Of all the Philip Marlowes, Robert Mitchum's in Farewell, My Lovely resonates most deeply. That's because this is Marlowe past his prime, and Mitchum imbues Raymond Chandler's legendary private detective with a sense of maturity as well as a melancholy spirit. And yet there is plenty of Mitchum's renowned self-deprecating humour and charismatic charm to remind us of his own iconic presence. As in the previous 1944 film version, Murder, My Sweet, Marlowe searches all over L.A. for the elusive girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy, a loveable giant who might as well be King Kong. In typical Chandler fashion, the weary Marlowe uncovers a hotbed of lust, corruption and betrayal. Like Malloy, he's disillusioned by it all, despite his tough exterior, and possesses a tinge of sentimentality for the good old days. About the only current dream he can hold onto is Joe DiMaggio and his fabulous hitting streak. Made in 1975, a year after Chinatown (shot by the same cinematographer, John Alonzo), Farewell, My Lovely is more straightforward and nostalgic, but still possesses a requisite hard-boiled edge, and the best kind of angst the 1970s had to offer. (By the way, you will notice Sylvester Stallone in a rather violent cameo, a year before his Rocky breakthrough.) --Bill Desowitz, Amazon.com
One of the original UK video nasties DON’T GO IN THE WOODS doubtlessly attracted the attention of the anti-horror brigade due to its misanthropic madness and non-stop splatter action. A must-see slasher shocker this Utah-lensed limb-lopping bout of slice and dice lunacy also packs in plenty of comedic carnage and a natural park setting that provides a touch of creepy claustrophobia. Once banned but now available in all of its uncut outrageousness 88 Films is proud to present DON’T GO IN THE WOODS with a new HD transfer overseen and approved by director James Bryan!
Zulu The year: 1879. The place: Natal Africa. One British garrison has already fallen to a huge army of Zulu tribesmen. The fearless native warriors are now heading for the isolated colonial outpost of Rorke's Drift which is manned by no more than a hundred South Wales Borderers. Alfie Alfie is a good-looking charmer who finds that the Swinging Sixties are a great time to be around in. He's always able to sweet-talk women into bed and he just doesn't care about t
Film legends Sophia Loren and Richard Burton star in this moody adaptation of Noel Coward's emotional tale about a chance meeting that progresses from friendship into an unexpected but impossible love. Directed by BAFTA-winning Alan Bridges and scripted by John Bowen (both of whom had worked to great acclaim on TV's Play for Today), Brief Encounter is featured here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio as well as a legacy transfer of the as-filmed full-frame version. When a tiny piece of grit in Anna's eye leads to an unexpected meeting with Alec at the local railway station, neither of them could guess that what begins as a casual friendship could turn so easily into a tormenting relationship.
In this 1930s screwball comedy lackadaisical lawyer Henry MacMorrow attempts to get the kooky Pemberton family to agree on a large property deal involving part of their estate. Frustrated by the family's scatty entourage which includes a Dali lookalike an exceedingly precocious child and their whimsical parents he turns to the beautiful Toni Pemberton the independently minded daughter of the family with a fake sob story. The two of them join forces in a bid to gather the signature
Neil Simon's curious comedy The Out-of-Towners concerns a pair of non-New Yorkers (Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis) having a hellish visit to the Big Apple on the eve of a job interview for Lemmon's character. Made in 1970 and directed by Arthur (Love Story) Hiller, this hectic film almost seems ahead of its time when compared to more recent misery-piled-on-misery comedies such as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The couple in this film endure everything that can go wrong on a trip, including being forced to spend the night in a mugger-happy Central Park. The strange element in Simon's script, though, is that Lemmon's character is so unpleasant. A middle-class, uptight guy who can't believe that New Yorkers in the service profession don't perform their jobs slavishly, he's kind of a one-note joke that quickly wears thin. It was remade with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn in 1999. --Tom Keogh
A story of teenage tearing-away in 1950s America, The Young Stranger fails to make a serious, gripping narrative of the events that follow the somewhat innocuous pivotal moment when 16-year-old Harold "Hal" Ditmar (James MacArthur) punches a cinema manager. Adapted from a TV play and released two years after the benchmark for delinquency movies, Rebel Without a Cause, it has none of that film's raw urgency, seeming staid and inconsequential in comparison. The primary problem is that Hal makes an unconvincing hoodlum. His misdemeanour is less an act of rebellion than a brief misunderstanding. Far from articulating the angst of a generation, his angry tirades against his parents (Kim Hunter and James Daly) and the police set him apart from his peers and feel more like the self-pitying whines of a privileged individual. This sensation is further exacerbated by the fact that all of his problems are swiftly resolved in an all-too-neat ending. Still, The Young Stranger is an interesting period piece, not least for an amusingly tame car chase from first-time feature director John Frankenheimer. --Paul Philpott
A wonderful western version of Charles Dickens' story 'A Christmas Carol' where Scrooge is a miserable card-cheating miser who owns half the town.
Even by Roger Corman's thrifty standards, The Little Shop of Horrors was a masterpiece of micro-budget movie-making. Scripted in a week and shot, according to Corman, in two days and one night, it made use of a pre-existing store-front set that serves as the florist's shop where most of the action takes place. Our hero is shambling loser Seymour Krelboined, sad-sack assistant at Mushnick's skid-row flower shop and who is hopelessly in love with Audrey, his fellow worker. Threatened with the sack by Mushnick, Seymour brings in a strange plant he's been breeding at home, hoping it'll attract the customers. It does, and the store starts to prosper, but Seymour is horrified to discover that the only thing the plant will thrive on is blood, fresh, human blood at that. The sets are pasteboard, the acting is way over the top, and altogether Little Shop is an unabashed high-camp spoof, not to be taken seriously for a second. Even so, Corman notes that this was the movie "that established me as an underground legend". Charles Griffith, the film's screenwriter, plays the voice of the insatiable plant ("FEED ME!"), and billed way down the cast list is a very young Jack Nicholson in a bizarre, giggling cameo as Wilbur Force, a masochistic dental patient demanding ever more pain. The film's cult status got it turned into an off-Broadway hit musical in the 1980s, with a great pastiche doo-wop score by Alan Menken, which was subsequently filmed in 1986. The musical remake is a lot of fun, but it misses the ramshackle charm of the original. On the DVD: Little Shop of Horrors on disc does not even boast a trailer, just some minimal onscreen background info about the production. The clean transfer, 4:3 ratio, and digitally remastered mono sound faithfully recapture Corman's bargain-basement production values. --Philip Kemp
The Long Way Home was the recipient of the 1997 Academy Award for best feature documentary. The film examines the critical post World War II period from 1945 - 1948 and the plight of tens of thousands of refugees who survived the Nazi Holocaust and their often-illegal attempts to get to the Jewish homeland. It explores how much of the world turned its back on the tragedy of these forgotten people and the world events that led to the creation of the state of Israel.
For the most part of 30 years Jack Nicklaus has been golf's greatest. His longevity has proved equal to Arnold Palmer's and only Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones can be considered players in Nicklaus's league. Learn the true story behind golfs biggest star the man who influenced so many of todays top players and who went on to design some of the sports finest venues and courses.
John Ford's 1948 classic stars John Wayne as a cavalry officer used to doing things a certain way out West at Fort Apache. Along comes a rigid, new commanding officer (Henry Fonda) who insists that everything on his watch be done by the book, including dealings with local Indians. The results are mixed: greater discipline at the fort, but increased hostilities with the natives. Ford deliberately leaves judgements about the wisdom of these changes ambiguous, but he also allows plenty of room in this wonderful film for the fullness of life among the soldiers and their families--community rituals, new romances--to blossom. Fonda, in an unusual role for him, is stern and formal as the new man in charge; Wayne is heroic as the rebellious second; Victor McLaglen provides comic relief; and Ward Bond is a paragon of sturdy and sentimental masculinity. All of this is set against the magnificent, poetic topography of Monument Valley. This is easily one of the greatest of American films. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Titles Comprise: Her Desperate Choice: When the courts fail to protect her daughter from her suspected paedophile husband a mother is forced to join an underground network that protects mothers and abused children in this alarming drama starring Faith Ford and Kyle Secor. Jody Murdock is convinced that her ex-husband has been molesting their daughter Samantha - but is unable to prove it. Now Jody feels she has no choice: she takes Samantha and heads 'underground' into a secret and well-run network that provides them with new identities and a safe place to live. But Jody's ex refuses to accept the loss of his daughter and sets off in relentless pursuit of the fugitives. Even if Jody now has a new love in her life will she and Samantha ever gain the peace and security they so desperately need? Two Small Voices: Sybil Goldrich and Kathleen Anneken could not be more different. Sybil is a wealthy Californian and Kathleen an ordinary housewife. But both have fallen gravely ill after undergoing silicone implant surgery and are ignored and mistreated when they try to sue. Sybil and Kathleen are 'two small voices' who refused to be silenced. They join forces to take their case to the FDA - but as the medical and big business communities close ranks against them Sybil and Kathleen realise they have an epic battle on their hands. Face Value: Marla Hanson's dreams of becoming a top New York model were shattered when she was attacked and slashed across the face sustaining wounds requiring nearly 150 stitches. Marla's modelling career was finished but her ordeal had only just begun. When her case came to court the defence attorney tore into her accusing her of being a prostitute and using sex to further her career. But Marla fought back against these accusations and her exceptional courage made her not only America's most famous victim but a champion for others who had suffered in the same way. Race Against The Harvest: This dramatic story tells of the fierce conflict that arises between a wheat farmer and a harvester when the harvester refuses to wait for the farmer's wheat to dry after rain. To complicate matters the two men were once in partnership and they still are brothers-in-law. Crossing The Line: Laura a former basketball star is forced to coach her local team when their coach suffers a heart attack. The team continue to lose under Laura's direction and the fans begin to become violently involved with the games. As the arguments and violence start to get out of hand the girls find themselves teaching everyone a lesson in sportsmanship... No One Could Protect Her: Just days after her papergirl is found murdered Jessica Rayner is raped and assaulted in her home by a crazed intruder who is forced to flee before he kill her. This is not the end of her ordeal. The clever killer repeatedly taunts and terrifies Jessica - though failing each time to kill off this vital witness to his crimes. But Jessica is determined to fight back and begins to piece together clues to work out when the killer might strike again. And this time she'll be ready for him...
After his mother's death Collin Fenwick goes to live with his father's cousins the wealthy avaricious and controlling Verena Talbo and her compliant earthy sister Dolly...
Ernest Hemingway's tragic wartime romance comes to vivid life in this classic 1932 film starring Oscar winners Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. The cataclysm of WW1 sets the stage for an impassioned story of star-crossed love between a daring American ambulance driver (Cooper) and an English nurse (Hayes) in an army hospital. The tumult of war conspires to push the pair together and then wrench them apart in what becomes an ultimate test of love. Boasting beautiful cinematogrpahy and poe
Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston and Elaine Stritch star in this drama written and directed by Woody Allen. The film follows Lane (Farrow), who is staying at her childhood home in Vermont as she recovers from a nervous breakdown. She has been having an affair with Peter (Waterston), a writer who lives nearby, but now relations between them seem to have inexplicably cooled. When Lane's mother Diane (Stritch) arrives with unexpected news, and the fate of her relationship with Peter becomes clear, Lane's emotional world is thrown into turmoil once again.
Dear Frankie: Nine-year-old Frankie and his single mum Lizzie have been on the move ever since Frankie can remember most recently arriving in a seaside Scottish town. Wanting to protect her deaf son from the truth that they've run away from his father Lizzie has invented a story that he is away at sea on the HMS Accra. Every few weeks Lizzie writes Frankie a make-believe letter from his father telling of his adventures in exotic lands. As Frankie tracks the ship's progress
The irresistible pairing of Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler is the best reason to see Anger Management, a comedy that might have been subtitled "The Funny and the Furious". Nicholson and especially Sandler have screen personas that partially rely on pent-up anxieties, so there's definite potential in teaming them as a mild-mannered designer of pet clothing for chubby cats (Sandler) who's been ordered to undergo anger management therapy with a zany counsellor (Nicholson) prone to occasional tantrums and devious manipulation. Surely this meandering comedy looked better on the page; director Peter Segal scores a few lucky scenes (particularly Sandler's encounter with a Buddhist monk, played by John C Reilly), but a flood of cameos (Heather Graham, Woody Harrelson, Rudolph Giuliani, and others) can't match the number of laughs that fall flat. As Sandler's understanding girlfriend, Marisa Tomei plays a pivotal role in a happy ending that leaves everyone smiling, with the possible exception of the audience. --Jeff Shannon
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