protection Program has a rat in the house -- and that rat is his boss, U.S. Marshall Robert Deguerin (James Caan) -- Kruger has to guard his own life while trying to protect Lee's. The supporting cast is highlighted by James Coburn, Robert Pastorelli, and James Cromwell. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A much-hated slumlord who has long been victimizing the denizens of his racially mixed neighborhood heads to the local church to seek absolution from the priest--who happens to also be the slumlord's son. The sinner subsequent dies, and it is determined that a poison spray was the murder weapon. As luck would have it, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is teaching a course on mystery writing in the selfsame church...and she has just finished discussing the various and sundry uses of poison! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this futuristic action drama directed by Lewis Teague, Frank Warren (Rutger Hauer) is a man accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of gems. In prison, all the inmates wear collars which are electronically joined to those of an unknown partner. The collars will explode if either partner gets more than 300 feet away from the other. Warren is determined to escape, however, and finds that his partner is Tracy Riggs (Mimi Rogers). They plan and execute an elaborate escape and head off to search for the stolen diamonds. But members of Warren's former gang pursue them. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Working undercover, Metro officer Jake Janowitz (Beau Starr) witnesses the murder of a Treasury agent. Hunter (Fred Dryer) becomes curious over the fact that Janowitz has not only turned in a confused and muddled report of the incident, but he has also filed the report way past the required due date. Even more puzzling is Janowitz's attitude since the killing: he seems not to care at all whether he lives or dies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this sequel to the previous season's "Rape and Revenge", Carlos Mariano (George DeLoy), brother of the murderous Curuguayan envoy who sexually assaulted McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) and beat the rap by invoking "diplomatic immunity", arrives in LA. Mariano's mission is to get even with Hunter (Fred Dryer) for tracking down and killing his brother--and once again, he is shielded from prosecution and arrest thanks to the diplomatic-immunity card. Ultimately, Mariano outsmarts himself when he orders two thugs who don't have any immunity to kidnap and torture Hunter, thereby allowing McCall and Devane (Charles Hallahan) to cut through the bureaucratic red tape in order to rescue our hero--whose time is quickly running out! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The A-Team gets the opportunity to officially represent Law and Order when they're deputized to keep the peace in Rivertown, a small village in the South American republic of San Marcus. The village, built to house the workers from a local power plant, has been plagued by mysterious accidents in which several workers have vanished. Among those missing is the brother of Nikki Monroe (Wendy Kilbourne), who is conducting her own investigation--and placing herself in serious jeopardy as a result. The climax involves a secret missile base and a spectacular mine cave-in, not to mention the muscular heroics of good old B.A. (Mr. T). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The A-Team surfaces in Los Angeles to take on a corrupt police S.W.A.T. unit which hires itself out for private assassinations. Though Hannibal (George Peppard) and company are as usual resourceful, they find themselves up against a crack squad of well-trained villains armed with powerful magnums--who always manage to be one step ahead of the "good guys." Adding to the dilemma is the plight of Ed Maloney (Norman Alden), the clean cop who has blown the whistle on the S.W.A.T. men, thereby placing his family in direst peril. Jack Ging, who later became an A-Team regular in the role of General Harlan Fulbright, is here cast as sadistic S.W.A.T. leader Captain Stark. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Arthur Hailey's novel Hotel had already served as the inspiration for a 1967 theatrical film when this TV pilot came along on September 21, 1983. Bette Davis stars as Laura Trent, the entrenched owner of the Hotel St. Gregory (moved from the novel's New Orleans to San Francisco, to allow for location filming at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel). In true Love Boat fashion, Ms. Trent and hotel manager Peter McDermott (James Brolin) oversee four separate plot strands. A hooker (Morgan Fairchild) is raped in the hotel by a bunch of preppies who'd hired her for "just talk". A neurotic aspiring singer (Erin Moran) tries to interrupt the act of the hotel's lounge entertainer Mel Torme (himself). A very-married lady (Shirley Jones) checks in to conduct an illicit affair. And a feisty young woman (Connie Sellecca, a regular on the subsequent series) shows up unhired as McDermott's assistant manager. The Hotel series ran from 1983 to 1988, during which time an ailing Bette Davis was replaced by Anne Baxter; in the early 1990s, reruns of the series popped up rather incongruously on cable's E! Entertainment Network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi