Sheila Flitton Movies
Zach Gray helms the Gaelic-flavored, spiritually charged mystery Secret of the Cave -- one of the first major cinematic productions of Southern Adventist University. The story unfurls on the idyllic, rocky coasts of Ireland, where a young boy, Roy Wallace (Kevin Novotny), is spending the summer with his Irish dad (Patrick Bergin of Love Crimes and Sleeping with the Enemy). Soon, inexplicable, otherworldly events befall the village, and rumors swirl through its streets of strange spirits and hauntings. Initially, Roy tries to tie these events to any number of locals -- everyone from an oddball hermit to an eccentric fisherman. He also notices that each event impacts the hamlet in a beneficial way. In time, Roy traces the events to their origin -- a strange sea cave characterized by many as a source of enchantment -- and vows to unveil the grotto's mystical secrets. Joseph Kelly and Sean Murphy co-star; Gray, Scott Fogg, David George, and Aaron Adams co-adapted Arthur S. Maxwell's children's novel. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Novotny, Patrick Bergin, (more)
In the Irish town of Kilshannon in the 1920s, a matriarchal clique of widows tightly sets the rules for behavior. Heading the town's ruling circle is the doughty Mrs. Counihan (Joan Plowright). The only non-widow in town is a reclusive middle-aged spinster, Miss O'Hare (Mia Farrow), who seems to be guarding some kind of secret. Crashing into this provincial coterie is dashing, urbane Edwina Broome (Natasha Richardson), who immediately starts feuding with O'Hare, for no apparent good reason. Broome mangles O'Hare's prize roses and bumps her skiff in a boat race. Counihan's dimwitted son, Godfrey (Adrian Dunbar), proposes marriage to Edwina. Eventually, the true motives of all involved are revealed. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, (more)
The Snapper is Stephen Frears's adaptation of the second book in Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy. The Curley family is a poor but eccentric and loving Irish family. Oldest daughter Sharon (Tina Kellegher) announces she is pregnant, but refuses to reveal the identity of the father to anyone. Her father, Dessie (Colm Meaney), is supportive, but begins to chafe at the derisive gossip aimed at his family and his daughter. This leads to a confrontation between the two that is, like the rest of the movie, simultaneously funny and sad. The family waits in the hospital as Sharon gives birth to the snapper (Irish slang for an infant). The other books in the Barrytown Trilogy were also adapted into films featuring Colm Meaney as the father: The Commitments, directed by Alan Parker, and The Van, directed by Stephen Frears. Doyle had a hand in the screenplay for all three. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colm Meaney, Tina Kellegher, (more)
"The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the North Siders are the blacks of Dublin ... so say it loud -- I'm black and I'm proud!" Or so Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins) tells his slightly puzzled friends as he tries to assemble a rhythm & blues show band in a working class community in Dublin in Alan Parker's film The Commitments. Jimmy is a would-be music business wheeler and dealer, and he's decided what Dublin needs is a top-shelf soul band. However, top-shelf soul musicians are hard to find in Dublin, so he has to make do with what he can find. However, after a long round of auditions, Jimmy makes two inspired discoveries: Deco (Andrew Strong), an abrasive and alcoholic streetcar conductor who nevertheless has a voice like the risen ghost of Otis Redding, and Joey "The Lips" Fagan (Johnny Murphy), a horn player who knows soul music backwards and forwards and claims to have played with everyone from Wilson Pickett to Elvis Presley. Before long, the band -- called the Commitments -- is packing them in at local clubs. But do they have what it takes to make the big time? Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle, who also co-wrote the screenplay, The Commitments is sparked by fine performances by its young cast and enthusiastic performances of a number of '60s soul classics; the cast, who play their own instruments, reassembled the band for a concert tour after the film became a hit. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne, (more)
- 1987
- R
A humble Irish farmer decides that it is high time to move that big old stone in his field that has been there seemingly since the dawn of time. This gory horror film, an adaptation from one of noted British-author Clive Barker's short stories, follows what happens next. No sooner does he move the rock when out rushes an enormous, blood-thirsty pagan demon, Rawhead Rex, who immediately goes berserk and begins biting people left and right. Among the bitten is the son of an American professor of history and anthropology. His father immediately begins researching the angry old god and plotting his demise. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Dukes, Kelly Piper, (more)
- 1983
The 1950s in Ireland comes alive in the transformation of two "country girls" from Irish schoolchildren in a strict convent to teenagers needing to get away from their families. The teens escape to the big city, and the contrast to their past is handled with both pathos and humor. The two leads are excellently interpreted by (Maeve Germaine and Jill Doyle). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Maeve Germaine, (more)
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