Ian Watkin Movies
E.B. White's classic children's story comes to the screen in this live-action adaptation with an all-star voice cast. Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning) is a young girl growing up on her family's farm. When a sow gives birth to some piglets, Fern's father (Kevin Anderson) intends to do away with the runt of litter, but Fern has become attached to the little pig and persuades her father to let him live. The pig, named Wilbur (voice of Dominic Scott Kay), becomes Fern's pet, but when he grows larger, he's put in the care of Homer Zuckerman (Gary Basaraba), a farmer down the road. Fern is still able to visit Wilbur regularly, and it soon occurs to both of them that pigs tend to have a limited life expectancy on a farm, and that unless something unusual happens, Wilbur will eventually becomes someone's dinner. Charlotte, a friendly spider, hatches a plan to make Wilbur seem special enough to save by weaving messages about the "terrific" pig into her web, and she soon persuades her barnyard friends to join in her plan. Charlotte is voiced by Julia Roberts, while the other actors who provide the voices of the animals on Zuckerman's farm include Robert Redford, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Bates, Cedric the Entertainer. Thomas Haden Church, and André Benjamin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, (more)
- 1998
Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) steals the magical arrows of Artemis' bow, then unwittingly sells them to Discord (Meighan Desmond), the handmaiden of war god Ares. One of these arrows is shot at our boy Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) -- who promptly transforms into a pig. As Autolycus and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) scramble around to set things right, "Porkules" is amorous pursued by female pig Katherine (voiced by Alexandra Tydings, taking a break from her usual role as love goddess Aphrodite). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, (more)
- 1997
Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) steals the Chronos gemstone from King Qualius (Ian Watkins), enabling him to control the time-space continuum. As a result, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) travels backward five years to witness the first meeting between his lost love, the demigod Serena (Kara Zediker), and war god Ares (Kevin Smith). In his efforts to save Serena from Ares' grasp, Hercules inexorably alters the shape of the future. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, (more)
- 1995
Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) takes on a rampaging Cyclops (Richard Moll) who is seemingly in cahoots with our hero's treacherous stepmother, the goddess Hera. Along the way, Hercules picks up a traveling companion in the form of shabby traveling salesman Salmoneus (Robert Trebor). After joining forces to defeat their common enemy, Hercules and Salmoneus discover that the Cyclops is not exactly the heartless villain he seems to be -- and that there are two sides to every conflict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Robert Trebor, (more)
- 1992
- PG
A grandfather joins the undead and delights his grandson with his many new talents in this Australian comedy set in New Zealand. Fortunately, those talents do not include bloodsucking. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet Paquita (Diana Penalver) while concealing the fact that his overbearing mum (Elizabeth Moody, in an amazing good-sport performance) is a flesh-eating zombie. (She owes her condition to a bite from a "Sumatran Rat Monkey" at the local zoo.) Complicating matters even further is Les, a greedy uncle (Ian Watkin), who suspects that his sister has died and is eager to occupy her elegantly furnished Victorian mansion. The climax is a housewarming party Les throws to celebrate his "inheritance;" what he really gets is his comeuppance, thanks to his sister and her similarly afflicted zombie pals, who burst out of their basement prison to turn the guests into appetizers. Our hero finally cuts a wide swath through the zombie party crashers with the help of a rotary blade lawn mower, leaving the house awash in blood and body parts in order to save his romance. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, (more)
- 1988
Three women working for a singing telegram company contend with a variety of problems on St. Valentine's Day. The manager is gone, and one woman has lost her voice. The second woman has just broken up with her boyfriend, and the third is caught in a bitter child-custody battle with her ex-husband. One dresses in a gorilla suit to deliver one of the 50 singing telegrams scheduled for the busy day. If the trio ever hopes to find love again, they abandon all hope after meeting the meat-headed males they encounter. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carmel McGlone, Katherine McRae, (more)
- 1983
In this suspense thriller, a missing anthropologist is given up for lost by his wife (Darien Takle) and twin brother Edward (John Bach), but his daughter (Emma Takle) is convinced something odd is involved in her father's disappearance. Events conspire to put the three people together on a manhunt for the anthropologist -- among a "lost" tribe in the southern part of New Zealand that is not going to cooperate in the trio's search. If the wife, daughter, and uncle are extremely lucky, everyone will be able to escape intact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bach
- 1983
Utu is the Maori word for "Retribution," which sums up the chief motivating factor of this New Zealand-produced drama. Set in the 1870s, the film details the exigencies of British Colonial rule. A Maori scout, Te Wheke (Anzac Wallace), stumbles across a native village that has been destroyed in a British raid. Since it is the scout's own village, he deserts the British army, the better to seek "utu." Leading a vigilante force consisting of his fellow Maoris, Te Wheke kills as many British settlers as he can get his hands on. The feverish conviction of his crusade is in stark contrast to the attitudes of the British, who seem more concerned with material possessions than with human beings. Popular down under star Bruno Lawrence is cast as a vengeance-driven settler who makes it his personal mission in life to end Te Wheke's reign of terror. The most expensive New Zealand-filmed project to date, Utu was an enormous success upon its first domestic release; the American version runs some 15 minutes shorter than the original. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anzac Wallace, Bruno Lawrence, (more)
- 1982
- NR
Jack Thompson plays Stan Graham, a tragic and notorious figure of New Zealand's war years. Not the most easygoing person in the world to begins with, Graham is pushed over the edge when his farm is foreclosed. With seemingly no other options, he turns into a homicidal maniac, killing everyone he considers an enemy -- in short, everyone who crosses his path. Graham's murder spree plays right into the hands of Nazi propagandists, notably British turncoat Lord Haw-Haw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Carol Burns, (more)
- 1981
- R
This innocuous New Zealand-filmed "road" movie is buoyed by engaging performances and superb cinematography. The protagonists are young friends Gerry (Kelly Johnson) and Shirl (Claire Oberman) and their much-older travelling companion John (Tony Barry). The trio steals a car and hits the road. With the law on their trail, our heroes (and heroine) still manage to experience a steady flow of picaresque adventures. The huge supporting cast seems to be comprised of friends and relatives of the cast and crew, all of whom seem to be enjoying themselves. Luckily, their enthusiasm is contagious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelly Johnson, Tony Barry, (more)
- 1980
Beyond Reasonable Doubt is a true story of New Zealand justice gone awry. A married couple named Crewe is murdered, and Arthur Allen Thomas (John Hargreaves) is charged with the crime. Given a scrupulously fair trial, the innocent Thomas is found guilty on circumstantial evidence. Later on, it is discovered that zealous police inspector Hutton (David Hemmings), anxious for a conviction, planted false evidence to put the noose around Thomas' neck. Beyond Reasonable Doubt was scripted by David Yallop, whose book on the Crewe case was instrumental in gaining Thomas' release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1977
Director Roger Donaldson's directorial debut was also a breakthrough film for New Zealand filmmakers, being the first film from New Zealand to open in the United States. Sam Neill stars as a man named Smith who lives in a near future of economic collapse in New Zealand. Smith is a husband who discovers that his wife has been having an affair. Unable to deal with it, he decides to move out and live by himself. But the precarious political chaos in New Zealand has created a right wing backlash, with repressive government forces murdering opponents to the government's policies. Smith finds himself joining a group of freedom fighters that sets out to preserve democracy. Opposing Smith and the freedom fighters are the government thugs and an apolitical soldier of fortune named Willoughby (Warren Oates). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Neill, Bernard Kearns, (more)
