Clifford Green Movies
Culled from an array of archival footage, on-location shooting, dramatic narration, and interviews with family, friends, and historians, the documentary Bonhoeffer strives to recreate the life of the theologian who openly railed against Hitler's growing stronghold on Germany and beyond in the years leading up to World War II. A devout Christian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer organized the Confessing Church in the early '30s, urging his following to join forces with the Jews in fighting the Third Reich. Bonhoeffer's efforts reached their zenith when he and others mounted assassination attempts on the Führer. Klaus Maria Brandauer gives voice to many of Bonhoeffer's writings, and Desmond Tutu and John de Gruchy are among the film's interviewees. After being rejected from the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, Bonhoeffer was screened at local churches in and around Park City, attracting attention from distributors, and eventually, a limited U.S. release in the summer of 2003. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Doblmeier, Klaus Maria Brandauer, (more)
In this supernatural horror story, Jenna (Angela Bettis), an unstable young woman, gives birth to a girl named Cody who proves to be autistic; unable to care for her properly, she turns Cody over to her sister, psychiatric nurse Maggie O'Connell (Kim Basinger). Maggie raises Cody as her own, but when the child (now played by Holliston Coleman) turns six, Jenna and her new husband Eric (Rufus Sewell) forcibly take back the child. Maggie believes Jenna and Eric are not fit parents, but when she takes the matter up with detective John Travis (Jimmy Smits), they discover that a number of children born on the same day as Cody have also been abducted recently. Even worse, it seems that Cody may now be in the hands of Satanists who, in accordance with Biblical prophecy, believe the little girl may be mankind's last line of defense against ultimate evil. Based on a novel by Cathy Cash Spellman, Bless the Child also stars Christina Ricci and Ian Holm. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, (more)
In this offbeat comedy set in the 1950s, Patrick Swayze plays Jack McCloud, a drifter and beatnik who enters the conservative suburban life of the Holman family after Jeanne Holman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) accidentally hits him with her car. Jeanne takes Jack into her home while he recovers from his injuries. McCloud offends the neighbors and friends of the Holmans with his unorthodox behavior, including nude sunbathing and Buddhism. He tells the children, Tom (Joseph Mazzello) and Gunny (Seth Mumy), stories of a genie who has taken the form of a dog. Jeanne and her kids come under his sway as Jack's mystical powers help the kids' Little League team win a big game. Martha Coolidge directed the film from a script by Elizabeth Anderson, based on a short story by Ellen Green. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, (more)
Where the original Gremlins was a horror film spiked with comedy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is essentially a black comedy, with a couple of horrifying touches. As the film starts, the fantastical trinket shop in Chinatown, which sold the Mogwai in the first film, is demolished by a crazed multi-media businessman called Daniel Clamp (John Glover). The heroes from the first movie, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates), happen to work for Clamp in his huge high-rise. They find the Mogwai within Clamp's building, but not before he has accidentally spawned legions of mischievous, lizard-like Gremlins. Soon, the Gremlins are wreaking havoc throughout the building. In the original film, their misdeeds were violent, but here they're also goofy and satirical. Director Joe Dante has filled the film with quick verbal and visual jokes, which, for many, makes Gremlins 2: The New Batch a satire and inversion of the typical horror film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, (more)
This horror thriller is based upon the final chapter of the Bible and centers upon Abby Quinn, a pregnant woman living in Venice, California who leases her garage apartment to mysterious David, who seems to be trying to claim the soul and the life of her unborn child. Little does she knows that he is Christ incarnate and has come to open each of the seven seals and release upon the wicked world the prophesied disasters. He has already broken six seals and now with Abby's baby prepares to break the seventh. Meanwhile, David is stalked by the mysterious Father Lucci who has more than a passing interest in Apocalyptic prophesies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Demi Moore, Michael Biehn, (more)
This is an eerily prescient family adventure starring Kate Capshaw as Andie, a frustrated NASA astronaut who's never actually been into outer space. Her husband, flight controller Zach (Tom Skerritt), is sympathetic, but he can't influence her place in the rotation. Andie is assigned to train a group of intelligent high school students at the summer science camp called Space Camp, which is run by NASA and supervised by her husband. There she meets her campers: Kevin (Tate Donovan), a blasé, horny teenager; Tish (Kelly Preston), an airhead with a photographic memory; Kathryn (Lea Thompson), an arrogant pilot; obnoxious youngster Max (Joaquin Phoenix); and scientist-in-training Rudy (Larry B. Scott). While testing the solid booster rockets aboard a real shuttle, the team is blasted into space accidentally. Without enough air, the discordant team pulls together, each discovering hidden talents. The "Challenger" space shuttle disaster in January 1986 was bizarrely similar to the events depicted in Spacecamp, with far more horrific results. Its release date pushed back several months because of the tragedy, the film was still a painful reminder to the public of the national calamity, and it consequently grossed only about $10 million at the box office. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, (more)
- 1985
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Eight years before the dinosaur mania created by Jurassic Park, Bill L. Norton released this more dinosaur-friendly story about a 10-foot baby dinosaur in dire straits in Africa because Dr. Eric Kiviat (Patrick McGoohan), an evil paleontologist, is after it with a vengeance. He is the nemesis of Dr. Susan Matthews-Loomis (Sean Young) -- determined to save the baby from its hunters -- and her husband George Loomis (William Katt), a sportswriter who shares her protective instincts. Kiviat has recruited a revolutionary army to help him capture the baby's mother -- which they manage to do without killing her. The army has already shot down the father dinosaur, and so their own instincts are far from protective. As the husband and wife and baby dinosaur are united at last in their attempts to survive, the next step is to recapture Mom dinosaur and get away from the army and Kiviat, not an easy feat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Katt, Sean Young, (more)
- 1981
The nine-part Australian series I Can Jump Puddles was based on a trilogy of autobiographical books by Alan Marshall: I Can Jump Puddles, This Is the Grass, and In Mine Own Heart. Crippled by polio as a youngster, Marshall managed nonetheless to pursuit a number of professions: writer, farmer, boot factory employee. During his years in Melbourne, the protagonist was even briefly mixed up with the criminal underworld, barely escaping to tell the tale. Adam Garnett and Lewis Fitz-Gerald were respectively cast as the younger and older Alan Marshall. I Can Jump Puddles originally aired in 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Garnett, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, (more)
- 1977
An Australian film directed by Ken Hannam, this is one of the lesser-recognized movies of the Australian New Wave of the 1970s. It's about an urbane schoolteacher, Simon Robinson (Nick Tate), who takes a job on a small island off the Australian coast after the schoolteacher there has mysteriously vanished. It's a spooky place, and the locals are unhelpful as Robinson tries to piece together the puzzle of his predecessor's disappearance. Robinson realizes that he's in increasing danger as he begins to discover the mystery, but he feels compelled to continue his investigation. The pace is slow and the mood is haunting in this story of an outsider's attempts to break the code of a local culture. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Tate, John Waters, (more)
- 1977
- R
This Australian drama, set in 1915, follows a restless ex-soldier's journey through self discovery. He is currently the editor of a small town newspaper. Though once a thriving gold-mining town, his home is now rundown and sleepy. The editor lives with his pregnant wife. He walks with a limp as he was crippled while serving in the Australian army. He was part of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. His disability is the source of his difficulties at home and in the community. He seldom talks meaningfully to his wife. Instead, he prefers to hobble off to the river every morning before work. There he remembers his childhood. At the river he meets a beautiful painter; they soon become involved. He goes to a picnic with her and her urban pals, but he feels intimidated by them. He gets drunk and stumps off sans cane. He falls into an old mine shaft, and there, relives Gallipoli. He remembers that he crippled himself, and he also sees that the painter can live without him. He therefore, comes to a certain peace and returns to his normal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Kestelman, Andrew McFarlane, (more)
- 1976
Based on a children's novel by Ivan Southall, this sentimental story is an account of a boy stricken with polio during World War I. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Bettles, Jan Kingsbury, (more)
Peter Weir's haunting and evocative mystery is set in the Australia of 1900, a mystical place where the British have attempted to impose their Christian culture with such tweedy refinements as a girls' boarding school. After gauzily-photographed, nicely underplayed scenes of the girls' budding sexuality being restrained in Victorian corsets, the uptight headmistress (Rachel Roberts) takes them on a Valentine's Day picnic into the countryside, and several of the girls, led by the lovely Miranda (Anne Lambert) decide to explore a nearby volcanic rock formation. It's a desolate, primitive, vaguely menacing place, where one can almost feel the presence of ancient pagan spirits. Something -- and there is an unspoken but palpable emphasis on the inherent carnality of the place -- draws four of the girls to explore the rock. Three never return. No one ever finds out why. The repercussions for the school are tragic, and of course Roberts reacts with near-crazed anger, but what really happened? Weir gives enough clues to suggest any number of explanations, both physical and supernatural. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, (more)
