Allan Royal Movies
- 1971
In this drama, an idealistic and romantic young woman leaves home and moves into the home of her boyfriend, a teacher, and learns a valuable lesson about life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
The Northern Canadian wilderness is the background for the fight for survival of 2 prejudiced men after their military plane crashes. (AKA Men of Steel) ~ All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
Weak dialogue and a muddy plot undermine this crime drama about the Mafia's attempt to not only fix a championship fight, but to have the defending champion killed off in the ring. Frank Renzetti (Tony Curtis) is the ring owner who contacts the Mafia with this idea and Blake (Richard Gabourie) is his nemesis. Blake is a violent, mean cop who is rather misogynist but at least he hates the bad guys. The problem is that for the viewers as well as Blake, it is very difficult to tell who the bad guys are. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Richard Gabourie, (more)
- 1987
Produced in Canada, Taking Care consists of a series of short informational spots. The emphasis in on the care and treatment of pets, specifically those who have been abandoned. While the notion of tending to animal's emotional wellbeing might be the cause of derision in some circles, the series emphasizes that there's nothing really amusing about a spiritually wounded pet. Of the human participants in Taking Care, one has recently emerged as a star-in-the-making: Saul Rubinek. The project was the handiwork of producer/director Clarke Mackey, a Canadian TV stalwart since the early 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Lynch, Janet Amos, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this grim exploitation outing, a luckless detective begins working for a worried madam who wants him to find one of her hookers, a woman suffering from a dual personality, one of whom is a cold-blooded killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Birney, Season Hubley, (more)
- 1988
- PG
The 1920s-era play The Front Page was about a Chicago reporter who wants to retire and get married but is tricked by his editor into doing one last story -- which proves to be complicated. It was made into a classic film in 1931 and inspired the 1940 hit movie His Girl Friday, in which the reporter was changed into a woman. Billy Wilder also remade the original film in 1974. Switching Channels is a 1988 remake of His Girl Friday, with Kathleen Turner in the starring role, which has now morphed into that of a cable television network news anchor, Christy Colleran. She wants to marry a rich and handsome sporting goods manufacturer, Blaine Bingham (Christopher Reeve) and move out of town. But her ex-husband, John L. Sullivan IV (Burt Reynolds), who is also her producer and boss, gives her one final assignment to try to keep her around. Her reporting leads her into an investigation of a jail escape that follows a botched-up execution. Writer Jonathan Reynolds updated the original material. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds, (more)
- 1988
- PG
After their plane crashes in a remote wilderness area, two Canadian military officers, one French, the other British, must fight for their physical survival and contend with their mutual mistrust and prejudice resulting from the age-old battle between Canada's French and English societies. ~ All Movie Guide
This tech-world biopic traces the fortunes of personal-computer companies Apple and Microsoft from their obscure dorm-room and backyard origins to their very public battle for corporate supremacy. Writer/director Martyn Burke follows the parallel lives of Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Anthony Michael Hall) and Apple co-founders Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick) -- the former a crafty Harvard dropout, the latter a pair of hippies with jobs at Hewlett-Packard and a yen to sell miniature versions of corporate mainframes to small businesses and at-home enthusiasts. Much like the personal-computer industry itself, the action starts with Apple then gradually shifts to Microsoft. The former plot thread recounts how Jobs and Wozniak "borrowed" key concepts from a Xerox computer lab, eked out their success as countercultural businessmen, and finally fell out with one another over the pressure of success. The latter thread focuses on the way Gates learned from, then surpassed, the brains behind Apple and turned his company into the global powerhouse that it is today. Based on Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine's Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer, the film actually focuses only on that book's final chapters. Produced for cable channel TNT, Pirates of Silicon Valley debuted June 18, 1999. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noah Wyle, Anthony Michael Hall, (more)
- 1999
This fact-based TV movie begins in 1987, as high-school athlete Alex Kelly (Matthew Settle) awaits his trial for the rape of one girl and the intimidation of several others. Rather than face the justice system, Alex flees to Europe, where he spends virtually the next decade, with covert financial help from his family. Falling in love with a girl in Sweden, Alex builds a whole new life for himself. Ultimately, however, Interpol tracks Alex down, whereupon the story takes a dramatic new turn. Told from the point of view of Alex's female victim, the film does nothing to whitewash its protagonist, even though actor Settle manages to invest his character with a modicum of sympathy; plus, the viewer is left to ponder whether the fault lies entirely with Alex, or with his upbringing. First broadcast by CBS as Crime in Connecticut: The Return of Alex Kelly on March 16, 1999, the film has since been rerun on cable as The Return of Alex Kelly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Settle, Cassidy Rae, (more)
