Kevin Macdonald Movies

 

Originally aired on ABC television, this hour-long documentary offers a glimpse into the personal life of the inimitable, always outspoken frontman of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger. Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) took cameras behind closed doors with the rock star for nearly a year -- sometimes turning over the camera to the man himself -- culling the footage into an intimate, economical portrait that encompasses both his personal and professional life, both in the studio and with his family. Among the rock luminaries who make guest appearances are Bono, Lenny Kravitz, and Pete Townshend. Released by Jagger's movie and TV production shingle Jagged Films, Being Mick first ran on TV on November 22, 2001, not coincidentally the same week that Jagger's solo record Goddess in the Doorway was released. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Kevin Macdonald and Chris Rodley produced and directed this British documentary about film director Donald Cammell, best known for his collaboration with Nicolas Roeg on Performance (1970). The lead actors in Performance, Mick Jagger and James Fox, are interviewed along with Roeg, Barbara Steele, Cathy Moriarty, and avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who cast Cammell in his 1973 Lucifer Rising. Macdonald and Rodley trace Cammell's career from his days as a Paris portrait artist to such films as Demon Seed, White of the Eye, and The Wild Side with Anne Heche and Christopher Walken, probing the dark side of Cammell's "dissociative personality" that triggered his 1996 suicide. Cammell is seen in several interview clips. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival and the 1998 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The life and career of towering Charlie Chaplin screen-villain Eric Campbell is explored in this documentary featuring rare footage, historical documents, and interviews with both Campbell's daughter and such noted Chaplin experts as David Robinson. From Campbell's early childhood in Dunoon, Scotland, to his tragic and untimely death in December of 1917, this look at the life of one of cinema's first screen villains shows both the remarkable promise and enduring influence of a star whose light was sadly snuffed out just as it was beginning to shine its brightest. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In 1985, two adventurous young mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, set off to climb the treacherous west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. They were experienced climbers, and climbed "Alpine-style," climbing the mountain in "one great push," without setting up ropes or base camps ahead of time. After dealing with a snowstorm and some dangerous climbing over powder formations, they reached the summit (about 21,000 feet) on the third day. The climb down proved to be far more difficult. Simpson fell and broke his leg badly. Yates decided to try to lower Simpson down the mountain, one 300-foot section of rope at a time. The climbers had run out of gas to melt snow, so they couldn't risk stopping as night came, and a violent snowstorm began. Their plodding, painful journey hit a snag when Yates inadvertently lowered Simpson over the edge of a cliff. In the storm, the men couldn't hear each other's cries, and, Yates, uncertain as to Simpson's position, and gradually sliding down the slope himself, decided to cut the rope that connected them, sending Simpson plummeting to certain death. Miraculously, Simpson survived the fall, and was faced with the prospect of getting off the mountain alone with no food, no water, and a broken leg. In Touching the Void, filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) tells their story, based on Simpson's book, using contemporary interviews with the two men, and a reenactment of their climb and descent, featuring Brendan Mackey as Simpson and Nicholas Aaron as Yates. Touching the Void was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Oscar-winning documentarian Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September) examines the life of pioneering reggae artist Bob Marley in this film featuring intimate footage from the family's personal archives. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and producer Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) team up to offer this candid snapshot of a single day on planet Earth. Compiled from over 80,000 YouTube submissions by contributors in 192 countries, Life in a Day presents a microcosmic view of our daily experiences as a global society. From the mundane to the profound, everything has its place as we spend 90 minutes gaining greater insight into the lives of people who may be more like us than we ever suspected, despite the fact that we're separated by incredible distances. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The Last King of Scotland director Kevin McDonald teams with screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan for this American adaptation of the hit British miniseries concerning the suspicious circumstances that set a rising congressman and a dogged reporter on a dangerous collision course. U.S. congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) is handsome, unflappable, and ascending the ladder of power with unprecedented speed. He's the future of his political party, and as the chairman of a committee assigned to oversee defense spending, he's got all the right connections. As the presidential race draws near, Washington insiders begin to speculate that Collins will earn his party's nomination for the country's top job. The prospect of Collins becoming president seems less and less likely, however, when his research assistant/mistress is viciously murdered, and some unsavory truths begin to surface. Collins was once a close friend to Cal McAffrey (Russell Crowe), now a top reporter in the nation's capital. Assigned the task of investigating Collins by his ruthless editor, Cameron (Oscar winner Helen Mirren), McAffrey recruits fellow reporter Della (Rachel McAdams) in order to track down the truth and identify the killer. But McAffrey has just walked into a cover-up of unprecedented proportions, and in a game where billions of dollars are at stake, life, love, and integrity are luxuries that simply cannot be afforded. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi