Ken Bones Movies

Anthony Burgess translated and adapted this staging of Edmond Rostand's 19th century theatrical classic. Derek Jacobi (of I Claudius) fame stars as Cyrano de Bergerac, the ski-nosed poet, philosopher and swordsman. Believing that the beautiful Roxanne will shrink from his ugliness, Cyrano woos her by proxy, feeding the handsome but empty-headed Christian the honey'd words of love that will win the lady's heart. Jacobi is given powerhouse support by the Royal Shakespeare Company, including the exquisite Sinead Cusack as Roxanne. Videotaped for British television, Cyrano de Bergerac was telecast in America on selected PBS and cable-TV outlets. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

TheTV movie Jack the Ripper endeavors to shed new light on one of the most notorious unsolved cases in history. The Ripper, of course, was the London serial killer who, in 1888, killed and disemboweled five prostitutes. Michael Caine stars not as the Ripper but as a Scotland-Yard inspector who is assigned to the case. The trail of evidence leads Caine to some astonishing suspects--including at least one member of the Royal Family. As the public clamors for an arrest in the case of the unsolved evisceration murders of five East End prostitutes, Abberline narrows down his list of suspects: the four most likely to have committed the murders, according to the inspector, are American-actor Richard Mansfield (Armand Assante), Queen Victoria's personal psychic (Ken Bones), a certain Dr. Acland (Richard Morant) and socialist-gadfly Lusk (Michael Gothard). The British government is also pressuring Abberline to produce the killer. Unfortunately, if Abberline were to publicly release all the clues at his disposal, the revelation would probably rock the Empire to its foundations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Geena Davis stars in this adventure saga as the most swashbuckling female pirate to ever lay waste to the seven seas. Morgan Adams (Davis) is the daughter of a pirate who has followed in her father's footsteps. When he dies, he passes along his ship, a crew of bandits, and one third of a treasure map (which happens to be tattooed on his skull). Morgan is eager to search out the rest of the map and retrieve the riches, but the fragment she holds is in Latin. Morgan then buys a well-educated slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), who can read the ancient language and already has a taste for the criminal life. However, Morgan and William are not long into their search when they discover that someone else is following the same trail for the rest of the treasure map: Dawg Brown (Frank Langella), Morgan's uncle and as black-hearted a scurvy dog as ever boarded a ship. As Morgan and Dawg battle each other over the fragments of the map, a British journalist (Maury Chaykin) covers their feud for the penny press. William Shaw was originally to have been played by Michael Douglas, who dropped out in the early stages of this troubled production. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Homer's sprawling tale of love and war in ancient Greece comes to the screen in all its grandeur in this epic-scale adventure. In 1193 B.C., Paris, Prince of Troy (Orlando Bloom), has fallen in love; however, the beautiful woman who has beguiled him is Helen, Queen of Sparta (Diane Kruger), who is wed to King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson). While Helen is hardly immune to Paris' charms, this doesn't blunt Menelaus' fury when Paris steals her away from him. Menelaus' brother Agamemnon (Brian Cox), the power-hungry king of the Mycenaeans, is eager to expand his empire through Troy to the lands of the Aegean Sea, and he uses Paris' romantic slight against Menelaus as an excuse to wage an all-out war against the great walled city. Priam, King of Troy (Peter O'Toole), summons his armies, led by Prince Hector (Eric Bana), to meet the onslaught of Agamemnon's forces, but while the great city has yet to yield in a battle, Agamemnon has a formidable ally -- Achilles (Brad Pitt), a mighty and seemingly unstoppable warrior whose presence could tip the scales in Agamemnon's favor. Sean Bean, Julie Christie, Saffron Burrows, and Rose Byrne highlight the film's supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Brothers of the Head was adapted from Brian Aldiss' novel by screenwriter Tony Grisoni, and marks the narrative feature debut of Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha), who have structured Aldiss' story as a mock documentary. Twins Luke and Harry Treadaway star, respectively, as conjoined twins Barry and Tom Howe, joined at the torso. They were essentially purchased from their family as teens in the 1970s by a sleazy showbiz impresario, Zak Bedderwick (Howard Attfield), who planned to turn them into rock stars. Manager Nick (Sean Harris) kept the volatile Barry in line, sometimes violently, while musician Paul (Bryan Dick) taught the introspective Tom how to play the guitar, and helped the brothers write their songs. A documentary filmmaker, Eddie (Tom Bower), was hired to record the process. Their first live performance was a near disaster, as the rowdy pub crowd didn't welcome the sight of the two young men coming on-stage with their arms around each other, but Barry, the charismatically angry frontman, shocked the crowd by exposing the joint between them as he ripped into a snarling performance of their first single, "Two-Way Romeo," and the legend of their group, the Bang Bang, was born. As the proto-punk group's fame grew, Laura (Tania Emery), a young journalist, came to write an article about them, and quickly developed a romantic relationship with Tom, causing friction between the brothers. The film features interviews with some of the characters in the present day, and clips from an imagined unfinished Ken Russell film about the twins, starring Jonathan Pryce and Jane Horrocks. The music of the Bang Bang, performed by cast members and the band Crackout, was written and produced by Clive Langer. Brothers of the Head was shown at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

A young couple on the run takes the owner of a posh villa hostage after being surrounded by police, only to find that their ace in the hole is a dangerous serial killer. Nick and Celia are desperate; their lives in shambles, they know that the future holds great things if they can just make it to the United States to start a new life together. But Nick is a former criminal whose old partners aren't willing to wipe the slate clean until he's paid off some lingering debts. As the pressure mounts to appease his old criminal cohorts, Nick decides to square up by robbing a small gas station. Unfortunately, in the course of the heist, Nick shoots a young police officer and a Special Forces Unit is quickly dispatched. Terrified and with nowhere to turn, Nick and Celina take refuge in the remote villa of Victor von Hartenberg (Billy Zane), taking the owner hostage until they can concoct an escape plan. Just as Special Forces begin to raid the villa, the couple notices that the dining room is riddled with the corpses of a murdered family. Just who is the hostage that sits before them claiming to be Victor von Hartenberg? With the police waiting outside and a dangerous maniac as their hostage inside, Nick and Celia will have to think fast if they hold out any hope of surviving this dangerous predicament. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi