Marcus Powell Movies
Diane Doniol-Valcroze and Arthur Flam debut with this noirish psychological thriller about an obsessive tailor, recalling the works of David Lynch and The Quay Brothers. Thomas (Emmanuel Salinger) is an anxious young tailor eager to please his clients and his overly critical father. Previous mistakes have made Thomas supremely conscious of measuring fabric properly. Just before the annual ball, Thomas's neurosis boils over into madness, resulting in murder. This film was screened at the 1999 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuel Salinger, Myriam Cyr, (more)
Paul Newman earned an Oscar nomination (and won citations from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Berlin International Film Festival) for his performance in this well-drawn comedy-drama. Sully (Newman) is a 60-year-old man who emotionally seems to have never quite emerged from adolescence; scraping by on part-time work in construction, Sully has built a life around avoiding responsibility. He hasn't spoken with his ex-wife (Elizabeth Wilson) in years, he lives in a rooming house owned by his eighth-grade teacher Mrs. Beryl (Jessica Tandy), his best friend is a mildly retarded handyman, Rub (Pruitt Taylor Vince), and he has a crush on Toby (Melanie Griffith), who is half his age and married to Carl (Bruce Willis), who sometimes gives him work. One day, Sully nearly runs into his son Peter (Dylan Walsh) and discovers that he has a grandson he never knew about; for the first time, Sully finds himself thinking that he ought to start behaving like a grown-up -- or at least get to know his family before it's too late. Nobody's Fool also features Gene Saks as Sully's lawyer Wirf, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the overly-enthusiastic Officer Raymer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, (more)
- 1990
- R
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Making optimum use of its limited budget, this intense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror film involves the bizarre results of genetic experiments performed by Dr. Foster (George Gerard) for the head of the sinister Talos Corporation. When bitten by the spawn of one of the alien spores contained in the lab, Foster undergoes a horrific transformation and begins stalking anyone unfortunate enough to stray into the facility. This includes the daughter of the creature's first victim (Tara Leigh) and a hitman (Tony Gigante) hired by sleazy Talos director Dr. Viallini (Marcus Powell) to murder anyone privy to the project or its lethal outcome. Ultimately, the survivors must square off against the ever-mutating Foster/thing before it becomes unstoppable. Well-written and sporting some spectacular (and gross) monster effects, this ambitious effort began as a belated sequel to the shoestring cult classic The Deadly Spawn (aka Return of the Aliens). ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tara Leigh, Tony Gigante, (more)
- 1988
- R
Ruth Warren (Jessica Dublin) is a former movie star who hopes to restore her youthful beauty in this low-budget horror feature. She funds the research of Dr. Gregory Ashton (John MacKay), who develops a serum that reverses the aging process, and she willingly volunteers to become a human laboratory rat and takes the serum. The rejuvenated woman dubs herself Elizabeth (Vivian Lanko). What she doesn't know is that Ashton robs the brains of dead bodies to get the chemical needed for the formula, and the side effects turn monstrous for Elizabeth who resorts to murder in her lust for human brains. The special effects are excellent. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivian Lanko, John A. MacKay, (more)
The second of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's theatrical-feature spoofs (Airplane was the first, discounting the patchwork Kentucky Fried Movie), Top Secret! lampoons practically every film genre. Specifically, however, this is a hybrid of an "Elvis" movie and a World War II "underground resistance" thriller. In his film debut, Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a Presley-like American rock idol sent behind the Iron Curtain on a goodwill tour. Before long, he is involved in a complex espionage scheme thanks to beautiful Lucy Gutteridge, the daughter of a scientist (Michael Gough) held captive by the Communists. Also essential to the action is flamboyant resistance leader Christopher Villiers, who behaves like Victor Mature in Betrayed (1954) and talks like James Mason. Adhering to Z-A-Z's cheerful disregard for people, places and events, the East Germans are depicted as Nazis, while the Underground is comprised of Frenchmen. The plot is mainly an excuse for the Z-A-Z team's fondness for joke-a-minute lampoonery, skewering cinematic targets ranging from The Blue Lagoon (1980) to The Wizard of Oz (1939). As in Z-A-Z's other efforts, Top Secret! scores its biggest yocks when invoking cliches that we never realized were cliches-and falls on its face whenever attempting a too-obvious gag (the biggest clinker: that pigeon statue in the park). Everyone has his or her favorite bits in this film: our faves include the resistance fighter named Deja Vu ("Haven't we met somewhere before?"), Kilmer's horrible nightmare while being tortured (he arrives too late to take final exams), the army-booted cow, the sensitive Pinto, and the East German National Anthem, sung to the tune of the Shorewood (Wisconsin) High School marching song. But let's say no more: comedy of this nature is designed to be seen, not written or read about. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, (more)
A young boy joins a group of renegade dwarves on an unpredictable journey through time in this humorous fantasy. Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam mostly achieves a tricky balancing act in his second feature as sole director, creating a dark, irreverent comedy disguised as a family adventure. Particularly amusing are the boy's encounters with various historical figures, including an entertainment-starved Napoleon (Ian Holm), a powerful Agamemnon (Sean Connery), and a surprisingly stuffy Robin Hood, embodied by Gilliam's Python cohort John Cleese. Episodic by nature, the film is less successful when dealing with the larger narrative, which concerns the pursuit of the dwarves and their time-traveling map by the Supreme Being. However, the combination of Gilliam's visual exuberance and the witty script (by Gilliam and Michael Palin) ensures an entertaining, if erratic, journey. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cleese, Sean Connery, (more)
John Hurt stars as John Merrick, the hideously deformed 19th century Londoner known as "The Elephant Man". Treated as a sideshow freak, Merrick is assumed to be retarded as well as misshapen because of his inability to speak coherently. In fact, he is highly intelligent and sensitive, a fact made public when one Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins) rescues Merrick from a carnival and brings him to a hospital for analysis. Alas, even after being recognized as a man of advanced intellect, Merrick is still treated like a freak; no matter his station in life, he will forever be a prisoner of his own malformed body. Unable to secure rights for the famous stage play The Elephant Man, producer Mel Brooks based his film on the memoirs of Frederick Treves and a much later account of Merrick's life by Ashley Montagu. The film is lensed in black and white by British master cinematographer Freddie Francis. Though nominated for eight Academy Awards, the film was ultimately shut out in every category. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, (more)
- 1980
Sucked into a black hole in space, the Liberator crew comes across a hitherto uncharted domain. The area is held in thrall by the Thaarn (Marcus Powell), a creature from the mythology of Cally's home planet. Recognizing someone from his own culture, the hideous Thaarn demands that Cally (Jan Chappell) marry him. Meanwhile, Avon (Paul Darrow) and Tarrant (Steven Pacey) are faced with their own particular horror -- this one of a mathematical variety. "Dawn of the Gods" was originally broadcast on January 28, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keating, Paul Darrow, (more)
- 1978
In the thrall of a telepathic power stronger than her own, Cally (Jan Chappell) sabotages the controls of the Liberator, which ends up landing on an uncharted planet. Here Cally meets the wretched bioproducts of genetic experimentation on her own planet. Blake and the others attempt to escape, but the Liberator is ensnared in the titular "Web" -- and making matters worse, the hostile Decimas are preparing to attack. This episode of Blakes 7 was originally broadcast on January 30, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1977
This children's fantasy is about the "Wombles," borrowed from a British TV series, who are furry creatures (actors in suits), normally invisible to anyone but themselves, and whose mission in life is to clean up after humans -- their first chore was to pick up the forgotten apple core in the Garden of Eden. The British Wombles know something is wrong when humans start to notice them, beginning with little Kim Frogmorton (Bonnie Langford) and then her parents. In a series of vignettes, Wombles alone, or humans alone, or both together handle disconnected misadventures -- such as saving the Womble burrow at Wimbledon, fighting against pollution, and moaning over adult topics like an oil shortage, and a theater shortage, for that matter. A few Wombles are professional beasties (such as Kenny Baker of R2-D2 fame), but for the most part, the scenarios are conventional and range from ordinary to insensitive. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, (more)
