Catriona MacColl Movies
Gladiator duo Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe re-team for this adaptation of author Peter Mayle's best-selling novel about a London-based investment banker who relocates to Provence in hopes of selling a small vineyard he has inherited from his recently deceased uncle. As a child, Max Skinner (Freddie Highmore) was taught to appreciate the finer things in life while wandering the vineyard estate of his sophisticated uncle Henry (Albert Finney). Life has a strange way or turning out how you least expect it to though, and 25 years later, Max (Russell Crowe) is now a prosperous moneyman wheeling and dealing in the cutthroat world of London business. When Max learns that Henry has recently passed away and that he has been named the sole beneficiary of his late uncle's modest estate, the keen businessman hastily arranges a flight to France in order to assess the value of the old property and get it prepped for sale. After Max arrives to find the vineyard in a crumbling state of disrepair, his troubles are further compounded by the stubbornness of gruff estate winemaker M. Duflot (Didier Bourdon) and the unexpected arrival of a determined California beauty named Christie (Abbie Cornish), who presents herself as a long-lost cousin while making a dubious claim to Henry's estate. Meanwhile, the overstressed Max reluctantly finds himself falling for local café owner and town siren Fanny (Marion Cotillard), whose formidable guard is quickly worn down by the smitten beneficiary. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, (more)
- 2004
- R
The suspense film House of Voices concerns the ghosts that haunt a building that once housed an orphanage. A woman does some research and discovers a hidden secret about events that transpired there. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginie Ledoyen, Lou Doillon, (more)
- 1992
In this comedy, veterinarian Henri Sauveur (Jean Rochefort) maintains his dignity and calm in the face of an incredible number of irritating or even genuinely upsetting encounters with inveterate pains-in-the-neck. He suffers from the rudeness (and worse) of Parisian drivers, his relatives, and friends and clients. All the same, he manages to convey an admirable appearance of insouciance and a devil-may-care attitude. That is, until he meets the redoubtable Louise Sherry (Miou-Miou). He is so smitten with her charms that his artfully maintained defenses crumble pitifully, and he is reduced to confiding his troubles to a bemused but sympathetic female chimpanzee. This fast-paced comedy features some of France's best-loved actors and comedians, including Claude Brasseur, Jean Yanne, and Jacques Villeret) in walk-on performances. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Rochefort, Miou-Miou, (more)
A young boy comes to fear that his blind mother may become the next victim of a serial killer in this complex psychological thriller. Unfolding at first as a traditional suspense tale, the film follows the terrified boy's attempts to determine the killer's identity, a task his policeman father has failed to achieve. Things take a more provocative and puzzling turn when the boy's penchant for fantasy is revealed, forcing the audience to question whether what has been shown has been real or merely a product of the boy's imagination. As a result, much of the anxiety in Afraid of the Dark emerges not from the violent shocks, but from the uncertain reality and the tantalizing, disturbing hints of the child's psychology. This purposeful ambiguity may strike some viewers as confusing and alienating, despite the film's assured performances and striking imagery. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Keyworth, James Fox, (more)
- 1988
Yves Montand plays himself in this musical romantic comedy by Jacques Demy. Demy and Michel Legrand wrote the songs with Montand in mind as a tribute to the famous French singer and actor in his most celebrated roles. Choreography is provided by Michael Peters for the many background dancers who hoof it around Montand, with set designs by Bernard Evein. Mathilde May plays Montand's love interest, a young singer who becomes a star when she takes the place of the diva who backs out weeks before opening night. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Mathilda May, (more)
- 1988
Hubert (Daniel Colas) is an anthropologist who is shipwrecked with his friend on a remote island in this black cannibal comedy. His friend ends up on the menu of three beautiful female cannibals, but they keep Hubert around as a boytoy. A mid-movie flashback explains how the trio of femmes became flesh eaters. They soon tire of live man meat when they feel the pangs of hunger once again. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catriona MacColl, Roberta Weiss, (more)
Hawk the Slayer will appeal most to undiscriminating fans of the sword-and-sorcery genre. The title character, played by John Terry, is on a lifelong quest for "The Power", an enchanted flying sword. Alas, Hawk's evil brother Voltan (Jack Palance) likewise covets The Power. A plethora of violence ensues, culminating in a slow-motion duel to the death between hero and villain. Among Hawk's comrades are a dwarf and an elf, who are "R2D2 and C3PO" in everything except name and appearance. Hardly the best of its kind, Hawk the Slayer is redeemed by the unbridled hamminess of Jack Palance, who seems to be the only one who realizes that the whole affair is to silly to be taken seriously. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Palance, John Terry, (more)
This cult horror film from director Lucio Fulci lurches along with a certain amount of disjunction due to cutting, perhaps, if not to an innate Fulci disposition. When the Boyle family temporarily moves into a mansion near Boston so the father can do some research, the son Bob (Giovanni Frezza) starts seeing the ghost of a young girl motioning to him, and eventually he discovers the basement's terrible secret. A certain Dr. Freudstein (Giovanni de Nari) has been hanging out there since 1879 when he was banned from the medical profession, and he has kept himself alive although in miserable physical shape, by murdering the various inhabitants of the house and using their cells to keep his body going. An oversize bat attacks the father, floors come apart and crush unsuspecting victims, and at one point little Bob's blond head is held to the basement door by the evil doctor while the father is wildly swinging his axe through the door to save his son. Scenes like these and others are the real objective of the movie -- the strange and irresolute ending, and leaps and gaps in the plot, are indications that all else is dispensible pretext - gore is the goal and it is delivered in sickening doses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, (more)
- 1979
An truly international production if there ever was one, this costume epic was based on a Japanese comic book, directed by a noted French filmmaker, and features a primarily British cast. Oscar (Catriona MacColl) is a young woman whose father, a career military man, wanted a boy. Rather than surrender to his disappointment after she was born, Father took to dressing Oscar in boy's clothes and raising her in a masculine fashion. While privately Oscar acknowledges her feminine side, she still dresses as a man and has gained an honored position as a guard to Marie Antoinette (Christina Bohm). In her younger days, Oscar was deeply infatuated with Andre (Barry Stokes), the son of the family's housekeeper, and when the French Revolution begins to catch fire, Oscar and Andre's paths cross for the first time in years. However, with the assault on the Bastille, Oscar and Andre find themselves fighting on opposite sides of the political fence. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Catriona MacColl, Barry Stokes, (more)
