Matt Zimmerman Movies

The often tragic lives of the residents of a Nova Scotia coal mining town are viewed through the eyes of a depressed young woman in this grim period drama. Set in the 1940s, the film begins with a brief, intentionally puzzling interlude before flashing back several years to focus on the story of Margaret MacNeil (Helena Bonham Carter). Margaret has suffered through the death of her father and her brother, both of whom perished while working as coal miners, and has subsequently developed a hatred for the mines that provide the town's primary source of economic support. When she finds herself attracted to charming stranger Neil (Clive Russell), she is thrilled to learn that he has no plans to work in the mines. When Margaret and Neil marry over the opposition of Margaret's stern mother (Kate Nelligan), financial troubles force him to go back on his word, with unfortunate results. Based on several short stories by Sheldon Currie, the film draws an unrelentingly bleak picture of its subject, concentrating on the numerous hardships, from black lung to deadly cave-ins, that haunt the coal-mining community, resulting in a gloomy and at times morbid drama. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Gene Wilder directed and wrote (along with Terence Marsh) this mild farce which is a pale reminder of Wilder's glory days in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Wilder plays ham radio actor Larry Abbot, who takes his fiancee Vickie Pearle (Gilda Radner) out to meet his relations on a gloomy country estate before they are married. The creepy clan is lorded over by the bizarre Aunt Kate (Dom DeLuise), who keeps babbling about a local rampaging werewolf. As Larry and Vickie try to spend a quiet weekend in the mansion, they are assaulted with all manners of spooky goings-on -- the kind of routines that were already growing whiskers when Abbott and Costello first dusted them off over fifty years ago. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This animated, futuristic puppet fantasy finds Lady Penelope and Professor Brains working for the organization International Rescue. The professor has developed an aircraft for the New World Aircraft company. Corporate spies secretly working for the NWA organization steal the experimental flyer. The Lady and the Professor chase the villains around the world in their quest to return the plane to the rightful owners in this action-packed children's feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Adapted by Robert Bolt and Constance Willis from Bolt's hit stage play, A Man for All Seasons stars Paul Scofield, triumphantly repeating his stage role as Sir Thomas More. The crux of the film is the staunchly Catholic More's refusal to acknowledge King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw)'s break from the church to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn (an unbilled Vanessa Redgrave). Sir Thomas willingly goes to the chopping block rather than sacrifice his ideals. Director Fred Zinnemann retains the play's verbosity without sacrificing the film's strong sense of visuals. The impeccably chosen cast includes Wendy Hiller as Sir Thomas' likably contentious wife Alice, John Hurt as the deceitful Richard Rich (More's put-downs of this despicable character provide some of the film's biggest laughs), Orson Welles as a dour Cardinal Woolsey, Leo McKern as the ambitious Thomas Cromwell, and Susannah York as More's daughter Margaret. The "Common Man," an important bridging-the-scenes character in the original play, is removed from the film version, which does just fine without him. A Man for All Seasons won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, as well as seven British Film Academy awards. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi