Donovan Movies
- 2007
- Add Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A. to QueueAdd Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A. to top of Queue
Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A. captures a 2007 show by the British folk star. He performs over a dozen of his most well-known compositions including "Jennifer Juniper," "Hurdy Gurdy Man," "Mellow Yellow," and "Sunshine Superman." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donovan, Astrella Celeste, (more)
- 2007
Bickershaw Festival documents a 1972 concert held in England. Among the bands who performed over the course of the three day event were The Grateful Dead, The Kinks, Captain Beefheart, and Donovan. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Grateful Dead, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, (more)
- 2005
- Add One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern to QueueAdd One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern to top of Queue
In the spring and summer of 1972, George McGovern, a Democratic senator from South Dakota, achieved the seemingly impossible. Backed by a motley collection of Prairie populists, old-school liberals, and young people disenchanted with the war in Vietnam, McGovern overwhelmed longtime party favorites such as Hubert Humphrey and Edmund Muskie to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. However, McGovern's triumph proved to be short-lived; after his initial running mate, Thomas Eagleton, was revealed to have a history of mental illness, the McGovern campaign went into a tailspin from which it would never recover, with the incumbent Richard Nixon winning the 1972 election by a landslide. However, McGovern's campaign is still remembered by many as one of the last examples of a candidate truly triumphing through the will of the people rather than working the party political machine, and given the scandalous downfall of Nixon following his re-election, many have wondered what America would be like today if McGovern, once described by Robert F. Kennedy as "the most decent man in the Senate," had won. One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern is a documentary which looks back at the McGovern campaign and explores what went right, what went wrong, and what was McGovern's true legacy. The film includes interviews with Howard Zinn, Gloria Steinem, Gary Hart, Frank Mankiewicz, Warren Beatty, Gore Vidal, Ron Kovic, and McGovern himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Political proverb states that a population in fear is a population that is easily controlled. In this documentary exploring the climate of fear that existed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, filmmaker Adam Curtis explores the possibility that Western neoconservatives used anxiety as a tool to manipulate the masses into behaving in a predictable and controllable manner. By claiming that contemporary Western Democracy relies more on propagating the myth of an all-powerful al-Qaida just waiting for the right time to strike rather than focusing on domestic issues and the bettering of the people, as previous generations of politicians had done, Curtis suggests that Washington is intentionally manipulating the population into a defensive stance that gives those in charge more power than necessary. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
First-time director Samuel Benmchetrit's 2003 debut Janis et John (Janis and John) follows the comedic exploits of a down-on-his luck insurance salesman as he attempts to make up for some very poor financial decisions. Pablo Sterni (Sergi Lopez), the aforementioned insurance salesman, has, until recently, been an honest business man. As of late, though, Pablo had been siphoning money from one of his more successful client's accounts -- one that covers a very expensive sports car. When that client, Mr. Cannon (Jean-Louis Trintignant), turns in a loss claim for that car for a half-million francs, Pablo finds himself in a tight spot. Inspiration strikes when Pablo learns that his hippy-dippy cousin Leon (Christopher Lambert, billed as Christophe Lambert) has just inherited a million francs from his recently deceased father. Leon, a perpetually stoned record store owner, lives solely for the day his 1973 vision of John Lennon and Janis Joplin's Christ-like return to Earth is fulfilled. After visiting with his cousin, Pablo decides to assist Leon in reliving his dream -- as well as parting him with much of his inheritance -- by convincing his wallflower wife, Brigitte (Marie Trintignant, murdered mere weeks before the film's debut, thus marking her final film appearance) and an out-of-work actor (François Cluzet) to impersonate Janis and John. Janis et John was selected for inclusion in the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergi López, Marie Trintignant, (more)
This video features 11 psychedelic rock & roll songs being performed by their original artists. Donovan sings "Atlantis," the Moody Blues play "Knights in White Satin," and Manfred Mann performs his hit "The Mighty Quinn." The Who's "Happy Jack," the Nice's "Hang on to a Dream," Blue Cheer's "Summertime Blues," and "Itchycoo Park" by Small Faces help round out this collection. ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- 2000
In the episode "The Deep South," the Planet Express crew goes fishing on their day off. Bender catches huge fish and ends up sinking the whole ship. The crew experiences their version of the lost city of Atlantis myth by landing in Atlanta, an old U.S. city that now exists at the bottom of the ocean and is populated by mermen and mermaids. The '60s folk-rock star Donovan sings a reworking of his pop song "Atlantis." Fry falls in love with the mermaid Umbriel (voice of Parker Posey), which is a reference to Ariel from The Little Mermaid, as both Ariel and Umbriel are satellites of Uranus. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy West, Katey Sagal, (more)
Lawrence Kasdan's black comedy about a wife's ultimate revenge against her womanizing husband is based on a true story about the wife of a pizzeria owner who decided to kill her cheating husband. When her attempt to murder him failed, the husband refused to press charges against her because he felt she had done the right thing. Kevin Kline is the pizzeria owner Joey Boca in I Love You to Death. Joey is a smooth Italian lothario, modeled after Marcello Mastroianni, who cheerfully dons his plumbers overalls to repair his female tenants' plumbing in the rental apartments the family owns. Joey feels he is justified in bedding down countless numbers of women because of all the hours he puts in day after day at the pizzeria. Plus, as he tells one of his women friends, "I'm a man. I got a lotta hormones in my body." His wife Rosalie (Tracey Ullman) sweetly ignores her husband's philandering -- that is until she visits the public library and sees Joey fondling one of tenants in the book stacks. At first Rosalie considers suicide, but finally, egged on by her mother Nadja (Joan Plowright), she determines that Joey must be the one to face the music. But the people Rosalie hires to do Joey in are of the cut-rate variety and are unsuccessful. They then try to knock Joey off by feeding him barbiturate-laced spaghetti, but also to no avail. Rosalie then enlists pizzeria employee Deco Nod (River Phoenix), who has a crush on Rosalie, to do the job. But even then, they have no luck. As a last resort, they try to hire professionals. What they get instead are two drugged-out junkies -- Harlan (William Hurt) and Marlin (Keanu Reeves) -- who arrive at the home and blast at a slumbering figure in the bedroom. Then, while they report on their progress downstairs, Joey ambles into the living room, very much alive. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, (more)
- 1989
84 Charlie Mopic offers the Vietnam experience as seen through the eyes of a combat photographer (Mopic is slang for the Army Motion Picture Unit). Byron Thames plays a combat cameraman who has already been on two tours of duty; he goes on a third because he is intrigued by a reel of film found on the body of a dead photographer. Thames must answer to green lieutenant Jonathan Emerson and experienced sergeant Richard Brooks. In straight-on, non-judgemental fashion, we are shown the day-to-day struggle to stay alive, meeting the main characters in the natural course of action. As the mission winds down, Thames is compelled to abandon his camera to rescue a fellow soldier; as a result, yet another roll of film returns to headquarters without the photographer. 84 Charlie Mopic isn't about politics or collective guilt; it's about survival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Emerson, Nicholas Cascone, (more)
- 1988
Several music and film celebrities recall their former lives in this reincarnation-oriented feature with musical accompaniment. K.D. Lang considers herself the reincarnation of the late country singer Patsy Cline, Martin Sheen gives a rambling monologue about his near-death experience while filming Apocalypse Now, and Willie Nelson sings songs about cowboys who come back to live another life. Also included are Rae Dawn Chong, Catherine Oxenberg, Donovan, The Dalai Lama, Ringo Starr, and James Coburn. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Shaver, Rae Dawn Chong, (more)
- 1984
The Secret Policeman's Private Parts, the second of two concert films produced on behalf of Amnesty International, is better photographed than the first (The Secret Policeman's Other Ball) but not quite as enjoyable. As in the earlier film, the show is stolen by the Monty Python aggregation: John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman and Terry Gilliam. Also on hand are former Beyond the Fringe-er Peter Cook and musicians Pete Townshend, Phil Collins and Donovan. Fans of the artists will probably get a bigger kick out of Private Parts than casual moviegoers. Like Other Ball, Private Parts fully deserves its R rating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
- Add Rockin' the Night Away: Life From Palm Springs to QueueAdd Rockin' the Night Away: Life From Palm Springs to top of Queue
The Mamas & The Papas, Dion, and several other artists from rock-n-roll's golden age come together in this concert release from K-Tel DVD. Recorded in 1988, Rockin' the Night Away: Life From Palm Springs includes "A Teenager In Love" by Dion, "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James & The Shondells, and "There's a Kind of Hush" by Peter Noone. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1982
- R
The highlights of two benefit concerts staged in support of Amnesty International are collected in this British performance film, which features ample helpings of both music and comedy. The members of the Monty Python comedy troupe serve as headliners, performing live variations on some of their most famous sketches. Additional humor is provided by such luminaries as Peter Cook, while the musical segments include performances by Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and Sting, amongst others. While all of the performers deliver the goods, the film's overall effectiveness is unfortunately limited by the purely functional direction and often poor image quality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pete Townshend, Rowan Atkinson, (more)
- 1978
- PG
- Add Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to QueueAdd Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to top of Queue
Pop star Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees star in this musical, loosely based on the popular 1967 Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the story, Billy Shears, who now heads the Lonely Hearts Club Band, is the grandson of the famous Sergeant Pepper. He is confronted by the need to save the magical musical instruments of the band from the bad guys, led by music tycoon B.D. Brockhurst (Donald Pleasance), who want to steal them. If they succeed, the magic which infuses "Heartland U.S.A." will disappear. Among the many Beatles' songs performed in the film by well-known popular artists are: "She's Leaving Home" (Bee Gees, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler), "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (Steve Martin), "Got To Get You into My Life (Earth, Wind & Fire), "When I'm 64" (Sandy Farina), "Come Together" (Aerosmith), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (sung by the Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas), "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees), "Fixing a Hole" (George Burns), and "Get Back" (Billy Preston). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Frampton, Barry Gibb, (more)
Aliens from Spaceship Earth is a "four-waller" documentary from the Chariot of the Gods? school of speculative filmmaking. Are there, or have their ever been, extraterrestrials in our midst? This program speculates that there are, and that such aliens have taken distinctly human form - that of Indian yogis and gurus, including Guru Maharaj Ji, Sri Sathya, Yoga Bhahan and Father Yod. The "aliens" in question, in other words, are spiritual guides on a long, introspective trek into the self, prompted and encouraged by the counterculture and drug-fueled experimentation of the late '60s. Folk-rock singer Donovan provides the soundtrack.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
St. Francis of Assisi was an extraordinarily complex and difficult figure whose effect on his contemporary society was electrifying. Even today, many people are moved by his visionary message of universal toleration. Twelfth-century Italy had an exceptionally grim and regimented society, but the barefoot monk from Assisi undoubtedly had the courage that comes from deep faith and was able to transcend the oppressiveness of the time. In this Italian/British-produced film, director Franco Zeffirelli attempts to bring his vision of this great man to the screen. The contemporary (1970s) example of the hippie movement contributed a great deal to the style in which the story is told. The musical score, using ancient Italian melodies, was arranged by Donovan. The film is visually beautiful in a way which tends to minimize the squalor of the times. As the movie begins, Francis (Graham Faulkner) is the son of wealthy merchants, and enjoys his share of wine, women and song without serious thought. When war and disease devastate his neighborhood, Francis undergoes an anguished transformation which culminates in his appearing before the local bishop and removing his clothes to renounce his previous life and family before dedicating himself to God. The culminating dramatic moment is Francis' appearance before Pope Innocent III (Sir Alec Guinness), to make his case for an independent religious order under new rules. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Graham Faulkner, Judi Bowker, (more)
The Pied Piper eschews the romanticism of Robert Browning's poem and returns to the grim Grimm Brothers source. Pop singer Donovan plays the 14th century piper hired by duplicitous burgomaster Donald Pleasance to rid the town of Hamelin of its rats. The piper does what he's asked, but is denied the payment promised him; in revenge, he leads all of Hamelin's children out of town, never to be seen again. Though the story is a familiar one, this 1972 Pied Piper is not a kiddie movie. Director Jacques Demy's depiction of the 14th century as a muddy, backward, superstitious, disease-ridden, vermin-infested era transforms this fable into a squalid tale of revenge (incidentally, all those repulsive rodents are real; note John Holmes' screen credit as "rat trainer"). Donovan is quite good in the lead, and is matched by a remarkably restrained Jack Wild as the crippled boy. If you want the sugary sweet Pied Piper that your mother used to recite at bedtime, stay away from this film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Wild, Donald Pleasence, (more)
- 1969
- G
- Add If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium to QueueAdd If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium to top of Queue
A mid-1960s TV documentary special (and a New Yorker cartoon before that) was the inspiration for If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. The film is a likeable satire of "packaged" European tours, where the nonplused tourists are expected to rush from one landmark to another in a breathless 18 days. Ian McShane stars as the amorous tour guide, with Suzanne Pleshette as the American department store buyer he falls for; their romance ends when Pleshette decides that the supposedly worldly McShane is too immature for her. An all-star cast, including Murray Hamilton, Peggy Cass, Pamela Britton, Marty Ingels, John Cassavetes and Vittorio De Sica, pops up in comic cameo roles. Our favorite bit: an American and German tourist, simultaneously regaling their respective wives with wildly divergent accounts of the same wartime confrontation. If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium was reworked in 1987 as a made-for-TV movie, cleverly title If It's Tuesday, It Still Must be Belgium. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzanne Pleshette, Ian McShane, (more)
- 1968
Acclaimed British neo-realist filmmaker Ken Loach made his theatrical debut with this bleak kitchen-sink drama. Joy (Carol White) leads a life that makes her name seem like some sort of a cruel joke. Her husband Tom (John Bindon) is a second-rate burglar who shows neither her nor their infant child much affection. When Tom is jailed for theft, Joy is left on her own, until Tom's best friend Dave (Terence Stamp) invites her to stay with him. Dave is warm and caring in a way that Tom is not, and love begins to blossom between them. However, Dave also supports himself as a thief, and when he's arrested and put behind bars, Joy is left back where she started. Joy takes a job as a barmaid to support herself, and she is persuaded to pose nude for a photographer to bring in some extra money; she files for divorce from Tom and begins seeing other men. However, Tom wants to give their marriage another chance once he's released from prison, much to Joy's chagrin. Several clips with Terence Stamp were later used in The Limey (1999) to illustrate the earlier life of Stamp's character in that film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol White, Terence Stamp, (more)
In 1965, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker accompanied Bob Dylan to England to make a film about the singer/songwriter's British tour. At the time, no one could have known how fortuitous Pennebaker's timing would prove to be. Within a few months of this tour, Dylan would forsake his role as The Conscience of Folk Music to pick up a Fender Stratocaster and play rock and roll. Within a year, Dylan would suffer a motorcycle accident that would put him out of commission for nearly 18 months. Recording several brilliant solo performances and capturing a wealth of fly-on-the-wall footage of Dylan's interactions with friends and strangers, Pennebaker caught Dylan on the cusp of a radical career change, and the man in this film seems to be thrashing about in his shackles, looking for some sort of escape route. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Dylan
The bizarre hallucinations of a heroin addict in withdrawal provide the basis for this unstructured, autobiographical film by director Conrad Rooks. It begins as he arrives strung-out in Paris for a sleep-cure. As the strange visions begin, the story jumps haphazardly between reality and his dream-world memories of growing up in Chappaqua, New York. The score was composed and played by sitarist Ravi Shankar. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Conrad Rooks, Jean-Louis Barrault, (more)
Susan Hayward pulls out all the stops, and then some, in this cinemadaptation of singer Lillian Roth's autobiography I'll Cry Tomorrow. In as harshly realistic a manner as possible in the still censor-dominated Hollywood of 1955, the film recounts Roth's rise to fame, her precipitous fall and her tearful comeback. The fact that Roth loves not wisely but too well is only part of the problem (only two of her eight husbands are portrayed in the film); contributing factors to her self-destruction also included her witchlike "stage mother" (Jo Van Fleet) and the pressures of fame and fortune. The principal reason for Roth's fall from the height of fame to the depths of squalor and despair is booze -- at least until she begins to pull herself together with the help of Alcoholics-Anonymous representative Burt McGuire (Eddie Albert). The story concludes with a testimonial staged in Roth's honor on the TV series This is Your Life (the original of which still exists in kinescope form). Having been personally coached by the real Lillian Roth, Susan Hayward does an excellent job of copying the singer's unique style. Though Hayward did not win an Oscar for her performance, she did cop the "Best Actress" prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, (more)
This documentary video features the PBS special on the life of the 60's psychedelic singer. Special guest's include Rev. Gary Davis. ~ All Movie Guide
- Add In Search of the English Folk Song to QueueAdd In Search of the English Folk Song to top of Queue
By all accounts an ardent enthusiast of folk music, iconoclastic and controversial English director Ken Russell (Lisztomania, The Rainbow) headlines the documentary In Search of the English Folk Song. In this program, Russell undertakes a long journey from New Forest, Hampshire, to Cropredy for the Fairport Convention and then to Glastonbury - a journey in which the filmmaker both investigates the roots of British folk music and attempts to carefully separate that tradition from the Gaelic styles so often intertwined with it. As an added bonus, this program features performances by such musicians as Donovan, Bob Appleyard, Eliza Carthy and Fairport Convention. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ken Russell, Siân-Elizabeth Rees, (more)
