Brian Clark Movies
A poker faced mockumentary investigating the mysterious assassination of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, director Brian Flemming's film follows a group of skeptics known as Citizens for Truth as they launch an independent investigation into the fatal shooting. As Citizens for Truth confront the LAPD and the mainstream media while simultaneously attempting to hold themselves together amidst inner turmoil, a closer look at the alleged assassin, a twenty-four year old black man named Alek Hiddell, begins to uncover a troubling conspiracy centered on the District Attourney. It seems that immediately following the assassination, Hiddel was shot to death in a hotel basement by a lone LAPD officer, leaving doubts as to his guilt and growing suspicion of corruption within the LAPD. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David James, Laurie Pike, (more)
Star and producer Tom Bastounes reportedly sold his family produce store in Chicago to finance this semi-autobiographical romantic comedy about lost love and lost opportunities. As he works at his family's produce store, George (Bastounes) is haunted by his choices of 20 years ago. The two things he most regrets are not pursuing a career in opera singing and not pursuing Gina (Monica Zaffarano), his old classmate who has gone on to fame and fortune as a diva. The film opens with George's wife asking for a divorce after George tries to sneak into the house after returning from an adulterous tryst. George's fortunes change when Gina visits Chicago for a five-day gig. It becomes immediately clear that love between the two still smolders, though Gina is involved with a straight-arrow senator. When Gina can't sing at a charity function, George steps in and wows everyone -- including himself -- with his sonorous voice, and he is given a glowing review in the paper. Suddenly, George's life is on track again, until some unforeseen complications hamper his forward movement. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Bastounes, Monica Zaffarano, (more)
- 1991
- PG13
- Add Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead to QueueAdd Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead to top of Queue
Christina Applegate stars in this convoluted comedy that comes across as a teen fantasy combination of Home Alone and Working Girl. The premise is all in the title -- when the mother (Concetta Tomei) of a sniveling group of surly kids goes on a much-deserved summer vacation, she leaves her kids under the charge of an elderly distaff granny (Eda Reiss Merin). When granny ups and dies, the kids load her dead body in a trunk and deposit the package on the steps of the local funeral home. The kids are ecstatic thinking that with the big wad of cash Mom has left, they can have a summer of consumer madness. But when they find out that the money has been buried with the baby-sitter, the kids have to fend for themselves to make ends meet. Dream teen Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) tries working at a fast food restaurant but she can't stand the grease. So, she puts together a false resume and, posing as a twenty-eight-year old, she applies for a job as a receptionist at a garment manufacturing company. The company vice president, Rose (Joanna Cassidy), is so impressed by her resume that she hires her on the spot as her executive assistant. Her deception looks to be working out great -- Sue Ellen manages to hold off the office lady killer Gus (John Getz), avoids exposure by the embittered receptionist, borrows money from the company's petty cash box for household incidentals, and continues her relationship with restaurant employee Bryan (Josh Charles). But suddenly, the clothing firm is set to go under, and Sue Ellen must use her teen fashion sense to save the company and her job . . . and she has to get the rest of the brood involved. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christina Applegate, Joanna Cassidy, (more)
- 1989
- R
Two terminal cancer patients break out of the hospital in a final attempt to enjoy their last days in this black comedy drama. Decker (Anthony Edwards) is an American ex-football player resigned to die. Bancroft (Timothy Dalton) is an attorney who is more optimistic and talks Decker into a journey to a Dutch whorehouse for a final fling. The unlikely duo steal an ambulance and head for Holland. They make a stop at the wedding of Bancroft's former flame -- who abandoned him with his terminal illness. Decker and Bancroft come across two women with car trouble, Maureen (Camille Coduri) and Hazel (Janet McTeer). Maureen and Decker immediately hit it off, but Bancroft considers the meeting an interruption of their quest. The women are unaware the two men are dying, and the men have no way of knowing Hazel is pregnant. They arrive at the bordello where they eventually learn each other's secrets. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Dalton, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1985
A cast of familiar British faces adorned the seriocomic miniseries Late Starter. Peter Barkworth starred as a retired university professor, left penniless and disillusioned when his wife walked out on him. Forced to vacate his comfortable home, the old professor moved into a sparse London efficiency apartment, from whence he prepared to restart his life from scratch. Telecast in eight 50-minute installments, Late Starter aired over the BBC from March 29 to April 12, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Stepping into the role made famous on Broadway by Tom Conti, Richard Dreyfuss stars as a profoundly handicapped sculptor in Whose Life is it Anyway? Left a quadraplegic after an auto accident, the embittered Dreyfuss feels utterly useless, as both an artist and a human being. He doesn't want his family's love, or his doctor's care, or his nurse's ministrations. Dreyfuss simply wants to die-but this is impossible, given the legal state of things in the 1970s. Whose Life is It Anyway? may be the only film in which a person's right to self-destruction is regarded as a happy ending. Not as depressing as it sounds, Whose Life Is It Anyway is perversely hilarious at times, with Dreyfuss at his acerbic best. The film was scripted by Reginald Rose and Brian Clark from Clark's stage play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dreyfuss, John Cassavetes, (more)
- 1981
- R
Also known as Planet of Horrors, this film follows a group of astronauts as they travel into space to retrieve the survivors of a spaceship crash. When they arrive on the planet, the crew runs into some hostile aliens who attempt to gorily wipe them out. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Albert, Erin Moran, (more)
- 1978
Originally adapted as a British made-for-TV movie, the weekly, hour long comedy/drama series All Creatures Great & Small made its first BBC appearance on January 8, 1978. The series was based on the biographical novels of James Herriot, a Yorkshire veterinarian. Taking place in a period ranging from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, the series focused on the selfsame Dr. Herriot (Christopher Timothy), who, after graduating from medical school, was assigned to a Yorkshire County farming community. Here he joined the thriving veterinary practice of the brothers Farnon (Robert Hardy, Peter Davidson), with the crabby, overbearing Siegfried Farnon (Robert Hardy) thoroughly dominating the young, easygoing Tristan (Peter Davison). It didn't take long for Dr. Herriot to realize that the surrounding countryside was festooned with eccentrics -- both human and animal. By and by, he fell in love with (and ultimately married) Helen Alderson (played first by Carol Drinkwater and then by Lydia Bellingham), daughter of a local farmer who (to put it mildly) wasn't overly fond of doctors. As the series progressed, Herriot "grew" in his job, and the townsfolk grew to respect and even love him. Also, an astonishingly wide variety of animal species, domestic and otherwise, paraded through Herriot's tiny office for his tender ministrations. Beginning with the series' fourth season, James (now a full partner with the Farnons) took upon a young and ambitious assistant, Calum Buchanan (John McGlynn). In the final seasons, James was sometimes helped out by his children Jimmy (Oliver Wilson Paul Lyon) and Rosie (Rebecca Smith, Alison Lewis). Extremely popular throughout its tenure on British television -- it had two separate multi-season runs: the first from 1979 to 1980, the second from 1988 to 1990 -- All Creatures Great & Small was equally well received when it was telecast in the U.S. via PBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
This British comedy-drama series starred Peter Barkworth as middle-aged London bank executive Mark Telford. Hoping to change the direction of his go-nowhere life, Telford asked for and received the opportunity to relocate to a smaller bank in Dover, while his city-loving wife Sylvia (Hannah Gordon) remained in London with their teenaged son. Much to the chagrin of his superiors, Mark "went bohemian" in a big way, living on a houseboat, dressing casually, allowing his customers to take all the time they wanted to repay loans, and helping the locals with their financial problems on his own time, a habit that caused him a great deal of trouble as the series unfolded. Meanwhile, Sylvia tried to remain faithful to her absentee husband, only to succumb to the charms of handsome theater director Tim Hart (Keith Barron). The ten 50-minute episodes of Telford's Change were telecast by BBC1 from January 7 to March 11, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Barkworth, Hannah Gordon, (more)
- 1962
In this unusual Greek drama, the Greeks living in Ionia must leave their homes after Greece and Turkey sign new boundary agreements. The young wife of an elderly doctor decides to ignore the government's suggestion that she grow wheat and grapes and instead begins growing roses in the tradition of her husband's family. As the story progresses, certain scenes are replayed, especially the one in which the despondent doctor contemplates his ruined marriage and his influence over a group of Ionian immigrants. Because her husband is unhappy, the wife is also unhappy and destroys her beloved rose bushes. The film ends where it began. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
