Timothy White Movies

Melvin Van Peebles created a new style of African-American filmmaking in 1971, when on a shoestring budget he made Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, a violent action picture about a sex-show stud on the run from the police that below the surface served as a call for revolution in the black community. But Sweet Sweetback was hardly Van Peebles' first or only bold achievement in the arts. After brief careers piloting cable cars in San Francisco and flying fighter planes in the Korean War, Van Peebles moved to Paris, where he wrote five novels, became a regular contributor to an anarchist journal, and directed his first feature film, The Story of a Three-Day Pass. On the strength of its critical acclaim, Van Peebles returned to America and made his first (and only) major studio film, Watermelon Man, which helped him gather the money and connections it took to make Sweet Sweetback. Alongside these cinematic triumphs, Van Peebles launched a recording career in the late '60s, making literate but streetwise albums that paved the way for rap and hip-hop, and staged a series of hit Broadway plays including Don't Play Us Cheap and Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. In the 1980s, Van Peebles switched careers and became a successful Wall Street options trader, and watched his son Mario Van Peebles become a star. (Mario would also go on to make a film about his dad's adventures making Sweet Sweetback, entitled Baadasssss!) How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It) is a documentary made with Van Peebles' participation that looks back at his multi-faceted career and the brilliant, uncompromising man behind it all. The film includes interviews with a number of Van Peebles' colleagues and admirers, including Spike Lee, Gil Scott-Heron, Gordon Parks, and Elvis Mitchell. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Many of today's most popular artists gathered to perform in a tribute to holiday music at this concert held by the Placido Domingo Society. Many well-loved chestnuts are aired here, performed by the likes of Tony Bennett, Charlotte Church, Vanessa Williams, and, of course, Placido Domingo. Songs performed include "White Christmas" and "Silent Night." ~ Rob Ferrier, All Movie Guide

Australian director Gillian Armstrong directed this Laura Jones adaptation of Peter Carey's 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel. In a lengthy flashback, Oscar Hopkins' great grandson (Geoffrey Rush) narrates the family history that led to his birth. On an Australian farm, Lucinda Leplastrier was tutored by her intelligent mother, a woman who took part in the early feminist movement. Oscar's lonely boyhood in rural England was under the watchful eye of his preacher father. At Oxford to train as a minister, the adult Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) feels he doesn't fit in and develops a passion for gambling, giving his winnings away to the poor. Oscar and Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) meet aboard a ship; he's off to the outback to work as a missionary, and she's returning from London after buying equipment for her glass factory. As mutual misfits, they have an instant attraction and quickly grow close, developing a romantic relationship based on trust. However, the Rev. Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) and Lucinda are friends, sharing an interest in glass. Convinced they are in love, Oscar embarks on an unusual and difficult task, building a glass church for the reverend, an ambitious project to attempt in the remote wilderness. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this Australian comedy, adapted by Louis Nowra from his own play and updated from a '70s to a '90s setting, a Sydney slacker gets the chance to stage an opera, but his cast is assembled from the ranks of the mentally ill. After a long stretch sponging off his law-student girlfriend Lucy (Rachel Griffiths), college dropout Lewis (Ben Mendelsohn) fakes his way into a job doing occupational therapy with a group of asylum inmates. Although his original assignment is to stage a variety show, manic-depressive patient Roy (Barry Otto) soon hijacks the project and convinces Lewis to helm an adaptation of his favorite opera, Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti. Lewis' unlikely cast ranges from psycho firebug Doug (David Wenham) and scruffy loudmouth Sandra (Kerry Walker) to depressive, dirt-obsessed Ruth (Pamela Rabe) and self-effacing drug addict Julie (Toni Collette). Given the dearth of acting and singing experience among these players, Lewis opts to translate the piece from Italian to English and stage it as a play with only a few pieces of music. The show still proves to be more than its director bargained for -- despite the dubious assistance of his friend Nick (Aden Young), an actor/director who's currently staging his own over-the-top production of Diary of a Madman. Although Cosi reteams Muriel's Wedding co-stars Collette and Griffiths, their characters here never share a scene. The production also includes former Men at Work singer Colin Hay in a featured role, plus cameos from Greta Scacchi and Paul Mercurio (who appeared alongside Otto in Strictly Ballroom). ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by satirical comedian (and dedicated environmentalist) Ben Elton, the British miniseries Stark was set in the bleak near-future, with mankind facing utter extinction due to rampant pollution. The action took place in Australia, home base for the Stark Conspiracy, a secret organization of politicians and corporate fat cats who intended to save themselves from Armageddon at the expense of everyone else on earth. When zillionaire Sly Morgan (Colin Friels) was invited to join the Stark group, gonzo journalist CD Dobson (played by author Ben Elton himself) intended to uncover the facts behind the organization. To this end, he began romancing Rachel (Jacqueline McKenzie), an activist in league with a group of overaged hippies who hoped to destroy Stark and save the world on their own. A co-production of BBC2 and Australia's ABC network, Stark originally aired in Britain in three 55-minute installments, from December 8 to 22, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Also released as Spotswood, The Efficiency Expert stars Anthony Hopkins as Wallace, a cold-blooded management consultant, infamous for radically "downsizing" every firm he comes in contact with. Wallace's latest assignment is to streamline a small, family-owned shoe factory in Australia. As he gets to know the eccentric (and endearingly inefficient) factory workers, Wallace undergoes a slow-but-sure "humanizing" process. Eventually realizing that he can simultaneously cut costs and preserve the dignity of the workers, he finds a way to modernize the operation without a single firing. In traditional fashion, the main story shares screen time with a romantic subplot involving the factory-owner's son and a female employee. Characterized by many critics as "Capraesque," The Efficiency Expert also bears trace of all those Ealing comedies of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ann Turner wrote and directed this genuinely creepy amalgam of Father Knows Best and Death Wish. Celia Carmichael (Rebecca Smart) is a lonely nine-year-old girl growing up in the Melbourne suburbs in the late 1950s, who is the victim of several traumas with horrific results. She first finds her grandmother's dead body. Then she has nightmares from a book read to her at school. For a spell, her troubles are abated when a new family moves in next door with three children for Celia to play with. But her parents forbid her to play with the children because the parents are members of the Communist Party. It all comes to a head when, because of a national plague of rabbits, the Victoria State government orders a turning over of all domestic rabbits. When her uncle confiscates her beloved pet rabbit and discovers that it has died in the Melbourne Zoo, Celia explodes in violent revenge. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this hilarious, award-winning comedy, Malcolm (Colin Friels) is an innocent, naive mechanical genius with a distinct gap where sexual and social awareness normally reside. He first gets into trouble when he builds his version of a streetcar and then takes it on a joyride through Melbourne -- a definite no-no. That exploit costs him his job as a maintenance man for the streetcar company. Out of work, Malcolm is forced to take in two boarders who are actually a con man and his female companion. The con artist is intrigued by all of Malcolm's mechanical inventions, and cash registers are clicking at the back of his mind. It does not take him long to convince Malcolm to join them in robbing a bank -- which turns out to be even more adventurous than the streetcar ride through Melbourne. Director Nadia Tass and her husband, co-producer, scripter and cinematographer David Parker followed up with an enjoyable and funny Rikky and Pete. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Vincent Ward directed and co-wrote this stately coming-of-age film that features a subtly nuanced performance from twelve-year-old Fiona Kay. Toss (Kay) is a sweet girl on the verge of adolescence, who lives on a sheep farm with her father in the rolling hills of New Zealand. When her father dies in a tragic accident, Toss' mother Elizabeth (Penelope Stewart) puts the farm up for sale. But her grandfather (Bill Kerr) wants to keep the farm in business and enlists the hunter Ethan (Frank Whitten) to help get the farm back into functioning shape. At first Ethan and Elizabeth react to each other's presence with restrained hostility, but their nearness to each other eventually erupts into a passionate love affair. Through all of this, Toss tries to deal with the up-front passions of the two adults as she also adjusts to her coming womanhood. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide