Thomas Kavanagh Movies
- 1994
- PG
Rival groups of boys from two neighboring Irish villages engage in a running battle in this remake of the 1962 French movie of the same name, based on a novel by Louis Pergaud. The boys from Ballydowse, who dress as they please, exchange insults with boys from nearby Carricksdowse -- who wear school uniforms. One day, the Bally gang cuts the buttons off the clothes of a bully in the Carricks gang. The Carricks retaliate by swiping the buttons from the clothes of the leader of the Bally boys, Fergus (Gregg Fitzgerald). The Ballys deface the Carricksdowse church, though both groups are Catholics. They rout the Carricks by charging at them naked. Marie (Eveanna Ryan), who heads the Ballys' girls auxiliary, tries to calm down the boys by raining new buttons on them to replace those lost in warfare. When Fergus' abusive stepfather (Jim Bartley) finds out about the war, he beats Fergus and sends him away. Fergus goes to the cliffs along the valley between the two villages, chased by the Carricks' leader, Geronimo (John Coffey). Geronimo, who has come to help, slips, and Fergus rescues him from a fall. In the end, Fergus, riding a horse, leads his troops, dressed in motley medieval suits, into a final battle. The allegorical anti-war film is primarily aimed at children. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Cunningham, Gregg Fitzgerald, (more)
- 1993
Alex (Lauren Jackson) is a well-rounded girl in addition to being an Olympic-quality competitor. She takes ballet, plays on the school hockey team, and somehow finds time to perform in the school's production of The Mikado. Currently, she is one of the best swimmers in her class in all of New Zealand, and she's confident of a place on the Olympic team, but her coach (Chris Haywood) is worried that she's spreading herself too thin. Normally, competition-level swimmers have time for their classwork and for swimming, and precious little for anything else. In addition to her other non-swimming activities, Alex is even finding time to study Italian in preparation for the Rome Olympics. While a little confidence in an athlete is a good thing, this level of smugness is dangerous, and her cozy world is shattered when an equally good swimmer (Catherine Godbold) moves back to New Zealand from Singapore and begins competing against her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Haywood, Josh Picker, (more)
- 1992
The two-part Australian miniseries Frankie's House was based on photojournalist Tim Page's autobiography Page After Page. Set during the Vietnam war, the story recounted the adventures of Page (Iain Glen) and his erstwhile photographer partner. After numerous scrapes with death, Page managed to survive to tell his tale, but his partner was not so lucky, disappearing without a trace during a 1970 foray into Laos. The program's title referred to a brothel frequented by the principal characters. The two 120-minute episodes of Frankie's House were broadcast by Australia's ABC network in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
