 All or Nothing 2002  R, 128 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden, Ruth Sheen, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kathryn Hunter, Sally Hawkins, Helen Coker
A member of the British working class, taxi-driver Phil Bassett (Timothy Spall), and his common-law wife Penny (Lesley Manville) share a loveless marriage and children whose lives appear to be going nowhere–until a tragedy hits that jolts them out of the lethargy.
|  | |
A Christmas Carol 2009  PG, 96 min.
Genre: Family / Animation / Drama / Fantasy
aka: Disney's A Christmas Carol
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Fionnula Flanagan, Molly C. Quinn, Jacquie Barnbrook, Julian Holloway, Lesley Manville, Fay Masterson, Leslie Zemeckis, Fionnula Flanagan, Callum Blue
This version of Charles Dickens' classic story is presented in 3-D animation. Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) has become a mean, old miser who hates Christmas and everyone who celebrates it. When he is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come (all played by Carrey) who try to melt his cold heart, Scrooge's heart does grow, and his redemption begins.
| | |
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.
| | |
High Season 1987 R, 104 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Clare Peploe
Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, James Fox, Irene Papas, Sebastian Shaw, Kenneth Branagh, Lesley Manville, Robert Stephens, Geoffrey Rose, Paris Tselios, Ruby Baker
The small, Greek village on the island of Rhodes has finally been "found" by tourists to the dismay of some, but a business opportunity to others. This excellent satire on this theme revolves around Katherine (Jacqueline Bisset), a photographer who vacations here annually, and the characters around her who affected her past and will affect her future.
| | |
Secrets & Lies 1996  R, 140 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Phyllis Logan, Claire Rushbrook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Elizabeth Berrington, Lesley Manville, Michele Austin, Lee Ross, Ron Cook, Emma Amos, Brian Bovell, Travor Laird
A reunion brings together family members for Roxanne's (Claire Rushbrook) 21st birthday. Those attending are Roxanne's lonely mother, Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn); Cynthia's brother, Maurice (Timothy Spall); and his wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan)–and a surprise guest, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a young Black woman searching for her biological mother who turns out to be Cynthia.
| | |
 Topsy-Turvy 1999 R, 160 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Mike Leigh
Cast: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Lesley Manville, Eleanor David, Ron Cook, Timothy Spall, Wendy Nottingham, Alison Steadman, Louise Gold, Kevin McKidd, Katrin Cartlidge, Julia Rayner, Andy Serkis, Shirley Henderson
Director Mike Leigh presents a tribute to those well-known Victorian operetta writers: Gilbert (Jim Broadbent) and Sullivan (Allan Corduner). The focus is on the London production of "The Mikado" and the tribulations encountered as two distinctly different personalities collaborate on their ninth operetta.
| | |
| 1. All or Nothing (2002)
2. A Christmas Carol (2009)
aka: Disney's A Christmas Carol
3. High Hopes (1988)
4. High Season (1987)
5. Secrets & Lies (1996)
6. Topsy-Turvy (1999)
In The News
|
