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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.
MACBETH *
* 1/2 setting: other
(1961) Sean Connery, Zoe Caldwell, William Needles,
Powys Thomas, Ted Follows, Robin Gammell, Sharon Acker (a.k.a. Sharon Ackerman),
Gillie Fenwick.....A Scottish noble (Connery) plots treachery when
promised the crown by three soothsaying witches. Staged by the CBC, this
black and white presentation of William Shakespeare's play (somewhat truncated)
is competently acted overall (Follows is a particular stand out as Macduff).
But, like a lot of Shakespeare productions, it probably helps to already
be familiar with the story -- especially with the cuts to the script and
an occasionally muddy sound quality (partly attributable to echoes from
the sets). It's brisk, which might make it more enjoyable for those who
find Shakespeare turgid, but it also means a lot of the scenes seem as
though they're rushing through them in a Classics Illustrated way.
Its main attributes are its eerie, shadow drenched production design (and
some attempts at stylish direction) and, perhaps surprisingly, imported
Connery's performance. Hired shortly before his super stardom, he apparently
wasn't trained in the classics, which may be his strength. Instead of relying
on dogmatic delivery, he really sells the part, enlivening it with passion
and conviction. It's easy to look on it now as just a novelty, but he really
is very good in it. Originally made as part of a CBC Schools project, and
shown in instalments, it was re-aired on the main CBC network in proper
movie format in 2004. dir: Paul Almond. 83 min.
MACHINE GUN MOLLY see Monica
la mitraille
MAD ABOUT MAMBO *
* * 1/2 setting: other
(2000) (/Ireland/U.K./U.S.) William Ash, Keri Russell,
Brian Cox, Maclean Stewart, Kelan Lowry O'Reilly, Tim Loane.....Working
class Northern Irish teen (Ash) figures that learning rhythm will improve
his soccer game, so he takes dance lessons, but starts to fall for his
slightly stuck up fellow dance student (Russell). Film boasts an appealing
cast, colourful characters, and plenty of twists and complications to make
for a funny, quirky, and charming, romantic comedy. It didn't receive the
same exposure as such previous U.K. hits as "The Full Monty" and "The Committments",
despite being more likeable and quirky than those other films. The dance
and soccer aspects are handled such that you don't need to be particularly
interested in either to appreciate the film...though the down side is that,
when the climactic dance scene comes, it seems too curt. Setting the story
in Northern Ireland, and matter-of-factly acknowledging the conflicts while
remaining a light comedy, gives the movie a refreshing uniqueness -- but
the fact that all the good guys are Catholic and the bad guys Protestant
suggests something of an agenda, reinforcing stereotypes, rather than breaking
them down. American actress Russell is beautiful, and does fine playing
a character a little less sweet than her persona from TV's "Felicity" (while
still being the romantic interest), but her Irish accent leaves much to
be desired. Perhaps they should've relied on that old cinematic convention
of claiming the character was educated abroad to explain away a foreign
accent. Actor Gabriel Bryne was one of the executive producers. Supposedly
this was partly Canadian...but there's nothing on screen or in the
credits to indicate that. sc./dir: John Forte. 91 min.
MADE IN CANADA (TV Series)This supposed satire of the Canadian TV industry won almost universal praise from critics, but what people failed to mention was: it wasn't very funny. The acting was uneven (often kind of broad) and Mercer, best known for his stand-up style work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, was less effective when it came to an actual acting role. The plots were thin, the pacing lethargic, and Mercer's elitist pretentions disturbing (in one episode decrying the viewing habits of low-income viewers -- in other words, only the rich can appreciate "good" TV). The idea of revolving a comedy around an anti-hero is a very British idea ("Fawlty Towers"; "Black Adder"; even "Yes, Minister") but that humour comes from watching the character juggle some complex, desperate scheme that threatens to unravel at any moment, often putting them in positions of vulnerabilty so that the viewer has a kind of, grudging, empathy for them. But Mercer (who co-wrote with Mark Farrell) obviously wanted his super-stud persona to be unflappable, untouchable...and unfunny. Though later seasons seemed more inclined to that idea...except the schemes weren't particularly complex or clever! Equally annoying was the fact that the send-ups and satires were based on generic (often Hollywood) archetypes that, frankly, smacked little of "insider knowledge"... let alone actually relating to the Canadian industry (a business begging to be savaged and lampooned). A recurring joke spoofed the idea of a "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" series, instead of spoofing the Canadian-made Adventures of Sinbad rip-off; the fact that Mercer and co. probably wouldn't recognize the distinction is just one more indication of what's wrong with the Canadian business (and another target for parody). Actually, Mercer could have spoofed the way networks give carte blanche to actor/writers so they can create an unfunny sitcom with themselves in the lead, narcissistically bedding nubile young starlets (ala More Tears, Twitch City and, of course, Made in Canada). This series was given the O.K. for a second season before the first episode had even aired, something critics cited as proof of its brilliance...when in fact it was just another great fodder for parody -- 'cause it's almost unheard of for a Canadian series not to get renewed! It's cheaper to keep a series going than it is to make a new one! Half-hour episodes on the CBC. |
MADELEINE IS...
* * setting: B.C.
(1971) Nicola Lipman, John Juliana, Gordon Robertson,
Wayne Specht..... Story of an innocent, career oriented girl (Lipman),
and her relationships with both a revolutionary (Juliana) and a fantasy
clown (Specht) who is mirrored in reality. Odd little film is more
interesting as a period piece (the counter-culture '60s) than as a drama.
This was the first feature to be directed by a woman in Canada. sc:
Sylvia Spring, Kenneth S. Specht. dir: Sylvia Spring. -- partial female
nudity, sexual content.- 90 min.
MADISON (TV Series)The first season of this TV series was almost an anthology, focusing on a different character each episode, and though slickly written, directed and acted, it also seemed a bit light-weight. Despite being about tough issues like drug abuse, the stories were simplistically handled. The second season went for more of a Northwood-type soap opera feel, while maintaining its "issues" focus (covering teen pregnancy, race, and lesbianism). Though capable of some approximation of realism, too often the didactic dialogue -- never letting the viewer forget the show was GOOD for 'em -- was obvious and unconvincing and the series suffered from being cloyingly hip (hand-held cameras and pseudo-"attitude")...all of which was likely to alienate it from, rather than ingratiate it with, its intended audience. The problem with teen-aimed series is that they are generally made by middle-aged filmmakers, sold to middle-aged broadcasters, and praised for their "realism" by middle-aged reviewers...but do teens even want to watch "serious" shows about other teens? It had a good cast (most of whom have kept working -- no small feet in the biz) and some with notable bloodlines: Scarfe is the son of actor Alan Scarfe and Sara Botsford, and Collins (who received a Gemini award) the Canadian daughter of British pop singer Phil Collins. Filmed in Vancouver (but rarely being obvious about its Canadianess). Two seasons were shown on CanWest-Global, then WIC and some independents for its third season, as well as being re-aired on YTV. Eventually it ran for five seasons totalling 65 half-hour episodes. |
MADLY IN LOVE see Amoureux Fou
MAELSTROM
* * 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(2000) Marie-Josee Croze, Jean-Nicolas Verreault,
Stephanie Morgenstern, Pierre Lebeau, Klimbo, John Dunn-Hill, Marc Gelinas.....After
having an abortion, losing her job, and hitting a man with her car (and
fleeing the scene) a beautiful young woman (Croze) starts to unravel from
guilt, then she encounters her victim's adult son. Quirky drama -- narrated
by a butchered fish! -- is moody and visually striking with its washed
out colours and has nice performances (particularly Croze) and some clever
ideas (like the restaurant scene, which is shown from two different perspectives).
But once you strip away the Art House flash and sizzle, and the constant
fish motif, and Croze's nude scene, you're left with a familiar idea, spartanly
written and developed. O.K., and eccentric at times, but a bit too minimalist.
In French. Received Genies for Best Picture, Actress (Croze), Script, Direction,
and Cinematography. sc./dir: Denis Villeneuve. - violence, female nudity,
sexual content, brief male nudity.- 86 min.
Maggie's Secret *
* * 1/2 setting: Ont.
(1991) Joanna Vannicola, Mimi Kuzyk, Joseph Bottoms,
Jaimz Woolvett..... Teen (Vannicola) begins to buckle under the strain
of looking after her little brother and dealing with her parents alcoholism.
Effective, emotional hour long drama with strong performances, especially
Vannicola. On the CBC. Co-written by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens.
dir: Al Waxman.
MAGIC IN THE WATER
* * * setting: USA./B.C.
(1995) (/U.S.) Mark Harmon, Sarah Wayne, Joshua Jackson,
Harley Jane Kozak, Frank Sotonoma Salsedo, Willie Nark-Orn, Ben Cardinal,
Morris Panych.....American family comes to small town Canada where
the daughter (Wayne) befriends the local sea serpent and the initially
business-occupied dad (Harmon) has a mystical encounter with it; as well,
there's a baddie dumping toxic waste. Solid family drama manages
to take a common concept and inject it with some off-beat turns and occasional
flashes of lyricism. Good cast and a hard-working score by David
Schwartz. Stiffed at the box office, but it faired better than Disney's
similarly-veined "Loch Ness" (made around the same time) -- that film never
got released to the theaters (though isn't without its own virtues).
sc: Rick Stevenson, Icel Dobell Massey (story Ninian Bennett and Stevenson
& Massey). dir: Rick Stevenson. 98 min.
MAHONEY'S LAST STAND
* * 1/2 setting: CDN.
(1975) (/U.K.) Alexis Kanner, Sam Waterston, Maud
Adams, Diana LeBlanc, Irk Shunk.....Odd young man (Kanner, natch),
getting away from his wilder days, settles down on a farm, but gets distracted
by his own eccentricities and various people who crop up. Off-beat
serio-comic pic is carried along by the perpetually weird Kanner (who also
produced) but is ultimately too thin to entirely sustain itself.
Choppy directing-editing style doesn't always work and the dialogue isn't
always synced properly -- still, oddly appealing and it's definitely a
product of its time. Waterston's also good. sc: Terence Heffernan,
Alexis Kanner. dir: Harvey Hart. -- partial male and female nudity.- app.
115 min.
A Maiden's Grave, a novel by Jeffery Deaver, was made into the movie Dead Silence
MAÏNA *
* * setting: CDN
(2013) Roseanne Supernault, Ipellie Ootoova, Uapeshkuss Thernish, Tantoo Cardinal, Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Flint Eagle, Natar Ungalaaq, Annie Galipeau.....After a conflict between Innu and Inuit tribes (pre-colonization) a headstrong young Innu woman (Supernault) sets out to rescue a boy from her tribe only to be captured and brought to live among the Inuit. Effective historical adventure-drama can be likened a bit to an all-Native "Dances with Wolves" (ie: instead of a white guy living among Indians it's an Innu living among Inuit) or a more commercial Atanarjuat (the actors speak sub-titled Indigenous dialogue but the voiceover narration is in English/French and the editing/pacing is more mainstream, and with some familiar faces to fill out the background such as Cardinal, Greene and Scwheig -- albeit somewhat under-utilized). It can feel a bit choppy at times (a character you assume will be the villain gets killed off part way through) and shifts from a fast-paced adventure in the first half to a drama in the second, but nonetheless holds your interest -- and does the tricky job of trying to respect historical realism while adpting them to modern mores (the heroine is essentially a proto-feminist). sc: Pierre Billon (from the novel by Dominique Demers). dir: Michel Poulette. - violence.- 90 min.
MAJOR CRIME (TVMS) *
* setting: Ont.
(1997) Michael Moriarty, Nicholas Campbell, Megan
Follows, Vincent Gale, David Cubitt, Sabrina Grdevich, Lane Gates, Elisa
Moolecherry, Mary Walsh, Nicky Guadagni, Maria Vacratsis.....Chronicle
of a Toronto crime squad's attempt to bring down a suspected child molester
(Cubitt). Gritty CBC suspense-drama may herald the beginning of the
commercialization of child abuse: previous dramas exploiting -- uh, exploring
-- the issue in the name of ratings (Boys of St.
Vincent, etc.) have usually done so in the guise of social relevance,
but this seems to be essentially a run of the mill police procedural in
which the crime just happens to be child abuse. Regardless,
the first half (involving the investigation) is really slow, and the second
(involving the trial) is a bit of a mess: confusing and unconvincing, as
if important scenes are missing (like how the villain, a veritable recluse
in the first half, has a court room full of supporters in the 2nd).
Perhaps it's intended to show how slow and plodding police work can be,
but as a drama it desperately needs more plot (or it should've been cut
down to movie length) and revealing Cubitt as the villain at the beginning
was a bad call story-wise. Campbell, as the undercover cop, is good
(and received the Best Actor Gemini), but Moriarty (as the unorthodox head
investigator) and Cubitt are problematic: both give superficially interesting
performances, but Moriarty's lacks the finesse to convey motivational nuances,
and Cubitt (presumably) is supposed to be the creepy, repulsive black hat...but
comes across as severely retarded and almost pathetic. Though set
in Ontario, it was filmed partly in Nova Scotia...and it shows in some
of the architecture and even accents. It was considered as a pilot
for a series of possible TV movies that never materialized. Four
hours. sc: Steve Lucas. dir: Brad Turner.
MAKE MINE CHARTREUSE (1987) Catherine Colvey, Joseph Bottoms. See Shades of Love
"Making It", the short story by Margaret Gibson, was the source for the film Outrageous!
MALAREK a.k.a. Malarek: A Street Kid Who Made It
MALAREK: A Street Kid Who Made
It * 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1988) Elias Koteas, Kerrie Keane, Al Waxman, Daniel
Pilon, Kahlil Karn, Michael Sarrazin, Vittorio Rossi.....Cub reporter
Victor Malarek (Koteas), a former juvenile offender, becomes obsessed with
exposing corruption in the police and social service departments.
Earnest with some truly harrowing scenes but ultimately it's a disappointing,
badly made suspense-drama that never gets below the surface of either Malarek
or those he's after. Based on a true story and it inspired the TV
series Urban Angel. Look for the real Malarek
(who later went on to join CBC TV's investigative news series, The Fifth
Estate) at a table in a pool hall. sc: Avrum Jacobson (from the book
Hey,
Malarek! by Victor Malarek). dir: Roger Cardinal. -- violence, brief
female nudity.- 105 min.
LES MALES *
* 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(1971) (/France) Donald Pilon, Rene Blouin, Andree
Pelletier, Katherine Mousseau, Guy L'Ecuyer.....Two hermits who've
retreated to the wilderness (Pilon and Blouin) find celibacy is driving
them crazy, so set off to find (or capture) a woman and, after some misadventures
in town, find a free spirit (Pelletier, frequently undressed in her film
debut) shows up, literally, on their doorstep...but discover that only
complicates things. Whimsical comedy-drama is more cute than funny (and
is the idea of two wild men plotting to kidnap a woman really funny anyway?),
and seems a product of its counter culture era (which will appeal to some,
and turn off others). But gets by with lots of beautiful scenery, appealing
rustic atmosphere, and a pleasant enough cast. English title: The Males.
sc./dir: Gilles Carle. - partial female nudity, casual male nudity.- 96
min.
MALIBU SHARK ATTACK *
1/2 setting: USA.
(2009) (/Australian/U.S.) Peta Wilson, Warren Christie, Chelan Simmons, Sonya Salomaa, Remi Broadway, Jeff Ganon.....A tsunami floods the California coast, leaving a life guard team stranded and at the mercy of deepwater sharks stirred to the surface. On one hand, this boasts a solid cast, and some decent enough character interaction at the beginning. At the same time, the characters aren't really interesting or developed much (a romantic triangle involving Wilson literally goes nowhere). Slick looking and thanks to CGI, lots of sharks -- but it fails to generate much tension or suspense, the action scenes rather perfunctory and clumsily put together. There are lots of shots of the sharks...but they seem to be recycling a lot of them (heck, they even recycle shots of girls sunbathing on the beach!) The tsunami premise might conjure in your mind cool scenes of sharks cruising through flooded streets...but, presumably for budget reasons, being set on a flooded beach it just looks like any other ocean setting. Curiously, the goblin sharks (the fish of choice here) really exist, but they aren't believed extinct (as a character says), nor are they ranked high as man-eaters...but they do inhabit lower depths, and apparently have occasionally been stirred to the surface by tsunamis. Though this Canada-Australian co-production is set in the US, most of the cast do seem to be Canadians and Australians (adopting American accents). a.k.a. Mega Shark of Malibu. sc: Lindsay James. dir: David Lister. - extreme violence.- app. 90.
MAMA'S GOING TO BUY YOU A MOCKINGBIRD
* * 1/2 setting: Ont.
(1988) Linda Griffiths, Louis Tripp, Marsha Moreau,
Geoffrey Bowes, Rosa Anderson-Baker, Martha Gibson, Ken James.....Young
boy (Tripp) has trouble adjusting after his father (Bowes) is stricken
with cancer and eventually dies. Made-for-CBC TV family drama starts
out awkward but isn't bad. sc: Anna Sandor (from the novel by Jean
Little). dir: Sandy Wilson. app. 100 min.
MAMAN LAST CALL *
* setting: P.Q.
(2005) Sophie Lorain, Patrick Huard, Stephane Demers,
Anne-Marie Cadieux, Patricia Nolin, Julie LeBreton, Anick LeMay, Robert
Toupin, Denis Bouchard .....A career-oriented, somewhat hedonistic
journalist (Lorain) finds her life turned upside down when she discovers
she's pregnant...to the delight of her long-time boyfriend (Huard). Light-hearted
flick boasts a solid cast and is slickly put together, but seems kind of
thin, dragging too often. Maybe if it was funnier (it's a comedy, but more
a light-hearted one than a laugh-out-loud one) or had some secondary plots
(a subplot involving a story she's covering just kind of peters out). It's
also kind of didactic, touching on issues that are valid, but also seeming
a little one sided in its views, taking swipes at feminists, abortion,
etc. In French. sc: Nathalie Petrowski, Alain Chartrand, Marcel Beaulieu
(from Petrowski's novel). dir: Francois Bouvier. 102 min.
MAMBO ITALIANO
* * * 1/2 setting: P.Q.
(2003) Luke Kirby, Ginette Reno, Paul Sorvino, Peter
Miller, Claudia Ferri, Mary Walsh, Sophie Lorain, Pierrette Robitaille,
Tim Post, Mark Camacho, Dino Tavarone.....Gay, Italian-Canadian man
(Kirby) decides to come out to his neurotic family, including his conservative,
immigrant parents (Reno and American actor Sorvino), leading to various
complications, including alienating his happily in-the-closet boyfriend.
Sure, there are broad, Italian-based stereotypes, and over-the-top, Italian-American
accents that would make Martin Scorsese cringe, but it's meant as
a comedy -- and, if you don't take it too seriously, by gum, it is! Presumably
inspired a little by the ethnic flavour of the American hit, "My Big Fat
Greek Wedding" (created by a Canadian!), this is genuinely laugh-out-loud
funny, while being anchored by some legitimate serious concerns, a snappy
pace, a twisty, quirky plot, and (generally) affection for its characters
(albeit the humour is intentionally in your face, lampooning Italians and
homosexuals even as it's celebrating them!) There may be hope for an English-language
Canadian cinema after all (even if it was made partly by francophones).
This was the most successful, English-language Canadian movie (at the domestic
box office) in years -- and it actually deserved to be! Tavarone has just
a bit part as a neighbour, and look fast for Victoria Sanchez as a temptress
walking down the street. sc: Emile Gaudreault, Steve Galluccio (from Galluccio's
play). dir: Emile Gaudreault. - sexual content.- 88 min.
A MAN CALLED INTREPID
(TVMS) * * * setting: other/Ont./USA.
(1979) (/U.K./U.S.) Michael York, Barbara Hershey,
David Niven, Paul Harding, Flora Robson, Peter Gilmore, Renee Asherson,
Nigel Stock, Gayle Hunnicutt, Robin Gammell, Chris Wiggins.....Story
of W.W. II espionage focusing on the Canadian-born British spy William
Stephenson -- no relation to the author -- a.k.a. Intrepid (Niven, arguably
a little too British, and too old, for the part, but still effective) who
oversaw much of the allied espionage effort; and star-crossed lovers York,
as a civilian filmmaker employed for his skill at deception, and Hershey,
as a spiritual spy parachuted into occupied France. Fact-based mini-series,
based on the hit book, like a lot of mini-series seems a bit padded (particularly
in a draggy first episode) but gets better as it goes along with a good
cast and some nice scenes...surprising since it has to interweave what
are really two or three incidents and make them seem like a whole.
Perhaps one of the earliest examples of the large scale internationally
co-produced mini-series that would, for a time, become the norm for Canadian
producers. A bit muddled at first for those not familiar with history
(which is ironic since the characters lament how little later generations
know about the war, then the filmmakers themselves fail to properly take
that ignorance into account), or who Stephenson was that he should be selected
for the task, then gets more informative, but still not something you'd
want to base a term paper on. For instance, Wiggins (in a small part)
seems to be playing an allied double agent named Heisenberg who passes
a note from Albert Einstein to Danish physicist Niels Bohr -- now German
physicist Werner Heisenberg did meet with Bohr, did show him something,
and the true nature of the meeting has been debated by historians...but
never that Heisenberg was actually working for the allies or that he had
a note from Einstein. 6 hours. sc: William Blinn (based on
the book by William Stevenson). dir: Peter Carter
THE MAN IN THE ATTIC
* * 1/2 setting: USA.
(1995) Anne Archer, Neil Patrick Harris, Len Cariou,
Alex Carter.....True story of a married American woman (American Archer)
who kept her young lover (American Harris) in her attic, unbeknownst to
her husband (Cariou), for 20 years between the world wars. Slick
made-for-cable drama never becomes much more than a chronicle of a curious
incident, with the characters and their motivations remaining unconvincing.
sc: Duane Poole, Tom Swale (from a case history in the book Sex and
the Criminal Mind by Norman Winski). dir: Graeme Campbell. - partial
female nudity, sexual content, brief male nudity.- 98 min.
MAN IN UNIFORM a.k.a. I Love a Man in Uniform
THE MAN INSIDE *
1/2 setting: Ont.
(1975) James Franciscus, Jacques Godin, Stephanie
Powers, Len Birman, Donald Davis, Allan Royal(e).....Mounties, trying
to get a druglord, plant an undercover cop (American actor Franciscus)
inside the organization -- but he starts to forget which side he's on.
Disappointing suspense-drama could've been an effective character study,
but has hardly any character scenes. Nor is it detailed enough to
be a procedural. Too bad. Godin stands out. This was
the first movie made by the CBC. sc: Tony Sheer. dir: Gerald Mayer.
96 min. (video)
A Man of Honor, the autobiography co-written by mobster Joseph Bonanno, served as part of the source for the mini-series Bonanno.
THE MAN OF MY LIFE see L'homme de ma vie
THE MAN ON THE WHARF see L'homme sur les quais
THE MAN WHO GUARDS THE GREENHOUSE (1988) Rebecca Dewey, Christopher Cazenove. See Shades of Love
THE MAN WHO LOST HIMSELF *
* 1/2 setting: CDN.
(2005) David James Elliott, Wendy Crewson, Katie Boland,
Clare Stone, Tatum Knight, Joshua Close, John Bourgeois, Nanci Chambers.....Fact-based
story of Canadian Football star Terry Evershen (Elliott) and his struggle
back from a brain injury that left him almost a total amnesiac -- forgetting
not only his family, but even how to behave and react -- and of his wife's
(Crewson) struggles to be supportive even as she began to despair. Made-for-CTV
drama has good performances from Crewson and Elliott, but suffers from
some awkward, unconvincing scenes at first (particularly in its hospital
scenes) and, though portraying a harrowing situation, feels a bit like
they're struggling to fill up the running time. But improves significantly
as it goes, particularly as he begins to improve and the family dynamics
shift. Ironically, this aired within a week or so of the remarkably similar
CBC movie, Waking Up Wally -- and suffers in
the comparison. a.k.a. The Stranger I Married. sc: Suzette Couture
(from the book by June Callwood). dir: Helen Shaver. app. 90 min.
THE MAN WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS *
* * setting: USA.
(2002) (/U.S.) Jason Alexander, Kelly Rowan, Ari Cohen, Ed Asner, C. David Johnson, Jayne Eastwood, Daniel Kash, Jake Brockman, Kenneth Welsh.....Fact-inspired story of American toy maker A.C. Gilbert (American actor Alexander) during World War I, who turns his factories over to the war effort...but begins to balk when it is proposed that Christmas itself be cancelled. Made-for-TV movie mixes light-hearted and serious with a variety of elements -- a Christmas-themed holiday movie, a bio-pic about Gilbert, and a homefront period drama -- with mostly successful results, buoyed by a nice cast in general, and a sympathetic Alexander inparticular (at the time best identified with his obnoxious character on the sitcom "Seinfeld"). Although, as often happens with such Canadian movies, the over-the-top Americanism can be a bit distracting. But a decent, slightly atypical, entry in the holiday movie canon. And is it just me, or has Ed Asner appeared in more Christmas movies than any other actor? sc: Joe Maurer, Debra Frank, Steve L. Hayes. dir: Sturla Gunnarsson. app. 90 min.
THE MAN WHO WANTED TO LIVE FOREVER a.k.a. The Only Way Out is Dead
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