Michael Jenn Movies
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous super-sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, gets an update with this adaptation of Lionel Wigram's comic book series by writer/director Guy Ritchie (RocknRolla) starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective, with Jude Law stepping into the shoes of his sidekick, Dr. Watson. Heading up the rest of the cast are RocknRolla's Mark Strong as the film's villain, Blackwood, and Rachel McAdams portraying the love interest, Irene Adler. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, (more)
- 2007
An artist trying to climb the ladder of success spends his time with one who had fallen past most of the rungs in this whimsical comedy from Spain with an international cast. Zeta (Edu Soto) is a struggling writer trying to make a name for himself, but his agent (Jagvier Mejia) doesn't believe in his work and keeps giving him jobs ghost-writing for others. Zeta's latest assignment is to finish a novel for someone else in a mere four weeks, but he's having a hard time finding the inspiration for the project. Zeta spends much of his spare time at a neighborhood bar, Café Rossingol, a hangout for bohemians and eccentrics where he's fallen for one of the barmaids, Alicia (Barbara Goenaga), though she's made it clear she doesn't want to be in love with anyone. The Rossingol is run by Pascal (Dominique Pinon), who used to be the leader of a theater troupe, but ever since their venue was torn down to make room for a public sculpture, he's been reduced to serving drinks to others. Pascal gets word that several members of his old company are coming back to town for a visit, including beautiful singer Irene (Leigh Zimmerman) and her accompanist Kurt (Michael Jenn). While Pascal is excited to see his old colleagues, he's also nervous about what they may have to say to him, and he's giving serious thought to skipping town rather than facing them. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edu Soto, Barbara Goenaga, (more)
Two men cut off from the world in different ways become unlikely friends and protectors in this offbeat action drama. Danny (Jet Li) is a physically powerful but emotionally stunted man; never given any sort of proper education, Danny has learned little in his lifetime but how to fight, and his minder, Bart (Bob Hoskins), treats him more like a guard dog than anything else, using him in illegal no-holds-barred brawls that earn Bart plenty of money but only reinforce Danny's violent alienation. When Bart is injured in an auto accident, Danny is left to fend for himself, and stumbles upon Sam (Morgan Freeman), an elderly piano tuner who has lost his sight. Sam is the first person to treat Danny with kindness, and the music he plays soothes the troubled soul of the fighter. However, Danny's fighting skills soon come in handy when Sam runs afoul of a pack of small-time crooks who believe he knows too much about their operations. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, (more)
Inspired by the true-life story of carrier pigeons who were trained to carry vital information for the Allied forces across the English Channel during World War II, this computer-animated adventure comedy focuses on Valiant (voice of Ewan McGregor), a wood pigeon who has volunteered to do his part for England during the war. While Valiant believes in the cause, he's not exactly a quick study in his training under a no-nonsense sergeant (voice of Jim Broadbent), and his new pal Bugsy (voice of Ricky Gervais), a vermin-carrying former denizen of Trafalgar Square, fares even worse in the courage department. However, when one of the key British birds, Mercury (voice of John Cleese), is captured by notorious Nazi falcon Von Talon (voice of Tim Curry), Valiant and his crew must spring into action to keep the lines of communication open in time for D-day. Along the way, Valiant also finds time to romance avian nurse Victoria (voice of Olivia Williams) and French resistance agent Charles De Girl (voice of Sharon Horgan). Produced at the British Ealing Studios, Valiant also features the voice talents of John Hurt, Rik Mayall, and Hugh Laurie. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, (more)
Director James Ivory brings his subdued, "Masterpiece Theater" style to a forbidden subject -- homosexual love. Maurice is based on E.M. Forster's suppressed 1914 novel that was held back from publication until after his death. The film takes place at Cambridge, before World War I, when homosexuality was outlawed in Great Britain. Clive (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic Englishman with a life of privilege, suddenly shocks his close friend Maurice (James Wilby) by declaring his love for him. Maurice is initially stunned by the pronouncement, but in the end finds himself giving Clive a passionate kiss and telling him that he loves him as well. Clive, in the stiff-upper-lip British manner, considers their love to be more of an intellectual concept, but Maurice becomes passionate about the affair. Clive, afraid of being exposed as a homosexual, backs off and breaks up with Maurice for marriage, family, and politics. Maurice is crestfallen, but then he has a passionate affair with Clive's gamekeeper, Scudder (Rupert Graves), and Maurice and Scudder decide to risk their reputations by openly living together as lovers. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Wilby, Hugh Grant, (more)
- 1986
- PG
Set during the last days of the old west, this zany adventure follows the exploits of a pair of cow-poke bankrobbers her are captured and then given the choice between going to jail or going overseas to fight WW I. They choose the latter and end up in France where they eventually join a squadron of British pilots. The fliers have been assigned to gun down a well-protected, gigantic German zeppelin that has been causing many headaches for the Allies. Unfortunately, the attempts take a heavy toll on the planes and slightly addled British plane mechanic Fritz is having increasing difficulties piecing the planes back together. Tables turn for the better when the two unwilling soldiers learn to fly the planes themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Scott McGinnis, Jeff Osterhage, (more)
A pair of British lads, one gay and one socialist, chafe at the restrictions of boarding school life in this period piece, which was adapted from Julian Mitchell's novel and play of the same name and loosely based on the Burgess-Maclean spy scandal of the 1950s. In the 1930s, upper-class scions Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) and Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) are both nearing the end of their careers at an unnamed public school that bears a striking resemblance to Eton. Tommy, a Marxist intellectual, refuses to participate actively in the school's rigid social hierarchy. But Guy, when not mooning after pretty boys, angles for a position next term as one of the "gods," or master prefects, of his house. When a faculty member stumbles onto the homosexual fumblings of a pair of students, one boy commits suicide and a scandal erupts. The administration and senior students do their best to ensure nothing of this sort ever sullies their reputation again. Considering that homosexual experimentation is rampant and that Guy has slept with most of the prefects in his house, the strict new rules leave a bad taste in his mouth. They also put a damper on his Wildean lifestyle, especially after he falls hopelessly in love with James Harcourt (Cary Elwes), a dreamy boy from one of the other houses. Things come to a head when autocratic prefect Fowler (Tristan Oliver) intercepts a letter from Guy to James and sentences Guy to a savage beating. By film's end, Guy's complicity in the power games of the British class system has been challenged, and his friend Tommy's communist dogma has made a lasting impression; a framing device portrays Guy as an elderly former spy living in exile in Soviet Moscow. Another Country was shot at Cambridge, Oxford, and Althorp Hall (Princess Diana's childhood home) after the producers were denied permission to shoot at Eton. Everett and Firth both appeared in the original London theater production alongside Kenneth Branagh and Daniel Day-Lewis; on-stage, it was actually Firth who played Guy. For a more factual account of the Burgess-Maclean affair, see the TV movie An Englishman Abroad. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, (more)
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