The Sopranos is more than just a suburban Godfather, it's a modern-day I, Claudius with all the consanguineous conflict of the Caesars translated to New Jersey. At the beginning of the third series--just as brilliant and compelling as the first two--the Soprano clan are under close surveillance from the FBI; but, as ever, that's the least of their problems. Anthony Jnr is getting into trouble at school, Meadow's romantic liaisons at college are a cause of friction, Carmela is having a crisis of conscience and Tony trades one dangerously neurotic mistress for another. Livia's death does nothing to help Tony's psychological problems, and his relationship with therapist Dr Melfi is increasingly strained, especially after she undergoes a shocking ordeal of her own. There's tension in Tony's other "family", too, as Christopher finally gets made but then chafes at the extra responsibility, much to Paulie's disgust. In one magnificent episode (directed by Steve Buscemi) the two become stranded in the snow-filled woods overnight where all their mutual resentment boils over even as they both freeze. But Tony's real problems emerge from the Aprile family: Jackie Jnr is becoming a dangerous loose cannon, actively encouraged by his borderline psychotic stepfather Ralphie (a marvellous Joe Pantoliano), whose erratic behaviour threatens to ignite a deadly feud ("He disrespected the Bing", says Tony after punching him). When Jackie Jnr and Meadow become an item, both of Tony's dysfunctional families collide with devastating consequences. On the DVD: The Sopranos, Series 3 arrives in a neat fold-out four-disc set, with four episodes on a double-sided first disc and three each on the remainder. The contents are an improvement on previous releases, with three separate episode commentaries, which are all informative and worthwhile: costar and sometime writer Michael Imperioli (Christopher) talks us through his own script for "The Telltale Moozadell"; Steve Buscemi appears on his directorial effort, "Pine Barrens"; and series creator David Chase chooses the penultimate episode, "Amour Fou". In addition there's a tiny three-minute backstage featurette. Picture and sound are up to par as ever. --Mark Walker
Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective dad, visits his daughter at Stanford where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). A rivalry develops and Ned's panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns Laird is about to pop the question.
While it's true that this 1959 screen adaptation of The 39 Steps pales in comparison to Alfred Hitchcock's seminal 1935 version, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable romp that compensates for a lack of any tension whatsoever with a generous dose of genial good humour. Affable Kenneth More's Richard Hannay more closely resembles the kind of roles Cary Grant was playing for Hitch in the late 1950s; Finnish blonde Taina Elg, in the somewhat unlikely role of a prim Scottish schoolmistress, is his love interest. Although handcuffed together, More and Elg fail to radiate any sexual chemistry, even when scandalously forced to share a room and a bed. Much better are the delightful cameos: Sid James as a roguish lorry driver; Brenda De Banzie as voluptuous psychic Nellie; and Joan Hickson as a simpering teacher. As a thriller it's hardly in the same league as North by Northwest, but as a window on life in England and Scotland in the 1950s, this 39 Steps has much to recommend it. --Mark Walker
James Bolam and Michael French star as father and son doctors in Born and Bred. It is the 1950s and times are moving on for GP Arthur Gilder. The glow of post war peace has created an aura of optimism while the birth of the NHS is bringing a host of changes to his Lancashire surgery and cottage hospital. Arthur has lived in the close-knit village of Ormston all his life and he is keen to hand over the reins of the practice to his son, Tom. Following in his father's footsteps is the last thing on Tom's mind, however, when Tom returns to the village for a wedding this provides Arthur with the perfect opportunity to try to convince him otherwise.
A logical conclusionThe final season of Elementary finds Holmes returning to the place where Sherlock's storiedlegend began - London. Having lied and confessed to a murder he did not commit - to protect Watson'sgood name - Sherlock moved back to England to avoid jail time. Loyal Dr. Joan Watson followed him across the pond, where the detective duo jump right into more intriguing cases and encounter a slate of clever criminals, relentless adversaries and at least one old nemesis. Back in New York, Captain Thomas Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Detective Marcus Bell (Jon Michael Hill) feel the absence of their former consultants, but it may not be too long before unorthodox crimes and common enemies bring the foursome back together. Witness the unique evolution of this classic team and hit series in The Final Season on 3 discs.
Free Willy Three and one-half tonnes of best friend: family adventure doesn't get any bigger! Willy is an orca whale confined in a Pacific Northwest aquatic park's too-small tank and separated from his family in the nearby bay. No one understands Willy's moods - except a 12 year-old boy who knows what it's like to be without a family. That boy is scruffy street kid Jesse (Jason James Richter) who befriends Willy and risks all to set him free. Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home Two years after helping his friend escape into the sea Jesse enjoys life with his adoptive parents and is delighted to be reunited with the 3 tonne killer whale. However a crashed supertanker causes an oil spill which threatens the life of both... Free Willy 3: The Rescue Now 16 Jesse has taken a job on an orca research ship to encounter his old friend threatened by illegal whalers hoping to make money from turning the whale into sushi... Free Willy - Escape From Pirate's Cove : Young Kirra (Bindi Irwin) leaves her Australian home to summer with her grandfather (Beau Bridges) in South Africa she soon discovers a baby orca stranded in the lagoon near her grandfather's rundown seaside amusement park. She names the lonely whale Willy - and embarks on a quest to lead the little guy back to his anxious pod before her grandfather's greedy rival turns Willy into a captive moneymaking attraction at his slick theme park.
ABC presents its second action packed series from the creative minds at Marvel in Marvel's Agent Carter, inspired by the feature films Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, along with the short Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter. Years before Agent Phil Coulson and his S.H.I.E.L.D. team swore to protect those who cannot protect themselves from threats they cannot conceive, there was Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell, Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier) who pledged the same oath but lived in a different time when women weren't recognized as being as smart or as tough as their male counterparts. But no one should ever underestimate Peggy. It's 1946 and peace has dealt Peggy a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy finds herself stuck doing administrative work when she would rather be back out in the field putting her vast skills into play and taking down the bad guys. But she is also trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life, Steve Rogers aka Captain America. When old acquaintance Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger) finds himself being framed for unleashing his deadliest weapons to anyone willing to pony up the cash, he contacts Peggy the only person he can trust to track down those responsible, dispose of the weapons and clear his name. He empowers his butler, Edwin Jarvis (James D'Arcy, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World), to be at her beck and call when needed to help assist her as she investigates and tracks down those responsible for releasing these weapons of mass destruction. But Jarvis, who is a creature of habit and sticks to a rigid daily routine, is going to have to make some major life changes if he's going to be able to keep up with Peggy. If caught going on these secret missions for Stark, Peggy could be targeted as a traitor and spend the rest of her days in prison or worse. And as she delves deeper into her investigation, she may find that those she works for are not who they seem, and she might even begin to question whether Stark is as innocent as he claims.
""47 875 survivors in search of a home called Earth."" ""The cylons were created by man. They evolved. They rebelled. There are many copies. And they have a plan."" The Sci-fi Channel's hottest TV series returns as Battlestar Galactica 2.0 blasts onto DVD. As the epic second season begins the fight to save humanity rages on - even as civil war looms within the fleet between the followers of President Roslin and Commander Adama. Relive all the intensity and exciteme
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
One of the last of the classic-era widescreen epics, Zulu was also one of the last war movies to celebrate the virtues of the famous British stiff upper lip. At Rorke's Drift in 1879 a handful of British soldiers, hopelessly outnumbered by 4,000 Zulu warriors, fought one of the most celebrated defensive actions in military history. Zulu tells the story on an epic scale, bringing to life the heroism, courage, loyalty and sacrifice of those desperate hours. This is truly cast-of-thousands filmmaking, with vast action wonderfully captured in widescreen Technirama. John Barry, who also scored Goldfinger in the same year, provides a telling musical accompaniment. The superb cast includes Stanley Baker and Jack Hawkins, but Zulu's final claim to fame is that it made an instant international superstar of a young actor whose name is Michael Caine. A belated sequel arrived in 1979 in Zulu Dawn, which despite even more spectacular action and a great cast died at the box-office. It is nevertheless well worth seeing. On the DVD: Zulu on disc has excellent prologic stereo considering the age of the film, while the anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 transfer is crystal-clear, boasting rich colours, strong contrast and detail and only occasional minor print flaws. The original American trailer, also presented anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, is a worthwhile addition. There is a very good new 45-minute "making of" (1.77:1 anamorphic, in stereo), curiously split into two parts. The heart of the programme consists of interviews with survivors from the film, focusing on Stanley Baker's widow. The only let down is lack of input from Michael Caine and composer John Barry. The commentary by film historian Sheldon Hall, author of a forthcoming book on the movie, and Second Unit Director Robert Porter is serious and packed with information. --Gary S Dalkin
1966s Cast a Giant Shadow is based on Ted Berkmans biography of Colonel "Mickey" Marcus, the American soldier who served as an adviser in the fight to establish the state of Israel in 1948. It stars Kirk Douglas as the likeable "stiffneck" and WWII veteran persuaded to take up the cause. Israel back then was depicted as a negligible military force under threat of extinction at the hands of its Arab neighbours, hamstrung by a UN embargo on arms supplies. It takes Douglas at his most square-jawed to see off the Egyptian military and defy a blockade to beat a path through to Jerusalem. This is not cinema verité but Hollywood. Marcus dilemma--to settle into peacetime in America or follow his more natural, combative instincts abroad--is symbolised by a love triangle, involving wife Angie Dickinson and Santa Berger as Magda, the soldier whom he falls for in Palestine. Although lavish and spectacular, especially in the war scenes--filmed in the actual Middle Eastern locations in which they occurred--Cast a Giant Shadow is not entirely authentic (for a start, theyre driving 1950s vehicles in the 40s). Moreover, in the light of later troubles in the region, not everyone will be heart warmed by this depiction of plucky little Israel coping against Arab foes who are barely depicted as human throughout the film, merely as tanks and gunfire. Still, its an impressive enough relic of epic 1960s cinema, with cameos from Yul Brynner, John Wayne as Marcus wartime general, and Frank Sinatra as a pilot scattering the enemy by dropping soda dispensers on them. On the DVD: Cast a Giant Shadows restoration here is visually immaculate. The mono sound, however, is often indistinct, with a good deal of sibilant hiss. Disappointingly, the only extra is the original trailer.--David Stubbs
The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The beloved characters from the original 'X-Men' film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past 'X-Men: First Class ' in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future.
MOLLY'S GAME is the true story of Molly Bloom a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.
Nine years is a long time for any group of Friends to stick so closely together, but somehow the gang are still as daftly charming as ever. After the birth of Emma, Rachel comes to terms with being a mother surprisingly well. It's how everyone else deals with it that makes things interesting. Joey's accidental proposal creates weird friction between him and Ross, who breaks his finger throwing the show's first ever punch. Monica becomes desperately broody and attempts all manner of convoluted ways of persuading Chandler to father a child (unfortunately he inadvertently bankrupts them in a move to Tulsa!). Phoebe, on the other hand, occupies herself in the dating game, holding on to Mike (Paul Rudd) in the longest guest-star relationship anyone's ever had. Other surprise guests this year include Freddie Prinze Jr as an overly sensitive nanny (in the 200th episode), Christina Applegate as another of Rachel's sisters and Jeff Goldblum playing himself on the set of another movie on which Joey is trying to get a break. As always the sparks occasionally fly between Rachel and Ross, while the others manage to strain their own relationships to the max. The real reason for watching now is the one-off kooky scenarios in which they--or rather Joey--get into. His endless dating finally sees him stuck for remembering if he's already slept with a girl; he botches an attempt at eyebrow waxing; and he manages to make Chandler think Monica's after a breast enhancement. --Paul Tonks
In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite -- not only to save Jean's soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.
The complete seventh series in one box set! Episodes comprise: 1. The One With Monicas Thunder 2. The One With Rachels Book 3. The One With Phoebes Cookies 4. The One With Rachels Assistant 5. The One With The Engagement Picture 6. The One With The Nap Partners 7. The One With Rosss Library Book 8. The One Where Chandler Doesnt Like Dogs 9. The One With All The Candy 10. The One With The Holiday Armadillo 11. The One With All The Cheesecakes 12. The One Where Theyre Up All Night 13. The One Where Rosita Dies 14. The One Where They All Turn Thirty 15. The One With Joeys New Brain 16. The One With Truth About London 17. The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress 18. The One With Joey's Award 19. The One With Ross and Monica's Cousin 20. The One with Rachel's Big Kiss 21. The One with The Vows 22. The One With Chandler's Dad 23. The One With The Wedding (Feature length special episode)
A half-blind ex-prizefighter and millionaire team up to take an undersized horse called Seabiscuit to the big time in this movie based on a true story.
A tense conspiracy thriller that twists deeper and deeper into the hostile twilight world where politics meets the press, from Emmy-winning writer Paul Abbot (Cracker) and director David Yates (Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts). Featuring an all-star cast including David Morrissey, John Simm, Bill Nighy, James McAvoy and Kelly Macdonald. Stephen Collins is an ambitious politician. Cal McAffrey is a well-respected investigative journalist and Stephen's ex-campaign manager. En route to work one morning, Stephen's research assistant mysteriously falls to her death on the London Underground. It's not long before rumours of an affair between Stephen and the assistant hit the headlines. Meanwhile a suspected teenage drug dealer is shot dead. Revelation upon revelation pile up in the aftermath of these two seemingly unconnected events, ultimately bringing to light shady dealings between the government and major corporate powers. Friendships are tested and lives are put on the line as an intricate web of lies unfolds.
Oscar Winner Tom Hanks Stars in Stephen King's Magical, Epic Drama. Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this emotional, touching film about miracles and the power of redemption stars Tom Hanks as prison guard Paul Edgecomb. When a giant of a man is brought to death row, Edgecomb and his fellow guards discover something very unusual about their new charge, John Coffey (Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan). Convicted for the sadistic murder of two young girls, but behaving almost childlike himself, Coffey seems to have a supernatural gift of healing living things. Expectations are turned upside down and the guards' sense of humanity is awakened in this astonishing adaptation of Stephen King's compelling novel.
A Bridge Too Far: In September 1944 flush with success after the Normandy Invasion the Allies confidently launched Operation Market Garden a wild scheme intended to put an early end to the fighting by invading Germany and smashing the Reich's war plants. But a combination of battlefield politics faulty intelligence bad luck and even worse weather led to the disaster beyond the Allies' darkest fear. The Great Escape: One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven) screenwriters James Clavell ('Shogun') and W.R. Burnett and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story. The Battle Of Britain: This is a spectacular retelling of a true story that shows courage at its inspiring best. Few defining moments can change the outcome of war . But when the outnumbered Royal Air Force defied unsurmountable odds in engaging the German Luftwaffe they may well have altered the course of history!
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