Zara Turner Movies

A luckless gambler finally finds the secret to picking winners at the track -- a head in a jar -- in this comedy. Brendan (Robbie Coltrane) is a janitor at a university who has a fondness for gambling, especially betting on horse races. However, he doesn't have much skill at it, and poorly considered bets have drained the bank account he'd set aside for his daughter's education. Brendan's wife (Brenda Blethyn) has made Brendan promise to give up gambling, but when their daughter announces she's just been accepted to Trinity College in Ireland, Brendan has to come up with the tuition money, and fast. While doing his sweeping at work, Brendan makes a remarkable discovery -- the preserved head of an aboriginal tribesman who, under proper conditions, can pick the winners in horse races. Despite his promise to his wife, Brendan takes his new discovery and puts it to work forecasting upcoming races, and while the head's predictions are as good as gold, Brendan soon finds not everyone is happy about his new run of good luck. His wife is angry that he's gambling again, mobsters want to know what his secret is, a scholar from Australia insists that the head be returned to the people of his tribe, and a dean at the college (Dan Aykroyd) has some questions for Brendan about his discovery. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A man who has tried cover the tracks of his past encounters a women determined to tell the world his secrets in this thriller produced for British television. Ben Turner (Paul McGann) is a happily married man in his late thirties who owns a used book shop and helps his wife run an inn in a small town in England. One day, Ben receives a startling bit of mail: 30 identical letters, each bearing just a seven word message, "What have you done with the body?" A woman named Rachel Munro (Amanda Burton) moves into the inn and starts asking pointed questions, and it's discovered that Ben is not who he seems to be. His real name is Peter Baxter, and in his late teens, he was convicted of the murder of a young girl. Peter always claimed he was innocent of the crime, and after spending 15 years behind bars, he fabricated a new identity as Ben Turner and started his life over. Now, Rachel, the mother of the girl who was killed years ago, has arrived determined to wrestle a confession from Ben, and get him to tell her where her daughter is buried. Matters become even more complicated for Ben when a local girl is discovered murdered in a manner remarkably similar to that of the crime that sent Peter Baxter to prison. Forgotten also stars Zara Turner, Karis Kopp, and Geraldine Alexander. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Eoin McNamee based the screenplay for this drama on his own novel, which was itself based on real-life Protestant paramilitaries known as "The Shankill Butchers," who used the cover of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland to mask their often homicidal crimes. Set in Northern Ireland of 1975, the story opens with a killing by young psycho Victor Kelly (Stuart Townsend) and his gang, known as the Resurrection Men. The city lives in fear, and TV coverage perks the interest of journalist Ryan (James Nesbitt) and his associate Coppinger (James Ellis). Older hood McLure (Sean McGinley) hires Victor and his gang to do some dirty work, but local cop Herbie (Derek Thompson) enters the picture to put pressure on gang member Hascksaw (B.J. Hogg). As Victor's wildness escalates, Ryan uses words to weave a media myth around Victor's behavior. Meanwhile, McLure makes plans to destroy Victor. The Irish settings for this film actually were shot in Manchester, Warringon, and Liverpool. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi