Matthew Long Movies
A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian family film, which became an unexpected international success due to superior special effects and an intelligent script. The title refers to the name bestowed on a piglet soon after his separation from his family, when he finds himself on a strange farm. Confused and sad, Babe is adopted by a friendly dog and slowly adjusts to his new home. Discovering that the fate of most pigs is the dinner table, Babe devotes himself to becoming a useful member of the farm by trying to learn how to herd sheep, despite the skepticism of the other animals and the kindly but conventional Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell). Because technically impeccable animatronics and computer graphics allow the farm animals to converse easily among themselves, first-time director Chris Noonan can treat the film's menagerie as actual characters, playing scene not for cuteness but for real emotions. The result is often surprisingly touching, with Noonan and George Miller's script, based on Dick King-Smith's children's book and, indirectly, a true story, seamlessly combining gentle whimsy and sincere feeling. These same qualities are embodied by in Cromwell's beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett, which anchors the film. Despite its unlikely premise and low profile, Babe's inspirational story was embraced by audiences and critics, and the movie became an international sleeper that won an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was followed in 1999 by the less successful Babe: Pig in the City. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
This rental contains both Babe and Babe: Pig in the City
This rental contains both Babe and Babe: Pig in the City
- Starring:
- James Cromwell, Christine Cavanaugh, (more)
High spiritual ideals don't quite mesh with the spirit of competition in this sports comedy. In the 1920s, the leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints began encouraging their congregations to form basketball teams and church leagues as a way to promote fitness, wholesome fun, and teamwork among Mormon youth. However, the downside of this plan was the rise of wildly competitive teams who were a lot more interested in winning at all costs than good sportsmanship. In the 1970s, Bishop Linderman (Fred Willard) has been watching his Mud Lake basketball team get trounced in the Church League championships for nearly two decades, which doesn't sit well with him. Linderman used to be Mud Lake's coach before we was banned from the game for fighting, and with the team facing another losing season, he appoints a new man, Dennis Buckstead (Andrew Wilson), to lead Mud Lake on the court. When LDS elders announce that they're putting an end to church ball and the upcoming season will be the last, the pressure is on Buckstead to bring home a championship for Mud Lake's final season. But with a team comprised of myopic clerk Gene (Clint Howard), rotund Don (Chad Long), timid Thurman (Steve Anderson), half-pint car salesman Charles (Gary Coleman), short-tempered Mickey (Ross Brockley), and Borat (Sina Amedson), an immigrant who knows soccer far better than basketball, Buckstead's prospects are not very good. Not wanting to disappoint Linderman, Buckstead tries to recruit a pair of ringers for the Mud Lake team -- Moses Mahoney (Thurl Bailey), a seven-foot-tall prodigy who teaches sports to underprivileged kids, and Jeremiah Jones (Stan Ellsworth), a fierce player who may be just a bit too competitive. Church Ball was directed by Kurt Hale and released through Halestorm Entertainment, a leading producer of LDS-oriented films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Willard, Andrew Wilson, (more)
- 1988
- PG13
Set in 1940s England, Distant Voices/Still Lives is a compassionate look at a radically dysfunctional family. The son and his mother must endure the casual and overt cruelties of the bull-necked father. The ongoing abuse takes its toll in the form of failed marriages and misguided attempts at seeking security outside the family unit. As was the case with his earlier short subject trilogy (The Children, Madonna and Child, Death and Transfiguration), director Terence Davies based much of the material on his own life, combining rheumy-eyed cynicism with soft-edged nostalgia (the musical track, drawn from popular wartime songs, is particularly evocative). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, (more)
- 1986
- R
Director Alan J. Pakula does the best anyone can with this complicated tale of what happens when the dream state and the waking state are confused and intermingled. While at home alone one day, Kathy Gardner (Kristy McNichol) defends herself against an intruder by stabbing him in the back. Now when she tries to sleep she keeps on having nightmares about the incident. Enter Michael Hansen (Ben Masters) a dream researcher who postulates that the actions in a dream state can be channeled into real but controlled actions. These real actions then harmlessly release tension or anger or whatever is at issue. The problem is that his research is not thoroughly tested, and Kathy may not be the best subject to use as a guinea pig. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristy McNichol, Ben Masters, (more)
- 1982
Comparatively unknown, the British And Nothing But the Truth is a blistering indictment of government-sanctioned corruption, as well as the "facts of life" of the television industry. Filmmaker Glenda Jackson and reporter Jon Finch head to South Wales, where a farm family has taken on the local village government. Accusations have been raised that a powerful corporation has (within legal limits) bribed the village to permit encroachment upon local farm land. In pursuit of the truth, Jackson and Finch are subjected to character assassination and overt threats. Only gradually do they discover that their own bosses are also on the take. And Nothing But the Truth was originally titled Giro City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Jon Finch, (more)
Since its London and Broadway stage debut, playwright Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine has proven an excellent showcase for any number of talented actresses (Loretta Swit won the 1989 Sarah Siddons Award for her work in the Chicago production). In the film version of Shirley Valentine, Pauline Collins re-creates the role that had previously brought her theatrical fame and a Tony Award. Spending the bulk of the film speaking directly to the audience, the titular Shirley (Collins), a middle-aged Liverpool housewife, reveals her innermost thoughts and fears in a manner that is both insouciant and poignant. Once an incorrigible anti-establishment rebel, Shirley now chafes under the plodding insensitivity of her husband Joe (Bernard Hill). Her life enters a new and exciting phase when, after her best friend Jane (Alison Steadman) wins an all-expenses-paid vacation to Greece, Shirley is given the opportunity to travel to faraway places without her husband. Shirley Valentine represents the second felicitous collaboration between playwright Willy Russell and director Lewis Gilbert; the first was Educating Rita (1983). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauline Collins, Tom Conti, (more)
- 1979
Why is it that some of the most outlandish movie plotlines are grounded in reality? The Great Riviera Bank Robbery is based on an actual occurrence in 1976. A fascist terrorist group, known as "The Chain", joins forces with a gang of professional criminals to pull off a heist. The target: a bank vault in a French resort town, bulging with tourist money. The booty: fifteen million dollars. In the tradition of Rififi, we follow the thieves' progress step by step, inch by inch, from conception to execution to aftermath. Throughout The Great Riviera Bank Robbery, you'll be declaring in dropped-jaw amazement that "this can't be true!"....but true it is. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
In The Medusa Touch Brunel (Lino Ventura), a French detective on temporary assignment with Scotland Yard, investigates a mysterious series of disasters. The uncanny events begin happening shortly after writer John Morlar (Richard Burton) was hit over the head by an unknown intruder and rendered comatose. Slowly, Brunel begins to connect the strange things that are happening in the world with the deranged dreams of the comatose Morlar. He gets the final clue he needs from Morlar's reluctant psychiatrist, Dr. Zonfield (Lee Remick), who holds the key to Morlar's past. Once it is discovered that Morlar has the ability to think horrible thoughts and make them come true, Brunel and Zonfield must take off with dispatch to a London cathedral, where the Queen is scheduled to make an appearance -- but Morlar is thinking about the cathedral, and it is crumbling fast. Well-liked in Britain, this movie did not do well in the U.S. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, (more)
- 1976
Blackballed by his peers, crackpot conservationist Zacardi (Vladek Sheybal) intends to get even with his highly trained birds, which swoop down and kill on his orders. Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) endeavor to stop Zacardi in his plan to take over the world with his feathered friends. The climax of this episode (the top-rated installment of The New Avengers' first season) finds Purdey in perilous predicament that would even make Alfred Hitchcock nervous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1979
Jackie Collins screenplay falters in this so-so melodrama about a soccer player and his road to fame and fortune. Rod Turner (Ian McShane) is a has-been soccer whiz who one day gets a second chance to reach for the brass ring. He joins a team owned by a playboy rock star (Paul Nicholas) and managed by Jake (Adam Faith), a vicious, mean-spirited devil. In spite of the manager and a suddenly complex personal life as he gets involved with the rock star's girlfriend (Suzanne Somers), Rod is determined to make this second chance work. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian McShane, Suzanne Somers, (more)
- 1971
Set during World War I, Zeppelin stars Michael York as Geoffrey Richter-Douglas, a British defector who goes to work in the fledgling German airship industry. In truth, Richter-Douglas is a spy, who has feigned defection in order to steal the plans for the revolutionary new Zeppelin. Our hero goes under cover so well that, when he tries to inform his own government of a German plan to steal the Magna Carta and thus irreparably damage British morale, no one believes him! Marius Goring costars as the inventor of the Zeppelin, who is racked with guilt when he learns that his creation is to be used for underhanded purposes, while Elke Sommer plays Goring's wife, who ends up helping Richter-Douglas to thwart the robbery scheme. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael York, Elke Sommer, (more)
