Stephanie Morgenstern Movies
- 2008
This intense police drama follows the high-octane adventures of the Strategic Response Unit; an elite team of cops who handle the highest of high-stakes situations. Intercepting kidnappers, scaling buildings, and defusing bombs are all tasks that an SRU team member could handle in a day's work, but even though these skilled lawmen are the best of the best with guns, explosives, and the intricacies of human psychology, the consequences of their adrenaline filled dayjobs always seems to find its way into their private lives. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Love, death, and fish all mingle in this offbeat comedy-drama from award-winning Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. Bibiane Champagne (Marie-Josee Croze) is the daughter of a well-known fashion designer who dabbles in modeling when she's not busy helping to run the family business with her brother Phillippe (Bobby Beshro). But Bibiane has not been especially happy in her work lately, owing in part to an unexpected pregnancy that led her to have an abortion. Bibiane tries drowning her sorrows in alcohol and drugs, and late one night, after several drinks too many, she hits a jaywalker while driving home. The pedestrian staggers away after the accident, and the next morning, Bibiane remembers what happened and is frightened at the prospect that she may have killed someone. When Bibiane reads a newspaper account the next day of a seafood delivery man who died in his kitchen after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, she's convinced she was responsible for the crime. Guiltily attending the man's funeral, Bibiane strikes up a conversation with his son, Evian (Jean-Nicholas Verreault), and soon the two have become romantically involved, with Bibiane unable to tell Evian her secret. Maelstrom was shown in competition at both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in 2000. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie-Josée Croze, Stephanie Morgenstern, (more)
- 2000
A resident of Montreal, the serially shy Malcolm (Andrew Tarbet) has never had a girlfriend. However, his ability to listen attentively has earned him the friendship of a number of women, including an elderly lady for whom he plays the piano and an abused neighbor he gives shelter. Malcolm's placid, solitary existence comes to an abrupt halt, however, when he meets Alicia (Laia Marull), a hot-blooded Chilean coping with imminent deportation. Against all of his natural inclinations, Malcolm is forced out of his shell by Alicia, even rising to the opportunity of a lusty round of salsa dancing. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laia Marull, Dino Tavarone, (more)
- 1999
Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates directed this made-for-cable feature inspired by the true story of one of America's greatest literary couples, Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett. Hellman (Judy Davis) was an award-winning playwright whose successes included The Children's Hour and The Little Foxes, while Hammett (Sam Shepard) was a superlative mystery writer whose books inspired such classic films as The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon. The couple met in the 1930s, while Hammett was working in Hollywood as a screenwriter. They remained together until Hammett's death from lung cancer in 1961 (never married despite the conventions of the day) in a relationship strained by Hammett's infidelity and their shared alcoholism. Dash and Lilly uses Hellman's 1950s testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee as a springboard to look back at their relationship; both Hammett and Hellman were branded as Communists and called before HUAC, leading to a prison term for Hammett. The film also features Bebe Neuwirth as Dorothy Parker, Laurence Luckinbill as Joseph Rauh, and Mark Zimmerman as Walter Winchell. Hellman's relationship with Hammett formed one of the plot points of the 1977 biopic Julia, which starred Jane Fonda as Hellman and Jason Robards in an Oscar-winning performance as Hammett. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Shepard, Judy Davis, (more)
- 1998
In this film, an innocent-seeming reunion between two old friends opens old, painful wounds. Following the demise of her latest relationship, Juliet (Stephanie Morgenstern) compiles a list of things to accomplish. Contacting her estranged friend Julie (Dominique Leduc), whom she hasn't seen in 15 years, ranks first among those tasks. When Juliet suddenly shows up at the door of Julie's farmhouse, the latter doesn't seem that thrilled; for a while the conversation is stilted and fraught with unspoken feeling, but as the day progresses, the two loosen up. By nightfall Julie and Juliet are fast friends again. Too much wine spoils the evening when an emboldened Juliet suddenly leans forward and kisses Julie on the lips. At this point it's revealed that it was a similar incident that caused their estrangement. Time has not made it easier on either the love-lorn Juliet or the repulsed Julie, both of whom feel compelled to finally address their feelings directly. Their attempts to reconcile their divergent emotions with their bonds of friendship comprise the rest of the story. This low-budget, independent Canadian drama from first-time director Jeanne Crépeau first screened at the Montreal Festival of New Cinema & New Media. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dominique Leduc, Stephanie Morgenstern, (more)
- 1993
This Canadian documentary chronicles the heyday of Lesbian-oriented pulp romantic fiction in the 1950s, an era when titles such as "Odd Girl Out" spoke volumes to the isolated and confused young lesbians of the era. The scriptwriter for this documentary, Ann Brannan was one of the authors of these novels. Nine women from the period describe their lives at that time, and the comfort they gained from these minor works of fiction. Among other things, they were forced to resort to "safe" dates with homosexual men in order to hide their orientations. If they chose to hang out at bars, they ran the constant risk of police raids, the result of which was having their identities revealed publicly. Being shunned by their families for their orientations was in some ways the least of the dangers they faced. The desperate measures resorted to by the protagonists in the novels are shown to have been tame compared to the experiences of these real women. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephanie Morgenstern, Lynne Adams, (more)
- 1990
Simon (Michel Cote) is fed up with his job as a court bailiff. He's fed up with his life in the cold of Quebec. He's fed up with his wife. He settles accounts with her, and out of the nearly $40,000 he has left, buys a convertible and heads south to Florida. He has recently inherited a house there from his mother, and he plans to sell it for enough money to live on. When he gets there, he finds an unemployed woman (C;aore Mebpit) squatting there. She gets by through stealing and pulling small con jobs. Instead of kicking her out, he becomes acquainted with her. As they get to know each other's inner lives, they also fall in love. The two of them play word-games with each other, and it looks as though, if at least one of them can find work, they might have a life together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Cote, Claire Nebout, (more)
Based on E.T.A. Hoffman's classic book The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, this animated holiday tale utilizes the vocal talents of such stars as Kiefer Sutherland, Peter O'Toole and Phyllis Diller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland, Megan Follows, (more)
- 1986
- PG
Toby McTeague (Yannick Bisson) is a teen-aged boy, living in a flyspeck town in Northern Canada with his father and younger brother. Toby's thriving livelihood, raising and training sled dogs, is threatened by a dip in the local economy. His problems are intensified by the ongoing hostilities between Toby and his dad (Winston Reckert). Running away from home, Toby makes the acquaintance of elderly Indian chief George Wild Dog (George Clutesi), who years earlier had been "shaman," or spiritual advisor, to Toby's father. It is Chief Wild Dog who mystically brings father and son together at the film's climax, in addition to rescuing Toby's sled-dog business in a near-miraculous fashion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yannick Bisson, Winston Rekert, (more)
- 1986
A Canadian-Australian coproducton which originally aired over Australia's 7 Network, the six-hour miniseries Spearfield's Daughter stars Kim Braden as the title character. The daughter of a prominent and powerful Australian politician (Chris Wiggins), Cleo Spearfield (Kim Braden) incurs her father's wrath by becoming a reporter, with the Vietnam war as her "beat." When not dodging bullets and negotiating rice paddies, Cleo is wooed by two attractive gentemen, gonzo American journalist Tom Border (Steve Railsback) and Murdoch-like British publishing mogul Lord Jack Cruze (Christopher Plummer. Adapted by Jon Cleary from his own novel, Spearfield's Daughter was syndicated to the US beginning the week of May 25, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
