SEE SCREEN CAPTURES PAGE FOR IMAGES FROM THESE FILMS!
Spectres (2004) Directed by Phil Leirness.
Starring Marina Sirtis, Lauren Birkell, Dean Haglund and Tucker Smallwood.
Plot Outline: Kelly, a 16-year-old suicide survivor, and Laura Lee, her workaholic mother, attempt to mend their fractured relationship by renting a cottage for the summer. Upon arriving, Kelly meets a teenage boy with whom she develops a friendship. Oddly, he seems visible only to her. Kelly’s new friend and the strange occurrences in the house cause Laura Lee to consult Dr. Halsey, Kelly's psychiatrist, who in turn contacts psychic Will Franklin. Will soon learns that it’s not the house that’s haunted, but Kelly herself. It's now up to Will, with the reluctant help of Laura Lee and Dr. Halsey, to rescue Kelly's conflicted soul from its dark past.
Review: CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS! I can say without doubt that this it the best non-Trek film Marina has been in! I loved it. Excellent filmmaking too! A supernatural drama is how I would define this film. Laura Lee and her daughter, Kelly (Lauren Birkell), go on a summer vacation to get to know each other again, after Kelly’s attempted suicide. This would be a basic premise for a family drama but a supernatural twist is added to the plot. In the moment Kelly died before being revived, her spirit became lost and mixed up with Renee's, Linda Park's character, and Kelly takes on some of Renee's traits and attracts further spiritual attention, in other words ghosts. Marina displays some of her greatest acting skills to date, in my opinion. Apart from Deanna Troi of course, who was developed over many years. When the psychic Will (Tucker Smallwood) and Dr. Halsey (Dean Haglund) realise Kel ly must die again and be revived to regain her spirit/soul, Laura Lee gets understandably extremely emotional and has to be held by Will. Marina does a fantastic job here; devastation and helplessness are obviously not enjoyable emotions to act (see quotes below for Marina talking about this scene). At certain points in the film Laura Lee is an awful mother, not at all understanding what her daughter is going through. And a bit of a b*tch towards Dr. Halsey, when she says, I'm not the one on your couch, and I'm paying you to make us a happy family. But it appears that the supernatural experiences that mother and daughter go through, aid them in bonding with each other by the film's conclusion. The ending is slightly cheesy, with Laura Lee and Kelly a happy family and going off to explore the creek, but I don't have a problem with that. Kelly, Dr. Halsey and Will and all the ghosts are all roles that are cast flawlessly. It's always a pleasure to see Marina in anything, Spectres is fabulous though, a perfect project for Marina, and she gets nothing but praise from me for her performance.
DVD Review: The actual film is faultless in quality, but the special features seem to be jumpy, the images jerk around and have lines on sometimes. But it's just a huge bonus to have special features, unlike Marina’s other recent films on DVD, Terminal Error and Paradise Lost, which have none to speak of. This has deleted scenes, making of the film, trailers and a clip of filming where they thought the house they filmed in was haunted and something moves behind Marina. But it seems to be just a flash of light, even though the makers insist there was nothing that could produce that light! Oooh!
The Making of Spectres
Marina Quotes:
* I'm scared to death of scary movies, so I tend to watch them through my fingers like this, but there's something fascinating about them.
* It was the first time really that I got to be a Mom and I thought it was about time really because I am old enough to be someones Mom. It was just a little bit of a shock going from never having been a Mom, to being a Mom of a teenager. There was no kind of toddler stage for me; you know Mom of toddler or Mom of baby.
* We have to kill my daughter and bring her back to life. That’s probably, I would say, one of the hardest scenes I've ever had to film. The Greek in me loves doing all that emotional stuff; Medea is just desperate to get out of this body. Was it fun? Erm... not really. Was it satisfying? Probably more than anything I've done in years.
* We have a group of really talented, committed actors who took the project very seriously.
* It's always nice to work with someone [the Director] who really does know what they want. Because then as an actor, you’re not left floundering.
* It's handy to have the writer there because if you want to make changes you don't have to make a phone call or waste time waiting for replies.
Others talking about Marina:
Phil Leirness, Director: For me, the film became real the day Marina agreed to play the mother. I always have had this intuition that there is nothing she is incapable of doing emotionally as a performer. And in this film she got to show that off.
Lauren Birkell, Kelly: Marina is such a juxtaposition of a lot of things. She's very professional but she's also really really funny and giving and generous and teaching me and helping me grow and learn.
Filmmakers Commentary (Director, Producer and Scriptwriter)
* When Marina first saw this scene, her reaction was "I must really like Robert because I let him shoot up my nose a lot." And I was quick to point out to her that given her obvious physical assets, no one would be paying attention to her nose.
* Marina was the first, the only person I thought of to play Laura Lee. And so was the first person that we approached and when she came on board it really felt real. Well you [one of them talking to another] felt from the very beginning that there was an emotional note that she was incapable of playing and this role was going to take her through quite a bit of territory.
My Rating:
Net Games (2003)
Directed by Andrew Van Slee.
Starring: C. Thomas Howell, Lala Sloatman, Samuel Ball, Monique Demers and Marina Sirtis.
 Plot Outline: Adam, a married man is drawn into the Internet, to find an alternative source for his sexual needs. But the blonde bombshell he chats to and has virtual sex with turns out to be something of a troubled individual. Through manipulation, she threatens to expose his secret life unless he agrees to meet her for real!
Review: This certainly isn't a bore to watch, and it's not a bad film. But there’s certainly nothing new here, and it’s close to being soft-core porn with some of the scenes. It is a decent thriller however with many twists, and loads of blonde haired women are revealed within the film, who may be the online bombshell. The acting is quite bad, but it’s entertainment at its lowest level! LOL
Marina’s Role: Marina plays Cindy, Adam's boss's wife. She is only in four short scenes, but she makes the film so much more worth watching because of those scenes! Cindy is in a presentation for new clients and then a scene with Adam giving him the day off for his good work. The clients ask them out for a celebration and they got to a strip club, with Marina sat there in her pearls! LOL Afterwards, Adam drives Cindy home and she makes a pass at him, trying to kiss him. At that moment, a photograph is taken by the mysterious online bombshell to further manipulate Adam. And that concludes Marina's involvement in the film. Not the greatest role she has had recently, but nothing wrong with the choice of role, just the choice of film that the role was in perhaps!
My Rating:
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Directed by Stuart Baird
Starring: The TNG Cast, Tom Hardy and Ron Perlman
Plot Outline: The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation returns on a diplomatic mission to initiate peace with the Romulans. But upon arrival to the alien planet, the crew is faced with a threat that could lead to the Earth's destruction, and Picard meets his most dangerous adversary yet, a surprisingly personal nemesis.
Review: (Contains SPOILERS) I've just finished watching Nemesis for the third time, I saw it twice at the cinema and now have the DVD! I really enjoyed it still but am able to be more critical now.
The story is well written but there's a line drawn between keeping the fans while trying to appeal to a general cinema audience. Certain relevant past events are completely ignored, such as the  existance of another android previously, Lore. But this isn't a major problem with me and valuable screen time would only be wasted bringing this up!! The plot was very good, although it is mainly the Picard and Data story but that's because Patrick and Brent get the highest salary! Picard battles a clone of himself in the form of Shinzon. Data discovers another android, which parallels the Picard and Shinzon relationship. But most of the cast are treated quite well. Riker has an excellent fight scene with a Reman and is in the film a lot, he is First Officer afterall! Worf isn't in this a great deal, just firing weapons or on the bridge. Geordi is present through a lot of the film, a friend to Data. It is a touching moment seeing tears in Geordi's eyes at the memorial, Data and Geordi's friendship had not been shown in the first three TNG films but it aknowledged here. Beverly is present through most of the film, except we never see her when the battle is going on. One scene that sticks out is the ever so short one in Picards ready room, a scene just aknowledging that Beverly and Jean Luc are good friends with a history, which hasn't been shown in the TNG films.
 So, last but not least (most!) we come to Troi. This is the largest role for Marina in a Star Trek film. There is the wedding of Deanna Troi and William Riker, which is lovely to see. Troi's wedding dress is amazing! Didn't initially imagine the dress to be like that, and Marina looks surprisingly fantastic in pink. But Troi goes from the happiest times to the toughest during the course of the film. She must endurebeing telepathically violated by Shinzon. And must pilot the Enterprise on a collision course as a final desperate act of survival.
 All of the TNG cast act remarkably well, just as they have for the past 15 years. Brent stands out, playing Data and B-4. Brent co-wrote the script and brought up the idea of Data's death. It was very sad to see this character I've grown to love die, but there is hope in B-4, as the film ends. Patrick is his usual remarkabe self. I love Marina even more after seeing Nemesis! I was very impressed with Tom Hardy as Shinzon, a young actor but he proved himself worthy of playing an adversary to Patrick Stewart's Picard, in my opinion.
The special effects were simply wonderful! They just couldn't have been any better I don't think. Right from the film's opening, zooming into a city on Romulus, to the battle between the Enterprise and the Schimitar. I was blown away.
It now seems that this was indeed "A Generations Final Journey" and I honestly don't know if I'm happy with it ending as it did. Perhaps I would have been if Picard bid farewell to Beverly and we saw the Titan, Riker and Troi's new ship. I really enjoyed the film, but with the franchise now on the big screen, many potential character moments are lost.
My Rating:
Terminal Error (2002)
Directed by John Murlowski.
Starring Michael Nouri, Marina Sirtis, Matthew Ewald and Timothy Busfield.
Thanks Gloria (her website here) and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marinasirtis for images.
(See SCREEN CAPTURES page for lots of my images from the film!)
 Synopsis: Powerful automation software begins to make decisions for itself.
Review: (Contains SPOILERS) I had been looking forward to seeing Marina's newest Movie for sometime. THANK YOU Sian for recording it off Sky for me!
Firstly, the plot. The storyline was initially very promising and jumping to the end, within the limited budget as a TV Movie, it was effective. Realism isn't the most important element to me. E.G. Writing a counter virus on a Gameboy doesn't affect how much I like the Movie. Same goes for the special effects, they weren't great but good enough.
The sets were apropriate and good.
 Now we come to the actors. Michael Nouri (Brad) is a bit of a veteran of American TV Movies, I specifically remember him in Danielle Steeles: Changes (with Cheryl Ladd). I think he is a good actor, playing the boss of a huge troubled company, an absent father and an ex husband. This Movie doesn't fall into the trap, in my opinion of having an annoying teenage brat. Matthew Ewald (Dylan) plays a likeable character.
 Then we come to Marina of course, last but not least. Marina is wonderful here. My favourite scene is her first appearence in the Movie (see quotes below). The sheer presence of Marina (Alex), in this probably doubles my final rating of it. Her acting isn't top notch (of course she hasn't had time developing the character of Alex as much as Troi) but it's still good. I don't like the moments where she screams when sparks fly or e.g. the sounds she makes when trying to open the over turned car's door. But these must've been the director (John Murlowski)'s  decisions, to feminise Alex more. Marina looks really beautiful in Terminal Error and most like the "real" Marina. One thing I realised while watching this Movie is that I hope Marina doesn't fall into the category of actresses who simply play mothers, now she's a bit older. I noticed that happen to the actresses, in TV Movies, from the 1970's TV show Charlie's Angels, which I love. But this certainly isn't one of those type of run-of-the-mill TV Dramas, it's a sci-fi thriller.
The direction and editing is more or less up to scratch here, I noticed nothing majorly wrong with it.
The ending works very well. Alex and Dylan perform CPR on Brad and then we see them watching a recorded message from him. The audience assume he died but them he comes on screen. There is not an over the top cheesy ending, which is a plus. 
Quotes:
Dylan: Well, unfortunately we can't all have genius's for fathers, can we? [Bully goes to punch him]
Alex: Hey Dylan, hurry up, we're late. Tell your little friends you'll see them later.
Bully: Saved by Mommy.
Alex: I there a connection between those big guys about to pulverise you and the phone call I got today? How long this time?
Dylan: 2 weeks susension.
Alex: Okay Dylan, I'm with-holding your driving licence for 3 months.
Dylan: Another 3 months!
Alex: You promised you'd stop hacking, the school is losing it's patience and so am I. You do realise this affects my job too? How do you think it looks to have a Professor of cyber-ethics to have her son hacking into the school computers, changing records.
Dylan: Those jocks were cheating, I was righting a wrong. I am the son of an ethicist.
Alex: You weren't being ethical, you were being a vigilante.
My Rating:
Paradise Lost (1999)
Directed by Herb Freed.
Starring Marina Sirtis, Nigel Havers and William Forsythe. Details coming as soon as I get around to writing the review!
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