Taking riffs from Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, here we have Paul Giamatti playing a fictional version of himself, an actor who has become so encumbered by the roles he has performed that he has his soul extracted. Unfortunately the soul business is connected to unscrupulous Russians and when Paul wants his soul back, it’s next to impossible to find. While having some of the humor of those other films, this is quite a bit darker and has little of the frivolity. The acting is splendid and includes David Strathairn as a soul-releasing doctor.

Based on a true story, Phoebe Cates is the title character, a young woman who is found wandering in a field in 1800s England and is thought to be an exotic princess. Local aristocrats take to her as if she were a rock star and it all is incredibly far-fetched. It’s fun watching the rich snobs copy the costumes and mannerisms of the princess. Despite any shortcomings the story may have (it’s entertaining but a bit slow), Cates is fantastic in the role. The vast majority of her scenes require her to speak gibberish, feign misunderstanding of those around her, and emoting everything else.

I’m glad I watched this film as I had never heard of the Deacons, an all-Black self-defense group formed during the days of the Civil Rights Movement. In this TV movie inspired by the real life Deacons, Forest Whitaker is a father and factory worker who is content not to make waves with regards to the white leadership at his factory and in his town until he witnesses a co-worker being brutalized for deigning to try to for something better and his daughter is terrorized for protesting. Finally enough is enough and the Deacons are formed with Forest as one of their leaders. This makes a nice companion piece to Bill Duke’s earlier TV film The Killing Floor. It seems that these are the stories that some are trying to suppress, keeping people from learning the complexities of the United States in all its failures, promises, and potential.

Sometimes I poke at myself for continually adding every little film that intrigues me to my grand To Watch list, but other times I’m grateful because I end up watching lesser known gems such as this one. Hong Chau is a single mother who has temporarily moved into her recently deceased sister’s home to prepare it for sale. Brian Dennehy is the next-door neighbor who bonds with her young son. This is such a complex portrayal of different ages and life experiences, particularly when dealing with death, that it feels as if it fully encompasses every stage of life itself. The acting is excellent and it really is a beautiful little film.

In this made for television movie, Kellie Martin wants to be rich and popular like Tori Spelling, trying her darnedest to make it happen. Unfortunately Tori is kind of awful so it’s not a surprise that she is the cheerleader in the title. It’s the best quality you can expect from a TV movie based on a true story, which makes it trashy but entertaining. Oddly they made the murderer the most sympathetic character and the victim someone you’d hate. There’s also the added 1990s moral panic that the girl who dresses in black is bullied and also considered the prime suspect.