Gift SubscriptionsCarlo Rota
- 2000
While on a location shoot, spoiled movie actress Sydney Clarke (Sela Ward) clashes with her equally temperamental director. Storming off the set in a snit, Sydney gets lost in the woods, then hitches a ride to a small New England steel town -- where, amazingly, no one seems to recognize her. Curiously enjoying her anonymity, she befriends bowling-alley waitress Joyce (Rebecca Jenkins), who helps her land a job as a nurse at the local steel mill, managed by a handsome, down-to-earth hunk named Ryan (Andrew Jackson). Upon learning that the mill is in danger of demolition at the hands of greedy corporate fat-cats, Sydney vows to save the community's only source of income -- but will the citizens rally behind her if they find out she's been posing as something she's not? Made for the CBS TV network, Catch a Falling Star premiered March 5, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sela Ward, Rebecca Jenkins, (more)
- 2008
- AddFlying the Secret Sky: The Story of the Royal Air Force Ferry Commandto QueueAddFlying the Secret Sky: The Story of the Royal Air Force Ferry Commandto top of Queue
As produced by WGBH - Boston's PBS affiliate - this historical documentary employs archival footage, home movies and interviews with veterans to relay the tale of how the United States and Canada helped supply a clandestie aviation force and thus boosted the resources of the RAF during World War II. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlo Rota
Retired from rock 'n roll, ex-musician Joe is busy preparing for his upcoming wedding to the conservative daughter of a wealthy demolitions expert, in the full expectation of being trained in the family business. His dreams are shattered when he is kidnapped by a leather-clad performance artist who is upset that the boy's soon-to-be father-in-law is evicting her from her groovy loft apartment. She chains him to a huge metal ball, claiming that it is a mine, and holds him hostage. Since she is a "performance artist," it's difficult at first to determine whether she is serious or not. In time, it becomes clear that, demented or not, she is a more suitable spouse for the hapless musician than his fiancee. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- D.W. Moffett, Kate Vernon, (more)
- 2008
- R
- AddSaw Vto Queue
Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) might be dead, but his traps live on in this fifth Saw entry, which finds the series' production designer David Hackl at the helm for his debut directing gig. Saw IV scribes Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan return for more mind-bending fun. Dexter's Julie Benz co-stars in this Twisted Pictures production for Lionsgate Films. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tobin Bell, Julie Benz, (more)
Feeling that they are doing God's will, two Catholic men from Boston set out to kill everyone in this Reservoir Dogs-style vigilante thriller. Brothers Conner and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) take to performing their divine duty against the Russian mob. They massacre a bunch of unsuspecting Mafioso in a scene of absurd violence, then they let more blood in a mass killing of porn-shop customers. Instead of getting thrown in jail, they are dubbed "saints" by the Boston Herald, and they are praised by brilliant, tortured, and gay FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe). ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, (more)
Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi's Tree of the Wooden Clogs covers a period of twelve months, dividing its time between three peasant families, all of whom work on the estate of an all-but-absentee landlord. Special emphasis is given the interrelationships between the various family members and their neighbors. Tree of the Wooden Clogs was honored with the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- NR
The highly acclaimed and famously eccentric classical pianist Glenn Gould is the subject of this idiosyncratic film portrait. As the title suggests, Gould's life is explored through a series of thirty-two self-contained but interrelated vignettes, a structure inspired by Bach's "Goldberg Variations," the compositions that were the basis for one of Gould's most famous recordings. Fictional recreations, many starring an excellent Colm Feore as Gould, follow the musician from his precocious childhood to his early death at the age of fifty. Juicy biographical details like a surprising early retirement from public performance and an addiction to prescription drugs are featured prominently, but equal attention is paid to Gould's challenging theoretical ideas. Director Francois Girard refuses to provide easy explanations for the pianist's quirks, instead using his unconventional structure to provide great insight while suggesting the real Gould remains essentially unknowable. Especially interesting is the film's mix of dramatization and documentary, as it juxtaposes its fictional recreations with actual interviews with Gould's friends and associates. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colm Feore, Gale Garnett, (more)
- 2000
Max Hanson (Jonathan Jackson), a popular high school student with considerable artistic and athletic talent, finds himself under pressure from everyone--especially his parents--to focus exclusively on art and to give up ice hockey. The only person who apparently harbors no judgmental attitudes towards Max is a teenage girl named Molly (Carly Pope), with whom he falls in love. Unfortunately, Molly is "into" wild parties and drugs--and before long, so is Max. As he sinks deeper and deeper into the morass of heroin addiction, Max seems to be beyond redemption . . . and far beyond the influence of his caring but domineering mother Sophie (JoBeth Williams). Posing a number of tough questions, but wisely offering no easy answers, the made-for-TV Trapped in a Purple Haze originally aired on April 17, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Jackson, JoBeth Williams, (more)
