Brenda Kendall Movies
- 1996
Hoping to avert a war between the Spartans and the Eleans in the village of Propontus, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Atalanta (Cory Everson) organize a series of peaceful athletic competition. Ever angling for a profitable publicity stunt, itinerant peddlar Salmoneus (Robert Trebor) comes up with an enticing name for the upcoming event: The Olympic Games. Spoiling the spirit of fair play is the very unsportsmanlike -- and very deadly -- Tarkon (Chris Bailey), who, with the aid of war god Ares, is determined to win the games no matter what the cost in human lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Robert Trebor, (more)
- 1994
The second of five made-for-TV movies starring Kevin Sorbo as legendary muscleman Hercules, this one pits the title character against his most fearsome enemy--his own immortal stepmother, Hera. Using a number of disguises, the villainess does her best (or worst) to thwart Hercules in his search for the lost city of Troy. Before long, it is apparent that our hero is surrounded by nothing but enemies, save for the beautiful and mysterious Deineira (played by future Xena: Warrior Princess regular Renee O'Connor)--but can even she be trusted? Anthony Quinn is seen as Hercule's Olympian father Zeus. Hercules and the Lost Kingdom was syndicated in the US beginning in early May of 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Anthony Quinn, (more)
Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet Paquita (Diana Penalver) while concealing the fact that his overbearing mum (Elizabeth Moody, in an amazing good-sport performance) is a flesh-eating zombie. (She owes her condition to a bite from a "Sumatran Rat Monkey" at the local zoo.) Complicating matters even further is Les, a greedy uncle (Ian Watkin), who suspects that his sister has died and is eager to occupy her elegantly furnished Victorian mansion. The climax is a housewarming party Les throws to celebrate his "inheritance;" what he really gets is his comeuppance, thanks to his sister and her similarly afflicted zombie pals, who burst out of their basement prison to turn the guests into appetizers. Our hero finally cuts a wide swath through the zombie party crashers with the help of a rotary blade lawn mower, leaving the house awash in blood and body parts in order to save his romance. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, (more)
New Zealand poet Janet Frame is the subject of Jane Campion's biographical drama, which presents a poetically evocative look at the authoress' turbulent life. The film begins with a look at Frame's childhood, showing her as a bright but odd-looking, emotionally fragile young girl with a knack for writing. Frame faces great difficulty in adapting to the conventional rural life around her, and her social awkwardness only worsens as she grows older. After she fails in her attempt to become a schoolteacher due to an intense panic attack, she is subject to a psychiatric evaluation and shamefully misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic. Frame is subsequently committed to a mental institution, where she suffers years of unnecessary shock treatments and other horrors. Her salvation comes through her writings, however, which attract the attention of a renowned author who arranges her release. While the nightmare of Frame's institutionalization is presented with great sensitivity and power, Campion and screenwriter Laura Jones, to their credit, refuse to simplify her story to this one pivotal event. Instead, they pay equal attention to Frame's subsequent life, as she slowly adjusts life in the outside world, experiencing literary success and her first romance. Expressive visuals add immeasurably to the total effect, while Kerry Fox's superb performance creates a truly affecting portrait of Frame. Impressively, the film was originally made as a mini-series for New Zealand television, and slightly reedited for a later theatrical release. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, (more)
