Xavier Marchand Movies
One instance where the title says it all, Lesbian Vampire Killers finds screenwriters Stewart Williams and Paul Hupfield and director Phil Claydon plunging headfirst into guilty pleasure territory with an unrestrained, sex-laden horror comedy. The picture stars Mathew Horne and James Corden of the UK series Gavin and Stacey as (respectively) Jimmy and Fletch, two buddies who wind up in a British village with dozens of women caught up in a Sapphic vampire curse - driven by a lust for each other's bodies and an insatiable craving for human blood. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mathew Horne, James Corden, (more)
- 2005
Valerie Lemercier's royal comedy Palais Royal! stars Valerie Lemercier as a commoner who is married to a prince (Lambert Wilson). When the king dies, the queen (Catherine Deneuve) pulls strings to have the Prince jump the order of succession and take control. The wife has little aptitude for being the wife of royalty, but soon becomes quite good at it in order to gain some power after she discovers that her husband is sleeping with another woman. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Valérie Lemercier, Lambert Wilson, (more)
Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Birth takes place in New York's Upper East Side, where Anna (Nicole Kidman), a 35-year-old widow, resides. Just as Anna has shaken off what she thought were the final remnants of her old life -- she has even found love with a new man, Joseph (Danny Huston), whom she plans on marrying -- Sean (Cameron Bright), a ten-year-old boy, comes into her life insisting that he is the reincarnation of her late husband. Though she initially brushes off the boy's claims as the result of a crush on her, his grave demeanor and uncanny knowledge of her life leads Anna through a self-reevaluation that not only threatens her marital plans with Joseph (Huston), but also strains her relationship with her mother, Eleanor (Lauren Bacall). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, (more)
A woman throws herself into a last-ditch struggle to conquer her demons in this gritty drama from director Olivier Assayas. Lee Hauser (James Johnston) is a faded rock star who lives with his wife, Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung), the former host of a European music video show, in a small town in Western Canada. Both Lee and Emily have been battling drug addiction for years, and when Lee finally dies of an OD, Emily finds herself charged with possession of heroin and ends up spending six months in jail. Lee and Emily's son, Jay (James Dennis), has been living with his paternal grandparents, Albrecht (Nick Nolte) and Rosemary (Martha Henry), and while Emily is eager to see her son after getting out of jail, Albrecht persuades her that she needs to get herself clean before she can reconnect with Jay. Determined to get off methadone, Emily relocates to France, where she scares up a job as a waitress and moves in with her old friend Elena (Béatrice Dalle). Emily's attempts to start a new career and stay off drugs prove to be an uphill battle, and she doesn't appear to be winning her fight when she learns that Albrecht and Jay will be accompanying Rosemary to London for medical treatment when Rosemary contracts a serious illness -- and that Albrecht is considering making a side trip to Paris. Clean was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maggie Cheung, Nick Nolte, (more)
Directed by David Caesar, Dirty Deeds is an Australian crime picture inspired by real-life Sydney mobsters, and is set in the Sydney crime underworld of 1969. Bryan Brown stars as Barry Ryan, a prominent gangster whose ruthlessness rivals some of the toughest in the trade. He lives with his downbeat wife, Sharon (Toni Collette), and their son, but spends the majority of his time either with fellow mobsters or his mistress, Margaret (Kestie Morassi). Ryan's business is threatened when a Chicago Mafia boss dispatches two of his goons to scope out the poker machine scene for a potential takeover. Tony (John Goodman) and Sal (Felix Williamson), however, are lost when it comes to Australian culture, and stick out like a sore thumb. Negotiating with the Americans will be difficult enough for Barry, but the real blow comes when he learns that one of his own gang members has been deceitful. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, (more)
