Mark Rendall Movies

Ivy (Zoe Kazan of Revolutionary Road) returns home to Brooklyn for her summer break from college. She misses her boyfriend, and calls him frequently, but they can't quite seem to connect. She spends a lot of time with her longtime friend, Al (Mark Rendall of 30 Days of Night). Al clearly has a longstanding crush on Ivy, about which he's never done anything, probably out of some combination of fear and respect for their friendship. His confusion is exacerbated when, due to family circumstances, he's forced to stay with Ivy and her mother (Maryann Urbano) during his break from school. As the summer goes on, Ivy deals with her epilepsy and the slow, painful dissolution of her relationship, while Al starts to look for love in other directions. Bradley Rust Gray wrote and directed The Exploding Girl, while his wife So Yong Kim served as a producer. Fans of The Cure will recognize the title as the flip side of In Between Days, which was the title of Kim's directorial debut, on which Gray served as co-writer and producer. The Exploding Girl had its North American premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, where it was shown in the World Narrative Competition. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Inspired by the childhood experiences of actor George Hamilton, director Richard Loncraine's bittersweet period comedy tells the tale of one mother's attempt to find a new father for her two young boys after catching her husband with another woman. Beautiful but mercurial, Ann Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) has always gotten by on her own charms. Her husband, Dan (Kevin Bacon), is a successful bandleader, but when Ann becomes a witness to his infidelity, she packs their two sons, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), into her baby-blue Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible and never looks back. The year is 1953, and Ann is convinced that her girlish charms are still as irresistible as ever. At first their trip is something of an adventure for everyone involved, but the harder Ann searches for a suitable mate the more she realizes that true gentlemen are a dying breed. As time wears on, flamboyant fledgling actor Robbie and cynical aspiring writer George begin to tire of changing schools, their increasingly humble lodgings, and their mother's romantic misadventures. It's a life of instability and unpredictability punctuated by moments of sheer panic, and as Ann forms a different future for her family than either of her sons could have ever imagined, observant George learns to look past her narcissistic exterior and appreciate the determination, dignity, and love that lies just beneath the surface. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Francois Girard's adaptation of Alessandro Baricco's novel Silk stars Michael Pitt as a young Frenchman who travels to Japan at the request of a wealthy silkworm magnate who asks him to smuggle back some new worms. The mission succeeds, and this allows the man to live in great comfort with his wife (Keira Knightley). After a few years, they are unable to conceive a child, a situation that leads to the man taking on a lover during his subsequent visits to Japan. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast on Canada's YTV beginning January 8, 2006, the weekly CGI series Jane and the Dragon was a lighthearted medieval romp featuring (what else?) a girl named Jane and a dragon. Though slated to be groomed as a lady-in-waiting, feisty 13-year-old Jane chose instead to be trained as a valiant knight--and managed to get that training despite the fact that knighthood was an honor exclusively confined to males. The Dragon, an outwardly fierce, fire-breathing creature, was actually Jane's best friend, restraining himself from traditional dragonly behavior because he owed the girl a favor. Based on a children's book by Martin Baynton, Jane and the Dragon was brought to the United States as a component of NBC's Saturday-morning cartoon manifest beginning January 8, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story concerns an awkward teenager who, after being attacked in the forest, befriends a Kermode bear. He soon learns that the bears are seriously endangered. The boy grows out of his shell and begins a political campaign to save his large furry friends. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The Marek Kanievska thriller A Different Loyalty stars Rupert Everett and Sharon Stone as war reporters who come across each other's path while they are both on assignment in Beirut. When Everett's character goes missing, Stone's character begins an investigation on her own. She soon realizes that he may have known much more about international politics than he was letting on. Can she rescue him before any number of governments can put a stop to her quest? ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, this made-for-cable drama focuses on the plight of 14-year-old Michael Crowe (Mark Rendall). When his younger sister is found murdered in her bed, Michael is accused of the crime and hauled into the local police station. After a grueling interrogation, the cops manage to coerce a confession out of the beleaguered boy. Michael's mother, Cheryl (Ally Sheedy), together with a small band of sympathizers, desperately takes on "the System" to fight for the boy's fundamental legal rights. The Interrogation of Michael Crowe debuted December 4, 2002, as one of several reality-based movies produced for the Court TV cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comic fantasy for the family, Daniel (Mark Rendall) is a young boy who is having more than his share of problems -- his mother has died, he's having a hard time with bullies at school, and he wants a pet but his father, Steven (Nicholas Lea), isn't so sure it's a good idea. One night, Daniel wishes on a star for a cool pet who will be loyal and never forget him; the next morning, he wakes up to discover that an elephant named Lumpy has taken up residence in his backyard. Steven isn't keen on the idea of keeping an elephant as a pet and gives the animal to a local zoo, but Daniel hatches a plan to steal Lumpy back -- which is when the boy discovers his new friend has magical powers. Also released as The Incredible Elephant, The Impossible Elephant also stars Mia Sara. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Childlike Empress lies in limbo between life and death and the only hope for her kingdom lies in the ability of a young boy to transcend the boundaries of fantasy in this tale of myth and magic that is certain to capture the imagination. As young Bastian opens the pages of "The Neverending Story," he learns that the Childlike Empress is near death and Fantasia is in danger of falling prey to the Dark Princess Xayide. Soon falling through the written page and into a world beyond his wildest imagination, Bastian's alter ego Atreyu must enlist the help of his trusty sidekick Fly Girl and mischievous hucksters Rip Rowdy and Wexlerian if there is any hope of unlocking the mystery of the Southern Oracle and awakening the Childlike Empress to bring order back to Fantasia. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide