David Lascelles Movies

Documentarian John Dower turns his attention toward the 1990s British musical movement dubbed Brit-pop in his 2003 film, Live Forever. Going back to an early 1990 concert by the now-defunct band the Stone Roses, Dower traces the roots of the Brit-pop movement as originating from Britain's simultaneously discontented and disenfranchised youth, a residual outcome of the Conservative Party's decade-long stranglehold on Britain's political and cultural identity. As Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher departed from her office, the 1990 Roses concert seemed to indicate a new musical movement would soon follow. Within a couple of years, the rock groups Blur and Oasis would take the lead in the new anti-establishment, almost anti-American, style of music that briefly seemed to revitalize Britain's sense of musical identity. Included in Dower's film are numerous interviews with British rockers Damon Albarn, Noel Gallagher, and Liam Gallagher. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Produced by the British television network Channel 4, this documentary takes a look at the life and work of acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, with special emphasis on the production of what proved to be his final film, Eyes Wide Shut. Family, friends, and collaborators of the great director offer a glimpse into his working methods and personality (as well as the estate where the reclusive Kubrick spent most of his time), among them actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, fellow directors Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack, studio executive Terry Semel, Kubrick's wife Christiane, and his daughters Anya and Katharina. Here, Kubrick is portrayed as an eccentric but stable man whose reclusive nature allowed him to go out in public when he chose without being recognized, who had a close and loving relationship with his family, and who could be difficult and challenging to work with. Another of Kubrick's daughters, Vivian Kubrick, who made a documentary on the production of her father's film The Shining (one of the few relatively close looks at Kubrick at work), did not participate in this film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Written in 1712, Daniel Defoe's bawdy novel Moll Flanders was given a slick movie treatment with Kim Novak in the lead in 1965, then serialized for British television in 1975. Most 21st century viewers, however, are familiar only with the four-part Granada Television adaptation, which made its first British TV appearance on December 1, 1996. This time around, Alex Kingston was cast as the resourceful Moll Flanders, who, in her determination to attain the uppermost circles of 18th century British society, was not averse to hopping in a few beds in pursuit of that goal. Along the way, Moll got mixed up with highwaymen and other scoundrels, nearly meeting her doom at the end of a hangman's noose in the process. But if nothing else, Moll was a survivor, and a happy ending was never far from view. At the time of its first broadcast, Moll Flanders stirred up controversy by virtue (if that is the word) of its 17 -- count 'em, 17 -- sex scenes. By the time that American cable viewers were treated to this lavish and lurid miniseries, star Alex Kingston had attained network TV stardom as one of the regulars on NBC's E.R., a fact that served only to stir up additional interest in Kingston's full-blooded portrayal of the fearless Ms. Flanders. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This British drama was originally created for British television but was later released in the U.S. It is based on a true story and chronicles the struggles of Deric and Diana Longden, a happily married couple who try to cope with Diana's inexplicable degenerative disease which causes occasional paralysis of her extremities and periodic blackouts. The doctors have no clue as to what ails her. Their love sustains them, but finally Diana comes to grips with the fact that the illness may prove fatal. She decides that before she goes, they should find Deric a replacement. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi