John O'Connell Movies

The curious world of children's dance competitions is raked over the satiric coals in this comic mockumentary. Mr. Jonathan (Ben Miller) is a dance teacher and choreographer who is preparing a group of his current students to take part in the Sanosafe Troupe Spectacular, a major regional competition for pre-teen dancers. Mr. Jonathan has been frustrated in his effort to bring home a first-place trophy, in part due to his ambitious themes, as his young charges are forced to take part in his interpretive pieces on war, economic injustice, environmental issues and the like. Mr. Jonathan's strongest adversary is Miss Elizabeth (Jane Hall), who has a constant smile and a will of iron as she weeds the "fat, lazy and untalented" from her ranks. However, this year Mr. Jonathan is determined to defeat her, and Justine (Kerry Armstrong), an overeager stage mother who claims she almost passed the audition to become a Spice Girl, is more than willing to help, as long as her daughter Tenille (Shayni Notelovitz) is featured prominently in Jonathan's latest extravaganza. Mr. Jonathan suffers through Justine's "assistance" until Tenille loses her star billing to Grace (Clancy Ryan), a plucky youngster with more talent. Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance received its American premiere at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Paul Middleditch's third feature finds the humanistic filmmaker experimenting with a unique approach while attempting to explore means of overcoming grief and reforging lost human connections. Improvised by the actors, shot on video, and later transcribed into a screenplay and shot on film, A Cold Summer finds three damaged souls in need of companionship. Bobby (Teo Gebert) is a charismatic advertising executive with a drinking problem who lives in his BMW. When jazz singer and compulsive liar Tia (Olivia Pigeot) has her bag stolen, the two meet by chance and forge a tentative connection. Tia later runs into old friend Phaedra (Susan Prior) a "semi-artistic" florist who also dabbles in poetry and songwriting and is still recovering from her boyfriend's drug related death four years earlier. As each character attempts to deal with their own hardships, their relationships with one another prove to be key components in helping them to pick up the pieces and find a new approach to facing life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

After creating an international sensation with the visually dazzling and intellectually challenging sci-fi blockbuster The Matrix, the Wachowski brothers returned with the first of two projected sequels that pick up where the first film left off. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) have been summoned by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) to join him on a voyage to Zion, the last outpost of free human beings on Earth. Neo and Trinity's work together has been complicated by the fact the two are involved in a serious romantic relationship. Upon their arrival in Zion, Morpheus locks horns with rival Commander Lock (Harry J. Lennix) and encounters his old flame Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith). Meanwhile, Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) has returned with some surprises for Neo, most notably the ability to replicate himself as many times as he pleases. Neo makes his way to The Oracle (Gloria Foster), who informs him that if he wishes to save humankind, he must unlock "The Source," which means having to release The Key Maker (Randall Duk Kim) from the clutches of Merovingian (Lambert Wilson). While Merovingian refuses to cooperate, his wife, Persephone (Monica Bellucci), angry at her husband's dalliances with other women, offers to help, but only in exchange for a taste of Neo's affections. With The Keymaker in tow, Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus are chased by Merovingian's henchmen: a pair of deadly albino twins (Neil Rayment and Adrian Rayment). Filmed primarily in Australia and California (the extended chase scene was shot on a stretch of highway build specifically for the production outside of San Francisco), The Matrix Reloaded was produced in tandem with the third film in the series, The Matrix Revolutions. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

"The Episode You Thought You'd Never See"--mainly, an episode in which one of the Bundys' get-rich-quick schemes actually pays off--is how TV Guide heralded the opening of Married. . .With Children's ninth season. The moneymaking gambit adopted by Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and neighbor Jefferson D'Arcy (Ted McGinley) is triggered by the discovery of a cache of fashionable shoes from the 1970s. In a twinkling, Al's shoe store has been transformed into the "retro" establishment "Bundy's House of Sole." Elsewhere, Kelly (Christina Applegate), filming a commercial for "Pest Boys", is bitten by a rare insect, and as a result is capable of speaking only the truth! Hard Copy co-anchor Terry Murphy appears as herself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This wildly off-beat comedy is about a male dancer (Paul Mercurio) who refuses to follow the accepted rules of ballroom dancing and creates his own style of choreography, which infuriates the ballroom dancing establishment. Before he's scheduled to compete in the Pan-Pacific ballroom championships, he's forced to take up a new partner (Tara Morice), a beginner who initially seems without promise. With his help, she turns into an assured and wonderful dancer. Baz Luhrmann's visual style may be too bright, gaudy and exaggerated for some tastes, yet he treats his characters with compassion, which makes Strictly Ballroom such an engaging comedy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Although it's not an election year, ALF is bombarding Kate (Anne Scheeden) with questions about the American electoral process. Before long, both parties receive a crash course in civics when Kate dreams that she and ALF are opposing Presidential candidates. Veteran political interview John McLaughlin plays himself (as if anyone else could play him!) This episode was originally scheduled to air on November 30, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Quincy (Jack Klugman) is an unwilling key player in an elaborate vengeance scheme concocted by arrogant paralegal Carl Norman (Jeff Pomerantz). After the 7-year-old granddaughter of law professor Henry Hillman (Lew Ayres) is kidnapped in broad daylight, Norman calmly walks into police headquarters and confesses to the crime, further demanding to be put on trial immediately. Using the flaws in the legal system to his advantage, Norman is supremely confident that he will not only be acquitted for the crime, but that he will be able to collect the ransom for the girl without running the risk of a future arrest--thanks to that all-too-familiar loophole known as "Double Jeopardy". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Quincy (Jack Klugman) is outraged to learn that young Sherry Anderson (Heidi Bohay) has died from injuries sustained in a car accident after being treated at a standard emergency hospital. It seems that Sherry's father Bruce (Leonard Stone), who at the crash scene appeared to be the more seriously injured of the two, was rushed to the Memorial Hills emergency trauma center, where the doctors were able to save his life. Arguing that the same special medical care should have been made available to Sherry, Quincy begins lobbying the city to finance additional trauma centers--even as Memorial Hills faces extinction due to lack of funds. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An affirmative-action program at a major metropolitan hospital is threatened when a young African American resident, who owes his job to the program, is suspected of causing a patient's death through negligence (to use the old cliché, the operation was successful but the patient died). The young man's mentor, Dr. Frank Matthews (Brock Peters), takes the blame for the tragedy, arousing the suspicions of Matthews' longtime friend Quincy (Jack Klugman). Racing against time, Quincy must determine the actual cause of the patient's death--and, hopefully, save the affirmative-action program from being eliminated by a disgruntled hospital official. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi