Nothing is as it seems behind the well-trimmed hedges of the picturesque cottages in the idyllic English county of Midsomer. Beneath the tranquil surface of sleepy village life exist dark secrets scandals and downright evil. John Nettles stars as the humorous thoughtful and methodical Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. This Christmas Collection includes four fantastic episodes! Ghosts Of Christmas Past: It is Christmas in Midsomer. A shot rings out from Draycott House. Nine years later the whole Villiers family come together again. At the police station DCI Barnaby heads home and asks Sgt Scott to contact him if anything happens warning him that: 'Things have a habit of happening around Christmas time.' Death Of A Stranger: Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy investigate a murder. DCI Barnaby returns from a winter holiday to discover an unidentified tramp has been beaten to death in the woods near the village of Marshwood. While he was away Supt Ronald Pringle just before his retirement quickly arrested a local young man. But Barnaby suspects that he is innocent which is only reinforced when there is an apparent suicide at the same spot. A Talent For Life: In Malham Bridge former socialite and feisty pensioner Isobel Hewitt is accused of assault by fellow fly fisher Margaret Seagrove. When Barnaby and Troy investigate the allegations they discover that all is not well on the Midsomer riverbanks. The investigation takes a more serious turn when two bodies are discovered in the river. Are they the victims of an uncalculated attack by poachers or was there a more sinister motive? Shot At Dawn: The Court Marshall and execution of Tommy Hicks for desertion during World War I ignites a feud between the Hammonds and the Hicks which lasts for 90 years. Duggie Hammond always felt guilty about his forced involvement in Tommy's unjust death. During a ceremony at the village war memorial Tommy's son Lionel unveils a plaque for his father. Colonel Henry Hammond who supported the execution finds the ceremony farcical and lets his feelings be known. When Henry is later executed Barnaby and Jones investigate.
A box office failure at the time, John Boorman's 1974 cult science fiction film Zardoz is an entrancing if overly ambitious project that offers pointed commentary on class structure and religion inside its complex plot and head-movie visuals. Its healthy doses of sex and violence will involve viewers even if the story machinations escape them. Beautifully photographed near Boorman's home in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains by Geoffrey Unsworth (2001), its production design is courtesy of longtime Boorman associate Anthony Pratt, who creates a believable society within the film's million-dollar budget. A bewigged Sean Connery is Zed, a savage "exterminator" commanded by the mysterious god Zardoz to eliminate Brutals, survivors of an unspecified worldwide catastrophe. Zed stows away inside Zardoz's enormous idol (a flying stone head) and is taken to the pastoral land of the Eternals, a matriarchal, quasi-medieval society that has achieved psychic abilities as well as immortality. Zed finds as much hope as disgust with the Eternals; their advancements have also robbed them of physical passion, turning their existence into a living death. Zed becomes the Eternals' unlikely messiah, but in order to save them--and himself--he must confront the truth behind Zardoz and his own identity inside the Tabernacle, the Eternals' omnipresent master computer. --Paul Gaita
Rocking Horse Winner is a dark, atmospheric and complex psychological British drama, adapted from DH Lawrence's story about Paul, a young boy (a 10 year-old John Howard Davies) who receives a rocking horse for Christmas and soon learns that he is able to pick the winning horse at the races - to the delight of his spend thrift mother (Valerie Hobson) and his hopeless gambler of a father (Hugh Sinclair) Young Paul teams up with Bassett the servant (John Mills), with the two of them forming a profitable partnership - yet the house continually whispers to Paul that it needs more money, with this need exacting a high price.
During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman). While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds. Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill's courage to lead changed the course of world history.
""I'm free!"" With these words just one unforgettable character among many in this classic TV sitcom was born. From the comedy pens of Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft (Dad's Army) came the DepartMental comedy madness that is Are You Being Served?. There's hilarity at Grace Brothers the High Street department store with a difference. Join in the fun as limp-wristed Mr Humphries and that blue-rinsed batle axe Mrs Slocombe lead the outrageous department store staff through the first five series of outrageously funny episodes! Series 1: 1. Are You Being Served? (Pilot Episode) 2. Dear Sexy Knickers 3. Our Figures Are Slipping 4. Camping In 5. His And Hers 6. Diamonds Are A Man's Best Friend Series 2: 1. The Clock 2. Cold Comfort 3. The Think Tank 4. Big Brother 5. Hoorah For The Holidays Series 3: 1. The Hand Of Fate 2. Coffee Morning 3. Up Captain Peacock 4. Cold Store 5. Wedding Bells 6. German Week 7. Shoulder To Shoulder 8. New Look 9. Christmas Crackers Series 4: 1. No Sale 2. Top Hat and Tails 3. Forward Mr. Grainger 4. Fire Practice 5. Fifty Years On 6. Oh What a Tangled Web 7. The Father Christmas Affair (1976 Christmas Special episode) Series 5: 1. Mrs. Slocombe Expects 2. A Change Is as Good as a Rest 3. Founder's Day 4. The Old Order Changes 5. Take-Over 6. Goodbye Mr. Grainger 7. It Pays to Advertise
With the Civil War over Frank and Jesse James (Bill Paxton and Rob Lowe) retreat to the family farm where they witness the murder of their younger brother while Yankee soldiers turn their backs. The James boys feel they have no choice but to seek their own justice. They join the younger brothers to form a gang of rebels that wage a bloody war against its corrupt enemies in robbing their banks stagecoaches and train. In retaliation their adversaries hire famed detective Allan Pinkerton (William Atherton) to stop them. When his nephew is gunned down by the James Gang Pinkerton vows he will not rest until the day the notorious brothers are brought to justice at the end of a rope.
The Alien Quadrilogy is a nine-disc box set devoted to the four Alien films. Although previously available on DVD as the Alien Legacy, here the films have been repackaged with vastly more extras and with upgraded sound and vision. For anyone who hasn't been in hypersleep for the last 25 years this series needs no introduction, though for the first time each film now comes in both original and "Special Edition" form. Alien (1979) was so perfect it didn't need fixing, and Ridley Scott's 2003 Director's Cut is fiddling for the sake of it. Watch once then return to the majestic, perfectly paced original. Conversely the Special Edition of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) is the definitive version, though it's nice finally to have the theatrical cut on DVD for comparison. Most interesting is the alternative Alien3 (1992). This isn't a "director's cut"--David Fincher refused to have any involvement with this release--but a 1991 work-print that runs 29 minutes longer than the theatrical version, and has now been restored, remastered and finished-off with (unfortunately) cheap new CGI. Still, it's truly fascinating, offering a different insight into a flawed masterpiece. The expanded opening is visually breathtaking, the central firestorm is much longer, and a subplot involving Paul McGann's character adds considerable depth to the story. The ending is also subtly but significantly different. Alien Resurrection (1997) was always a mess with a handful of brilliant scenes, and the Special Edition just makes it eight minutes longer. On the DVD: Alien Quadrilogy offers all films except Alien3 with DTS soundtracks, the latter having still fine Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. All four films sound fantastic, with much low-level detail revealed for the first time. Each is anamorphically enhanced at the correct original aspect ratio, and the prints and transfers are superlative. Every film offers a commentary that lends insight into the creative process--though the Scott-only commentary and isolated music score from the first Alien DVD release are missing here--and there are subtitles for hard of hearing both for the films and the commentaries. Each movie is complemented by a separate disc packed with hours of seriously detailed documentaries (all presented at 4:3 with clips letterboxed), thousands of photos, production stills and storyboards, giving a level of inside information for the dedicated buff only surpassed by the Lord of the Rings extended DVD sets. A ninth DVD compiles miscellaneous material, including a Channel 4 hour-long documentary and even all the extras from the old Alien laserdisc. Exhaustive hardly beings to describe the Alien Quadrilogy, a set which establishes the new DVD benchmark for retrospective releases and which looks unlikely to be surpassed for some time. --Gary S Dalkin
There are two sides to every story. Helen is about to live both of them... at the same time. Romance was never this much fun. The split-second moments that can take a life down one path instead of another form the tantalising 'what if?' in this delightful romantic comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow plays London publicist Helen effortlessly sliding between parallel storylines that show what happens if she does or does not catch a morning train back to her apartment. Lo
(Daddy's Home) A mild-mannered radio executive strives to become the best stepdad to his wife's two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids. (Daddy's Home 2) Father Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and stepfather Brad's (Will Ferrell) newfound partnership is put to the test when Dusty's old-school, macho Dad (Mel Gibson) and Brad's gentle Dad (John Lithgow) arrive just in time to turn the holidays upside down.
Big budget sci-fi action based on the original film series of the late 1960s and early 1970s. James Franco stars as Will Rodman, a genetic engineer working in present-day San Francisco who is performing scientific tests on apes in his attempt to find a cure for Alzheimer's. His first test subject is Caesar (Andy Serkis), the prototype of a new breed of apes with human-like intelligence. But when Caesar breaks free, a revolution is triggered and an epic war for supremacy breaks out between humankind and the primates of the world.
Cruise back to Baltimore 1963 to the time and turf of a rare American breed: The 'Tin Man' (aluminium siding salesman). Two less-than-honest rivals in the tin game (Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito) meet in a fender bender but their bruised egos and quick tempers turn the minor accident into a major vendetta against each other's symbols of success - their prized Cadillacs. In what would seem to be a coup de grace Dreyfuss decides to seduce DeVito's neglected wife (Barbara Hershe
Someone to Watch Over Me is a stylish, smart film noir directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner). The movie stars Tom Berenger as a New York cop and family man who falls for the rich and beautiful witness (Mimi Rogers) he's assigned to protect. Scott, who always displays a distinctive eye for extraordinary art direction, does something here he should be doing a lot more often: directing contemporary noir. Berenger and Rogers rise to the occasion, seemingly aware that they're making something special. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Anyone who grew up in Southern California will talk with both nostalgia and frustration about the periodic summers of drought in which the oppressive heat is exacerbated by a shortage of its antidote--fresh water. In 1975 a clan of scruffy rebellious teens found a way to turn this dearth to their advantage using the sloping bowl of empty suburban swimming pools to create a new underground sport - skateboarding. The development explosion and corporate co-opting of this now ubiquitous sport was the subject of Stacy Peralta's acclaimed 2002 documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. Peralta one of the original skaters who came to be known as the Z-Boys has penned this dramatized account of his own story a kinetic and gripping tale with dramatic turns reflective of the extreme crests and falls of those concrete waves.
Gemma Jones stars as Louisa Trotter a cook for the upperclass at a fancy hotel. Very similar in style to 'Upstairs Downstairs' this classic British TV series first aired in 1976.
The BAFTA-winning adaptation of Quentin Crisp's best-selling autobiography, The Naked Civil Servant features an arguably career-best performance by John Hurt as Crisp a flamboyant homosexual trying to live an openly gay lifestyle in the intolerant pre-war years.
The fourth series of investigations featuring hard-bitten policeman Frost... Episode titles: Paying the Price Unknown Soldiers The Things We Do for Love Fun Times For Swingers Deep Waters.
Just as Dundee settles in New York with his beautiful girlfriend they are both targeted for death by a gang of ruthless drug dealers. Dundee then leads the big-city hoods to the Austrailian outback to even the odds...
Adapting to life on Winterdown Farm continues to be less than smooth for the Boyce's. When Marlene throes Boycie out of the house Bryan is all too willing to share his home with his boss. Unluckily for Boycie Bryan's home is a caravan that has only one bed (and that's being used by a sickly sheep). Boycie continues to tread dangerous ground when he sets up a secret distillery on the farm. But things get a lot more dangerous when the Driscoll brothers come knocking. And while Boycie believes a Knighthood is on the horizon Marlene takes up photography making a charity calendar with very revealing results. Meanwhile Elgin and co think they're on to an earner when they meet a couple of paranormal investigators seeking evidence of the afterlife. But just who is pulling the wool over whose eyes? When The Antiques Roadshow comes to town an unenthused Boycie has a change of heart when the staff unearths what could possibly be a piece of long lost treasure. And Boycie and Marlene face up to some shocking news as they prepare to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
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