Billy Elliot: Inside every one of us is a special talent waiting to come out. The trick is finding it. Starring Julie Walters and newcomer Jamie Bell the film (based on a real-life story) follows the progress of little Billy Elliot a motherless 11 year-old from a poor Durham pit village. When young Billy chooses ballet classes over boxing lessons his life is changed forever. He decides to keep the lessons secret from his father a coal miner but when his ballet instructor persuades him to try out for the Royal Ballet School in London Billy must make the choice between family responsibilities and his dreams... Billy Elliot received plenty of recognition at the Academy Awards picking up nominations for Best Supporting Actress Best Director and Best Screenplay. (Dir. Stephen Daldry 2000) Steel Magnolia's: A beautiful bittersweet comedy set in deep south Louisiana 'Steel Magnolias' unites talents of America's finest actresses as six very special friends bonded together by mutual triumphs and tragedies. Despite their differences beautiful Shelby (Julia Roberts) her strong-willed mother M'Lynn (Sally Field) beauty parlour owner Truvy (Dolly Parton) elegant wealthy widow Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) sharp tongued Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine) and mousey newcomer Anelle (Daryl Hannah) enjoy a friendship that spans the boundaries of age and status. Sharing each other's strength and loyalty they face their greatest fears and highest hopes with dry wit and a self-deprecating style... (Dir. Herbert Ross 1989) Erin Brockovich: She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees. A research assistant (Roberts) helps an attorney (Finney) in a lawsuit against a large utility company blamed for causing an outbreak of cancer and other illnesses in a small community. (Dir. Steven Soderbergh 2000)
Oscar nominee Albert Finney (2001, Best Actor in a supporting role, Erin Brockovich) stars in this hilarious parody of American Film Noir directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen). Meet Eddie Ginley - small time bingo caller and big time loser. He's lost hi girlfriend and now maybe he's losing his marbles. Why, even his psychiatrist has officially diagnosed him as 'a bloody nut'... See, Eddie dreams of being Sam Spade, the ultimate private dick. He's gone so far as to advertise his services as a 'gumshoe' in the local paper. Then one day he gets a call. A mysterious fat man hands him a package with a photo of a girl , £1000 cash - and a gun. Now Eddie's up to his trench coat in femme fatales, hit men, dead bodies - and an international conspiracy. Not bad for a Liverpudlian with a big mouth and an overactive imagination. Now Eddie plunges himself into the mystery world he's always dreamed of living in. He's in his element - but is he also hopelessly out of his depth?
Miller's Crossing: The year is 1929. The place is a gangster-ridden American city run by Leo (Albert Finney). But the real power lies with Tom (Gabriel Byrne) the power behind the man. Their friendship is severed when they both fall in love with the same woman (Marcia Gay Harden) and a bloody gang war erupts... Road To Perdition: Two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks stars as Michael Sullivan a father fighting to keep his only son from traveling the Road To Perdition. Directed by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes this towering motion picture achievement has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike as one of the year's most extraordinary films. Capone: The man who made the Twenties roar! The story of the rise and fall of the infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone (Ben Gazzara) and the control he exhibited over the city during the prohibition years as well as with his subsequent fall...
Though it's not in the same league as the classic screen musicals, Annie's heartwarming rags-to-riches storyline, social comment (shallow as it may be) and catchy songs make for an entertaining and unpretentious 90 minutes' viewing. Aileen Quinn is the irrepressible titular orphan, by no means as irritating as she looks in the cover picture; Albert Finney is Oliver Warbucks, the tyrannical tycoon (with a hidden heart of gold, of course) who adopts her for a week in the interests of good PR. The real show-stopper, though, is Carol Burnett as the gin-soaked harpy Miss Hannigan, ruling with an iron fist over an orphanage full of unruly girls, flirting with every man in sight and eventually scheming with her unscrupulous brother (Tim Curry) to kidnap Annie and reap a fat Warbucks reward cheque. While the songs--including "Tomorrow", "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "It's a Hard Knock Life"--are excellent, the kids' voices are shrill and the production pretty low-rent: Annie is very obviously a stage show brought to screen on a low budget. But while it lacks the polish that make the Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe musicals so special, it's funny and sweet and has a rough charm all its own. On the DVD: The film is presented in widescreen, preserving its original 2.35:1 aspect, and is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen TVs; the soundtrack is Dolby surround, though as noted above the music score is relatively rough and ready so top-notch sound isn't actually as important as it would be in other musicals. The extras are pretty disappointing--an uninspired interactive menu features only the obligatory multi-language subtitles, (very) short biographies of the key cast members, a few publicity cards and posters, the theatrical trailer and--most interestingly--an isolated musical score. No commentary from director John Huston, no documentaries, nothing about the 1930s cartoon strip that was, apparently, one of the most popular of its day. There's actually more information in the accompanying booklet than there is on the disc. --Rikki Price
Tim Burton brings his inimitable imagination to a story about an adventurous story-telling father and his estranged son.
The Entertainer of the title is Archie Rice, a mediocre music hall artist upholding a dying tradition in an English seaside against a background of the 1956 Suez Crisis. Laurence Olivier stars and is supported by a superb cast including a young Alan Bates as his son, Roger Livesey as his kindly, now retired, always more talented and popular father, and Joan Plowright as his daughter (who, ironically given the story, married Olivier the following year). Albert Finney makes his screen debut in a tiny role and the remarkable cast also features Daniel Massey, Shirley Anne Field, Thora Hird and Charles Gray. Archie himself is a hollow man who brings pain to all around him, and while Olivier's brilliant performance reveals the layers of cynicism which disguise the emptiness inside, the emotional resonance lies with those forced to endure Rice's manipulations, adulteries and deceits. On stage John Osborne's play proved to be a signature part for Olivier, and director Tony Richardson--who filmed Osborne's equally sour Look Back In Anger (1958)--handles the material with unvarnished realism. Unfolding like a dark variation on Chaplin's Limelight (1952), the film equally casts a shadow over the less stellar Tony Hancock vehicle The Punch and Judy Man (1963), ultimately working as both family tragedy and allegory for a declining post-war England. Surprisingly an American 1976 TV movie remake starring Jack Lemmon held its own against this minor British classic. On the DVD: The Entertainer is presented letterboxed at 1.66:1, and sourced from an excellent print preserves the look of the original black and white cinematography very well. Even so a little material is clipped from either side of the image, though this is most notable on the left of the picture. The mono sound is very good. There are no features other than optional subtitles, including English for those hard of hearing. --Gary S Dalkin
Most critics couldn't get behind Bill Murray's modern retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, finding it too unfocused at times and not nearly wicked enough. Still, if you are a Murray fan, you have to enjoy his deliciously nasty portrayal of the world's meanest TV executive, who has his cathartic moment one cold Christmas night in New York City. The various ghosts lead him on a ghost-town tour of Manhattan, with stops at holidays past, present and future and a Kumbaya moment when Al Green and Annie Lennox sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart". The effects are otherworldly, but one wishes the writing were as sharp as Murray's edgy portrayal. --Marshall Fine
In a small Irish village, strong-willed Tara shocks the townspeople by having a baby out of wedlock and refusing to name the father. During Sunday mass she goes into labour giving birth to a baby boy. The town's constable, Brendan Hegarty, and Mick, a local landowner, vie for Tara's hand in marriage, but she refuses them both. When Tara instead falls for Tom Casey, an actor in a lewd wandering theater troupe called the Playboys, Hegarty plots to keep Tara and Tom apart.
In a small Irish village, strong-willed Tara shocks the townspeople by having a baby out of wedlock and refusing to name the father. During Sunday mass she goes into labour giving birth to a baby boy. The town's constable, Brendan Hegarty, and Mick, a local landowner, vie for Tara's hand in marriage, but she refuses them both. When Tara instead falls for Tom Casey, an actor in a lewd wandering theater troupe called the Playboys, Hegarty plots to keep Tara and Tom apart.
The first of several lavish Christie adaptations from producers John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin introducing Albert Finney as the first screen Hercule Poirot. This 1974 production of Agatha Christie's 1934 classic is a judicious mixture of mystery murder and nostalgia. Which member of the all-star cast onboard the luxurious train perforated the no-good American tycoon with a dagger twelve times? Was it Ingrid Bergman's shy Swedish missionary; or Vanessa Redgrave's English rose; Sean Connery as an Indian Army Colonel: Michael York or Jacqueline Bisset; perhaps Lauren Bacall; Anthony Perkins or John Gielgud as the victim's impassive butler. Finney spreads unease among them with subdued wit and finesse. Arguably the most successful screen adaptation of a Christie novel in addition to Bergman's Oscar for Best Supporting Actress 'Murder On The Orient Express' achieved nominations for Best Actor Screenplay Photography Costume Design and Music Score.
Dublin the early 1960's: passengers on Bus Conductor Alfie Byrne's route are entertained by a daily diet of poetry pose and excerpts from Oscar Wilde. Alfie delights his 'brethren' and attempts each year to put on a play in the church community hall. This year he wants to stage 'Salome'. When he finds his 'star' in the unsuspecting form of the delightful Adele he tries to convince his driver who has affectionately nicknamed 'Bosie' to tread the boards for the first time to no avail. Alfie soon discovers that Dublin can turn quickly into 'Peyton Place' when local butcher Carney the usurped former leading man recruits Alfie's sister and the elders from the church to condemn 'Salome' as 'the work of the devil'!
Lord Edgware Dies finds Poirot (David Suchet) reopening his London office with the help of Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) and Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser). As they celebrate their reunion, Japp quips that there's "only one thing missing...the body". Right on cue, a corpse turns up just moments later. Most of the suspects are actors by profession, but Poirot's "little grey cells" are able to penetrate the murderer's disguise--though only after two more victims heighten the suspense. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
A key film of the British New Wave 'Saturday Night And Sunday Morning' was a great box-office success - audiences were thrilled by its anti-establishment energy the gritty realism of its setting and most of all by a working-class hero of a fresh and outspoken kind. Based on Alan Sillitoe's largely autobiographical novel the film is set in the grim industrial streets and factories of Nottingham where Arthur Seaton spends his days at a factory bench his Saturday evenings in the local pubs and his Saturday nights with Brenda (Rachel Roberts) wife of a fellow factory worker. Played by Albert Finney with an irresistable animal vitality Arthur is anti-authority (Don't let the bastards grind you down) and unashamedly amoral (What I'm out for is a good time. All the rest is propoganda). With powerful central performances cracking dialogue by Sillitoe and a superb jazz score by Johnny Dankworth 'Saturday Night And Sunday Morning' still stands as a vibrant modern classic.
Albert Finney plays an alcoholic pub-owner whose visions of a 17th-century Doctor of the Occult are blamed on the booze - until the ghost turns its malevolent glare on his daughter. A monumental clash between good and evil ensues involving grave-robbing exorcism and a terrible tree. Adapted by Malcolm Bradbury from the Kingsley Amis novel.
An Ideal Husband (Dir. Oliver Parker 1999): Sexy leading man Rupert Everett heads an acclaimed all-star cast in this wonderfully witty story of decadence romance and scandal! Sir Robert is a highly respected politician whose spotless reputation is the pride of his beautiful wife (Cate Blanchett) and adoring sister (Minnie Driver). But when an old aquaintance (Julianne Moore) threatens to reveal a dark secret from Robert's past only his womanizing party-loving best friend Goring (Everett) is scheming and dishonest enough to come to his aid! Overwhelmingly acclaimed by critics - you'll love this fresh funny motion picture and its stellar ensemble as they elevate the art of blackmail to an elegant game of wit and passion. Tom Jones (Dir. Tony Richardson 1963): Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture and featuring a cast of superb actors headed by the young Albert Finney and Susannah York Tony Richardson's wickedly funny adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel (scripted by John Osbourne) is a rollicking picaresque period comedy to savour. No one has ever lived so freely and carelessly as Tom Jones (Finney). Abandoned at birth and raised by a wealthy squire (Hugh Griffith) Tom romps through English society leading a lusty life of brawling and bed-hopping... until his bawdy behaviour causes him to be sent away from his family his home and the only woman he's ever truly loved (York). But some men never learn and soon Tom's escapades land him in the company of reckless scoundrels the boudoirs of more women... and finally in jail. Will Tom's charm save him... or will the gallows be his last swing? A Passage To India (Dir. David Lean 1984): Oscar-winning story of the social friction between the British and Indian communities which clash dramatically when an Indian befriended by two visiting English women is accused of raping one during a trip to the remote Marabar caves...
Double Oscar nominated film including Best Actor for Albert Finney. Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney) British Consul to Mexico has quit his job after divorcing Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset) and takes solace with a bottle of booze. However Yvonne decides to return to Cuernavaca along with Geoffrey’s half-brother (Anthony Andrews) in order to get Geoffrey sober again. But a self-destructive drunk is not an easy man to reclaim…
At first glance, Lyle Carter seems to have it all. A handsome millionaire with a beautiful wife and a sprawling estate in Lexington, Kentucky, Carter has built his empire on breeding and training thoroughbreds.
In Cold Lazarus we find the cryogenically stored brain of Daniel Freed trapped in a future world where scientists gather to watch his projected memories. Under pressure from rival corporate interests the scientists fall victim to the tricks that memory can play picking at threads as they try to comprehend how personal histories are written - and can be rewritten. As elements of truth and fiction explosively intertwine will the mind of Daniel Feeld finally be set free?
Meet Joe Black (Dir. Martin Brest 1998): Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) has it all success wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger Joe Black (Brad Pitt) who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani)? Mona Lisa Smile (Dir. Mike Newell 2003): Set in 1953 Katherine Watson (Roberts) is a free-spirited graduate of UC Berkeley who accepts a teaching post at Wellesley College a women-only school where the students are torn between the repressive mores of the time and their longing for intellectual freedom. Erin Brockovich (Dir. Steven Soderbergh 2003): She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees. A research assistant (Roberts) helps an attorney (Finney) in a lawsuit against a large utility company blamed for causing an outbreak of cancer and other illnesses in a small community.
Double Oscar nominated fi lm including Best Actor for Albert Finney. Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney), British Consul to Mexico, has quit his job after divorcing Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset), and takes solace with a bottle of booze. However, Yvonne decides to return to Cuernavaca, along with Geoffrey's half-brother (Anthony Andrews) in order to get Geo rey sober again. But a self-destructive drunk is not an easy man to reclaim
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