John Frankish Movies
As the Black Death sweeps through Medieval England, young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) sends his girlfriend, Averill (Kimberley Nixon), to the safety of the remote forest while he remains at the monastery to serve God. Shortly thereafter, Ulric (Sean Bean) and his fierce band of Christian crusaders show up seeking a guide to help them locate an isolated village that is said to be untouched by the Black Plague. Convinced that this may be his one opportunity to reunite with Averill and serve a higher power at the same time, Osmund volunteers. Later, as the group departs, Osmund learns that their mission has much darker implications. Rumors persist that within the village dwells a necromancer with the power to bring the dead back to life; their true goal is to take the sorcerer back to the bishop for confession, trial, and execution. Under the leadership of the deeply reverent Ulric, the group forges ever deeper into the blighted countryside, encountering madness, unrest, and unspeakable suffering along the way. Later, when the seekers finally arrive at their remote destination, they quickly find that the fantastical rumors seem rooted in fact -- not a single one of the villagers shows signs of infection, food remains plentiful, and spirits there are high. When mysterious village matriarch Langiva (Carice van Houten) reveals that survival does not come without sacrifice, however, Osmund realizes that his dark journey has only just begun. John Lynch and Tim McInnerny star in this shocking period horror film from director Christopher Smith (Severance, Creep) and writer Dario Poloni (Wilderness). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, (more)
When the president of a high-profile international-arms supplier takes his six best employees to an Eastern European mountain retreat as a means of rewarding them for all of their hard work, their team-building getaway turns into a life-or-death game of kill or be killed in Creep director Christopher Smith's suspenseful comedy thriller. Palisade Defense isn't just the leading supplier of weaponry for the war on terror, it's a company that truly cares about its employees. When the Palisade Defense's European sales division exceeds expectations, the president decides that his dedicated employees deserve a relaxing corporate team-building retreat. The trip takes a turn for the worst, however, when a deadly enemy infiltrates the retreat with the singular goal of ensuring that no one gets out alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, (more)
Directed by Jonathan Frakes and based on the '60s British television series of the same name, Thunderbirds chronicles the intergalactic exploits of the Tracy family. Set in 2010, the world looks toward the mysterious Tracy Island when mere international security is not enough; the remote South Pacific island not only houses former astronaut and lifelong entrepreneur Jeff Tracy (Bill Paxton) and his five sons, but also serves as headquarters for the top-secret International Rescue organization. The unthinkable happens, however, when an insidious criminal mastermind known only as "The Hood" (Ben Kingsley) manages to get past the island's innumerable security measures and attempts to take over International Rescue. His goal: stealing the organization's five most advanced rescue vehicles, each of which was designed to accomplish a specific task, and using them for his own agenda. With Jeff and his four eldest sons deployed on a mission, there's only one person with any hope of stopping the takeover -- Jeff's youngest son, Alan (Brady Corbet), who vows to save his family and keep the Thunderbirds alive. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, (more)
When a London modeling agency booker dozes off while waiting for the midnight subway train, the subterranean terror that awaits her in the underground tunnels will send her screaming for her life through a dark labyrinth in this horror entry directed by Christopher Smith and starring Run Lola Run's Franka Potente. Awakening to discover that the midnight train has passed and she is locked in the station, Kate (Potente) reluctantly steps onto a mysterious empty train for a ride she will not soon forget. As the train grinds to a stop in the pitch black tunnels of the London Underground, Kate realizes that she is not alone in the darkness and if she has any hope of surviving until dawn she'll have to fight for her life against an unimaginable horror too terrifying for the light of day. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franka Potente
An unhinged parody of James Bond theatrics, Johnny English finds Mr. Bean himself suiting up as the eponymous super spy for a series of wild and silly adventures. A lowly pencil pusher working for the MI7 agency, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is suddenly promoted to super spy after Agent One is assassinated and every other agent is blown up at his funeral. When billionaire entrepreneur Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) sponsors the exhibition of the Crown Jewels and the valuable gems disappear on the opening night, and on the watch of English, the newly designated agent must jump into action to uncover the thief and procure the missing valuables. Tracking the thieves' underground escape route with sidekick Bough (Ben Miller), English locks in on Sauvage despite repeated assurances by boss Pegasus (Tim Pigott-Smith) that the respected entrepreneur has nothing to do with the crime. Could the mysterious Lorna (Natalie Imbruglia), who has an odd habit of turning up at the wrong place at the wrong time, hold the key to helping Johnny? A massive hit overseas, Johnny English held its own at the box office in early April 2003, and was slated for wide release in the U.S. If the spoofing in Johnny English strikes especially close to home, that may be because the film was scripted by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who teamed to pen such Bond adventures as Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, (more)
Maverick American filmmaker Robert Altman takes a witty and absorbing look at the foibles of the British class system in this intelligent murder mystery set in the early '30s. Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) are a pair of wealthy British socialites who have invited a variety of friends, relatives, and acquaintances to their mansion in the country for a weekend of hunting and relaxation. Among the honored guests are Constance (Maggie Smith), Lady Sylvia's matronly aunt; Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), William's cousin who is also a well-known actor and songwriter; and Morris Weissman (Bob Balaban), an American film producer who is friendly with Ivor and researching an upcoming project. Observing the proceedings are the domestic staff of the mansion, including imperious butler Jennings (Alan Bates); footmen George (Richard E. Grant) and Arthur (Jeremy Swift); Probert (Derek Jacobi), a valet to Sir William; housekeeper Mrs. Wilson (Helen Mirren); Mrs. Croft (Eileen Atkins), who oversees the kitchen; and Elsie (Emily Watson), a maid. Also on hand are the guests' personal servants, including Mary (Kelly Macdonald), Constance's maid; Henry (Ryan Phillippe), Weissman's valet; and Parks (Clive Owens), a butler. While the servants are required to display a high level of decorum, they are expected to be passive observers who do not comment on what they see, though the gossip among them travels thick and fast once they retire to the servants' quarters downstairs. And it turns out that there's plenty worth gossiping about, especially after Sir William turns up dead, and everyone is ordered to stay at the mansion while the police investigate the killing. Gosford Park also features Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Natasha Wightman, and Ron Webster; the screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes, based on a story by Altman and co-star Bob Balaban. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, (more)
The most tempting of all sweets becomes the key weapon in a battle of sensual pleasure versus disciplined self-denial in this comedy. In 1959, a mysterious woman named Vianne (Juliette Binoche) moves with her young daughter into a small French village, where much of the community's activities are dominated by the local Catholic church. A few days after settling into town, Vianne opens up a confectionery shop across the street from the house of worship -- shortly after the beginning of Lent. While the townspeople are supposed to be abstaining from worldly pleasures, Vianne tempts them with unusual and delicious chocolate creations, using her expert touch to create just the right candy to break down each customer's resistance. With every passing day, more and more of Vianne's neighbors are succumbing to her sinfully delicious treats, but the Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), the town's mayor, is not the least bit amused; he is eager to see Vianne run out of town before she leads the town into a deeper level of temptation. Vianne, however, is not to be swayed, and with the help of another new arrival in town, a handsome Irish Gypsy named Roux (Johnny Depp), she plans a "Grand Festival of Chocolate," to be held on Easter Sunday. Based on the novel by Joanne Harris, Chocolat features a distinguished supporting cast, including Judi Dench, Lena Olin, Carrie-Anne Moss, Peter Stormare, Hugh O'Conor, and Leslie Caron. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, (more)
Director Hugh Hudson, who made his directorial debut with the award-winning Chariots Of Fire, returns to the theme of British life in the 1920s in the bittersweet family drama My Life So Far. Gamma Macintosh (Rosemary Harris) is the matriarch of a family that inhabits Harewood House, a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Besides Gamma, the adult heads of the household are her daughter, Moira (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and Moira's husband Edward Pettigrew (Colin Firth), a mildly eccentric inventor who tinkers with experimental automobiles and airplanes. Moira and Edward have two children, son Fraser (Robbie Norman) and daughter Elspeth (Kelly Macdonald). One day Moira's brother Morris (Malcolm McDowell) stops by with his fiancée, a French woman named Heloise (Irene Jacob), whose beauty and sophistication turns Edward's head and stirs new emotions in young Fraser. Filmed in 1997, My Life So Far remained in the editing room until 1999, when it was shown in a special benefit screening at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colin Firth, Rosemary Harris, (more)
- 1998
- PG13
The first film by Mick Davis, The Match is a contemporary romantic comedy set in the idyllic village of Inverdoune nestling in the Scottish Highlands. Wullie Smith is the shy milkman who carries the physical and emotional scars of a childhood tragedy and who is in love with Rosemary, the beautiful daughter of Bill Bailey, a local farmer with a curious affection for cows. Rosemary has returned briefly to Inverdoune after five years away at a university and intends to leave again to pursue her career in the big city. Wullie's impossible dreams are fueled by his friend Buffalo, a semi-alcoholic American who was left behind when his USAF unit moved on. The village has only one street, but two pubs: Benny's Bar, owned by Big Tam, meeting place of the eccentric clientele, and L'Bistro, a place of sterile modernity owned by narcissistic Gorgeous Gus. The soccer teams of each bar have been carrying on a feud for 99 years and Benny's Bar has been losing all the games. But it is the result of the centenary game that determines the future of Benny's Bar. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi
- Starring:
- Max Beesley, Isla Blair, (more)
British documentary filmmaker Phil Agland turned to drama with this re-creation of Thomas Hardy's rural Wessex of the late 19th century, adapted from Hardy's 1887 novel. In the woodland Wessex community of Little Hintock, laconic woodsman Giles Winterbourne (Rufus Sewell) lives in a cottage belonging to the lady of the manor, Mrs. Charmond (Polly Walker). Peasant girl Marty (Jodhi May), who sells her hair to wigmakers, is attracted to Giles. However, Grace (Emily Woof, of The Full Monty), daughter of local timber-merchant Melbury (Tony Haygarth), returns home from finishing school. Giles and Grace were once childhood sweethearts, but class barriers now stand in their way. Grace marries young Dr. Fitzpiers (Cal MacAninch), and the happy newlyweds depart on their honeymoon. Fitzpiers' true snobbish colors begin to surface, and his philandering ways eventually lead Grace back to Giles. Shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Emily Woof, Rufus Sewell, (more)
This period drama was based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by author Pat Barker, one of a trilogy dealing with World War I. James Wilby stars as Siegfried Sassoon, the real-life war hero and poet who, in 1917, writes a statement against the war that is read in Parliament. Faced with the choice of either a court-martial or time in a mental hospital as a result, Sassoon chooses the hospital, and is sent to Craiglockart, a Scottish castle where shell-shocked vets are being treated by Freudian therapist Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce). Sassoon soon befriends a pair of fellow inmates. One, Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller) is suffering from battlefield trauma. The other is shy young fan and fellow poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce), whose own anti-war writings, encouraged by Sassoon, will go on to make him posthumously famous as well. In the meanwhile, the once-zealous Dr. Rivers begins to question his role of mending patients' minds so that they may simply go back to the front lines. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, (more)
In this high-tech thriller, Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller) has been fascinated with computers all his life; at the age of 11, he was able to break into the computer network of several top Wall Street investment and banking firms, and he nearly caused a major stock market crash in the process. As punishment, Dade was forbidden to use a computer until his 18th birthday, but now that he's of age, he's diving back into his PC head first. Dade meets up with a group of fellow hackers: tough-talking cyber gamer Kate, aka Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), junior hacker Jesse Bradford, born prankster Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), Nikon (Lawrence Mason), named for his photographic memory, and telephone expert Phantom Phreak (Renoly Santiago). Dade and his pals aren't out to destroy systems or do cybercrime for profit; they simply want to know more about the systems they encounter, and they like raising some good-natured havoc. But in their travels through cyberspace, they discover The Plague (Fisher Stevens), a former hacker turned computer security expert with a huge multinational corporation. The Plague has not only done the unthinkable and gone into anti-hacker enforcement, he's secretly allied himself with a group of criminals and is using his expertise to drain funds from corporate bank accounts and transfer them to himself and his mistress, Margo (Lorraine Bracco). The Plague is also smart enough to leave clues that would lead investigators to someone else -- in this case, Dade and his friends -- and has a secret weapon at his disposal, a computer virus that could wipe out the entire world wide web in a matter of minutes. Several sequences for Hackers were shot at New York City's Stuyvesant High School, where coincidentally several months after filming, several students were arrested by F.B.I. agents for their involvement in computer hacking. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, (more)
