Maggie Biggar Movies

The directing debut of actor Cameron Watson, Our Very Own chronicles the daily hopes and dreams of high schoolers and their parents in a small Tennessee town, circa 1978. Shelbyville is the real-life birthplace not only of Watson, who wrote the script from his own recollections, but also of actress Sondra Locke -- or as the townspeople know her, "our very own Sondra Locke." The events take place in the days leading up to the town's annual horse show, where it is rumored Locke will return as a special guest. Melora (Autumn Reeser) has dreams of following Locke's path to stardom from meager beginnings, and hopes to meet the actress to pick her brain/get discovered. Her best friend, Clancy (Jason Ritter), has enough real-world problems to worry about, between falling in love with Melora and watching his parents (Keith Carradine and Allison Janney) fight over their impending bankruptcy and his father's drinking problem. Their friends Ray (Derek Carter) and Bobbie (Hilarie Burton) just want to get a car to find something to do in Nashville, while musical theater aficionado Glen (Michael McKee) begins wondering if he is coming of age differently than his friends. As the town starts to buzz with the excitement of the festival, the characters must face the decisions that will affect their futures. Cheryl Hines and Beth Grant also appear in supporting performances. Janney was nominated for a 2005 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

The film equivalent of a stroll through the Louvre, the documentary Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography collects interviews with many of modern-day Hollywood's finest directors of photography and is illustrated by examples of their best work as well as scenes from the pictures which most influenced them. A who's-who of cinematographers -- Nestor Almendros, John Bailey, Conrad Hall, Laszlo Kovacs, Sven Nykvist, Vittorio Storaro, Haskell Wexler, Gordon Willis, Vilmos Zsigmond and others -- discuss their craft with rare perception and insight, paying homage to pioneers like Gregg Toland, Billy Bitzer and John Alton and explaining the origins behind many of the most indelible images in movie history; from Citizen Kane to The Godfather and from Sunrise to Night of the Hunter, many of the truly unforgettable moments in American film history are here in all their brilliance and glory. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide