Alexandra Stewart Movies

An artist fending off his detractors (more imagined than real) ends up making things more difficult for himself in this satiric comedy. Kevin Kazanovitch (Mike Marshall) is a theatrical director whose latest production, a farcical comedy, has become a resounding success. But Kazanovitch is by his nature high-strung and has a pronounced streak of paranoia, and when he's informed that he's to receive a highly coveted award for his work, Kazanovitch is certain it's part of a plot by his detractors to discredit him. The director is so thoroughly convinced of this that he decides to rewrite a few scenes of his play to comment on those he believes are trying to ruin him; he calls his cast to a special rehearsal of the material one afternoon, but Yves Lempereur (Yves Afonso), the show's leading man, gets in an auto accident while rushing to the theater from shooting a television commercial. As chance would have it, the man who hit Lempereur's car was Gaston (Jean Lefebvre), who happens to be dating Fifi Flores (Lili Vonderfield), an actress in the show. Lempereur is injured in the accident and will not be able to tread the boards for a few weeks; Kazanovitch is in a panic, until he discovers Gaston has a photographic memory and can learn Lempereur's lines in a flash (and plays the role nearly as well as the more experienced actor). However, after Gaston is cast in the play, Kazanovitch discovers his new star has a secret life, including a long-standing addiction to gambling. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Master documentary filmmaker Chris Marker directs this loving tribute to the late great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, who made such classics of art cinema as Andrei Rublev (1966) and The Sacrifice (1986). The film opens with documentary footage of the tearful reunion between the director and his son, after the latter finally got an exit visa from Soviet officials. Though he was ailing from the cancer that would eventually kill him, Tarkovsky cheerfully talks with his family while drinking champagne. Relying on Marker's lyrical commentary, the film juxtaposes sequences of Tarkovsky on his deathbed, footage on the set of The Sacrifice, and material from his many films. Marker postulates that the director's use of fundamental elements such as earth and fire parallel that of another cinematic master -- Akira Kurosawa (who was the topic of Marker's 1985 film, AK). Une Journee D'Andrei Arsenevitch was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Duncan (Adrian Paul) must contend with not one but two deadly foes. Renegade Watcher Horton (Peter Hudson), the man responsible for the death of Duncan's mentor Darius, has joined forces with debauched Immortal Xavier St. Cloud (Roland Gift). A confrontation with these two miscreants nearly costs the life of Duncan's friend Charlie (Philip Akin) -- prompting Duncan to sever his ties with "good" Watcher Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a Solzhenitsyn book, this is the story of a Moscow official in Stalinist Russia whose future freedom depends on a technological break-through. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Charles Heidseick's fight to introduce and popularize French bubbly in the 19th-century US provides the basis of this romantic made-for-TV biography. It was not an easy task as Champagne Charlie met with considerable resistance from American vintners. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

What seems to begin as a drama about a wealthy recluse who hires a private secretary soon turns into a more or less conventional suspense story with violent moments and supernatural undercurrents. After Helena Werner (Alexandra Stewart) hires the pushy, aggressive Milo (Robin Renucci) as her private secretary -- she almost has no choice in the matter -- things start to happen. Helena is already a recluse since her private nurse and her "kept" boyfriend are her main social contacts. But now the arrogant Milo cuts her off from the world even more. When a friend tries to invite Helena on a trip abroad, Milo murders him by crushing his head with his bare hands. Meanwhile, Helena continues to have nightmares about the suicide of her late husband who killed himself after he discovered she was unfaithful. Later on, Milo's savagery increases, and there seems to be no way out for either Helena or her nurse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A tribute to the late, great French director Francois Truffaut, this documentary was undoubtedly named after his last movie, Vivement Dimanche, released in 1983. Included in this overview of Truffaut's contribution to filmmaking are clips from 14 of his movies arranged according to the themes he favored. These include childhood, literature, the cinema itself, romance, marriage, and even death (The Green Room). Of lesser notice in this documentary is the life of the man himself. There are some scenes of his receiving an award or two and some interview footage, but nothing extensive. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Titled after a song cycle by Mussorgsky, Sans Soleil is a 1982 nonlinear essay film by elusive documentary filmmaker Chris Marker. It's a collage of images gathered from Japan, Africa, Iceland, San Francisco, and France -- all presented without direct sound. The soundtrack consists of occasional spells of electronic music while an unseen woman's voice (Alexandra Stewart) narrates letters written by a possibly fictional traveler in poetic verse. Beginning with the phrase "He wrote me," each segment explores some philosophical inquiry of matters as broad as modern culture, technology, consciousness, Japanese television, and even the act of filming itself. Some of the first images include children in Iceland, a ferry in Hokkido, a carnival in Guinea-Bissau, girls in Cape Verde, and a shrine to cats in Tokyo. There's also a creepy JFK robot, petrified animals left by desert drought, and teenagers dancing in a public square. The seemingly miscellaneous footage is made up of archive clips, synthesized video sequences, and some images collected by Marker's colleagues. It's randomly assembled, jumping from one continent to another in the same breath. It remains one of the director's masterpiece accomplishments. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The time is WW II in the Emilia-Romagna countryside in Italy, and an American pilot's plane has just broken down near the farmhouse of a middle-aged widow, Francesca (Mariangela Melato) and her three young daughters. The widow has recently come back to her family's land and is picking up where she left off with long-lost friends and neighbors. The downed pilot, Ray (Anthony Franciosa), finds a safe refuge in the widow's farmhouse -- he needs a place to hide until the war ends and it is safe for him to join his military unit. Ray's presence brings out the wild dreams Francesca and her daughters and friends have had about a magical America, a country celebrated in song and dance -- not just in American films, but right there in the farmhouse and its vicinity. Ray is regaled with hearty interpretations of "Pennies from Heaven" and "Jeepers Creepers", and the neighbors and daughters have a riotous good time with the dancing and singing. In-between the light-hearted portrayal of America and its image, Francesca begins to fall in love with Ray, while suffering her own personal anguish as she tries to hide the death of her husband from her three daughters by saying he is in America. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide