Christopher Whittingham Movies
- 2005
- PG13
- Add Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to QueueAdd Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to top of Queue
Directed by Mike Newell, the fourth installment to the Harry Potter series finds Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) wondering why his legendary scar -- the famous result of a death curse gone wrong -- is aching in pain, and perhaps even causing mysterious visions. Before he can think too much about it, however, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will attend his fourth year of magical education. Shortly after his reunion with his best friends, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), Harry is introduced to yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: the grizzled Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), a former dark wizard catcher who agreed to take on the infamous "DADA" professorship as a personal favor to Headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Of course, Harry's wishes for an uneventful school year are almost immediately shattered when he is unexpectedly chosen, along with fellow student Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), as Hogwarts' representative in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which awards whoever completes three magical tasks the most skillfully with a thousand-galleon purse and the admiration of the international wizard community. As difficult as it is to deal with his schoolwork, friendships, and the tournament at the same time (not to mention his feelings toward the ever unfathomable Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Harry doesn't realize that the most feared wizard in the world, Lord Voldemort, is anticipating the tournament, as well. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, (more)
Simon Moore's directorial debut (his also wrote the screenplay) is a brooding thriller that takes place in the melancholy British resort town of Brighton in the 1950s. Liam Neeson stars as Tony Aaron, a disreputable ex-cop who now makes a living as a sleazy private eye. With his wife Hazel (Maggie O'Neill) as bait, he arranges compromising photographs of errant husbands whose wives require proof of marital infidelities in order to obtain divorces. But one day, Aaron bursts into a hotel room to find Hazel and her client, a famed American painter, murdered; the painter's body has been mutilated, and his thumb, with which he signed his paintings, is cut off and missing. With an old crony of Aaron's, Frank (Kenneth Cranham), leading the investigation, two lead suspects are brought to the fore --Selina (Alphonsia Emmanuel), the painter's widow; and Angeline (Laura San Giacomo), the painter's mistress. And it is with Angeline, the person most likely to have killed the painter, that Aaron falls in love. But soon the tables are turned. When the victims were found to have been killed with Aaron's gunm and a neighbor leaves a suicide note claiming that Aaron is the killer, Aaron is arrested and found guilty of the killings. But right before Aaron's execution, a surprising piece of new evidence is discovered that changes everything. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Laura San Giacomo, (more)
- 1988
Little Dorrit was intended as the cinematic equivalent to the mammoth, eight hour Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Dickens' Nicholas Nickelby. The film was released to theatres in two parts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to the seamstress title character (Sarah Pickering), who chooses to live in debtor's prison with her father (Alec Guinness). Good samaritan Derek Jacobi endeavors to help both father and daughter. The second part, also known as "Little Dorrit's Story," details Dorrit's escape from penury to lasting happiness. Eschewing the usual 19th century-style British music often heard in Dickensian adaptations, director Christine Edzard creatively-and effectively--opts for the strains of Giuseppe Verdi. Edzard's eye for period detail is also deserving of unbounded praise. Unfortunately, Part Two of Little Dorrit spends nearly half of its running time recapping Part One, utilizing much of the same footage. For those familiar with "Nobody's Fault," "Little Dorrit's Story" is more a redundancy than a continuation. Still, taken together, parts one and two all fully deserving of the enthusiastic critical commentary that greeted them upon their original release-not to mention the multiple Academy Award nominations bestowed upon the project and its participants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Derek Jacobi, (more)
- 1982
In the second episode of the four-part story "Earthshock," the Doctor (Peter Davison) and two of his companions are held responsible when four 26th century paleontologists disappear. The actual culprits turn out to be a brace of blank-faced robots who are jealously guarding a giant bomb within a huge cave. Clearly, the robots are acting under someone's orders -- but whose? Written by Eric Saward, "Earthshock, Episode 2" originally aired on March 9, 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Davison, Matthew Waterhouse, (more)
