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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.
THE BRADBURY TRILOGY *
*
(1986) Nick Mancuso, R.H. Thomson; James Coco, Leslie
Nielson, Jayne Eastwood, Kenneth Welsh; William Shatner, Kate Trotter.....Three
supernatural stories by U.S. author Ray Bradbury: "The Crowd", about mysterious
rubber-neckers who appear at accidents; "Marionettes, Inc.", about a man
who buys a robot of himself; and "The Playground", about a man's fear of
the local playground. The first three episodes from the TV series
The
Ray Bradbury Theater are well acted, but overly slow and pretentious.
a.k.a. The Ray Bradbury Trilogy. sc: Ray Bradbury (from his stories).
dir: Ralph L. Thomas, Paul Lynch, William Fruet. - violence.- 90 min. (video)
THE BRAIN *
setting: USA.
(1988) Tom Breznahan, Cyndy Preston, David Gale, George
Buza, Christine Kossack, Bret Pearson.....Wild-and-crazy U.S. teen
(Breznahan) is sent to a TV psychologist for evaluation -- once there,
he discovers the doc is using a monster brain to brainwash people. Inane,
poorly acted and technically inept horror flick, though the giant man-eating
brain has got to be a first. Really obnoxious characters, too. sc: Barry
Pearson. dir: Ed Hunt. - extreme violence, partial female nudity.- 94 min.
(video)
BRAIN CANDY a.k.a. Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
BRAM STOKER'S SHADOWBUILDER a.k.a. Shadowbuilder
Break a Leg, a children's novel by William Taylor, was turned into part of the limited series All For One
BREAKFAST WITH DICK AND
DOROTHY * * setting: USA.
(2001) (/U.K.) Cameron Daddo, Fiona Loewi, Stacey
Depass, Albert Schultz, Marcia Diamond, Colin Fox, Joe Pingue, Maria Ricossa.....Suave
and breezily sophisticated married couple (Daddo and Loewi) -- hosts of
a morning Chicago radio show -- investigate when a woman they meet, then
vanishes, turns out to have been reported dead a day before they
met her. Slick made-for-TV mystery isn't by any means unlikeable
with its old fashioned, unpretentious intentions, but it doesn't quite
leap the bar either. The leads are personable (particularly Daddo), but
don't quite have the charm, or chemistry, needed in a movie that is relying
heavily on the playful badinage of the leads to carry it along.
It was more fun with Charles Powell & Myrna Loy or Rock Hudson &
Susan St. James. The mystery is moderately intriguing, but unconvincing
at times, and the movie is more light-hearted than actually funny (even
when it's trying to be funny!). As a movie, it would've made a decent
hour-long episode. Still, it's a movie that you can look back on with a
certain grudging affection. Maybe on a slow night... One of a number of
movies made by Chesler/Perlmutter productions -- as part of a "Mystery
Wheel" -- which included Isabella Rocks and Murray Maguire, M.E.
(a.k.a. Recipe for Murder) and were set in the U.S. and all presumably
intended as pilots for would-be series or series of movies. a.k.a. Drive
Time Murders. sc: Matthew Weisman (created by Lewis B. Chesler). dir:
Eleanore Lindo. 90 min.
BREAKING ALL THE RULES *
* setting: USA.
(1985) Carl Marotte, Thor Bishopric, Carolyn Dunn,
Rachel Hayward, Michael Rudder.....Pseudo-macho teen (Marotte), his
nerdish buddy and two girls they're trying to pick up, cross paths with
thieves at a U.S. fun park. Unusual teen comedy in that it can actually
be funny at times. a.k.a. Fun Park. sc: Edith Rey, David Preston
(story Rey, Rafal Zielinski). d: James Orr. 91 min. (video)
BREAKING ALL THE RULES: The
Creation of Trivial Pursuit * * 1/2 setting:
CDN.
(1988) Malcolm Stewart, Bruce Pirrie, Gordon Clapp,
Damir Andrei.....True story of how a trio of beer guzzling Canadian
buddies and a lawyer friend became multimillionaires by creating the hit
board game Trivial Pursuit. A likeable little comedy. Made for CBC TV.
Music by Jimmy Buffet. sc: William J. Thomas. dir: David Barlow. app. 100
min.
BREAKING POINT *
* setting: USA.
(1994) (/U.S.) Gary Busey, Kim Cattrall, Darlanne
Fluegel, Jeff Griggs, Blu Mankuma, Sharlene Martin, Leam Blackwood.....An
American ex-cop (Busey) returns to the force when a serial killer who escaped
him years before comes back. So-so thriller can't shake being just another
cop-after-serial-killer flick with the writers, actors, etc. being professional
but uninspired. Even Busey is subdued, though Griggs isn't bad as the killer,
a male stripper (and this has to be one of the first of these films that's
almost as sexploitive of men as it is women). Nice use of Vancouver waterfront
scenery (pretending it's Seatle). sc: Michael Berlin, Eric Estrin. dir:
Paul Ziller. - partial female and male nudity, sexual content, violence.-
96 min. (video)
BREAKING THROUGH see Henri
THE BREAKTHROUGH
* 1/2 setting: USA./Nfld.
(1993) (/U.K.) Donald Sutherland, Mimi Kuzyk, Vlasta
Vrana, Miguel Fernandes, Corin Nemec, Michael Rudder, Michael J. Reynolds.....American
C.I.A. agent (Kuzyk) is sent to a remote part of Newfoundland to check
on one of their scientists (Sutherland) who's engaged in experiments involving
the human life force. Atmosphereless SF suspenser has some intriguing ideas,
but doesn't know what to do with them. Terrible (and repetitious) dialogue,
a dumb voice-over and uninspired performances (though Sutherland's O.K.).
a.k.a. The Lifeforce Experiment and Dead Men Talk. sc: Mike
Hodges, Gerard MacDonald (from the story by Duphne du Maurier). dir: Piers
Haggard. 92 min.
BRETHREN *
1/2 setting: Ont.
(1976) Thomas Hauff, Kenneth Welsh, Richard Fitzpatrick,
Sandra Scott, Candace O'Connor.....Three very different brothers are
brought together for a couple of days by the death of their father. Awkward,
wooden drama suffers from its own solemness and mostly uninspired performances.
sc./dir: Dennis Zahoruk.
A BRIDE'S TEARS
* * 1/2 setting: other
(1989) (/France/China) Tu Huai Qing, Jiang Wen, Jiang
Xi Ren, Huang Fei, Zhou Yiemang, Chen Jie.....Story
of Chow Ching Lie growing up in '40s and '50s Shanghai, and how her love
for the piano is threatened when her poor parents try to force her into
an arranged marriage. O.K. drama is disjointed at times but benefits from
good performances and the exotic locale and subject matter. Based on a
true story. And now for one of the longest credits in this book: sc: Jacques
Dorfmann, Zhang Nuanxin, Max Fischer, David Milhaud, with thanks to Frank
Daniel, adapted by Chow Ching Lie, Georges Walter, Jacques Dreux, Martin
Daniel (from the book
La Palanquin des Larmes by Chow Ching Lie
as told to Georges Walter). dir: Jacques Dorfmann, Max Fischer. app. 117
min.
BRIDGE OF TIME
* 1/2 setting: other
(1997) (/U.S.) Susan Dey, Cotter Smith, Nigel Havers,
Josette Simon, Robert Whitehead, Cicely Tyson.....After their plane
crashes in the middle of the African wilderness, a trio including a U.N.
official (Dey) are brought to a mystical hidden city of peace and enlightenment.
Made-for-U.S. TV adventure-drama is a shameless rip-off of James Hilton's
Lost
Horizon, juiced up with gunplay and murder...worse, though, it's not
a very good rip-off. Flatly directed, sillily plotted, with the inhabitants
of the city seeming more condescending and obnoxious than enlightened,
and Dey and company also unendearing. Of course, with two writer's listed
and the incongruous title, one wonders if the film started out original
in an earlier draft, then was re-modeled. If you're looking for a cinematic
spiritual boost, check out the 1937 version of "Lost Horizon" with Ronald
Coleman. Made for U.S. TV -- none of the actors are Canadian, though that's
director Montesi in the baseball cap near the beginning. sc: Drew Hunter,
Christopher Cannan. dir: Jorge Montesi. 93 min.
BROKEN LULLABY *
* setting: other/USA.
(1994) (/Hungary/U.S.) Mel Harris, Rob Stewart, Oliver
Tobias, Jennifer Dale, Frances Hyland, Vivian Reis, Charmion King, Tamara
Gorski.....American (Harris), who tracks down lost relations for people,
goes to Hungary to find the origins of her orphaned aunt, involving a lost
priceless heirloom, murder, and a mysterious art expert (Stewart). There's
nothing especially wrong with the script in this romantic-suspenser, but
it's hurt by the fact that the director and many of the actors (particularly
imported Harris) just seem to be killing time until their next gig. At
least Hyland and Dale put a little effort into it. See: Harlequin.
sc: Guy Mullally, Jim Hemshaw (from the novel by Laurel Pace). dir: Michael
Kennedy. 88 min.
THE BROOD *
* 1/2 setting: Ont.
(1979) Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle, Cindy
Hinds, Nuala Fitzgerald, Susan Hogan, Henry Beckman.....Mysterious,
monster-kids kill those whom the patient (Eggar) of an unusal psychiatrist
(Reed) hates, while her husband (Hindle) is convinced that the doc's up
to no good. Fair, but obvious, low-budget horror parable is atmospheric.
This film was initially censored in Ontario and the "violence" rating refers
to that edited version. sc./dir: David Cronenberg. - violence.- 91 min.
(video)
BROTHER ANDRE see Le frere Andre
BROTHERS BY CHOICE *
* * setting: B.C.
(1988) Yannick Bisson, Charley Higgins, Winston Rekert,
Stephen E. Miller, Todd Duckworth, Terence Kelly, Anna Hagan.....Teen
(Bisson) runs away from a father (Kelly) who doesn't understand him and
gets on the wrong side of some drug pushers (Miller and Duckworth) while
his brother (Higgins) follows, trying to bring him home. Good road movie
is aimed at the young teen audience. If it seems a bit rushed at times
that's because it was edited down from a 1986 limited-series of six half-hour
episodes. sc: Joe Wiesenfeld (from the novel by Elfreida Read). dir: William
Fruet.
BROTHERS BY CHOICE (TV Limited Series) see Brothers by Choice (movie)
BROWN BREAD SANDWICHES *
* 1/2 setting: Ont.
(1989) Lina Sastri, Daniel DeSanto, Kim Cattrall,
Tony Nardi, Peter Boretski, Kim Coates, Justin Louis, Gincarlo Giannini.....Young
boy (DeSanto) observes the trials and tribs of his poor immigrant family
and their borders in 1957. Fine performances and ambience in this serio-comic
pic, kind of like an Italian-Canadian Mon Oncle
Antoine, but funnier. Ultimately, though, it suffers from being too
aloof with too big a cast. Most of the characters we never get to know,
and those we do, we don't particularly like. sc./dir: Carlo Liconti. -
sexual content.- 91 min.
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