Peter O'Brian Movies

Johanna (Josette Simon) is a Jamaican woman who emigrates to Canada to escape the crushing poverty of her homeland. She lands a job as a nanny for a yuppie couple and develops a loving relationship with their children. Johanna misses her son David (Richard Mills) and makes plans to fly him up for the Christmas holiday. Her friends try and talk her into letting the boy stay illegally and enlist the help of Gordon (Errol Slue) to falsify the necessary documents. David and Johanna are housed by Adam (Lyman Ward), the school principal who once tried to seduce Johanna after she attended a night class he was teaching. Later, mother and son face deportation, and Adam loses his job for intentionally ignoring David's bogus immigration documents. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

The beautiful Cynthia Rothrock is one of the foremost female martial-arts experts in films, and that's all that is required in Angel of Fury. This time, Rothrock is sent to rescue a "brain." Said brain is housed in a super-computer, jealously guarded by enemy agents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The "magic" in One Magic Christmas is often (and surprisingly) of the "black" variety. Like Jimmy Stewart before her, worn-out wife and mother Mary Steenburgen wishes that she'd never been born. And like Stewart, Steenburgen is visited by a guardian angel, in this case the western-garbed Harry Dean Stanton. Instead of granting Steenburgen's wish, Stanton shows her what life would be like without Christmas--and that vision is as grim as anything you're ever likely to see in any Holiday film. Throughout the horrendous tragedies heaped upon Steenburgen, we are comforted in the knowledge that Stanton is working in concert with Steenburgen's young daughter. Steenburgen learns her lesson of course, but what a ride! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Francis Ford Coppola protégé Phillip Borsos directs this elegiac, low-key tale about real-life bandit Bill Miner that has become a classic of Canadian cinema. Having been released from jail in 1901 following a 33-year prison sentence for robbing stagecoaches, Bill Miner (Richard Farnsworth) finds himself living in a society that has completely changed from the one of his youth. He tries to put his life of crime behind him and settle down in Washington state with his sister, but the quiet life does not suit him. He feels restless but uncertain as to how to proceed next. The answer comes to him when he sees Edward S. Porter's The Great Train Robbery. Soon, Miner has slipped over the border into Canada and, along with his new partner, Shorty (Wayne Robson), robs the Canadian Pacific Railway Transcontinental Express. Later, while laying low after the crime in a remote corner of British Columbia, he meets the beautiful, strong-willed photographer Kate Flynn (Jackie Burroughs). In writing this script, Borsos reportedly made heavy use of contemporary court documents and testimonies. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival in honor of its 20th anniversary. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Amidst such formative shockers as Shivers, Rabid and The Brood, writer/director David Cronenberg dashed off this semi-documentary. Fast Company relates the life story of race car champion Lonnie Johnson. The ubiquitous William Smith, veteran of many a low-budget cycle flick, is quite convincing as Johnson. The film does not shirk in its depiction of the principal character's womanizing, which in itself is surprisingly endearing. Cronenberg also offers an indictment against corporate sponsors who tend to squeeze drivers like Johnson dry of all their salability. And, of course, we're offered plenty of breathtaking racing scenes, some of them real, others skillfully reenacted. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two misfits find love and support in each other's company, in this show-business comedy with a twist. One of them, Robin Turner (Craig Russell), is a male hairdresser and a gifted female impersonator, who tries out his act in local gay nightclubs. His roommate is Liza Connors (Hollis McLaren), an old high-school friend who is now a mumblingly strange pregnant woman, recently released from a mental hospital where she was being treated for schizophrenia. She is determined never to return to the hospital again, and he wants to be a show-business success with his impressions. When Robin loses his job, the two determine to try their luck in New York. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi