Matthew Jacobs Movies
- 2003
An elderly actor makes a belated effort to revive his career in this sentimental drama. In 1965, Ken Mihara (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is an young leading man whose career is on the rise after a series of increasingly successful movies in which he co-stars with actress Keiko Yoshino (Yumi Aso). However, that same year Ken's career is given a one-two punch -- Keiko decides to quit the business to get married, and the rise in popularity of television puts a serious dent in the sale of movie tickets. With the movie business on shaky ground, Ken's career goes into a downspin, and his reputation for professionalism is ruined after he gets into an argument with a stagehand which turns into a fist fight. After the death of his wife, Chizuru (Mayumi Wakamura), Ken vanishes from the public eye. In the year 2000, Ken (now played by Johnny Yoshinaga) quietly re-emerges; though his health is poor, he's able to land a small role in a low-budget drama playing a patient on the verge of death. However, Ken's joy to be acting again is tempered by his frustration with the soulless, assembly-line production methods which have replaced the fertile creative atmosphere he remembers. Last Scene was a change of pace for Japanese filmmaker Hideo Nakata, best known for his stylish horror films such as The Ring and Dark Water. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yumi Aso, (more)
Kelsey Grammer stars as Nick St. Nicholas, a Miami-based playboy philanthropist who is about to make his life complete by wedding the girl of his dreams, gorgeous TV weathercaster Heidi Gardelle (Elaine Hendrix). Not known to the general public is that the profligate St. Nicholas is really the son of none other than Santa Claus (Charles Durning)--or, as the jolly old elf is known in this story, Nicholas XXX. Expected to take over the "family business" at the North Pole before his father's power fades, Nick balks, choosing instead to remain in Miami, where he is about to launch his latest charity at the behest of his fiancee Heidi. By the time he realizes that his "dream girl" is actually a mercenary nightmare, Nick finds himself besieged by a vindictive INS agent (Colin Cunningham)--and racked with guilt over the gloomy fate awaiting his father and the North Pole toy factory. It is up to Santa's head elf Jasper (Brian Bedford) and Nick's lovely Latino cook Lorena (Ana Ortiz) to come to the rescue. Armed with a surprising number of sexually suggestive jokes for an ostensible family film, Meet St. Nick was coproduced by Disney Films and Hallmark Entertainment, and was first broadcast as an episode of ABC's Wonderful World of Disney anthology on November 17, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kelsey Grammer
A ruler learns how the other half lives -- the animal half, that is -- in this animated comedy-adventure from the Walt Disney Studios. Kuzco (voice of David Spade) is the young emperor of an Inca nation who takes a self-centered joy in the troubles of others. Not surprisingly, Kuzco's attitudes have earned the enmity of many of his subjects, including Yzma (voice of Eartha Kitt), a sorceress who wants to seize power away from the emperor after he relieved her of her royal duties, declaring she was too old and unattractive to do the job. Yzma and her musclebound assistant Kronk (voice of Patrick Warburton) hatch a plan to poison Kuzco and take the throne, but thanks to a mistake on Kronk's part, Kuzco isn't killed -- he's instead turned into a talking llama. Kronk can't bring himself to kill the llama, and instead sends the former emperor into the jungle to fend for himself. Kuzco doesn't do too well as a llama until he runs into Pacha (voice of John Goodman), a poor farmer whose property Kuzco once planned to take over for a vacation home. Soft-hearted Pacha agrees to help the emperor-turned-llama find his way back home where, hopefully, another sorcerer can reverse the spell, but once they hit the road, they discover Yzma and Kronk are looking for them, with Yzma determined to finish the assassination she started. Pop star Sting composed several original songs for The Emperor's New Groove, which during its long and troubled production had previously been announced as Kingdom in the Sun and Kingdom of the Sun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Spade, John Goodman, (more)
- 1996
Coproduced by the BBC and America's Fox Network, the two-hour movie Doctor Who was an attempt to revive the phenomenally popular science-fiction series which orginally ran from 1963 to 1989. Sylvester McCoy, the last of seven actors to play the Doctor, here repeats his familiar role--albeit briefly, inasmuch as he is shot by a San Francisco street-gang member on the eve of the 21st century. Rushed to a hospital, the Doctor undergoes his eighth regeneration, whereupon Paul McGann takes over the role. Now the Doctor must do battle with his longtime foe The Master to prevent the latter from harnessing the Time Lords' "Eye of Harmony" for his own nefarious purposes. Only one problem: The Doctor is suffering from amnesia, and has no idea who he is or what he is supposed to do. Written by Matthew Jacobs, Doctor Who first aired in America on May 14, 1996, and in England thirteen days later. Unfortunately, the pilot did not result in a full-scale Doctor Who revival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, (more)
The story of an intelligent, heroic collie and his young owner, previously featured in numerous films and a successful 1950s television series, was updated for the 1990s in this family feature. This time, Lassie is determined to help a cynical city boy named Matt (Thomas Guiry), who turns even more resentful when his family relocates to a small town in rural Virginia. Soon after this move, a bright collie enters the family's life and winds up with the name Lassie because of the television show, which Matt's younger sister (Brittany Boyd) watches passionately. Lassie sets out to cheer Matt up and introduce him to the wonders of nature, while also helping the family stand its ground against rich, unpleasant neighbors. There are also run-ins with vicious wild animals and a daring rescue over river rapids, but the main focus remains on the emotional relationship between Matt and the dog, a story that will seem old-fashioned and charming to some viewers while familiar and sentimental to others. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Guiry, Helen Slater, (more)
- 1990
Adlyn (Dona Croll) is a woman preacher married to the pastor of a large church for Caribbean blacks living in Britain. She has lived for years with a guilty secret: her son's real father is not the man she's married to. When the boy's real father (who has been living in the U.S.) shows up for the funeral of a church elder, he wants to see his son. Now she has to decide how to handle revealing the truth to her boy, and what she will say to the members of her congregation. This film is notable in that it is made by members of the British Caribbean immigrant minority, and is about their lives in Britain. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith David, George Harris, (more)
- 1990
This British version of Lorna Doone is one of the more rewarding film adaptations of the venerable R. D. Blackmore novel. The plot remains as ever: Lorna (Polly Walker), a feisty 17th century Scots lass, falls in love with a much-despised landowner (Sean Bean). Lorna's father, a notorious brigand, foments a peasant rebellion against her lover. It turns out of course, that Lorna is actually a high-born heiress, kidnapped in infancy. Billie Whitelaw and Rachel Kempson costar in this made-for-television costume epic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- PG13
Eleven-year-old Charlotte Burke, the neglected daughter of Ben Cross and Glenne Headley, passes out on the school playground and dreams of visiting a house she'd previously drawn in her composition book. She imagines another visit to her "paper house" while playing hide-and-seek. Experimenting, Burke draws a figure in the window of the house; the next time she dreams, she meets a young boy, as lonely as she. Convinced that she wields a large degree of power in her pencil, Burke draws a picture of her father, Cross, hoping that in doing so he will return home. But Burke is dissatisfied with the picture, and crosses it out--whereupon Cross shows up in her dreams as a murderous stalker. What happens next is a maelstrom of psychological horror, told completely from the child's point of view. Paperhouse is based on Marianne Dreams a novel by Catherine Storr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Burke, Glenne Headly, (more)
