Rod Arthur Movies
My Brilliant Career and Oscar and Lucinda director Gillian Armstrong explores the final feat of the greatest illusionist ever to deceive a live audience in this docudrama concerning Harry Houdini's obsessive quest to find proof of an afterlife. The year is 1926, and Houdini (Guy Pearce) is an international superstar. Not only does the illusionist's otherworldly ability to bend reality hold audiences completely enthralled, but his easy charm finds him winning the hearts of his growing legion of fans as well. Yet behind Houdini's winning smile resides the restless heart of a tortured soul. Isolated by fame and drowning in regret over having not been present to hear his mother's last words, Houdini sets out in tour of Scotland and announces that he will pay 10,000 dollars to anyone who can prove spiritual contact with his deceased mother. But in his determination to prove that there is life after death, Houdini also becomes the target of countless charlatans, scam artists, and self-proclaimed spiritualists. Of course, stunning psychic Mary McGregor (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter/sidekick, Benji (Saoirse Ronan), seem remarkably sincere in their supernatural talents, yet that doesn't mean that the pair doesn't have their own ulterior motives for making a connection with the world-famous magic man. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
- 2006
First seen over Britain's ITV on July 22, 2006, the six-part educational miniseries Prehistoric Park was something of a "Jurrasic Park lite." The series, a heady combination of live action and CGI, starred archaeologist/naturalist Nigel Marvin, who'd achieved worldwide popularity on such previous "re-creation" efforts as Walking With Dinosaurs. In each hour-long episode, Marvin ostensibly stepped through a time portal and emerged somewhere in the distant past, for the purpose of rounding up prehistoric beasts in their natural habitats and relocating them to a modern-day nature park, fully staffed with keepers and vets (one of whom, Suzanne McNab, was as much a "star" of the show as Marvin). CGI-animated by the artisans at Framestore CFC, the various giant lizards, insects and mammals were depicted not in as evil predators or helpless victims in standard monster-movie fashion, but as normal, everyday beings who happened to hail from the distant past. Indeed, the show frequently "humanized" the beast by giving them cute pet names, such as "Martha the Mammoth." Narrated by David Jason and cunningly geared for children and adults alike, Prehistoric Planet made its first American appearance courtesy of cable's Animal Planet network on October 29, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Marven, Suzanne McNabb, (more)
