Kerry Walker Movies

A combination of circumstance and poor life choices turn to young children into the caretakers for their unstable mother in writer/director Tony Ayres' semi-autobiographical family drama. As aging writer Tom (Darren Yap) sits down to pen a screenplay detailing his life story, memories quickly transport him to the Shanghai nightclub where his single mother Rose (Joan Chen) would captivate Western servicemen. A beautiful thrush with a magnificent voice, Rose eventually packed up children Tom (Joel Lok) and May (Irene Chen) and set off for Australia after accepting a marriage proposal from Melbourne sailor Bill (Steven Vidler). When the relationship between Rose and Bill withered after just one week, the mother set her sights on Sydney. In the following seven years, Rose and her two young children would bounce between a series of "uncles" as stability continued to elude the trio. Though desperate Rose would eventually return to Melbourne with her children and attempt to rekindle her relationship with Bill, that too would eventually result in failure when the impulsive woman entered into a heated affair with local restaurant employee Joe (Qi Yuwu). Enraged when younger lover Joe takes note of May's blossoming beauty, Rose once again begs Bill's forgiveness though his generosity finally seems to have been exhausted. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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, Rovi

It's said that sex and religion are two subjects that no one can discuss without arguing; writer/director Jane Campion tackles both head-on in this satiric comedy drama. On a trip to India, Australian Ruth (Kate Winslet) has a spiritual awakening and embraces the teachings of a guru named Baba. Back home in Sydney, Ruth's mother and father (Julie Hamilton and Tim Robertson) are appalled to learn that their daughter now answers to the name Nazni and has no intention of returning. Mother visits her daughter in India in hopes of convincing her to come home, but it's not until she suffers a life-threatening asthma attack that Ruth agrees to return for a visit. Mother pretends to arrange a meeting with Ruth's father, who has been ill, and this trick lands Ruth in the clutches of P.J. Waters (Harvey Keitel), an American exit counselor who deprograms members of religious cults. Waters begins to loosen Ruth's belief in Baba's teachings, but P.J. finds himself sexually attracted to Ruth, and in time she allows him to seduce her. Ruth soon turns the tables on P.J., as she discovers that sex allows her to make mincemeat of his long-held beliefs as a macho, misogynist male. Jane's sister Anna Campion, herself a director, co-authored the screenplay; Pam Grier appears in a supporting role as P.J.'s partner and girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Though featuring a simple straightforward story of a small town turned upside down when a car carrying four members of the local women's bowling team flips over and leaves the occupants trapped and hanging, it is the sprightly performances of the ensemble cast that make this quirky Australian comedy special. The first person on the scene of the bizarre accident is Maurie, a somewhat dim-bulbed pig farmer. Unable to think of a way to help poor Margot, Nell, Jean and Carmel -- the ladies inside the car -- he goes off to call the Emergency Services. Unfortunately, the fire department doesn't understand Maurie and can't decide whether he said the women were on Nhill Road (it's pronounced "Nil") or the road to Nhill, and they immediately speed off in the wrong direction. The town sheriff is nowhere in sight. Meanwhile Maurie returns with Brian, a vegetable farmer who just can't cope with the horror of it all, and they both fret about what they should do. As they worry and figuratively wring their hands, the women try to figure out how to save themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian family film, which became an unexpected international success due to superior special effects and an intelligent script. The title refers to the name bestowed on a piglet soon after his separation from his family, when he finds himself on a strange farm. Confused and sad, Babe is adopted by a friendly dog and slowly adjusts to his new home. Discovering that the fate of most pigs is the dinner table, Babe devotes himself to becoming a useful member of the farm by trying to learn how to herd sheep, despite the skepticism of the other animals and the kindly but conventional Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell). Because technically impeccable animatronics and computer graphics allow the farm animals to converse easily among themselves, first-time director Chris Noonan can treat the film's menagerie as actual characters, playing scene not for cuteness but for real emotions. The result is often surprisingly touching, with Noonan and George Miller's script, based on Dick King-Smith's children's book and, indirectly, a true story, seamlessly combining gentle whimsy and sincere feeling. These same qualities are embodied by in Cromwell's beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett, which anchors the film. Despite its unlikely premise and low profile, Babe's inspirational story was embraced by audiences and critics, and the movie became an international sleeper that won an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was followed in 1999 by the less successful Babe: Pig in the City. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This rental contains both Babe and Babe: Pig in the City

Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-willed young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) find themselves in the New Zealand wilderness, with Ada the imported bride of dullard land-grabber Stewart (Sam Neill). Ada immediately takes a dislike to Stewart when he refuses to carry her beloved piano home with them. But Stewart makes a deal with his overseer George Baines (Harvey Keitel) to take the piano off his hands. Attracted to Ada, Baines agrees to return the piano in exchange for a series of piano lessons that become a series of increasingly charged sexual encounters. As pent-up emotions of rage and desire swirl around all three characters, the savage wilderness begins to consume the tiny European enclave. Campion imbues her tale with an over-ripe tactility and a murky, poetic undertow that betray the characters' confined yet overpowering emotions: Ada's buried sensuality, Baines' hidden tenderness, and Stewart's suppressed anger and violence. The story unfolds like a Greek tragedy of the Outback, complete with a Greek chorus of Maori tribesmen and a blithely uncaring natural environment that envelops the characters like an additional player. Campion directs with discreet detachment, observing one character through the glances and squints of another as they peer through wooden slats, airy curtains, and the spaces between a character's fingers. She makes the film immediate and urgent by implicating the audience in characters' gazes. And she guides Hunter to a revelatory performance of silent film majesty. Relying on expressive glances and using body language to convey her soulful depths, Hunter became a modern Lillian Gish and won an Oscar for her performance, as did Paquin and Campion for her screenplay. Campion achieved something rare in contemporary cinema: a poetry of expression told in the form of an off-center melodrama. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Originally released in Australia as Wendy Cracked a Walnut, Almost made it to American shores in 1991, nearly five years after its completion. Rosanna Arquette plays Wendy, whose notions of life have been formed by romance novels. On her tenth wedding anniversary, Wendy hopes that her neglectful husband Ronnie (Bruce Spence) will rekindle his premarital ardor. While Ronnie is delayed by circumstances beyond his control (including a bolt of lightning), Wendy makes the acquaintance of handsome stranger Jake (Hugo Weaving). Convinced that Ronnie is cheating on her, Wendy decides to fight fire with fire by running off with Jake-just like in one of her Harlequin Romances. Ronnie tries his best (which is none too good) to win his wife back, leading to an archly whimsical finale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based loosely on a true story, Bullseye takes place in the Australia of the mid-19th century. Disgruntled ranch hand Paul Goddard finds a ray of happiness in his relationship with maidservant Kathryn Walker. But when the maid comes into an inheritance, she takes on highfalutin' airs and breaks off their romance. Almost as an act of consolation, the ranch hand turns to cattle-rustling. Arriving safely in an outback settlement with his stolen cows and bulls, the ranch hand discovers that the maid has arrived in town ahead of him, and that she's been reduced to working in the local bordello. Gallantly, the cowboy decides to rescue the surprisingly still-virginal maid from that fabled worse-than-death fate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This unexciting story is about a woman who leaves her husband for an interlude of illicit romance and crime. The film begins with two parallel sequences: the fashion model Christine (Angela Punch McGregor) is at home, bored with her married life to Peter (Louis Jourdan) a wealthy businessman, and while those scenes play out, a silver-suited biker is on the prowl. Soon the biker steals a Rolls and follows Christine home, where in quick order they trash her house, take off together, and later rob a post office dressed as clowns. As the film cuts between Peter, Christine, the biker, and Peter's secretary, it is difficult to tell who really has the upper hand, who is actually in control, and who is being manipulated. Unfortunately, this guessing game becomes less interesting as the events in the film become less plausible, and the lack of surprises or shocking scenes -- especially to modern audiences with well-constructed shock absorbers -- makes for a dull 90 minutes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi