Daniel Deronda 2002  TV, 210 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Hugh Dancy, Romola Garai, Jodhi May, Hugh Bonneville, Edward Fox, Amanda Root, David Bamber, Greta Scacchi, Barbara Hershey, Celia Imrie, Michael Attwell, Daniel Evans
George Eliot's classic novel was first telecast on BBC TV and then re-edited into a two-part, two-story series for Masterpiece Theater. One story involves beautiful, but spoiled, Gwendolen Harleth (Ramola Garai) who marries Henleigh Grandcourt (Hugh Bonneville) to regain a family fortune. In the second story, Daniel Daronda (Hugh Dancy) is a young Jew who is attracted to Gwendolen and is influenced by Mordecai (Daniel Evans) who lectures Deronda to be true to his heritage. When Deronda finds his inner-self, he finds true love with Mordecai's sister, Mirah (Jodhi May).
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High Hopes 1988  PG, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Philip Davis, Ruth Sheen, Edna Dore, Philip Jackson, Heather Tobias, Lesley Manville, David Bamber, Jason Watkins, Judith Scott, Cheryl Prime, Diane-Louise Jordan, Linda Beckett
Shirley and Cyril (Ruth Sheen and Philip Davis) are a hippie couple who deal with life among London's lower class in this brilliant satire on Margaret Thatcher's politics. Shirley and Cyril have no children, but they do tend to the needs of Cyril's widowed mother, Mrs. Bender (Edna Dore). Meanwhile, Cyril's upper-middle class sister Valerie (Heather Tobias) and her philandering husband Martin (Philip Jackson) ignore Mrs. Bender–until Valerie decides to give Mrs. Bender a 70th birthday party and invite the whole family. The family does get together with disastrous results, but Shirley manages to hold things together.
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I Capture the Castle 2003  R, 113 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Tim Fywell
Cast: Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, Henry Thomas, Marc Blucas, Bill Nighy, Tara Fitzgerald, Sinead Cusack, Henry Cavill, Sarah Woodward, James Faulkner, David Bamber, Helena Little
Cassandra (Romola Garai), a naive 17 year old, lives in a run-down English castle with her eccentric family. When new landlords from America–Simon (Henry Thomas) and Neil (Marc Blucas)–arrive on the scene, Cassandra's eyes are opened to reveal how her own scheming can lead to despair.
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Miss Potter 2006 PG, 92 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Chris Noonan
Cast: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Emily Watson, Barbara Flynn, Bill Paterson, Matyelok Gibbs, Lloyd Owen, Anton Lesser, David Bamber, Patricia Kerrigan, Judith Barker, Chris Middleton, Sarah Crowden, Richard Mulholland
Renee Zellweger takes on the role of Beatrix Potter, the author of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." The film explores Potter's ill-fated romance with her publisher, Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor), amidst Potter's struggle for an independent life vs. marriage in an era when women were expected to marry and not have careers.
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Pollyanna 2003 TV, 100 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Sarah Harding
Cast: Amanda Burton, Kenneth Cranham, Georgina Terry, Aden Gillett, Pam Ferris, Kate Ashfield, David Bamber, Tom Ellis, Tom Bell, Ben Thornton, Amanda Walker
This made-for-TV rendition of Eleanor H. Porter's story stars Georgina Terry as the young Pollyanna who cheers up her community and melts the heart of her cranky Aunt Polly (Amanda Burton). Good fare.
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 Pride and Prejudice 1995  TV, 280 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Simon Langton
Cast: Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, David Bamber, Crispin Bonham-Carter, Anna Chancellor, Susannah Harker, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Adrian Lukis, Julia Sawalha, Alison Steadman, Benjamin Whitrow, Emilia Fox, Christopher Benjamin, Anthony Calf
This excellent TV miniseries does justice to Jane Austen's classic tale of the relationships of two people caught in the 19th-century class system when headstrong Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) meets wealthy Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth). Darcy courts Elizabeth, and problems ensue over the issues of manners and love when the couple learns that they must deal with their different perspectives on life if they are to live their lives together.
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Privates on Parade 1982  R, 96 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Blakemore
Cast: John Cleese, Denis Quilley, Michael Elphick, Nicola Pagett, Bruce Payne, Joe Melia, David Bamber, Simon Jones, Patrick Pearson, Neil Pearson
An army entertainment group (Song and Dance Unit South East Asia) dodges bullets and unwanted lovers as its members entertain the troops.
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Valkrie 2008 PG-13, 120 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard, Kevin McNally, Tom Hollander, David Schofield, Kenneth Cranham, Christian Berkel, David Bamber, Ian McNeice
During World War II, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) was serving in the German army in Tunisia where he lost his left eye, right hand, and fingers of his left hand as a result of the Allied bombing. Claus has had enough of the Nazi regime and joins a movement plotting to kill Hitler (David Bamber) but still win the war. Now, he conspires with the military and government bigwigs (Kenneth Branagh, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy, and Eddie Izzard) in smoke filled rooms to plot Hitler's demise.
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| 1. Daniel Deronda (2002)
2. High Hopes (1988)
3. I Capture the Castle (2003)
4. Miss Potter (2006)
5. Pollyanna (2003)
6. Pride and Prejudice (1995)
7. Privates on Parade (1982)
8. Valkrie (2008)
In The News
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