David Fox

A talented but troubled high-school rugby star gets a second shot at redemption after being sentenced to serve time in a Salt Lake City boys' home and landing a coveted spot on the famed Highland High School rugby team in this inspirational sports drama from director Ryan Little (Saints and Soldiers, Everything You Want). Rick Penning (Sean Faris ) was the star player on his Arizona rugby team until his life took a turn for the worse. Now, after a fateful brush with the law, Rick finds himself out of the spotlight and forced to ponder the consequences of his actions in a Salt Lake City juvenile detention center. As fate would have it, however, Salt Lake's famed Highland High rugby team could use a player like Rick. With a little help from coach Larry Gelwix (Gary Cole), Rick may even be able to lead the Highland High team to the national championships. When Rick discovers that the team they'll be competing against is none other than his old team from Arizona, which is coached by his father, Richard Penning (Neal McDonough), the deciding game takes on a newfound sense of gravity in the eyes of the ambitious young athlete. Arielle Kebbel and Sean Astin co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Stuart Samuels's popular documentary Midnight Movies: From Margin to Mainstream grounds itself in the thesis that six revolutionary American motion pictures - Night of the Living Dead (1968), El Topo (1970), Pink Flamingoes (1972), The Harder they Come (1972), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and Eraserhead (1976) - invented the concept of "midnight movies" and thus permanently reshaped the American film industry per se and the composition of the average U.S. film audience, creating a new "brand" of viewer. Samuels and his team tell the story of this odd subgenre as it evolved, peaked in popularity, and then faded gradually from view. The bulk of the picture consists of a myriad of interviews with the directors of these films per se (John Waters, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, Perry Henzel, George Romero - Jim Sharman appears in archive footage only), cast members, theater owners who found their business reinvigorated by this trend, critics such as Roger Ebert who reflect on the era, and of course the films' fans. The documentary also features extended clips from the movies and period news footage about the rise in popularity of the said titles. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin directs The Saddest Music in the World, reworked from an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in Winnipeg during the Great Depression, the film involves a contest announced by the legless and glamorous Lady Port-Huntly (Isabella Rossellini) to find the saddest music in the world. She's hoping the contest will result in increased sales of her company's brand of beer. American theatrical producer Chester Kent (Mark McKinney) shows up to win the contest with his kooky show-business idea, while brother Roderick Kent (Ross McMillan) returns from the war. Maria de Medeiros plays Narcissa, a sleep walker romantically linked to both brothers. Their father, the alcoholic doctor Fyodor Kent (David Fox), is tortured by his role in Lady Port-Huntly's leg amputation, so he makes her a new glass pair filled with beer. The Saddest Music in the World was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Archibald Belaney was a British man who grew up fascinated with Native American culture -- so much so that in the early 1900s he left the United Kingdom for Canada, where he reinvented himself as Archie Grey Owl and lived in the wild as a North American Indian trapper. He eventually became an environmental activist after renouncing trapping and hunting. Grey Owl is based on Belaney's true story, starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role. In 1934, Archie was living a largely solitary life when he met a young woman named Anahareo (Annie Galipeau), an Ojibway Indian nicknamed Pony. Pony is fascinated by Archie, largely because she wants to know about her people's heritage. Her father, Jim (Graham Greene), is a businessman who wears a suit to work and has little concern for his history; in Archie, Pony sees a link to her past that she can't find in her family. Archie has little use for Pony at first, but in time the two begin to bond, and it's Pony who convinces Archie to give up trapping and work to protect animals. She also encourages Archie to write a book about wilderness life in Canada. The book becomes a huge success and makes Archie something of a celebrity, but with recognition come nagging questions about Archie's true heritage. (In reality, Archie Grey Owl's true idenity did not become public knowledge until after his death.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

David Fox and Lea Moreno star in this family adventure about a boy named Manling, who after getting lost in the jungle, was raised by animals and came to understand their ways and their languages. When men arrive to rob the jungle of its treasure, Manling must protect the home of those he holds dear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The seventh and final season of Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) brings shocking news to Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna): her erstwhile fiancé Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen) has been reported killed in a shipwreck in the Caribbean. As she wrestles with her grief, Felicity turns to "good works," establishing the Avonlea Foundling Home. In other developments, Felicity's brother Felix (Zachary Bennett) is on the outs with his girlfriend, Izzy Pettibone (Heather Brown). And Jasper Dale (R.H. Thompson), the husband of Felix's aunt Olivia (Mag Ruffman), returns from a brief teaching assignment in England, only to discover that the size of his family has increased in his absence. Olivia has taken in a single mother named Lottie Cooper (Katherine Ashby), who works in the cannery owned by the Dales, and Lottie's young daughter; this situation will get a bit sticky when the cannery burns down and the now-unemployed Lottie takes a powder, leaving her kid with Jasper and Olivia. In the episode "Woman of Importance," Dianne Wiest guest stars as Izzy Pettibone's aunt Lillian, allegedly a woman of vast wealth who turns out to have quite a surprise for her family. And in "King of the Great White Way," Eugene Levy and Sheila McCarthy are cast as a Broadway songwriting team who raise a ruckus in Avonlea when they decide to transform Felicity and Felix's nonplussed farmer father, Alec (Cedric Smith), into a singing sensation. Meanwhile, Alec's sister Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) announces plans to marry her new business partner, Simon Tremayne (Ian D. Clark) -- only to decide at the last minute that she and Simon are better friends than lovers. The series comes to an end as the presumed-dead Gus returns to Avonlea, now blinded and with a major surprise that bids fair to resolve many of the series' long-standing problems. This occasion also provides an opportunity for Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley) to make her own return appearance to Avonlea, thereby bringing full circle a TV series that began when a much-younger Sara first set foot in the tightly knit Prince Edward Island community. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season six of Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) begins not in the titular Prince Edward Island village but instead in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) has defied the standard gender expectations of early 20th century Canada by enrolling in medical school. While walking to class one day, Felicity is unexpectedly reunited with her hometown boyfriend, Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen) -- who in turn is accosted by a derelict woman who turns out to be his long-lost mother. This sobering discovery obliges Gus to leave Canada and head to the Caribbean with his mom -- but not before popping the question to Felicity for the umpteenth time. Back in Avonlea, Sara Stanley (Sarah Polley), fresh out of finishing school, pays a return visit, only to announce that she intends to leave again immediately to study in Paris -- which fact does not sit well with her aunt Hetty (Jackie Burroughs) nor her old nanny, Louisa (Frances Hyland). In other developments, Felicity King's brother Felix (Zachary Bennett) has fallen in love with Izzy (Heather Brown), daughter of widowed schoolteacher Clive Pettibone (David Fox) -- who in turn has proposed to school superintendent Muriel Stacey (Marilyn Lightstone), much to Izzy's dismay; and orphaned siblings Davey (Kyle Labine) and Dora Keith (Lindsay Murrell) are taken in by Hetty after their guardian, Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton) -- with whom Hetty has never gotten along -- suffers a series of debilitating strokes.

This season marks the introduction of Molly Atkinson in the role of Felicity and Felix's kid sister, Cecily King, a role hitherto played by child actress Harmony Cramp. Having been diagnosed with tuberculosis during the previous season, Cecily is now living in a New York sanitarium, anxiously awaiting the day that she is cured and will be allowed to return to her family. And speaking of new cast members, watch for Faye Dunaway and Maureen Stapleton, both making their one and only Road to Avonlea appearances in a story involving the simultaneous arrival in town of a glamorous European countess and a disheveled old lady who claims to be the mother of the local hotel owner -- and as it turns out, these two ladies have a lot more in common than one might think. As the season draws to a close, Felicity returns to Avonlea to serve her apprenticeship under Dr. Snow, an experience that proves so unnerving that she drops out of medical school. And Cecily has recovered sufficiently to return to her family -- only to dash off again with a disgruntled Felicity in hopes of catching up with Gus Pike, who at last report was still somewhere in the Caribbean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like a Scud missile winging towards an army base, a singleminded young woman pursues True Love, oblivious to the Gulf War around her in this Israeli romantic comedy, set during 1991 in Tel Aviv. Talila Katz is an intelligent, advertising executive in her 30's. The film begins on New Year's Eve, 1990. All around the city people are preparing for war. But not Talila. She is still getting over the recent break-up between she and her boyfriend, Ofer, who dumped her for a younger woman. Now she worries about finding Mr. Right. Soon after New Years she meets Noah, a handsome "food engineer," and falls head-over heels. Unfortunately, Noah still pines for the woman who left him to go to college in the U.S. She returns and soon she and Noah are back together. This leaves Talila to seriously consider Ofer's recent marriage proposal (his younger sweetie dumped him). Not only does she deal with that, but also with her married sister and divorced parents. Eventually she must decide between staying with her fighting family in Jerusalem or facing the missiles in Tel Aviv. She chooses the missiles. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Felix King (Zachary Bennett) finds himself torn between holding on to his job at Avonlea's White Plains Hotel and upholding family tradition by becoming a farmer like his dad, Alec (Cedric Smith), in "Fathers and Sons," the fifth-season opener of the popular Canadian drama series Road to Avonlea. Soon thereafter, the 50th birthday celebration of Alec's sister Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) is tarnished by the likelihood that she will lose her job -- to say nothing of a sudden appendicitis attack. Later on, Hetty helps arrange for her sister Olivia (Mag Ruffman) and her eccentric, slightly impractical brother-in-law, Jasper (R.H. Thomson), to take charge of the local lobster cannery. And as for Hetty's city-bred niece, Sara (Sarah Polley), she does her bit for the greater good by coming to the aid of a young boy who has managed to coast through school without ever learning to read or write. Also, Alec courts trouble when he hires a mysterious farmhand, played by guest star Bruce Greenwood; and another guest performer, the highly respected Canadian character actor Gordon Pinsent, is cast as a noted politician whom Alec idolizes -- until the truth about the politician's clay feet is revealed. Elsewhere, Alec's daughter Felicity (Gema Zamprogna) receives the first of several marriage proposals from Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen), a former drifter now gainfully employed; however, Felicity has her heart set on attending medical school, an extremely lofty goal for a young girl in early 20th century Canada. Other developments include the arrival of a new minister and his wife, Viola (guest star Stockard Channing), who exhibits some mighty peculiar behavior -- and for a mighty disturbing reason; and the concerted efforts by certain interested parties to play matchmaker for widowed schoolteacher Clive Pettibone (David Fox) and provincial school superintendent Muriel Stacey (Marilyn Lightstone). By far the most crucial development during season five is the revelation that Alec and Janet King's youngest daughter, Cecily (Harmony Cramp), is suffering from tuberculosis -- and must be bundled off to a more healthy climate if she ever hopes to recover. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season four of Road to Avonlea (aka Tales From Avonlea) serves to introduce the Pettibone family, specifically widower Clive Pettibone (David Fox), the new schoolteacher hired to replace the semi-retired Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs); Clive's son, Arthur (Zachary Ansley), a talented veterinarian; and Clive's brilliant but oversensitive daughter, Isolde (Heather Brown), better known as "Izzy." The season opener finds an uncharacteristically nervous Hetty lending a helping hand when her pregnant sister, Olivia (Mag Ruffman), who the previous year had wed eccentric would-be inventor Jasper Dale (R.H. Thompson), goes into premature labor. In a subsequent episode, Hetty forms an unexpected bond with her successor, Clive Pettibone, when they discover that they are both writing children's books under assumed names. Later, Meg Tilly guest stars as Evelyn, the wife of an old school chum of Hetty's brother Alec (Cedric Smith), who, when she suddenly becomes a widow during a visit to Avonlea, turns to the married Alec for comfort -- and sets gossipy tongues a-wagging in the process. Also contributing a guest appearance is Treat Williams as traveling showman Zak Morgan, on whom Hetty's city-bred niece, Sara (Sarah Polley), develops a disturbingly serious crush. And the episode "The Disappearance" boasts two guest stars, Robby Benson and Diana Rigg, in the story of a young antiques collector who may or may not be heir to a vast fortune. In other plotlines, earthy but naïve Gus Pike (Michael Mahonen) continues to court the haughty but likable Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) -- only to find himself in competition with newcomer Arthur Pettibone; Felicity's enterprising brother, Felix (Zachary Bennett), unexpectedly becomes a hero when he takes a job at the local White Sands Hotel; and Hetty and Jasper team up to make a home movie (this in 1906 or thereabouts) to prevent a covetous industrialist from taking over Avonlea. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This fact-based drama chronicles the ups and downs in the lives of Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson when they accept offers to marry Prince Charles and Prince Andrew respectively. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gus is a successful satellite dish salesman, who is on his way upward, materially. His life is hit by a metaphorical thunderbolt when he falls in love with an elusive girl who is both a radical conservationist and a performance artist. Soon after meeting her, she disappears, so he sets out to find her again, and his journeys teach him the rightness of her political views. Unfortunately, he has been tagged as a radical by the police, who are following him (and her). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide