Barbara Lott Movies
Peter Greenaway directed this elliptical and visually intricate tale of the far side of erotic and intellectual attraction. As a girl, Nagiko would receive a special gift each year from her father: a calligrapher (Ken Ogata) who would carefully paint a poem on her face, as her aunt (Hideko Yoshida) read aloud from The Pillow Book, a classic Japanese text on the art of love. As Nagiko (Vivian Wu) reached adulthood, her father insisted on putting a stop to this ritual, and he persuaded her to marry the nephew of his publisher (Ken Mitsuishi). But Nagiko is not satisfied with her husband, and after finding success as a model, she seeks a lover who will indulge her fondness for literature by writing verse on her naked body. In time, she finds happiness with a British expatriate named Jerome (Ewan McGregor), who persuades her to use his body as paper for her poetry, but the interference of her father's publisher (Yoshi Oida) gives their relationship a tragic turn. Greenaway deliberately mistranslated some of the French and Japanese dialogue for The Pillow Book, hoping that the occasionally fractured language would give the film a "Tower of Babel" quality. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 1991
Debuting September 3, 1991 over BBC1, the long-running British sitcom 2.4 Children was all about an ostensibly typical family, the Potters. Despite their veneer of normality, the family invariably found itself experiencing all sorts of abnormal and surrealistic adventures, in the manner of the American comedies Married: With Children and Malcolm in the Middle. For the record, Ben Porter (Gary Olsen) ran a plumbing business with attractive assistant Christine (Kim Benson); Ben's wife (Belinda Lang) held down several dead-end jobs before launching a catering business with her friend Rona (Julia Hills); and the couple's kids, Jenny (played first by Claire Woodgate, then by Claire Buckfield) and David (John Pickard), were like most other wisecracking sitcom kids, only more so. One of the most endearing aspects of the series was its endless stream of pop-culture references, including Ben's referring to son David as "Puggsley," and the contemptuous nickname "Jake the Klingon" bestowed upon Ben's main business rival Jake Klinger (Roger Lloyd Pack). The 57th and final episodes of 2.4 Children was seen on December 30, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Belinda Lang, Gary Olsen, (more)
This is an inspiring BBC-TV tale where a hard-working guardian takes care of three orphaned sisters, trying to provide a nurturing environment. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Thorne, Barbara Lott, (more)
- 1971
Writer Giles Cooper's Unman, Wittering and Zigo was first presented as a BBC TV drama in the 1960s, which later was telecast in the US on NET Playhouse. David Hemmings plays the new teacher in a macabre classroom where the boys seem demonically recalcitrant. Just after calling roll (Unman, Wittering and Zigo are the last names on the tally), Hemmings is advised by his class that he'd better leave them alone to do as they wish. Hemmings' predecessor had not heeded this warning, and ended up dying a rather nasty death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, Carolyn Seymour, (more)
- 1966
An American looking for excitement overseas finds more than she can handle in this cautionary drama. Melina (Louise Sorel), a young American woman, disappears while traveling in Great Britain, and her father Ben (Eddie Albert) sends her fiancée Carson (Clifford David) to the U.K. in hopes of discovering what's become of her. Carson learns that Melina has fallen in with a group of thrill-seeking beatniks known as "The Pack." She's decided to call off the engagement, and she uses the gang's loutish leader, Moise (Oliver Reed), to run interference and keep Carson at arm's length. Carson stays on Melina's trail, but as her new life with the Pack becomes more and more sordid, tragedy seems inevitable. The Party's Over was shot in 1963, but disputes with British censors prevented the film from opening in London until 1965, in a cut version that reportedly displeased director Guy Hamilton, who at the time lobbied to have his name removed from the credits. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Reed, Clifford David, (more)
- 1940
In this crime drama, a peace-loving surgeon must operate upon the man who invented a catastrophic new weapon. The trouble begins when the patient dies of too much ether and the doctor finds himself accused of murder. Fortunately, his daughter and her lover prove that he is innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
