An IRA film with a difference, Neil Jordan's The Crying Game takes the Anglo-Irish conflict as the starting point for a thoughtful, often poignant and sometimes humorous examination of gender and identity. Stephen Rea is the IRA volunteer who befriends a kidnapped British soldier (the gauche but likeable Forest Whitaker), then takes the questions of loyalty and instinct (the "frog and scorpion" fable) with him to London, where he falls for the dead man's girlfriend (the appealing Jaye Davidson). Love and terrorism are fused in a violent and suspenseful denouement, where truth manifests itself in an unexpected yet meaningful way. Miranda Richardson and Adrian Dunbar are persuasive as the IRA agents, and there are excellent cameos from Jim Broadbent as an East End barman and Tony Slattery as a property shark, all making the most of Jordan's stylish, Academy Award-winning script. Anne (Art of Noise) Dudley contributes a moodily atmospheric score, with three versions of "When a Man Loves a Woman" to point up the gender issue. On the DVD: The Crying Game comes to disc with a widescreen picture that reproduces adequately for an early 90s film. The soundtrack, though, has real presence. There are subtitles in English and Russian(!), though the theatrical trailer is hardly a major bonus. An interview or a commentary with Jordan, discussing the motivation behind the project, would really have benefited a film which cuts across genres so successfully as this. --Richard Whitehouse
Identical male twins both lose their wives in a traffic accident. Whilst conducting bizarre photographic experiments in an attempt to understand the process of death they seek solace with the only survivor of the crash...
An off-the-wall comedy about the antics of a group of US highway patrolmen and their rivalry with the local cops.
From the segregated American South to the fashion capitals around the world, operatic fashion editor André Leon Talley's life is on display in THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÃ. The enigmatic personality takes us through his life; from the struggles of his youth through to his move to New York to fulfil his dream of working in the fashion industry and later, to his iconic, barrier-breaking work at publications like Women's Wear Daily, W and Vogue. Directed by Kate Novack (Page One: Inside the New York Times), the film features commentary from fashion luminaries including Anna Wintour, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs and draws fascinating and unexplored connections between his early life in the South and later work in the fashion world.
A milestone film from 1971 and winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, The French Connection transformed the crime thriller with its gritty, authentic story about New York City police detectives on the trail of a large shipment of heroin. Based on an actual police case and the illustrious career of New York cop Eddie Egan, the film stars Gene Hackman as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, whose unorthodox methods of crime fighting are anything but diplomatic. With his partner (Roy Scheider), Popeye investigates the international shipment of heroin masterminded by the suave Frenchman (Fernando Rey) who eludes Popeye throughout an escalating series of pursuits. The obsessive tension of Doyle's investigation reaches peak intensity during the film's breathtaking car chase, in which Doyle races under New York's elevated train tracks in a borrowed sedan--a sequence that earned an Oscar for editing and was instantly hailed as one of the greatest chase scenes ever filmed. Produced on location, The French Connection had an immediate influence on dozens of movies and TV shows to follow, virtually redefining the crime thriller with its combination of brutal realism and high-octane craftsmanship. Boosted by the film's phenomenal success, director William Friedkin gained even more attention with his follow-up film, The Exorcist. --Jeff Shannon
Two LAPD homicide detectives investigate the slaying of a rap group that might have been set up by the president of their record label.
The Sixth instalment of American Horror Story: Roanoke. Presented as a paranormal documentary series, the story follows a married couple whose experiences are re-enacted by actors. The couple settles into their new home, strange and paranormal occurrences begin to haunt them. This instalment of the Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning franchise features an all-star cast of Lady Gaga, Cuba Gooding Jr, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Denis O'Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock.
ALAIN DELON, GIAN MARIA VOLONTà and YVES MONTAND star as the elegant, mis-matched trio, locked in an elaborate and dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the inscrutable police inspector (ANDRà BOURVIL), who is determined to foil their attempts to pull off the perfect crime, despite being drawn irresistibly to his prey. As the day of the heist dawns, the story unfolds, with all four players determined to cheat fate. Extras: The Perfect Circle Under the Name of Melville Interview with Bernard Stora Interview with José Giovanni Ginette Vincendeau Presentation of Le Cercle Rouge
One of Hammer's most controversial features, Val Guest's The Camp on Blood Island was a huge box-office hit, despite drawing the wrath of critics who accused the film of sensationalising and exploiting the sufferings of soldiers and civilians imprisoned and abused by the Japanese during the Second World War. Certainly, the film's brutal representation of life for Allied captives in a Malayan prisoner-of-war camp is unusually grim and graphic for the time, but is buoyed by Guest's sharp and naturalistic direction, and a terrific cast is headed by André Morell (Cash on Demand, Ben-Hur), Carl Möhner (Rififi) and the late, great Hammer icon Barbara Shelley (The Gorgon, The Shadow of the Cat). Special Features High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with Hammer icon Barbara Shelley and horror novelist Stephen Laws The Brutal Truth: Inside The Camp on Blood Island' (2018, 29 mins): documentary written and directed by Hammer expert Marcus Hearn, narrated by Claire Louise Amias, and featuring film historians Alan Barnes and Jonathan Rigby Hammer's Women: Mary Merrall (2018, 11 mins): Diabolique magazine's editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger explores the life and career of the prolific English film, stage and television actress From Light to Dark (2018, 18 mins): Steve Chibnall, author of British Horror Cinema, takes a look at Val Guest's career and the making of The Camp on Blood Island Return to Blood Island (2018, 4 mins): interview with the film's script supervisor Renée Glynne Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
An adaptation of a story by Guy de Maupassant which tells the tale of a young girl on an idyllic country picnic who leaves her family and fiance for a while and embarks on an all to brief romance. Includes discarded takes and screen tests. Shot on location on the banks of two small tributaries of the Seine Renoir's sensuous tribute to the countryside - and to the river - has seldom been surpassed. In its bittersweet lyricism its tenderness and poetic feel for nature its tolera
It is the 7th Century and in Mecca powerful leaders are in conflict with Mohammed who attacks the many injustices their way of life produces - slavery drunkenness and cruelty. Mohammed claims to have seen a vision of the Angel Gabriel and calls to the people of Mecca to worship one God only. After a revelation from God Mohammed agrees to take arms against Mecca and at the Wells of Bedr the inexperienced Moslem troops are victorious. However at the Battle of Uhud they are beate
Adapted from the George Simenon novel 'Les Fiancailles De M. Hire' it tells the story of old Monsieur Hire who lives a lonely existence in an apartment block. He spies on a woman called Alice who also lives there and he knows everything about her until one evening he sees something he shouldn't and his life changes for ever.
John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer in this sequel to 1995 comedy hit.
This film is based on the hugely successful S&M novel that has been read by millions of people worldwide. The author Pauline Reage tells the story of a beautiful young woman known only as 'O' who is taken by her boyfriend Rene to a chateau just outside Paris. There 'O' is trained in bondage and sexual perversion. 'O' is deeply in love with Rene and in order to prove her love she allows herself to be subjected to all kinds of degradation and abuse. Finally, Rene discharges a personal debt by transferring possession of 'O' to his stepbrother Sir Stephen. In the film which produced in 1975, Just Jaeckin the director explores the cruel world in which 'O' finds herself. A world of sado-masochism and kinky and bizarre sexual practices. The film was refused certification when it was originally submitted, has now been passed uncut by the BBFC.Also available in a Box Set together with the novel.
John Huston directs this 1950s drama starring Errol Flynn, Juliette Gréco, Trevor Howard, Eddie Albert and Orson Welles. Based on the novel by Romain Gary, the film follows crusading environmentalist Morel (Howard), who is determined to protect elephants from the threat of extinction. Though Morel initially struggles to gain traction for his project in French Equatorial Africa, he wins over Minna (Gréco), a local tavern worker, and Forsyth (Flynn), a former member of the British Army looking to correct past wrongs. Can the intrepid trio make a difference to the future of elephants?
Made by three Belgian film students “Man Bites Dog” was the prize winning sensation at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival and has achieved cult status. A black comedy about an amiable but seriously warped mass murderer who kills without motive or conscience. The story follows the increasingly close relationship between the killer and a film crew making a documentary about his exploits.
French sensation The Crimson Rivers was a serial killer thriller with a difference--it was genuinely thrilling. It was also pretty disturbing, but Jean Reno (The Professional) brought some light to the darkness with his sly performance as dog-phobic detective Niémans. Fortunately, Reno has returned in this highly stylized Luc Besson-penned sequel. Vincent Cassell has not, but Benoît Magimel (The Piano Teacher), as new partner Reda, makes for a decent replacement. Alas, Olivier Dahan isn't in the same league as Matthieu Kassovitz and the story line, which has something to do with the Last Supper, the Maginot Line, and gravity-defying killer monks, is even more convoluted than before. Then there's Johnny Hallyday (The Man on the Train) as a mysterious one-eyed man and Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings) as a bad German dude. It's all a little ridiculous, but entertaining nonetheless, and the chase sequences are a treat. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Desire is mysterious. Desire is overwhelming. Desire is tragic. Desire is FURIOUS. The many permutations of that strange thing called desire are on full display in this stunning collection of short films: Daytime Doorman tracks the burgeoning desire between Marcelo and his sexy doorman Marcio. Xavier charts the beginnings of desire, when Nicholas begins to notice his son, Xavier, only pays attention to certain types of boys. The Other Side is about the frustrations of unfulfilled desire when the object of your lust is beyond your reach- literally. The Tigers Fight explores what happens when one man, unbound by the ancient traditions, decides to subvert what s expected of him to declare his desire for his best friend, and finally, in Loris Is Fine we learn about the lengths two young lovers will go to prove that their love is beyond desire.
Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin
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