Oxford's favourite sons Detectives Robbie Lewis and James Hathaway return for a ninth series of the international hit drama, investigating the city's most complex and intriguing crimes. The arrival of new Chief Superintendent Joe Moody heralds a fresh dawn for Oxfordshire Police, but the high flyer soon clashes with Lewis over the latter's more traditional approach to detective work. With Hobson contemplating a round-the-world trip to witness the birth of her niece's baby, and the new boss piling on the pressure, will Lewis finally decide to call time on his policing career? Meanwhile, after years of avoiding the thorny issue of family ties, Hathaway is forced to confront his past.
Akira Kurosawa's rousing Seven Samurai was a natural for an American remake--after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. Thus The Magnificent Seven effortlessly turns samurai into cowboys (the same trick worked more than once: Kurosawa's Yojimbo became Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars). The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of '60s stardom: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There's nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges (The Great Escape), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn't enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum... Followed by three inferior sequels, Return of the Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, and The Magnificent Seven Ride! --Robert Horton
The Magnificent Seven effortlessly turn samurai into cowboys (the same trick worked more than once: Kurosawa'sYojimbo became Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars) and Akira Kurosawa's rousing Seven Samuri was a natural for an American remake through this movie--after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of 60s stardom: Steve McQueen, JamesCoburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There's nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges (The Great Escape), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn't enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum... followed by three inferior sequels, Return of the Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, and The Magnificent Seven Ride!--Robert Horton, Amazon.com
Julie Andrews stars as Millie an innocent country girl who comes to the big city in search of a husband. Along the way she becomes the secretary of the rich and famous Trevor Graydon (John Gavin) befriends the sweet Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore) fights off white slaver Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie) and hooks up with a lively paper clip salesman Jimmy (James Fox). In the end it takes a rich and nutty jazz baby like Muzzy (Carol Channing) to unravel all these complications give
Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she--and most of the wary crew--believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature.... There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces--including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare--is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it. Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humorously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
A disgrace to criminals everywhere. Streetwise charmer and cardshark Eddy (Nick Moran) walks into the biggest card game of his life carrying a stake backed by the life-savings of his three best mates Tom (Jason Flemying) Bacon (Jason Statham) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher). Eddy is the sharpest player on the circuit but the game is set-up and Eddy leaves owing underworld boss Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty) half a million. Harry gives Eddy a week to come up with the money before he starts taking fingers as collateral. Eddy's dad JD (Sting) can cancel the debt by handing over his bar lock stock and barrel to his old adversary Harry JD refuses to give in feeling his street-tough son can get himself out of his own messes. So while Harry sends a couple of petty crooks to steal a pair of antique shotguns to add to his collection Eddy and his mates plan a caper that will enable them to pay off Harry and make out like bandits! In a comedy of errors and a helter-skelter ride through London's gangland the guns cash drugs and identities become all mixed up as a full complement of London's lowlife get involved in a melee which even their menace can't handle. Full of energy and surprising twists at every turn it's a rollicking comedy that has it all - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels!
Oscar nominees Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton star in this funny and inspirational story of music, hope and love. Their small Georgia town has fallen on hard times and is counting on the church choir to lift everyone's spirits by winning the national Joyful Noise Competition. But discord between the two leading ladies threatens to tear everything apart when Vi Rose (Latifah) plans to stick with a traditional style, while fiery G.G. (Parton) wants to shake things up in a big way!
A disgrace to criminals everywhere. Streetwise charmer and cardshark Eddy (Nick Moran) walks into the biggest card game of his life carrying a stake backed by the life-savings of his three best mates Tom (Jason Flemying) Bacon (Jason Statham) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher). Eddy is the sharpest player on the circuit but the game is set-up and Eddy leaves owing underworld boss Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty) half a million. Harry gives Eddy a week to come up with the money before he starts taking fingers as collateral. Eddy's dad JD (Sting) can cancel the debt by handing over his bar lock stock and barrel to his old adversary Harry JD refuses to give in feeling his street-tough son can get himself out of his own messes. So while Harry sends a couple of petty crooks to steal a pair of antique shotguns to add to his collection Eddy and his mates plan a caper that will enable them to pay off Harry and make out like bandits! In a comedy of errors and a helter-skelter ride through London's gangland the guns cash drugs and identities become all mixed up as a full complement of London's lowlife get involved in a melee which even their menace can't handle. Full of energy and surprising twists at every turn it's a rollicking comedy that has it all - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels!
1880's London. The popular comic operas of Gilbert (words) and Sullivan (music) have never failed, but their latest, 'Princess Ida' receives a lukewarm press.
This boxset contains the following films: Snatch (Dir. Guy Ritchie) (2000): Guy Ritchie Writer/Director of 'Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' delivers another awe-inspiring directorial masterpiece. 'Snatch' is an edgy and hilarious film about a diamond heist gone wrong a colourful Irish gypsy turned prizefighter and a very temperamental dog. In the heart of gangland two novice unlicensed boxing promoters Turkish (Jason Statham) and Tommy (Stephen Graham) get roped into organising a bare-knuckled fight with local kingpin villain and fellow boxing promoter Brick Top (Alan Ford). But it all goes wrong when Brick Top's fighter who is rigged to win is suddenly knocked out by the boys' wildcard Irish gypsy boxer One Punch Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt). Unfortunately things go from bad to worse as Mickey starts playing by his own rules and the duo find they are heading for a whole lot of trouble. Meanwhile en route to New York to deliver a stolen 84-carat diamond to head honcho Avi (Dennis Farina) Franky Four Fingers (Benicio Del Toro) is robbed of the stone. Forced to jump on the next plane to London Avi is by no means pleased. He hires local legend Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) to find Franky and the diamond. The hunt for the missing stone launches everyone into a spiral of double-crossing vendettas as different parties pursue personal agendas some of them farcical most of them illegal and all of them destined to spin completely out of control... Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrells (Dir. Guy Ritchie) (2004): Streetwise charmer and cardshark Eddy (Nick Moran) walks into the biggest card game of his life carrying a stake backed by the life-savings of his three best mates Tom (Jason Flemying) Bacon (Jason Statham) and Soap (Dexter Fletcher). Eddy is the sharpest player on the circuit but the game is set-up and Eddy leaves owing underworld boss ""Hatchet"" Harry (P.H. Moriarty) half a million. Harry gives Eddy a week to come up with the money before he starts taking fingers as collateral. Eddy's dad JD (Sting) can cancel the debt by handing over his bar lock stock and barrel to his old adversary Harry JD refuses to give in feeling his street-tough son can get himself out of his own messes. So while Harry sends a couple of petty crooks to steal a pair of antique shotguns to add to his collection Eddy and his mates plan a caper that will enable them to pay off Harry and make out like bandits! In a comedy of errors and a helter-skelter ride through London's gangland the guns cash drugs and identities become all mixed up as a full complement of London's lowlife get involved in a melee which even their menace can't handle.
15 Storeys High is the cult tv comedy series written by and starring stand-up comedian Sean Lock. This comedy series follows the lives of two very different blokes who find themselves sharing a flat in a towerblock on a South London council estate. The flat's owner Vince (Sean Lock) takes in a new lodger - Errol (Benedict Wong) and it is not long before he realises he has made a dreadful mistake. 15 Storeys High also introduces us to some of the other towerblock occupants - wife-swappers bible bashers lap dancers men who shout at the television and even a bloke who keeps a horse in his spare room. This release features the complete first and second series.
Set in No Name City California during the gold rush this musical comedy concerns prospectors Ben and Pardner and their unusual nuclear family. The business partners strike a deal to share Ben's wife Elizabeth whom Ben purchased from a Mormon. But the free-thinking Ben is worried about rivalry over Elizabeth from the town's all-male population hungry for female company. So he arranges to kidnap a stagecoach full of working girls on their way to a nearby city and sets up a brothel
All ten episodes of the award-winning mini-series based on the real-life experiences of American paratroopers who fought in Europe during the Second World War. From their training in Camp Toccoa, Georgia, through their landing in Normandy as part of the D-Day offensive, their participation in the Battle of the Bulge, and all the way up to the final surrender of the German forces, the series follows the adventures of Easy Company, a unit noted for its skill and bravery, but which also suffered a high number of casualties in its journey across Europe. Each episode also features excerpts from actual interviews with surviving members of the company.
Just as he's about to get out of the game entirely, a drug dealer gets drawn back in to the doublecrossing world of the London mafia in this refreshing British thriller.
You could only see his eyes behind the layers of makeup in The Elephant Man but those expressive orbs earned John Hurt a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his moving portrayal of John Merrick, the grotesquely deformed Victorian man. Inarticulate and abused, Merrick is the virtual slave of a carnival barker (Freddie Jones) until dedicated London doctor Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins in a powerfully understated performance) rescues him and offers him an existence with dignity. Anne Bancroft co-stars as the actress whose visit to Merrick makes him a social curiosity, with John Gielgud and Wendy Hiller as dubious hospital staffers won over by Merrick. David Lynch earned his only Oscar nominations as director and co-writer of this sombre drama, which he shot in a rich black-and-white palette, a sometimes stark, sometimes dreamy visual style that at times recalls the offbeat expressionism of his first film, Eraserhead. It remains a perfect marriage between traditional Hollywood historical drama and Lynch's unique cinematic eye, a compassionate human tale delivered in a gothic vein. The film earned eight Oscar nominations in all and though it left the Oscar ceremony empty-handed, its dramatic power and handsome yet haunting imagery remain just as strong today. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com On the DVD: Being black and white, it's easier to judge the digital transfer in terms of shade and thankfully this print looks just fine. There's a little confusion over the sound, however, which is advertised as Stereo on the box but says Mono on the Audio Menu. It certainly seems to be a basic Dolby stereo but it's a shame Lynch hasn't given it the personal touch since he's obsessed with mixing his films' sound himself. From the nicely thought-out animated menus there's a gallery of 20 photos and a misguiding, dramatic theatrical trailer. The only other extra is a 64-page book of which only 10 pages relate directly to the film (the rest re-tell Lynch's career and the real Elephant Man's life). --Paul Tonks
In World War II they were code-breakers at Bletchley Park; brilliant invaluable members of an elite team whose task was to crack German intelligence. Their success was their downfall. Seven years after helping to win the war they are housewives mothers girlfriends shadows. Bound to the Offi cial Secrets Act their part in the Allied victory cannot be told; their fi nest abilities covered in dust sheets of security never to be seen again – until… Can yesterday’s code breakers become today’s detectives? The ladies of Bletchley Park are about to fi nd out as they track down a serial killer terrorising women; attempt to save one of their own from hanging for a murder confession; and become caught up in human-traffi cking and murder when they infi ltrate a brutal Maltese gang. It’s a hard and dangerous world their brilliant minds are entering. They have the heart but will they have the strength to survive?
A Fistful Of Dollars: - Languages: English (Dolby Digital Mono) ; Subtitles: English Clint Eastwood's stunning Spaghetti Western debut. When the Man With No Name rides into town the rival gangs of the Baxters and the Rojos soon find themselves fighting each other. As the lean cold-eyed cobra-quick gunfighter Clint became the first of the Western's anti-herores. The cynical enigmatic loner with a clouded past is the same character Eastwood fans have been savouring ever since. 'A Fistful Of Dollars' is the western taken to the extreme - with unremitting violence gritty realism and tongue-in-cheek humour. Leone's direction is taut and stylish and the visuals are striking - from the breathtaking panoramas (in Spain) to the extreme close-ups of quivering lips and darting eyes before the shoot-out begins. And all are accentuated by renowned composer Ennio Morricone's quirky haunting score. For A Few Dollars More - Languages: English and French (Dolby Digital Mono) ; Subtitles: English Dutch French Clint Eastwood had proven so successful in his first foray into European Westerns with 'A Fistful Of Dollars' that a follow up sequel was inevitable. Superbly scripted by Luciano Vincenzoni featuring an unforgettable alliance between ruthless gun-slingers to track down the notorious bandit El Indio played by Gian Maria Volonte. The film is also noted for its array of weaponry a veritable arsenal of rifles that became so startingly influential in future westerns. Sergio Leone's direction is both violent and operatic and Ennio Morricone's atmospheric score keeps the tension taut as the action moves from jail breaks and hold ups to spectacular gun battles. The Good The Bad And The Ugly - Languages: English (Dolby Digital Mono) ; Subtitles: English Dutch By far the most ambitious unflinchingly graphic and stylistically influential western ever attempted 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' is an engrossing actioner shot through with a volatile mix of myth and realism. Clint Eastwood returns for a final appearance as the invincible Man With No Name this time teaming with two gunslingers (Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef) to pursue a cache of 0 000 - and letting no one not even warring factions in a civil war stand in their way. From sun-drenched panoramas to bold hard closeups exceptional camera work captures the beauty and cruelty of the barren landscape and the hardened characters who stride unwaveringly through it. Forging a vibrant and yet detached style of action that had not been seen before and has never been matched since 'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' shatters the western in true Clint Eastwood style. The complex plot of bloodshed and betrayal winds its way through the American Civil War filmed to resemble the French battlefields of WW1 to end in a climactic Dance of Death. Arguably the quintessential Italian Western this 1966 film boasts a fine Ennio Morricone score featuring a main theme that reached No.1 in the world's pop charts.
Wittgenstein is a bold offbeat biography of the Cambridge thinker who changed the way we think personalised in Jarmans unique style to address the politics and sexuality of the great but troubled man. The result is no dry treatise but a treat for eyes and mind alike.
When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford
The Midwich Cuckoos is set in Midwich, a sleepy commuter belt town outside London, rather than the rural village of the novel. One September evening everyone in one part of the town suddenly falls unconscious without warning and for 12 hours no phones work and nobody can get into the blackout zone. .When everything returns to normal, it's discovered that every woman of childbearing age has become pregnant. They later give birth to a group of chillingly unusual children, known as The Midwich Cuckoos'. Soon it's apparent these odd children have strange abilities. They end up dividing loyalties and threatening lives both within the town and beyond and it needs a terrifying sacrifice in order to prevent them causing global catastrophe .
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