Paul Cronin Movies

A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win the heart of his true love in this fantasy adventure starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais, and Sienna Miller. For hundreds of years the massive cobblestone barrier that surrounds the sleepy English hamlet of Wall has kept the citizens of the village safe and secure from the malevolent supernatural forces that stir just outside its perimeter. When dashing Tristan Thorne (Cox) promises the fairest girl in the village, Victoria (Miller), that he will prove his love by bestowing her with a genuine falling star, his daring mission sends him on an adventure far outside the comfortable confines of Wall. In order to find the fallen star, Tristan will have to ascend the wall and venture deep into the forbidden heart of the fantastical realm known as Stormhold. Upon discovering that the meteorite he sought was in fact a beautiful girl named Yvaine (Danes), who has stumbled though space and is now being pursued by the King of Stormhold's (Peter O'Toole) sons (who long to use her cosmic powers to lay claim to the throne), Tristan vows to protect the otherworldly visitor at all costs. But the king's sons aren't the only ones in search of the luminous Yvaine; fearsome witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) has become convinced that the young girl's power can help her to achieve eternal youth and beauty. As Tristan makes his way through Stormhold on a mission to bring the star back to Wall, he will encounter a series of spectacular characters and creatures that will lead him to a fate he never imagined. Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn serves as director and co-screenwriter for this tale of witches and pirates adapted from the novel by fantasy icon Neil Gaiman, who also produces. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Amos Vogel was not a filmmaker, but that doesn't change the fact that he was a vitally important figure in American experimental filmmaking. Born in Vienna, Vogel came to the United States in 1938 and he developed a passionate interest in the arts. Intrigued by the burgeoning experimental film movement after seeing the early works of Maya Deren, Vogel was disappointed that there were so few places to see non-mainstream films, even in New York City. Vogel responded by forming Cinema 16, a non-profit film society, with his wife Marcia Vogel in 1947. In time, Cinema 16 became one of America's leading showcases for avant garde filmmaking, documentaries, and foreign films that didn't appeal to mainstream tastes; important early works by Roman Polanski, Luis Buñuel, and John Cassavetes received their first American screenings at Cinema 16, and at one point the group boasted a remarkable 6,000 members. Documentary filmmaker Paul Cronin offers a personal look at Vogel and his life in the arts in Film as a Subversive Art: Amos Vogel and Cinema 16, which takes its title from a book on film study written by Vogel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the summer of 1968, cinematographer Haskell Wexler went to Chicago to shoot his first directorial effort, a drama about a television news cameraman who finds it difficult to remain objective about the events surrounding him. Wexler intended to use the National Democratic Convention being held in the Windy City as a backdrop, but as clashes between anti-war protesters and the Chicago police force became violent, Wexler and his cast and crew found themselves caught in the middle, and the violent skirmishes and their aftermath at once informed the film's content and became a vital part of its subtext. Look Out Haskell, It's Real! The Making of "Medium Cool" is a documentary that tells the story behind one of the most acclaimed and original American films of the 1960s; director Paul Cronin includes interviews with Wexler and many of the members of his cast and crew, while also featuring outtakes from the film recently discovered in storage at the U.C.L.A. film archive. A "work in progress" version of Look Out Haskell, It's Real!: The Making of "Medium Cool" was screened at the 2001 Edinburgh Film Festival on a double bill with a restored print of Medium Cool itself. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A 1939 family works to uphold their standard of living with the possibility of World War II rearing its ugly head. ~ Rovi