Kika Markham Movies

Director/screenwriter Gerald McMorrow makes his feature debut with this ambitious psychological sci-fi drama set between contemporary London and the dystopic Meanwhile City, where the separation between church and state has been obliterated to make way for a religion-dominated society. As atheist vigilante Jonathan Preest (Ryan Phillippe) prepares to seek revenge against Meanwhile City's powerful leader, privileged artist Emilia (Eva Green) finds her cynicism and depression accelerated by the difficult relationship she shares with her mother. Meanwhile, sensitive Milo (Sam Riley) attempts to recover from a recent heartache, just as deeply religious Peter (Bernard Hill) arrives in London to search for his missing son, a haunted Gulf War veteran. As the narrative shifts between the real and imaginary worlds, McMorrow explores the complex relationships between fantasy, faith, and love. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The English-language debut of French director Arnaud Desplechin, Esther Kahn charts the ascension of a lower-class Jewish girl from a turn-of-the-century London ghetto to one of the stage's leading actresses. Esther (Summer Phoenix) feels set apart from her large, raucous family, who are all employed in the garment business. Her life is changed when she attends a Yiddish theatre performance, and she is suddenly determined to become an actress. After joining a small theatre company, she becomes the protégé of Nathan (Ian Holm), a stage veteran who instructs her in her chosen craft. Esther gradually works her way up in the ranks -- taking a lover, brainy French theatre critic Philippe (Fabrice Desplechin), along the way -- until she is cast in the title role of Hedda Gabler, which she performs to great acclaim. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Along a dark country road in Cumberland, England, a ghoulish woman in white steps from the shadows to confront a foot traveler, Walter Hartright (Andrew Lincoln), bound for Limmeridge House three miles off. She asks senseless questions: "You don't suspect me of wrong, do you, Sir? Why do you suspect me of wrong?" Hartright assures her he suspects her of no wrong, but she gibbers on. When a carriage happens by, the woman dissolves into the darkness and Hartright accepts the offer of a ride the rest of the way to Limmeridge House, a mansion where eccentric esquire Frederick Fairlie (Ian Richardson) has arranged for Hartright to tutor his nieces -- half-sisters Marian and Laura Fairlie -- in the art of drawing. Soon, Hartright falls in love with Laura, a wealthy heiress. Strangely, she is the near mirror image of the woman in white. Laura, in turn, falls in love with him. Marian, who wants only the best for Laura, approves of the romance. Unfortunately, Hartright loses his job when falsely accused of bad conduct. Before he leaves Limmeridge House, he warns Laura that she and her sister are in grave danger. Deeply disappointed in him, Laura ignores his caveat and fulfills a pledge to marry Sir Percival Gylde (James Wilby). He seems amiable and even invites Marian to live with him and Laura after the wedding. But when Laura returns from the honeymoon, she is melancholy and morose, hardly speaking a word to Marian. Glyde and a sinister visitor named Count Fosco (Simon Callow) are the reasons. Apparently, they are plotting to seize her inheritance using the tidiest of stratagems: murder. Meanwhile, dark secrets unravel involving Glyde's family background and the mysterious woman in white, and Hartright returns in an attempt to save the sisters and exorcise the evil possessing Limmeridge House. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

When she finds out that two of her teacher friends are cohabiting, a girl is more than surprised. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

For Marshal O'Neil (Sean Connery), the Jupiter moon Io is just another dingy mining town on the final frontier. When his wife leaves him and takes their son with them, it merely confirms that though he's traveled millions of miles, his life is going nowhere. Then he notices that miners are dying in strangely psychotic ways -- walking in space without spacesuits, carving up prostitutes. With the help of Dr. Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen), his investigation reveals that the miners are ingesting a lethal drug that speeds their work efforts. He learns that the company that runs the town is behind the drug. He confronts the town boss Sheppard Peter Boyle and soon has two hit men heading toward Io with a plan to kill him. As the seconds tick down to the next space shuttle's arrival, O'Neil plots to meet them and faces the biggest challenge of his life. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide

This drama has references to the history of the prophet Mohammed and his descendants that keep the mood slightly allegorical and hopefully beyond the censorious axe of the Pakistani dictatorship. Little Hussain, it is prophesied, will one day lead the impoverished masses to a better life. Hussain's brother gains in prominence and when a military coup d'état changes the government, he tries to adapt. He continues to try to adapt even when his wife becomes the mistress of the new military dictator. In the meantime, Hussain has also married and is leading a band of rebels in an attempt to bring down the dictatorship. He and his brother are both, in their own ways, playing with fire. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a self-made millionaire sets sail on a solo race, and finds that a beautiful girl has stowed away on his boat. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the fourth installment of François Truffaut's Antoine Doniel series, this romantic comedy shows how Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) went from being a mischievous boy to an adorably charming young man of 26. Domicile Conjugal begins with Antoine settling down with Christine (Claude Jade), his girlfriend from the previous film, Baisers volés. He finds himself accepted and loved by his wife and her family, so the young couple move in to an apartment building together. They live in a lively neighborhood of interesting characters, such as the old man who never leaves and the opera singer who fights with his wife. Antoine finds work as a florist painting roses, while Christine makes a living by teaching violin lessons. After he gets involved in an accidental fire at the florist's, he gets a new job with an American corporation where he steers radio-controlled boats around a pond all day. A big change occurs when Christine becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy, while Antoine grows increasingly distant. Eventually, he becomes infatuated with a Japanese girl, Kyoko (Hiroko Berghauer), resulting in some shifts in lifestyle. The fifth and final Antoine Doniel film L'Amour en fuite was released in 1979, picking up the story with Antoine after he reaches his thirties. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Based on the mystery novel by Marryam Modell (using the pseudonym Evelyn Piper), Bunny Lake Is Missing is a bizarre study in motherhood, kindness, enigma, and insanity. Ann Lake (Carol Lynley), an American freshly relocated to England, wishes to drop off her daughter Bunny for the girl's first day at a new nursery school. Oddly, Ann cannot locate any teachers or administrators, only the school's disgruntled cook (Lucie Mannheim). She is forced to leave Bunny unsupervised in the building's "first day" room, under the reassurance that the cook will be responsible for the child. When Ann returns in the afternoon, the cook has quit and Bunny Lake is missing. The school's remaining employees vehemently deny ever seeing the child, and Ann desperately calls her older brother Stephen (Keir Dullea) for help. Ann was raised fatherless and never married; she and Bunny have lived under Stephen's care and protection for the majority of both their lives. Stephen is enraged by the irresponsibility of the staff, but as Scotland Yard begins its investigation, it comes to light that he had never officially enrolled a child at the school. When Police Superintendent Newhouse (Laurence Olivier) begins to unravel the Lakes' lives and search their belongings, he discovers that not only did Ann once have an imaginary childhood daughter named "Bunny," but that the young Bunny seemed to have no tangible possessions at the Lake apartment. Bunny Lake (whom we have yet to see onscreen) may not be missing: she may not even be real. Terrified that Newhouse will now abandon the search for the girl, the hysterical Ann sets out to prove her sanity and, in the process, surprisingly uncovers the true psychosis behind the disappearance of her little Bunny Lake. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide