Andrew Gellis Movies
Directors Al Giddings and David Clark, whose previous credits include Galapagos: Beyond Darwin, return to the flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands for this IMAX documentary. The film focuses on the work of Smithsonian-based biologist Carol Baldwin and outlines Charles Darwin's theories on natural selection. Highlights include footage of the giant Galapagos tortoise and the Galapagos iguana, which perfectly camouflages itself against the gray rock on which it suns itself. Kenneth Branagh narrates. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Branagh
Brett Leonard directed this 3-D Imax short feature (running 45 minutes) about a famous paleontologist's teen daughter, who's able to enter into the world of the dinosaurs. In Alberta, Canada, Dr. Donald Hayden (Peter Horton) and his assistant Elizabeth (Kari Coleman) find a Tyrannosaurus egg. Donald's daughter Ally (Liz Stauber) hopes the egg will prove her theory that dinosaurs were ancestors of present-day birds. Back at their museum, Ally knocks the egg on the floor, loosening some strange dust. At night, a T-rex skeleton springs to life, and Ally discovers she can use museum exhibits as a springboard for time travel, encountering famed dinosaur illustrator Charles Knight (Tuck Milligan) and paleontologist Barnum Brown (Laurie Murdoch). She also sees a flying Pteranodon, an Ornithomimus and other creatures -- which all become extinct in the meteoric conclusion. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Horton, Liz Stauber, (more)
Filmed in a special 3-D version of the IMAX high-definition film format, this short subject uses microscopic and time-lapse photographic techniques to explore the wonders that can be found in an ordinary home. Elly (Charlotte Sullivan) is helping her parents housesit at the home of her grandfather (voice of James Garner), an eccentric inventor. He leaves Elly directions on how to use some of his gadgets, ranging from an alarm clock that spits out soap bubbles to magnifying equipment that permits her to take an up-close look at bugs, plants, and other household items. For the film's 3-D screenings, audience members were issued special laser-controlled LCD glasses that acted as shutters, opening and closing in sequence to separate the right and left images for each eye at a rate of 95 times per second. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
This video presents the story of the Mir Space Mission, a joint effort by American and Russian astronauts to explore the reaches of space. The documentary features spectacular IMAX film footage of the launch of the space shuttle and its celestial meeting with the Mir Space Station. Life on board the space shuttle is shown, along with profiles of the personalities who make up the crew. There is also a visit to Star City, where the international space team readies itself for future flight. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1997
This 37-minute 3-D Imax film adaptation from E.T.A. Hoffman's story is a straight narrative fantasy rather than a ballet. Little Clara (Lotte Johnson) receives a Christmas gift of a nutcracker doll and that night witnesses toys expanding in size and coming to life. The Nutcracker Prince takes Clara to his enchanted sugar castle where she meets pastry chef Sugar Plum (Miriam Margolyes) who uses spun sugar to concoct the dancing Sugar Fairy (Tamara Rojo). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Margolyes, Heathcote Williams, (more)
- 1995
This is the second dramatic feature to be made in Imax 3-D. The plotline, of a Russian immigrant boy who has come to New York to search for his long missing relatives only provides a thin excuse to offer an unparalleled, spectacular show case of the Big Apple, past and present. The past images were created from an enormous assortment of old stereoscopic photographs that offer the audience a rare glimpse of the city's early history and the fascinating lives of those who lived there. The present images are presented from a wide variety of viewpoints as Thomas, the 11-year-old protagonist, rides the roller coasters of Coney Island, experiences his first subway ride, and imagines that he is a bird over Manhattan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
- R
The Saroyanesque Grandview USA focuses on a sleepy Midwestern town and its younger denizens. Bored out of his gourd, recent high-school graduate Tim (C. Thomas Howell), befriends the much-older Michelle (Jamie Lee Curtis), who runs the local demolition derby. Michelle's top driver is "Slam" (Patrick Swayze), who though a star on the track is a washout when it comes to affairs of the heart. As the three characters grow closer, each does a lot of growing up. When it sticks to business, Grandview USA can be quite charming; it falters only in a couple of rock-video and fantasy sequences, reportedly tacked on at the insistence of the distributors. The highly appropriate supporting cast ranges from such TV regulars as Troy Donahue and William Windom to such stars-to-be as Jennifer Jason Leigh and John Cusack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
