Holly Lewis Movies
- 2005
Originally telecast on CBC during the 2004-2005 season, the six episodes comprising The Newsroom's third season were technically filmed for the satirical series' fourth season, inasmuch as Season One (first broadcast in 1996 and 1997) was actually made up of two mini-seasons. You got all that? Good. Let's proceed. Series creator-writer Ken Finkleman continues to wear a third creative hat in the starring role of sharkish Canadian TV news director George Findlay, a man who would probably sell his grandmother to get higher ratings if he'd had a grandmother (there is some argument as to whether George ever had a mother). Newcomers to the cast this season include newsroom intern Nora (Kristin Booth), segment producer Jason (Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall), and the latest in a long line of ineffectual bosses for George Findley, Susan Murdoch (Sarah Strange). Whereas the series' previous seasons were deliciously dark in tone, this season exhibits a jauntier, more surreal touch, beginning with an opening episode which skewers media coverage of the war in Iraq. Later on, George and his staff anxiously seek out the "one dumb idea" that will enable them to strike it rich with a TV sitcom; George delivers a college lecture and acquires an underaged groupie; the possibility arises that someone in the staff is gay (not that there's anything wrong etc. etc.); and George's day is ruined by a gristly steak. The season ends with a remarkable essay on the End of the World, with the series regulars rendered in animated form! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Finkleman, Peter Keleghan, (more)
Three young women decide to deal with a shortage of eligible men by sharing an older man in this independent comedy drama. Glory (Amanda Walsh), Lisa (Holly Lewis), and Keira (Caroline Dhavernas) are three friends who've grown up together in a small town in the Eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick. The three teenagers are stuck in a community with few challenges and fewer prospects; growing marijuana is the leading growth industry, and Keira is the only one who is planning to attend college after their imminent graduation from high school. Most of the boys their age are aimless heshers with little going for them, so Keira and Lisa are quite intrigued when they discover Glory has a secret -- she's been having an affair with Keith (David Boreanaz), a local pot farmer and tough guy who is ruggedly handsome and nearly ten years her senior. Despite Lisa's frequently stated religious convictions and the fact Keira ought to know better, the two girls decide that Glory has too good a boyfriend to keep to herself, and they decide to seduce Keith and share him over the course of the summer. Keith is more than wary of this prospect at first, but Keira and Lisa are not about to take no for an answer, and soon Keith is sexually backed into a corner and dealing with more than more than he knows how to handle. These Girls was screened in competition at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Caroline Dhavernas, Amanda Walsh, (more)
The time: June 1998. The place: The sleepy town of Jasper, TX. Three young, self-styled white supremists overpower a 49-year-old black man named James Byrd Jr., chain him to the back of their pickup, and literally drag him to death. What follows is a media firestorm, exacerbated by scores of network and cable-TV news services, the grim pronouncements of so-called pundits, and the intrusion upon Jasper of several extremist activists, ranging from members of the Ku Klux Klan to the newly formed Black Panthers. As the frenzy continues, the heretofore peaceful, if somewhat tenuous, relationship between the white and black residents of Jasper is severely strained, with echoes of past racism resounding throughout the area. In the center of the controversy are two decent, hard-working public servants: R.C. Horn, the first black mayor of Jasper, and Billy Rowles, the town's white sheriff. Also profoundly affected by the appalling murder of Byrd are the respective parents of the victim and the killers. Happily, when the dust clears, justice is done (two of the murderers are condemned to death, the third sentenced to life imprisonment), and, instead of being wrenched apart, the black and white communities of Jasper draw closer together than they have ever been. Made for cable TV, this feature-length reenactment stars Louis Gossett Jr. as Horn and Jon Voight as Rowles. Although certain liberties are taken (the actor playing Byrd is clearly much younger than his real-life counterpart and the Black Panthers and KKK are incorrectly shown descending upon Jasper the same day), the film is, by and large, accurate. Better still, there is a minimum of preaching and proselytizing. Previewed at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Jasper, Texas was given its official Showtime network cable premiere on June 8, 2003 -- almost five years to the day after Byrd's death. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
The 12-episode revival of the satirical Canadian series The Newsroom after a seven-year absence was originally heralded by the 2002 special Escape from the Newsroom, in which creator-writer-star Ken Finkleman makes no effort to hide his scorn for those rabid fans who insisted that he resurrect the series despite his (apparent) decision to kill it for good and all back in 1997. Though he seemed to be dead as a doornail at the end of the original series, dimwitted Toronto TV news anchor Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan) awakens from a two-year coma and makes his way back to his former newsroom, where paranoid, backstabbing, ratings-obsessed news director George Findlay (Finkleman) still rules with an iron fist. When he's not making sarcastic comments about the Canadian TV industry or his viewers, George is running scared over the possibility that his fiefdom will be toppled by a nearby film crew shooting a movie with Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman (and no, those two do NOT appear). Once the series' third season begins in earnest, we're introduced to several new regulars, among them news-segment producers Matt (Matt Watts) and Allen (Doug Bell), the latter suffering from an advanced case of self-loathing (just the sort of person that George Findlay loves to have around). The predominant theme this season is "Death"; George panics when a woman dies of food poisoning at the TV studio; an employee croaks while George wrestles with a labyrinthine job evaluation; an unknown sniper picks off a goodly portion of the Newsroom's viewing audience; and Allen is diagnosed with a tumor, making him more annoying than usual. In other episodes, George's not-so-well-hidden streak of racism rears up and bites him in the butt; Jim Walcott writes a book, astonishing those who thought he couldn't even read; segment producer Karen (Karen Hines "dumbs down" in exchange for a roll in the hay; and George comes to grief in his efforts to avoid jury duty on a controversial animal-rights case. The series' usual offbeat mix of guest stars this season include actor Colm Feore, director Atom Egoyan, Ugandan playwright George Seremba, and former Bush Administration speechwriter David Frum. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Finkleman, Peter Keleghan, (more)
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