Michelle Collins Movies
Jeff Balsmeyer makes his writing and directing debut with the Australian romantic comedy Danny Deckchair. Rhys Ifans plays Danny Morgan, a building tradesman living in the Sydney suburbs with his upwardly mobile real-estate agent girlfriend, Trudy (Justine Clarke). When she chooses to postpone their vacation together in order to show a house to TV personality Sandy Upman (Rhys Muldoon), Danny takes matters into his own hands by fastening helium balloons to a chair and sailing over the city. Landing in the small town of Clarence, he meets and falls in love with parking cop Glenda (Miranda Otto). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto, (more)
Australian filmmaker Paul Goldman directs the comedy The Night We Called It a Day, based on the actual events during Frank Sinatra's 1974 tour stop in Sydney. Joel Edgerton plays Rod Blue, a long-haired rock promoter in Australia during the '70s. He hopes to save his floundering career by spending all his money booking Frank Sinatra (Dennis Hopper). But when Sinatra arrives with his girlfriend Barbara Marx (Melanie Griffith), he insults the locals by calling reporter Hilary Hunter (Portia de Rossi) "a two-dollar whore." Union leader and future Australian prime minister Bob Hawke (David Field) tries to cancel the tour unless he apologizes, and it's up to Rod and his assistant Audrey (Rose Byrne) to step in and save the tour. Tom Burlinson performs Sinatra's vocal parts. The Night We Called It a Day was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith, (more)
- 2001
Irreverent British comedian Paul Kaye unexpectedly turned out to be a credible romantic leading man on the BBC1 comedy-drama series 2000 Acres of Sky. The setting was the Scottish island of Ronansay, which housed a bed-and-breakfast and a small school, but little else. When the authorities threatened to close the school because it was two students shy of the required quota, the locals advertised in the London papers for a married-with-children couple to move to Ronansay and take charge of the "B and B." Although Abby Wallace (Michelle Collins) had the necessary two kids, she was bereft of a husband. Still, she needed the income, thus Abby persuaded her friend Kenny Marsh (Paul Kaye) to pose as her hubby and move with her to Ronansay. The first of the series' six 50-minute episodes was telecast on January 1, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Collins, Paul Kaye, (more)
- 2001
The central figure in this two-part British miniseries was Julie (Michelle Collins), a nurse who loved weddings. She loved them so much, in fact, that she couldn't wait to have her own. And when it was done, she decided to relive the splendor by having another wedding, and another, and another.... Only trouble was, she never bothered to go through the inconvenience of a divorce. Alternately hilarious and heartrending, Perfect was seen in the U.K. on April 23 and 30, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Collins, Barbara Flynn, (more)
- 1999
When the weekly, 50-minute British drama series Sunburn first aired on January 16, 1999, the action took place in Cyprus, and dealt with the men and women working for Janus Holidays, a successful British-owned travel agency. Upon launching its second season, the series shifted locales to Portugal, Janus' home office. In addition, several new cast members were introduced, among them the previously unseen but much-talked-about David Janus (Paul Nicholas). Michelle Collins starred as chief holiday representative Nicki Matthews, and all sang the series' title tune. Created by Mike Bullen, Sunburn ran for 14 episodes, the last of which aired over BBC1 in late 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michelle Collins
- 1992
In this astonishingly inexpensively produced ($12,000 Australian) feature by first-time director Lara Dunston, a Boy and a Girl (Annabel Stokes and Simon Hamm) are drawn together by their obsession with discovering the West, a mythologically rustic, romantic and primeval land. They are inspired by the country-and western tunes they both love, and the feature shows them developing a desire to travel through Australia in search of this imaginary land. They are interviewed extensively before they set out, and the film follows them in their ultimately unfulfilled and impossible search. Eventually, they discover that the West they are looking for is not to be found in the wilds of Australia, but in themselves. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1991
The Haunted is a Fox Network TV-movie purportedly based on eyewitness testimony. The story goes that in the mid-1980s, the Smurl family of Pittston, Pennsylvania began noticing something askew in their four-bedroom Victorian home. Apparently there are agents of Satan at work, bedeviling the family and smashing the crockery. None of the Smurls believes in ghosts--"until," as the ad copy for this film proclaims, "they have no choice." Since this film was shown on Fox, the "standards and practices" people were a wee more lax than they would have been on another network; hence the "Parental Discretion Advised" tag on the film's original telecast. The Haunted is some distance removed from believability, but stars Sally Kirkland and Jeffrey DeMunn seem to be having a high old time playing scared. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
This comedy was inspired by the true story of Cynthia Payne, a former waitress who gained fame as England's best-known (and best-liked) madame. Christine Painter (Julie Walters) is a working-class single mother who sub-leases a few inexpensive flats as a way of bringing in extra money. Christine has no particular interest in selling her body, but when she finds herself in a tight spot financially -- and notices that the prostitutes who rent her apartments are the only ones who consistently pay on time -- she decides to open a brothel. With the help of Shirley (Shirley Stelfox), an experienced prostie, and Morton (Alec McCowen), a former RAF commander with a fondness for women's undergarments, Christine opens a little place where elderly businessmen can indulge their fondness for kinky lingerie and being spanked by younger women. Soon Christine's business is booming and everyone is happy -- until the police pay her a visit. Personal Services was directed by Terry Jones, best known as a member of the Monty Python troupe; the real-life Cynthia Payne served as a technical advisor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Walters, Alec McCowen, (more)
