Craig Pearce Movies
- 1992
Julia, Gunther, and Mary Lou are sharing a house together in Sydney, not far from downtown. The have advertised for another tenant, since it will lower everyone's housing costs. The man they choose is a gent named Bernard, personable and agreeable, who seems to be romantically interested in Julia. Meanwhile, Sydney has been undergoing a wave of bombings of government buildings and offices. Before long, Bernard's new roommates begin to wonder about him, but by the time they get seriously interested in what he's up to, he has taken steps to see to it that they don't hinder his activities. He hadn't counted on his relationship with Julia having any effect on him, however, and the outcome of the resulting stand-off is far from certain. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Craig Pearce
The third film from pop-music-obsessed director Baz Luhrmann tweaks the conventions of the musical genre by mixing a period romance with anachronistic dialogue and songs in the style of his previous Romeo+Juliet (1996). Ewan McGregor stars as Christian, who leaves behind his bourgeois father during the French belle époque of the late 1890s to seek his fortunes in the bohemian underworld of Montmartre, Paris. Christian meets the absinthe- and alcohol-addicted artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), who introduces him to a world of sex, drugs, music, theater, and the scandalous dance known as the cancan, all at the Moulin Rouge, a decadent dance hall, brothel, and theater that's the brainchild of Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent). Christian also meets and falls into a tragically doomed romance with the courtesan Satine (Nicole Kidman), who becomes the star of the play he's writing, which parallels the couple's romance and utilizes rock music from a century later, including songs by Nirvana, Madonna, the Beatles, and Queen, among others. Loosely based on the opera Orpheus in the Underworld, Moulin Rouge was shown in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, (more)
In this chop-socky actioner, karate students find themselves forced to face down vengeful Ninjas after their instructor kills a man who is unable to defend himself. The film is also titled Watch the Shadows Dance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, (more)
- 2010
Zac Efron reteams with 7 Again's Burr Steers for this adaptation of Ben Sherwood's novel regarding a caretaker of a cemetery who has daily discussions with his deceased brother. Kim Basinger heads up the supporting cast as the young men's mother. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Brooke Shields stars in this futuristic suspense thriller as Kate Fletcher, a woman whose apartment is controlled by a high-tech computer system. Her conveniences become a trap, however, when a psychotic murderer invades her building, convinced his dead sister is commanding him to kill again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Damon Kennedy (Tamblyn Lord) is a rich kid who falls in with a trio of teen thugs in this violent exploitation film. When the trio brutally attacks Damon's girlfriend and her family, he seek vengeance against the thugs. The boys rob and kill a wealthy businessman and his family, putting Damon on the wrong side of the law. Damon later justifies his violence as good training that will help him in the ruthless world of business. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tamblyn Lord, Craig Pearce, (more)
- 1987
- R
In this martial-arts film, a highly-principled karate student accidentally sees his sen-sei kill an unarmed man, and must now fight for his life until justice is done. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
- PG13
- Add William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet to QueueAdd William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet to top of Queue
The classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy is updated by director Baz Luhrmann to a post-modern Verona Beach where swords are merely a brand of gun and bored youths are easily spurred toward violence. Longtime rivals in religion and business, the Montagues and the Capulets share a page from the Jets and Sharks of West Side Story when they form rival gangs. Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) is aloof toward the goings-on of his Montague cousins, but after he realizes that Juliet (Claire Danes) is a Capulet at the end of one very wild party, the enmity between the two clans becomes the root of his angst. He relies heavily -- and with serious consequences -- on his rebel gender-bender of a friend, Mercutio (Harold Perrineau Jr.), and Father (not Friar) Lawrence (Pete Postlethwaite) for protection and support. Romeo is, of course, exiled, and it looks like Juliet will be forced into an arranged marriage with the bland Paris (Paul Rudd). It ends, as Romeo and Juliet must, when Romeo hears a tragic piece of misinformation and brings his suicide wish to what was meant to be Juliet 's temporary tomb. This time, though, the turf and the weapon of choice have taken a turn toward the surreal. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, (more)
