The success of the first year meant that Stargate SG-1's second series could afford to spread its wings. In only the second episode, Carter is temporarily possessed by a good Goa'uld. This immediately allowed for both any amount of quick fix inside knowledge as well as story off-shoots, now that the show was bent on franchise longevity. There appeared to be information overload (splinter group Tok'ra, Earth's second Gate, Machello, endless Apophis encounters), as the finely interwoven threads of alien histories and inter-relationships were developed. But thankfully, SG-1 never lost sight of the need for great individual stories. There was a planet of Native American Indians; a planet on the edge of a Black Hole; a planet of aliens sensitive to sound. Even a planet run by Dwight Schultz! Better still, they found time to have fun with their universe, too. "1969" remains one of the best comic romps the series has enjoyed, and is a near-perfect self-contained time-travel story to boot. The team of actors had obviously bonded early on in the first year. It may be a bit of a military faux pas that there is only ever four of them leading every major explorative expedition, but the limited number of principals is actually something else the show has always had in its favour, allowing quality screen time to be spent on each of them from the outset (although Richard Dean Anderson would probably rather not have spent an entire episode impaled by a spike). --Paul Tonks
After scoring a hit with the Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte cop thriller 48 Hours, director Walter Hill returned to the buddy formula with this half-ridiculous, half-invigorating action flick about humourless Russian cop Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He follows a drug dealer from Moscow to Chicago, where he's matched up with city cop Art Ridzik (James Belushi), whose work ethic is considerably more relaxed. Most of the humour revolves around Danko's grumpy reaction to good ol' American capitalism, while Ridzik urges him to chill out. Red Heat is not bad as action comedies go, but only if you get into the absurd spirit of this predictable fare, in which the unlikely buddies get to wisecrack and act casually while mayhem erupts everywhere they go. Incidentally, Red Heat was the first American film allowed to shoot in Moscow's Red Square. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Tom Welles (NICOLAS CAGE) is a surveillance specialist--what used to be known as a
2015 marks the centenary year of the remarkable Orson Welles, and this insightful documentary explores the enigma and polymath that was Welles. Jean-Luc Godard once said of this exceptional actor, writer and director: All of us will always owe him everything. Directed by critically-acclaimed documentary maker, Chuck Workman, Magician divides Welles' life into four chapters, with Workman portraying him as an artist who never stopped working throughout his career, but whose unconventional approach ensured he was much misunderstood by Hollywood. Magician is a montage, featuring scenes from almost every existing Welles film - from Hearts of Age to rarely-seen clips from his final unfinished films such as Don Quixote - as well as his television and commercial work. This is an essential film not just for fans of the great Orson Welles, but anyone interested in the magic of cinema.
Linda Shirley and Bella are relaxing in the South African sunshine after fleeing to Rio De Janeiro using part of the proceeds from the robbery. Dolly their leader has already returned to London. The dark days of planning rehearsing and executing a dangerous raid seem far behind. Their criminal coup has made them rich beyond their wildest dreams. All the ties with the past have been severed. Life's a dream... until one man turns it into a nightmare!
A genetic mutation sees a flock of New Zealand sheep develop a taste for humans in this hilarious splatterfest.
From acclaimed director Roman Polanski comes this erotically-charged drama starring Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott Thomas as a respectable married couple. While on a trip to Istanbul they come across Oscar and his young Parisian wife Mimi who take it upon themselves to tell the story of their passionate relationship from its sexual beginnings to its current abusive and spiteful stage.
Drawing from Andrei Tarkovsky's heady science fiction meditation Solaris by way of Alien and Hellraiser, this visually splendid but pulpy piece of science fiction schlock concerns a mission in the year 2047 to investigate the experimental American spaceship Event Horizon, which disappeared seven years previously and suddenly, out of nowhere, reappeared in the orbit of Neptune. Laurence Fishburne stars as mission commander Captain Miller and Sam Neill is Dr Weir, the scientist who designed the mystery ship. Miller's T-shirt-and army-green-clad crew of smart-talking pros finds a ship dead and deserted, but further investigations turn up blood, corpses, dismembered body parts, and a decidedly unearthly presence. It turns out that the ship is really a space-age haunted house where spooky (and obviously impossible) visions lure each of the crew members into situations they should know better than to enter. The ship is gorgeously designed, borrowing from the dark, organic look of Alien and adding the menacing touch of teeth sprouting from bulwark doors and clawlike spikes inexplicably shooting out of the engine room floor. Unfortunately the film is not nearly as inventive as the production design--it turns into a woefully inconsistent psychic monster movie that sacrifices mood for tepid shocks--but the special effects are topnotch, and ultimately the movie has a trashy B movie charm about it. --Sean Axmaker
Thunderbirds Are Go followed the remarkable success of the Thunderbirds television series, bringing the three-dimensional puppet animation adventures of International Rescue to the big screen. Set in the 21st century, there is no attempt to explain the background story: as in the TV show International Rescue is a private family organisation who use hi-tech craft to rescue anyone in peril. Here it is the first manned flight to Mars which is in danger, as International Rescue foils a sabotage attempt at the launch, then race to avert disaster when the spaceship returns to earth. What could have made a 50-minute TV episode is expanded to feature length with Martian "rock monsters" and a surreal dream-sequence involving Alan Tracy, Lady Penelope and "Cliff Richard Jnr" & the Shadows, with a new song performed by the real Cliff and the Shadows. In the cinemas this was competing against another British children's TV SF spin-off, the equally colourful Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150AD, and would be followed by Thunderbird 6 (1968). Yet apart from more complex model work, a bigger orchestra and even bigger explosions, on TV this plays like a widescreen double-length episode. On the DVD: The mono sound is powerful, with Barry Gray's stirring music suffering intermittent distortion. Presented in anamorphic widescreen the picture is very good, with strong colours and only minimal grain, though the print does show occasional damage. Unfortunately the original extremely wide 2.74:1 Techniscope image is cropped to more conventional 2.35:1, to the extent that the careful compositions are noticeably damaged, which director David Lane refers to in his joint commentary with producer Sylvia Anderson (who also played Lady Penelope). 35 years after the event their commentary is packed with details of the filming process and full of information about the many problems of and solutions to making an animated feature. Both Anderson fans and budding animators will find this a real education. The original, rather battered, trailer is included, as are galleries of behind the scenes photos, promotional artwork and posters. Altogether it's rather FABulous. --Gary S Dalkin
Featuring a fantastic all-star cast, including the series' workforce being made up of Barbara Windsor (EastEnders), BAFTA-nominee Sheila Hancock (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), Carry-On staple Esma Cannon, Miriam Karlin (A Clockwork Orange), Reg Varney (On the Buses), and the shop run by Peter Jones (Mr. Digby Darling). Penny-pinching Harold Fenner (Peter Jones) runs Fenner Fashions, a small garment factory in London that makes high quality clothing. Things rarely run smoothly as militant shop steward Paddy Fleming (Miriam Karlin), who leads the female workforce, constantly disrupts the daily routine. She's always on the lookout for any excuse to take Fenner on and lead the women out on strike, ordering Everybody out!. The exasperated workforce includes Carole (Sheila Hancock), Little Lil (Esma Cannon), Shirley (Wanda Ventham) and Gloria (Barbara Windsor). Stuck in the middle of the regular disputes is poor downtrodden foreman Reg (Reg Varney). He tries to keep the peace between his boss and his colleagues and fails miserably!
Oscar winners Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby), Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules, Hannah and Her Sisters) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) team up as lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Al, who decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-and-narrow for the first time in their lives when their pension fund becomes a corporate casualty, in director Zach Braff's comedy Going in Style. Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, the three risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money. Click Images to Enlarge
Two Raymond Briggs' animated classics, The Snowman and Father Christmas are here sensibly paired for maximum yuletide delight. Based on Briggs's classic children's book and crafted in a coloured-pencils-on-paper look, like fluffy, hand-drawn illustrations, The Snowman is a gentle fable of friendship and the power of imagination. It's the story of a small boy whose lovingly constructed snowman comes to life and takes him flying over the white-blanketed landscapes, in a beautiful rotoscoped (traced) sequence based on live-action flying footage. Part of the charm of the film is the gentle, everyday quality of its fantasy adventures: the snowman is invited in to try on clothes and play with the Christmas decorations, then plays host to the boy at a party in the woods, at which his snowy relatives do country dances. --David Chute In Father Christmas, an irreverent Santa breaks from tradition in many ways. He has no Mrs, owns only four reindeer and decides to convert his sleigh into an airborne motor home for a pre-Christmas holiday. He finds France too snooty, Scotland too cold and Las Vegas just right. Tanned and rested, he returns to the North Pole in time to sort through the mail, pack up the toys and hit the skies. He also narrates his own story (splendidly voiced by Los Angeles stage actor William Dennis Hunt), but fans of the 1973 book will find the animated version far less cranky than the original. Although the book was aimed at children between the ages of 4-8, this may have a wider appeal, depending on how you feel about the children seeing Santa gambling at the casino tables, dreaming of bikini-clad babes and suffering a bout of diarrhoea. --Kimberly Heinrichs
The extraordinary story tells of a quest that took as illiterate French peasant girl and transformed her into one of the most revered leaders of all time.
In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the rather more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.
It's been a bad day for Driver (Gibson) and it's not getting any better. He just made a big haul of millions that would give him a nice summer vacation on easy street. A good idea that went south - literally.
Relive the story of Spartacus, a genre-defining epic in 4K Ultra HD with HDR. Newly-remastered, this 60th Anniversary edition includes an extended version of the film and 4K Ultra HD bonus features. Spartacus from director Stanley Kubrick, is the legendary tale of a bold gladiator (Kirk Douglas) who led a triumphant Roman slave revolt. Restored from large format 35mm original film elements, this action-packed spectacle won four Academy Awards® including 'Best Cinematography' and 'Best Art Direction'. Featuring a cast of screen legends such as Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, John Gavin and Tony Curtis, this uncut and fully restored masterpiece is an inspirational true account of man's eternal struggle for freedom. Bonus Features: Extended Version with 12 additional minutes I am Spartacus: A Conversation with Kirk Douglas Restoring Spartacus Deleted Scenes Archival Interviews Behind The Scenes Footage Vintage Newsreels And More! (4k Disc Includes All Bonus Features In 4k Resolution!)
A group of thirty-something gay men gather to celebrate a birthday, but before long, tensions rise, secrets emerge and the insults begin to fly. Director William Friedkin reassembled the original cast for his film adaption of the ground-breaking Broadway hit. Playwright Mart Crowley adapted his own play, creating a script full of acerbic speeches and cutting one liners for his cast of unforgettable characters. Released 50 years after its Broadway debut a year before the Stonewall riots - The Boys in the Band still has the power to shock. SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: Audio Commentary with Director William Friedkin and Writer Mart Crowley Act 1: The Play' Act 2: The Film' Act 3: 40 Years of Boys in The Band' More TBC
Fin McBride (Dinklage) a loner with a passion for trains inherits an abandoned train station in the middle of nowhere - a place that suits him just fine because all he wants is to be alone. Soon after moving in he discovers his isolated depot is more like Grand Central Station! There's Olivia (Clarkson) a distracted and troubled artist and Joe (Cannavale) a friendly Cuban with an insatiable hunger for conversation. With absolutely nothing in common they find their isolated lives coming together in a friendship none of them could foresee... Winner of three awards at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival 'The Station Agent' also scooped a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.
The exciting saga of ambitious men tempestuous women and stormy seas! Set in England in the 1860s when British naval strength was the envy of Europe this saga charts the fortunes of an ambitious clever and determined ship owner whose private life is more tempestuous than the seas he sails. James Onedin (Peter Gilmore) is the son of a waterside shopkeeper who has died and left him with no inheritance. All James has is a legacy of 25 franks and a shrewd business mind. Despite his scheming sister and her husband who run a rival shipping company he is resolute in his attempt to start a shipping line in a changing world. Onedin is ruthless but farsighted and with steam a possibility for the future he swiftly embarks on his rise from impoverished seaman to wealthy ship owner and founder of The Onedin Line. Episodes Comprise: 1. The Wind Blows Free 2. Plain Salling 3. Other Points of the Compass 4. High Price 5. Catch as Can 6. Salvage 7. Passage to Pernambuco 8. The Homecoming 9. When My Ship Comes In 10. A Very Important Passenger 11. Mutiny 12. Cry of the Blackbird 13. Shadow of Doubt 14. Blockade 15. Winner Take All
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