Andre Link Movies

Scripter John Raffo made his directorial debut with this noir-slanted mystery thriller about free-lance crime-scene photographer Johnny Scardino (Peter Gallagher) and recovering alcoholic Alice (Frances McDormand). Scardino takes blackmail pictures of well-to-do types in rundown motels. After the blackmailers are bumped off, Scardino wonders if he's next on the hit list, so he searches for evidence or clues that might become visible in photo blowups. Shown at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This 1998 film about a dysfunctional Los Angeles family is directed by Bruce Wagner, on whose novel this is based. Everyone in this family has a problem. Perry (Frank Langella) is a successful TV producer who has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer just before his 60th birthday. His son Bertie (Andrew McCarthy) is an unsuccessful actor but a wonderful father with an adorable daughter and an ex-wife who is known to show up for visitations visibly stoned. Rachel (Rosanna Arquette), a niece who is now his adopted daughter, finds out that her father murdered her mother years ago before taking his own life. We follow these characters as they go through their share of hardships and love. We are given a lot to chew on, including death, adultery, AIDS, and deceit. Wagner got a lot of very good actors to appear in small roles, including Amanda Donohoe, Buck Henry, Elizabeth Perkins, and Ed Begley Jr.. Prior to this film Wagner was chiefly known as the writer of Wild Palms and Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills. ~ Brett Harrison, Rovi

A group of ten men come together for a bachelor party that goes horribly wrong in this made-for-TV drama. Mario Van Peebles and John Stockwell star as old friends Michael and Victor, both of them successful, well-off young professionals. The latter is about to be married, so Michael throws him a lavish party complete with booze, drugs, a pair of stripper sisters and some old friends that Michael would actually rather not see, including Pete (Andrew McCarthy), a street-smart drug dealer. When one of the girls is accidentally killed and her handler is shot in the ensuing confusion, the group of men reacts in completely different ways. Timan (John Henson) becomes completely unraveled, while others like Pete and Daniel (Kevin Dillon) keep their cool and try to come up with a viable plan to handle their new "problem." A next door neighbor (Jerry Stiller) who comes over to investigate the noise only compounds the problem. Stag bore almost precisely the same plot as Very Bad Things (1998), a more comic take on the story that was released theatrically one year later. The surviving stripper was played by former pop music star Taylor Dayne. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

On her 35th birthday the very single Lucie awakens to hear the ticking of her biological clock. With a little prodding from her meddlesome mother, she decides that she will find a suitable man and father in three months or bust. This fast paced and genuinely funny French Canadian comedy chronicles her quest, one that proves the old adage about kissing many toads (each one with greater faults than the last) before finding the prince who has been under her nose all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A talented young rock keyboardist allows his life to fall into the gutter after he loses both hands during a mugging. He is later fitted with special hand extensions, but these neither allow him to play music nor much of anything else. Despondent, he starts drinking heavily and soon finds himself a self-pitying homeless street bum in New York. His life starts improving after he encounters Anamika, a New Age girl who befriends him and introduces him to special friends, one a computer genius and the other, her landlady, a metal sculptor. Together with some assistance from his roommate, the three devise a marvelous set of hands for the boy, ones endowed with special qualities that allow to play music even better than before. Billing himself as Cyberstorm, the lad becomes a star. A hometown concert gives him a chance at revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Working-class espionage-agent Harry Palmer returns in this spy thriller. The story begins in London after a murder occurs during a demonstration at the North Korean embassy. Palmer, who was supposed to ensure nothing happened, fears repercussions from his higher-ups. They tell him that since the Cold War has ended, he and the senior spies have become redundant and are therefore placed on accelerated retirement. He then receives a mysterious phone call from a person wanting to meet him. They make an arrangement and the rendezvous occurs beside a river. There Palmer is given a plane ticket to St. Petersburg and an envelope stuffed with American $100 bills. He decides to go and, after a chase, ends up with Alexei, a recently released KGB spy. Unlike Palmer, Alexei received generous compensation for his years of devoted service. Palmer's new boss assigns him to find a stolen vial of a virulent, fatal virus, The Red Death, that has been sent to the North Korean embassy in Beijing. All he knows for sure is that the virus is aboard the Trans- Siberian Express. Palmer is assisted by Nikolai, Natasha and an ex-CIA agent. Along the way, the spies double and triple cross each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This drama telling the exploits of seriously ill teens who are spending the summer at a camp for cancer victims makes an effort to bring a light touch to this otherwise gloomy subject. In the story, Ryan (Zachary Ansley), who has a brain tumor, is pretty certain he'll die before long. Before he does, he wants to have sex with a woman. Robert (Nicholas Shields), who has leukemia, isn't afraid to perform any stunt or get into any kind of adventure. Holly (Stacie Mistysyn) has lost a leg due to bone cancer, but is interested in helping Ryan fulfill his wish. One of the highlights of the movie is a theatrical in which the campers lampoon their doctors, parents, and one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The Snake Eaters are an elite division of the Marines especially trained for search and destroy missions. This actioner chronicles the exploits of one of them who has become a cop. Known as a tough loner, he returns to find the band of backwoods bad-guys who killed his parents and abducted his sister. Two sequels follow this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When porn-star Roxy Du Jour (Sally Kellerman) dies with her clothes off while filming her latest project, Saint Peter (Al Waxman) informs her she must do a good deed before she is allowed to pass through the gates of heaven. Roxy's ghost is sent back to Earth to be the patron saint of sex to Rudy (Patrick Dempsey), the dorky virginal teenager who longs for his first sexual encounter. Roxy gives Rudy several tips that only serve to further frustrate Rudy. He has his eye on The Love Goddess (Shannon Tweed) while turning down the continual advances of Wendy (Isabelle Mejias). Kellerman's performance is the only bright light in this insipid sex comedy. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this weakly scripted, dull sci-fi adventure, three women have been shipwrecked somewhere in the galaxy on planet Terra Eleven and now Wolff (Peter Strauss), the pilot of a salvage ship, his friend Washington (Ernie Hudson), and the orphaned Niki (Molly Ringwald) are out to rescue them. Along the way, the trio face several life-threatening situations, and as they escape each danger intact, their final encounter with the evil Overdog McNabb (Michael Ironside) draws ever closer. With a wobbly storyline, one-note theme (people versus machines), and unintentionally funny dialogue, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone has a few things going for it: quick-paced action scenes, unusual sets, a 3-D format, a good musical score, and creative sound effects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

It's Valentine's Day in the tiny mining town of Valentine's Bluff, Nova Scotia, and for the first time in two decades the residents are planning a holiday dance. The long hiatus is due to the tragic events of 20 years earlier, when a pair of mining supervisors were too busy enjoying themselves at the dance to prevent an accident from killing a large contingent of their workers. The lone survivor, Harry Warden, took his revenge the next year by removing the hearts of his bosses and promising similar carnage if ever another Valentine's dance were held. Unfortunately, the town's horny early-'80s youngsters aren't big on tradition, especially since Warden is locked up in an insane asylum. They go ahead with plans to celebrate the holiday -- even after a heart in a candy box shows up and beloved biddy Mabel (Patricia Hamilton) ends up enduring an involuntary tumble dry. Soon, bodies begin piling up, setting the stage for a climactic trawl through the mines and surprise revelations about the fate of Harry Warden. Shortly after the death of John Lennon, the MPAA made an example of this Canadian slasher film, forcing much of its gore to be excised. Nevertheless, My Bloody Valentine provided inspiration for Kevin Shields' influential band of the same name, which helped establish England's late-'80s shoegazer sound and paved the way for the post-rock of the 1990s. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi