Brimstone & Treacle 1982  R, 85 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Sting, Denholm Elliott, Joan Plowright, Suzanna Hamilton, Mary MacLeod, Dudley Sutton, Benjamin Whitrow, Tim Preece, Hugh Walters, Christopher Fairbanks, Elizabeth Bradley
A drifter, Martin Taylor (Sting,) talks his way into Tom and Norma Bates' (Denholm Elliott and Joan Plowright) home. The Bates have a disabled daughter Patricia (Suzanna Hamilton), and Martin becomes her unofficial caretaker. It is only then that Martin's plot is revealed, and molesting Patricia is only part of the horrors in store for the Bates family in this strange, yet intriguing, tale.
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 Firewall 2006  PG-13, 105 min.
Genre: Action / Thriller
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, Virginia Madsen, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Robert Patrick, Robert Forster, Alan Arkin, Carly Schroeder, Jimmy Bennett, Matthew Currie Holmes, Eric Keenleyside, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Vince Vieluf
Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is in charge of a global bank's computer security when robbers kidnap his wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen), and their children Andrew (Jimmy Bennett) and Sarah (Carly Schroeder). The robbers' boss, Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), tells Jack to siphon off $100 million from wealthy depositors, but Jack looks for ways to sabotage the plot and to save his family as well.
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The Gathering Storm 2002 TV, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, Linus Roache, Lena Headey, Derek Jacobi, Tom Wilkinson, Ronnie Barker, Hugh Bonneville, Celia Imrie, Tom Hiddleston, Edward Hardwicke
Albert Finney is excellent as Winston Churchill, winning a golden Globe Award for his efforts in this BBC production. It covers the period from the early 1930s when Churchill was a lone voice in warning the nation of the threat posed by the Nazis to his position as Prime Minister. But the centerpiece of the biography is the story of his personal life with his wife, Clementine (Vanessa Redgrave).
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The Missionary 1982 R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Michael Palin, Maggie Smith, Trevor Howard, Denholm Elliott, Michael Hordern, Phoebe Nicholls, Graham Crowden, David Suchet, Tricia George, Valerie Whittington
The Reverend Charles Fortescue (Michael Palin) is assigned to run a mission home for "fallen women" in Africa, but he finds it impossible to resist their temptations. Not hilarious like Palin's Monty Python work–but good location scenery.
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My House in Umbria 2003 TV, 105 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Maggie Smith, Ronnie Barker, Chris Cooper, Benno Furmann, Giancarlo Giannini, Timothy Spall, Libero De Rienzo, Emmy Clarke, Cecilia Dazzi, Anna Longhi
Based on a short novel by William Trevor, this made-for-HBO film tells the story of survivors of a bomb blast in a train compartment. After the explosion, the survivors are requested to remain in the country until the investigation is complete. One of the survivors, Mrs. Emily Delahunty (Maggie Smith), a British romantic novelist now living in Italy, invites the others–a British General (Ronnie Barker), a young German man (Benno Furmann), and a girl, Aimee (Emmy Clarke)–to her home. Aimee is traumitized and will not speak, but she comes around as Emily works with her. As the others get to know each other, Aimee's uncle, Tom (Chris Cooper), her only living relative, arrives and shows a willingness to take the girl, though he is not excited about it. Maggie Smith won an Emmy for her performance.
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Richard III 1995  R, 104 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas, Nigel Hawthorne, Robert Downey Jr., John Wood, Jim Broadbent, Bill Paterson, Edward Hardwicke, Jim Carter, Adrian Dunbar, Roger Hammond, Tim McInnery, Dominic West
The story remains the same as Richard uses seduction and murder to attain power in Shakespeare's story of the treacherous English monarch Richard III (Ian McKellen). There is a twist to the screen adaptation: the time has been updated to the 1930s, and the hunchbacked king is a Fascist. After killing members of his family, Richard finally does gain the throne and attempts to set up a dictatorship. In this version of Shakespeare's story, the famous lines, "My horse! My horse! My kingdom for a horse." are uttered by Richard when his jeep gets stuck in the mud.
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Wide-Eyed and Legless 1994 PG-13, 90 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: The Wedding Gift
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Sian Thomas, Thora Hird, Anastasia Mulroney, Andrew Lancel, Dinah Handley, Peter Whitfield
This story has it all–love, illness, infidelity, and even some hope for the future. It follows Diana (Julie Walters) and Deric Longden (Jim Broadbent) as they search for solutions to Diana's illness amidst plans for their son's wedding.
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Wimbledon 2004 PG-13, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Loncraine
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany, Sam Neill, Jon Favreau, Bernard Hill, Eleanor Bron, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Robert Lindsay, Austin Nichols, Kyle Hyde, Celia Imrie, Penny Ryder
Tennis star Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) has fallen on hard times as his ranking has hit an all-time low–until he meets and falls in love with rising tennis star Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst). Despite parental interference, the relationship seems to be helping Peter's tennis game. Will love conquer all?
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| 1. Brimstone & Treacle (1982)
2. Firewall (2006)
3. The Gathering Storm (2002)
4. The Missionary (1982)
5. My House in Umbria (2003)
6. Richard III (1995)
7. Wide-Eyed and Legless (1994)
aka: The Wedding Gift
8. Wimbledon (2004)
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