Jan Rubes Movies
Canadian actor Jan Rubes made his screen debut in The Incredible Journey (1963) and went on to have a fairly busy career as a supporting actor. Rubes was a native of Czechoslovakia and was married to actress Susan Douglas with whom he appeared in The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick (1990). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In Deepa Mehta's poignant and heartbreaking romance, Emilia Fox plays Fay, a generally content, thirtysomething Torontoite suffering in a relationship of quiet desperation with her boyfriend; Bruce Greenwood is Tom Avery, a loser in the ways of romance with three broken-hearted marriages behind him, who hosts a late-night call-in radio program. The two meet and grow deeply smitten with one another, but must ultimately learn to accept one another unconditionally. Life seems just about perfect, until an unforeseen calamity challenges everything Fay has come to rely on as stable and solid. Mehta adapted the novel of the same title by Canadian author Carol Shields. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Emilia Fox, (more)
- 2000
A crystal skull, an alien artifact found in a Mayan pyramid, comes into the possession of Jackson (Michael Shanks)--who promplty vanishes from sight. Apparently the only hope for bringing Jackson back rests in the hands of his grandfather Nick (Jan Rubes), who, having been shunned by the scientific community after claiming to find the same crystal skull back in 1971, is currently in a mental institution. The plot thickens when Teal'c (Christopher Judge) becomes temporary cartetaker of the ubiquitous skull. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- PG
- Add Believe to Queue
Two young friends find themselves immersed in a supernatural mystery after a notorious neighborhood ghost reveals itself to them. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1998
- PG13
Two inspiring true tales comprise this feature. Both center on ordinary people who risked everything during WW II to save Jewish people from the Holocaust. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Perkins, Martin Donovan, (more)
- 1997
Based on actual events from the early '90s and first aired on the Family Channel, this exciting drama centers on the attempts of one small town to keep the Mississippi river from destroying it. The leaders in this seemingly impossible quest are widower farmer Herb and the Army Corps of Engineers woman he loves. Despite their efforts to shore up the town's levees, the water keeps rising, and the town is increasingly at risk. When a levee up-river breaks, Herb's kids are caught in the flood and a massive search ensues. Finally, just as the town is about to be inundated, Herb finds himself forced to make a difficult decision between the town's welfare and his own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Thomas, Kate Vernon, (more)
- 1997
Still on suspension from the ER, Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) stops off at a local convenience store, and ends up smack dab in the middle of a robbery. Shots rings out, the store's owner and one of the robbers are wounded, and the incident turns into a dangerous hostage situation. Hoping to save the lives of the other people in the store, Carol simultaneously tries to defuse the situation and tend to the wounded. Neatly sidestepping the usual TV cliché, the hostage crisis is resolved some 20 minutes before the end of the episode -- but Carol's troubles are far from over. "The Long Way Around" earned an Emmy award for Best Editing. Ewan McGregor guest starred as one of the robbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
Quirky Canadian director Atom Egoyan helmed this, the only fictional entry in a series of six films, titled "Yo-Yo Ma Inspired Bach." The story centers on the world-renowned cellist and is a free-form series of unrelated connections between people. As the story begins, Ma is flying to Toronto via Canadian Airlines. Meanwhile, his limo driver Sammy Angelopoulos patiently waits for him at the Air Canada terminal. Their connection, needless to say, is going to be delayed. Real estate agent Sarah is trying to find someone to buy the home of the aged Dr. Kassovitz. The trouble is, the good doctor refuses to sell unless the buyer promises to keep the furniture and his art collection intact. Sarah has a bad cough and goes to see the attractive Dr. Angela France, an amateur cellist who is attending one of Ma's master classes. Dr. Kassovitz later gives Sarah tickets to Ma's concert while her sweetie Max pays Dr. France a visit himself. Max hates classical music, but Sammy, another of Dr. France's patrons adores it and hails Ma "an ambassador of God." In the midst of all the connection making, Ma can be heard playing Bach's Suite No. 4 for cello. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yo-Yo Ma, Lori Singer, (more)
- 1997
In this two-part suspenser inspired by Ken Follett's bestselling novel, university pscyhobiologist Jenny Ferrami (Kelly McGillis), in the process of studying a possible link between genetics and criminal behavior, stumbles upon a secret cloning experiment conducted by a major company. Figuring prominently in the proceedings is likeable law student Steve Logan (Jason Gedrick), who may or may not be the identical twin of a serial rapist. . .or possibly two rapists! It turns out that there are far more human "duplicates" in the world than Jenny could ever have imagined--and as she tracks down these clones to convince the public that there is dirty work afoot, sinister forces, tied in with a powerful triumverate, conspire to silence Jenny for keeps. Originally telecast by CBS, Ken Follett's The Third Twin first aired on November 9 and 11, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly McGillis, Jason Gedrick, (more)
- 1996
- PG
Residents in a retirement home band together to thwart the thievery of the home's crooked director. Woody, Joseph, Olive (Cloris Leachman) and Peter were a bridge foursome. The film opens at Peter's funeral where Joseph (Jan Rubes) is attempting to recruit Rose (Olympia Dukakis) to fill Peter's spot at the bridge table. Acting on a prior understanding with Peter, Woody (Jean Lapointe) goes to the home's director, Carl (Matt Craven), and tries to get the money Peter allocated to cover the costs of his funeral. Carl claims Peter left the money to the home, and nothing is available for the funeral. Woody knows perfectly well that Peter would do no such thing, and his suspicions are aroused. The four bridge players begin to notice other, equally shady, things going on, and so put together a sting operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olympia Dukakis, Cloris Leachman, (more)
- 1995
- NR
- Add Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story to QueueAdd Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story to top of Queue
Glenn Close won the "Outstanding Lead Actress" Emmy for her performance in this made-for-television drama about the rights of homosexuals in the military. Close stars as Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, an Army medical officer with an eye on a promotion who is suddenly tossed into discharge proceedings after admitting to being homosexual. The film shows how she fought the system with the help her family and the support of gay rights activists. Judy Davis stars as her lover and also won the Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actress." Barbra Streisand was among the executive producers and the film was nominated for several Emmy and Golden Globe awards. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenn Close, Judy Davis, (more)
In the film Happy New Year (1987), actor Peter Falk donned old-age makeup to play a senior citizen. Eight years later, he did it again, twice, in the TV movie remake of The Sunshine Boys (1995) and this film, a comedy-drama. Falk stars as Rocky Holzcek, a cantankerous 76-year-old Polish-American baker who insists, despite relatives' protests, upon adopting his young grandson Michael when the boy's parents pass away. Twenty years later, Michael (D.B. Sweeney) is a medical student who's forced to take in his still-spry grandfather when the old man is evicted from his apartment building. Although the crusty, outspoken Rocky gets along fine with Michael's Chinese college roommates, he is less enthused about his grandson's girlfriend Beth (Julianne Moore). Eventually, Michael and Beth marry, move away and have children, while Rocky continues working as a baker, passing the age of 100. When a tragedy befalls Michael and his kids, the old man once again comes to his grandson's rescue, but even a force of nature like Rocky can't last forever. Roommates was loosely based on the real-life experiences of screenwriter Max Apple and his grandfather. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, D.B. Sweeney, (more)
In this sequel to the kid-friendly sports comedy The Mighty Ducks, Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) takes one more shot at a career as a professional hockey player, but a severe knee injury sidelines him for good. However, his success coaching a rag-tag pee-wee hockey team in Minneapolis (as chronicled in the first film) has attracted the attention of a major sportswear firm, which hires him to coach the United States team for the Junior Goodwill Games. Gordon reassembles most of the Mighty Ducks along with several new players, including a huge bully who is great on defense (if low on social skills), a figure skater who knows how to move on the ice, and a hotshot goalie who happens to be a girl. However, the excitement of a trip to Los Angeles and a large dose of overconfidence puts the team at a severe disadvantage when they're pitted against the top-ranked Icelandic team. D2: The Mighty Ducks features cameo appearances from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, champion figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose athletic career has never involved ice skating. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emilio Estevez, Kathryn Erbe, (more)
- 1994
Justin Louis, Eugene Lipinski and Andrew Miller star in this gritty thriller from Canada about the owner of an after-hours club who finds himself pursued by a obsessive undercover policeman. Also features Jan Rubes and Kenneth Welsh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Justin Louis, Jan Rubes, (more)
- 1994
This historical drama is based on the true story of controversial medical pioneer Franz Anton Mesmer. In 18th century Vienna, Mesmer (Alan Rickman) believes that many of the favored medical treatments of the day -- most notoriously the inducement of bleeding to remove harmful "humors" from the body -- are both dangerous and ineffective to the patients they are intended to treat. Mesmer believes that gentler methods could have a more positive impact on his patients. Believing in what he calls "animal magnetism," Mesmer uses magnetic currents and the power of suggestion to treat patients; the medical establishment of the time regards him as a lunatic, so he performs most of his treatments on the poor, who cannot afford to pay a doctor, forcing Mesmer's well-to-do wife (Gillian Barge) to support the family. Mesmer receives a great deal of publicity when well-known pianist Maria Theresa Paradies (Amanda Ooms) suffers a severe seizure during a recital; while several physicians in attendance want to submit Paradies to an immediate bleeding, Mesmer applies his magnetism techniques, which prove to be effective in calming the young woman. Paradies was tremendously grateful to Mesmer and began seeing him regularly as a patient; she soon developed an emotional attachment to the doctor that became something of a public scandal. In time, the public's anger over Mesmer's unorthodox techniques and his perceived affair with Paradies forced him to leave Vienna for Paris, where he became the toast of the city's wealthy and privileged -- until the French medical community demanded that Mesmer prove the effectiveness of his techniques. Noted playwright Dennis Potter wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Amanda Ooms, (more)
- 1994
Produced for cable TV, this feeble follow-up to the classic Hitchcock thriller transfers the avian carnage from Bodega Bay to the New England fishing town of Land's End, where a young couple and their two daughters are besieged by squadrons of malicious gulls and their assorted winged cousins. Despite some opening scenes suggesting an actual motivation for the bird attacks -- something Hitchcock left eerily ambiguous -- there is little variation on the formula, which overstays its welcome long before the lackluster climax (which owes more to The Killer Shrews than to The Birds); the pointless proceedings are further bogged down by a dreary adultery subplot. Even the presence of Tippi Hedren fails to provide even a slightly clever nod to the original, as she is wasted in a minor role as the proprietor of a local diner who has her own theories about the cause of the bird attacks. Direction was credited to standard DGA pseudonym Alan Smithee when Rick Rosenthal withdrew his name from the final cut. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, (more)
- 1992
In this haunting and complex coming-of-age drama, a 15-year-old student at a boy's preparatory school grows up a little faster as he tries to deal with his own problems and those of his fragmented family. His parents are divorced and since the split, he has become estranged from his father. The trouble begins when he learns that his mother has developed schizophrenia. His reactions to her illness and the changes it brings form the core of this provocative film. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Matthew Ferguson, (more)
- 1992
In this made-for-cable-TV crime drama, New York detective Devlin must prove that he is innocent of killing his brother-in-law, a mayoral candidate. It is not easy for the unhappily married, alcoholic gumshoe because he suspects that the man trying to frame him is his arch nemesis, his corrupt father-in-law, a powerful local politician. Now while trying to save his neck and solve the murder, Devlin finds himself pursued by both his fellow cops and the mob. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A 19th century Prussian boy still reeling from the untimely death of his mother finds his life thrown into chaos when his father is wrongfully imprisoned in a classical adventure tale written by Marlene Matthews and directed by Allan King. Lukas' (Zachary Bennett) mother has just died in childbirth, and as his embittered grandfather departs for Canada hoisting the brunt of the blame on Lukas' innocent father, Karl (Christian Kohlund), it appears as if his family will be torn apart forever. Things only get worse, however, when, after witnessing a murder by malevolent nobleman Count Otto von Lebrecht, Lukas learns that his father has been accused of Count Otto's bloody transgression. After being forced into indentured servitude for Baron von Knabig (Günther Maria Halmer), Lukas makes the acquaintance of Baroness Ursula (Gema Zamprogna), her kindly mother, and Nathan the Peddler (Jan Rubes), a generous man who aids the young boy in orchestrating a daring escape for himself and his father. When the escape goes awry and Lukas and his father aren't able to flee together, the young boy and Ursula begin a harrowing voyage to the New World as the vengeful Otto tracks their every move. As the young boy's father makes a desperate journey north to Canada in hopes of reuniting with his child, Lukas and Ursula struggle to survive a deadly smallpox outbreak, elude a pair of nefarious kidnappers, and find their way out of the vast Canadian wilderness. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zachary Bennett, Gema Zamprogna, (more)
A pair of lawyers must balance their professional principles (such as they are) against family loyalties in this courtroom drama. Jedediah Ward (Gene Hackman) is a leftist lawyer who has based his career on helping people avoid being taken for a ride by the rich and powerful; he's pursued principle at the expense of profit, though he has a bad habit of not following up on his clients after their cases are settled. Jed's daughter, Maggie (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), has had a bad relationship with her father ever since she discovered that he was cheating on her mother, and while she also has made a career in law, she has taken a very different professional route by working for a high-powered corporate law firm and has adopted a conservative political agenda. Jed is hired to help field a lawsuit against a major auto manufacturer whose station wagons have a dangerous propensity to explode on impact, but while his research indicates he has an all but airtight case against them, the case becomes more complicated for him when he discovers that Maggie is representing the firm he's suing. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, (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)
Originally made for cable television, this suspenseful thriller centers on a private investigation launched by a Romanian-American woman's fiancé after he begins suspecting that her father is a Nazi-war criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
The course of the American Revolution was changed dramatically when the Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, decided to side with the British rather than the Americans during the American Revolution. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Due South it's not, but there are some nice touches in this thriller about an American drug enforcement agent on exchange assignment in Vancouver. The RCMP, the CIA and the KGB are all in pursuit of a deranged free-lance hit man who kills randomly-selected women in addition to his political targets. John Hyde (Martin Sheen) and his Mountie partner, McKenzie (Michael Ontkean) investigate the murder of a Korean embassy employee, and end up in the middle of this jurisdictional nightmare, as does Hyde's ex-wife (Beverly D'Angelo) who's the assassin's next target. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Michael Ontkean, (more)
