This is the first time that all episodes of writer-producer-director David Chase's extraordinary US television series The Sopranos have been brought together in one box set which is a seminal event for any fan of the series. The Sopranos is nominally an urban gangster drama but its true impact strikes closer to home chronicling a dysfunctional suburban family in bold relief. And for protagonist Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) there's the added complexity posed by heading twin families his collegial mob clan and his own nouveau riche brood.
Unlike the previous three, this fourth series of The Sopranos largely eschews an overriding story arc in favour of developing several interrelated plot strands, most of which are then left dangling tantalisingly at the end. This year Tony's many extra-marital affairs finally come home to roost, even as he faces challenges to his leadership from within and without. Paulie Walnuts simmers with resentment over his perceived neglect, a resentment only exacerbated by Christopher's promotion; while Christopher's growing drug habit undermines Tony's trust in him. Paulie makes overtures to Johnny Sack and the New York family; Sack himself bears a deadly grudge against Ralph Cifaretto, and also embroils Tony in a dispute between the two families. Ralph and Tony clash over a shared interest in both a race horse and a goomar--you just know it's going to end in something much worse than tears. The women have as many problems, though: Adriana has reluctantly turned FBI informer, a drug-addled Christopher squashes her dog, and she has to confess that she can't have children; Carmela falls maddeningly, frustratingly in love with one of Tony's closest companions; Janice inveigles herself into Bobby's affections in a display of breathtaking emotional manipulation; while Meadow can no longer conceal the disgust she feels about her father's business, and Dr Melfi is increasingly sidelined, since Tony's behavioural issues have become, to all practical purposes, untreatable. The whole ends on a downbeat note as personal disillusionment overshadows the mob politics. With the imminent arrival of Steve Buscemi to the cast, the fifth series is primed to be an explosive one. --Mark Walker
Imprisoned on Lampedusa, a tiny island off the coast of South Italy, free-spirited young mother Grazia fights against the narrow conventions of her town.
A classic head-to-head showdown ignites in Assault On Precinct 13, an all-new update of the 1976 action thriller of the same name.
From Oscar-winning director and executive producer Barry Levinson comes Shades of Blue, a complex police series that centers on Harlee Santos (Jennifer Lopez), a single mother and detective recruited to work undercover for the FBI's anti-corruption task force. Part of a close-knit unit known for its conviction record, Harlee has become compromised... by her colleagues, all of whom pitch in to help her raise her daughter. She soon finds herself faced with the moral dilemma of working against her cop brothers in order to redeem herself.
New town. Still lost! In this hilarious 'Friends' spin-off the lovably dim Joey Tribbiani (Matt Le Blanc) moves to Los Angeles to pursue his disastrous acting career... Episodes comprise: 1. Pilot 2. Joey and the Student (aka Episode One ) 3. Joey and the Party 4. Joey and the Book Club 5. Joey and the Perfect Storm 6. Joey and the Nemesis 7. Joey and the Husband 8. Joey and the Dream Girl (Part 1) 9. Joey and the Dream Girl (Part 2) 10. Joey and the Big A
A compelling look at one of the most restlessly brilliant men of all time, Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo gets inside the mind of the genius, showing the drama behind his art and exploring a tantalizing murder-mystery.
HOUSE OF LOST SOULS is part of a four-part movie series made for Italian television under the umbrella title House of Doom. Legendary Italian horror maestros Umberto Lenzi and Lucio Fulci each contributed two films for the series: Lenzi made HOUSE OF LOST SOULS and HOUSE OF WITCHCRAFT while Fulci offered HOUSE OF CLOCKS and SWEET HOUSE OF HORRORS. Lenzi's first contribution to the series centres on a group of young geologists who spend the night in an abandoned hotel haunted by the previous landlord's murders of his family and all the hotel's guests. The bloody past come back to life with eerie occurrences like ghostly cries of pain the appearance of corpses and tarantulas and blood dripping from the ceiling. Soon the murders begin anew as the geologists are killed in bizarre and horrific ways including one unlucky fellow who loses his head in a washing machine. Full of extreme gore and graphic bloodletting HOUSE OF LOST SOULS reaffirms Lenzi's position as one of the kings of splatter films.
The second series of The Sopranos, David Chase's ultra-cool and ultra-modern take on New Jersey gangster life, matches the brilliance of the first, although it's marginally less violent, with more emphasis given to the stories and obsessions of supporting characters. Sadly, the programme makers were forced to throttle back on the appalling struggle between gang boss Tony Soprano and his Gorgon-like Mother Livia, the very stuff of Greek theatre, following actress Nancy Marchand's unsuccessful battle against cancer. Taking up her slack, however, is Tony's big sister Janice, a New Age victim and arrant schemer and sponger, who takes up with the twitchy, Scarface-wannabe Richie Aprile, brother of former boss Jackie, out of prison and a minor pain in Tony's ass. Other running sub-plots include soldier Chris (Michael Imperioli) hapless efforts to sell his real-life Mafia story to Hollywood, the return and treachery of Big Pussy and Tony's wife Carmela's ruthlessness in placing daughter Meadow in the right college. Even with the action so dispersed, however, James Gandofini is still toweringly dominant as Tony. The genius of his performance, and of the programme makers, is that, despite Tony being a whoring, unscrupulous, sexist boor, a crime boss and a murderer, we somehow end up feeling and rooting for him, because he's also a family man with a bratty brood to feed, who's getting his balls busted on all sides, to say nothing of keeping the Government off his back. He's the kind of crime boss we'd like to feel we would be. Tony's decent Italian-American therapist Dr Melfi's (Loraine Bracco) perverse attraction with her gangster-patient reflects our own and, in her case, causes her to lose her first series cool and turn to drink this time around. Effortlessly multi-dimensional, funny and frightening, devoid of the sentimentality that afflicts even great American TV like The West Wing, The Sopranos is boss of bosses in its televisual era. --David Stubbs
It's Christmas Eve and one of Santa's reindeer is sick. Mike makes it his mission to save Christmas and does everything he can to nurse the reindeer back to health making sure he is included on Santa's nice list. Meanwhile Mr Cuddles is sent on a wild toboggan ride Squirt gets stuck in a giant snowball and Mike learns that Vikings like to have fun in the snow too! So join Mike on his next mission to make it a very Knightly Christmas. Special Bonus Disc Features: Mike's Hidden Treasure - Includes 6 Bonus Episodes!
Mon Amour is the love-story of a Venetian girl and Frenchman in the beautiful city of Mantua. Dario is to busy to notice his wife's sexual drifting. Her adultery borne out of neglect and frustration starts on the day she meets the tall dark stranger in the museum. An intoxicating mix of lies betrayal and fantasy follow Marta into her personal diary where every emotion and passion is recorded.
Alice de Luca and Giacomo Raffaelli co-write and direct this Italian gay-themed drama that follows the life of an adolescent in Rome. The film follows Ernesto (Federico Russo) as he wanders the city's streets in search of meaningful connections while also exploring his own identity.
Set in 1944 Italy the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.
The Vienna State Opera's 1986 production of La Gioconda, Amilcare Ponchielli's only lasting success, was an increasingly rare event. The story--based on a long forgotten Victor Hugo drama--is an emotional roller coaster of high passion and self-sacrifice, but has fallen out of favour with the major international opera companies; instead, Ponchielli's contemporary Verdi and one-time pupil Puccini are today's guaranteed crowd-pullers. This is a shame. Ponchielli's score might be sumptuous to the point of occasional over-ripeness but it contains some marvellous arias, not least Enzo's "Cielo e mar". And whenever La Gioconda herself is on stage, it's hard not become enthralled by the richness of her suffering as painted by Ponchielli's lush, explosive music. Here is a woman who is given every opportunity to ensure the removal of her rival (Laura) for Enzo's affections, but who always does the decent thing, ultimately leaving herself with a stark choice between suicide and the repulsive paws of the evil Barnaba who has pursued her since Act I. As La Gioconda, Hungarian soprano Eva Marton is utterly compelling. It's a role that places extraordinary emotional demands on the singer (Callas, not surprisingly, had a field day with it). Marton maintains total credibility. In voice, she is well matched by Placido Domingo's Enzo, who is at the virile peak of his vocal powers, rather suggesting a strength that the suggestible Enzo doesn't really possess. But perhaps the strongest aspect of Ponchielli's opera is the way in which the vocal jewels are distributed throughout the cast. Ludmilla Schemtschuk is an elegant Laura and Margarita Lilowa as La Gioconda's blind mother, La Cieca, sings an unforgettable "Voce di donna o d'angelo". And the ballet within the opera, the "Dance of the Hours", assumes its rightful place as a gleaming component of the whole work. On the DVD: Originally filmed for television, this La Gioconda is presented in PCM Stereo with 4:3 picture format, neither of which do the overall quality any favours. The sound is uneven; when the singers turn upstage it is sometimes impossible to hear what they are singing and the orchestra, conducted by Adam Fischer, sounds dull. The colours are muted. And while the booklet provides the customary comprehensive notes we have come to expect from Arthaus products, it is surprising that the cover photograph is not of the magnificent Eva Marton in the title role.--Piers Ford
A college boy decides to disrupt the studies of his cousin who stands to lose a 50 million dollar inheritance if he fails his exams with a weekend of sex booze and rock n' roll to claim the money for himself!
The true story of an attractive Sicilian mob-wife who participates in her husband's drug-dealing business and falls for her husband's lackey.
After years of being ignored by record producers the band ClamDandy's front woman Jacki has reached a crossroads in her life. She is turning 40 and had made a pact with herself a decade earlier that if they hadn't made it in the L.A. club scene by then that she would throw in the towel and give up on her dream of taking ClamDandy to the top. This decision gets complicated when old secrets personal tragedy and false hope threaten to break the band up...
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