You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter-century after President Kennedy's assassination, has lost none of its potency over time. Former infantryman Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. The indecipherable dreams seem to centre on Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), a decorated war hero but a cold fish of a man whose own mother (Angela Lansbury, in one of the all-time great dragon-lady roles) describes him as looking like his head is "always about to come to a point". Mrs Bates has nothing on Lansbury's character, the manipulative queen behind her second husband, Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), a notoriously McCarthyesque demagogue. --Jim Emerson
Disney's classic animated retelling of the French fairy tale, with a new scene added for the forthcoming Imax exclusive re-release.
Fascinating and imaginative The Company Of Wolves, directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) brings together the timeless Little Red Riding Hood and werewolf fables with a haunting, compelling, eerie and erotic difference. This movie is a magical bag of symbolic folklore about werewolves or rather their sexual connotation. Grandmother Angela Lansbury tells her granddaughter Sarah Patterson, disturbing tales about innocent maidens falling in love with handsome...
Based on the 1938 book of the same name by Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins is a comedy about how the surprise appearance of a penguin at a New York businessman's door turns his life completely upside down, while simultaneously teaching him an important lesson about the value of family. Far from the small-town painter featured in the book, the film's Mr. Popper is a real estate developer who lives in an exclusive apartment on Park Avenue, has his sights set on becoming a partner in his firm, and is an every-other-weekend father to his two children. A ruthless developer with no time for anything but business, Mr. Popper resolves to deal with his father's parting gift of a penguin by getting rid of the annoying bird as quickly as possible. That process proves much more difficult than expected, even with the help of his ultra-efficient assistant Pippi, who speaks primarily in p's, and Mr. Popper soon winds up with six penguins. Even more unexpected is how markedly those penguins begin to affect the relationship between Mr. Popper and his children and how that change affects the rest of Mr. Popper's life. Jim Carrey's performance as Mr. Popper is very good--he capitalises on the many comic opportunities afforded by the idea of keeping penguins in a New York apartment while showing an uncharacteristic restraint that's quite refreshing. Ophelia Lovibond is quite comical as Pippi and Angela Lansbury also makes a strong appearance as one of Mr. Popper's potential business clients. As Pippi would say, the premise of the power of the penguin to promote personal prosperity and perpetuate personal peace positively prevails in Mr. Popper's Penguins. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
TBC
More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000, originally made for the IMAX large-screen format, features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of the Ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story and animation style. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones and others. --Mark EnglehartFantasia and Fantasia 2000 are also available together in the three-disc DVD Fantasia Collection.
In New York City adolescent friends Gil and Val follow pianist Henry Orient (Sellers) - a clueless womanising virtuoso - all over town while he tries to seduce Stella (Prentiss) a married woman. However when Val's parents arrive for Christmas holidays the two girls are forced to grow up and test their friendship... This is an endearing and gentle comedy and combined with a classic Sellers performance it ensures that this film will be enjoyed over and over again!
The sequel to Sidney Sheldon's best-seller Rage Of Angels which follows Jennifer who now heads her own law firm. Returning to America she meets up with an ex-lover and it seems their love may be re-kindled...
If you're dreaming of a p-p-p-perfect Christmas, why not p-p-p-pick up the fabulously funny family film MR POPPER'S PENGUINS, available on Blu-Ray Triple Play and DVD from 12 December, 2011 courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Acclaimed and treasured like no other, Disney's beloved modern classic, the first animated feature film in the history of the Oscars nominated for Best Picture (1991), is brilliantly transformed to a new level of entertainment through the magic of 3D Blu-ray High Definition. The music you'll never forget, the characters who will fill your heart and the magical adventure about finding beauty within all come to spectacular life in 3D Blu-ray. Plus, all-new, immersive bonus features will transport you even further into Belle's enchanted world. So be our guest and join the beloved, independent Belle and the Beast with the soul of a prince as they cast an enchanting spell like never before.
With hairy warts, a stern-looking unibrow and one extremely protruding buck-tooth, Nanny McPhee is a wonderfully comedic substitute for Mary Poppins in this entertaining family fantasy. By loosely adapting Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda children's books of the 1960s, Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) has also given herself the plum role of Nanny McPhee, who can tame even the most unruly children with a tap of her magic walking stick. Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown (Colin Firth), who's under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide (a tailor-made role for Angela Lansbury). His love for scullery maid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially after they've come under the benevolent influence of Nanny McPhee, whose peculiar brand of discipline works wonders for everyone involved. Both quintessentially British and universally appealing, this wildly colourful comedy (thanks to a bold palette of costume and production design) was capably directed by Kirk Jones, whose appreciation for comic actors was equally apparent in his critically acclaimed 1998 comedy Waking Ned. With just a hint of darkness to offset the whimsy, Nanny McPhee offers a splendid match of director, cast and material, guaranteed to please Wallace & Gromit fans and anyone else with a taste for British zaniness.-- Jeff Shannon
The Flight Before Christmas A young reindeer who suffers from vertigo learns to overcome his fear, takes flying lessons from a clumsy flying squirrel and heads to the North pole to save a troubled Santa and his fleet of flying reindeer. Mrs Santa Claus Join Mrs Santa Claus on an exhilarating and spellbinding adventure that will bring out the Christmas spirit in all the family. It's been said that behind every great man there's a great woman. But then there's Mrs Santa Claus (A...
Neil Simon's curious comedy The Out-of-Towners concerns a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970 and directed by Arthur (Love Story) Hiller, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. It was remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in 1999. --Tom Keogh
Angela Lansbury stars as supersleuth Miss Marple who sets about solving a mysterious death in the archetypal English village of St. Mary Mead. It features an all star cast including Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. EXTRAS: Interview with writer Barry Sandler Interview with Dame Angela Lansbury Interview with producer Richard Goodwin Behind the scenes stills gallery Storyboard gallery
A stylish remake of the Hitchcock original in which two young people are searching for an old lady who has mysteriously disappeared on the train journey back to London from Switzerland...
Angela Lansbury stars in the role that earned her 12 consecutive Emmy nominations as everyone's favorite super-sleuth Jessica Fletcher a famous mystery writer who has a knack for solving murders on and off the page.
A bumper box set of classic films featuring 'The First Lady of Cinema' Katharine Hepburn! State Of The Union (Dir. Frank Capra 1948): The Flamboyant businessman Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is persuaded by his mistress the powerful publishing heiress Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) to seek the Republican nomination in the forthcoming elections. Mary Matthews (Katharine Hepburn) joins her estranged husband to present a public portrait of a happy family for the voters.
Beauty And The Beast: When an arrogant prince is cursed to become a Beast the only way to break the spell is to love and be loved in return. But who could ever learn to love a Beast? After he imprisons Belle a bookworm who dreams of life outside her provincial village he sees her as difficult and stubborn while she views him as a monster. But the two soon taste the bitter-sweetness of finding you can change and learning you were wrong. Beauty And The Beast: Enchanted Christmas: All the enchantment of Disney's Academy Award Winning film Beauty and the Beast continues as this classic adventure casts its song-filled spell. This magical tale reveals a Christmas past when Belle vows to warm the Beast's castle with the sprit and hope of the season - despite the Beast's misgivings about Christmas. She asks all the enchanted Objects to chip in including reluctant Angelique - a beautiful tree ornament who was once the castle decorator. But Belle Cogsworth Lumiere and a host of new enchanting friends must first undo the plans of Forte - an evil plotting pipe organ - who gets wind of their plan. He will pull out all the stops to keep the Beast away from Belle's special gift of hope. From the rich detail of the Beast's castle to the astounding computer-generated imagery of the villain Forte this beautiful tale overflows with spectacular songs spellbinding visuals and the same state-of-the-art effects that brought Disney's original masterpiece to the screen. Now be our guest for a perfectly enchanting untold chapter in a tale as old as time.
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy