Is there anything more definitively British than the 'greasy spoon' experience? Full English breakfasts mugs of mud coloured tea chipped formica tables signed publicity stills of now fading celebrities who may have strayed this way for a little (fried) slice of cafe life. It's arguably one of Britain's greatest traditions; especially when it's run by foreigners. Angelo's is a caf in the heart of London a short stroll from the tourist Mecca of Trafalgar Square the grandeur of Whitehall and the sex shops of sleazy Soho. This unique geographical location means it is also the meeting place for a whole motley crew of diverse deftly drawn characters from the imagination of writer Sharon Horgan (Pulling Annually Retentive). Heading up this unlikely gang is proprietor Angelo (played by Steve Brody) an Italian immigrant and proud Anglophile who wouldn't serve up any 'foreign muck' in his establishment. Angelo always provides a warm welcome to his patrons just as long as they don't spend all day sitting over one bloody coffee. He is ably assisted by his daughter Maria (Shelley Longworth) who far from being a willing waitress spends most of her day dreaming of being discovered by Simon Cowell and leaving this dump behind her. Never far behind is best friend Alicia (Alice Lowe) who like all true companions constantly undermines Maria and tries to steal her boyfriends. Then there's Karen and Dave (Sharon Horgan and Paul Garner) the local police community officers who seem to spend more time discussing their marital problems than doing any actual police work. Other regular fixtures include: Shelley (Miranda Hart) the man-hungry mini cab driver who is saving her virginity for Mr Right even if he's taken out a restraining order against her; Kris (Simon Farnaby) a classically trained out of work actor who dresses as a gold robot and mimes for pennies from tourists; and Russell (Kim Wall) who spends every day in Angelo's searching for a new employer before his wife finds out that he has been made redundant from his last job.
Recorded at various concert venues on their 1999/2000 tour Montage is a live showcase of the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits, along with selected album tracks. All the Pet favourites are included, ranging from career and concert opener "West End Girls" to more recent tunes like "New York City Boy". Since their first worldwide tour in 1989, Pet Shop Boys concerts have always been rather arty affairs which have ranged from the "shocking" dance routines of the Behaviour tour to their introspective 1997 residence at London's Savoy Theatre. The Nightlife tour was no exception, merging a Zahing Hadid modernist stage set with wacky stage projections and gonk-style wigs and costumes. Artistically though, Nightlife was their best tour yet but this isn't always reflected on this recording. At times the picture quality and the cinematography are poor, resembling a 1980s art student's show reel (but then perhaps that was the intention). However the poor visual recording is redeemed by Tennant and Lowe's excellent performances and the striking special effects. Their rendition of "What Have I Done to Deserve This" including the original vocals of the late Dusty Springfield is particularly moving. The reworked live version of their minor 1991 hit "Was It Worth It?" also deserves a listen. In their own words, "Darling you were wonderful." On the DVD: with the Pet Shop Boys' ultra-modern image you would perhaps expect this DVD to be brimming with extras. Instead you have to make do with the promotional videos of "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More", "New York City Boy" and "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", plus an exclusive web-link. As well as being able to view the full concert or individual tracks through the main menu you can also select one of two angles to view the show. The sound recording is excellent with a choice of Dolby Digital Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound.--John Galilee
Kate Layton the wife of high-flying workaholic Robert throws herself into helping at her daughter's school when she realises that her family is drifting apart. When the music teacher is diagnosed with a life-threatening condition however Kate is forced to take control of the choir. As the two families intertwine Robert comes to discover that there is more to life than money and status.
The fourth film in the cult Poison Ivy series begins after the mysterious death of a young college student occurs late one night at a prestigious New England college. Danielle Daisy Brooks (Miriam McDonald) nevertheless decides to escape her small town life and transfer herself to this prominent school. This naive country girl is determined to start a new life leaving behind a two year relationship and the ghosts of her parents who died nearly three years ago. Daisy knows that she must break away from her past in order to move on and find out what she's ultimately made of. Daisy finds herself approached by a college group called the Ivy Society who want her to join and become a member - but as she gradually uncovers the Society's shady history can she escape their grip and stop their murderous plans?
The second series of The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin's relentlessly erudite drama about life behind the scenes at the White House, continues here with the emphasis on President Bartlet's multiple sclerosis, a condition that he has hitherto concealed from the American electorate and most of his staff. Tensions grow between himself and the First Lady (Stockard Channing) as she realises, in the episode "Third State of the Union" that he intends to run for a second term in office. It becomes clear to Bartlet (Martin Sheen) that he must go public with his MS, and his staff are forced to come to terms with this, as well as deal with the usual plethora of domestic and international incidents, which apparently preclude any of them from having any sort of private lives, least of all love lives. These include crises in Haiti and Columbia, an obstinate filibuster and a Surgeon General's excessively frank remarks about the drugs situation. Thankfully, the splendid Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) is on hand to make chief of staff Leo McGarry's life more of a misery in "The Drop-In". These episodes, though occasionally marred by a sentimental soundtrack and an earnest and wishfully high regard for the Presidential office, are masterclasses in drama and dialogue, ranging from the wittily staccato to the magnificently grave, capturing authentically the hectic pace of political intrigue and the often vain efforts of decent, brilliant people to do the right thing. "Two Cathedrals", which features flashbacks to Bartlet's schooldays and his thunderous denunciation of God following a funeral, is perhaps the greatest West Wing episode of all. On the DVD: The West Wing, Series 2 Part 2 features no extras, though the transfer is immaculate. --David Stubbs
Prolific British filmmaker Lindsay Anderson weaves this small, evocative tale of young life at the crossroads in early 1960s Northern England. A rough, sullen young man (Richard Harris) working in the local coal mines begins to make a name for himself as a star rugby player, but even as he begins to fall in love he cannot escape the harsh realities of the bleak life around him. The rugby sequences in the film are striking, but no more so than the depiction of downtrodden people living in the shadow of industry and corruption that too often crushes their spirit. Harris in one of his first roles, is remarkably effective as an unlikeable but sympathetic figure trying against hope to savour the small joys life has to offer, and the film also features the debut of renowned actress Glenda Jackson. One of a series of working-class, character-driven British imports, This Sporting Life is one of the best on the field. --Robert Lane
Bodies banks and birds! Dennis (Bennett) and Hal (Holder) are inseparable. They are also irreverent boisterous highly sexed and eager to acquire a fortune by the most expedient method...robbery. The only problem is that they have to hide their loot. Fortunately Dennis works as an undertaker so a conffin seems like the perfect place to hide it. But the moment that they try to fit the loot and a stiff in to a coffin things start to go wrong...and soon the boys have trouble o
What drove the men who risked and lost their lives to conquer the world's highest mountain for Britain? Fifty years on Penny Mallory whose ancestor George Leigh Mallory lost his life tells the story of this extra-ordinary adventure undertaken with primitive equipment in often terrifying weather conditions against an unstable brooding and often lethal adversary - Mount Everest. Did Mallory in fact reach the summit 29 years before Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay? Mallory's frozen body was found in 1999. Using authentic footage of the ascent we revisit this unique adventure 50 years on alongside the men who pitted their wits and lives for the privilege of being the first to say that they had stood on the roof of the world. Which of us could have climbed persevered and ultimately stood beside them beneath the Union Jack on that glorious sun-drenched May morning in 1953? Featuring biographies of the expedition's members and a chronology of those other brave men and women who have lost their lives on subsequent dashes for the summer.
The only ones to see war like this were the ones who lived it. Until now... WWII Lost Films is not just one of HISTORY's biggest projects but one of the most ambitious productions ever undertaken in documentary television history. Over three thousand hours of high definition colour film (filmed in colour not colourised) was discovered in locations all around the world. This dramatic footage has not been seen before and is the backdrop to the incredible personal stories of 12 American soldiers recounting their experiences of fighting in the war's biggest battles. Using the diaries of these men WWII Lost Films creates a moving personal and detailed look at life at the front lines. Diaries were illegal for U.S. soldiers to carry but the 12 characters in this series hid them away in their packs and recorded their experiences in detail. Disc 1: Darkness Falls Hard Way Back Bloody Resolve Battle Stations Day of Days Disc 2: Point of No Return Striking Distance Glory and Guts Edge of the Abyss End Game
Married and supposedly retired from duty Sean Dillon (Rob Lowe) is dragged back into the dangerous world of international espionage when a plan is discovered by Brigadier Ferguson (Kenneth Cranham) to kill off the British Royal Family. Dillon must discover who is behind the plot but the suspects are many and varied. Is the IRA involoved Middle East fundamentalists or old guard Russian leaders tightening their fingers on the trigger that will set Britain on the road to a Republic? The stage is set for a deadly game of cat and mouse between former comrades turned adversaries. In such a barren climate of cold hearts can love survive and good finally triumph over evil?
Wayne's World: Wayne and Garth the horny heavy metal-loving teenage heroes of the popular Saturday Night Live skit hit the big screen. They're still doing their cable-access show out of the Wayne's basement in Aurora Illinois; only now a sleazy TV executive named Benjamin Oliver wants a piece of the action. As the babe 'n' band obsessed adolescents negotiate the shark-infested waters of network television Wayne finds 'amore' in the form of a heavy metal femme fatale with a penchant for skin-tight costumes. But can Wayne keep his new lady love out Oliver's unsavory clutches? Wayne's World 2: Wayne and Garth are finished with high school. But Wayne's struggling to find his place in the real world of full-fledged adults. In a way-cool dream Wayne's escorted by a Native American to a meet the late great Jim Morrison who advises the troubled teen to put on an outdoor concert: If you book them they will come. So Wayne heeds the word and stages his very own Waynestock. If he can pull off the concert while protecting Cassandra his super-babe-of-a-girlfriend from evil record producer Bobby Cahn he can prove once and for all... he's worthy!
Seeking justice and revenge, five friends violently attack a man in his remote country house. Their plan: the perfect murder. Confident that their victim's death by his own hand will not be questioned, they overdose him on sleeping pills, but it all goes horribly wrong when their attempt fails and their victim fights for his life.In the aftermath, questions are raised about the true nature of the events leading up to the botched attack. As lies and secrets are revealed, the dynamic of the once-tight group shifts as the friends begin to question each other's motives. As they move closer to the truth, the weight of their quest for justice drives them to a place of no return.
Fire-and-brimstone preacher sees Satan everywhere, trains gullible young boy to ''detect'' evil, and the two of them commit several murders in the name of Jesus. Based on a true story.
Micawber was ITV's big weapon in the Christmas 2001 television ratings war. With its gritty recreation of Dickensian London and David Jason--a name guaranteed to attract viewers regardless of the programme--in the title role it certainly had all the hallmarks of blockbusting television drama. Jason is certainly a fine Micawber, wringing every ounce of pathos and relentless optimism from one of Dickens' most well loved characters. And he is ably abetted by Annabelle Apsion as his put-upon wife who stands by him through thick and thin and who "never will desert him". The trouble is that if you're going to lift a familiar fictional character out of his original context and give him a whole new life and set of adventures, they really have to match or improve on the original. And Micawber has already been through so much during the course of David Copperfield that stretching him across four episodes and a plot which can only really offer a series of variations on the original theme doesn't give much room for development or dramatic impact. In the writer's corner, Jason's long-term collaborator John Sullivan (creator of Only Fools and Horses) makes a valiant attempt to generate some authentic Dickensian atmosphere. Touches of authentic Victoriana abound in the backstage theatre scenes, a dancing bear, the pawn shop and the highly imaginative flashbacks to the source of Micawber's straightened state. The script tends to combine gritty costume drama with modern comedy in an occasionally uneasy mixture; sometimes we see the ghosts of Del Boy or Pa Larkin rather than Dickens' hapless, pathetic but great-hearted victim of circumstance. But fans of Jason won't complain and there's enough soul in the story to make it compelling. --Piers Ford
The Ballet Workout will help you condition shape and tone your body. Melissa Lowe (American Ballet Theatre) will not only help you create the body you have always wanted but will also help you gain an overall sense of wellbeing. The first level is designed for those with little or not ballet experience and for the second level previous ballet experience is helpful but not necessary. Success on both workout levels lies in performing the exercises in the correct position and with the correct posture.
Aaron Sorkin's American political drama The West Wing, set in The White House, has won innumerable awards--and rightly so. Its depiction of a well-meaning Democrat administration has warmed the hearts of countless Americans. However, The West Wing is more than mere feel-good viewing for sentimental patriots. It is among the best-written, sharpest, funny and moving of recent American TV series. In its first series, The West Wing established the cast of characters who comprise the White House staff. There's Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer), a recovering alcoholic whose efforts to be the cornerstone of the administration contribute to the break up of his marriage. CJ (Alison Janney) is the formidable press spokeswoman embroiled in a tentative on-off relationship with Timothy Busfield's reporter. Brilliant but grumpy communications deputy Toby Ziegler, Rob Lowe's brilliant but faintly nerdy Sam Seaborn and brilliant but smart-alecky Josh Lynam make up the rest of the inner circle. Initially, the series' creators had intended to keep the President off-screen. Wisely, however, they went with Martin Sheen's Jed Bartlet, whose eccentric volatility, caution, humour and strength in a crisis make for such an impressively plausible fictional President that polls once expressed a preference for Bartlet over the genuine incumbent. Handled incorrectly, The West Wing could have been turgid, didactic propaganda for The American Way. However, the writers are careful to show that, decent as this administration is, its achievements, though hard-won, are minimal. Moreover, the brisk, staccato-like, almost musical exchanges of dialogue, between Josh and his PA Donna, for instance, as they pace purposefully up and down the corridors are the show's abiding joy. --David Stubbs
A light-hearted series all about growing up focusing on Lizzie Miranda and their friends.
With good production values and a load of suspense, the direct-to-video thriller Atomic Train delivers the goods--ahead of schedule. A rich bureaucrat with a Porsche, a goatee and a defective sense of morality places a defective Russian nuclear warhead aboard a defective American train for cheap disposal but the engine loses its brakes and hurls out of control toward Denver. Will it explode? Will it wipe out half the city? Will the thoughts and prayers of the President--played by Edward Herrmann, in his best Chrysler-salesman mode--do any good? Will Rob Lowe, the major hero of this epic, ever be able to save his career? Atomic Train hauls along every disaster-flick formula you can think of: an estranged couple bonding again during a time of crisis; urban rioting and mayhem; government officials wearing headsets and breathlessly watching video monitors; trigger-happy military men; high-speed stunts; escapes by helicopter; clean-up crews in white spacesuits; many scenes of families being reunited after sub-plot cliffhangers, to major-key crescendos on the soundtrack. The only stereotypical element missing is a dog saved from a fire at the last minute. But, you have to admit, what Atomic Train does it does with pizzazz, a post-Armageddon tone of overly heroic but ultimately disposable machismo and explosions... lots of explosions. --Robert Burns Neveldine, Amazon.com
Meet Lizzie McGuire. She is so thirteen years old with all the worries every thirteen-year-old has. How can I be more popular in school? Can I be seen wearing this or will it be a total social disaster? How do I stop my mother humiliating and embarrassing me? Am I turning into a geek? Join Lizzie (Hilary Duff) and her cartoon alter ego for an hilarious look at life on the edge - of teen years... Episodes include: Misadventures In Babysitting Election I Do I Don't Bad Girl McGui
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