As You Like It 2006  PG, 127 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Brian Blessed, Romola Garai, Bryce Dallas Howard, Kevin Kline, Adrian Lester, Janet McTeer, Alfred Molina, David Oyelowo, Richard Briers, Jimmy Yuill, Alex Wyndham, Jade Jefferies, Gerard Horan
William Shakespeare's play is again brought to the screen–this time transplanted from the Forest of Arden to 19th-century Japan. Rosalind (Bryce Dallas Howard) disguises herself as a boy, Ganymede, and, escaping a death threat, leaves the court after her father is banished. Traveling with her are her cousin Celia (Romola Garai) and the court jester Touchstone (Alfred Molina). Along the way, she runs into the man she loves, Orlando (David Oyelowo). Now, Rosalind uses her disguise as Ganymede to test Orlando's love.
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Fathom 1967  N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Action / Comedy
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Cast: Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, Ronald Fraser, Richard Briers, Greta Chi, Tom Adams, Clive Revill, Reg Lye, Ann Lancaster, Elizabeth Ercy
While touring Europe, skydiver Fathom (Raquel Welch), is approached by a man claiming to work with American intelligence. A nuclear triggering device has been lost, and he hires Fathom to find it. Fathom meets Peter (Anthony Franciosa) who claims to be a Chinese agent. But all is not as it seems, and the missing item is really stolen jewelry. Who are the "good guys" here? A light-hearted spoof on spy films.
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 Hamlet 1996   PG-13, 238 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance / Thriller
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Charlton Heston, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Billy Crystal, Gerard Depardieu, John Gielgud, Richard Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Michael Maloney, Brian Blessed, Judi Dench
"Hamlet," the melancholy Dane, is directed by and stars Kenneth Branagh in this–indeed unique–innovative presentation of Shakespeare's classic. Branagh uses Shakespeare's entire text to uncover the layers behind the Bard of Avon's words in his play about Hamlet (Branagh) seeking revenge for his father the king's murder. Julie Christie plays Gertrude, Hamlet's mother who marries her brother-in-law Claudius (Derek Jacobi) soon after her husband's murder. His father's ghost (Brian Blessed) appears and tells Hamlet to be kind to Gertrude but to kill Claudius who had murdered him. Now, insanity takes over resulting in homicide and suicide.
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Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 1994 R, 123 min.
Genre: Drama / Horror / Sci-Fi / Romance
aka: Frankenstein
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro, Tom Hulce, Helena Bonham Carter, Aidan Quinn, Ian Holm, Richard Briers, John Cleese, Robert Hardy, Cherie Lunghi, Celia Imrie, Mark Hadfield, Trevyn McDowell, Gerard Horan, Joanna Roth
When 19-year-old Mary Shelley's husband, Lord Byron, challenged her to write a ghost story, she master-minded "Frankenstein" with the underlying message warning scientists to be careful of future implications from their experiments. To that end, she showed the dangers involved when Dr. Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh) creates a living creature (Robert De Niro).
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 Much Ado About Nothing 1993  PG-13, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Robert Sean Leonard, Keanu Reeves, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Briers, Brian Blessed, Patrick Doyle, Imelda Staunton, Jimmy Yuill, Andy Hockley, Chris Barnes, Phyllida Law
Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), Don John (Keanu Reeves), Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), and Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) return home from battle and arrive in the village of Messina. Governor Leonato (Richard Briers) greets them, and Claudio falls in love with Leonato's daughter Hero (Kate Beckinsale), but Don John turns her against Claudio. Meanwhile, Beatrice (Emma Thompson) tries to gain the reluctant Benedick's love. Don Pedro steps in bringing both couples together under a false premise, and love blooms. This film will make Shakespeare fans out of even the most dubious. The sound track lingers long after viewing, and the two couples provide insight into two different styles of love.
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 Peter Pan 2003 PG, 113 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Fantasy / Romance
Director: P.J. Hogan
Cast: Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lynn Redgrave, Richard Briers, Olivia Williams, Geoffrey Palmer, Harry Newell, Freddie Popplewell, Ludivine Sagnier, Theodore Chester, Rupert Simonian, George MacKay, Harry Eden, Patrick Gooch
This live action film–about the Darling family children's visit to Never Never Land as the guest of Peter Pan (Jeremy Sumpter)–compares well with the Disney animated version. Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) and her brothers John and Michael (Harry Newell and Freddie Popplewell) join Peter Pan and the Lost Boys for a daring adventure that leads them to a showdown with the evil Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs–who also doubles as Wendy's father).
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Peter's Friends 1992 R, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Rita Rudner, Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Richard Briers, Alex Scott, Phyllida Law, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Edward Jewesbury, Hetta Charnley, Ann Davies, Alex Lowe
When Peter (Stephen Fry) inherits an estate in the English countryside, he invites his friends from Cambridge University to visit. It has been 10 years since they were all together, and their revelations and new thoughts on how to live their lives fill the weekend. By the end of the reunion, many issues have been discussed, but when Peter shares his secret that he has been found HIV positive, all are shocked.
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Rentadick 1972  N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Jim Clark
Cast: James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Donald Sinden, Roy Kinnear, Michael Bentine, Ronald Fraser, Spike Milligan, Tsai Chin, Kenneth Cope, John Wells, Patricia Quinn
Chaos, along with humor and double crosses, are the order of the day when the bumbling detectives of Rentadick, Inc. set out on the trail of criminals who stole a nerve gas that paralyzes its victims from the waist down.
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Unconditional Love 2002 PG-13, 121 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: P.J. Hogan
Cast: Kathy Bates, Rupert Everett, Meredith Eaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Lynn Redgrave, Stephanie Beacham, Richard Briers, Marcia Warren, Jack Noseworthy, Daniel Wyllie, Dan Aykroyd, Jonathan Pryce
Grace's (Kathy Bates) husband runs out on her, so, of course, she heads to London for the funeral of her pop-singer idol who had been murdered. There she meets the star's secret lover, Dirk (Rupert Everett), who, also of course, is grief-stricken. The two team up to find the killer, with the trail leading to Chicago. Good cast, weak comedy/mystery.
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 Watership Down 1978 PG, 92 min.
Genre: Animation / Adventure / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Martin Rosin
Cast: Zero Mostel, Ralph Richardson, John Hurt, Richard Briers, Roy Kinnear, Denholm Elliott, Harry Andrews, Nigel Hawthorne, Michael Hordern, John Bennett, Michael Graham Cox, Simon Cadell, Terence Rigby, Richard O'Callaghan, Lynn Farleigh
This animated film tells the story of rabbits fleeing the effects of humans on their habitats. While finding new homes, they are subjected to attacks from dogs, hawks, and other rabbits. Excellent score, and overall, cleverly made.
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| 1. As You Like It (2006)
2. Fathom (1967)
3. Hamlet (1996)
4. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
aka: Frankenstein
5. Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
6. Peter Pan (2003)
7. Peter's Friends (1992)
8. Rentadick (1972)
9. Unconditional Love (2002)
10. Watership Down (1978)
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