Valentine Pelka Movies
A woman starts her life over with a new home in a new land in this romantic comedy drama . Frances (Diane Lane) is a writer in her mid-'30s who feels emotionally derailed after her divorce. Unhappy and unable to write, she isn't sure what to do with her life, and her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh) decides she needs some time away from her problems. With that in mind, Patti gives Frances a ticket for a two-week tour of the Tuscany region of Italy; while there, Frances finds a dilapidated old villa. Charmed by the warmth, beauty, and charm of the small town of Cortona, Frances impulsively decides to buy the villa, thinking she can fix it up herself. The home proves to be more of a handyman's special than she imagined, but as she slowly gets the hang of household maintenance, Italian style, Frances develops a new confidence as she makes friends with her neighbors and finds love with a handsome local named Marcello (Raoul Bova). Under the Tuscan Sun is loosely adapted from the memoir by Frances Mayes, who (unlike the leading character of the film) remained happily married during her sojourn in Tuscany. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Lane, Sandra Oh, (more)
- 2000
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A group of trailblazing female musicians try to take another shot at success in this musical comedy-drama produced for the premium cable network HBO. In the 1940s, the Blonde Bombshells were the finest all-female jazz band in the U.K., playing hot swing music that helped raise England's spirits during the dark days of WWII. Fifty years later, Elizabeth (Judi Dench), one of the band's sax players, is trying to decide what to do with herself after the death of her husband. Pulling her axe out of mothballs, Elizabeth starts playing again, and after meeting Patrick (Ian Holm), the group's former manager (and drummer-in-drag), they decide to put the group back together for a reunion tour. But they soon discover that putting the band back on the road after over fifty years is no easy task. The Last of the Blonde Bombshells also stars Leslie Caron, Olympia Dukakis, and jazz vocalist Cleo Laine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judi Dench, Ian Holm, (more)
The tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is always ripe for retelling. In this rendition, the sexy Richard Gere is Sir Lancelot, threatening to supersede the aging King Arthur (Sean Connery) by winning the love of his young wife Guinivere (Julia Ormond). This update of the age-old legend succeeds on the strength of Gere's happy-go-lucky sex appeal, Ormond's gorgeous period costuming, and Connery's unbeatable wry nobility. The script focuses on the triangle of the three principals: the older man's reluctance to relinquish his love and power to the younger man destined to supplant him; the young woman torn between her loyalty to her aged husband and her love for his rival; the young man balancing the demands of loyalty to his sovereign with the rewards of true love. This beautiful production forgoes the legend's usual elements of magic and fantasy, leaving Merlin the Magician completely out of the picture. ~ Laura Abraham, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Richard Gere, (more)
Derek Jacobi stars in this 12th century drama as Brother Cadfael, a former soldier in the Crusades who has become a monk but occasionally pauses in doing the Lord's work to solve the occasional mystery. In this story, Oswin, a novice under Cadfael, confesses to the rape and murder of a young nun whose body is found in a nearby stream. Convinced Oswin is innocent, Cadfael begins investigating the crime and discovers the foul activities of a group of rouge soldiers from the Crusades, as well as a young squire who might be his son. Brother Cadfael: Virgin in the Ice was produced for British television and was first shown in America as part of the PBS series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
- 1991
Based on a novel by Graham Greene, Alec Guinness stars as the title character, a descendent of Don Quixote. After he is appointed monsignor, he sets off with a leftist politician (played by Leo McKern) on an adventure reminiscent of the Cervantes novel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Peter Davison stars as bespectacled, aristocratic private detective Albert Campion in this two-part adaptation of Margery Allingham's novel Sweet Danger. On this occasion, Campion endeavors to prove that Britain's Fitton family are the rightful heirs to a Balkan throne. Disguising himself as the king of the monarchy in question, Campion sets about to locate the monarch's missing crown, which of course will verify the Fittons' right to ascension. His search leads to a sinister scheme involving newly discovered oil deposits. In America, "weet Danger" was telecast November 15, 1990, as a single two-hour episode of the PBS anthology Mystery! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Davison, Brian Glover, (more)
The events that led Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley to write her horror masterpiece Frankenstein provide the basis of this haunting, romantic drama. The story opens aboard a beat up schooner as it carefully makes its way through a massive broken ice pack near the North Pole. There Shelley writes her fantastic tale and reminisces about the events of the previous summer when she was courted by the poetic Percy Byshe Shelley. They elope and go to Switzerland where they become friends with dashing Lord Byron and his companion Dr. Polidori. Shelley's sister Claire accompanies them and gets romantically entangled with Byron. The group subsequently spends some idyllic almost hedonistic weeks at Byron's villa. Over the next few years, strange, tragic and troubling events occur and whenever they do, Shelley sees her monster lurking in the shadows. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Grant, Lizzy McInnerny, (more)
This television mini-series sequel to A Woman of Substance finds aging businesswoman Emma Harte (Deborah Kerr) preparing to hand over her empire to granddaughter Paula Fairley (Jenny Seagrave), much to the dismay of the rest of the family. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Director Bruce Beresford has safely stayed within the domain of the Bible and not strayed into patches of Hollywood fiction in this routine version of the story of David (Richard Gere). For that reason, anyone unfamiliar with Biblical history might be puzzled by the episodic presentation of David's life. In the opening scenes, Samuel condemns Saul and anoints the young David as his heir, and in fairly quick succession David slays Goliath, incurs Saul's jealous wrath, leaves, and, much later, comes back to rule after Saul has died. Once David is on the throne, Bathsheba and then Absalom enter into the picture. Interspersed are brutal scenes of fighting, but not much in the way of motivation for David's complex behavior. Gaps in the narration or unclear motivation may be the result of trying to cover too many events in a 114-minute running time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Alice Krige, (more)
