Three teenage boys are led into violence and temptation on a journey that will shock their sleepy community yet also express its deepest jealousies and divisions. The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael is a brutal and unflinchingly honest portrayal of life in a post-9/11 world. Filmed in long stylised takes the narrative is elliptical and poetic yet infused with a dark and ironic wit.
It's a non-stop party for a group of beautiful teens living it up in a posh area of Los Angeles. And one very sexy lady M.J. has found a congenial way to capitalize on her friendships and advance her position. But when the music stops and the mad whirl starts to slow down M.J. must suddenly face up to a void in her life.
In The Square Peg Norman Wisdom plays one of a pair of council workmen who, while repairing the road outside an army base, come to illustrate the oxymoronic nature of the phrase "military intelligence". Finding themselves drafted, the workmen are sent to repair the roads ahead of the Allied advance through war-torn Europe by the sergeant they previously embarrassed. Norman finds himself behind the German lines, joins up with French Resistance, gets captured then sets out to rescue British prisoners from a German military HQ by impersonating General Schreiber. Of course Wisdom plays Schreiber too. The Square Peg is the film that introduced Norman Wisdom's famous catch-phrase, "Mr. Grimsdale!". Also here Hattie Jacques gets to sing a remarkable duet with Wisdom, and a pre-Goldfinger Honor Blackman provides the love interest. Following his rising star was just what Norman Wisdom's audience had been doing all through the 1950s and, by 1959, and after six films with director John Paddy Carstairs, it was time for a change. Hence Robert Asher made his directorial debut with Follow a Star. The plot is a comedy version of A Star is Born (1954), with Norman yet again playing a dreaming shop worker, this time aspiring to singing stardom. Vernon Carew (played by Wisdom regular Jerry Desmonde) is the fading singer who schemes to use Wisdom's talent to sustain his own rapidly failing career, while the girl is overlooked starlette June Laverick. Norman is surrounded by a particularly strong supporting cast, with Hattie Jacques returning from The Square Peg (1958), Richard Wattis, John Le Mesurier, Fenella Fielding, Ron Moody and, uncredited, future Bond villain Charles Grey. --Gary S Dalkin
While Born To Dance is the movie musical most associated with James Stewart the largely forgotten Pot o' Gold is the one in which he is most involved with music. The plot has Stewart as Jimmy Haskell a music-loving harmonica-playing man who comes across a poor but excellent band (led by Horace Heidt) that rehearses on a boarding-house roof. Jimmy becomes interested in the people who own the boarding-house Ma McCorkle (Mary Gordon) and her lovely daughter Molly (Pau
Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner) and Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming) are lured out of retirement to investigate a mysterious murder at Birlstone Castle. They discover that a group of coalminers calling themselves The Scowlers are caught up in the plot along with the treacherous Professor Moriarity (Lyn Harding). Holmes must battle wits and might with Moriarity and an American gangster to find the murderers and save The Scowlers from destruction. Stylishly shot with thrills and mystery at every turn this fourth film in a series of five with Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes is one of the best.
Muppet Movie (1979): Jim Henson's Muppets make their film debut in this charming story that chronicles their rise to fame. It all begins with Kermit the Frog sitting in a swamp singing and strumming a guitar. Realizing he can use his talent to ""make people happy "" Kermit decides to head for Hollywood. During his trip Kermit meets fellow Muppets Fozzie the Bear the Great Gonzo Miss Piggy and an odd assortment of others who join Kermit on his song-filled journey. But before
THE BIG SLEEP: L.A. private eye Philip Marlowe takes on a blackmail case...and follows a trail peopled with murderers pornographers nightclub rogues the spoiled rich and more. Humphrey Bogart plays Raymond Chandler's legendary gumshoe and director Howard Hawks serves up snappy character encounters (particularly involving Lauren Bacall) a brisk pace and atmosphere galore in this certified classic. KEY LARGO: A hurricane swells outside but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) holes up and holds at gunpoint hotel owner Nora Temple (Lionel Barrymore) and ex-GI Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart). McCloud's the one man capable of standing up against the belligerent Rocco. But the postwar world's realities may have taken all the fight out of him. John Huston co-wrote and compellingly directs this film of Maxwell Anderson's 1939 play with a searing Academy Awardwinning performance by Claire Trevor as Rocco's gold-hearted boozy moll. In Huston's hands it becomes a powerful sweltering classic. THE MALTESE FALCON: A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a jewel-encrusted falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why - and who's gonna take the fall. This third screen version of Dashiell Hammett's novel is a film of firsts: John Huston's directorial debut rotund 62-year-old Sydney Greenstreet's screen debut film history's first film noir and Bogart's breakthrough role after years as a Warner contract player. When George Raft refused to work with a first-time director Bogart took on the role of Spade - and launched the most acclaimed period of his career.
The Superman Cartoons of Max and Dave Fleischer: Max and Dave Fleischer were the animation team responsible for the onscreen antics of such favourite characters as Koko The Clown Betty Boop and Popeye. In 1941 they were hired by Paramount to bring the wildly popular comic book character of Superman to the screen in a series of animated cartoons. This special edition DVD collects for the 1st time the Fleischer Brothers' massively influential Superman short subjects in their en
The continuation of the Upstairs Downstairs saga which follows the lives of the two servants Thomas and Sarah. Episodes included: The Vanishing Lady Made In Heaven Alma Mater Birds Of A Feather The Silver Ghost The Biters Bit and A Day At The Metropole.
In 1959 screenwriter Rod Serling first opened the door to the "dimension of imagination" that is The Twilight Zone, a show quite unlike anything that had gone before, and better than much that has followed in its wake. This original and daring television series ran for five seasons from 1959 to 1964 and still looks as fresh as ever, particularly on DVD. What distinguished the series was the quality of the scripts, many of which were penned by Serling, but with significant contributions from veteran sci-fi authors and screenwriters such as Richard Matheson. Actors of the calibre of Robert Redford, Burgess Meredith, Lee Marvin and William Shatner gave some of their best small-screen performances, while an unforgettable main title theme by Bernard Herrmann and musical contributions from young turks such as Jerry Goldsmith underlined the show's attraction for great creative talent both behind and in front of the cameras.Volume 4 cherry-picks four of the show's more diverse episodes. In "Mr Dingle the Strong" (episode 55) alien visitors experiment on a hapless human, but instead of sinister X Files horror, Serling plays it for laughs. Despite the sparkling presence of Burgess Meredith (the closest the series came to a regular star), this one-joke plot demonstrates why the Zone only rarely ventured into comedy. "Two" (episode 66) pits a characteristically taciturn Charles Bronson against an even more stoical Elizabeth Montgomery, two soldiers from opposing sides who must rediscover themselves as the last man and woman and play Adam and Eve in a post-holocaust world. "A Passage for Trumpet" (episode 32) casts Jack Klugman (The Odd Couple, Quincy) as a downtrodden trumpeter who, in a jazz rewrite of It's a Wonderful Life, learns to value life. Nice. Finally, "The Four of Us are Dying" (episode 13) employs four different actors to play the same character, a "cheap little con-man" whose ability to change his features at will doesn't prevent his deserved comeuppance (more jazz here, this time in a wonderfully jagged underscore from Jerry Goldsmith).On the DVD: A neat animated menu with a winking eye guides the viewer "Inside the Twilight Zone", which consists of digests of background information on the individual episodes, as well as a general history of the show, season-by-season breakdown and a potted biography of Serling. --Mark Walker
House (Dir. Steve Miner 1986): In his obsessive search for his missing child Vietnam veteran Roger Cobb returns to his Aunt's creepy house where his child disappeared. Evil zombies force Roger to relive his nightmares and Roger must battle these spirits in order to save his life and that of his child who is somewhere inside the house... Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers (Dir. Dwight H. Little 1988): Psychotic slasher Michael Myers has spent the ten years since his 1978 attack on Laurie Strode in a coma but while being transported from a maximum security institution revives and makes his escape. He returns once again to his former home town of Haddonfield but upon learning that Laurie has reputedly died in a car crash sets his sights instead on his niece Jaime (Danielle Harris). Only one man can stop Michael in his bloody crusade - psychiatrist Doctor Loomis (Donald Pleasence).
This boxset combines two great thriller movies which are based around supernatural occurences. The Forgotten (2004 Dir. Joseph Ruben): A grieving mother Telly Parada is struggling to cope with the loss of her 9-year-old son. She is stunned when her psychiatrist and her husband tell her that she has created eight years of memories of a son she never had. But when she meets the father of one of her son's friend who is having the same experience Telly embarks on a mission to
All it takes is a little Confidence. After the huge success of Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid George Roy Hill re-teamed with Hollywood stars Robert Redford and Paul Newman for this dazzlingly inventive tale about revenge in 1930s Chicago. The Sting is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of all time. Set in the 1930's this intricate comedy caper deals with an ambitious small time crook (Robert Redford) and a veteran con man (Paul Newman) who seeks revenge on the vicious crime lord (Robert Shaw) who murdered one of their gang. How this group of charlatans puts the sting on their enemy makes for the greatest double-crosses in movie history complete with an amazing surprise finish... The Sting was nominated for ten Oscars collecting seven on the night: Best Art Direction (Henry Bumstead James W. Payne) ; Best Costume Design (Edith Head); Best Director (George Roy Hill) ; Best Editing (William Reynolds) ; Best Score (Marvin Hamslich); Best Picture (Tony Bill Michael Phillips Julia Phillips); Best Screenplay (David S. Ward).
The continuation of the Upstairs Downstairs saga which follows the lives of the two servants Thomas and Sarah. Episodes included: The Poor Young Widow Of Peckham There Is A Happy Land Return To Gethyn Putting On The Ritz The New Rich and Love Into Three Won't Go.
The Taming of The Shrew is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies lively and full of wonderful characters. It is a play within a play presented as a practical joke to Christopher Sly a town drunk who is duped into believing his is a Lord. The players enact the story of the courtship of Bianca and her strong-willed sister Kate (the Shrew). Kate's temper and forthright views frightens off would-be suitors much to her younger sisters fustrations as she cannot wed until after h
The bitch is back. Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the lone survivor when her crippled spaceship crash lands on Fiorina 161 a bleak wasteland inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Ripley's fears that an Alien was aboard her craft are confirmed when the mutilated bodies of ex-cons begin to mount. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind Ripley must lead the men into battle against the terrifying creature. And soon she discovers a horrifying fact about her link with the Alien a realisation that may compel Ripley to try destroying not only the horrific creature but herself as well.
A fascinating documentary about the legendary American racehorse Seabiscuit dramatised in a 2003 film which was nominated for 2 Academy Awards.
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