Diego Matamoros Movies

The Teatro Regio Torino mounted this visually evocative and highly stylized 2009 production of Jules Massenet's three-act, lyric comedy opera Thais. The production stars Barbara Frittoli as Thaïs, Lado Ataneli as Athanaël, Alessandro Liberatore as Nicias, and Maurizio Lo Piccolo as Palémon. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino lend added musical accompaniment, under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda; Stefano Poda directs for the stage. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Author Anne Michaels's poetic novel comes to the screen courtesy of director Jeremy Podeswa in this period drama concerning a Holocaust survivor who remains eternally haunted by the uncertain fate of his beloved sister. Athos (Rade Sherbedgia) is an archeologist conducting a dig in Nazi-occupied Poland. When Athos discovers a seven-year-old boy named Jakob (Robbie Kay) hiding near the work site, he smuggles the frightened boy back to Greece and promises to shelter him when the Nazis come knocking there as well. Having previously witnessed the brutal massacre of his family at the hands of Hitler's henchmen, Jakob longs to find out what fate befell his sister, Bella (Nina Dobrev) -- who wasn't executed with the majority of his other relatives but subsequently disappeared without a trace. After the war, Athos and Jakob emigrate to Toronto in hopes of starting a new life. But even after all these years, Jakob (Stephen Dillane) can't seem to shake the grief of losing his family and not knowing what ever became of Bella. Later, when Jakob marries the radiant Alex (Rosamund Pike), the bright-eyed beauty does her best to illuminate the dark corners within her husband's soul. To maintain one's connection to ghosts requires a certain shunning of the living, however, and only when Jakob discovers the strength to let go of his painful past will he finally be able to move forward into the future. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Veteran British filmmaker Philip Saville directs the religious epic The Gospel of John, a production of the Canadian company Visual Bible International. This three-hour drama attempts to accurately follow the Gospel According to John, written sometime during the first century. The gospel contains four segments: an introduction to the nature of Jesus Christ; testimony by disciples and the presence of miracles; the Last Supper and crucifixion; and the appearance of the risen Christ. Henry Ian Cusick plays Jesus and Christopher Plummer provides voice-over narration. The Gospel of John was shown in a special presentation at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Virtually every "alien at large" movie ever filmed is referenced in the made-for-TV shocker Survivor, which nonetheless manages to sustain audience attention with a few adroit cliché reversals. It seems that, billions of years ago, a race of extraterrestrials bred pre-evolutionary human beings for organ-harvesting purposes. Unfortunately, the alien ship bearing these primitive humans crashed on contact with the earth, and has remained frozen in the Arctic wastes ever since. Flash-forward to the present: Oil driller Adam King (Greg Evigan) and his team, cut off from civilization, inadvertently revive the sole survivor of the long-ago crash. Turns out that this creature is very, very hungry after his long sleep--and he has a distinct preference for the taste of human flesh! Originally aired as part of UPN's "Nightworld" movie series, Survivor made its American TV bow on May 13, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The recent death of his wife is just one of several blows endured by big-city surgeon Michael (Robert Hays), who has lost confidence in his skills and his been going through the motions only for the sake of his daughter Jilly (Ashley Gorrell). Summoned by his crusty dad Bob (Jack Palance) to come back to his home town for the first time in 20 years, Michael finds out that he is expected to take over the local hospital. None too keen on the prospect, Michael changes his mind when he is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, local veterinarian Sarah (Ann Jillian), who in the absence of anyone else is the hospital's only full time physician. As Michael weighs his future options--can he really go home again, or has he become too jaded by life in the city?--foxy Bob conspires with Jilly to bring Michael and Sarah back together again. First telecast on the CBS network, the made-for-TV I'll Be Home for Christmas originally aired December 23, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi