Maxine John-James Movies
- 1994
In this satirical political thriller, detective Arthur Decowitz (John Dennis Johnston), better known as Art Deco, is a hard-boiled private eye. A dangerous international criminal genius, The Hyena (Stephen McHattie), plans to blow up Los Angeles, and the CIA have gotten wind of his plan. However, they need a fall guy for their plot to foil the Hyena's scheme, and they set up Art Deco as a possible conspirator. Cult figure Brion James appears in the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Dennis Johnston, Stephen McHattie, (more)
Robert Altman takes a scalpel to Hollywood ethics in the 1990s (or the lack thereof) in his acidic satire The Player, adapted from Michael Tolkin's novel. (Tolkin also wrote the screenplay.) The film concerns a sleek and smooth Hollywood studio executive who starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer because he has committed the ultimate Hollywood sin -- he promised the writer he would call him back and he never did. This is particularly ironic because the studio executive, Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), is considered "writer-friendly," spending his days listening to pitches from such noted screenwriters as Buck Henry, who is pushing "The Graduate, Part II" and Alan Rudolph, who is hawking a Bruce Willis action film described as "Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate." But The Player finds Griffin's comfortable life style in danger of collapse. He is trying to find a way to unload his girlfriend (Cynthia Stevenson) whose independence and intelligence make her a poor candidate for a trophy wife. More importantly, it seems that Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), a slippery executive from Twentieth Century Fox, is angling for his job. And then there are those nasty postcards and faxes from a screenwriter threatening to kill him. Altman cast over 65 stars in cameo roles as texture for his scabrous tale. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, (more)
- 1990
Beyond the Silhouette a Canadian-made, silly, erotic political thriller uses so many pretentious effects and dream sequences that it is almost impossible to follow the story. Samatha Stewart (Tracy Scoggins) is a prim public defender who gives a ride to Vicky (Suzy Joachim) a sexy prostitute running from some hit men and hiding a valuable broach. Before she is murdered, Vicky gives the broach to Samatha who then becomes Vicky's alter-ego, eventually becoming a prostitute. This direct-to-video erotic thriller will disappoint those looking for softcore sex. While Scoggins is quite beautiful, she does little more than model a variety of sexy lingerie and the sex scenes are infrequent. Those looking for good erotic thrillers might well look elsewhere. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Scoggins, Marc Singer, (more)
