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Sample: Title; rating (out of 4); principal setting; year of release; international co-producer (if any); cast; description; scriptwriter; director; content warning; running time.
DECEPTION
* * setting: USA.
(2003) (/U.S.) Dina Meyer, Steve Bacic, Gary Hudson,
Anna Silk, Cary Lawrence, Mark Comacho.....Struggling American actress
(Meyer) works for a private eye (Hudson) acting as a temptress to get evidence
on cheating husbands; but she falls for one of her targets (Bacic) and
things become more complicated when she worries someone is trying to kill
her. Suspense-drama is slick enough, with a capable cast, and wants to
be one of those stories where it only gradually lays the foundation for
its plot...so that it's not just about whodunit -- but where is
all this headed? As such it's almost more a drama at times...without really
being that interesting a drama. Worse, it strains credibility throughout,
like having the heroine, who despises the cheating husbands she helps entrap,
falling for a cheating husband! And that's kind of at the very core of
the film! Though there are a couple of nude scenes, import Meyer remains
demurely clad even in love scenes (though Silk, as her roommate, dresses
more salaciously). A particularly stand-out piece of acting is, ironically,
when Meyer is supposed to be acting, doing a reading from a play.
a.k.a. Decoy. sc: Ed Silverstein. dir: Richard Roy. - partial female
nudity, sexual content.- 90 min.
LE DECLINE DE L'EMPIRE AMERICAIN
* * * setting: P.Q.
(1986) Dominique Michel, Dorothee Berryman, Louise
Portal, Genevieve Rioux, Pierre Curzi, Yves Jacques, Remy Girard, Daniel
Briere, Gabriel Arcand.....A group of intellectual friends spend a
day in assorted groups discussing sex, love, sex, relationships and sex.
This frank serio-comic pic takes a cynical and cerebral look at how men
and women view each other, and happiness itself. Well acted and perceptive
but ultimately...cold. Won eight Genies including Best Picture, Script,
Director, Supporting Actor (Arcand) and Supporting Actress (Portal).
Followed, 18 years later, by Les invasions barbares.
English title: The Decline of the American Empire. sc./dir:
Denys Arcand. - sexual content, male nudity and partial female nudity.-
101 min.
THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE see Le decline de l'empire americain
DECOY a.k.a. Deception
DECOYS *
setting: N.B.
(2003) Corey Sevier, Stefanie von Pfetten, Kim Poirier,
Elias Toufexis, Meghan Ory, Enis Esmer, Nicole Eggert, Richard Burgi.....University
student (Sevier) realizes a couple of pretty co-eds are actually alien
monsters and may be involved in a series of bizarre deaths around campus.
Astoundingly dreadful flick seems to want to be "Species" meets "Animal
House" and one suspects that's how it was sold to the financiers, by claiming
it had something for everyone (it's a comedy! it's a drama! it's sci-fi!
it's erotica! it's a frat house flick!) and the results aren't particularly
funny, or thrilling, and are downright incoherent (even what the hero seems
to think from scene to scene is unclear) with "boo" effects that are literally
thrown in with no justification (the hero just keeps imagining things).
Comparisons between this and TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" are not unlike
comparing "Plan 9 from Outer Space" to "Citizen Kane". Even the title makes
little sense! Toufexis, as the best friend (looking a little like a cherub-faced
Elijah Wood), and Poirier, as the alien trying to seduce him, actually
seem to put more into it than is required, and their scenes together can
almost make you forget how bad it all is! American imports Eggert and Burgi
play local cops. Still, it actually admits it's set in Canada, which is
rare for these flicks. If you're watching this for sexiness, what little
nudity there is is over and done with about eleven minutes into it. sc:
Matt Hastings, Tom Berry. dir: Matt Hastings. - extreme violence; sexual
content; partial female nudity.- 95 min.
DEEP SEA CONSPIRACY *
setting: N.S.
(1987) Patricia Talbot, Peter Snider, Michael J. Reynolds,
Tony Robinow, Bondfield Marcoux.....Marine biologist (Talbot) stumbles
across mysterious happenings, a not-so-deserted deserted wreck and an espionage
plot. Slow moving, almost silly suspenser plays like (bad) "Nancy
Drew" with a body count. sc: Michael Brun, Robert Geoffrion. dir:
Michael Brun. 94 min.
DEEP SLEEP
* * 1/2
(1990) Megan Follows, Stuart Margolin, Patricia Collins,
David Hewlett, Damon D'Oliveira, Deanne Henry, Rob Roy, Margot Kane.....Emotionally
unstable young woman (Follows) returns to her religious family and trys
to find out the reason behind her father's mysterious death. Well
acted, good looking drama (and quasi-suspenser) starts out "arty" and strange
but soon gives way to a more coherent narrative. Overly slow but
still interesting. sc./dir: Patricia Gruben. 87 min.
DEEPLY *
*
(2000) (/Germany) Kirsten Dunst, Julia Brendler, Lynn
Redgrave, Alberta Watson, Brent Carver, Peter Donaldson, Tara Rosling,
Trent Ford.....Troubled German-raised girl (Brendler) returns with
her mother (Watson), to the latter's island family home, only to befriend
a local eccentric (Redgrave), who tells her a fairy tale set 50 years before,
about a tomboyish girl (Dunst) and the town's mysterious curse. Drama (maybe
youth-aimed) starts out pretty formulaic with the contemporary sequences,
then shifts to the potentially interesting magic realism of the flashbacks
-- where the filmmaker seems to see the ffairy tale nature as excusing any
need to be credible, or even coherent, in either story or characterization.
Has hints of a creepy, Lovecraftian horror story...except it's not
a horror story; and by the end, you kind of go: "that's it?" The setting
obviously evokes maritime Canada...but that's never explicitly stated in
the dialogue, perhaps explaining the vague accents. Though American actress
Dunst's affected southern drawl is completely out-of-place (one wonders
if the filmmaker was so intimidated by her Hollywood "star" that no one
had the courage to explain to Dunst that her accent was woefully inappropriate).
Things like that just further undermine the film's ability to create any
plausibility. sc./dir: Sheri Ellwood. 100 min.
DEEPWATER BLACK (TV Series)The problem with fantasy/SF TV series aimed at young people is that kids tend to gravitate to adult SF, and don't really need a kiddie version...nor do any potential grown-up viewers. The reason the British kids series "Dr. Who" ran for decades was because it was aimed as much at adults as kids. Which may be beside the point, because this series' juvenile ambience may have been unintentional. Various aspects were grown-up enough (even the characters are older than they were in the source novels), so maybe it was just a flaw in the presentation: performers that seemed inexperienced (despite the fact that many weren't) and unsure -- likewise a problem with the direction and scripts. Sometimes filmmakers do young people series, not out of any artistic desire, but because they figure they can get away with a sloppy job. Most of the characters (except Woolvett's) came across as smarmy, perhaps the influence of executive consultant Richard Manning who worked on TekWar, another series that got mired in the obnoxiousness of its characters. Still, it had its devotees and there are various fan sites dedicated to it on the internet. Based on young adult novels by New Zealand author Ken Catran. In the U.S. it was known as Mission Genesis. 12 half-hour episodes, shown in Canada om YTV. |
DEF-CON FOUR *
* *
(1984) Tim Choate, Kate Lynch, Maury Chaykin, Lenore
Zann, Kevin King.....Astronauts land on earth after a nuclear war and
are taken captive by a maniacal army brat and his followers. Good
SF adventure/thriller is highlighted by fine performances and a quirky
sense of humour that off-sets the film's somewhat intense atmosphere.
sc./dir: Paul Donovan. - violence.- 89 min.
DEFY GRAVITY
* * setting: CDN.
(1991) R.H. Thomson, Chapelle Jaffe, Simon Reynolds,
Tracey Moore, Juno Mills-Cockell, Karen Saunders, Justin Louis, Damir Andrei.....Troubled
teen (Reynolds) gets his penchant for flights of fancy from his abusive
dreamer father (Thomson). Seemingly well-meaning drama -- with neat
directing tricks -- about domestic violence never comes together in story
or characterization, with scenes and performances that are too broad.
Moore's good as a concerned teacher but 2nd billed Jaffe is given little
to do. sc./dir: Michael Gibson. - violence.- 87 min.
DEGRASSI HIGH see Degrassi series
DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH see Degrassi series
DEGRASSI series (TV Series)Critically revered, award-winning series was known for its willingness to tackle difficult issues, but was less sure technically with uneven performances, writing and directing. Improved (not surprisingly) with each series. The most recent incarnation -- Degrassi: The Next Generation -- is the most slick, professional, and eexpensive looking of the lot, and has proved a surprise success for CTV. Interestingly enough, the various series, often tackling "taboo" topics and issues, has found more than a few episodes deemed sufficiently risky that they've been challenged, and even pulled from airing, in the United States and elsewhere...yet rarely seem to cause so much as a ripple of controversy in Canada. American filmmaker Kevin Smith, a long time fan (even dropping references to the series in movies like Chasing Amy) offered to write or direct for the new series, but was instead offered an on screen part for a three episode story arc where he (and frequent actor Jason Mewes) play themselves, filming one of their Jay and Silent Bob movies on the school grounds. Canadian rock star Alanis Morrissette also had a cameo in the first of those episodes. Half-hour episodes, originally on the CBC and/or CTV. |
DELUXE COMBO PLATTER
*
* * setting: B.C.
(2004) (/U.S.) Marla Sokoloff, Jennifer Tilly, Monika
Schnarre, Barry Watson, Dave Thomas, Jonathan Cherry, Marnie Alton, Len
Doncheff, Frank C. Turner.....Story of small town life and secret agendas
involving a "plain" waitress (Sokoloff) with a long time crush on a local
guy (Watson) who sees her as a friend, and he has an eye for the enigmatic,
big city beauty (Schnarre) who's arrived in town...and is really a lesbian,
attracted to the waitress! Comedy was derided by some critics as just a
glorified TV movie (well, a somewhat risqué TV movie) but, um, since
99 percent of its audience is only going to see it on TV...is that a bad
thing? As a comedy, it's funny, as a story, it's kind of off-beat, and
the three top billed ladies (including Tilly as the heroine's sassy best
friend) are particularly good, helping to anchor the characters. Probably
the biggest weakness is Watson's character...he's supposed to be a romantic
interest, but he and his buddy are such boors for the first part of the
film that it's hard to see why she's attracted to him! Sokoloff and Watson
are American imports. After years of languishing in B-movies, this is arguably
Schnarre's best role (and she even briefly doffs her top). a.k.a. Love
on the Side. sc: Brigitte Talevski. dir: Vic Sarin. - partial female
nudity.- 102 min.
LA DEMOISELLE SAUVAGE *
* setting: other
(1991) (Switzerland) Patricia Tulasne, Matthias Habich.....Troubled
woman (Tulasne) on the run in Switzerland becomes involved with a dam inspector
(Habich) living in the country. Slow drama will appeal to fans of
Pool's work, but will just seem slow and a pretentious to others.
Nice scenery, though. sc: Lea Pool, Laurent Gagliardi, Michel Langlois
(from the novel by S. Corinna Bille). dir: Lea Pool. - partial female nudity.-
99 min.
DERBY *
* 1/2 setting: USA.
(1995) (/U.S.) David Charvet, Joanne Vannicola, Len
Cariou, Felton Perry, Dean McDermott, Darren McGavin, Wayne Robson.....Young
American woman (Vannicola) finds herself reluctantly inheriting her father's
(Cariou) debt-ridden horse ranch, with her only hope being to win the Kentucky
Derby. Made-for-TV flick is slickly put-together, if you like your
drama low-key, and benefits from Vannicola's usual charm, but the romantic
angle suffers because McDermott, as her fiancee, and import Charvet, as
her true love, are both kind of obnoxious characters. Director Clark
plays the auctioneer. Filmed in South Africa, but set in the United
States. sc: Charles Rath, Joseph Pipher, Heather Conkie (story Rath
and Pipher). dir: Bob Clark. 92 min.
LE DERNIER HAVRE *
* 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1986) Paul Hebert, Louisette Dussault, Claude Gauthier,
Robert Rivard, Benoit Arsenault.....Aging fisherman (Hebert), fascinated
by the sea and unhappy with retirement, begins to secretly repair a boat
he's found. Gentle little drama is helped by a light, humourous touch.
English title: The Last Haven. sc./dir: Denyse Benoit (from
the novel by Yves Theriault). 81 min.
LE DERNIER SOUFFLE *
* setting: P.Q./USA.
(1999) Luc Picard, Julien Poulin, Serge Houde, Linda
Singer, Lorne Brass, Michel Goyette, Sean Devine.....When his neo-Nazi
brother is murdered, a Montreal cop (Picard) investigates, taking him to
Arkansas and back, getting him involved with right wing militia and the
F.B.I. Suspense drama starts out well, but doesn't sustain the tension
consistently; what danger and suspense is generated in Arkansas is kind
of eroded by the more plodding Montreal scenes -- seems almost like it
was edited together from a mini-series at times. The movie is also confusing
in spots (if you assume the filmmakers know what they're doing) or illogical
(if you assume they don't), like why is the American F.B.I. wandering
about in Montreal, claiming they have jurisdiction? And for a movie tackling
such incendiary material (neo-Nazis) the politics are rather muted. The
dialogue is a mix of French and English. English title: The Last Breath.
sc: Joanne Arseneau. dir: Richard Ciupka. - violence, brief female nudity.-
104 min.
DESERT BLADES a.k.a. Escape From Iran: The Canadian Caper
DESERTERS *
* 1/2 setting: B.C.
(1983) Alan Scarfe, Barbara March, Dermot Hennelly,
Jon Dryden, Ty Haller, Robin Mossley, Bob Metcalfe.....In 1969, an
immigration official brings an American deserter (Scarfe) and a draft-dodger
home to stay with him and his wife for the night, but all is not as it
seems and things soon get out of hand. Psychological drama about hypocrisy
is contrived in its twists but still intriguing. Good cast.
sc./dir: Jack Darcus.
DESIRE *
* setting: Man.
(2000) (/Germany) Katja Riemann, Zachary Bennett,
Elizabeth Shepherd, Joost Siedhoff, Graham Greene, Alberta Watson.....School
teacher (Riemann) becomes involved with a troubled lounge pianist (Bennett),
even as the local community is torn with fear over a possible child murderer.
Drama (and sort of suspenser) is not uninteresting, but is slow moving,
wandering to a kind of pre-ordained resolution. Riemann, who should be
the protagonist, isn't really used that way. And the film's insight into
human psychology seems more like it's cribbed from other movies rather
than from real life. Decent performances, including former child actor
Bennett. Though Greene has only a small part, and Watson's amounts to a
cameo as a waitress. sc./dir: Colleen Murphy. - female nudity, partial
male nudity, sexual content, violence.- 97 min.
DESIRE IN MOTION see Mouvements du desir
DESOLATION SOUND
* * * setting: B.C.
(2005) Helene Joy, Jennifer Beals, Ed Begley, Jr.,
Lothaire Bluteau, Ian Tracey, Glynis Davies, Emily Hirst.....Wife and
mother (Joy) living on a rural island and dealing with family problems
is visited by an enigmatic and troubled friend (Beals) -- with death resulting.
Mix of moody drama and film noirish thriller is slow moving but atmospheric,
with some nice scenes, beautiful scenery and an involving cast, especially
Joy in an eye-opening performance. Doesn't fully develop all its ideas,
and is a little too oblique with plenty of dysfunctional/vaguely
creepy characters, but generally intriguing. Prominently billed American
actress Beals, though good, has a relatively small part. sc: Glynis Davies.
dir: Scott Weber. - partial female nudity, sexual content.- 100 min.
DESTINY RIDGE (TV Series)The first season, co-produced with a German company, suffered from thin stories, bad dialogue and uninteresting characters doing uninteresting things, and -- despite a comic-relief bare (male) backside -- a generally juvenile ambience. When the Germans pulled out, the Canadian producers claimed they could do the show they had wanted to do all along, underplaying the park aspect and dropping some characters while adding Jenkins as a single mom doctor/rancher; Granger as an entrepeneur and Holden as his beautiful, extremely promiscuous wife; Camroux as Jenkins' domineering father who lived in Edmonton but owned her ranch; and Smith the sinister stud of a ranch hand. Promising a "new attitude on the ridge", they threw in (TV approved) sex, with actors wandering about looking sultry and macho, muttering silly innuendos, and everyone sleeping with everyone (obviously this town never heard of social diseases)...but the characters remained just as dull and, despite attempts at relevancy, the plots seemed more appropriate for a sitcom than a drama. And Destiny Ridge no longer had a ridge, fateful or otherwise. The first season was filmed in Bamf, the second just outside Edmonton (though set in the same town). The actors were competent, but none managed to rise above the blah material...though some, like Trujillo, came close. It foolishly ended its 2nd season on a cliffhanger -- with Jenkins' character accused of murdering her father -- but was cancelled before a solution coould be presented. Created by Larry Raskin, and Seaton McLean, Daphne Ballon, Jeremy Hole. Two seasons of hour long episodes (approximately 24 in all) on Global. |
DESTINY TO ORDER *
* 1/2 setting: Ont.
(1989) Stephen Ouimette, Alberta Watson, Michael Ironside,
Victoria Snow, George Buza, Denis Forest.....Pulp novelist (Ouimette)
finds his life, and his identity, threatened when his characters come to
life and the villain (Ironside) starts to do a rewrite -- on reality itself.
The off-beat premise and ideas are frustratingly better than the execution
in this comedy flick, but still interesting and amusing and the cast is
good (especially Ouimette). That isn't Hrant Alianak's voice.
sc./dir: Jim Purdy. - violence, partial female nudity.- 94 min.
DETECTIVE MURDOCH MYSTERIES a.k.a. Murder 19C A series of TV movies about novelist Maureen Jennings Victorian-era Toronto police detective, William Murcoch, played by Peter Outerbridge. So far, three have been filmed: Except the Dying, Poor Tom is Cold (both with a U.K. co-producer) and Under the Dragon's Tail. In 2006 it was announced a weekly series would be made.
DEUX ACTRICES *
* 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1993) Pascale Bussieres, Pascale Parolssien, Francois
Delisle, Suzanne Garceau, Louise Latraverse.....Story of a woman (Bussieres)
who is united with the sister (Parolssien) she never knew she had -- a
woman who turns out to be a tad unstable -- interspersed with behind-the-scenes
footage of the actors discussing life and their characters. More
watchable than it sounds, though the dual nature of the film seems like
the result of too-little story rather than genuine artistic intent...particularly
as the two don't really complement each other. And the movie fizzles
out without much of a resolution. English title: Two Can Play.
sc./dir: Micheline Lanctot. 94 min.
DEUX FEMMES EN OR *
* setting: P.Q.
(1970) Monique Mercure, Louise Turcot, Marcel Sabourin,
Donald Pilon, Francine Moran, Vincent Fournier.....Two suburban housewives
(Mercure and Turcot) decide to enliven their dull lives by sleeping with
anyone they can: milkmen, repairmen, etc. Erotic comedy seems almost more
interested in being a satire of suburban, middle class mores than a sex
farce, without really putting enough effort into the characters or the
plot to pull it off. There's more nudity as it goes along, and then it
gets completely absurdist in the climax. Only Sabourin, as the milktoast
husband, evokes much empathy. English title: Two Women in Gold.
sc: Claude Fournier, Marie Jose Raymond. dir: Claude Fournier. - female
and male nudity, sexual conent.- 89 min.
2 SECONDES *
* setting: P.Q./USA.
(1998) Charlotte Laurier, Dino Tavarone, Pascal Auclair,
Yves Pelletier, Andre Brassard, Jici Lauzon, Louise Forestier.....Over-the-hill
-- in her twenties! -- perpetually wide-eeyed professional bicycle racer
(Laurier) can't give up her passion for riding, so takes a job as a courier
instead. Whimsical flick meanders about in all directions, frequently being
quirky, even silly (without necessarily actually being funny), with plenty
of eccentric characters, and occasional forays into surrealism. But it
never really becomes enough of anything to hang your hat on. The scenes
between Laurier and Tavarone as an acerbic bike shop owner with whom she
develops a grudging friendship are the high points. Ultimately, a movie
that seems mainly aimed at hard core bike enthusiasts. a.k.a Deux secondes.
English title: Two Seconds. sc./dir: Manon Briand. - female nudity,
sexual content.- 101 min.
THE DEVASTATOR a.k.a. Hostile Takeover
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