Oliver Ford Davies Movies

Writer-director Darren Fisher's innuendo-laden romantic comedy Popcorn unfurls entirely within the confines of a British multiplex known as "Moovieworld," where 19-year-old Danny (Jack Ryder) accepts a job with the intention of wooing and winning over usherette Suki (Jodi Albert) - little realizing that it is her last day at the theater. Faced with a very short amount of time in which to act, a desperate Danny cooks up a host of wild schemes designed to catch Suki's attention. He is assisted in his pursuits by fellow worker and consummate movie addict Zak (Luke de Woolfsoon) who vows to teach him the tricks of the trade as illustrated in various romantic movies. Meanwhile, theatrical manager Kris (Andrew-Lee Potts) learns of a "management plant" at the theater making a bundle by reselling old tickets, and decides to reel in the culprit, red-handed. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Hanif Kureishi wrote this drama about a woman whose late-blooming romance causes a serious rift with her family. May (Anne Reid) and Toots (Peter Vaughan) are an elderly couple who travel to London to visit their two grown children, Bobby (Steven Mackintosh) and Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw). While Bobby tries to be attentive to his parents, he's busy with his two young children, a major project at work, and completing some renovations on his large and expensive house, while his wife, Helen (Anna Wilson-Jones), shows little interest in her in-laws. Meanwhile, Paula is unsatisfied with her work and carries on an affair with Darren (Daniel Craig), a builder who is working on Bobby's home. When Toots suddenly dies, May moves in with Paula, but with Paula at work all day, she has little to do. Darren stops by Paula's flat periodically, and soon he strikes up a friendship with May; their conversations soon develop into flirtation, and before long, the two have become lovers, meeting regularly for afternoon trysts in Paula's spare room. While May's relationship with Darren makes her feel happier and more alive than she has in years, it leads to an ugly confrontation when Paula learns about the affair. The Mother was screened as part of the Director's Fortnight series at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The fascinating story of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth is recounted in this British made-for-TV effort. It all begins in 1920, when the then-Duke of York Albert (James Wilby), known affectionately as Bertie, meets and falls in love with the aristocratic, 19-year-old Elizabeth Bowes-Lytton (Juliet Aubrey). Although their marriage makes international headlines, the mild, unprepossessing Bertie knows that he will always play second fiddle to his dashing older brother, the Prince of Wales, in the hearts and minds of the British people. This is never more true than when Bertie's brother ascends to the throne as King Edward VIII in 1936. That same year, however, the new King abdicates so that he may marry the woman of his choice, thereby thrusting the reluctant Bertie into the limelight as Monarch of the British Isles. Spurred on by the love and devotion of his lifelong helpmate Elizabeth, Bertie -- now King George -- proves more than worthy of his new burdens and responsibilities, especially during the darkest days of WWII. Although the King passes on in 1952 (a death hastened by his fondness for tobacco), Elizabeth lives well past the century mark, beloved by her subjects as the mother of the future Queen Elizabeth II and the impulsive Princess Margaret. A co-production of Carlton Television and PBS, Bertie and Elizabeth was telecast in America as part of the Masterpiece Theater anthology on February 4, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Charles McDougall's Sunday is one of two films (the other being Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday) that were made in 2002 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of January 30, 1972, a date commonly known as Bloody Sunday. Originally aired on BBC television network, the film attempts to give a fact-based portrayal of the events, which began as a civil rights protest in response to some Catholic leaders being jailed without due process and ended in a gruesome massacre, with 14 Catholics shot dead and 14 others injured at the hands of the British military. After its television debut, Sunday went on to win the top prize at the 2002 Method Fest Independent Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick-turned-pop-culture myth machine. It quickly became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape of the film industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) that extended the story of the first film, Lucas took some time off to produce movies for others, with mixed success. In 1999, Lucas returned to the Star Wars saga with a new approach -- instead of picking up where Return of the Jedi left off, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace would be the first of a trilogy of stories to trace what happened in the intergalactic saga before the first film began. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter, but when they arrive on Naboo they are brought to Amidala (Natalie Portman), the Naboo queen, by a friendly but opportunistic Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan plan to escort Amidala to a meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but trouble with their spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon meets Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced that the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and he begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of the Force. The supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master Mace Windu. Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to say "May the Force be with you" onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this telemovie spinoff of the popular series MacGyver, the titular hero (Richard Dean Anderson) - an astonishingly resourceful scientist ere-equipped with his trusty Swiss Army Knife - embarks on an Indiana Jones-style quest to find the lost treasure of Atlantis. Brian Blessed, Sophie Ward and Christian Burgess co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this mystery, Inspector Morse investigates the murder of an ex-police commissioner and discovers that it is linked to a death he looked into nearly twenty years before. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In 1963, the conservative British government was shaken to its foundations by the Profumo Scandal. The central character in this disastrous affair was John Profumo, Britain's minister of war, who had become sexually involved with call-girl Christine Keeler, whose "sponsor" was high-priced osteopath Dr. Stephen Ward. Fancying himself a dashing international adventurer, Ward had also offered Christine to alleged Soviet spy Eugene Ivanov. Another of Ward's stable, Mandy Rice-Davies, allegedly had slept with numerous British and American luminaries. The whole sordid story, which ended with Ward's suicide and Profumo's public disgrace, was recounted with relish in director Michael Caton-Jones's Scandal, which featured John Hurt as Stephen Ward, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer as Christine Keeler, Ian McKellan as Profumo, Bridget Fonda as Mandy Rice-Davies, and Jeroen Krabbe as Ivanov. In its original form, the film was ripe enough to court an X-rating; post-production trimming enabled it to squeak by with an R. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When the ailing husband of an adulterous wife is discovered bludgeoned to death and suspicions fall on the older woman's young lover, the newly widowed woman claims that it was she who was solely responsible for the death despite evidence that points to the contrary in this dramatic account of true-life 1935 trial that shocked all of England. Though notable evidence and strong suspicion suggests that the murder may have been of crime of passion perpetrated by the jealous lover only half her age, Alma Rattenbury (Helen Mirren) confesses to the murder of her husband and is soon brought to trial. Despite the fact that Alma is already being deemed guilty by the general public for her adulterous indiscretion alone, her lawyer, star attorney T.J. O'Connor (David Suchet), remains convinced that his client will eventually be cleared of all charges. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi