Bob Appleby Movies
Dexter King (Jeff Goldblum) is an actor who spends his nights on-stage in London's West End as a comedic punching bag for obnoxiously self-centered comedian Ron Anderson (Rowan Atkinson). He gets hit in the head with hammers, he trips, and he stands by dumbly as Anderson gets all the laughs. His home life is little different. His roommate, Carmen (Geraldine James), is a nymphomaniac, so he's always surprised by naked men parading through the kitchen in the morning. A chance meeting with lovely nurse Kate Lemon (Emma Thompson) and a tryout for the lead in a new Andrew Lloyd Webber-ish musical based on The Elephant Man (called, not surprisingly, "Elephant!") jolt Dexter from his torpor. Not that it makes him much less of a loser, which is the quality the show's producers are looking for. "You're a victim," they tell him. His attempts to seduce Kate are equally jarring. She asks him if he is a big believer in having sex on the first date. "Why, no," he tells her, trying to impress her with his sensitivity. Too bad, she replies -- she doesn't believe in getting serious with someone if they're sexually incompatible. Romance and showbiz go on, with the show a hit, though Dexter's romance hits a temporary snag: his backstage romance with a co-star (Kim Thomson) gets found out. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Emma Thompson, (more)
Daryl Duke directed this epic adventure, based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, concerning the battle for control of the China trade in early 19th-century Hong Kong. The film takes place in 1842 on the China Coast, where the Chinese object to the British imperialist policy of buying opium from the Chinese and then selling it back to them at a higher price. As a result, British warships arrive to pound the recalcitrant Chinese into submission. The outcome of the assault is a treaty giving England the right to operate Hong Kong as a free-port. The problem is who will become the Tai-Pan, or British merchant ruler of Hong Kong? The battle lines for the position are drawn between two swashbucklers -- Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown), a skipping and jumping buccaneer, and Tyler Brock (John Stanton), a weaselly cheat. Brock makes the first move by forcing Straun into bankruptcy, but, thanks to the help of the local prostitute May-May (Joan Chen), who has a score to settle with Brock, Straun is able to raise the money at the last minute. This enrages Brock, who remains bitter through the years and finally confronts Straun in a climactic sword fight. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bryan Brown, Joan Chen, (more)
- 1986
In the 11th episode of the season-long continuity "The Trial of a Time Lord," the Doctor (Colin Baker) presents videotaped evidence that he and his companion, Mel (Bonnie Langford), used the Laws of Time to rescue the passengers of the spaceliner Hyperion III from the Vervoids, a species of voracious plants. But the Valeyard (Michael Jayston), determined to condemn the Doctor for violating the rules of the Time Lords, insists that the images on the videotape do not correspond with the actual facts. Curiously, both the Doctor and the Valeyard are telling the truth. Written by Pip and Jane Baker and first broadcast on November 15, 1986, this episode is officially known as "Terror of the Vervoids, Episode 3." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, (more)
- 1986
In the 12th episode of the season-long continuity "The Trial of a Time Lord," the Valeyard (Michael Jayston), bent upon condemning the Doctor (Colin Baker) for violating the Laws of Time, argues that the Doctor's videotaped evidence does not correspond with the facts. But the Doctor argues that, contrary to those "facts," he and his companion, Mel (Bonnie Langford), were indeed responsible for rescuing the passengers of the spaceliner Hyperion III from being devoured by a series of ravenous plants -- and that the Hyperion III did not meet its doom in the Black Hole of Tartarus. Written by Pip and Jane Baker and first broadcast on November 22, 1986, Doctor Who: The Trial of a Time Lord, Episode 12 was actually the concluding installment of the four-part story arc "Terror of the Vervoids." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford, (more)
