Michael Petrovich Movies
The fancy footwork and star appeal of Gregory Hines as Raymond, an exiled American, and the powerful grace of Mikhail Baryshnikov as Nikolai, a defector, combine with a great production design to carry this otherwise thinly-stretched tale of intrigue. With a stellar supporting cast (Isabella Rossellini as Raymond's wife, Helen Mirren as Nikolai's lover, and Jerzy Skolimowski, the Polish director, as a wily KGB agent), the film has a few excellent moments. Nikolai has defected from the former USSR some time in the past. While on a trip, his plane spectacularly crashes on a runway in Siberia. Trapped in the country he had escaped, he is brought to stay with Raymond, an American who defected during the Vietnam war. Nikolai desperately wants to get out of the country, but the Russians have other plans. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, (more)
Building is Howard's passion, and he is so absorbed in his plans to build an elaborate resort in the Blue Mountains of Australia that he ignores certain obvious signals that his business partner is not entirely on the up-and-up. After a brush fire destroys the resort, an insurance investigator comes nosing around, whom Howard's partner deals with in a drastic manner. By the time Lloyds of London's senior investigator George Engels (James Mason in one of his last roles) arrives on the scene, Howard (Tom Skerritt) is anxious to set things to rights. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Ian Gilmour, (more)
This grim, violent Australian production is an artless mishmash incorporating elements of The Road Warrior, 1984 , and The Most Dangerous Game. The story is set in a dystopian future society where all "deviants" (i.e. anyone whose ideas don't jive with those of the government) are interred in nightmarish re-education camps where they are tortured, beaten, raped and put to death -- mostly on the whim of the psychotic commandant (Michael Craig). Periodically, a handful of particularly defiant inmates will be released unarmed to be hunted down (for the entertainment of the elite) in a free-for-all "Turkey Shoot" (the film's original Australian title). Among the latest batch of potential targets are strong-willed Steve Railsback and Olivia Hussey, who are confronted in the wilderness by the commandant and his goofy mutant cronies -- all of whom carry rocket-launchers, exploding arrows, and flamethrowers. This entire exercise is basically a prolonged excuse for a plethora of cheap, splattery makeup effects, made far more unpleasant by the blatant sadism of the proceedings. Unsuspecting viewers exposed to this film may wish to follow with My Brilliant Career to restore their faith in Australian cinema. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, (more)
- 1977
The gimmick on this episode is a mind-transfer machine which drains all conscious thoughts from people, leaving them in a vegetative state. The villain of the piece steals the machine, hoping to harvest a secret code from the minds of three captured agents, each of whom knows only a portion of the code. Steed (Patrick MacNee), who devised this "selective memory" strategy, must go it alone to stop the villains. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
In 1974, flanked by such filmic monuments to paranoia and corruption as Chinatown and The Parallax View, Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland tried to re-create the screwball nonchalance of their earlier M*A*S*H performances in this lightweight spy spoof, directed by Irvin Kershner. Gould and Sutherland play two CIA agents -- Griff and Bruland -- who are marked for death by their own agency after botching the defection of a Russian ballet dancer (Michael Petrovich). As they repeatedly mess up their assignments and wriggle out of tight corners, they not only find themselves pursued by the CIA, but also by the KGB, the Chinese Communists, and a terrorist group that wants to destroy the CIA. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, (more)
With minimalist production values and little dialog, this romantic fantasy takes place on the barren Isle of Jersey where a troubled wife has come to sort out the tumult of her life. She encounters a lighthouse-keeper there and they quickly become lovers. Together they flee to Scotland. One day they are making love on a beach when the lighthouse keeper dies. Things don't get better when he returns from the dead to haunt her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- R
Essentially a reworking of their earlier omnibus Asylum, this is another anthology of pulp horror tales from Amicus, this one helmed by the ever-reliable Freddie Francis. It features a quartet of eerie vignettes involving four patients in the care of psychiatrist Dr. Tremayne (Donald Pleasence), who is attempting to justify his strange theories to a colleague (Jack Hawkins, who died shortly after his scenes were filmed) by explaining the horrific events that drove the patients to their current state. The first tale centers on a young boy (Russell Lewis), whose parents' constant squabbling prompts him to conjure an imaginary tiger to devour them. The second involves a Victorian-era bicycle which allows its finder (Peter McEnery) to travel back in time and live as his own ancestor. The goofy third chapter pits a jealous wife (Joan Collins) against a strange rival for her husband's attention: a tree possessed by a human soul. The final segment stars Kim Novak (a last-minute replacement for Rita Hayworth) as a literary agent who must sacrifice her own daughter (Mary Tamm) to appease the restless spirit of her client's mother. Although certainly not the studio's best effort, this is still an amusing diversion, featuring the standard twist ending and a flamboyant approach suggestive of EC horror comics. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
