O.B. Babbs Movies

Leed VanderWal (played by Hopwood DePree) is a young man poised to assume a key role in his family's dynasty -- he's supposed to inherit Windmill Island, a slowly-decaying tourist trap in Holland, Michigan where visitors can witness an "authentic" recreation of a 17th century Dutch village. Windmill Island's attractions include a squad of clog dancers in traditional costumes, a cheese shop complete with an artificial cow kids can "milk" and a gift shop with hand-dipped candles and traditional footwear. Leed has already put in a few years at Windmill Village and is wondering if he wants to devote the rest of his life to propping up a decaying dream or if he should move to Detroit to make a new start. Leed also finds himself falling for Chrissy (Christine Elise), a girl from the city spending some time at the family's summer cottage, which aggravates his buddy Christopher (Richard Speight Jr.) and sparks jealousy in Winnie (Victoria Haas), a plain girl from Wisconsin with a crush on Leed and dreams of rising from the cheese shop into the stellar ranks of the clog dancers. Shot for a mere $60,000 by actor, writer and first-time director Hopwood DePree, The Last Big Attraction was a multiple prize winner at the 1999 Newport Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Updated from the 1951 film of the same name, Angels In The Outfield takes liberties with the original to bring sentimental values to a modern setting. Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a foster child whose irresponsible father promises to get his act together when Roger's favorite baseball team, the California Angels, wins the pennant. The problem is that the Angels are in last place, so Roger prays for help to turn the team around. Sure enough, his prayers are answered in the form of angel Al (Christopher Lloyd), and, before you know it, the Angels' bitter manager (Danny Glover) is watching in amazement as his team starts making the plays -- with the help of angels visible to the audience only as glowing special effects. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi