Ross McMillan Movies
Director Kari Skogland takes the reins for a Buffalo Gals Pictures production starring Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn as author Margaret Laurence's much-lauded heroine Hagar Shipley. Hagar may by 90, but she not ready to lie down and die just yet. Her decisions stem straight from her heart, and that often alienates her family and friends. When Hagar's son, Marvin (Dylan Baker), takes his mother to look at a nursing home, she takes it as her cue to leave her family behind and set out on one great last journey. Her mission is to locate the seaside home she remembers from her youth, but Hagar's memory is quickly fading, making it difficult for her to distinguish the past from the present. As a young girl, Hagar was set to inherit her father's mercantile empire until she was disowned for marrying a bold young man named Bram Shipley (Cole Hauser). Later, when Hagar's romantic illusions fade and she begins to view her husband with contempt, her decision to deny her children the kind of parental approval that she so badly longed for from her own father provokes a deep hereditary flaw. As she makes her way toward the seashore, Hagar realizes her time is running far too short to make up for a lifetime of unacknowledged mistakes. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Christine Horne, (more)
A trouble-prone teen navigates a treacherous world of witless gangsters and latex fetish wear in director/screenwriter Robert Cuffley's quirky comic noir. When Alberta (Leelee Sobieski)'s boyfriend is assaulted by thugs, the frightened teen flees to Vancouver in hopes of hiding out at the house of her good friend Celine (Tricia Helfer) - an aspiring dominatrix and wannabe actress currently planning her big move to Los Angeles. While Celine knows that helping out her old friend Alberta can only mean trouble, her kind heart eventually overpowers her better judgment. Celine soon remembers just why she was so hesitant to help her old friend, however, when Alberta ruins her best SS uniform. Later, Alberta tries to procure Celine a new SS outfit by posing as Celine and meeting her new client Paul (Jacob Tierney), only to find their kinky session rudely interrupted by the gangsters that were pursuing Paul in search of the $500,000 he was accused of stealing. If bickering henchmen siblings Aaron (Michael Eklund and Isaac (Michael Adamthwaite) could just stop arguing long enough to focus on the task at hand, perhaps they could finally track down the missing cash and avoid facing the wrath of their foreboding boss Rene (Lothaire Bluteau). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leelee Sobieski, Tricia Helfer, (more)
- 2003
- R
- Add The Saddest Music in the World to QueueAdd The Saddest Music in the World to top of Queue
Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin directs The Saddest Music in the World, reworked from an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, the film involves a contest announced by the legless and glamorous Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini) to find the saddest music in the world. She's hoping the contest will result in increased sales of her company's brand of beer. American theatrical producer Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) shows up to win the contest with his kooky show-business idea, while brother Roderick Kent (Ross McMillan) returns from the war. Maria de Medeiros plays Narcissa, a sleep walker romantically linked to both brothers. Their father, the alcoholic doctor Fyodor Kent (David Fox), is tortured by his role in Lady Port-Huntly's leg amputation, so he makes her a new glass pair filled with beer. The Saddest Music in the World was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark McKinney, Isabella Rossellini, (more)
- 1997
Set in a blazing land where the sun ceaselessly shines, this dramatic fantasy examines love's darker aspects. After years of incarceration as a political prisoner, Peter Glahn (Nigel Whitney, who had his name removed from the credits because another actor redubbed his lines) finally returns to Mandragora via ship. During the voyage, he encounters the glamorous Julianna (Pascale Bussieres), and falls deeply in love. Before he can act upon it, the radiant beauty mysteriously disappears. Once home he goes to see his sister Amelia (Shelley Duval) on the family ostrich farm. Poor homely Amelia is pining for the love of snake-in-the-grass Dr. Solti (R.H. Thompson) who is busy controlling the lives of Juliana and Zephyr (Alice Krige), a fisherman's widow. Solti toys with these women, but he is actually in love with a statue of Venus, a magical sculpture that seems strangely drawn towards Zephyr. Continuing frustration causes Amelia's smouldering passion for Solti to erupt into a conflagration of grisly violence. A challenging film from idiosyncratic Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pascale Bussières, Nigel Whitmey, (more)
