What do the movies First Blood and Weekend at Bernie's have in common? One man with a clear and curious thematic focus, that's what. Ted Kotcheff is an auteur filmmaker. He is a director with a unifying style, a clear thematic concern, and a coherent vision of life. This video essay defines these elements with an in-depth analysis of his filmography, which also includes Wake in Fright (1971), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Fun with Dick and Jane (1976), North Dallas Forty (1979), and many others.
Four years ago, Kurt Kraven stole a serum that was intended to be used as a deadly weapon. During a chase, the vial shattered in his hand while the serum went into his bloodstream. Four years later, he soon begins to suffer the consequences.
A serbian young girl visits Albania in search of the roots of an old story about her Grandpa during the War of 1941. She falls in love with an albanian guy, starting an "impossible" relationship between two nations divided by war.
Three ageing brothers must face an uncertain future and the inevitable end to years of self-imposed isolation as the abandoned village of Esc? in Spain, where they have lived all their lives, faces its second threat of extinction.
Criminology student Chloe fakes her own death to break into a morgue, in order to retrieve a piece of evidence that ties her younger brother to a crime gone wrong. Once inside, she discovers that a sadistic coroner is using the corpses for his sick and twisted business, and when he realises that Chloe still has a pulse, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues.
Villeneuve Pironi tells the astonishing story of Canadian Formula 1 legend Gilles Villeneuve and French star Didier Pironi, two fearless Ferrari Formula 1 racing drivers, forever torn apart by a historic and hugely controversial moment in time.
Cecilia is a successful social media influencer living the dream, until she runs into her ex-childhood best friend and is invited away on her bachelorette weekend. Suddenly, Sissy finds herself stuck in a remote cabin with her school bully... and a taste for revenge.
Former P.O.W. Jack Calgrove moves Heaven and Earth to be reunited with his children following the Civil War. After returning home, Jack discovers that his wife has tragically died and his children, presumed to be orphans, are heading deep into the West on a train crossing enemy lines, with the intent of being placed into new homes. Calgrove and another soldier team up with a troop of Native American sharpshooters and a freed slave as they try to stop the train.
The company soldier Hannah and the scientists Gavin and Dimitri are researching an algae project on board the Rubikon space station, which is supposed to permanently supply humanity with oxygen and food. But suddenly the earth disappears below them in a brown, toxic fog and all contact is broken off - are they the last survivors of humanity? Should they initiate the safe station, dare the return flight and thereby risk their lives?
Best friends Sophie and Agatha navigate an enchanted school for young heroes and villains ? and find themselves on opposing sides of the battle between good and evil.
As Dylan and Annie work together to save an animal rescue and get its dogs adopted, Annie discovers that finding love ? and making a difference in the world ? can happen right at home.
When the local mafia shows up to burn down her restaurant, Ana, a chef with a meticulous past, defends her turf and proves her knife skills both in and out of the kitchen.
Follows Vivien and Roy as their love story continues and leads them to Roy?s childhood home in Sicily to prepare for the sale of the family estate. During the visit, a mysterious woman arrives and befriends Vivien, much to Roy?s displeasure. Tensions build and lines are crossed as secrets from Roy?s past force the couple to face aspects of their relationship they did not know existed.
Raquel's longtime crush on her next-door neighbor turns into something more when he starts developing feelings for her, despite his family's objections.
Self-proclaimed ethical hacker Mel Bandison's life is turned upside down when she stops a data breach on a high-tech self-driving bus that also happens to shut down an international criminal network. She then becomes a target and is framed with a deepfake video that ?shows? that she murders someone.
April, 1940. The eyes of the world are on Narvik, a small town in northern Norway, a source of the iron ore needed for Hitler's war machine. Through two months of fierce winter warfare, the German leader is dealt with his first defeat.
When an explosion in the Norwegian mountains awakens an ancient troll, officials appoint a fearless paleontologist to stop it from wreaking deadly havoc.
In a devastated future, the apocalypse threatens the Earth. The last hope lies with a man capable of time travel. His mission: to return to the past and change the course of events. But the time police hunts him down in every era. A race against time begins for the Visitor from the Future...
The Thief pulls off the robbery of a lifetime when he robs the psychotic drug lord, Temple. The plan goes off without a hitch until the Thief discovers a stowaway in his getaway car - Temple's pregnant wife, Mia.
