Ae-Al
Go to Bottom
Sample: Title; rating; principal setting; year
of release; international co-producer (if any); cast; description; scriptwriter;
director; content warning; running time.
AFRICAN JOURNEY (TV Limited Series) *
* * 1/2 setting: other
(1990) (/New Zealand) Jason Blicker, Alan Jordan,
Pedziasi Sithole, Eldinah Tshatedi, Jesese Mungoshi.....Story of a
Canadian teen (Blicker) arriving in Africa to visit his father, and of
his friendship with an African teen (Sithole). Family drama had a weak
opening episode, but was generally well-done and engaging, benefitting
from on-location filming and intelligent cultural exploration. Filmed in
Zimbabwe. Though an official Canada-New Zealand co-production, it had backing
from a number of countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Holland,
Finland, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany and
Sweden. Six half-hour episodes, written by different writers, but all episodes
were directed by George Bloomfield. From an idea by Jean Tetrault.
AFRICAN SKIES (TV Series)So-so TV series benefitted a lot from the exotic locale and James' performance, but the adult actors left much to be desired. Created by Phil Savath, Larry Mollin. Filmed in South Africa. Half-hour episodes on the Family Channel. |
AFTER THE HARVEST *
*
(2001) Sam Shepard, Nadia Litz, Alberta Watson, Liane
Balaban, Evan Sabba, Shawn Mathieson.....In the 1920s, a young school
teacher (Balaban) enters the lives of a farming family, ruled over by a
seeming personable, but controlling and cruel patriarch (American import
Shepard). Made-for-CTV drama is a dark and dreary prairie Gothic. However
dreary is one thing, plodding is something else, and that's what this is.
There's little in the way of depth or undercurrents to the performances,
so that when things actually occur in the later half, they seem to happen
more because the story dictated it, rather than the characters justified
it. There are no car chases or explosions, as no doubt the filmmakers would
smugly brag, but then all that leaves is the characters and their actions...and
that's where the movie stumbles. Litz is memorable as the spunky, eldest
daughter. When first aired, it was billed as being based on a "Canadian
classic"...but not so much a classic, apparently, that a name change wasn't
felt to be in order! sc: Suzette Couture (from the novel, The Wild Geese
by Martha Ostenso). dir: Jeremy Podeswa. 94 min.
AGE-OLD FRIENDS *
* 1/2 setting: USA.
(1989) (/U.S.) Hume Cronyn, Vincent Gardenia, Tandy
Cronyn, Michele Scarabelli, Esthe Rolle, Barry Flatman, Murray Westgate.....Story
of cynical, hides-behind-his-acid-tongue old man (Cronyn) in a retirement
home, and his best friend (Gardenia) who's in better shape physically,
but worries he's developing Alzheimers disease. Made-for-TV drama is basically
what you expect it to be, which means it's not bad, but doesn't really
offer many surprises either. Wears its stage origins a little too mustily,
with some contrived dialogue and characters talking to themselves. Gets
better as it goes along. Though why are old people in movies always portrayed
as foul-mouthed? sc: Bob Larbey (from his play, A Month of Sundays). dir:
Allan Kroeker. app. 90 min.
AGENCY *
* setting: USA.
(1979) Lee Majors, Robert Mitchum, Valerie Perrine,
Alexandra Stewart, Saul Rubinek, George Touliatos, Gary Reineke, Michael
Kirby.....U.S. advertising executive (Majors) becomes suspicious of
his new boss (Mitchum) when shake-ups occur at the company and a friend
dies mysteriously. Slow suspense-drama works better if you're tuned into
its light-hearted, almost-British sensibilities, though Perrine is miscast
and Mitchum just sleep-walks. Nicely over-the-top music by Lewis Furey
-- even if it does sound like his score foor The
Rubber Gun. sc: Noel Hynd (from the novel by Paul Gottlieb). dir: George
Kaczender. 94 min.
AGENT OF INFLUENCE *
* 1/2 setting: CDN./other
(2003) Christopher Plummer, Marina Orsini, Ted Whittall,
Shaun Johnston, Kurtis Sanheim, Alain Goulem, Terry Lawrence, Paul Coeur,
Gregory Hlady, Cas Anvar.....In 1964, Canadian diplomat John Watkins
(Plummer) is interrogated by R.C.M.P. officers over American C.I.A. allegations
that he's a Soviet double agent...but one initially hard-nosed Mountie
(Orsini) begins to suspect they're being played as dupes by the C.I.A.
"Inspired" by fact -- Watkins and his interrogation was real, but much
of the film is supposition, or told with dramatic license (like implying
Watkins was just returning from being Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. when he
actually held that post 10 years earlier, or having Orsini as an R.C.M.P.
Inspector at a time when there were no female R.C.M.P. Inspectors!). This
made-for-CTV movie aired, coincidentally, at an unusually pertinent time.
With Canada's refusal to support the U.S. in its war on Iraq and the U.S.
government's bullying rhetoric toward Ottawa, a movie about sinister Americans
dictating Canadian security matters seems oddly propitious. As a movie,
the film is well intentioned and moderately interesting. But it can't shake
a certain made-for-TV tinny-ness, having trouble generating the murky mood
of Cold War paranoia, and with even heavyweight talents like Plummer and
Orsini doing competent work, but nothing more. Canadian movies are so rarely
political, that one can admire the nerve of this film, but it's almost
overly didactic and jingoistic, the characters not so much talking as pontificating,
its very lack of subtlety hurting its ability to make its point. Similar
material was covered in the wholly fictional CBC movie, External
Affairs -- though with a different emphasis, focusing less on international
politics and more on social mores. Whittall received the Gemini for Best
Supporting Actor playing the sinister C.I.A. agent. sc: Ian Adams, John
Riley Adams (from Ian Adams' book). dir: Michel Poulette. 91 min.
Aguguk, the famous novel by Yves Theriault, was turned into a big-budget English-language movie under the title Shadow of the Wolf, though its French-version title remained Aguguk.
"Air Raid", a short story by John Varley, was expanded to become the movie Millennium
AIR-BUD *
* * 1/2 setting: USA.
(1997) (/U.S.) Michael Jeter, Kevin Zegers, Wendy
Makkena, Bill Cobbs, Brendan Fletcher, Norman Browning, Eric Christmas,
Stephen E. Miller, Jay Brazeau.....Withdrawn American boy (Zegers)
is befriended by a stray dog with a talent for basketball, and the boy
eventually tries out for the school team...with the dog not far behind.
The synopsis doesn't entirely capture this, in some ways, surprisingly
complex family comedy-drama (I left out Jeter as the dog's sinister original
owner, or Cobbs as the school custodian...who used to be a basketball star).
At times almost embarrassingly cliched, at other times clever and original
(and silly and flamboyant), it's a bit leisurely-paced, but overall, an
entertaining flick...even expressing some decent "values" along the way.
The dog, both as an "actor" and as a basketball player, is amazing, and
was trained by Kevin DiCicco, who appears as the (thinner) referee. How
"Canadian" this film was, given that many of the people behind and in front
of the camera (actors Jeter, Makkena and Cobbs) weren't, is hard to say,
but it picked up the Golden Reel award for most successful Canadian movie
of its year and spawned a series of sequels. sc: Paul Tamasy, Aaron Mendelsohn.
dir: Charles Martin Smith. 97 min.
AIRWAVES (TV Series)Innocuous TV series, not quite drama, not quite comedy, was squarely aimed at those who feel most television shows are foul-minded tripe. Not terrible, but broadly played. Created by John Frizzell and Janice L. Platt, Michael MacMillan, Seaton McLean. Filmed in Toronto. Two seasons of half-hour episodes (approximately 25) originally on the CBC, but subsequently rerun on TVO and Showcase. |
a.k.a. ALBERT WALKER *
* * setting: other
(2002) (/U.K.) John Gordon-Sinclair, Alan Scarfe,
Sarah Manninen, Lesley Dunlop, John Benfield, Paul Copely.....An unassuming
British police detective (Gordon-Sinclair) investigates a drowning murder
that leads him to a sinister con artist (Scarfe). Inspired by the case
that was heavily covered in Canada (due to its Canadian connection), this
TV movie has been somewhat fictionalized: the hero, the lovably rumbled
detective, is a fabrication...but he takes up most of the screen time,
leading one to wonder how the case was really investigated. Taken
as fiction, the film is an entertainingly laid back, wryly amusing detective
story, well acted and craftfully put together, though the last act manhunt
tends to drag. Probably benefits the less you're familiar with the case,
as the fun is watching the initially straight forward case unfold and the
unexpected twists and bizarre revelations that ensue. However, taken as
docudrama, it can be seen as in bad taste, exploiting and trivializing
a real case in which real people suffered and, in one case, really died
by turning it into a quirky romp. Largely a British production, with the
only Canadians in the cast being Scarfe and Manninen. An indication of
how clearly the BBC viewed the film as basically fiction was the fact that
Gordon-Sinclair's character will be spun off into his own weekly series.
a.k.a. The Many Lives of Albert Walker. sc: Philip Palmer (inspired
by the book Nothing Sacred by Alan Cairns). dir: Harry Hook. 90
min.
Albert see Short films
ALEGRIA *
1/2
(1997) (/France/Netherlands) Rene Bazinet, Frank Langella,
Mako, Julie Cox, Clipper Miano, Heathcote Williams, Brian Dewhurst.....Story
of a (talking) mime (Bazinet) who fals in love with a beautiful circus
performer (Cox) to the disapproval of her ring master father (Langella),
told from the P.O.V. of the mime's street kid friend (Miano) who has his
own problems with a sinister Faggin-like figure (Williams). Surrealistic
fairy tale, made in association with the famed Canadian circus troupe,
Cirque
de soleil, and based on one of their routines. Unfortunately, there's
not enough realistic plot or characterization to make a story, nor enough
of the circus performances to just make a piece of dreamlike theatre. Threatens
to work in spots, particularly in the scenes with American actor Langella,
but ultimately...not. American actor Mako plays the narrator...but his
voice is dubbed by Chuck Shamata (probably the only Canadian actor in the
cast)! What's the point in that? sc: Rudy Barichello (from the performance
piece). dir: Franco Dragone. 90 min.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS (TV Series)In the U.S. an attempt was made to resurrect the old show. When that failed, Canadians picked up the rights (for a similar tale, check out the entry under The Twilight Zone). Slight TV series often eschewed genuine suspense in favour of a broad, tongue-in-cheek style and often outlandish twist endings. The stories were set in the U.S. and starred the usual American not-quite-stars. Somewhat clunky, it had its moments -- though not too many. Best bets: the comic "Romance Machine", a science fiction episode about a man who builds a robot-Romeo of himself. One season of half hour episodes, originally aired on Global and subsequently re-run on Showcase and Space. |
ALIAS WILL JAMES *
* setting: CDN./USA
(1988).....This documentary is only partly about
James, the American cowboy/novelist/painter who was actually Ernest DuFault,
a French-Canadian; the rest is a look at modern rodeo life. Depending on
your point of view, this is either a so-so film about modern cowboys, or
a disappointing, poorly chronicled biography of James. The film's subtext
of cultural assimilation (both James and his modern counterparts hid their
French-Canadianness) is interesting, but it seems to really bug the filmmaker,
giving the film a condescending, even hostile attitude toward its subjects.
sc./dir: Jacques Godbout. 83 min.
ALICE'S ODYSSEY seeL'Odyssee d'Alice Tremblay
ALIEN THUNDER *
* setting: Alt.
(1973) Donald Sutherland, Gordon Tootoosis, Chief
Dan George, Kevin McCarthy, Jean Duceppe, Francine Racette.....In the
1890s, a Mountie (Sutherland) becomes obsessed with bringing in Almighty
Voice (Tootoosis, in his film debut), the Cree Indian who killed his partner
(imported McCarthy). Good atmosphere in this historical drama, but uneven
and not very coherent. Sutherland has since named this film as the worst
of his career (a bit of an overstatement given some of his movies, but
he may have meant the process of making it more than the end result). Inspired
by a true story. a.k.a. Dan Candy's Law. sc: George Maleo (alias
W.O. Mitchell). dir: Claude Fournier. 90 min.
ALIEN TRACKER
Movie edited together from a couple of episodes of the
TV series Tracker.
|
(2003-2005) * * Sarah-Jane Redmond ("Sarah Blundell"), Jonathon Whittaker ("Roger"), Iris Graham ("Isabelle"), Andrew Robb ("Cameron"), Campbell Lane ("George Crickmore"), with Linda Darlow ("Roxann").....Sitcom revolving around the phenomenon of Alien Abduction Scenario -- with a suburban, somewhat dysfunctional family who finds itself the subject of alien experiments. Redmond and Whittaker play the parents, Graham and Robb the teenage kids (with the former concealing her secret lesbianism), Lane the crotchety granddad. Darlow plays a neighbour who begins an affair with Lane. Members are frequently kidnapped (disappearing for hours) and return with alterations (the aliens, seemingly interested in reproduction experiments, increase the libido of the males, etc.) In fact, the implication is that it's more than just a story-of-the-week affair, and that there may be a story arc of sorts being developed. This show takes its low budget and runs with it, by doing a series meant to emulate, in a sense, the spat of "reality" series on the air -- filmed cheaply on video with lots of hand held cameras. The aliens themselves are never depicted, and special effects are restricted to occasional bright lights. This TV series deserves points for its, admittedly, off beat premise. But ultimately, it just ain't that funny -- even allowing for the fact that the humour is often supposed to be deadpan and understated as the actors play it straight-faced. The actors are certainly O.K. -- with Whittaker and Robb coming across the most natural. Although if the point is to truly evoke a mock-umentary, the series never achieves that level of realism. One can get a sense of a sub-text (the dysfunctional characters are already alienated from each other, with the alien experiments only exacerbating things) but, again, appreciating the effort isn't the same as enjoying the result. Intentionally vulgar at times, with lots of sex references, and profanity (that's "bleeped" out) and even nudity (likewise, pixalated out) -- whether that's the point, or whether there's actually an R-rated version of the show floating about, I don't know. Ultimately, it's a series that seems more than a little inspired by -- or at least, given the production green light by -- the cult success of Trailer Park Boys (another low-budget deadpan sitcom with an R-rated sensibility). Created by Mark Sawers, who also wrote and directed most episodes. Two seasons of half-hour episodes, totalling about 22, shown in Canada on Space, The Imagination Station. |
ALINE *
* setting: P.Q.
(1992) (/Belgium) Philippe Volter, Veronie Quinn Chasle,
Dominique Leduc, Rodrigue Proteau, Stephane Desormiers.....While on
vacation, a devil-may-care man and his daughter (Volter and Chasle) become
involved with a beautiful woman (Leduc) and her junkie ex-boyfriend. Well-acted
drama has good dialogue and direction, but the muddled story never manages
to build up any dramatic steam. In French. sc./dir: Carole Laganiere. -
brief female nudity.- 86 min.
ALL AROUND THE TOWN *
* 1/2 setting: USA.
(2002) (/U.K./France/Germany) Nastassja Kinski, Tobias
Moretti, Kim Schraner, Andrea Roth, Michael Shanks, Ron Lea, Kevin Jubinville,
Ellen Dubin.....Young American woman (Schraner), suffering from psychological
scars after having being kidnapped as a child, is implicated in a murder,
and even she, her District Attorney sister (Roth) and her psychiatrist
(Shanks), aren't sure if she did it or not; meanwhile, the couple who once
kidnapped her (Moretti and Dubin) are hovering about, pursuing their own
agenda. Kinski has a decent-sized part, but not the lead role her top billing
implies. O.K. made-for-TV suspense-mystery has solid performances and a
decidedly multi-layered plot. But it could've been a brooding psychological
thriller, and instead has all the finesse of an old "Murder, She Wrote"
episode. A couple of revelation scenes aren't milked as well as they might
be, and there are a few plot holes, but it maintains a modest level of
interest throughout, with a nice twist about fifteen minutes into it. Schraner
does good in the "splashy" part, but ironically it's Lea who's the stand
out as an investigator looking into the case; maybe it's precisely because
his part could've been just a walk through that one can appreciate
the texture he brings to it. Kinski and Moretti are imports. One of a legion
of Canadian made movies based on American novelist Mary
Higgins Clark's work. a.k.a. Mary Higgins Clark's All Around the
Town. sc: Peter Mohan (from a novel by Mary Higgins Clark). dir: Paolo
Barzman. 93 min.
ALL FOR ONE (TV Limited Series)
*
* * setting: other
(1990) (/New Zealand) Paikea Skold, Lottie Irvine,
Frank Whitten, Stephanie Millar, Nathaniel Lees, Jeremy Reagan, Chris Whaanga,
Moana Schwalger, Louise Nicholas.....Misadventures of a group of misfit
kids in New Zealand who first form a co-ed soccer team, then try to put
on a play. Millar is the helpful teacher, Lees a professional soccer player
(who becomes her husband), and Whitten the conniving teacher continually
trying to undermine the kids' efforts. Amusing, entertaining family show
is actually two stories: the first four episodes cover the soccer team
storyline, the last four the play. Barbara Gordon and Phillip Jarrett,
the only Canadian elements, play the mother and new stepfather of Irvine's
character. 8 half-hour episodes. sc: Ken Catran (from the novels
The
Worst Soccer Team Ever and Break a Leg by William Taylor). dir:
Lex Van Os.
ALL THE FINE LINES a.k.a. Full Disclosure
Allan Quatermain, the novel by H. Rider Haggard, and its famous fictional hero, served, in part, as the source for the film King Solomon's Treasure
THE ALLEY CAT see Le Matou
ALLIGATOR SHOES *
1/2 setting: Ont.
(1981) Garry Borris, Ronalda Jones, Clay Borris, Rose
Maltais-Borris, Len Perry.....Story of working-class hustler (G. Borris),
his more level-headed brother (C. Borris) and their young, schizophrenic
aunt (Jones). O.K. story in this serio-comic pic, but the mainly amateurish
performances hurt it too much. Jones is O.K., though. sc./dir: Clay Borris.
98 min.
ALMOST AMERICA
* * 1/2 setting: Alt./other
(2001) (/Italy) Sabrina Ferilli, Henry Czerny, Massimo
Ghini, Dominic Zamprogna, Gioia Spaziani, Cosmio Bani, Veronica Niccolai,
Tony Nardi, Frank Crudele.....Trials and tribulations of a strong-willed
Italian woman (Ferilli) who moves her family to Edmonton, Canada in the
1950s to be with her husband (Nardi)...only to find he's created a new
life for himself and she and her kids are on their own. Sprawling drama
is a bit long and mayhap more workmanlike at times than truly inspired,
but certainly O.K. Ghini is particularly effective as the charming Mario,
though prominently billed Czerny has a relatively small part as a doctor.
The first half is mainly in Italian (with sub-titles) -- even from the
Canadian actors like Nardi -- though, ironically, becomes a little harder
to follow when it later switches over to mainly English because Ferilli
and Ghini's accents are pretty strong. Odd title seems to just be part
of the mindset that says any American reference is good for the box office
-- it's not like the characters had intendded to emigrate to America or
even refer to America. A Canadian-Italian co-production, it seems more
Italian-driven: it's actually (sort of) anti-Canadian, at least in the
sense that the implication is the characters would've been happier staying
in Italy, and there are a few technical lapses (would red-suited Mounties
really escort prisoners in juvenile court?). sc: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano
Rulli. dir: Andrea Frazzi, Antonio Frazzi. 132 min.
Altered Ego * *
setting: Ont.
(1991) Peg Christopherson, Peter Spence, Chapelle
Jaffe.....A new author (Christopherson) finds herself being forced
to adopt the identity of her pseudonym by her editor (Jaffe) and her public.
Slight, low-key hour long comedy never really grabs on. sc: ... dir: Maureen
Judge.
Go to Top