Adapted from the novel by Anthony Powell this miniseries tells the story of the upper classes in England from the early 1920s to modern times. Friendship murder adultery ambition and failure are set against a backdrop of social political and artistic life during the pivotal years of this century - from the decadence of the early Twenties to the sobering Thirties from the devastation of the Second World War to the world created in its aftermath. Centre stage is Kenneth Widmerpool and his rise to power through business the military and politics. The comings and goings of Widmerpool and his circle is charted by the omnipresent Nicholas Jenkins.
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Outnumbered: Series Two
With its use of special effects to express the main character's internal emotions, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie could have been mistaken for a French version of Ally McBeal; however, unlike Ally--"woe is me for I cannot find a man"--McBeal, Amelie is not distressed by the lack of men in her life, in fact the whole idea of sex seems to amuse her no end. Basic pleasures such as cracking the top of a Crème Brule offer her all the sensual satisfaction she needs and her existence in the "Paris of Dreams" is the stuff of fairy tales. Indeed, this cinematic treat must have worked wonders for the Paris tourist board: Jeunet's beautiful interpretation of Parisian life is depicted in all the vibrant colours you would expect from the director of Delicatessen. On the DVD: Amelie has received an additional disc for this special edition release. Disc 1 is the same as the original single-disc release, with a choice of DTS or Dolby 5.1 sound and an 16.9 anamorphic widescreen picture with optional director's commentary. The second disc contains the new special features and, just like original disc, a lot of thought has gone into the access menu with its lavish graphics offering the choice of entering the Café, the Canal or the Station. Yet the most exciting extra in name--"Audrey Tautou's funny face"--is simply a series of out-takes which does little more than allow you to warm to Tautou as a person. The home movie includes the transformation of Tautou into Amelie and the creation of the "photo-booth album". There are also interesting interviews with Jeunet and the cast and crew, and a nice little section themed around the gnome and his travels. Along with this is a storyboard-to-screen exposition, behind-the-scenes pictures, scene tests, teasers and trailers. All in all a decent enough package, but hardly warranting the special edition label. It's hard not to wonder why Momentum didn't offer this set two months earlier. --Nikki Disney
Life is Sweet, Mike Leigh's 1990 snapshot of the suburban family condition at the tail end of the Thatcher era, is often depressing and occasionally harrowing. It is also ultimately joyous, not just for the sharpness of Leigh's satire--the script was improvised with and by the cast--but also for the real affection that binds the family together. Through a series of minor crises, channels of communication silted up by the daily grind and terminal self-absorption are gradually eased open and the film ends on a note of genuine hope. As parents Wendy and Andy, Alison Steadman and Jim Broadbent give virtuoso performances: two adults who use fantasy, mundane work and a stream of banal chatter to keep reality at bay before a freak kitchen accident forces them to stop and take stock. They have two daughters to perplex them: one a plumber (Claire Skinner) and the other an angry anorexic (Jane Horrocks, unsparing in a gut-wrenching bulimic scene). Timothy Spall is hilarious as family friend Aubrey, a would-be restaurateur whose efforts to establish a gourmet eatery in Enfield collapse in hopeless, drunken farce. This is not an overtly political film, but the sense of a stake being driven through the heart of the 1980s enterprise culture is unmistakeable. Inspiring. --Piers Ford
Ugly duckling Brenda Thompson (Rita Tushingham) leaves her Liverpool home hoping to find romance in London. She moves in with her work-mate Caroline (Katya Wyeth), but remains lonely and bewildered in the big city. While wandering alone one night she finds a scruffy dog and becomes infatuated with its handsome master. Brenda later confesses to the dog's owner, Peter (Shane Briant), that she has come to London because she wants a baby. He offers her a proposition if she will move in and cook, clean and tell him stories, he will give her what she wants. Brenda is confused but deeply in love with her mysterious partner. Before long, however, she is trapped in a nightmare world of paranoia and murder from which there seems to be no escape traight On Till Morning took its title from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and was directed by Peter Collinson, who had previously made Up the Junction and The Italian Job. Filmed in and around Earl's Court, London, this dark and disturbing thriller was released in 1972 and represented a bold new direction for Hammer. EXTRAS: Original trailer
Richard Johnson and Claire Bloom, multi-award-winning stars of The Haunting, headline this powerful romantic drama set against the backdrop of a smallpox epidemic in the city of Bath. One of BAFTA-winning director Val Guest's most memorable films, 80,000 Suspects is presented here in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements, in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Dr Steven Monks suspects smallpox when he is asked to examine a patient with unusual symptoms. The diagnosis is quickly confirmed and the authorities mobilise to try to contain the outbreak, with Monks working tirelessly to prevent an epidemic. With his marriage on the verge of collapse, however, this personal crisis threatens to overshadow his vital work as the deadly disease moves ever closer to those he loves...
Directed and produced by and starring Laurence Olivier this iconic 1955 feature is for many the definitive film adaptation of Shakespeare's famous history play – a damning characterisation of the last Plantagenet king that has resonated through the centuries. Earning Olivier an Oscar nomination and BAFTAs for Best British Actor and Best British Film among numerous other awards this star-studded adaptation features towering performances from his co-stars including John Gielgud Ralph Richardson Cedric Hardwicke Claire Bloom Esmond Knight and Stanley Baker. Richard III is presented in a brand-new Film Foundation High Definition restoration from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Soon after Edward IV is crowned his brother Richard a hunchback whose disfigured body houses a twisted soul begins scheming for the throne of England. He woos and wins the Lady Anne then poisons Edward's mind against their brother Clarence later securing his death. But even after his coronation Richard continues with his villainous campaign to secure his position as king... Special Features: Original Intermission Cards Original Theatrical and TV Trailers Extensive Image Galleries The Trial of Richard III
A spectacular critical and ratings success when first transmitted on ITV Upstairs Downstairs still maintains its position as one of the major success stories of British television worldwide. Multi award-winning (including ones from BAFTA the Writers Guild the Royal Television Society Emmies and Golden Globes) the series stars Jean Marsh Gordon Jackson Angela Baddeley Pauline Collins and Lesley-Anne Down and was produced by John Hawkesworth. Upstairs Downstairs takes place in 165 Eaton Place from the turn of the century through the Great War and into the Roaring Twenties and concerns the Bellamy family: politician Richard Bellamy his wives Marjorie and Virginia wastrel son James wayward daughter Elizabeth and his flighty ward Georgina Worsley. The house domestics are led by Hudson the Butler a conservative Scot who must contend with the 'below stairs' behaviour of the household staff including cook Mrs Bridges and maids Rose and Sarah.
A Tale of Love and Revenge... and Stamps. Moist von Lipwig is a con artist of the highest degree: polite charming and skillful in his work. Nevertheless as the story begins he is confined to a cell in Ankh Morpork and scheduled to die within half an hour after having stolen AM0 000. He is saved when Lord Vetinari offers him a choice: he can walk out of the door (and fall to his death) or he can become Postmaster of the city's run down Post Office. Lipwig chooses the latter hoping for a chance to escape. Unfortunately for him Lipwig's first and last attempt at escape is thwarted by a golem named Mr Pump who delivers Lipwig back to the office of the Patrician...
Following the mysterious death of his brother a middle-aged man travels to Singapore to help out with the funeral arrangements and family affairs. There he discovers an exotic intoxicating world far removed from his troubled life in London. But as he is drawn towards his brother's beautiful wife and the sexual frankness of the local culture he begins to realise that escape isn't as easy as it seems... Starring Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones The Wire Queer as Folk Shadow Dancer) and Claire Keelan (Nathan Barley Black Mirror). The new film from award-winning filmmakers Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy (Helen Who Killed Brown Owl).
The award winning That Peter Kay Thing not only launched the career of one of the UK's most popular comedians but was also the forerunner to the phenomenally successful Phoenix Nights. Six beautifully crafted stories set in and around Bolton with Peter Kay himself playing 15 unique character creations including Mr Softee the ice cream man; Leonard the oldest paper boy in Britain; Marc Park the egocentric pop star; Phoenix Club owner Brian Potter; and Max the haple
For the seventh film the Police Academy squad goes global. Alan Metter (Back to School) directs on location in Moscow and a welcome ensemble again puts on department blues for new comedy antics. Addled Cmdt. Lassard (George Gaynes) motor-mouth Jones (Michael Winslow) gun fanatic Tackleberry (David Graf) curvaceous Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook) and human steam vent Harris (G.W. Bailey) join forces with Moscow's Chief of Police (Christopher Lee) and an icy-as-a-tundra translator (Claire Forlani). They take on the Godfather of the Russian mob (Ron Perlman) whose computer program plays like a video game but can actually steal money and goods planetwide without a trace. Prepare to kick some buttski!
They say crime doesn't pay. Private detective Phillip Marlowe knows better. The fat wad of folding money warming his breast pocket is the kind of thing that keeps him going through thick and thicker as he wades chin deep into a mystery involving a missing necklace and a missing hoodlum's moll named Velma. Sharply directed by Edward Dymytrk Murder My Sweet is film at its most noir creating a moody sense of a world that never plays on the level. Casting against type Dick Powell puts sunny crooner roles behind him dishing hardboiled patter and wearing five-going-on-six-o'clock stubble so well that source author Raymond Chandler called Powell his favorite screen Marlowe. ""I'm just a small businessman in a very messy business "" the PI observes. With wit and trendsetting style to burn it's never business as usual.
It is Christmas in Midsomer. A shot rings out from Draycott House. Nine years later the whole Villiers family come together again. At the police station DCI Barnaby heads home and asks Sgt Scott to contact him if anything happens warning him that: 'Things have a habit of happening around Christmas time.'
Behind the generic title of Boys and Girls lies a surprisingly enjoyable and nuanced romantic comedy. Teen heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr plays Ryan, a dorky, emotionally sincere young guy who keeps crossing paths with Jennifer (Claire Forlani), an independent and wilfully unattached young woman. Their chance meetings coincide with relationship traumas and they start to confide in each other, which leads to a more genuine friendship and, in the midst of their college years, a romance. It's a bit of a stock plot line to have their friendship threatened by sexual attraction, but Boys and Girls has just enough genuine feeling to make it compelling. Meanwhile, Jason Biggs (from American Pie) plays Ryan's roommate, a compulsive liar and would-be scam artist, who carries off some pretty funny scenes. Forlani and Prinze work together quite well. Their performances hearken back to the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s, with the repressed male simultaneously attracted and horrified by a footloose dame. Some kooky moments are a little strained, but at other times the movie has a refreshing realism about human emotions. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com
Few television dramas of recent years have managed to combine quality and popularity as successfully as Bad Girls. Series two of the women's-prison drama offers essentially more of the same, but the formula is so well honed that it would be churlish to complain. The main characters and storylines are still there, with the relationship that began between Nikki and Helen (Mandana Jones and Simone Lahbib) at the end of the first series brought eloquently and stylishly to centre stage--a result of both superb writing and performance. The show is given fresh impetus by the constant introduction of new characters. The resulting plot lines see the growing influence of the superb Yyvonne, the unhinged prison officer Di and a new wing governor Karen Betts added to the equation, all with explosive results. The mixture of humour and drama is, as ever, played to perfection.On the DVD: Having set an impressive standard with the DVD release of series one, Bad Girls continues to lead the field for television drama releases. Again the packaging of the four-disc set is handy but extremely stylish and comes with a whole series of extras. The documentary this time follows the cast on a promotional trip to South Africa and there are two galleries of photographs, deleted scenes, production and cast notes and a mass of outtakes that beg the question how they ever actually managed to make one programme, let alone the 13 included here, without the whole cast convulsing with laughter. --Phil Udell
Billy Cudrup and Claire Danes step into period costume for a drama about the arrival of women on the English stage from acclaimed director Richard Eyre.
Ryan Phillippe stars as Milo, an idealistic computer genius who is recruited by a large corporation run by his personal hero (Tim Robbins). However as time goes on Milo begins to suspect that his hero will stop at nothing to succeed.
Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children's TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James's life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story himself.
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