When you get lost between the moon and New York City (ahem), chances are you'll find yourself taking another look at this hit comedy starring Oscar-nominated Dudley Moore as the charmingly witty, perpetually drunken millionaire Arthur Bach. Arthur falls in love with a waitress (Liza Minelli) who doesn't care about his money but unfortunately Arthur's stern father wants him to marry a Waspy prima donna. The young lush turns to his wise and loyal butler (Oscar-winner John Gielgud) for assistance and advice. Arthur was a huge hit when released in 1981, as was its Oscar-winning theme song by Christopher Cross. Few remember that the movie was,sadly, the only one ever made by writer-director Steve Gordon, who died less than a year after the film's release. Consistently funny and heartwarming, Arthur was hailed as a tribute to the great romantic comedies of the 1930s. --Jeff Shannon
Deservedly acclaimed as one of 1998's best films, this sequel to the beloved 1995 live-action fantasy proved a commercial catastrophe and a source of dismay to parents expecting another bucolic, sweet-natured fable. Every bit as sly and visually stunning as its predecessor, Babe: Pig in the City is otherwise a jolting ride beyond the Hoggetts' farm into a no less vivid but far darker world--the allegorical city of the title, which for the diminutive "sheep pig" proves truly nightmarish. Australian filmmaker George Miller (Mad Max, The Road Warrior), who produced and cowrote the first film, this time takes the director's reins, and he ratchets up the pace and the peril as effectively as he did on his influential trilogy of apocalyptic, outback sci-fi thrillers. From the opening scene, Babe: Pig in the City means to disrupt the reassuring calm achieved by the conclusion of the previous film. Babe's prior triumph proves short-lived, and within moments Miller has us literally peering into the depths as he sets up a horrific well accident that nearly kills the taciturn but good-hearted Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell), Babe's beloved "Boss." Journeying with the equally pink, even plumper Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski), the young pig finds himself in a city where animals are outcasts, staying in the lone hotel that allows pets. When Mrs. Hoggett is detained, Babe must contend with the suspicions and rivalries of the hotel's other four-legged guests. The film's G status doesn't fully telegraph the shock Miller induces: bad things happen to good animals, and Babe's new acquaintances are a far cry from his colleagues on the farm. In particular, he must contend with a cynical family of chimps given wonderful, dead-pan voice characterisations by Steven Wright and Glenne Headly. Miller's use of effects to transform his animals into "actors" is even more seamlessly integrated than in Babe. The sequel's production design is crucial to the creation of a complete, absorbing world, and purely visual ideas--such as a deluge of blue balloons during the climactic ballroom battle--achieve a splendour and originality that a room full of computer-graphics desktops couldn't muster. Ultimately, though, the film does more than amaze: as Babe's compassion and courage transform those around him, we're moved in ways that purveyors of by-the-numbers family fare can only dream of. --Sam Sutherland
Twelve-year old Lizzie has come to Misselthwaite Manor now a home for young war orphans run by housekeeper Martha and there she meets fellow orphans Robert Stephen and Geraldine. Endlessly curious full of spark and life Lizzie soon learns about the secret garden and wants to find out more. But Martha is fearful of its mysteries and has forbidden any of the children from venturing inside- a strictly observed rule that Lizzie is determined to break! With a stolen key in her hand she enters the garden and discovers that something once so beautiful has starved of love and is dying from neglect- but how does she restore it to it's former splendour?
If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explain him as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leighs films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allens work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mothers identity. She will find its Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures weve seen in film. Shes also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most loveable. Timothy Spall is Cynthias brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan). There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme DOr and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leighs honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, see Secrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas
Cross 'Romeo & Juliet' with the Demolition Derby and you have 'Grand Theft Auto' Ron Howard's directorial debut produced by Roger Corman. Can a young runaway couple get hitched in Vegas before two sets of parents a jealous boyfriend a private dick and a mob of bounty hunters catch them?
A high school senior branded uncool gets himself expelled so he changes his image to the cool new kid at the town's other high school.
Blackwall Fire Station's Blue Watch takes to the streets again in the highly-popular drama series of the 80s and early 90s. Viewers loved the quirky but human characters that put their lives on the line with every episode and this set features some of the most fondly remembered including female fire-fighter Josie Lawrence ""Bayleaf"" ""Sicknote"" and ""Charisma"". This set not only features the original pilot film (by celebrated and award-winning writer Jack Rosenthal) but all five ep
If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explain him as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leigh's films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allen's work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mother's identity. She will find it's Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures we've seen in film. She's also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most loveable. Timothy Spall is Cynthia's brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan). There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme D'Or and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leigh's honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, see Secrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas
Secrets And LiesNominated for 5 Oscars winner of 3 BAFTA Awards and the winner of 'Best Film' at the Cannes Film Festival Mike Leigh's hilarious bittersweet comedy is an unmissable and moving slice of real life. Life Is SweetLife is Sweet is the remarkable story of an unremarkable British family told in the classic tragi-comedy style that is uniquely Mike Leigh's. It covers issues of unemployment anorexia failure nervous breakdown and hope as they affect one suburban London family and their friends and acquaintances. The characters and story were created with and by the actors - giving a special edge and momentum to the unfolding events. Leigh's sharply satirical and unsentimentally compassionate view of life strikes a chord with audiences and critics alike. Life is Sweet brings together an impressive cast - including Alison Steadman ('Let Them Eat Cake') Jim Broadbent ('The Avengers') Jane Horrocks ('Little Voice') and Timothy Spall ('Topsy Turvey') - many of whom have worked with Leigh in the past as has producer Simon Channing-Williams. Career GirlsFormer college flatmates Annie (Lynda Steadman) and Hannah (Katrin Cartlidge) decide to meet up in London for the weekend. Naturally both girls have changed since their student days of some 10 years earlier. The curry loving Cure obsessed acne ridden and moody flatmates of yesteryear have been replaced by confident career girls of today. As they talk go flat-hunting get drunk and bump into numerous people from their past the girls start to reminisce upon their earlier friendship.
Parties are not always as fun as they look like they should be. Case in point: Groove. The distinction lies in the realm between watching people have fun and actually having fun. Set in San Francisco over the course of one night, this is the story of a rave, plain and simple. Preparation includes inhabiting an empty warehouse, finding the power supply and sending out coded invitations. The film kicks in as the party does, when people start arriving and the DJs start spinning. There's a nice moment early on when a cop shows up asking for the owner of the building, who is then taken on a tour of "a new Internet start-up". It becomes even funnier when the cop turns out to be smarter and more compassionate than anyone would expect. Writer-director Greg Harrison cleverly focuses the story on David, a novice who's never been to a rave before, which breaks the story out of what could have been the suffocating, insular world of rave culture. Unknowingly dosed by someone, David is adopted by Layla, an attractive but lonely East Coaster who has begun to regret her party lifestyle. Other characters include a guy who's just proposed to his girlfriend, a college teaching assistant selling his own manufactured drugs, a DJ who gets to meet his idol and a gay couple having trouble finding the party. If the characters turn out to be just character types, that's OK because the film itself floats by on its own high-octane enthusiasm. Groove is light and frothy entertainment with a beat you can dance to. --Andy Spletzer, Amazon.com
Brilliant surgeon Ukyo Retsu performs an operation to remove a cancer from a mysterious old woman. The ""cancer"" turns out to be a 5000 year-old demon a dark messenger from Japan's ancient past heralding a demonic invasion of the Earth. Ukyo travels to the remains of an ancient city where he finds a gateway in the fabric of time which enables him to travel back 5000 years. There in Earth's past he discovers a Race of Demons who are planning to use the gateway to travel to the pre
A specially created box set containing all 7 Seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in limited edition numbered packaging. Also includes a letter from series creator Joss Whedon a book containing episode information and a run-down of Joss Whedon's favourite episodes. Over 100 hours of vampire ass-kicking action across 39 discs.
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
Subversive American para-military groups join forces to overthrow the US Federal government by continuing to blow up domestic soft targets. The military sends in their top insurgent unit the Black Corps headed by Lt Jack Tannen to stop the UPM's violence once and for all.
J.B. a self made 'Guru' to a bunch of street kids who he calls his 'family' operates a clothing store with his close friend Zink on trendy Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles U.S.A. At a secret drug and sex filled rave party J.B. meets the beautiful Nicole another Melrose Avenue boutique owner and designer. A fatal attraction ensues....
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