Frequently given short shrift as soft porn (which it is) and as mindless (which it isn't), director Adrian Lyne's follow-up to Flashdance (insert own joke here) is a thoughtful, smutty film about a bad sexual relationship. It follows the two-month affair between Elizabeth, an art-gallery dealer, and John, a Wall Street executive. The relationship spirals downward into raunchier sex (filmed, by the way, quite nicely) but principally is about two adults doing adult things but not acting anything like real adults. Attempts at actual human connection, about the longing to be "good", are present here and make this an above-average erotic film. Rourke is just honing his scumbag, bad-boy persona; but it doesn't overwhelm. At least there's lots and lots of Kim Basinger. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com
You know the story: Cinderella rides in a magical pumpkin to the ball, enchants the prince and flees at midnight. He finds her slipper and tracks her down, and they live happily ever after. But wait! In The Slipper and the Rose, it turns out there's more to the life of a prince than being charming. The king prefers to choose the prince's wife, one of proper social station who would provide a strong political alliance to ward off the kingdom's enemies. That's one of the twists in this 1976 British take on the classic fairy tale, one of a long line of musical versions. The disgruntled prince, who's as much of a focal point here as the lady with the footwear, is played by Richard Chamberlain, during the years when he was taking on the classics and had not yet been crowned king of the TV mini-series. He displays a pleasant voice opposite Gemma Craven as Cinderella, and veteran character actor Michael Hordern as the king leads the supporting ensemble. Add lavish sets and lush scenery (partially filmed in Austria), humour, fun choreography, and an Oscar-nominated score full of charming songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman (veterans of such Disney movies as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book, and who also co-wrote the script with director Bryan Forbes), and you have a grand, engaging family musical. The 143-minute running time and dreamy, deliberate pace might test the patience of antsy viewers, but The Slipper and the Rose's legion of fans wouldn't have it any other way. --David Horiuchi, Amazon.com
Three Men And A Baby (Dir. Leonard Nimoy 1987): They changed her diapers. She changed their lives. Take three of Hollywood's hottest stars of the '80s add one adorable baby girl and the result is one of the biggest funniest comedy hits ever! Three handsome Manhattan bachelors finding their dating and mating rituals irreparably damaged when an unexpected new roommate - complete with crib pacifier and dirty diaper - shows up on their doorstep. This bouncing bundle of
Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces, archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since - from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.In Part One, Siegfried, the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge], Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all of cinema.Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power - a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HD restoration.
Derivative fluff from 1987, The Secret of My Success is made tolerable by its bawdy exuberance and an appealing performance by Michael J Fox, who was still enjoying TV stardom and the career momentum he earned by travelling Back to the Future. Here he plays a Kansas farm boy who dreams of scoring big in New York City... but reality turns out to be brutal to his ambition. When his uncle (Richard Jordan) gives him a mail-room job in the high-rise headquarters of a major corporation, Fox occupies an empty office and poses as a young executive, winning the attention of a lovely young colleague (Helen Slater) and having an affair with his boss's wife (Margaret Whitton). Sporadically amusing as a yuppie comedy and rather off-putting as a wannabe sex farce, the film's still recommendable for its lively cast and a breezy style that almost succeeds in updating the conventions of vintage screwball comedy. Whitton is a standout performer here, so you may wonder why her comedic talent has been underrated, apart from a good role in the first two Major League movies. This may be little more than a big-screen sitcom, but it's not without its charms. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Comedic madness in Spike Milligan's ground-breaking, wild, subversive and nonsensical BBC sketch comedy series from 1969 1980. Simply Media are delighted to announce release of Q: The Almost Complete Collection on DVD 20th November 2017, containing all surviving episodes from Qs 5-9 in this 5-disc set, on DVD together for the very first time. Originally shown by the BBC from 1969-1980, this BAFTA-nominated series is considered a landmark in British Comedy. The fast-paced, anarchic sketch comedy will delight fans of the series and Spike Milligan's work. Written by and starring BAFTA-winner Spike Milligan in a variety of silly outfits and outlandish situations involving idiot Boy Scouts, Adolf Hitler, and the Royal Family. The original Q5 of 1969 was heralded as the inspiration behind Monty Python's Flying Circus, which debuted a few months later. It's also one of the best showcases of Spike's surreal and eccentric humour. Sketches come in thick and fast, and jump from one plot point or location to another with no explanation, and sometimes no apparent conclusion. Bizarre, yes. Funny, most definitely! Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows , recalled Michael Palin for Spike's biography, [Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television. The BBC initially delayed re-commissioning the ground-breaking Q series until the Monty Python series ended, despite the impact Q had already had on the world of alternative comedy, and at a time when Kenny Everett and Not the Nine O'clock News were further testing the limits of TV Comedy. However, the popular Q returned over 6 years later for four further series. It is clear to see Monty Python in Spike's work, with Life of Brian's Chris Langham on the writing team and Monty Python's Flying Circus director Ian MacNaughton directing some episodes. For Q8 and Q9, direction was taken over by the talented BAFTA-winning Ray Butt (Only Fools and Horses). Spike leads a fantastic cast of co-performers including John Bluthal (The Vicar of Dibley), Bob Todd (Superman III), John D. Collins (Allo Allo), Peter Jones (The Rag Trade), and Margaret Nolan (Goldfinger), Alan Clare (Rising Damp) and a self-parodying David Lodge in yet more surreal, outrageous and determinedly under-prepared sketches and musical interludes. Enjoy all the madness and mayhem of Spike Milligan's Q again with this landmark DVD collection.
Kate (Emilia Clarke) harumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom (Henry Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate's barriers. As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart and you gotta have faith.
Michael Caine stars in this 60s classic as the leader of a team of thieves who plan to use minis to help them perform the heist of the century.
A global byword for cinematic quality of a quintessentially British nature, Ealing Studios made more than 150 films over a three-decade period. A cherished and significant part of British film history, only selected films from both the Ealing and Associated Talking Pictures strands have previously been made available on home-video format - with some remaining unseen since their original theatrical release. The Ealing Studios Rarities Collection redresses this imbalance. Featuring new transfe...
This box set features the following films: The Wicked Lady (Dir.Leslie Arliss) (1945): The lusty bawdy epic story of England's legendary highwayperson Lady Barbara Skelton who married a nobleman lusted after a highway-man and sought the love of the only man she could never have... Love Story (Dir. Leslie Arliss) (1944): After successful pianist Lissa Campbell is diagnosed with a terminal heart defect she vows to make her last months worth living. She takes a trip to Cornwall where she meets Tom Tanner Kit Firth and Judy Martin. Bank Holiday (Dir. Carol Reed) (1938): Various people set off on an August bank holiday including a raucous Cockney family a would-be beauty queen and two young lovers - whose relationship starts to come apart when one has to deal with a bereavement at the hospital where she works. Give Us The Moon (Dir. Val Guest) (1944): A young man Sascha joins a group call 'The Elephants' whose principle is to abide by a complete disregard for work. However chaos ensues when the group decides to help run the hotel owned by Sascha's father! Highly Dangerous (Dir. Roy Ward Baker) (1950): When British Intelligence discovers that a (mythical) Iron Curtain country is developing insects as weapons they dispatch entomologist Fraces Gray to get into the county and collect specimens. However her cover is almost immediately blown on her arrival and her contact is murdered... The Lady Vanishes (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock) (1938): Intrigue and espionage and the effects on the lives and futures of passengers aboard a Trans-Continental Express emerge when a girl traveller (Margaret Lockwood) returning from a holiday strikes up an acquaintance with a middle-aged English governess who during the journey mysteriously disappears from her compartment. The girl seeking an explanation for the disappearance is accused of hallucinating and is nearly convinced that her new friend does not exist. However further inquiries made among the passengers reveal the curious behaviour of a group of foreign government agents who are also travelling as passengers... Classic Hitchcock!
Based on the novel Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber, Night of the Eagle is a taut, atmospheric and terrifying film that remains a much-loved cult classic to this day. Professor Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) seemingly has it all: a great job, the envy of his colleagues, a happy marriage, and a healthy scepticism when it comes to the supernatural. However, things begin to unravel when Taylor discovers that his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) has been practicing witchcraft apparently in an effort to progress his career and to protect him from jealous colleagues. Despite Tansy's warnings, Taylor insists on destroying all of her magic paraphernalia and tries to carry on as normal, refusing to believe that his wife's witchcraft could have been behind his success. That is, until the very next day when things in his life start going very wrong
Even viewers who consider themselves beyond their teen-angst years might find Dawson's Creek compelling. In the first series we are introduced to Dawson (James Van Der Beek) and Joey (Katie Holmes), who for years have watched movies and slept in the same bed; but they find that as they enter high school their relationship will inevitably change. That becomes especially clear when Dawson is immediately attracted to Capeside's sexy new arrival, Jen (Michelle Williams). Meanwhile, their friend Pacey (Joshua Jackson) pursues an unachievable love object. Creator Kevin Williamson based Dawson's Creek on his own youth, and even though the characters may not really look or sound 15 years old, the Dawson-Joey-Jen interplay--especially embodied by the sad-eyed and cynical (but still adorable) Joey and the smart but emotionally inept Dawson--gives the show its heart. And just like Williamson's fresh take on the teen-horror genre, Scream, Dawson's Creek has a winking self-awareness, for example when Dawson says they're having a "90210 moment" or explains that they use big words because they watch too many movies. Highlights of the first series include Dawson's discovery that his perfect home life may not be so perfect, an unwelcome reminder of Jen's past, the Breakfast Club takeoff "Detention", the Scream takeoff "The Scare", a beauty contest in which two unlikely competitors square off, and the heart-rending finale. --David Horiuchi
Noel Coward's favourite play, Blithe Spirit, was certainly a departure for David Lean, best known at the time for adapting Dickens. While it's the director's only comedy, the result is a delightful gem. Rex Harrison is an acerbic author haunted by the ghost of first wife Elvira (Kay Hammond), who tries to seduce him all over again. This throws his second wife (Constance Cummings) into a panic, second-guessing her lack of passion. It's a celestial sex romp that hasn't lost its bite. Margaret Rutherford, as always, steals the show as the sardonic medium. --Bill Desowitz
Hollywood icons Richard Burton Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole star in the screen adaptation of Dylan Thomas's classic play. A celebration of life and death the film follows the people and events in a small Welsh harbour village from one spring to the next. Captain Cat the blind sea captain awake or asleep yearns for Rosie Probert the greatest passion of his youth. Burton plays the key role of the first voice an all-seeing compassionate narrator.
Perhaps the most stately of Fritz Lang's two-part epics, the five-hour Die Nibelungen is a courageous and hallucinatory work. Its extraordinary set-pieces, archetypal themes, and unrestrained ambition have proved an inspiration for nearly every fantasy cycle that has emerged on-screen since - from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings.In Part One, Siegfried, the film's eponymous hero acquires the power of invincibility after slaying a dragon and bathing in the creature's blood. Later, an alliance through marriage between the hero and the royal clan of the Nibelungen turns treacherous, with Siegfried's sole weakness exploited. In Part Two, Kriemhilds Rache [Kriemhild's Revenge], Siegfried's widow travels to the remote land of the Huns to wed the monstrous Attila, and thereby enlist his forces in an act of vengeance that culminates in massacre, conflagration, and, under the auspices of Lang, one of the most exhilarating and terrifying end-sequences in all of cinema.Adapted from the myth that was also the basis for Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, Lang's epic offers its own startling expressionistic power - a summit of the director's artistry. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Die Nibelungen in a spectacular new HD restoration.
Edward (Bill Milner) isn't your average 12 year old. Obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife his parents (Anne-Marie Duff and David Morrisey) are concerned that life might be passing him by. But when Clarence (Academy Award-winner Michael Caine) a retired magician comes to stay with the family Edward's world is disrupted and he is forced to interact with the the grumpy old man who's taken over his bedroom. As the weeks progress their antagonism turns to friendship and Clarence convinces Edward to engage with the world of the living and the young boy helps Clarence confront the ghosts of his past. From the producer of Little Miss Sunshine and the Harry Potter movies and the director of Channel 4's acclaimed Boy A Is Anybody There? is the surprising and touching story about two unexpected friends who inspire each other to live life to the fullest.
Featuring a collection of Peter Sellers' best films. Includes: 1. Heavens Above! (Dir. John Boulting & Roy Boulting 1963) 2. I'm Alright Jack (Dir. John Boulting 1959) 3. Only Two Can Play (Dir. Sidney Gilliat 1962) 4. Very Best Of Peter Sellers
A straitlaced businessman meets a quirky, freespirited woman at a downtown New York greasy spoon. Her offer of a ride back to his office results in a lunchtime motel rendezvousjust the beginning of a capricious interstate road trip that brings the two facetoface with their hidden selves. Featuring a killer soundtrack and electric performances from Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, and Ray Liotta, Something Wild, directed by oddball American auteur Jonathan Demme, is both a kinky comic thriller and a radiantly offkilter love story. Features: New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Tak Fujimoto and approved by director Jonathan Demme, with DTSHD Master Audio soundtrack New video interviews with Demme and writer E. Max Frye Original theatrical trailer PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic David Thompson New cover by Sam Smith
Philip Trent sets out to investigate the mysterious death of an American tycoon whose death has been recorded by the coroner as a suicide...
On the brink of Civil War King Henry IV (John Gielgud) attempts to consolidate his reign while fretting with unease over his sons seeming neglect of his royal duties. Hal (Keith Baxter) the young Prince openly consorts with Sir John Falstaff (Orson Welles) and his company of “Diana’s foresters Gentlemen of the shade Minions of the moon”. Hal’s friendship with the fat knight substitutes for his estrangement from his father. Both Falstaff and the King are old and tired; both rely on Hal for comfort in their final years while the young Prince the future Henry V nurtures his own ambitions. Orson Welles considered Chimes at Midnight his personal favorite of all his films. Perhaps the most radical and groundbreaking of all Shakespeare adaptations the film condenses the Bard’s Henriad cycle into a single focused narrative. Its international cast comprises of Jeanne Moreau Fernando Rey Margaret Rutherford and Ralph Richardson as the narrator in addition to Welles and Gielgud. The film’s harrowing war scenes have proven especially influential cited in Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V as well as Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.
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