Malcolm Smith Movies

The Second City comedy ensemble reunites for this camp story of a motorcycle gang trying to take home the body of a dead member (James Belushi). Problem is, they must also outrun a pesky lawyer (Ray Baker) who is trying to bring the group to justice for breaking their probation. John Candy, Dan Aykroyd and George Wendt make small appearances. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

This human-interest drama is well intentioned and has a moving finale, but the story is too thin to stretch over ninety minutes. Set in the 1830s, the tale begins when little Joanna (Anna Ralph) gets lost and comes across an Aboriginal woman (Mawuyul Yathalawuy) who takes her under her wing. The two cannot communicate except by gestures, facial expressions, and whatever they can mime because the Aboriginal, Manganinnie, does not speak English. She herself is looking for her tribe and so the pair wanders through some very scenic locations in search of their future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Mike Leigh began his career as one of Britain's most interesting directors with this realistic drama about a woman looking for respite from an unsatisfying life. Sylvia (Anne Raitt) is a slightly overweight woman who works as a secretary and hasn't had much luck in romance. She shares her home with her retarded sister, whom she looks after, and has been dating Peter (Eric Allen), a schoolteacher whom she hopes will ask her to marry him. However, one evening they have a date that doesn't go especially well, and Sylvia discovers that Peter is impotent; he breaks up with her shortly afterward. The only other interesting relationship in her life is with Norman (Mike Bradwell), a hippie who rents out Sylvia's garage as a workspace for his underground newspaper and plays songs on his guitar for her sister. Bleak Moments was adapted from a play written by Leigh; as is his habit, the story was created in collaboration with the actors who originated the roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In the wake of a nuclear war that wipes out 92 percent of the world's population, civilization rebuilds itself with the help of robots, which soon become sufficiently advanced to rival -- and then surpass -- the men and women that they are designed to serve. Of particular usefulness (and concern) are the robots series R-21 and above, designed specifically to mimick human form and communication -- the humanoid robots. Despite their distinctive appearance (no hair, blue-tinted skin), they intermingle freely with humans at work, and have been granted some very limited rights under the law. But a backlash has developed among the humans -- the robots are often routinely referred to disparagingly as "clickers," and some of the most militant opponents of the robots have organized The Order Of Flesh And Blood, a paramilitary vigilante group with its own intelligence, scientific, investigative, and surveillance services, all dedicated to limiting the presence, influence, and rights of the robots, in not eradicating them. One of their most active and ambitious members is Craigis (Don McGowan), a captain in the Order and also a top gerontologist in his professional life, who despises the humanoid robots for the threat he sees in their presence -- that with their physical and intellectual superiority, they force man to think less of himself, and to rely on the robots to do many of the tasks that man should do for himself. Craigis is more intelligent than a lot of his fellow Order members, who are little more than bully-boys throwing their weight around, but as such he also sees this struggle in more serious and dire terms than many of his colleagues. One night, while investigating a robot carrying a forged assignment card, he stumbles upon a series of events more ominous and astounding than any he could have anticipated -- a robot violates its First Law of behavior by murdering a man; and the robot committing the murder was designed to look and pass for human. Craigis feels he has stumbled onto something incredibly dangerous, but he is distracted from the implications of these events by news closer to home -- that his sister (Frances McCann) is now living in in an officially sanctioned raport with a "clicker." This sends him tearing off to her home ready to do violence. Craigis is still coping with his sister's choice of a partner, when he meets her friend Maxine (Erica Eliot), and the two discover a strange fascination with each other. As Craigis tries to sort out his feelings about this woman, and keep a perspective on everything he has discovered, he has no inkling of a revelations still to come, about the robots, and their plans, the reason behind them, or how close to home they already are. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide