Hilarious expose of the modern obsession with speed and efficiency set in the rural surroundings of a French village where Francoise the postman tries to improve his round. The visual comedy invention and above all timing is superb. The evocation of rural France really does seem as if from another century....
Two young women discover the power of sex to get what they want in the male-dominated business world. Nathalie a performance artist-stripper instructs her new friend the beautiful but inexperienced Sandrine on the art of seduction. Without delay they put their skills to the test at a Parisian bank where both rise to the top. But they meet their match in the ruthless son the bank's president - a vain unbridled power-hungry monster. Chosen by France's seminal critial publicati
It's Christmas Eve, and Arnold needs to find a Turbo Man action figure, the craze of the season. Only they're sold out, of course. So the race is on, and the Austrian Oak must do fierce battle with other shoppers and merchants alike, all for the prize toy with which to purchase his son's affections. All of which is unwittingly very sad, on the content level. But the film supposes itself to be amiable enough, on its own shabby terms, even when it climbs out of the screen and starts gnawing at your furniture. If the humour were to get broader it would make HDTV obsolete. The tone can only be termed good-naturedly mean-spirited. Goofy carnival music runs continuously in the background so we never forget that what we're seeing is, er, um, funny. All the action is composed of comic violence, like an unhip Warner Bros. cartoon. Do the filmmakers actually consider this cynical foray to be indicative of the Christmas spirit? Apparently so, because the resolution has Arnold winning quite inadvertently, and offers no clear alternative to the competitive commercialism that drives the film's attempts at humour. In a key scene that's meant to be touching, Arnold and his chief rival Sinbad sit down for a heart-to-heart in which we learn that receiving much-wanted Christmas presents in our formative years is responsible for our success in adulthood. You get that Turbo Man, you'll be a billionaire; don't get it, you'll be a loser. Such is the formidable challenge of parenthood, to cater to the child's whims while it can still make a difference. This is what's wrong with America. --Jim Gay, Amazon.com
Acknowledged to be the finest Karajan recording of this overwhelming sacred masterpiece. This 1967 performance features four of the 20th century's greatest Verdi singers - Price Cossotto and Ghiaurov were at the peak of their careers while the young Pavarotti was still comparatively unknown (though not for long).
Anaïs Nin (Maria de Medeiros) is a young woman in 1930s Paris whose husband is slowly defecting from art to working in a bank, leaving her very bored. When the then-unpublished Brooklyn writer Henry Miller (Fred Ward) enters her life, she embarks on a journey of seduction and sexual exploration that eventually leads from the writer to his wife, June (Uma Thurman), who finances her husband's life in Paris so he may praise her beauty in his writing. Unhappy with her husband's writing and her lovers' affair, June enters a jealous rage, forcing Henry into suffering-artist mode and Nin back to her husband. Despite having one of the more erotic scenes of the 1990s, between Nin and June, the film does not live up to its subject, largely due to a mediocre screenplay and flawed direction. The strength of the original material and Medeiros' strong performance make it worth viewing. -- James McGrath, Amazon.com
When released in 1997, The Gingerbread Man was the only John Grisham movie that did not use one of the popular novelist's bestsellers as its inspiration. Rather, it's based on an original screenplay by Grisham that displays the author's familiar flair for Southern characters and settings within a labyrinthine plot propelled by his trademark narrative twists and turns. Sporting a spot-on Georgian accent, Kenneth Branagh plays a Savannah attorney who comes to the assistance of a troubled woman (Embeth Davidtz) and finds himself enmeshed in a scenario involving the woman's father (Robert Duvall) that grows increasingly complex and dangerous, where nothing, of course, is really as it seems. It's a totally absorbing movie made in the modern film noir tradition; what's most interesting here (and most underrated by critics at the time) is the combination of Grisham's mainstream mystery and the offbeat style of maverick director Robert Altman. Despite a battle with executives that nearly caused Altman to disown the film, The Gingerbread Man demonstrates the director's skill in bringing a fresh, characteristically offbeat approach to conventional material, especially in the use of a threatening hurricane to hold the plot in a state of dangerous urgency. Unfortunately overlooked during its theatrical release, this intelligent thriller provides a fine double bill with Francis Coppola's film of Grisham's The Rainmaker. --Jeff Shannon
DESPERATE AND DETERMINED TO SURVIVE Two convicts break out of Stonehaven Prison in the dead of winter, boarding a freight train with the intention of getting as far away as possible before their notoriously sadistic warden finds out. But the brakes fail and the driver has a heart attack, sending hundreds of tons of metal hurtling through the snowy Alaskan wastes at terrifying and unstoppable speed. Based on a script by Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), with hardboiled prison slang added by real-life ex-con Edward Bunker (Mr Blue in Reservoir Dogs), this riveting thriller also boasts Oscar-nominated performances from Jon Voight and Eric Roberts with Voight playing spectacularly against type as a criminal so vicious that he served much of his sentence welded into his cell. Combining electrifying action with constant psychological tension (the only surviving member of the train crew is a young, inexperienced woman), Runaway Train is one of cinema's great thrill-rides. SPECIAL FEATURES: High Definition Blu-ray presentation of the film Original Uncompressed Stereo Audio Optional English SDH Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Running on Empty An Interview with director Andrei Konchalovsky From Thespian to Fugitive Star Jon Voight shares his memories of his Academy Award-nominated role Sweet and Savage: Eric Roberts recalls his Academy Award-nominated performance The Calm Before the Chaos Co-star Kyle T. Heffner remembers Runaway Train Trailer with commentary by Rod Lurie Original Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Joe Wilson
With dizzying cinematic tricks and astonishing performances, Francis Coppola's 1992 version of the oft-filmed Dracula story is one of the most exuberant, extravagant films of the 1990s. Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, as the Count and Mina Murray, are quite a pair of star-crossed lovers. She's betrothed to another man; he can't kick the habit of feeding off the living. Anthony Hopkins plays Van Helsing, the vampire slayer, with tongue firmly in cheek. Tom Waits is great fun as Renfield, the hapless slave of Dracula who craves the blood of insects and cats. Sadie Frost is a sexy Lucy Westenra. And poor Keanu Reeves, as Jonathan Harker, has the misfortune to be seduced by Dracula's three half-naked wives. There's a little bit of everything in this version of Dracula: gore, high-speed horseback chases, passion and longing.
Love Never Dies Francis Ford Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula to create a modern masterpiece. It follows the tortured journey of the devastatingly seductive Transylvanian Prince (Gary Oldman) as he moves from Eastern Europe to 19th century London in search of his long lost Elisabeta who is reincarnated as the beautiful Mina (Winona Ryder)...
Charlie's Angels: Cameron Diaz Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu are Charlies Angels - a trio of elite private investigators who with the latest in high-tech gadgets martial arts techniques and a vast array of disguises unleash their state of the art skills on land sea and air. Their goal to track down a kidnapped billionaire-to-be and keep his top-secret voice identification software out of his lethal hands. Aided by their faithful lieutenant Bosley (Bill Murray) and u
An IRA film with a difference, Neil Jordan's The Crying Game takes the Anglo-Irish conflict as the starting point for a thoughtful, often poignant and sometimes humorous examination of gender and identity. Stephen Rea is the IRA volunteer who befriends a kidnapped British soldier (the gauche but likeable Forest Whitaker), then takes the questions of loyalty and instinct (the "frog and scorpion" fable) with him to London, where he falls for the dead man's girlfriend (the appealing Jaye Davidson). Love and terrorism are fused in a violent and suspenseful denouement, where truth manifests itself in an unexpected yet meaningful way. Miranda Richardson and Adrian Dunbar are persuasive as the IRA agents, and there are excellent cameos from Jim Broadbent as an East End barman and Tony Slattery as a property shark, all making the most of Jordan's stylish, Academy Award-winning script. Anne (Art of Noise) Dudley contributes a moodily atmospheric score, with three versions of "When a Man Loves a Woman" to point up the gender issue. On the DVD: The Crying Game comes to disc with a widescreen picture that reproduces adequately for an early 90s film. The soundtrack, though, has real presence. There are subtitles in English and Russian(!), though the theatrical trailer is hardly a major bonus. An interview or a commentary with Jordan, discussing the motivation behind the project, would really have benefited a film which cuts across genres so successfully as this. --Richard Whitehouse
All the music fun and excitement under the sea resurface in this magical special edition of Disney's 28th animated masterpiece. Awash with breathtaking animation unforgettably colorful characters and two Academy Awards for score and song ""Under The Sea "" The Little Mermaid is one of Disney's most cherished films. Ariel the fun-loving and mischievous mermaid is enchanted with all things human. Disregarding her father's order to stay away from the world above the sea she swims to the surface and in a raging storm rescues the prince of her dreams. Determined to be human she strikes a bargain with the devious sea witch Ursula and trades her fins and beautiful voice for legs. With her best friend the adorable and chatty Flounder and her reluctant chaperone Sebastian the hilarious reggae-singing Caribbean crab at her side Ariel must win the prince's love and save her father's kingdom -- all in a heart-pounding race against time!
Glynis Johns Diana Dors and Sybil Thorndike star in this powerful sympathetic drama tracing the contrasting lives and often faltering progress of the inmates of a women's prison. Based on the best-selling semi-autobiographical novel by Joan Henry – a writer and former debutante who further drew upon her own prison experience for the novel and classic film Yield to the Night – The Weak and the Wicked is directed by Henry's future husband Oscar-nominated J. Lee-Thompson. The film is featured here in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Jean Raymond an upper-class woman with a gambling addiction is given a twelve-month prison sentence resulting from her inability to pay her debts. At first she is overwhelmingly depressed by life in the women's prison; gradually however her misery is relieved by the many close friends she makes there. Features: Original theatrical trailers Image gallery Promotional material PDF
In the Bermuda Triangle nothing stays lost forever... From director Brian Singer (X-Men Usual Suspects) and producer Dean Devlin (Stargate Independence Day) comes a stunning new original mini-series courtesy of the Sci-fi Channel. Billionaire Eric Benireall (Sam Neill) is losing his cargo ships and their crews at a frightening pace - and he wants answers. His bemused hand-picked team of a subject-specific experts include: sceptical tabloid journalist Howard
A young woman (Foster) is found hiding in the rafters of her Blue Ridge Mountain home after the death of her mother. She has been totally cut off from the outside world and has developed her own impenetrable language. A local doctor (Neeson) attempts to hide her from the outside world's prying eyes but she may have to be locked up in an institution for her own safety from hostile locals...
From the New York Times bestseller comes an inspirational true story. Successful art dealer Ron Hall (Oscar® nominee GREG KINNEAR) and his wife Debbie (Oscar® winner RENÃE ZELLWEGER) seemingly have the perfect life. But when their faith and family are tested, an unlikely bond with a homeless drifter (Oscar® nominee DJIMON HOUNSOU) leads them on a remarkable journey that forges an everlasting friendship. Same Kind of Different As Me shows how a simple act of kindness can change everything. Special Features Commentary by Director Michael Carney and Writers Ron Hall and Alexander Foard Love is Patient, Love is Kind The Making of Same Kind of Different As Me
This classic movie directed by John Guillerman has been beautifully restored as part of the Vintage Classics Collection. It is based on the true story of one of the best intelligence operations of World War II. An actor, trained by Major Harvey (John Mills), is seconded to impersonate General Montgomery on a tour of North Africa. The plan is to divert the Germans' attentions away from the real Monty and his plans for D-Day. Starring the real life actor and lookalike M.E. Clifton James and a formidable supporting cast including Cecil Parker, Leslie Phillips, Bryan Forbes and John Le Mesurier, this is a gripping retelling of those fateful few weeks before the Normandy campaign. The Vintage Classics collection from Studiocanal celebrate the most iconic and beloved films in British cinematic history by giving these masterpieces of yesteryear stunning restorations fit for the 21st Century. Extras: New interview with author/historian Terry Crowdy John Mills Home Movie footage Monty's Double (1947) Behind the Scenes stills gallery
Nicole Kidman is Isabel Archer a young woman of daring independence and equally fierce desires. But her headstrong innocence is no match for the manipulations of her duplicitous friend Madame Merle (Barbara Hershey in an Oscar-nominated performance) and the devious Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich). Adapted from the novel by Henry James.
The amps are on but nobody's home. In this hilarious spoof of the music industry three intelligently challenged rock 'n' rollers (Brendan Fraser Steve Buscemi Adam Sandler) decide to take drastic action after their music continually falls on deaf ears. They break into a radio station hoping to get their demo played on the air. But when the deejay (Joe Mantegna) and station manager (Michael McKean) refuse to play their song the boys have no choice but to take the entire r
Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, his 1963 semi-autobiographical story about a worshipped filmmaker who has lost his inspiration, is still a mesmerising mystery tour that has been quoted (Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland) but never duplicated. Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido, a director trying to relax a bit in the wake of his latest hit. Besieged by people eager to work with him, however, he also struggles to find his next idea for a film. The combined pressures draw him within himself, where his recollections of significant events in his life and the many lovers he has left behind begin to haunt him. The marriage of Fellini's hyper real imagery, dreamy sidebars and the gravity of Guido's increasing guilt and self-awareness make this as much a deeply moving, soulful film as it is an electrifying spectacle. Mastroianni is wonderful in the lead, his woozy sensitivity to Guido's freefall both touching and charming--all the more so as the character becomes increasingly divorced from the celebrity hype that ultimately outpaces him. --Tom Keogh
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy