Paul Wright Movies
Slacker (1991) meets Reservoir Dogs (1992) in this indie ensemble flick set in Austin, Texas. Toe (Jerry Don Clark), a perpetually broke, goateed slacker in a rock band called Pigpoke looks to make some quick dough by selling weed but instead ends up in debt to Jarvis (Paul Wright), a ruthless drug supplier. Later, Toe voluntarily shoots up animal tranquilizer and ends up coming to on a rural road without the money he was planning to pay back to Jarvis. Furious, Jarvis sends Toe to Del Rio to make a pick up, but the meeting ends in disaster. As Toe returns to Austin with his tail between his legs, his buddy arrives back in town after an aborted tour with his band only to find his house surrounded by a band of angry drug pushers. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
A remake of the classic Robert Siodmak film noir Criss Cross, Steven Soderbergh's The Underneath follows much the same plot and narrative arc of the original, but expands the possibilities of its thriller structure to also explore the complexities and insecurities at the heart of modern relationships. Peter Gallagher stars as Michael, a compulsive gambler who returns to his Texas home for the wedding of his mother (Anjanette Comer). In his absence, his ex-wife Rachel (Alison Elliott) has married Tommy (William Fichtner), a ruthless local hood. Michael and Rachel soon resume their relationship, incurring Tommy's wrath. Out of their deceptions grows a plot to heist an armored car, a crime which requires the unwitting aid of Michael's stepfather (Paul Dooley) as well as a banker (Elisabeth Shue) with whom Michael shared a brief fling. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, (more)
In this exploitational slice-n-dicer masquerading as a police thriller, a college coed can do nothing while all her friends are being murdered by mysterious man wielding a meat cleaver. In true exploitational style, most of the women are killed in various states of undress and are not even assigned character names other than things like "Girl Stabbed in the Kitchen." A zealous cop begins investigating the case to stop the bloody butcher of bosomy babes. Look closely and you will see that the serial killer is played by a young Kevin Costner. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Kulzer, Elizabeth Trosper, (more)
- 1968
Produced in Montréal, La Difference was a weekly public-affairs series emphasizing both the differences and the similarities of the English- and French-speaking cultures in Canada. Combining documentary footage and dramatizations, the weekly, half-hour series offered new interpretations of "established" Canadian history, the deep-lying reasons for friction between Québéc and the rest of the provinces, and the efforts made toward unity and cooperation in the 20th century. Individual episode titles included "The Conquest," "Confederation: The Politics of Survival," "How the West Was Lost," "St. George and the Lily," "You're a Good Man, Charles DeGaulle," "How Do You Say 'Hot Dog' in Quebec?," "Patriots or Traitors," and (inevitably) "La Difference." The series aired on the CBC's Thursday-evening schedule from July 18 to September 19, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
A Wednesday-night CBC offering, Eight Stories Inside Québec zeroed in on the many aspects of life in the titular French-speaking province. The series' eight episodes covered such topics as bilingualism, the Québec school system, the province's Jewish community, Franco-Anglo weddings, folk music, and even famed 19th century Quebecian strongman Louis Syr. All of the episodes were produced by CBC's Montréal studio except for episode seven, "What Went Wrong With Belgium" (the story of another bilingual culture), which was assembled in the network's London, Ontario facilities. Eight Stories Inside Québec originally aired in Canada from July 20 to September 7, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
