William Scott-Masson Movies
Michael Radford (Il Postino and The Merchant of Venice) directs screenwriter Edward Anderson's script about an aging janitor and an American executive who form an unlikely alliance in order to carry out an elaborate jewel heist. Set in 1960s-era London, the tense crime thriller stars Michael Caine as the scheming maintenance man who longs to relieve his employers at the London Diamond Corporation of their valuable inventory, and Demi Moore as the savvy executive who is completely perplexed by the wealthy diamond magnates. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Demi Moore, Michael Caine, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
The troubled friendship and occasional rivalry between two of England's greatest poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, is explored in an unorthodox light in this historical drama from renegade director Julian Temple. As Coleridge (Linus Roache), Wordsworth (John Hannah), and Lord Byron (Guy Lankester) await the news of who will be Great Britain's new poet laureate in 1816, Coleridge finds himself thinking back to 1795, when he and Wordsworth were two struggling writers involved in radical politics. Embracing the ideal of an agrarian society, Coleridge moves to the country, accompanied by his wife Sarah (Samantha Morton) and their infant son. Wordsworth soon follows, joined by his often argumentative sister Dorothy (Emily Woof). However, the two writers discover the hard work of maintaining a farm is not as conducive to their literary endeavors as they might have imagined, despite taking most available opportunities to shock the local bourgeoisie. It's not until Coleridge discovers laudanum (a tincture of alcohol and opium) that he finds the inspiration to create his first masterpiece, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Wordsworth soon finds his friend's fame is far surpassing his own, which brings an uncomfortable jealousy into their relationship; Coleridge, meanwhile, has developed a dangerous fondness for opium, which threatens to drown the creative spirit that it once sparked within him. Pandaemonium received its North American premiere at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linus Roache, John Hannah, (more)
- 1999
French filmmaker Jean Vigo made only four films prior to his death in 1934 at the age of 29 (only one a full length feature), but all of them are today recognized as landmarks of the European cinema, and Zero For Conduct and L'Atalante are often cited among the greatest films of their time. Vigo: Passion For Life is a dramatic biography that explores his brief life and tumultuous career. Born the son of a famous figure in the French anarchist movement, Jean Vigo (played here by James Frain) suffered from poor health throughout his life; he contracted tuberculosis as a young man, and met his wife Lydu Lozinska (Romane Bohringer) when both were receiving treatment in a sanitarium. Vigo made A propos de Nice in 1929 as an attack on bourgeois French society; the premier led to a riot, the first of many controversies surrounding Vigo's work (Zero For Conduct was completed in 1932, but its anti-authoritarian stance caused it to be banned until 1945). Vigo's fragile health was already beginning to fail him while he was filming L'Atalante; a fall into an icy river while trying to retrieve a camera only added to his ills, and he edited most of the film at home, too sick to leave. However, he was passionate about his art to the end, constantly battling producers and authorities to make films as he chose to make them. He died in 1934, the same year L'Atalante was released. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romane Bohringer, James Frain, (more)
In turn-of-the-century London, three nannies from drastically different backgrounds form a tight-knit bond that guides them through the good times and the bad times in this period miniseries starring Clare Wilkie, Victoria Smurfit, and Tabitha Wady. As the caretaker for the children of London's most elite families, headstrong East End girl Mattie (Wilkie) has struggled to build a solid career as a trusted nanny. On the heels of a disastrous romance with the son of a respected Yorkshire family, Hannah (Smurfit) arrives in London with little more than her young infant and a prayer. Though former farm girl Lydia (Wady) may be a bit naïve, her relative innocence doesn't stop her doing her best for her forward-thinking new employers. When fate brings these three nannies together, a bond forms between them that will help them navigate life's unpredictable twists while learning the true value of friendship. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clare Wilkie, Victoria Smurfit, (more)
