Sarah Lam Movies
At least the 22nd time William Shakespeare's most famous tragedy has been brought to the screen, Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Hamlet was the first to preserve Shakespeare's entire text, uncut and unabridged. Moving the action into the 19th century, Branagh cast himself in the title role and, as in his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, assembled an eclectic group of actors that mixed veteran Shakespearean performers (including John Mills, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, and Derek Jacobi) with Hollywood stars not known for interpreting the Bard's work (among them Robin Williams, Charlton Heston, Billy Crystal, and Jack Lemmon). However, unlike most interpretations, it's the women who really carry the show, with the two best performances delivered by Kate Winslet as Ophelia and Julie Christie as Gertrude. As usual, Hamlet finds himself torn over what to do after the death of his father and his mother's hasty remarriage. Branagh's version of Hamlet was also notable on a technical level, as it was filmed in the 70-mm format for increased visual clarity and detail. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Kenneth Branagh, (more)
Lindsay Wagner stars as Paula O'Neill in this made-for-TV miniseries based on the best-selling novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Paula's grandmother, Emma Harte, took a failing department store and turned it into the powerful Harte Industries retail empire, and now that Paula has inherited the family business, she is determined to expand their international success by launching a new store in Hong Kong. However, Paula's cousins Jonathan (Christopher Cazenove) and Sarah (Claire Oberman) are determined to wrest control of the company away from Paula, and begin running interference in her plans for global expansion. Paula soon learns that Harte Industries is on financially shaky ground, and her personal life begins to crumble under the strain of keeping Hart Enterprises afloat. As Jonathan uses the firm's financial woes to his advantage, Paula finds that Jack Figg (Anthony Hopkins), the company's head of security, may be her last line of defense against her devious relatives. Originally broadcast in August 1992, To Be the Best was a follow-up to 1983's A Woman of Substance, another miniseries based on a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel, which covered Paula's life before she took over the family business; Diane Baker played Paula in the earlier series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lindsay Wagner, David Robb, (more)
Madonna and Sean Penn, who were husband and wife at the time, starred in this notorious box-office bomb that one critic termed "Flop Suey." The film takes place in 1937, during the Japanese occupation of China. Drug runner Walter Faraday (Paul Freeman) is trying to leave the country with a large stash of opium but he is chased by armed guards and killed. A year passes and missionary Gloria Tatlock (Madonna) hires sleazy American con man Glendon Wasey (Sean Penn) to help her find the missing opium. She wants to use the drugs to relieve the suffering of wounded Chinese soldiers -- as she puts it, "Guns cause pain. Opium eases pain." Glendon reluctantly agrees. But unfortunately for the two do-gooders, there are other, more notorious seekers of the opium shipment as well. George Harrison, one of the film's producers, wrote the songs and appears in a cameo role as a nightclub singer. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
