Geoffrey Bateman Movies

A man who ruins relationships for a living may have finally found a woman he can't easily manipulate in this French comedy from writer and director Pascal Chaumeil. Alex (Romain Duris) is a handsome man who knows how to make women fall for him, and he's found an unusual way of making money from this talent -- guys who want to break up with their wives or girlfriends but lack the nerve can hire Alex to woo them away, and once the women have given their men the bad news, Alex makes himself scarce. While Alex has built a lucrative cottage industry from this scheme, business has been in a slump, and when he's given an especially difficult assignment, he takes it against his better judgment. Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln) are both wealthy, attractive, and deeply in love, but a third party wants to stop their upcoming marriage and hires Alex to pose as her bodyguard in Monaco as she arrives a few days before the wedding. However, no matter what Alex does, his efforts backfire and Juliette seems immune to his charm; even worse, the harder he tries, the more he finds himself falling for her. L'Arnacoeur (aka Heartbreaker) was received its North American premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This visually stunning release presented by Jean-Michel Cousteau takes a rarely seen real, up-close look at some of the most impressive creatures to inhabit the ocean, such as great whites, hammerheads, whale sharks, and more - all viewed their natural states, interacting peacefully and showing fascinating intelligence. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Pierre Richard directed, co-scripted and stars in this French comedy. Former top film comedian Romain (Richard) is on a downward spiral -- rehearsing a play directed by his sister while also dealing with his wife, mistress, taxes, low self-esteem, demands for attention from his two children, and a private detective attempting to snap incriminating photos. Producer Jean-Louis Levi appears in a cameo as a poverty-stricken bum. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The four-part British miniseries Pursuit, based upon Robert L. Fish's novel of the same name, was first telecast in the United States as the two-part "movie special" Twist of Fate. Bruce Greenwood essayed the leading role of Helmut Von Schraeder, an ex-S.S. officer on the run after conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Undergoing plastic surgery, Von Schraeder assumed the new identity of Jewish concentration camp survivor Daniel Grossman. And as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, "Grossman" went on to a colorful career as an Israeli freedom fighter. The huge multinational cast included British film and TV stalwart Ben Cross and American leading lady Sarah Jessica Parker. Though made for British television, Pursuit did not air in that country until 1990, a full year after its American debut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A pair of British lads, one gay and one socialist, chafe at the restrictions of boarding school life in this period piece, which was adapted from Julian Mitchell's novel and play of the same name and loosely based on the Burgess-Maclean spy scandal of the 1950s. In the 1930s, upper-class scions Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) and Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) are both nearing the end of their careers at an unnamed public school that bears a striking resemblance to Eton. Tommy, a Marxist intellectual, refuses to participate actively in the school's rigid social hierarchy. But Guy, when not mooning after pretty boys, angles for a position next term as one of the "gods," or master prefects, of his house. When a faculty member stumbles onto the homosexual fumblings of a pair of students, one boy commits suicide and a scandal erupts. The administration and senior students do their best to ensure nothing of this sort ever sullies their reputation again. Considering that homosexual experimentation is rampant and that Guy has slept with most of the prefects in his house, the strict new rules leave a bad taste in his mouth. They also put a damper on his Wildean lifestyle, especially after he falls hopelessly in love with James Harcourt (Cary Elwes), a dreamy boy from one of the other houses. Things come to a head when autocratic prefect Fowler (Tristan Oliver) intercepts a letter from Guy to James and sentences Guy to a savage beating. By film's end, Guy's complicity in the power games of the British class system has been challenged, and his friend Tommy's communist dogma has made a lasting impression; a framing device portrays Guy as an elderly former spy living in exile in Soviet Moscow. Another Country was shot at Cambridge, Oxford, and Althorp Hall (Princess Diana's childhood home) after the producers were denied permission to shoot at Eton. Everett and Firth both appeared in the original London theater production alongside Kenneth Branagh and Daniel Day-Lewis; on-stage, it was actually Firth who played Guy. For a more factual account of the Burgess-Maclean affair, see the TV movie An Englishman Abroad. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

In the conclusion of the four-part story "Nightmare of Eden," the Doctor (Tom Baker) has successfully disposed of the Mandrels, a breed of space animals who had been set free from an electronic zoo by the collision of two space cruisers. Now he must expose the identity of the man who has been smuggling a dangerously addictive drug, derived from material found in rotting Mandrel corpses. Originally telecast December 15, 1979, "Nightmare of Eden, Episode 4" was written by Bob Baker and codirected by Alan Bromly and (uncredited) Graham Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the second episode of the four-part story "Nightmare of Eden," the Doctor (Tom Baker) encounters danger in the unstable matter zones created by a collision in hyperspace of two space cruisers, the Empress and the Hecate. In addition to tracking down dozens of bizarre animals called Mandrels who have escaped from an electronic zoo, the Doctor is also threatened by the unchecked activities of two bands of drug smugglers. Originally telecast December 1, 1979, "Nightmare of Eden, Episode 2" was written by Bob Baker and codirected by Alan Bromly and (uncredited) Graham Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The touch of Midas (Gilles Millinaire) is hardly golden in this episode. It seems that the young called Midas is a carrier of every known disease, and can kill with the slightest contact of his fingertips ("They died of everything!" is the diagnosis whenever one of his victims is found). Enticed with a huge prize of gold, Midas agrees to wreak havoc on England in general and the Avengers in particular on behalf of a sinister foreign diplomat. The pot is sweetened when Purdey (Joanne Lumley) is kidnapped and offered up as Mida's companion for the evening--an experience which of course will have fatal consequences for our heroine. Raiders of the Lost Ark bad guy Ronald Lacey guest stars as Hong Kong Harry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi