Linda Goldstein-Knowlton Movies
- 2008
- NR
Filmmaker Dori Berinstein profiles the New Jersey NETSationals -- the NBA's first senior citizen hip-hop dance troupe -- in this inspirational documentary that proves it's never too late to get up and boogie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A group of friends living in suburban Oregon come into contact with a sensual free spirit named Chloe (Alexa Davalos), who changes their outlook on life in the most unexpected of ways in this ensemble drama adapted from the acclaimed novel by author Charles Baxter. As college professor and writer Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) sits quietly in the coffee shop of his tight-knit Oregon community, the local residents all around him all become swept up in the magical mischief of love. Coffee shop owner Bradley (Greg Kinnear) has a bad habit of looking for love in all the wrong places, and his relationship with wife Kathryn (Selma Blair) is a prime example of that penchant. Meanwhile, frazzled real estate agent Diana (Radha Mitchell) becomes ensnared in a taboo affair with a married man (Billy Burke), lovely newcomer Chloe attempts the formidable task of romancing troubled soul Oscar (Toby Hemingway), and Harry's own wife, Esther (Jane Alexander), affectionately tries to get through to her husband as he wrestles with the pain of losing a loved one. Fred Ward, Alexa Davalos, Stana Katic, Toby Hemingway, and Erika Maroszán star in a whimsical tale of intersecting lives inspired by Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and directed by Robert Benton (Nobody's Fool, The Human Stain). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, (more)
- 2005
- Add The World According to Sesame Street to QueueAdd The World According to Sesame Street to top of Queue
As co-directed by documentarians Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan, the film The World According to Sesame Street probes the global phenomenon of adapting the seminal children's program Sesame Street to various local cultures. The Sesame Workshop (the program's parent company) has done so not only by varying the language but by adapting the characters and themes to suit indigenous cultural and political climates. Thus, Muppet characters in South Africa discuss HIV and AIDS, Bangladeshi Muppets discuss child labor, and Muppets in Kosovo address the divided cultural and political climate of that nation. And the characters include not only the Cookie Monster, Oscar and Big Bird familiar to Americans, but a Zulu Muppet called Kami (in South Africa), a Bangladeshi Muppet called Tutuki (in Dhaka and many others. The World According to Sesame Street ventures behind the scenes of many of these regional productions to explore the obstacles, struggles, and infinite rewards associated with making Sesame Street a multicultural endeavor. In so doing, it underscores the need for education shared by children on every continent. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Based on the novel of the same name by Maori writer Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider is a unique family drama directed Niki Caro. On the eastern coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their ancestor Paikea was saved from drowning by riding home on the back of a whale. The tribal group has since granted leadership positions to the first-born males, believing them to be descendants of Paikea. This tradition is challenged when a young mother dies in childbirth along with her newborn male son. His twin sister manages to survive and the father (Cliff Curtis) runs off, overwhelmed with grief. The little girl, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes), is brought up by stubborn grandfather Koro (Rawiri Paratene) and gentle grandmother Nanny (Vicky Haughton). Koro, the chief of their tribe, is disappointed because Pai's twin brother was supposed to be the next leader. Trying to find the proper successor, he attempts to organize a leadership group amongst the local boys while Pai enlists the help of her has-been uncle Rawiri (Grant Roa) to teach herself the art of chiefdom. She appears to possess a natural leadership ability and adventurous spirit that draws her to the proliferation of her faltering tribe. Whale Rider premiered at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival and won the World Cinema Audience Award. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, (more)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by E. Annie Proulx becomes this drama from director Lasse Hallström. Kevin Spacey stars as Quoyle, a struggling, emotionally drained newspaper reporter suffering through a wretched marriage with the abusive Petal (Cate Blanchett), a promiscuous wild woman who tries to sell their daughter, Bunny, into adoption before she's killed in a car wreck. Retrieving his daughter, Quoyle sets out for Newfoundland, his ancestral home, with his long-lost Aunt Agnis (Judi Dench). Although he initially finds life on the island to be as forbidding and severe as Agnis herself, Quoyle gets work as a shipping columnist for the local newspaper "The Gammy Bird," owned by eccentric fisherman Jack Buggit (Scott Glenn). Quoyle's work soon finds an appreciative audience and he begins to rebuild his life, dating local single mother Wavey (Julianne Moore), learning some sea craft, discovering his family's dark history, and finally earning some self-respect. Agnis, in the meantime, starts her own successful business and faces a traumatic incident from her childhood involving Quoyle's late father. The Shipping News (2001) co-stars Rhys Ifans and Pete Postlethwaite. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, (more)
Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed this comedy about a young psychologist named Mumford (Loren Dean), who arrives in a small town and sets up a practice. Mumford's style is short on analytic mumbo-jumbo and long on practical advice, and he soon finds that he has a long list of satisfied clients in his new home town, including many of the city's most prominent citizens. Mumford's advice also helps love bloom among the city's single residents. However, the city already had a psychologist, Ernest Delbanco (David Paymer), who is quickly losing business to Mumford. So Ernest starts asking questions: who is this Mumford, and just what are his qualifications? Mumford's supporting cast includes Ted Danson, Martin Short, Alfre Woodard, Hope Davis, Jason Lee, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loren Dean, Hope Davis, (more)
Comedy and drama take turns in this period piece based on a novel by Mark Childress. Peejoe (Lucas Black), short for Peter Joseph, lives in a small Alabama town in 1965, at the height of the Civil Rights movement. He becomes involved with a group of black students protesting the town's racially segregated municipal swimming pool, leading to a protest that explodes into deadly violence. But Peejoe has gotten a crash course in standing your ground and following your own path from his free-spirited Aunt Lucille (Melanie Griffith), who has killed her abusive husband and is headed for Hollywood, where she's convinced that television stardom awaits her. Crazy in Alabama marked the directorial debut of actor Antonio Banderas; his supporting cast includes Cathy Moriarty, Elizabeth Perkins, Rod Steiger, Fannie Flagg, and Meat Loaf Aday. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melanie Griffith, David Morse, (more)
