Offenbach composed over 100 operettas, and yet is primarily remembered now only for The Tales of Hoffman and for having written the "Can-Can". This live Concert of Music by Offenbach aims to put the record straight and show that at least some of his other works deserve the chance to be staged. Fortunately the composer has found almost ideal advocates in conductor Marc Minkowski and mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter. The latter takes a respectful but unstuffy approach to the scores (the orchestral numbers Souvenirs d'Aix-les-Bains and the Barbe Bleue Ouverture are played with exquisite attention to detail, especially in some sighing woodwind solos) and von Otter shows that she is as great a comedienne as she is a singer. From the blowsy Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein declaring her love for soldiers in tight uniforms to the outrageous yodelling of the Colonel's Widow from La Vie Parisienne, she hits just the right note of inspired lunacy and frothiness. And there are some delicious costume changes too, including a grotesque bumpkin hat that's almost as big as the mezzo herself ("Duo des Alsaciens"). There's even more unintentional comedy in the English subtitles, which must be among the worst ever produced: "myself every night what I do coming here to seat" is one solipsistic oddity. Oliver Becker directs well for the small screen, capturing the fizz of a lively event. On the DVD: A Concert of Music by Offenbach is presented in 4:3 ratio, with LPCM Stereo, AC3 Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 sound options. The picture quality is fine, although the foreground and background of the stage seem to be presented in one rather flat surface. There are subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. --Warwick Thompson
David Pountney's landmark English National Opera staging of Dvorak's haunting fairy tale opera left critics and audiences spellbound. The production is set in a Victorian nursery where an adolescent girl on the brink of sensual awakening dreams of first love. Her story is that of Rusalka the wood nymph who like Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid sacrifices all for love destined to be betrayed. High above the stage Rusalka dreamily swings as the picturesque gives way to the surreal.
When mom goes to work dad goes berserk! Jack and Caroline are a couple struggling to make ends meet. When Jack loses his job they agree that he should stay at home and look after the house while Caroline works. It's just that he's never done it before and really doesn't have a clue; as she is climbing the ladder of success at work he puts great effort into becoming hopelessly inept at home!
A summer vacation turns into a nightmare as rising executive Tom Williams (John Ritter) takes his beautiful wife Gina (Rachel Hunter) and his children on a long-awaited break. Tom and his family are thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse when they are kidnapped by a vicious gang led by the psychotic Mr Eddie (Eric Roberts) the last in a line of white trash criminals lured to the west coast by the promise of easy pickings. Tom is given an ultimatum find .2 million or his family will die! But all is not what it seems as it becomes clear to Tom that the sadistic Eddie has no intention of turning his family free. Unable to ask for help Tom must summon up every ounce of moral and physical courage to save his family from almost certain death!
New Nightmare Freddie's back in the sequel to 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' but this time staying awake won't save you!! Carnival Of Souls Every child's dream of a carnival coming to town comes true. But for Alex Grant the dream all too quickly becomes a nightmare.
Sidney Salkow directs this 1950s drama starring Buster Crabbe and Ann Robinson. Chad Santee (Crabbe) is a recently discharged Cavalry sergeant travelling back west to join his brother Jubal (Neville Brand) on the family cattle ranch. Sharing a coach with singer Rose Fargo (Robinson) and a gambler known as Blackjack Silk (Jimmy Seay), when Chad arrives at his destination he discovers that his brother has become an outlaw and has got himself involved with notorious rustler Shawnee Jack (Michael Ansara). As Chad refuses his brother's proposal of a partnership, he leaves with Rose at his side only to be followed by Shawnee Jack and his gang...
Penny Serenade is the story of Julie and Roger Adams. It is an honest look at a happy if not exactly peaceful period in the domestic life of a newspaperman and a former salesgirl in a music shop.
3 x John Wayne classics on 1 DVD. 'Lucky Texan' - The Duke's a tough easterner who travels out West and ends up in the middle of a range war. 'Randy Rides Alone' - Renegades take over a town and its up to Wayne to save the day (all by himself no less). 'Man From Utah' - The Duke visits the rodeo where he must deal with the murderous patron who has killed some performers.
Thunderbirds (Dir. Jonathan Frakes 2004): International Rescue run in secret by the Tracy family and led by Jeff (Bill Paxton) is permamently on standby to offer assistance when accidents and incidents threaten lives across the world. However when the villainous Hood (Ben Kingsley) infiltrates the Tracy's clandestine island base and imprisons most of the family who will rescue the rescuers? It's left to teenage Alan (Brady Corbet) and his similarly young friends to save the day! Small Soldiers (Dir. Joe Dante 1998):Meet the Commando Elite - toy action figures with an attitude. They've escaped from their boxes along with the Gorgonites kindhearted but unusual-looking creatures. Now teenager Alan Abernathy gets enlisted to help the Gorgonites and rescue the girl of his dreams before the whole town is turned upside down. Small Soldiers is a spectacular adventure for the whole family! We're Back A Dinosaur's Tale (1993): The voices of the above stars bring a handful of dinosaurs back to life in the modern day in this Steven Spielberg production. Lavish animation and imagination bring to life this delightful tale of dinosaurs in New York City. A group of very friendly very intelligent dinosaurs take a trip to Manhattan and brighten the lives of two very special lonely children.
Laura and Ted are incredibly rich and blissfully happy but Mark the son of Laura is hatching a plan to relieve her of her wealth...
Eve's Lounge a sleazy bar owned by a former streetwalker is the place where various characters hang out meet up and fall in love. Amongst them is a radio agony Aunt (who is actually inexperienced in love and sex!). There is a beautiful young woman whose husband is Eve's lover and central to all the stories is the charismatic Mickey who is certainly a psychopathic liar and maybe many other things too!
Narcotics cop Popeye Doyle pits his wits against an international drugs ring attempting to infiltrate New York despite official warnings to back off... All-time classic action thriller (with a remarkable car chase below the elevated railway!) which won five Oscars in 1971.
Excess Baggage: Brazen yet emotionally neglected Emily T. Hope (Alicia Silverstone) desperate for her father's attention stages her own kidnapping. But before she can enjoy a happy reunion with her father her car gets stolen with Emily still inside and professional car thief Vincent Roche (Benicio Del Toro) is about to find out that he's stolen a lot more than he bargained for! And when Emily's sinister ex-CIA 'uncle' (Christopher Walken) starts tracking them down the heat can only get hotter in this hilariously romantic adventure! Biloxi Blues: In this semi-autobiographical screenplay Neil Simon's private memoirs in the US Army are made public. Set in 1943 at an army base in Biloxi Mississippi a lowly recruit (Broderick) comes under the command of a very weird drill sergeant (Walken)... Go: Ronna needs to make some extra cash. Simon wants to escape to Vegas for the weekend. Adam and Zack want to stay out of trouble. But it's not just another night in the life of these unusual characters. They're about to embark on a wild ride that won't end until the sun comes up.
When the Cowan family hire a Swedish nanny to take care of their daughter Christina they are unaware that they are putting their daughter's life in great danger.
Penny Serenade is the story of Julie and Roger Adams. It is an honest look at a happy if not exactly peaceful period in the domestic life of a newspaperman and a former salesgirl in a music shop.
The haunted pine forests of New Jersey is a wilderness area larger than the Grand Canyon. This wilderness abounds in dense forest and is the perfect refuge for a legendary creature which has been feared by the locals since the eighteenth century. Locals tell stories of a native Indian shaman who mastered the forbidden black art of 'shape shifting' a phenomenon recently verified by modern anthropologists. Legend has it that the Indian shaman transformed his thirteenth child into a creature half man and half beast in order to ward off the British army during the American Revolution. Enter a world where suspense and mystery collide generating a chilling climax of terror.
Experience an amazing collection of Academy Award winning and nominated features all in one box! The celebrated Cinema Collection includes 56 short movies starring some of Hollywood's finest acting talent! Films comprise: 1. Texan 2. The Investigator 3. Teach 109 4. Another Round 5. Hogg's Heaven 6. Museum Of Love 7. Once In A Blue Moon 8. Hearts Of Stone 9. Lieberman In Love 10. The Witness 11. Birch St. Gym 12. The Price Of Life 13. The Gift 14. Grandpa's Funeral 15. Two Ov
In Night at the Golden Eagle, a cross-section of decrepit people live out their desperate, dead-end lives over the course of a long night at an equally decrepit LA hotel. This is the jaundiced vision of director Adam Rifkin, best known for the raucously enjoyable Detroit Rock City and the cult curiosity The Dark Backward. He's corralled some good people for this low-budget offering (Natasha Lyonne and Ann Magnuson as hookers, Vinnie Jones as a cruel pimp), but the lion's share of screen time goes to a pair of small-time crooks (Donnie Montemarano and Vinny Argiro) planning to split for Vegas in the morning. It's diverting for a while, but the bleached-sepia look and unrelenting rancidity take their toll, grinding the picture down. Even a soft-shoe shuffle for Fayard Nicholas (of the awesome Nicholas Brothers), a grace note if there ever was one, can't lift the movie out of its determined sense of gloom. --Robert Horton
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