Three young children live on a remote farm in the North of England; their mother is dead and their father is too busy to look after them. Kathy (Hayley Mills) is the eldest Nan (Diane Holgate) is the quiet child of the family while six year old Charles (Alan Barnes) is the most outspoken. The children wage constant guerrilla warfare against farmhand Eddie and the traps he sets for wild animals. They rescue three kittens that Eddie believes he has drowned. Charles tries to give
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment invites you on an enchanting musical adventure through the deepest parts of New Orleans in the Oscar nominated The Princess and the Frog, available on Disney Blu-ray and DVD from 21st June 2010.
Gandhi is a great subject, but is Gandhi a great film? Undoubtedly it is, not least because it is one of the last old-school epics ever made, a glorious visual treat featuring tens of thousands of extras (real people, not digital effects) and sumptuous Panavision cinematography. But a true epic is about more than just widescreen photography, it concerns itself with noble subjects too, and the life story of Mahatma Gandhi is one of the noblest of all. Both the man and the film have profound things to say about the meaning of freedom and racial harmony, as well as how to achieve them. Ben Kingsley, in his first major screen role, bears the heavy responsibility of the central performance and carries it off magnificently; without his magnetic and utterly convincing portrayal the film would founder in the very first scene. Sir Richard Attenborough surrounds his main character with a cast of distinguished thespians (Trevor Howard, John Mills, John Gielgud and Martin Sheen, to name but four), none of whom do anything but provide the most sympathetic support. John Briley's literate screenplay achieves the almost impossible task of distilling the bewildering complexities of Anglo-Indian politics. Attenborough's treatment is openly reverential, but, given the saint-like character of his subject, it's hard to see how it could have been anything else. He doesn't flinch from the implication that the Mahatma was naïve to expect a unified India, for example, but instead lets Gandhi's actions speak for themselves. The outstanding achievement of this labour of love is that it tells the story of an avowed pacifist who never raised a hand in anger, of a man who never held high office, of a man who shied away from publicity, and turns it into three hours of utterly mesmerising cinema.On the DVD: The anamorphic (16:9) picture of the original 2.35:1 image has a certain softness to it that may reflect the age of the print, but somehow seems entirely in keeping with the subject . Sound is Dolby 5.1. The extras are fairly brief, but worthwhile: original newsreel footage of Gandhi includes an astonishingly patronising British news account of his visit to England; in a recent interview, Ben Kinglsey chats enthusiastically about the film and the difficulties he experienced bringing the character to life. The dull "making-of" feature is simply a montage of stills. --Mark Walker
Noel Coward's timeless movie of a couple who meet in a railway station and must make a decision that will change their lives forever.
I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. Legendary director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) directs the iconic John Wayne as an ageing gunfighter dying of cancer in his final screen appearance, a superb adaptation of Glendon Swarthout's classic western novel, The Shootist. John Bernard Books is the stuff of legend, a renowned shootist' whose reputation looms large. But it's 1901, and like the old west, John is dying and a reputation like his draws trouble like an outhouse draws flies. As word spreads that the famous gunfighter is on his last legs, the vultures begin to gather; old enemies, the marshal, newspaper men, an undertaker, all eager to see him dead. Other men might die quietly in bed or take their own lives, but J. B. Books will choose his executioner and face down death with a pistol in each hand. With an outstanding cast that features not only Wayne, but James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Scatman Crothers and John Carradine, The Shootist is an elegiac ode to a monumental screen presence and to the Western genre itself. LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS 2K remaster by Arrow Films from the original 35mm camera negative High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original lossless mono audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Howard S. Berger The Last Day, a visual essay by film critic David Cairns A Man-Making Moment, an interview with Western author C. Courtney Joyner Laments of the West, an appreciation of Elmer Bernstein's score by film historian and composer Neil Brand Contemplating John Wayne: The Death of a Cowboy, a visual essay by filmmaker and critic Scout Tafoya The Shootist: The Legend Lives On, archival featurette Theatrical trailer Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Juan Esteban RodrÃguez Illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing by film critic Philip Kemp
Splash was big news in 1984. It was the sole reason for a renewed Disney Studios forming its Touchstone Pictures subsidiary. This was so they could get away with displaying Daryl Hannah's nude bottom! It was also big news for launching the film career of Tom Hanks, who immediately became a massive box-office comedy draw in the 80s. For Ron Howard, it was the breakaway success that guaranteed he'd be able to pursue as diverse a directorial career path as he wanted to. It's a simple romance tale, spiced up by making the female lead a mermaid. The stroke of brilliance in the script was in making the comedy happen around the two leads, while letting them believably convey they are hopelessly lost in love. The comedy comes from the ever-reliable John Candy as a larger-than-life womanising older brother, and Eugene Levy as a scatty scientist. Although New York looks a little different today, the movie has hardly aged at all. Which is just as well since it boldly begins "This morning." On the DVD: Splash offers a transfer that has some defects, but colours and dark areas seem just about right. We're spoiled for extras, with a warmly nostalgic Howard joining a key production crew commentary in reminiscing on how much fun they had making the movie. There's a half-hour documentary ("Making a Splash") interviewing everyone involved, including some archival footage of the late Candy. Best of all are the original Audition Tapes for Hanks and Hannah, which reveal the consummate professionals these once-hungry stars really are. --Paul Tonks
En route from New York City to Hollywood for a drag queen beauty pagent Noxeema Vida and Chi Chi are forced to take an unwelcome detour when their 1967 Cadillac convertible breaks down. Stranded in the tiny midwestern town of Snydersville the three try to make the best of their unfortunate circumstance. And when their glitz and glamour wake up the sleepy local citizens the stage is set for an outrageously funny weekend...
Elvis Presley's seventh film was the first of his "Hawaii trilogy" (a group completed by Girls! Girls! Girls! and Paradise, Hawaiian Style). While its story is daft--the King has just been released from his army-posting in Italy and returned to the islands, where he's trying to avoid working in his father's fruit business--the music, including "Blue Hawaii," "Almost Always True" and the beautiful "Can't Help Falling in Love", is not. Angela Lansbury plays Elvis's mother, who can't seem to get through to him. The film is directed by Elvis's frequent collaborator, Norman Taurog. --Tom Keogh
Physics Professor Dr Pederson (Kirk Douglas) and underground leader Straud (Richard Harris) must convince British Intelligence that the Nazis are planning to build the A-bomb. The Norse Hydro Plant at Telemark is central to enemy strategy and the Allies decide to send in a task force to destroy it. Legendary director Anthony Mann (Winchester 73 El Cid The Fall of the Roman Empire) tells the story of nine courageous and indomitable Norwegians without whom the Second World War may ha
Midsomer Murders: Complete Series 12 (6 Discs)
Richard Attenborough's award-winning epic recounts the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi. In South Africa a young Indian lawyer is booted off a train for refusing to ride second-class. Upon his return to his native India and fed up with the unjust political system he joins the Indian Congress Party which encourages social change through passive resistance. When his ""subversive"" activities land him in jail masses of low-skilled workers strike to support his non-violent yet revolutionary position. Back in India Gandhi renounces the Western way of life and struggles to organize Indian labor against British colonialism. A strike costs many British soldiers their lives so the crown responds by slaughtering 1 500 Indians. Enraged the ascetic spiritual leader continues to preach pacifism until he has lead India out from under the tyranny of British imperialism.
All six episodes from the 22nd series of the ITV crime drama set in the picturesque Midsomer region. DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) and his team investigate several more cases including a murder mystery weekend that turns deadly, a rising body count linked to the latest Midsomer Mummers charity production of 'The Pirates of Penzance' and a body found surrounded by occult symbols. The episodes are: 'The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy', 'The Stitcher Society', 'Happy Families', 'The Scarecrow Murders', 'For Death Prepare' and 'The Witches of Angel's Rise'.
A british colonel and his wife decide to remain in India after the departure of the British raj in the 1940s...
World War I seems far away from Ireland's Dingle peninsula when Rosy Ryan Shaughnessy goes horseback riding on the beach with the young English officer. There was a magnetic attraction between them the day he was the only customer in her father's pub and Rosy was tending bar for the first time since her marriage to the village schoolmaster. Then one stormy night some Irish revolutionaries expecting a shipment of guns arrive at Ryan's pub. Is it Rosy who betrays them to the British? Wi
A sleeper star vehicle for Denzel Washington Ricochet is a campy revenge thriller in the Brian De Palma style. Director Russell Mulcahy (The Shadow) makes the most of the opportunity to showcase two great actors in an exaggerated story of cops, robbers, and revenge. Washington plays a cop who becomes a rising legal star as a result of arresting master criminal John Lithgow, who escapes prison, fakes his own death, and sets about framing lawyer Washington for various crimes. Lithgow methodically destroys his life, until Washington enlists the help of childhood friend and drug dealer Ice-T to turn the tables and put his tormentor out of business for good. Lurid and violent, the film is also happily over the top, making Ricochet a cheerfully decadent indulgence.--Robert Lane, Amazon.com
This box set features a collection of Powell And Pressburger finest films. Includes: 1. The Tales of Hoffman (1951) 2. Black Narcisus (1946) 3. A Matter of Life & Death (1946) 4. The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) 5. A Canterbury Tale (1944) 6. I Know Where I am Going (1945) 7. 49th Parallel (1941) 8. The Battle of the River Plate (1956) 9. Ill Met By Moonlight (1957) 10. They're A Weird Mob (1966) 11. The Red Shoes (1948)
A box set of classic film gems from Ealing studios Includes: 1. The Ladykillers (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1955) 2. The Man in The White Suit (Dir. Alexander Mackendrick 1951) 3. The Magnet (Dir. Charles Frend 1950) 4. Scott of The Antarctic (Dir. Charles Frend 1948)
One of Alfred Hitchcock's finest pre-Hollywood films, the 1936 Secret Agent stars a young John Gielgud as a British spy whose death is faked by his intelligence superiors. Reinvented with a new identity and outfitted with a wife (Madeleine Carroll), Gielgud's character is sent on assignment with a cold-blooded accomplice (Peter Lorre) to assassinate a German agent. En route, the counterfeit couple keeps company with an affable American (Robert Young), who turns out to be more than he seems after the wrong man is murdered by Gielgud and Lorre. Dense with interwoven ideas about false names and real identities, about appearances as lies and the brutality of the hidden, and about the complicity of those who watch the anarchy that others do, Secret Agent declared that Alfred Hitchcock was well along the road to mastery as a filmmaker and, more importantly, knew what it was he wanted to say for the rest of his career. --Tom Keogh
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