John Hurt

Another in the series The Director’s Place.

Filmmaker John Boorman pulls an “8 1/2”-and a good one-in I Dreamt I Woke Up. In this rambling reflection on Boorman’s life and career, the director appears as himself, while John Hurt shows up as his alter ego. Boorman’s son Charley plays “The Green Man,” a far-from-veiled reference to his starring appearance in his dad’s The Emerald Forest. And Janet McTeer rounds out the cast as an “everywoman”, essaying all sorts of hallucinatory roles. Short (1944) and bittersweet, I Dreamt I Woke Up was filmed in County Wicklow, Ireland; it was first shown in the US at the Telluride Film Festival ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »

Joseph Buchanan is a brilliant scientist conducting implosion experiments in the year 2031. His humanitarian goal is to develop a weapons system that will not destroy all life on Earth, but the results are catastrophic! The very core of time and space is fractured, and Buchanan finds himself thrust into 19th century Geneva. He meets fellow scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein, whose own monstrous experiment has gone haywire, killing his brother, and threatening the entire village. Frankenstein’s creature is even more horrible than the world ever imagined-and now Dr, Frankenstein is determined to use Buchanan’s scientific knowledge to create its mate!Read More »

Quote:
Based on the best selling novel by Robert Ludlum, “The Osterman Weekend” is a convoluted tale of paranoia, revenge and media manipulation. John Tanner (Rutger Hauer) is a crusading TV journalist. His specialty is interviewing men of power and decimating them on national TV. Lawrence Fassett (John Hurt) is a CIA field agent whose wife was murdered by the KGB. He uncovers a spy ring called Omega. Three Americans are selling secrets to the Soviets. The three Americans are all college friends of John Tanner. Bernie Osterman (Craig T. Nelson) is a TV writer. Richard Tremayne (Dennis Hopper) is a doctor with a coked out wife named Virginia (Helen Shaver). Joseph Cardone (Chris Sarandon) is a powerful lawyer. His wife Betty (Cassie Yates) doesn’t mind the corners he cuts in order to provide the good life. Tanner and his friends have annual get-togethers to play hard. The reunions are called Ostermans in honor of the first host. Maxwell Danforth (Burt Lancaster) is the head of the CIA. Fassett has convinced Danforth that the CIA should use Tanner to get close to his friends and possibly turn one of them. The politically ambitious Danforth agrees. Tanner is convinced and allows his home to be bugged in order to uncover the spies. Tanner’s wife Ali (Meg Foster) is kept out of the loop until it is too late.Read More »

A chilling new single drama, Whistle and I’ll Come to You is the thoroughly modern re-working of the evocative Edwardian ghost story Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to You, My Lad by MR James, adapted for BBC Two by Neil Cross. Cross’s adaptation delves into themes of ageing, hubris and the supernatural, with a horrifying psychological twist in the tale.Read More »

A group of rabbits flee their doomed warren and face many dangers to find and protect their new home.

Criterion essay:
Watership Down delivers all the stuff of a solid animated adventure. Its visual style is naturalistic, even cautious, but often quietly lovely. There’s clever interplay among the nervous Fiver, the gently heroic Hazel, and the blowhard Bigwig, and there’s some genuinely funny comedy involving Zero Mostel’s extravagantly accented seagull. The climactic battle is ingenious and exciting. General Woundwort is one of the truly scary cartoon villains. That solidity gives us a comfortable place to stand while the story opens up to less familiar terrain.Read More »

Synopsis:
‘Life for Richard Forbush, brilliant biology student and conceited philanderer, is one long round of eat, drink and be merry. But his decision to accept a six-month research post in the Antarctic, making the first detailed study of a penguin colony, changes all that… Living in Shackleton’s derelict hut, Forbush is alone at the frozen edge of the world, his only links to civilisation a two-way radio and letters to his elusive, would-be girlfriend, Tara, in London. Through an often ferocious winter in the company of the penguins, he grows increasingly attached to his hardy, endearing subjects – learning profound lessons in endurance and humility.’
– TMDBRead More »

After his father’s death, a Parisian medical researcher returns to a region of Portugal to deal with part of the family legacy – a prosthesis factory owned by an old family friend. He finds the factory owner and his wife “possessed” by the local Marquis and finds himself constantly accosted by all sorts of supernatural manifestations.Read More »

synopsis
Davey Haggart (John Hurt) wishes to follow his father’s footsteps and become a highway robber. He also wishes to avoid his father’s fate — which was death by hanging at the tender age of 21 after a botched robbery of the Duke of Argyle (Robert Morley). Davey commits a daring robbery in broad daylight with the help of two henchmen (Ronald Fraser and Fidelma Murphy) and heads for the highlands of Scotland to hide out. The local Constable (Nigel Davenport) warns young Davey he will end up just like his father but helps him escape the fate of dancing on the end of a rope. Annie (Pamela Franklin) is the kind-hearted farm girl who tries to make sweet Davey give up a life of crime and settle down. This comedy was taken from the autobiographical diary”The Life Of David Haggart.”Read More »

A veteran bank robber and his sidekicks plan a heist that goes awry.Read More »