Peter Mcaleese Movies
Three decades after a major country is quarantined in hopes of containing a lethal and highly contagious virus nicknamed "Reaper," signs that the super-bug has resurfaced in a major city prompt desperate specialists to race back into the infected zone to find a cure in director Neil Marshall's (The Descent) miasmic speculative sci-fi thriller. Few could have foreseen the terror that the microorganism known as "Reaper" would unleash upon the unsuspecting population, and when terrified authorities quarantined the entire country in hopes of saving the human race, the streets immediately descended into chaos. Thirty years later, the inhabitants of planet Earth think that they've seen the last of the merciless killer disease, but they couldn't be more wrong. When "Reaper" reappears more powerful than ever in a major city, an elite group of professionals led by Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) are forced to travel back into the sealed-off country where the virus first broke out in order to create a cure and save humankind from certain doom. Now, as the rest of the world anxiously awaits word of their ultimate fate, Eden and her brave team are about to find out that there is indeed a hell, and they are about to journey directly into its black, envenomed heart. Also in the cast are Bob Hoskins and Malcolm McDowell, as well as a host of veterans from Marshall's past productions, including Sean Pertwee, MyAnna Buring, Craig Conway, and Nora-Jane Noone. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, (more)
The citizens of London must grapple with one of the greatest environmental crises in British history, and the possible obliteration of the city itself, in Flood, a natural disaster opus from director Tony Mitchell (Supervolcano). In present day England, a colossal storm hits the North Atlantic Ocean just outside of the UK and moves toward the Scotch mainland, laying waste to the town of Wick. Some predict that the crisis will die off; not so Professor Leonard Morrison (Tom Courtenay of Billy Liar), who worked arduously on the Thames River barrier. Morrison presciently foresees the system moving across the Thames barrier, where it will gain added strength from the year's unusually high tide and inundate London with a wall of water. In desperation, Leonard contacts daughter-in-law Sam (Jessalyn Gilsig), Director of Operations for the barrier, and warns her of the impending destruction; Sam's estranged husband (and Leonard's son) Rob (Robert Carlyle), who is employed as an engineer on the Barrier, and Police Commissioner Patricia Nash (Joanne Whalley) also become involved. As the water hits - just as predicted - these officials declare a city-wide state of emergency and must take extreme measures to keep the pending disaster from spiraling out of control and claiming untold numbers of lives . ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
A troubled war veteran tries to unlock his memories of a terrible crime in this stylish thriller, the first American project for British filmmaker John Maybury. In 1991, Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) was an American soldier serving in the Persian Gulf when he was shot in the head; pronounced dead by a field surgeon, Starks somehow returned to life, though with no small number of psychological problems to show for his troubles. A year later, Starks is walking through the snowy Vermont wilderness when he discovers a woman whose truck has broken down, Jean (Kelly Lynch). Starks tries to help Jean and her young daughter, and later flags down a car for a ride into town; however, the car is being driven by a criminal on the run from the police (Brad Renfro), and not long after the car is cornered by police, Starks' memory goes blank. When he comes to, Jack is accused of killing a patrolman in the violent standoff that followed, and is told the woman, her daughter, and the criminal existed only in his imagination. Declared insane in his murder trial, Starks is sentenced to a mental institution run by Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), who seems to believe that the more brutal the treatment, the better. As Starks suffers frequent beatings and long spells in a frozen locker, his mind drifts from his harrowing past into the future, where he visits with Jackie (Keira Knightley), who once was the young girl Starks tried to help. The Jacket also features Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dr. Lorenson, a compassionate doctor who tries to help Starks and his fellow patients. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, (more)
Brazilian director Walter Salles Jr. follows up the Golden Globe-nominated Behind the Sun with this filmed adaptation of Argentinian-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara's journals of the same name. The Motorcycle Diaries stars Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También, Amores Perros) as a young, pre-revolution Guevara, a 23-year-old medical student in 1952 traveling across South America on a motorcycle with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna), who co-wrote the source material. As they embark on their journey, both young men come of age and find their individual world views broadened farther than they ever expected. The Motorcycle Diaries premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, (more)
Scottish filmmaker Gillies MacKinnon directs the revenge thriller The Escapist. Escaped convict Ricky Barnes (Andy Serkis, Gollom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) breaks into the house of commercial pilot Denis (Jonny Lee Miller) and kills his pregnant wife, Valerie (Paloma Baeza). The baby survives but Denis is too distraught to care for it, so relative Christine (Jodhi May) steps in to take over the parenting duties. Denis then stages an elaborate plan of revenge by faking his own death and turning into a criminal. After being caught and convicted, he makes several failed attempts at escaping prison in an effort to mimic his enemy, Ricky. Denis is taken to increasingly higher security prisons until he is at the same one as Ricky, leading to a violent conclusion. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonny Lee Miller, Andy Serkis, (more)
Based on Helen Fielding's hugely popular novel, this romantic comedy follows Bridget (Renee Zellweger), a post-feminist, thirty-something British woman who has a penchant for alcoholic binges, smoking, and an inability to control her weight. While trying to keep these things in check and also deal with her job in publishing, she visits her parents for a Christmas party. They try to set her up with Mark (Colin Firth), the visiting son of one of their neighbors. Snubbed by Mark, she instead falls for her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant), a dashing lothario who begins to send her suggestive e-mails that soon lead to a dinner date proposition. Daniel reveals that he and Mark attended college together, during which time Mark had an affair with his fiancée. When Bridget finds Daniel cavorting with an American colleague, she decides to change her life with a new job as a TV presenter. At a dinner party, she bumps into Mark again, who expresses his affection for her; when Daniel claims he wants Bridget back, the two fight over who deserves her affections the most. Popular British performers Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, and Shirley Henderson appear in the supporting cast. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, (more)
In this downbeat drama, Cameron Colley (Jonny Lee Miller) is a journalist whose career has gone into a slump; he's working for a second-rate tabloid and is looking for a story that will help him move on to better things. Colley also has a secret: he's been having an affair with Yvonne (Keely Hawes), the wife of his close friend William (Jason Hetherington). Colley has been getting tip-offs by telephone from a man calling himself Mr. Archer, who claims to be a government intelligence agent and suggests Cameron look into a series of murders that have been occurring in London. Cameron's research suggests that the three victims were all involved in a scandal over the sale of British arms to the Middle East, but police inspector McDunn (Brian Cox) sees things a bit differently; he thinks there could be a link between the murders and a story Cameron wrote suggesting certain public figures who betray the trust of the people might be better off dead. As Cameron tries to prove he's not to blame for the killings, he wonders if someone he knows might be trying to set him up. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonny Lee Miller, Brian Cox, (more)
Bob Spiers (director of TV's Absolutely Fabulous) directed this feature-film debut of the five Spice Girls -- Posh Spice, Sporty Spice, Scary Spice, Ginger Spice, and Baby Spice -- as the quintet challenges the London pop scene during five days before their first live performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Photojournalists follow as they travel from press conferences to practice sessions to photo ops, passing London landmarks in the comfort of their cavernous Spicebus and emerging in a musical cascade of color, trendy clothes, and blinding flashbulbs. Shot in 43 days, the film features cameos by everyone from Elton John and Elvis Costello, to Stephen Fry and Bob Hoskins. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spice Girls, Melanie Brown, (more)
- 1997
- NR
In British television writer-director Kevin Allen's feature film debut, the industrial town of Swansea, Wales, is viewed through the post-punk lens of disaffected youth. Lower-class, crude, drug-addled brothers Julian and Jeremy (played by real-life brothers Llyr Evans and Rhys Ifans), steal cars, smoke dope, and terrorize the town on their joy rides. They are thought to be twins but really aren't. Their father Fatty (Hugh Ceredig) is injured while working for corrupt contractor Bryn Cartwright (William Thomas). Jeremy and Julian want to be compensated with money for their dad's injuries, but Cartwright refuses. Posing as a respectable businessman, he is actually a drug trafficker in cahoots with two corrupt policemen, Greyo (Dorien Thomas) and Terry (Dougray Scott). Greyo is smitten with the brothers' sister, who is a prostitute. The "twins" go after Cartwright and his associates with a vengeance, inflicting sick brutalities on their pets and their families. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Llyr Evans, Rhys Ifans, (more)
- 1996
British writer-director Maria Giese filmed this independent sports drama, which centers around the wasted opportunities of young footballer Jimmy Muir (Sean Bean). Muir works in a brewery and lives with his parents and younger brother in the hard-scrabble industrial city of Sheffield, England. He loves to play soccer, but he is arrogant, disrespectful, and frequently drunk, and he has never made much of his talents. While playing for a local pub's team, Jimmy is spotted by Ken Jackson (Pete Postlethwaite), who recruits him for a higher league. Meanwhile, Jimmy embarks on an affair with a young Irish woman named Annie Docherty (Emily Lloyd), and he gets her pregnant. Jimmy gets offered a tryout with a professional club, Sheffield United. But the night before his tryout, he beds a stripper and gets roaring drunk. The next day he is useless, and he blows his big chance to make something of himself. Annie, who badly wanted him to succeed to get them both a better life, then leaves him. Jimmy finally realizes that he must change if he is going to have any kind of a future. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Emily Lloyd, (more)
Based on the true story of Graham Young, a young British psychopath of the 1970s, this is the offbeat feature film debut of writer-director Benjamin Ross. Hugh O'Conor plays Young, who narrates the story in a sullen voice-over. He is an isolated, studious young adolescent who is increasingly absorbed in his chemical research projects and estranged from his annoying family. After his greatest experiment blows up, he seeks revenge on his stepmother, who has falsely accused him of hiding pornographic magazines. The boy poisons her chocolates and then his sister's eye drops, partially blinding her. He next poisons his stepmother's stomach medicine. Graham lets her discover the notebook in which he has documented his work, but she can no longer speak, and she dies unable to communicate the truth. Young then starts to poison his father -- but lets himself be discovered and is sent to an insane asylum. There, he is befriended by a psychologist, Dr. Ziegler (Anthony Sher), an optimist who hopes for a recovery by exploring Young's dreams. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh O'Conor, Antony Sher, (more)
The magic of folklore forms the basis of this Irish tale by writer-director John Sayles. Adapted from the book Secret of the Ron Mor Skerry, the 1940s story is told from the point-of-view of Fiona (Jeni Courtney), a young girl sent to live with her grandparents in an Irish fishing town. Her grandfather weaves grand stories about the family's evacuation from their home on the tiny island of Roan Inish and about his great-great grandfather, who once cheated death at the hands of the unforgiving sea. As she meets other villagers, Fiona hears even more personal stories about an uncle who married a beautiful, part-human/ part-seal and about how the sea stole her baby brother during the departure from Roan Inish. Later, Fiona believes that she has found Jamie romping in the grass on Roan Inish, and she must convince the family of her vision. While Roan Inish has the feel of a family film, it shares with other Sayles works a character who learns history through storytelling, such as Sam Deeds in Lone Star (1996) and Dr. Fuentes in Men with Guns (1997). Sayles builds cohesive stories from multiple voices, showing the importance of oral history and indicating that learning the past can alter the future. ~ Norm Schrager, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mick Lally, Eileen Colgan, (more)
- 1992
- R
An Irish married couple (Stephen Rea and Sinead Cusack) tend to define their lives according to the opinions of others. When little crises regarding his job and her parenting skills begin to develop, Rea and Cusack are devastated. When their friends and business acquaintances begin turning sour, they are debilitated. And when the planned renovation of their bathroom goes awry, they are utterly destroyed. The improvisational banter between the two stars was achieved by director Les Blair after extensive, laissez-faire rehearsals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cusack, (more)
