Brenda Kamino Movies
The surreal and the supernatural join forces in this extremely unusual "AIDS musical." The story features the ghost of the French-Canadian airline steward (played by Normand Fauteux) who, according to And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts' book about the AIDS epidemic, was the origin of one of the largest outbreaks of HIV. Known as "Patient Zero" by the Centers for Disease Control, the handsome and promiscuous steward was basically the "Typhoid Mary" of the AIDS phenomenon. In the story, Patient Zero comes back from limbo as a ghost to see his friends suffering from the syndrome: some dying, the rest protesting at ACT-UP rallies. He realizes that his memory has been vilified as the extremely promiscuous source of all this suffering. However, it is only when he becomes aware of an exhibit being prepared at the Toronto Natural History Museum, one which singles him out yet again as the villain, that he becomes aware that the exhibit's curator is an unusual being in his own right. In fact, the show is being put together the famous nineteenth-century explorer of the upper Nile, Sir Richard Burton (John Robinson), inexplicably still living, working at the museum, and filled with misguided homophobia. Though no one else can see Zero, Burton can, and eventually the two become lovers and the ancient explorer comes to view "Patient Zero" as "the heroic slut who inspired safe sex." Musical numbers include a high-camp underwater ballet production of {&Tell Me The Story of My Life." ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Robinson, Dianne Heatherington, (more)
- 1992
Brian Dennehy makes one of his many TV-movie appearances as Chicago homicide cop John Reed in the two-part Deadly Matrimony. Reed's quarry this time is mob lawyer Treat Williams, who murders his wife and then effectively covers his tracks. The closer Reed comes to the truth, the more he's in jeopardy of losing his job (and possibly his life) thanks to Williams' friends in high places. Based on a true story, part one of Deadly Matrimony was first telecast on November 22, 1992. In part two, which debuted November 23, Reed is victimized by the crooked cops under Williams' thumb, but refuses to knuckle under to mob pressure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Lisa Eilbacher, (more)
- 1991
- R
When police officer Sean Craig (Martin Kove) is shot while on the job, he is pronounced dead, but remarkably comes back to life. When he is haunted by the strange dream he experienced while he was clinically dead, he sets out to find the mysterious woman who appears in the visions. With the help of a curious doctor (Martha Henry), Craig makes another attempt to attain a near-death state and piece together the rest of the puzzling vision. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Kove, Martha Henry, (more)
Goldie Hawn delivers a surprisingly understated performance (allowing the audience to shift their laughter from the usually comic Hawn to the unbelievable storyline) in the unsuccessful thriller Deceived. Hawn plays Adrienne Saunders, a successful art restorer who is married to Jack (John Heard), a devoted husband who is also an expert in the antiques business. Married for six years and parents of a charming 5-year-old daughter Mary (Ashley Peldon), the Saunders appear to have everything going for them. But after a series of odd occurrences that even an idiot would notice, Adrienne finally comes the conclusion that her husband is not the man she thought he was when she married him. After Jack tells Mary that he was in Boston but Adrienne's friend tells her she saw him in New York, the mysterious clues begin piling up and are too numerous to ignore: there's a call from a department store concerning some sexy lingerie that Jack purchased; a friend is found murdered after checking on the authenticity of an Egyptian necklace; and there are indications that Jack was involved with a scheme to steal artifacts from a museum. Adrienne is finally convinced that something is fishy about her husband when he mysteriously dies is an auto wreck, and she discovers that Jack has been using the name of a man who had died 16 years earlier. Adrienne proceeds to polish her magnifying glass and conducts some detective work on her own to find out who her husband really was. This is when the danger really begins. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, John Heard, (more)
- 1987
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Lensed on a smile and a shoeshine on 16 millimeter, I've Heard the Mermaids Singing effectively shifts from black and white to color and back again to make its artistic statement. Sheila McCarthy stars as a self-effacing amateur photographer who goes to work for yuppie art-curator Paule Baillargeon. Ms. McCarthy expresses her admiration for Ms. Baillargeon by secretly submitting the latter's paintings to some appreciative critics. Baillargeon responds by behaving atrociously towards McCarthy. This shakes up McCarthy to the point that she realizes she'll never succeed as an artist on her own terms long as she hides behind the accomplishments of others. This apparently autobiographical first film by director Patricia Rozema (we say "apparently" because Sheila McCarthy's character name is rhythmically and ethnically close to Rozema's) won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, (more)
- 1986
This parody by Jack Darcus sends up the Canadian film industry. Among the protagonists is Vladimir (Alan Scarfe), an exiled Czech filmmaker who arrives in Canada to shoot a most disrespectable porno film after winning an award at Cannes. But Vladimir's halcyon days of glory are all in the past, and the producer he gets for his skin flick went over the hill several miles ago. Nevertheless, the production continues with all the attendant problems any low-budget effort will encounter, even the potentially menacing visit of a Hollywood talent scout. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Ertmanis, Gale Garnett, (more)
