Brian Sergent Movies
If actors and actresses from down under are famous for eventual migrations to Hollywood, actor Brian Sergent breaks the mold. From the mid-'80s onward, the New Zealand native contributed to a number of the best-known productions from his country's indigenous film industry. He enjoyed a series of ongoing collaborations with gross-out king-turned-Hollywood wunderkind Peter Jackson, on the director's Meet the Feebles (1989), Dead Alive (1992), and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Sergent also portrayed Jonah in Taika Waititi's deadpan romantic comedy Eagle vs. Shark (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- NR
Bearing the same relationship to The Muppet Show that Fritz the Cat does to Felix the Cat, Meet the Feebles is a gleefully rude, decidedly adult comedy about the backstage goings-on amongst an eccentric group of puppets the day before their televised variety special. Made by director Peter Jackson, creator of Bad Taste and Heavenly Creatures, the film features a wide ensemble of creatures known as "The Feebles," led by a walrus named Bletch, the show's gruff, corrupt producer. Amongst the central figures are Heidi the Hippo, the show's prima donna singer; the fey fox Sebastian, who acts as the show's director; and the lovable (and love-struck) Robert the Hedgehog. Other cast members include a sex-crazed rabbit suffering from VD, a junkie frog prone to Vietnam War flashbacks, and a rat who directs porno movies in the theater's basement. Romantic jealousies, drug deals gone wrong, murders, and other scandalous activities all threaten to wreak havoc amongst the cast, with all these problems reaching their climax on the evening of the big show (which comes complete with musical numbers). The film's extremely dark sense of humor is supported by skillful gross-out effects and a winningly irreverent attitude. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donna Akersten, Stuart Devenie, (more)
Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet Paquita (Diana Penalver) while concealing the fact that his overbearing mum (Elizabeth Moody, in an amazing good-sport performance) is a flesh-eating zombie. (She owes her condition to a bite from a "Sumatran Rat Monkey" at the local zoo.) Complicating matters even further is Les, a greedy uncle (Ian Watkin), who suspects that his sister has died and is eager to occupy her elegantly furnished Victorian mansion. The climax is a housewarming party Les throws to celebrate his "inheritance;" what he really gets is his comeuppance, thanks to his sister and her similarly afflicted zombie pals, who burst out of their basement prison to turn the guests into appetizers. Our hero finally cuts a wide swath through the zombie party crashers with the help of a rotary blade lawn mower, leaving the house awash in blood and body parts in order to save his romance. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, (more)
- 1998
Danielle Cormack plays a dual role of twin sisters in this comedy drama from New Zealand. Chrissy Dunn (Cormack) exits the bed of a strange man while her twin sister, Olympic swimmer Carol (also Cormack), wins an major race and prepares to swim for the gold. Back home, TV director Brian Stanning (Brian Sergent) spearheads a local TV station's plan for a satellite hook-up to reunite the entire dysfunctional Dunn family (including the widowed mother and two other sisters). Chrissy states her intention not to cooperate and finds that TV cameraman Paul (Karl Urban) is the stranger she slept with that night. Director Andrew McCarten made his directorial debut with this film, shown at the 1998 Melbourne Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danielle Cormack, Timothy Balme, (more)
- 2001
- PG13
- Add The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring to QueueAdd The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring to top of Queue
New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling fantasy epic into a three-part motion picture that begins with this holiday 2001 release. Elijah Wood stars as Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" who discovers that a ring bequeathed to him by beloved relative and benefactor Bilbo (Ian Holm) is in fact the "One Ring," a device that will allow its master to manipulate dark powers and enslave the world. Frodo is charged by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to return the ring to Mount Doom, the evil site where it was forged millennia ago and the only place where it can be destroyed. Accompanying Frodo is a fellowship of eight others: his Hobbit friends Sam (Sean Astin), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), and Pippin (Billy Boyd); plus Gandalf; the human warriors Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean); Elf archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom); and Dwarf soldier Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). The band's odyssey to the dreaded land of Mordor, where Mount Doom lies, takes them through the Elfish domain of Rivendell and the forest of Lothlorien, where they receive aid and comfort from the Elf princess Arwen (Liv Tyler), her father, Elrond (Hugo Weaving), and Queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett). In pursuit of the travelers and their ring are Saruman (Christopher Lee) -- a traitorous wizard and kin, of sorts, to Gandalf -- and the Dark Riders, under the control of the evil, mysterious Sauron (Sala Baker). The Fellowship must also do battle with a troll, flying spies, Orcs, and other deadly obstacles both natural and otherwise as they draw closer to Mordor. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was filmed in Jackson's native New Zealand, closely followed by its pair of sequels, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, (more)
Two lonely misfits embark on a bizarre journey of romance and revenge after bonding at a "come as your favorite animal" costume party in Academy Award nominee Taika Waititi's quirky romantic comedy. Jarrod (Jemaine Clement) is a clerk at the local electronics store. Lily (Loren Horsley) is a shy cashier who earns her keep at the local Meaty Boy. After getting fired from her job, an emboldened Lily determines to put on her favorite shark costume, shed her inhibitions, and attend Jarrod's annual "come as your favorite" animal bash. In the following days, a tentative romance begins to develop between Lily and Jarrod, and when Jarrod announces plans to travel back to his hometown and seek revenge on an old nemesis, Lily decides to follow along for the ride. As Jarrod begins to set his diabolical plan into motion, Lily finds herself stranded in an unfamiliar new town and surrounded by a disorienting collection of eccentrics. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loren Horsley, Jemaine Clement, (more)
