Known for Sound
Van Dyke Parks is an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who has composed various film and television soundtracks.
Born
January 3, 1943 (age 83)
Birthplace
Hattiesburg - Mississippi - USA
Filmography
70 films, 9 shows


Dark Matter
2008 · 1h 30m · US
Liu Xing a brilliant Chinese student, arrives at University and makes the transition into American life with the help of Joanna Silver. Xing joins a cosmology group working to create a model of the origins of the universe. He is obsessed with the study of dark matter and a theory that conflicts with the group's model. When he begins to make breakthroughs of his own, he encounters obstructions.


The Adventures of Ociee Nash
2004 · 1h 37m · US
Ociee Nash, a spirited nine-year-old from rural Mississippi, is sent to live with her Aunt Mamie to become a "young lady". Her true bravery, character, and spirit are put to the test.


Charms for the Easy Life
2002 · 1h 51m · CA
The story of three women who live in a North Carolina town and defy the traditional roles set forth for them by society.


Monday Night Mayhem
2002 · 1h 38m · US
The early years of a television sports powerhouse are chronicled as ABC becomes a player in the NFL coverage by putting their full resources into a major showcase. Executive Roone Arledge recruits former Dallas Cowboys quarterback 'Dandy' Don Meredith, Keith Jackson, and the combative Howard Cosell as commentators for the broadcasts, which become funny, odd trio events to millions of viewers. Jackson departs the show after the first year to take over the network's focus on college football, and former New York Giants star Frank Gifford takes his place, ruffling Cosell's feathers. Then things get really crazy!


Call Me Claus
2001 · 1h 30m · US
When Lucy Cullins, a successful but cranky producer at a home shopping network hires an actor named Nick to play Santa Claus on the network, she gets more than she bargained for.


In the Time of the Butterflies
2001 · 1h 35m · MX
Based on the book by Julia Alvarez. Three sisters become activists during the Dominican Republic's Trujillo regime when members of their family are killed by the government's troops.


The Ponder Heart
2001 · 1h 31m · US
Uncle Daniel Ponder moves to give away his fortune, while his niece, Edna Earle, tries to tighten the reins on Daniel's generosity. After Daniel marries teenager Bonnie Dee Peacock, her death leads to Daniel's trial for murder


Harlan County War
2000 · 1h 44m · US
A Kentucky woman whose mine-worker husband is nearly killed in a cave-in, and whose father is slowly dying of black lung disease, joins the picket lines for a long, violent strike.


Border Line
1999 · 2h · US
Allison Westlin, a Los Angeles-based immigration lawyer and single mother, investigates a murder with the help of private detective Mario Sparks and INS officer Dan McIvers. As the investigation continues and Westlin uncovers a human-smuggling ring, Westlin's nanny Maria jeopardizes her life to protect Westlin and her daughter.


A Chance of Snow
1998 · 1h 27m · US
After signing her divorce papers, a woman heads out to her Minnesota airport with her sister and daughters for a flight to her mother's home. At the airport, her sportswriter husband shows up to catch a flight to Miami to visit his father. When a blizzard hits, the two suddenly find they have time to re-evaluate their relationship with assistance from an older couple.


Noah
1998 · 1h 30m · US
In order to save his family, a contractor must construct an ark before a massive flood hits his home town.


Shadrach
1998 · 1h 28m · US
In 1935, 99-year-old former slave Shadrach asks to be buried on the soil where he was born to slavery, and that land is owned by the large Dabney family, consisting of Vernon, Trixie and their seven children, and to bury a black man on that land is a violation of strict Virginia law.


Barney's Great Adventure
1998 · 1h 16m · US
Mom and dad dump son Cody, daughter Abby, her best friend Marcella and a baby on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma. Purple dinosaur Barney soon appears to entertain the kids, and when a large colorful egg deposited on a farm by a shooting star is accidentally carted off, Barney and the kids start their chase for it.


Murder, She Wrote: South by Southwest
1997 · 1h 40m · US
Jessica Fletcher searches for a woman who witnessed the murder of a man trying to expose a serious flaw in a top-secret government satellite code.


Oliver Twist
1997 · 1h 31m · US
An orphan endures a harsh life in a workhouse before fleeing to London, where he falls in with a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the criminal Fagin, and eventually finds a better life, exposing the cruelties of poverty and child labor in Victorian England.


The Summer of Ben Tyler
1996 · 1h 50m · US
Set early during World War II, the film has a lot to say about love, honor, relationships, commitment and power. Keeping their promise to their dying black housekeeper, a white family takes in her teenage mentally-slow son. The movie details the joys and conflicts the family faces as a result of their decision.


Bastard Out of Carolina
1996 · 1h 37m · US
A poor, struggling South Carolinian mother and daughter face painful choices with their resolve and pride. Bone, the eldest daughter, and Anney her tired mother, grow both closer and farther apart: Anney sees Glen as her last chance.


Wild Bill
1995 · 1h 38m · US
Biopic about famous gunslinger Wild Bill Hickock. The early career of legendary lawman is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane.


One Christmas
1994 · 1h 26m · US
Based on Truman Capote's bittersweet tale of a young boy's adventures with the father he's never known in New Orleans in the 1930s..


Next Door
1994 · 1h 35m · US
Matt and Karen have inconsiderate neighbours whose lawn sprinkler drowns their flowers. A feud errupts and a series of tit-for-tat actions develop and escalate.


Out on a Limb
1992 · 1h 22m
While heading to the town where his sister, Marci, lives, big-city banker Bill Campbell is robbed by a woman who takes everything he has, including his clothes and a business document worth millions of dollars. Bill eventually reunites with Marci, who is in a tizzy because she thinks their stepfather has been killed. While trying to determine if his sister is right, Bill must also get back his valuable paperwork.


Frogs!
1991 · 1h 40m · US
Gus, a former frog prince turned lounge singer, shows up on his friend's doorstep just when Arlo has little time to help him. But when Gus tangles with a wicked witch, Arlo must come to the rescue, catapulting them into a series of adventures in which they both come to realize you must be true to yourself.


The Two Jakes
1990 · 2h 17m · US
Real estate developer Jake Berman hires private investigator and war veteran Jake Gittes for some run-of-the-mill matrimonial work. After Berman shoots his wife's lover, who happens to be his business partner, Gittes is drawn into a web of conspiracy and deceit involving the oil reserves beneath Los Angeles. While investigating, Gittes hears a voice from his past that causes him to revisit a traumatic case in Chinatown.


Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme
1990 · 1h 36m · US
Set in the mythical world of Rhymeland, Gordon Goose returns home to discover that his mom has mysteriously vanished. Now the characters of Rhymeland are in danger of disappearing unless Mother Goose returns.


Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
1988 · 49m · US
Pee-wee Herman and pals are celebrating Christmas in the Playhouse in their own creative ways: Pee-wee makes a list for Santa Claus 1.5 miles long, teaches Little Richard how to ice skate, goes for a sleigh ride with Magic Johnson, enslaves Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello into making Christmas cards, receives a long phone call from Dinah Shore, even has more musical fun with k.d. lang, the Del Rubio Triplettes and Charo! Finally, Big Red arrives and announces that Pee-wee's Christmas list was so big, he didn't have enough presents for all the children of the world. Will Pee-wee follow his own advice and help others?


Rented Lips
1988 · 1h 22m · US
A documentary filmmaker, who has spent the last 15 years making films like "Aluminum: Our Shiny Friend," is finally given the chance to make the documentary on Indian farming he has always wanted to. The catch? He must simultaneously direct a porn film. But as he tries to make the porn film, which he turns into a musical called "Halloween in the Barracks," he must deal with a temperamental actor, a fundamentalist preacher, and other obstacles.


Casual Sex?
1988 · 1h 28m · US
Two girls go away to a holiday resort looking for a change of pace, hoping to meet some nice men for a change. They discover that they can't find the perfect man, and this forces them to reconsider their attitudes to men in general.


Club Paradise
1986 · 1h 36m · US
When Chicago firefighter Jack Moniker retires and moves to a small Caribbean island, he is befriended by the owner of a run-down resort. Together they renovate the resort and lure tourists to Club Paradise in an effort to fight off corrupt officials and businessmen who want to claim the resort as their own.


Goin' South
1978 · 1h 49m · US
Henry Moon is captured for a capital offense by a posse when his horse quits while trying to escape to Mexico. He finds that there is a post-Civil War law in the small town that any single or widowed woman can save him from the gallows by marrying him.