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Village Films
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| A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, 1999, Michael Hoffman. This all-star version of Shakespeare's comedy is gorgeously shot in Tuscany, complete with a magical forest, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful villas, picturesque villages, and stunning period costumes. The fairies of the forest play mix and match with four young lovers, courtesy of a magical love potion. Hoffman couldn't ask for better actors to play Shakespeare's dreamlike love games--Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Kline, Anna Friel, Dominic West, the list goes on and on. Flockhart (as the lovestruck Helena), Tucci (a sprightly Puck), Pfeiffer (dazzling and funny as the queen of the fairies), and Kline (as weaver-turned-donkey Bottom) connect with their characters in ways that make this adaptation soar. (DVD) | |
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| THE BUTCHER'S WIFE, 1991, Terry Hughes. Marina (Demi Moore), a blonde Southern belle with a clairvoyant streak, sees signs--a shooting star with two tails, a snowglobe that washes up on the beach, a wedding band inside of a fish--telling her that her true love is about to come ashore. And soon enough, a boat lands on the beach in front of her home; only the guy inside is a stout butcher from New York City named Leo (George Dzundza). Still, portents are portents, and the next thing you know she's married and running barefoot around a butcher's shop in Greenwich Village, where she inspires various residents with her predictions. Leo, however, is creeped out by his wife's abilities, and encourages her to see Alex (Jeff Daniels), a psychiatrist who works across the street. To placate him, she does--and soon begins to suspect that she's misread her signs and married the wrong man. (DVD) | |
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| BUTTERFLY, 2000, Doug Wolens. On her own, almost 200 feet up in an old-growth redwood tree, Julia Butterfly Hill led a nation of environmentally aware activists by example. Climbing up the tree in order to protect it and to spread the word that old-growth forests are disappearing and not coming back, she is revered as a heroine by many in the environmental movement. Butterfly documents her experience and struggle, from her spiritual connection with the forest and Luna (the tree she called home for two years) to the reactions of local loggers, Earth First! protestors, and other concerned citizens. Though the film is certainly biased toward Butterfly's cause, the viewer still gets a better understanding of the needs and concerns of local people, despite, not because of, the logging company's pathetically desperate shilling. Though some of the singing and poetry might grate on those whose aesthetics have matured a bit past their undergraduate years, the emphasis on interviews brings out the vital spirit of Butterfly and her supporters just as well. Her experience might be foreign to most viewers, but her direct, genuine expression of her feelings is no more alienating than a walk through a beautiful virgin forest. --Rob Lightner (documentary) (VHS) | |
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| CAST A DEADLY SPELL, 1991, Martin Campbell. A noir thriller/Comedy set in 1948 L.A. ("where everyone does magick"), pits Detective Harry P. Lovecraft against a cast of horrors in his search for the Necronomicon. The scene where Fred Ward has a conversation with a real estate agent who praises the fact that her homes are made with "the finest Thaumaturgy" and builder zombies falling in the background will split your gut...no pun intended. Anyone will enjoy this film; but Occultists will howl. Plus, Old Cthulhu never looked so good. (VHS) | |
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| CLEARCUT, 1993, Ryszard Bugajski. This story of corporate destruction of our environment comes from a uniquely Native American point of view, with Graham Greene starring as a kind of native earth spirit. Some of the points made in this film are very subtle, so pay close attention. (VHS) | |
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| DANCES WITH WOLVES, 1990, Kevin Costner. Kevin Costner directed, produced and starred in the 1990 western epic "Dances with Wolves", which was based upon the novel of the same name by author Michael Blake, who also wrote the film's screenplay. Costner plays U.S. Army Lieutenant John G. Dunbar during and shortly after the U.S. Civil War. Following a victory with Union troops under his command, he requests an assignment to the western frontier and is assigned to an isolated military outpost in the Dakota Territory. John waits patiently for other troops to arrive at the outpost, but they never do. With no means to communicate with his superiors, John bides his time by taking care of the outpost and himself, as well as writing in his journal. A nearby wolf begins to take an interest in John. At first, he tries to chase the wolf away, but eventually, the wolf becomes John's unwitting companion. Later, John realizes that there is a nearby Native American Sioux tribe. Members of the tribe meet John, but since they do not have a common language to speak with one another, they are somewhat suspicious of him. Later, they invite John to visit their encampment where he sees a Caucasian woman (Mary McDonnell) living with them. She remembers a little English is able to talk with him and tells him that her name is Stands With A Fist. Eventually, John learns how to speak Sioux and is adopted by the tribe after he helps them. (DVD) | |
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| THE DARK CRYSTAL, 1982, Frank Oz, Jim Henson. The story of a race of grotesque birdlike lizards called the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. A prophecy tells of a Gelfling (a small elfin being) who will topple their empire, so in their reign of terror they have exterminated the race, or so they think. The orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal (which gives the Skeksis their power) and restore the balance of the universe. Henson and codirector Frank Oz have pushed puppetry into a new direction: traditional puppets, marionettes, giant bodysuits, and mechanical constructions are mixed seamlessly in a fantasy world of towering castles, simple huts, dank caves, a giant clockwork observatory, and a magnificent landscape that seem to have leaped off the pages of a storybook. (DVD) | |
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| DRAGONSLAYER, 1981, Matthew Robbins. Dragonslayer is recognized as one of the finest fantasies to emerge from the post-Star Wars boom in special effects. It's still one of the best adventures of its kind, featuring one of the most fearsome fire-breathing serpents in movie history. Ominously named Vermithrax Pejorative, this ill-tempered monster terrorizes the peasantry of sixth-century England, feeding on maidens sacrificed by a duplicitous king until a sorcerer's apprentice named Galen (Peter MacNicol, long before Ally McBeal) is recruited as a reluctant hero. Aided by a tenacious beauty (Caitlin Clarke) and his resurrected mentor (Ralph Richardson), Galen confronts the soaring beast in a breathtaking climax. Filmed in Scotland and Wales. (DVD) | |
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| DOGMA, 1999, Kevin Smith. Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). (DVD) | |
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| EXCALIBUR, 1981, John Boorman. Absolutely the best movie accounting of the Arthurian legends ever made. Nicol Williamson is wonderful as Merlin. Look for a youthful Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Arthur's (Nigel Terry) foster father. This is the source of "the charm of making." (DVD) | |
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| FAIRY
TALE: A TRUE STORY,
1997, Charles Sturridge. When her father is declared missing in
action during World War I, Elsie Wrigth (Florence Hoath) goes to live
in England with her cousin Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl) for
whom the topic of fairies is forbidden. Immediately, the girls discover
the winged creatures in the garden and photograph them for Frances's
startled parents. This leads to another kind of adventure for the
girls. They become the toasts of London as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(Peter O'Toole) and Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel), who have seen the
photographs, escort them around town. Mildly villainous reporters
chase the girls and curious spectators invade their garden after the
pictures are printed publicly. Although fairies are the visible subjects, the enchanting video is really about faith. Frances's parents (Phoebe Nicholls and Paul McGann) recently lost their son, Joseph, who had originally discovered the fairies and would like to think he may be an angel. Sir Arthur also lost his son and is courted by clairvoyants who claim they can talk to the boy. Elsie waits patiently for her father to come home, although it appears hopeless that he will. Harry Houdini is an illusionist but acts against the fraudulent claims of greedy mediums and the like. They are all touched by a need to truly believe in what remains hidden. The story is very loosely based on an early 20th-century controversy involving the real Frances and Elsie who faked pictures of fairies similar to the ones in the video. The real girls never confessed, but the video suggests the manner in which the real life photos may have been produced. --Margaret Griffis (DVD) |
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| THE
FIFTH ELEMENT, 1997,
Luc Besson. Ancient curses, all-powerful monsters, shape-changing
assassins, scantily clad stewardesses, laser battles, huge explosions,
a perfect woman, a malcontent hero--what more can you ask of a big-budget
science fiction movie? Luc Besson's high-octane film incorporates
presidents, rock stars, and cab drivers into its peculiar plot, traversing
worlds and encountering some pretty wild aliens. Bruce Willis stars
as a down-and-out cabbie who must win the love of Leeloo (Milla Jovovich)
to save Earth from destruction by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary
Oldman) and a dark, unearthly force that makes Darth Vader look like
an Ewok. (DVD) |
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| FIRST KNIGHT, 1995, Jerry Zucker. Absolutely the worst Arthurian movie ever made, but it redeems itself by allowing lovers Lancelot ( Richard Gere) and Guinevere (Julia Ormond) to love with the blessing of Arthur (Sean Connery). Also, Arthur's funeral scene at the end is worth the price of admission by it's self. (DVD) | |
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| THE
GOLDEN CHILD, 1986, Michael Ritchie. Features Eddie Murphy
playing Chandler Jarrow, a "finder of lost children" hanging
out in "The City of Angels," when a beautiful Tibetan woman
(Charlotte Lewis) finds him and tells him that he fits the Tibetan
prediction, much to the Tibetans' surprise, that "someone in
the City of Angels who is no angel will save 'the golden child.'"
Now, the Golden Child is only one child in a series of Golden Children, and this Golden Child represents 'Compassion (this of course is an allusion to the Dalai Lama who is the "Buddha of Compassion).' And if all the evil supernatural beings get a hold of this Golden Child of Compassion, all Compassion will leave the world. Well now, that's mean! So, Chandler (Eddie Murphy), the beautiful Tibetan woman, and several other very mysterious Tibetans must team up to save the Golden Child from a band of particularly disgusting supernatural beings. There are lots of weird supernatural scenes, from L.A. to Tibet, with just-enough humor injected, and it really is an enjoyable and believable story. (DVD) |
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| GROUNDHOG DAY, 1993, Harold Ramis. The favorite and annual Imbolq diversion of Mithril Star Groves -- Features Bill Murray as a weatherman stuck in a time warp of his own making. (DVD) | |
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| THE GURU, 2003, Daisy von Scherler Mayer. This one spoofs Bollywood, the American Porn industry, the New Age movement, and is just hysterical fun. Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure) makes a brief appearance as a sleazy agent. (DVD) | |
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| HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, 2001, Chris Columbus (DVD) | | |||
| HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, 2002, Chris Columbus (DVD) | |
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| HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, 2004, Alfonso Cuarón (DVD) | |
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| HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, 2005, Mike Newell (DVD) | ||||
| LABYRINTH, 1986, Jim Henson. Sarah (a teenage Jennifer Connelly) rehearses the role of a fairy-tale queen, performing for her stuffed animals. She is about to discover that the time has come to leave her childhood behind. In real life she has to baby-sit her brother and contend with parents who don't understand her at all. Her petulance leads her to call the goblins to take the baby away, but when they actually do, she realizes her responsibility to rescue him. Sarah negotiates the Labyrinth to reach the City of the Goblins and the castle of their king. The king is the only other human in the film and is played by a glam-rocking David Bowie, who performs five of his songs. The rest of the cast are puppets, a wonderful array of Jim Henson's imaginative masterpieces. (DVD) | |
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| THE LAST UNICORN, 1982, Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass. A unicorn (Mia Farrow)--she believes herself the last--searches for any others of her kind, while avoiding the malevolent Red Bull, the agent believed to have destroyed the rest of the herd. Along the way, she is mistaken, ignored, attacked, and obsessed about, finally finding help from a magician named Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and a knight named Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges). A haunting film that pays homage to mythology and the people who love it. (DVD) | |
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| THE LAST WAVE, 1977, Peter Weir. Richard Chamberlain stars as Australian lawyer David Burton, who takes on the defense of a group of aborigines accused of killing one of their own. He suspects the victim has been killed for violating a tribal taboo, but the defendants deny any tribal association. Burton, plagued by apocalyptic visions of water, slowly realizes his own involvement with the aborigines...and their prophecies. (DVD) | |
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| LEGEND, 1986, Ridley Scott. A young Tom Cruise in a fairy-tale world of dwarfs and unicorns and demons. After the horn of a unicorn is broken, darkness and winter descend upon the world. Cruise's character, helped along by a magic sprite played by David Bennent (The Tin Drum), descends into hell to save paradise. (DVD) | |
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| LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, 1993, Alfonso Arau. Ayoung woman (Lumi Cavazos) who learns to suppress her passions under the eye of a stern mother, but channels them into her cooking. The result is a steady stream of cuisine so delicious as to be an almost erotic experience for those lucky enough to have a bite. Pagans would immediatly recognize the principle of "charging" objects (like food). (DVD) | |
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| THE
LION IN WINTER, 1968,
Anthony Harvey (II). Arch-Druid Ceridwen's favorite film, this
12th-century version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, features
Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine
(Katharine Hepburn), who meet on Christmas Eve to discuss the future
of the throne. These two are having slight marital problems, as she
is kept in captivity most of the year for raising a rebellion against
him, and he flaunts his young mistress. Then there are the problems
raised by their three treacherous and traitorous sons. James Goldman won an Oscar for the screenplay, based on his Broadway play. It is a tad wordy, as the action is kept to a minimum, but those words are sharp as daggers. The humor is wicked and black and delivered with very dry, dead-on precision. Sparks fly and the screen sizzles whenever Hepburn and O'Toole tango, which is often. Both were nominated for Academy Awards® for their vigorous performances. (She won; he didn't.) There's also an infamous homo-erotic exchange between Philip of France (Timothy Dalton) and Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins). (DVD) |
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| LITTLE BUDDHA, 1994, Bernardo Bertolucci. Little Buddha is a very religiously informative film. It takes place in both modern day Seattle and Katmandu, and also in ancient India. It is the alternating story of Jesse, a young American boy, who might be a "reincarnation", and also he retelling of the Siddhartha story. Lama Norbu believes his former teacher has been reincarnated into Jesse and travels to Seattle to find him. Norbu locates Jesse and begins to teach him about Buddhism and Siddhartha the first Buddha. Somewhat later in the story other candidates are found and Jesse and Norbu travel to Katmandu to see which is the real former teacher. (DVD) | |
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| THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, 2001, Peter Jackson. Do I really need to discribe this one? Beautiful cinematic retelling of Tolkein's classic -- an inspiration to Pagans for all time. (DVD) | |
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| THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, 2002, Peter Jackson. Do I really need to discribe this one? Beautiful cinematic retelling of Tolkein's classic -- an inspiration to Pagans for all time. (DVD) | |
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| THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, 2003, Peter Jackson. Do I really need to discribe this one? Beautiful cinematic retelling of Tolkein's classic -- an inspiration to Pagans for all time. (DVD) | |
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| MEDICINE RIVER, 1994, Stuart Margolin. An indigeonous Canadian (Graham Greene), who has found success in the white mans world, rediscovers himself when he returns to the reservation for his mothers funeral. But this is a comedy, not a downer. It might be my favorite Graham Greene movie. (VHS) | |
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| MERLIN. 1998, Steve Barron. What kind of guy was the wizard Merlin, anyway? He lives a long time, raises a boy to be a king, props up a Utopian empire with his magic and wisdom, and then watches as it all crumbles under such banal forces as vengeance and betrayal. This four-hour miniseries re-tells the story of Camelot and King Arthur from the perspective of the magic man who sacrifices a great deal to guide mortals toward a better destiny. Sam Neill plays Merlin as an accessible, flesh-and-blood fellow of real passion, powerless to undo the spell of a rival (Rutger Hauer) who has virtually imprisoned Merlin's great love, Nimue (Isabella Rossellini), but gifted enough to counter the treachery of Morgan Le Fey (Helena Bonham Carter) and the wicked Queen Mab (Miranda Richardson). (DVD) | |
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| MODERN PROBLEMS, 1981, Ken Shapiro. A very funny comedy in which Chevy Chase plays an air-traffic controller having relationship problems, who develops psycho-kinetic powers after following too closely a truck bearing nuclear waste -- that's when the fun really begins. Have a toke and enjoy! (VHS) | |
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| MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, 1975, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones. Must see Python version of the Arthurian legend. Hard to say more without giving away anything. (DVD) | |
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| MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN, 1979, Terry Jones. Must see Python version of the life of Christ, er, I mean "Brian." Yeah, right, that's what I mean't. Deliciously blasphemous! (DVD) | |
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| MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE, 1983, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam. Must see Python answer to the ultimate question. Includes the hit,, "Every Sperm is Precious." (DVD) | |
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| THE MISTS OF AVALON, 2001, Uli Edell. This adaptation of Marion Zimmer Bradley's sprawling and perennially popular book, whose retelling of the Arthurian legends focused on the role of powerful females, compresses a wealth of mysticism, family intrigue, and bloody swordplay into three hours. (DVD) | ||||
| PI, 1998, Daren Anofsky. Kabbalah - Mathmatics - Mysticism: Patterns exist everywhere: in nature, in science, in religion, in business. Max Cohen (played hauntingly by Sean Gullette) is a mathematician searching for these patterns in everything. Yet, he's not the only one, and everyone from Wall Street investors, looking to break the market, to Hasidic Jews, searching for the 216-digit number that reveals the true name of God, are trying to get their hands on Max. (DVD) | ||||
| POW WOW HIGHWAY, 1989, Jonathan Wacks. Gary Farmer (Smoke Signals) is the standout in a fine film by Jonathan Wacks about an oversized Cheyenne man-child (Farmer) who decides to go on a spiritual quest, while simultaneously giving a ride to his lifelong Indian activist friend (A. Martinez). (DVD) | ||||
| PRACTICAL
MAGIC,
1998, Griffin Dunne. If
a broom falls, company is due. When a circle rings the moon, trouble
looms, Should you misplace your broom, sorry; a hand vac can't be
used in an exorcism rite. Fun and excitement abound in the Owens family
of wily witches. One problem, though: the men the Owens women fall
in love with are doomed to an untimely death. Sandra Bullock and Nicole
Kidman bring a sparkling screen magic to Practical Magic, adapted
from Alice Hoffman's bestseller and directed by Griffin Dunne (Addicted
to Love). They play Sally and Gillian Owens, sisters hexed by a centuries
-old curse...and coping with a witches brew of events involving a
possible love match (Aidan Quinn) for one, a zombie (Goran Visnjic)
for the other and a need to resume the age-old witchcraft taught by
two doting Owens aunts (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest). Sit for
a spell and enjoy. (DVD) |
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| THE REINCARNATION OF PETER PROUD, 1988, J. Lee Thompson. Michael Sarrazin plays a man who consistently has dreams about living a previous life in the recent past. He discovers that his dreams have a basis in reality when he recognizes the town of his dreams presented in a documentary on television. A search begins and Peter Proud tracks down all the dream clues, discovers his previous identity, and the film builds in excitement as we know that he was a murder victim in the previous life. Eventually he locates his old home and finds out that his family is still around. He uses a clever way to introduce himself to his old family and several strange psychic-like feelings and habits of saying things, tapping on glasses, etc. begin to arouse the suspicion of the former wife that her husband has come back to haunt her due to her guilt or that Dr. Proud is up to some bid for blackmail because of what he knows. In an amazing scene, his ancestral mother in a nursing home spiritually recognizes her son in the embodiment of Peter Proud and the daughter chalks it up to dementia. Proud becomes romantically involved with his daughter and drives the former wife to re-commit the actions of murder again in the spirit of Deja Vu in a great climax to the film. The most interesting aspects of this film are Springfield Mass. scenery, a 1937 Cord convertible with hide-away headlights, the amount of women sexually involved with the character and the overall angles in the filming that promote the mysterious aspects of this work. A charming work from the 70's and though dated it still draws you into the plot. (VHS) | ||||
| THE SECRET GARDEN, 1993, Agnieszka Holland. In India during the early 1900s, young Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly) is orphaned and sent to England to live in Misselthwaite Manor, the gloomy estate of her brooding and melancholy uncle, Lord Craven (John Lynch). Because the uncle is almost always away on travels, struggling to forget the death of his beloved wife, Mary is left mostly alone to explore the estate. Eventually she befriends the young brother of a staff maid and Lord Craven's apparently crippled son, who has been needlessly bedridden for years. Together the three children restore a neglected garden on the estate grounds, and in doing so they set the stage for a moving reaffirmation of life and love. (DVD) | ||||
| SIRENS, 1994, John Duigan. Starring Hugh Grant, the film finds the handsome, stammering actor playing an Anglican priest newly posted to Australia. There, the clergyman's first mission is to convince a famously libertarian artist (Sam Neill) not to exhibit a painting with mixed erotic and religious themes. The experience of being at their host's anything-goes compound for a few days, however, nestled deep in the wilds and keeping company with uninhibited, frequently naked models proves terribly stirring for Grant and his character's timid wife (Tara Fitzgerald), the two of them a study in sexual repression. The film doesn't have a point so much as it does an appealing atmosphere of unbridled naturalism counterpointed by Grant's charming self-consciousness. Once you've grown accustomed to the phenomenal sight of an unclothed Elle Macpherson wandering toward the bank of a river, for instance, you realize she's only part of the amazing flora and fauna enriching this pocket of earth and the souls of our principal characters. (DVD) | ||||
| SKINS,
2002, Shris Eyre. In the shadow of Mt. Rushmore, one of America's
favorite tourist attractions, lies one of her poorest counties, The
Pine Ridge Indian Reservations. For Police officer Rudy Yellow Lodge
(Eric Schweig), the painful legacy of Indian existence is brought
home every night as he locks up drunk and disorderly Indians, which
frequently includes his own brother, Mogie (Graham Greene). Rudy's
frustration with the alcoholism on the 'rez' leads him to ttake the
law into his own hands, but his trail of vengeance ends tragically
when he unwittingly injures Mogie. Ironically, their relationship
achieves redemption after Rudy's tragic error in judgement, and the
brothers begin the process of mending their fractured relationship.
Ultiametly, Rudy is able to honor his big brother, as well as his
people, with one exhilarating and life-affirming act of defiance,
revealing the redemptive power of the love between the two brothers.
(DVD) |
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| SLEEPY HOLLOW, 1999, Tim Burton. Adelicious reworking of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the film is a thrilling ride back to the turn of the 19th century. Johnny Depp stars as Ichabod Crane, a seemingly hapless constable from New York City who is sent to the small town of Sleepy Hollow to solve the mystery of the decapitations that are plaguing the town. Crane is a bumbling sort, with a tremendous faith in science over mysticism, and he comes up against town secrets, bewitching women, and a number of bodies missing heads. Christina Ricci, as beautiful as ever, is Katrina Van Tassel, the offbeat love interest who alternately charms and frightens Crane. (DVD) | ||||
| SMOKE SIGNALS, 1998, Chris Eyre. The film concerns two young Idaho men with radically different memories of one Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer), a former resident of the reservation who split years before and has just died in Phoenix. Arnold's strapping, popular son, Victor (Adam Beach), remembers him best as an alcoholic, occasionally abusive father who drove off one day and never came back. By contrast, Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams), whom Arnold had saved from certain death years earlier, has chosen to exaggerate the man's life and deeds in a mythmaking fashion that drives Victor crazy. Circumstances bring the two together, however, in a bus ride to retrieve Arnold's ashes. There, in Phoenix, a confrontation with the reality of the dead man's fullest legacy has a profound effect on both characters. (DVD) | ||||
| STARGATE, 1994, Roland Emmerich. In the 1920s, archaeologits discover an ancient portal capable of zipping travelers to "the other side of the known universe." James Spader plays the Egyptologist who successfully translates the Stargate's hieroglyphic code, and then joins a hawkish military unit (led by Kurt Russell) on a reconnaissance mission to see what's on the other side. They arrive on a desert world with cultural (and apparently supernatural) ties to Earth's ancient Egypt, where the sun god Ra (played by Jaye Davidson from The Crying Game) rules a population of slaves with armored minions and startlingly advanced technology. This movie spawned the wildly popular TV series, wherein, Richard Dean Anderson plays a much better O'Neil. They should have kept Spader for the part of Daniel Jackson though. - IMNSHO (DVD) | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, 1977, George Lucas. Let's face it - the Jedi Knights are really Druids. Enough said. | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, 1980, Irvin Kirshner. | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI, 1983, Richard Marquand. | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, 1999, George Lucas. | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, 2002, George Lucas. | ||||
| STAR WARS: EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH, 2005, George Lucas. | ||||
| THE TEMPEST, 1998, Jack Bender. Made for TV movie adaptation of Shakespere's classic, set in the Civil War era South, with Peter Fonda in the roll of Prospero. (VHS) | ||||
| TROLL, 1986, John Carl Buechler. An evil troll, Torok, the transformed state of the ex-husband of an old friendly witch named Eunice St. Clair, has chosen her apartment building to be the heart of the restoration of the world he once knew. To do this he uses an Emerald ring, and takes possession of a little girl named Wendy, whose brother Harry immediately suspects something wrong. Torok, often in the form of the little girl, goes into each occupant's apartment, hideously transforming people into plant pods. (VHS) | ||||
| WALKABOUT, 1971, Nicholas Roeq. Nicolas Roeg's mystical masterpiece chronicles the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey of a sister and brother abandoned in the harsh Australian outback. Joining an Aborigine boy on his walkabout-a tribal initiation into manhood-these modern children pass from innocence into experience as they are thrust from the comforts of civilization into the savagery of the natural world. (DVD) | ||||
| WHAT THE BLEEP DO WE KNOW?, 2004, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente. A lecture on mysticism and science mixed into a sort-of narrative. Marlee Matlin stars in the dramatic thread, about a sourpuss photographer who begins to question her perceptions. Interviews with quantum physics experts and New Age authors are cut into this story, offering a vaguely convincing (and certainly mind-provoking) theory. Talking heads include JZ Knight, who appears in the movie channeling Ramtha, the ancient sage she claims communicates through her. What she says actually makes pretty good common sense. This is on the Pagan "must see" list. (DVD) | |
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| THE WICKER MAN, 1975, Robin Hardy. Although it's a Mystery (or a Horror story, depending on your viewpoint) this movie is or should be on every Neo-Pagan's must-see list because it depicts what life might be like on an island inhabited only by Neo-Pagans. Except for the last 10 minutes (where they kill the Christian) it's really a cool vision of what could be. (DVD) | ||||
| WILLOW, 1988, Ron Howard. The story (by George Lucas) follows the exploits of the little farmer Willow (Warwick Davis), an aspiring sorcerer appointed to deliver an infant princess from the evil queen (Jean Marsh) to whom the child is a crucial threat. Val Kilmer plays the warrior who joins Willow's campaign with the evil queen's daughter (Joanne Whalley, who later married Kilmer). Impressive production values, stunning locations (in England, Wales, and New Zealand) and dazzling special effects energize this fantasy. (DVD) | ||||
| THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, 1987, George Miller II. Jack Nicholson was born to play the devil, and in George Miller's adaptation of John Updike's novel he plays it for all he's worth. As a wolfish womanizer summoned by three bored women in a picturesque New England town, he's sating all of his appetites with a rakish grin. Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer play the women who discover their untapped magical powers by accident. The smart and sexy singles, out of place in the conservatism of their village, find happiness, however briefly, in the arms and bed of the libidinous devil, but he's got his own ulterior motives. Miller revels in the sensual display of sex, food, and magic, whipping up a storm of effects that finally get out of hand in an overblown ending. It's a handsome film with strong performances all around, but the mix of anarchic comedy and supernatural horror doesn't always gel and Miller seems to lose the plot in his zeal for cinematic excitement. The performances ultimately keep the film aloft: the hedonistic joy that Nicholson celebrates with every leering gaze and boorish vulgarity is almost enough to make bad form and chauvinism cool. --Sean Axmaker (DVD) | ||||
| THE WIZARD OF OZ, 1939, Richard Thorpe, King Vidor. Do you really need a discription of this timeless classic? (DVD) | ||||
