Giles Walker Movies

Directed by Giles Walker and Adam Weissman, Tales From the Neverending Story: The Beginning is essentially a made-for-television retelling of the original Neverending Story, which was directed by Wolfgang Peterson in 1984. Mark Rendall stars as Bastian, a young boy who suddenly finds himself in Fantasia, the fantasy world in the mysterious book he is reading. It is revealed that Fantasia is dying because of an evil force called The Nothing. It's up to Bastian and the heroic Atreyu (Tyler Hynes) to save Fantasia and its Childlike Empress (Audrey Gardiner). ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Like the various incarnations of Anne of Green Gables, the Canadian TV series Emily of New Moon was based on the works of novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery. Set in the 1890s, the series starred Martha MacIsaac as Emily Byrd Starr, who after the deaths of her parents was sent to live with her middle-aged aunts Elizabeth (Susan Clark) and Laura (Sheila McCarthy) in the Prince Edward Island community of New Moon. An aspiring writer, Emily possessed an extremely vivid imagination, which frequently resulted in a heap of trouble for herself and her oddball adult cousin Jimmy (Stephen McHattie). Forty-six hour-long episodes were shown over the CBC during a two-year period beginning January 4, 1998. At the outset of the 21st century, Emily of New Moon was picked up for TV exposure in the United States by the Movieplex cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Residents in a retirement home band together to thwart the thievery of the home's crooked director. Woody, Joseph, Olive (Cloris Leachman) and Peter were a bridge foursome. The film opens at Peter's funeral where Joseph (Jan Rubes) is attempting to recruit Rose (Olympia Dukakis) to fill Peter's spot at the bridge table. Acting on a prior understanding with Peter, Woody (Jean Lapointe) goes to the home's director, Carl (Matt Craven), and tries to get the money Peter allocated to cover the costs of his funeral. Carl claims Peter left the money to the home, and nothing is available for the funeral. Woody knows perfectly well that Peter would do no such thing, and his suspicions are aroused. The four bridge players begin to notice other, equally shady, things going on, and so put together a sting operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This drama telling the exploits of seriously ill teens who are spending the summer at a camp for cancer victims makes an effort to bring a light touch to this otherwise gloomy subject. In the story, Ryan (Zachary Ansley), who has a brain tumor, is pretty certain he'll die before long. Before he does, he wants to have sex with a woman. Robert (Nicholas Shields), who has leukemia, isn't afraid to perform any stunt or get into any kind of adventure. Holly (Stacie Mistysyn) has lost a leg due to bone cancer, but is interested in helping Ryan fulfill his wish. One of the highlights of the movie is a theatrical in which the campers lampoon their doctors, parents, and one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This hilarious Canadian comedy frankly and with surprising taste, chronicles the travails of Alex, the 'Most Potent Man in the World." Alex earns this title while visiting a sperm bank. There it is discovered that he has a sperm motility rate of 99.5. What that means is that women he comes in contact with, directly or through artificial insemination, stand a terrific chance of becoming pregnant. Alex is naturally proud of his gift, but unfortunately, because he is only average looking, few of the sperm bank patrons are enticed to have his babies. In order to let them known what they are missing, he hires himself a manager and appears on a radio talk show. The ploy works and he suddenly finds himself surround by women desperate to get pregnant one way or another. At the same time, Alex's buddy Blue and his mail-order Korean bride Pak are crushed to discover that they cannot have children because Blue doesn't have enough sperm. They try every crazy method around before going to the clinic in desperation. Unfortunately, the day they come in, the clinic is besieged by Australian commandos who kidnap Alex and take him down under to help repopulate their population-challenged land. Last Straw is the third of screenwriter David C. Wilson and director Giles Walker's trilogy on the lives and trials of two modern males. The first two were Masculine Mystique and 90 Days. The characters Alex and Blue appear in all three films. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

For those seeking a break from all those feminist documentaries in which women sit around discussing the iniquities of a male-dominated world, we submit for your approval the Canadian The Masculine Mystique. Veteran Scottish-born filmmaker Giles Walker, in concert with relative newcomer Jimmy Neils Smith, throw political correctness to the wind by offering us the Men's angle. Four certified males, drawn from various walks of life, are asked their opinions on the feminist movement. Some of the commentary is expectedly scatological and demeaning. Occasionally, however, a whiff of incisiveness and senstivity emerges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide