Brian Eastman Movies

Based on the British series of the same name, the UPN network dramedy As If emulated such "reality" programs as The Real World, albeit with professional actors following sketchy, improvisational scenarios. In standard cinéma-vérité fashion, a team of cameramen follow six twentysomethings as they cope with life in the Big City -- and with each other. The neatly compartmentalized characters included the sullen Sooz (played by Emily Corrie, the sole carryover from the original British As If), the egocentric Rob (Chris Engen), the worldly Sasha (Tracie Thoms), the sexually voracious Nicki (Adrienne Wilkinson), the prankish Jamie (Derek Hughes), and the obligatory gay character, Alex (Robin Dunne). The American version of As If premiered March 5, 2002, in tandem with another brand-new UPN series, Random Years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this psychological drama, a woman tries to get on with her life after she is captured and tortured in a nameless South American country. It begins as US journalist Helen McNulty and her photographer/lover Jan travel to the country to find a rebel leader. Instead they are captured during a protest demonstration, separated, and tortured. She survives the ordeal and ends up back in Portland, Oregon, still grieving for Jan a year later. Though she has buried most of the terrifying experience and is determined to live a normal life, she finds herself forced to face the experience when she attends a symposium for survivors of political torture and decides to write a story on Anna Lenke, the keynote speaker and Holocaust survivor. Lenke runs a center for survivors and while there, Helen finds Anna treating her like a therapy patient, rather than a reporter. Conflict ensues. More conflict erupts when a mysterious, Latin professor, Tomas Ramirez arrives at the clinic. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A woman is torn by both romantic and maternal love in this period romantic drama set in the 1830s. Elisabeth (Sophie Marceau), a Swiss governess, is the beautiful daughter of a once-prosperous landowner who has fallen deeply into debt. Charles Godwin (Stephen Dillane) is a prominent British aristocrat whose wife has suffered a crippling accident; doomed to spend the rest of her life in a semi-comatose state, she cannot bear Charles the child he so desperately needs. So Charles strikes an agreement with Elisabeth; she will conceive a child with him and hand it over after it is born in exchange for him paying off her father's debts. Elisabeth and Charles set aside three nights to make a baby, and while the matter is supposed to be purely functional and not romantic, Elisabeth finds it difficult to feel that way at the end of the third evening. She is heartbroken when she has to give up the child, and her obsession with the daughter she gave away is reflected in her journals and sketchbooks. Seven years later, Elisabeth discovers the whereabouts of Charles and their daughter, Louisa (Dominique Belcourt); when she learns they need a governess, she is hired for the position by Charles's sister-in-law Constance (Lia Williams), who is unaware that Elisabeth is Louisa's birth mother. When Charles discovers that Elisabeth is the new governess, he is furious, but he eventually takes pity on her and allows her to stay with the child for one month. However, before long, Elisabeth's attraction to Charles resurfaces, and their clandestine romance forces a number difficult questions. Firelight marked the directorial debut of noted screenwriter William Nicholson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Hastings is surprised when Poirot (David Suchet) announces his intention to retire and asks Hastings to accompany him on a trip to the seaside. En route, the two make the acquaintance of a young woman who discovers some valuable antiques missing from her possession. Hastings thinks that he's found the thief, but it's only after Poirot comes out of retirement that the case is solved. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

David Suchet once again takes on the role of Agatha Christie's super sleuth Herecule Poirot in Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Although he planned on an enjoyable holiday at home, Poirot accepts a job offer from a wealthy man after discovering his apartment will be without heat. Soon the detective must solve a murder and uncover some dark family secrets. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

When an arrogant FBI agent who has come to London to investigate the case of a nightclub singer-turned-spy dismisses Poirot (David Suchet) as a "gumshoe," Poirot is rather unimpressed. He finds himself getting involved in the case after meeting a couple who seem to have gotten a too-good-to-be-true deal on a primo apartment, and soon finds himself dodging the bullets of Mafia assassins who are also after the spy. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In a small Cornish town, a wife suspects her dentist husband of slowly poisoning her because he's got the hots for his young, blond assistant. When Poirot (David Suchet) steps in to investigate, he finds that the wife is partially correct, but solving the real mystery is more complicated than it first appeared. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Belgium's most famous detective comes to the rescue of his adopted British homeland in this mystery based on the novel by Agatha Christie. The Prime Minister of England has arrived in France for a major international summit meeting when he's kidnapped. Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) is called in to help find the leader, with only 32 hours to spare before the conference is to begin. Following a lead that the PM's car was attacked en route to the ship, Poirot focuses his investigation in England, which puzzles and angers his superiors -- until the dapper Belgian cracks the case. Poirot: The Kidnapped Prime Minister was produced by the British network Granada Television, and later aired in the United States as part of the PBS series Mystery!. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Poirot (David Suchet) is called in to investigate a bank manager's close call with a hit-and-run driver. The manager, it turns out, has been chosen by the bank to carry a $1 million in Liberty bonds to New York on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary. Someone is obviously out to stop him, and it's up to Poirot to brave his own sea sickness and find out who. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Poirot is reluctantly persuaded by an Australian mining magnate to investigate a French count who happens to be the latest suitor of the magnate's daughter. Together with Hastings, Poirot observes the count at tea with the young woman, and watches as the count shows her some bearer bonds he claims to be carrying for the Bank of Paris, his new employer. Following a fateful train trip, the case takes on the status of murder mystery, with the count as its prime suspect. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Following a jewelry heist, Poirot (David Suchet) is approached by an enigmatic veiled lady who requests his help in thwarting a blackmailer. His investigative tactics place him briefly on the wrong side of the law, and Poirot is thrilled to learn his fame as a detective has reached the criminal classes. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Author Tom Sharpe's outrageous best-seller about the power struggle that emerges when the dean of a Cambridge University dies before naming his successor gets the big screen treatment in director Robert Knights' four-part comedy. Porterhouse College is an institute of higher education steeped in five hundred-years of tradition, so when the Head Master passes away and his reform-minded replacement Sir Godber Evans (Ian Richardson) arrives to take his place the staff is outraged. Head Porter Skullion (David Jason) in particular seems hell-bent on subverting Sir Evans' every decree. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide