The quintessential movie spoof that spawned an entire genre of parody films, the original Airplane! still holds up as one of the brightest comedic gems of the 1980s, not to mention of cinema itself (it often tops polls of the funniest movies ever made). The humour may be low and obvious at times, but the jokes keep coming at a rapid-fire clip and its targets--primarily the lesser lights of 1970s cinema, from disco films to star-studded disaster epics--are more than worthy for send-up. If you've seen even one of the overblown Airport movies then you know the plot: the crew of a filled-to-capacity jetliner is wiped out and it's up to a plucky stewardess and a shell-shocked fighter pilot to land the plane. Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty are the heroes who have a history that includes a meet-cute á la Saturday Night Fever, a surf scene right out of From Here to Eternity, a Peace Corps trip to Africa to teach the natives the benefits of Tupperware and basketball, a war-ravaged recovery room with a G.I. who thinks he's Ethel Merman (a hilarious cameo)--and those are just the flashbacks! The jokes gleefully skirt the boundaries of bad taste (pilot Peter Graves to a juvenile cockpit visitor: "Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"), with the high (low?) point being Hagerty's intimate involvement with the blow-up automatic pilot doll, but they'll have you rolling on the floor. The film launched the careers of collaborators Jim Abrahams (Big Business), David Zucker (Ruthless People) and Jerry Zucker (Ghost), as well as revitalising such B-movie actors as Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen, who built a second career on films like this. A vital part of any home film collection. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
Adapted from Evelyn Waugh's Jazz Age satire, A Handful of Dust is a brutal story of a failed marriage with shattering consquences. James Wilby stars as a country gentleman, Tony Last, who loves rattling around his expansive estate, Hetton Abbey. Tony's wife, Brenda (Kristin Scott Thomas), however, pines for London's excitement and commences an affair in the city with penniless aristocrat John Beaver (Rupert Graves). The fallout of Brenda's betrayal includes a family tragedy and creative divorce settlement ultimately undone when fed-up Tony goes on a naturalist trek through Brazil and becomes the hostage of a mad, illiterate explorer (Alec Guinness). One might wonder whether it's more appropriate to laugh or tremble at these events, and director Charles Sturridge's handsome, graceful production ingeniously accommodates the story's streaks of dark comedy and horror. With brief, memorable supporting roles for Anjelica Huston and Stephen Fry.----Tom Keogh
Nearly 20 years after his death, Toshiro Mifune remains a true giant of Japanese cinema. Rich with archive footage and personal reminiscences from family and friends, this Keanu Reeves- narrated documentary shines a light on both the man and the actor, starting with his childhood and military service, through to his early years in the popular 'chanbara' action movies that he would later draw on for a string of masterpieces made with legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Featuring contributions from Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, Mifune: The Last Samurai reveals him as a formidable and mercurial talent, both onscreen and off, and an influence that still resonates through world cinema. Special Features: Original trailer Other extras TBC Fully illustrated booklet
Tony and Brenda Last appear to be the perfect married couple - with money a great country house and an adored son John Andrew. When Tony inadvertently invites John Beaver an idle and penniless young socialite to stay for the weekend he sets in motion a series of events which drastically disrupts the course of all their lives.
The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall (Dir. Mike Barker 1996): ""I wished to tell the truth for truth always conveys its own morality."" This is the fantastic BBC adaptation of Anne Bronte's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall When Helen Graham becomes the new tenant of the dark decaying Wildfell Halt her independent spirit and radical views set her apart from the staid rural community around her. Gilbert Markham a young farmer finds himself powerfully drawn to her and a series of dramatic events brings them closer together. But the enigmatic Mrs Graham's unconventional life and behaviour disguise a hidden past with many secrets secrets the world of Victorian England would rather bury forever... Jane Eyre (Dir. Julian Amyes 1983): The stunning BBC production of Charlotte Bronte's inspiring story is available for the first time on DVD. Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) is a mistreated orphan who learns to survive by relying on her independence and intelligence. Her first job in the outside world is governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) a man of many secrets and mercurial moods. The tentative trust between them slowly develops into romance but their hopes for happiness will soon be jeopardized by a terrible secret. Wuthering Heights (Dir. Peter Hammond 1978): Wuthering Heights is Emily Bronte's classic tale of all-consuming love. When Mr. Earnshaw encounters Heathcliff a ragamuffin orphan he kindly brings the boy into his home and makes him part of the family. And from the start Heathcliff falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of the house the beautiful headstrong Catherine. She adores him too but when a wealthy neighbour woos her Catherine's material instincts get the better of her and she agrees to marry the man. However Catherine discovers that she cannot forget Heathcliff so easily... and that not even death can make them part...
Set in notorious killing factory of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Southern Poland during World War II. A group of Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz; some of whom are awaiting execution, the others unsure of their fate are driven to debate the meaning of God's supposed covenant with the Jewish people. The circumstances of their current existence lead them to put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people. The question is whether God has broken his covenant with the Jewish people by allowing the Germans to commit genocide on a scale beyond human comprehension. This drama confronts one of the central issues of human existence - the basis of faith - and sets it in a time and place that has become a by-word for inhumanity.
In the entire history of American movies, The Night of the Hunter stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also co-wrote The African Queen). The truth is, nobody has ever made anything approaching its phantasmagoric, overheated style in which German expressionism, religious hysteria, fairy-tale fantasy (of the Grimm-est variety), and stalker movie are brought together in a furious boil. Like a nightmarish premonition of stalker movies to come, Night of the Hunter tells the suspenseful tale of a demented preacher (Robert Mitchum, in a performance that prefigures his memorable villain in Cape Fear), who torments a boy and his little sister--even marries their mixed-up mother (Shelley Winters)--because he's certain the kids know where their late bank-robber father hid a stash of stolen money. So dramatic, primal, and unforgettable are its images--the preacher's shadow looming over the children in their bedroom, the magical boat ride down a river whose banks teem with fantastic wildlife, those tattoos of LOVE and HATE on the unholy man's knuckles, the golden locks of a drowned woman waving in the current along with the indigenous plant life in her watery grave--that they're still haunting audiences (and filmmakers) today. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Your mission, should you decide to accept it....IMF missions are based on a need-to-know basis... and you need to know that Mission: Impossible The '88 Tv Season is now available on DVD for the first time ever in the UK! The spy show that revived the classic series stars Peter Graves, in the reprisal of his role as Jim Phelps, brilliant leader of the Impossible Missions Force. This collectible 5-disc set includes all 19 thrilling episodes that put Jim and his new team on call to save the world... one pulse-pounding mission at a time. Do you accept this mission?Contains all 19 episodes of the First Season.
Black comedy and suspenseful action inside a German POW camp during World War II--a setting that was later borrowed for the American TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes. The great director Billy Wilder adapted the hit stage play, applying his own wicked sense of humour to the apparently bleak subject matter. William Holden plays an antisocial grouse amid a gang of wisecracking though indomitable American prisoners. Because of his bitter cynicism, Holden is suspected by the others of being an informer to the Germans, an accusation he must deal with in his own crafty way. Holden, who had delivered a brilliant performance for Wilder in Sunset Blvd., won the 1953 Best Actor Oscar for Stalag 17. Very much his equal, however, is Otto Preminger, an accomplished director himself, who plays the strict, sneering camp commandant. --Robert Horton
Written by Sydney Boehm (The Big Heat) and directed by Hugo Fregonese (Man in the Attic), Black Tuesday is an explosive crime drama starring one of Hollywood's most beloved tough guys: Edward G. Robinson, the star of Little Caesar, The Last Gangster, I Am the Law and Key Largo. Vincent Canelli (Robinson) is a violent mobster serving time on Death Row but he has no intention of going to the electric chair. Following a plan put together by his moll, Hatti (Jean Parker, Dead Man's Eyes), Canelli orchestrates a jailbreak on the night before his execution and takes several hostages in the process. Canelli is joined by fellow Death Row inmate Peter Manning (Peter Graves, Stalag 17), and hopes to discover the location of a stash of stolen loot Manning hid away before his conviction. But is Manning willing to pay the price for freedom and look the other way as the psychopathic Canelli revels in murder and mayhem? While the Hollywood gangster movie was at the height of its success in the early 1930s, it resurged in the 1940s and into the next decade as crime pictures found a new popularity in the post-war period. Standing tall alongside Key Largo, White Heat and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Black Tuesday is one of the finest gangster films to emerge from this later cycle as old-fashioned wiseguys met with film noir sensibilities. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present this key crime picture of the 1950s on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from an astonishing new restoration.LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES: Limited edition of 2000 copies | Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Scott Saslow | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K scan of the 35mm fine grains | Optional English subtitles | A brand new audio commentary with film noir expert Sergio Angelini, host of the Tipping My Fedora podcast | From Argentina to Hollywood a brand new interview with film historian Sheldon Hall on director Hugo Fregonese | No Escape A brand new video essay by Imogen Sara Smith, author of In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City | Brand new video interview with critic and codirector of Il Cinema Ritrovato Ehsan Khoshbakht |Theatrical trailer | PLUS: A collector's booklet featuring new writing on Black Tuesday by critic Barry Forshaw and film writer Craig Ian Mann
Based on real lion behaviour - and starring real lions - Pride is an emotional high-impact drama. The storyline is the work of Simon Nye the comic genius behind Men Behaving Badly and the extraordinary film is captured by the BBC's Natural History Unit. Mischievious young lion cub Suki enjoys life in the Serengeti and it seems nothing can disturb the harmony of her peaceful pride. Then tragedy strikes testing her courage and exposing the laws and forces of nature in her struggle
I wished to tell the truth, for truth always conveys its own morality. This is the fantastic BBC adaptation of Anne Bronte's novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall When Helen Graham becomes the new tenant of the dark, decaying Wildfell Halt, her independent spirit and radical views set her apart from the staid rural community around her. Gilbert Markham, a young farmer, finds himself powerfully drawn to her and a series of dramatic events brings them closer together. But the enigmatic Mrs Graham's unconventional life and behaviour disguise a hidden past with many secrets, secrets the world of Victorian England would rather bury forever...
A contemporary take on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle stories Sherlock is a thrilling funny fast-paced adventure series set in present-day London.
Jane Austen's beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of EMMA. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along. Bonus Features Feature Commentary with Director Autumn de Wilde, Screenwriter Eleanor Catton, and Director of Photography Christopher Blauvelt Deleted Scenes Gag Reel A Playful Tease
The Forsyte Saga is an immense drama of sex power and money. It chronicles the lives of three generations of a powerful Victorian family. Superior arrogant and confident on the surface beneath the imposing veneer lies a festering core of unhappy and brutal relationships riddled with jealousies and tensions. At the heart of the Saga is Soames Forsyte (Damian Lewis) a rich and successful partner in the family law firm and a staunch upholder of the old moral code. But his fiery tormented relationship with his beautiful wife Irene (Gina McKee) upsets his complacency and as Irene embarks on a passionate affair the Forsyte Family is cruelly ripped apart in a bitter feud. A classic of English literature The Forsyte Saga paints a fascinating picture of early twentieth century London life charting the progress of a great dynasty from the height of the Victorian era through the turbulent transition into the modern age. The Forsyte Saga is a compelling drama of love adultery obsession and deceit providing an enticing glimpse into a passionate and flamboyant existence.
When Geraldine Bretherick and her 5-year-old daughter Lucy are found dead in the bathroom of their luxury home, the case divides new DS Charlie Zailer and her DCSimon Waterhouse. Is it a murder-suicide or something even more sinister, and how watertight is the alibi of the apparently distraught husband Mark? Meanwhile, when Sally Thorne, a young working mother with a husband and twosmall children hears of the deaths, she is deeply shocked. Months before she’d met a man called Mark Bretherick at a hotel and they had a brief but passionate affair.Now, against the advice of her best friend, Esther, Sally feels the need to getin touch with Mark again to offer her sympathy. Based on the bestselling novel Point of Rescue by Sophie Hannah, this psychological thriller explores the darker side of motherhood, identity and love.
Based upon E. M. Forster's best-selling novel this scintillating period drama follows a rich Edwardian widow (Helen Mirren) who marries a handsome Tuscan dentist (Rupert Graves) but dies in childbirth. Her English family travel to Italy in order to bring the child back home to England but are unprepared for what unfolds.
Voted ""one of the 10 funniest movies ever made"" by the American Film Institute Airplane! is a masterpiece of off-the-wall comedy. Featuring Robert Hays as an ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning; Julie Hagerty as his girlfriend/ stewardess/ co-pilot; and a cast of all-stars including Robert Stack Lloyd Bridges Peter Graves Leslie Nielsen Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...and more! Their hilarious high jinks spook a
Beware!... you could die laughing! This rarity a sequel that's better than the original... Make sure you see it. Alan Frank, Daily Star It's love at first fright when Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) welcome a new addition to the Addams household ± Pubert, their soft, cuddly, mustachioed baby boy. As Fester (Christopher Lloyd) falls hard for voluptuous nanny Debbie Jilinsky (Joan Cusack), Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) discover she's a black-widow murderess who plans to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands. The family's future grows even bleaker when the no-good nanny marries Fester and has the kids shipped o to summer camp. But Wednesday still has a thing or two up her sleeve With gags and ghouls galore, Addams Family Values is quite brilliant... (Julie Burchill, The Sunday Times)
Based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War is an uneasy mix of espionage and combat that never really succeeds in either role. Based around the character of Paul Shannon, the film follows events in the fictional African state of Zagaro. Hired on a reconnaissance mission by a nameless multi-national corporation, Shannon is captured and tortured before his release, only to return to the country to lead a small band of mercenaries (the dogs of the title) in a bloody coup. The first section of the movie works best, building a real sense of tension and unease, not least through a typically understated performance by Christopher Walken as the paranoid loner who keeps a pistol in his fridge (watch too for a brief appearance from a young Jim Broadbent). There are obvious references to the by-then obsolete school of Vietnam filmmaking in the second section, with the Asian enemy replaced by an African one. The gung-ho mentality of the soldiers is, however, so two-dimensional that the viewer develops little empathy for their plight. The action is slow and drawn out, with the seemingly endless pregnant pauses operating as a means for enabling the film to achieve a reasonable running time. On the DVD: little is on offer here aside from the usual scene selection, audio and subtitle options and original cinema trailer. --Phil Udell
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