The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing "Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep), sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because after ...
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UKStarring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried, Julie WaltersDirected By: Phyllida Lloyd
The delirious sight of Meryl Streep leading a river of multigenerational women singing "Dancing Queen" is one of the high points of Mamma Mia!, the musical built around the songs of the hugely popular pop group ABBA. The plot sets in motion when Sophie (Amanda Seyfried, Mean Girls), daughter of Donna (Streep), sends a letter to three men, inviting them to her wedding--because ...
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UKStarring: Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgaard, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Amanda SeyfriedDirected By: Phyllida Lloyd
Foursquare in the gritty-but-hearwarming tradition of Brassed Off and The Full Monty comes Billy Elliot, the first film of noted British theatrical director Stephen Daldry. The setting is County Durham in 1984, and things 'oop North are even grimmer than usual: the miners' strike is in full rancorous swing and 11-year-old Billy's dad and older brother, miners both, are staunch ...
Manufacturer: UcaStarring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Jamie Draven, Gary LewisDirected By: Stephen Daldry
Like Molière, which was released in cinemas soon after, Becoming Jane isn't a conventional biopic. Instead, Julian Jarrold (White Teeth) expands on events from Jane Austen's life that may have shaped her fiction. To his credit, he doesn't stray too far from the facts. In 1795, 20-year-old Jane (Anne Hathaway with believable British accent) is an aspiring author. Her ...
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain VideoStarring: Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy, Julie Walters, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith
Alan Bleasdale's Boys from the Blackstuff gripped television audiences in 1982 with its bleak, fiercely funny exploration of the effect of the UK's economic depression on a group of Merseyside characters, originally introduced in his 1978 play, The Blackstuff. Bleasdale's writing is unsparing in both its pain and its unconditional affection for characters being pushed to the very ...
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain VideoStarring: Michael Angelis, Bernard Hill, Tom Georgeson, Julie WaltersDirected By: Philip Saville
The world's most famous boy wizard dives straight into a darker and more thrilling magical adventure in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It's practically the same set-up--something evil's afoot at Hogwarts; Harry and his pals must put it right--but fans of the books won't be disappointed. Director Chris Columbus, whose artistic licence is necessarily limited by the demands of ...
Manufacturer: Warner Home VideoStarring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson (II), Richard Griffiths, Fiona ShawDirected By: Chris Columbus
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain VideoStarring: Alan Bennett, Thora Hird, Patricia Routledge, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters
In the sensible yet elegant hands of actresses Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, Calendar Girls walks a fine line between sappiness and snickering and ends up both wonderfully funny and gently touching. When her best friend Annie (Walters) loses her husband, Chris (Mirren) cooks up a scheme to commemorate him: they and their friends--all fiftysomething women--will make a nude calendar to ...
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home EntertainmentStarring: Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Annette CrosbieDirected By: Nigel Cole
Adapted from JK Rowling's third novel, this installment of the family fantasy adventure story finds trainee wizard Harry Potter (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and his best friends Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), facing the dangerous convict Sirius Black (played by Gary Oldman). Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is on his way to Hogwarts, so the school calls in supernatural ...
Manufacturer: Warner Home VideoStarring: Daniel Radcliffe, Julie Christie, David Bradley, Warwick Davis, Tom FeltonDirected By: Alfonso Cuaron
