Kate Bush Movies
On the 30th Anniversary of the original Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball, event producer\co-founder Martin Lewis compiles some of the finest moments from the annual concert event that inspired rock and rollers to get actively involved with their favorite causes. In the aftermath of Pete Townshend's unforgettable acoustic performance at the June 1979 Secret Policeman's Ball in London, rockers from Sting to Phil Collins became convinced that their music could be used to do something more than simply sell records. Since then, some of the biggest names in music have performed at the annual Secret Policeman's Ball. In addition to performances by Kate Bush, Bob Geldof, and Peter Gabriel, this compilation also features Townshend's memorable of "Pinball Wizard", and finds Eric Clapton teaming with Jeff Beck to perform "Farther Up the Road". ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Directed by Atom Egoyan, Felicia's Journey is a low-key psychological thriller about the relationship between a lovesick young woman and an older man with an ugly secret. Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) has lived all of her life in a small village in rural Ireland. She has fallen in love with a boy named Johnny (Peter McDonald), so when Johnny unexpectedly travels to England in search of a job, Felicia wants to follow him -- especially since she's pregnant, a fact that she's keeping secret from her family, as well as Johnny. However, Johnny's family refuses to give her his address, so she leaves for Birmingham with only a sketchy idea of his whereabouts. Shortly after arriving, Felicia encounters Joseph Ambrose Hilditch (Bob Hoskins), the meticulous manager of a catering concern. She needs a place to stay and he recommends a good bed-and-breakfast. They soon become friendly, but Hilditch is more than just a mildly eccentric middle-aged man with a taste for French cuisine: he's had a long history of using and abusing homeless women, and Felicia looks like she's doomed to be the next victim. Based on a novel by William Trevor, Felicia's Journey was shown in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Elaine Cassidy, (more)
Beginning on September 29, 1998, as a "teen angst" romantic drama, the weekly, 60-minute WB series Felicity evolved into a "young adult angst" affair by the time the series ran its course on May 22, 2002. Each of the series' four seasons represented a different year in the college life of its heroine, dewey-eyed Felicity Porter (Keri Russell). Enrolling at the University of New York in Greenwich Village so that she could be near her high-school crush Ben Covington (Scott Speedman), Felicity soon discovered that Ben wasn't interested in her -- at least not at first -- but she decided to remain in school anyway. Just as Felicity fluctuated between a pre-med and an art major during her stay at U. of N.Y., so too did her romantic inclinations shift between Ben and her dorm advisor Noel Crane (Scott Foley), with both men falling in and out of love with Felicity at regular intervals, and she with them. During the series' first and last seasons, Felicity would report on her progress -- scholastic and otherwise -- in audiocassette letters sent to her old and never-seen friend Sally (whose voice was supplied by Janeane Garofolo).
Other series regulars included Felicity's rather odd roommate Meghan Rotundi (Amanda Foreman), who may or may not have been into witchcraft; her best friend Julie Emrick (Amy Jo Johnson), who after several failed romances, one with Ben, dropped out of school -- and the series -- at the beginning of season three; another friend and classmate Elena Tyler (Tangi Miller), a girl of humble means who was attending college on a scholarship, and whose boyfriend, Tracy (Donald Faison), refused to have sex with her until marriage (he eventually "gave in," but wedding bells never rang); Ben's naïvely optomistic roommate Sean Blumberg (Greg Grunberg), he of the thousand-and-one "get rich quick" schemes and ultimately Noel's partner in an independent web-design firm -- not to mention the husband of the spooky Meghan; Javier Quintata (Ian Gomez), Felicity's gay boss at Dean & DeLuca, a campus café; Zoe Webb (Sarah Jane Morris), whom Noel weds at the end of season four; Lauren (Lisa Edelstein), young mistress of Ben's father, who ultimately bears Ben a child. Outside of the series' outrageous "double surprise" finale, which is right up there on the jaw-dropping meter with the last episodes of St. Elsewhere and Newhart, Felicity is best remembered for the shock delivered to its fans at the beginning of season two, in which star Keri Russell showed up with a new, very short haircut forsaking the long tresses that had become her trademark. With one stroke of the shears, both the series and its star became the darlings of the tabloid crowd -- and, of course, Felicity enjoyed the best ratings it ever had throughout its four-year history. ~ Rovi
Other series regulars included Felicity's rather odd roommate Meghan Rotundi (Amanda Foreman), who may or may not have been into witchcraft; her best friend Julie Emrick (Amy Jo Johnson), who after several failed romances, one with Ben, dropped out of school -- and the series -- at the beginning of season three; another friend and classmate Elena Tyler (Tangi Miller), a girl of humble means who was attending college on a scholarship, and whose boyfriend, Tracy (Donald Faison), refused to have sex with her until marriage (he eventually "gave in," but wedding bells never rang); Ben's naïvely optomistic roommate Sean Blumberg (Greg Grunberg), he of the thousand-and-one "get rich quick" schemes and ultimately Noel's partner in an independent web-design firm -- not to mention the husband of the spooky Meghan; Javier Quintata (Ian Gomez), Felicity's gay boss at Dean & DeLuca, a campus café; Zoe Webb (Sarah Jane Morris), whom Noel weds at the end of season four; Lauren (Lisa Edelstein), young mistress of Ben's father, who ultimately bears Ben a child. Outside of the series' outrageous "double surprise" finale, which is right up there on the jaw-dropping meter with the last episodes of St. Elsewhere and Newhart, Felicity is best remembered for the shock delivered to its fans at the beginning of season two, in which star Keri Russell showed up with a new, very short haircut forsaking the long tresses that had become her trademark. With one stroke of the shears, both the series and its star became the darlings of the tabloid crowd -- and, of course, Felicity enjoyed the best ratings it ever had throughout its four-year history. ~ Rovi
A performer becomes trapped in a pair of magic shoes that won't stop dancing in this 45-minute short that marks the directorial debut of British musician Kate Bush. Bush plays a singer/dancer who finds her rock band's rehearsals interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman who appears magically from the other side of the studio mirror. Offering Bush's character a pair of magic shoes, the gaudy diva (Miranda Richardson) quickly escapes back through the mirror just as Bush realizes that the shoes won't stop dancing and won't come off. Following the enchantress through the mirror, Bush travels through a fantastical landscape of prancing devils, sinister crones, icy cities, and endless movement, finally confronting her foe in a battle that shatters the mirror separating fantasy from reality. Six songs from Bush's 1993 album The Red Shoes provide the soundtrack for The Line, the Cross and the Curve; individual scenes were later edited into separate videos for the album's singles. Lindsay Kemp, the legendary mime and London stage performer who trained both Bush and David Bowie in movement techniques, appears alongside several other longtime Bush collaborators, including her brother. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kate Bush, Miranda Richardson, (more)
British singer/songwriter Kate Bush introduces three music videos from her 1989 album The Sensual World in this interview-studded compendium of the same name. Originally commissioned for a VH1 special, the Q&A footage and snippets from Bush's earlier videos appear in their entirety only on the British edition, while most of the extras have been edited down or eliminated from the American release. Both versions, however, contain the three videos Bush conceived and directed from the album: the title track, "Love and Anger," and "This Woman's Work." The clip for the ethereal, Irish folk-inflected "The Sensual World" features the singer frolicking amid a woodland fantasia, as befits a musical adaptation of Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses. "Love and Anger," a more straightforward rock number, likewise features a more traditional band-style video, complete with cameos from Bush's musician brothers and longtime boyfriend/collaborator Del Palmer. The third song, "This Woman's Work," was originally commissioned for the scene in the film She's Having a Baby in which Kevin Bacon's character waits anxiously while his wife (played by Elizabeth Perkins) endures a difficult childbirth. Bush's staging forgoes clips from the film, instead reimagining the visuals as a single, highly stylized extended take that belies the artist's roots in mime and the theater. For her next record, The Red Shoes, Bush wrote and directed The Line, The Cross & the Curve, a 45-minute short film co-starring Miranda Richardson. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
A music video version of British singer/songwriter Kate Bush's 1986 greatest-hits album, The Whole Story collects promo clips released between 1977 and 1986. Although they are not arranged chronologically, the videos range from "Wuthering Heights," Bush's debut single, to "Experiment IV," the one new song recorded for the greatest-hits album. Also included are the four videos from 1985's Hounds of Love LP, which provided the artist with her first Top 40 American hit in the form of "Running up That Hill." Despite its title, The Whole Story is less than exhaustive; it lacks five videos included on the earlier compilation The Single File. Of the 13 videos that are included, only one, "The Big Sky," was not included on the album. A 1993 laserdisc edition of The Whole Story added the three videos from the separate collection The Sensual World. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
An aspiring writer faces up to the responsibilities of marriage and family in this romantic comedy from writer, director, and producer John Hughes. Despite the misgivings he pours out to best friend Davis McDonald (Alec Baldwin), Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon) marries high-school sweetheart Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern). After an abortive attempt at graduate school in New Mexico, the couple settles in suburban Chicago. Jake fakes his way into a job as an advertising copywriter, while Kristy settles into her own corporate job. The couple faces the typical ups and downs of any new marriage, especially after Davis visits with a bimbo on his arm, regaling his pal Jake with tales of the good life. A few years later, Kristy decides to stop taking her birth-control pills -- and tells Jake about it three months later. Plagued by doubts, unfulfilled ambitions, and images of a fantasy girl (Isabel Lorca) he once spotted in a club, Jake resists the idea of fatherhood. Then he finds out he has low sperm count and, his manhood thus challenged, lines up for fertility clinic-assisted stud duty. The birth doesn't go as smoothly as Jake expected, however, setting the stage for climactic realizations. Edie McClurg, who played the nosy school secretary in Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, makes a cameo appearance as an officious neighbor. In addition, a who's who of other Hughes alums and Hollywood stars lend their faces and voices to a series of closing-credits shots in which each suggests a name for the titular baby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth McGovern, (more)
Music and comedy share the stage in this performance film, which records a four-night variety show presented in 1987 as a benefit for the human rights organization Amnesty International. A handful of top British comedians were on hand for the revue, including Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, Lenny Henry, Ben Elton and Phil Cool, with special appearances by John Cleese of Monty Python and the puppet troupe Spitting Image. (American comic Emo Phillips also performs his standup act.) Several leading musical stars of the day also contributed their talents to the event, including Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, Kate Bush with David Gilmour, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne with Paul Brady, Mark Knopfler with Chet Atkins, Bob Geldoff, Youssou N'Dour and Nik Kershaw. As the title suggests, The Secret Policeman's Third Ball was preceded by two other Amnesty International benefit shows coordinated by John Cleese, with several more to follow. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Joan Armatrading, (more)
Nicolas Roeg directed this dreamy erotic adventure film based on two Australian non-fiction best-sellers -- Lucy Irvine's Castaway and Gerald Kingsland's The Islander. Both best-sellers concern former clerk and waitress Lucy Irvine's response to an advertisement placed by writer Gerald Kingsland in a magazine seeking "a wife for a year on a tropical island." Irvine responded to the ad and, after learning that she would have to pay for the trip to the island of Tuin (between New Guinea and Australia), the not-very-happy couple took off to Tuin for a thirteen-month stay, after which Irvine returned to England alone. The film stars Oliver Reed as Gerald Kingsland and Amanda Donohue as Lucy Irvine. On the island, Gerald and Lucy romp around au natural and try not to get in each other's way. But then Gerald suffers a foot infection and Lucy, in spite of having seafood for every meal, begins to drastically lose weight. Gerald also gets crabby because Lucy withholds sexual pleasure from her new husband. After a year of bliss, Lucy decides to return to the British rat race, while Gerald tries to stick it out in his new island cultural environment. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Oliver Reed, Amanda Donohoe, (more)
In 1979, rising star Kate Bush, a 20-year-old British singer/songwriter, embarked on the Tour of Life, her first and only concert series to date. Sold out for its entire European run, the show featured material from the artist's first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart, both released in 1978. Although the entire two-and-a half-hour show was recorded on its penultimate date -- May 13, 1979 -- at London's Hammersmith Odeon, technical difficulties forced the scrapping of much of the footage. The resulting hour-long film was released on video in 1981 and re-released, with an accompanying CD soundtrack, in 1994. A four-track EP of songs from the show was a British chart hit later in 1979. Backed by a seven-piece band including her brother Paddy Bush and longtime boyfriend Del Palmer, Bush employs elaborate theatrical techniques borrowed from mime and modern dance to frame her ethereal pop operas. The set list includes "Wuthering Heights," the singer's first and still signature hit, alongside "Moving," "Them Heavy People," "Kite," "James and the Cold Gun," and "Oh England, My Lionheart," among others. Bush later recorded the song "Blow Away" in honor of lighting engineer Bill Duffield, who fell to his death from a lighting galley during the set strike on the first night of the tour. Although she had earlier studied with David Bowie mentor Lindsay Kemp, the performer's tour training was overseen by Anthony Van Laast, a member of the London Contemporary Dance Company. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kate Bush






