Stomping out their usual cuteness and carbon copying Disney's grand animation style to a tee, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (An American Tail) create a successful musical comedy from the story of the lost Russian princess. Adapting the story of imperialism and revolution is tricky, and subsequently the film's opening is weak. Once Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, sung by Liz Callaway) is a teenager and on her own (suffering from some degree of amnesia), Anastasia is quite pleasing though never refreshingly new. 20th Century Fox's big-money gamble to horn in on Disney's realm is worthy. The songs, especially the recurrent "Once Upon a December" by Broadway team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, are better than Disney's recent efforts. It's worth picking up the soundtrack. The mix of cell animation and computer work is vivid. The collection of vocal talent is also strong, from John Cusack (as Dimitri, who wants to earn the reward by bringing Anya to Paris) to Hank Azaria as an amusing albino bat. Kelsey Grammer helps turn a roly-poly sidekick into a warm and strong supporting character. The biggest drawback is Bluth/Goldman's insistence on having a typical villain. Surprisingly, the story would be strong enough without one and the undead corpse of Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) is unneeded and unoriginal. --Doug Thomas
Matilda (Dir. Danny DeVito 1996): Unfortunately for Matilda her father Harry (Danny DeVito) is a used car salesman who bamboozles innocent customers and her mother Zinnia (Rhea Perlman) lives for bingo and soap operas. Far from noticing what a special child Matilda is they barely notice her at all! They bundle Matilda off to Cruncham Hall a bleak school where students cower before the whip hand and fist of a hulking monster headmistress Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). But amid Crunchem's darkness Matilda discovers remarkable skills - including a very special talent that allows her to turn the table on the wicked grown ups in her world! Annie (Dir. John Huston 1982): The irresistable orphan of comic-strip and box office fame comes to life in this acclaimed musical production. Annie is the story of a plucky red-haired girl who dreams of a life away outside her orphanage and its gin-soaked tyrant Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire ""Daddy"" Warbucks and the pair share spectacular times in 1930s New York City. But Miss Hannigan and her zany villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan...
Annie is the story of a plucky red-haired girl who dreams of a life away outside her orphanage and its gin-soaked tyrant Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire ""Daddy"" Warbucks and the pair share spectacular times in 1930's New York City. But Miss Hannigan and her zany villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan...
From the mind of science-fiction giant Ray Bradbury spring what is perhaps his most epic vision. Capturing mankind's first venture into the colonization of another planet- and its tragic first contact with another species - The Martian Chronicles is a stunning achievement that will take you from the edge of your seat...to the stars. Earth is on the verge of extinction. To survive, mankind must find another place to live. And when three expeditions to Mars, headed by Col. John Wilder (Oscar® nominee* Rock Hudson), find suitable conditions for relocation, humans pour in by the shipload, bringing the old evils of Earth with them! As Wilder begins to heed the lessons of the dying Martian civilization, can he save humanity from repeating its doom?
Collection of four classic children's films. 'Annie' (1982) is the story of the eponymous optimistic orphan (Aileen Quinn) who lives a miserable life in an children's home run by the awful Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett). One day, she sees her chance to escape and sets off on a journey which will take her to the door of childless millionaire Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney). In 'Oliver' (1968) young Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) escapes from the workhouse, where he has been brutally treated all of his life, and joins the gang of street urchins led by the rascal Fagin (Ron Moody). Oliver is trained as a pick-pocket, but ends up being caught for a crime he did not commit. However, this seemingly unfortunate accident brings him closer to his real family. 'Matilda' (1996) stars Mara Wilson as the exceptionally gifted and intelligent child who is ignored by her stupid parents Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman). A keen reader, her dearest wish is to be sent to school, but the establishment Harry selects is Crunchemhall, run by the tyrannical Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). Her cruelty to her pupils causes Matilda to vow revenge, and her newly discovered telekinetic powers give her the chance to do so. 'Madeline' (1998) stars Hatty Jones as the most mischievous of the twelve friends who live at a Parisian school run by Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Her sunny existence is threatened by starchy old Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) who is on a campaign to have the school closed down. It is up to Madeline and her friends, who include the equally precocious Pepito (Kristian de la Osa) and a dog who saved her from drowning, to stop him.
The World's Greatest Concert Of Musicals. A magical night of theatre that could only take place in your dreams... until now. Hey Mr Producer! features selected scenes from the productions of the world's most successful musical producer Cameron Mackintosh - classic songs from classic musicals performed by the ultimate cast. Now dreams become reality in this stunning theatrical concert introduced by Julie Andrews. Featuring a glittering array of internationall
That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin makes his film-starring debut in the wacky comedy hit The Jerk. Steve plays Navin Johnson the adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches... right back to rags. Steve propels Navin through a string of misadventures becoming smitten with a lady motorcycle racer surviving a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer and becoming a millionaire by inventing the Opti-grab handle for eyeglasses–and shows why he’s one of the hottest comic performers in the world.
Annie is the story of a plucky, redhaired girl who dreams of a life away outside of her orphanage and its ginsoaked tyrant, Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire, Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney), and the pair share spectacular times in the New York City of the 1930s. But Miss Hannigan and her zany, villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan Based on the smashhit Broadway musical, ANNIE features a chorus of terrific songs, including It's a Hard Knock Life and Tomorrow. Features: My Hollywood Adventure with Aileen Quinn Musical Performance of It's The HardKnock Life Sing Along with Annie Act Along with Annie The Age of Annie Trivia Game
What if you saved a souvenir from every relationship you've ever been in? THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY follows the always unique Lucy (Geraldine Viswanathan), a 20-something art gallery assistant living in New York City, who also happens to be an emotional hoarder. After she gets dumped by her latest boyfriend, Lucy is inspired to create The Broken Heart Gallery, a pop-up space for the items love has left behind. Word of the gallery spreads, encouraging a movement and a fresh start for all the romantics out there, including Lucy herself. Features: Includes a Hilarious Gag Reel and Behind-The-Scenes Vignettes!
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.
That wild and crazy guy Steve Martin makes his acting debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer becomes a millionaire by inventing the ""opti-grab"" handle for eyeglasses - and shows why he's the hottest comic performer in America today.
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
Annie
Steve Martin made his film-starring debut in this wild and crazy comedy hit The Jerk. Steve portrays Navin Johnson, adopted son of a poor black share cropper family, whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way, he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer, survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer, becomes a millionaire by inventing the Opti-grab handle for eyeglasses and shows why he's still one of the best comic performers.
The spin-off of The Good Wife is a legal drama series, that takes place about a year after the first series ended. Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) and her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) end up joining Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at a new firm, after a scam ruines their reputations and leaves them broke. This first season follows Diane and Maia as they attempt to decipher the mystery that destroyed their professional and personal lives, and as they slowly start to rebuild their careers.
The ancient world's most spectacular epic unfolds in this star studded special-effects filled adventure of breathtaking beauty and power in this adaptation of Homer's Odyssey....
Littlefoot and his grandparents share an unusual 'sleep story' that leads to a fantastic journey! Throughout this enchanting adventure they discover many new creatures wonders of nature dangers and delights. They eventually meet up with the largest gathering of dinosaurs ever including one very special longneck that Littlefoot thought he would never see! Littlefoot has been on many adventures before but in this new adventure may change his life forever...
The film Silent Movie is director Mel Brooks's comic tribute to the golden days of the silent screen. A movie within a movie 'Silent Movie' stars Brooks as Mel Funn a filmmaker who has seen better days for one thing he's just come out of a bout with the bottle. When his best friends (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise) rescue him from despair and convince him to make another attempt at moviemaking Mel comes up with an idea a silent picture. Alas this is the 1970s and in
First Down...And Ten Years To Go. In this rough-and-tumble yarn actually filmed on-location at the Georgia State Prison the cons are the heroes and the guards are the heavies. Eddie Albert is the sadistic warden who'll gladly make any sacrifice to push his guards' semi-pro football team to a national championship. Reynolds plays one time pro quarterback Paul Crewe now behind bars for leading State Police on a wild chase in a ""borrowed"" car. He agrees to organize a prisoners'
There are Victorian country-house shenanigans aplenty in Impromptu: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. --Miles Bethany
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