Roberta Taylor Movies
- 1999
Produced for the 1999 edition of the BBC's annual Children in Need fundraiser, Pudding Lane was contributed by the cast and crew of the long-running, immensely popular British soap opera EastEnders. The script contrived to have several of the series' regulars pop up as different characters during the London Fire of 1666. Despite their "new" personalities, most of the actors retained their familiar character names, with a few amusing emendations. For example, Lindsey Coulson, who played Carol Jackson on EastEnders, was now known as Cockney Carol, while Sid Owen, alias "Ricky Butcher," now called himself Sticky Ricky. Pudding Lane was doled out in five five-minute installments, broadcast throughout the evening of November 26, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lindsey Coulson, Natalie Cassidy, (more)
Willem Dafoe stars as groundbreaking early 20th century American poet T.S. Eliot in this biopic focusing on Eliot's disastrous marriage. Young Tom Eliot meets the flamboyant Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson) while they are both students at Oxford University in England in 1914. Eliot is studying under the famous writer and philosopher Bertrand Russell (Nickolas Grace). Tom and Viv elope after a very brief courtship, without the consent of her parents and against the advice of Viv's brother Maurice (Tim Dutton). On the honeymoon, Tom learns that Viv suffers from a severe hormonal imbalance which causes frequent menstruation. She is under the care of a doctor who calls her problems emotional and prescribes medications which worsen her condition. Viv is moody, often despondent, and frequently drunk. While Tom works as a bank clerk and tries to establish himself as a writer, Viv serves as his secretary and sometimes his muse, but more and more often she embarrasses them in public with her behavior. Yet her influence prevents Tom, who wants to become thoroughly British and a member of the Church of England, from becoming too staid. Eventually, Tom reluctantly commits his wife to a mental asylum and their troubled marriage continues to plague his life and color his work. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Miranda Richardson, (more)
In Nicolas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel The Witches, a young boy is vacationing at the seaside with his grandmother when he discovers that the hotel he is staying at is hosting a convention of witches. Eavesdropping on the witches, he learns that the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Huston) has devised a plan to turn all of the children in England into mice. With creature-effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, The Witches was the last film Henson worked on before passing away in 1990. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, (more)
