In 1962 Lawrence of Arabia scooped another seven Oscars for David Lean and crew after his previous epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, had performed exactly the same feat a few years earlier. Supported in this Great War desert adventure by a superb cast including Alex Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole gives a complex, star-making performance as the enigmatic TE Lawrence. The magnificent action and vast desert panoramas were captured in luminous 70mm by Cinematographer Freddie Young, here beginning a partnership with Lean that continued through Dr Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Yet what made the film truly outstanding was Robert (A Man For All Seasons) Bolt's literate screenplay, marking the beginning of yet another ongoing collaboration with Lean. The final partnership established was between director and French composer Maurice Jarre, who won one of the Oscars and scored all Lean's remaining films, up to and including A Passage to India in 1984. Fully restored in 1989, this complete version of Lean's masterpiece remains one of cinema's all-time classic visions. --Gary S Dalkin On the DVD: This vast movie is spread leisurely across two discs, with Maurice Jarre's overture standing in as intermission music for the first track of disc two. But the clarity of the anamorphic widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack justify the decision not to cram the whole thing onto one side of a disc. The movie has never looked nor sounded better than here: the desert landscapes are incredibly detailed, with the tiny nomadic figures in the far distance clearly visible on the small screen; the remastered soundtrack, too, is a joy. Thanks are due to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who supervised (and financed) the restoration of the picture in 1989; on disc two Spielberg chats about why David Lean is his favourite director, and why Lawrence had such a profound influence on him both as a child and as a filmmaker (he regularly re-watches the movie before starting any new project). Other features include an excellent and exhaustive "making-of" documentary with contributions from surviving cast and crew (an avuncular Omar Sharif is particularly entertaining as he reminisces about meeting the hawk-like Lean for the first time), some contemporary featurettes designed to promote the movie and a DVD-ROM facility. The extra features are good--especially the documentary--but the breathtaking quality of both anamorphic picture and digital sound are what make this DVD package a triumph. --Mark Walker
Arthur Penn's chronicle of hippie life during the late 1960s garnered the acclaimed director his second Oscar nomination. Based on the song by folk music troubadour Arlo Guthrie son of legendary ""Dust Bowl"" balladeer Woody Guthrie this tribute film to ""the last generation"" features memorable scenes with other folk artists like Pete Seeger who join Arlo in song to make a profound statement about war protest and change. In the late '60s a changing social and political climate inspi
Neil Jordan returns to the strife-torn Irish political landscape for this real-life epic set in 1920 and starring Liam Neeson as the legendary Irish revolutionary leader and Julia Roberts as his headstrong fiancée.
Annie is the story of a plucky, redhaired girl who dreams of a life away outside of her orphanage and its ginsoaked tyrant, Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire, Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney), and the pair share spectacular times in the New York City of the 1930s. But Miss Hannigan and her zany, villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan Based on the smashhit Broadway musical, ANNIE features a chorus of terrific songs, including It's a Hard Knock Life and Tomorrow. Features: My Hollywood Adventure with Aileen Quinn Musical Performance of It's The HardKnock Life Sing Along with Annie Act Along with Annie The Age of Annie Trivia Game
Pierce Brosnan stars in this true-life Irish drama as a father whose children are taken from him by the state when his wife abandons her family.
The concluding part of Lost: Season 1!. From J.J. Abrams the creator of Alias comes an action-packed adventure that will bring out the very best and the very worst in the people who are lost on a faraway desert island... Out of the blackness the first thing Jack (Matthew Fox) senses is pain. Then burning sun. A Bamboo forest. Smoke. Screams. With a rush comes the horrible awareness that the plane he was on tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island. From
Change your life... and change the world. I Am is the incredible story of how one man went from riches to rags and it changed his life for the better. One of Hollywood's leading comedy directors, Tom Shadyac is the creative force behind such blockbusters as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor and Bruce Almighty. However, in I Am, Shadyac steps in front of the camera to recount what happened to him after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Meeting with a variety of thinkers from the worlds of science, philosophy, academia, and faith - including Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu - Shadyac emerges with a new sense of purpose, determined to share his own awakening to his prior life of excess and greed and investigate how he as an individual, and we as a race, could improve the way we live our lives. The result is a fresh, energetic, and life-affirming film that that poses two practical and provocative questions: what's wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better?
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin
Set in a 19th century village, a young man studying under a local doctor joins a team of hunters on the trail of a wolf-like creature.
After 10 years with the FBI former FBI serial killer profiler Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) returns home to Seattle with his family . However his work experience has left him able to ""see"" into the minds of killers. This makes him a valued member of the Millennium Group a shadowy organisation dedicated to tracking evil and bringing its perpetrators to justice... The final season of episodes comprise: 1. The Innocents 2. Exegesis 3. TEOTWAWKI 4. Closure 5. ...Thirteen Years
James Cameron's 1989 aquatic epic The Abyss was, quite literally, a watershed in the annals of filmmaking: not only was it the first (and only) movie to be shot almost entirely underwater, in the largest tank ever used for a movie set, and to use live dialogue from specially designed headsets, it also pushed forward the boundaries of computer animation in one gigantic leap. The famous water tentacle sequence is now regarded as the defining moment when CGI came of age; ironically perhaps, its very success has ensured that the punishing realism of the setting, which is the best thing about the movie, is likely never to be attempted again. But the impressive technical aspects aside, is the movie any good? Granted it contains any number of striking moments, from forcing a rat to breathe liquid (it really works, apparently) to resurrecting a drowned Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. But the story is a slim one for the running time, especially in the extended Special Edition version which plays almost half an hour longer than the theatrical cut and contains a completely excised subplot featuring much too much heavy-handed moralising: "How all the world can stop fighting and learn to get along with each other", by James Cameron esq. All you need is love, apparently. Here is one rare example of the theatrical cut being preferable to the director's. Now, if only he had cut the love story from Titanic too On the DVD: The Abyss Special Edition two-disc set has plenty of neat extra features, but is let down a little by the non-anamorphic 2.35:1 letterboxed picture. Sound, on the other hand, is vivid THX mastered Dolby 5.1. Happily, the first disc contains both the original theatrical cut and the extended special-edition version. There's a reasonably informative though inevitably rather dry text-only commentary. The principal extra on Disc 2 is a 60-minute documentary, "Under Pressure", with retrospective interviews in which cast and crew detail the extraordinary challenges involved in making the film, and more than one near-death experience. In addition there's the complete screenplay, various different pieces on the effects sequences, storyboards, artwork, DVD-ROM features--in short, plenty to keep even jaded DVD enthusiasts amused for hours. The menu interfaces for both discs are a treat and the set comes with a good 12-page booklet. --Mark Walker
In Bed With Madonna: This movie reveals her as she really is on stage and off--den mother to her family of dancers sex goddess to her millions of fans businesswoman singer dancer. The biggest star in the world of music. Join her and experience an intimate backstage look at her ""Blonde Ambition"" tour. From her hotel room to her dressing room from her stage show to her boudoir here is Madonna - outrageous hilarious uninhibited. Desperately Seeking Susan: If you know what to look for you can find almost anything in the personal ads...including the love of your life! Rosanna Arquette is irresistible and in her first starring role pop star Madonna gives a marvelously comic performance in this delightful madcap comedy about mistaken identity. Bored New Jersey housewife Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between Jim (Robert Joy) and Susan (Madonna) a mysterious drifter who appears to lead the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream. And dream she does until the day she actually shows up at the couple's pre-arranged rendezvous in New York City... and after a bump on the head a bout of amnesia turns Roberta into Susan and opens the door to intrigue laughter and love! Body Of Evidence: Seductive gallery owner Rebecca Carlson (Madonna) is accused of a unique crime - using violent sex to murder a wealthy businessman. Frank Dulaney (Willem Dafoe) is the lawyer trying to defend her helpless to resist her extraordinary brand of lovemaking...
Titles Comprise: Annie (1982): Annie is the story of a plucky, red-haired girl who dreams of a life away outside her orphanage and its gin-soaked tyrant, Miss Hannigan (played to perfection by Carol Burnett). One day Annie meets the famous billionaire, Daddy Warbucks, and the pair share spectacular times in 1930's New York City. But Miss Hannigan and her zany, villainous colleagues are determined to spoil the fun for America's favourite orphan...Oliver! (1968): Experience the high-spirited adventures of Oliver Twist in this Oscar-winning musical adaptation of Charles Dickens classic tale!Young Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) is an orphan who escapes the cheerless life of the workhouse and takes to the streets of 19th-Century London. Hes immediately taken in by a band of street urchins, headed by the lovable villain Fagin (Ron Moody), his fiendish henchman Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) and his loyal apprentice The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). Through his education in the fine points of pick-pocketing, Oliver makes away with an unexpected treasure... a home and a family of his own.Set to a heartfelt score that includes such favorites as Consider Yourself, Where Is Love? and As Long As He Needs Me, Oliver! leads us on a journey in search of love, belonging and honour among thieves. Winner of six Academy Awards , including Best Picture and Best Score, Oliver! will steal your heart!
Days of Thunder is newly remastered in 4K UHD with HDR, including new special features! From the engine roar and fever pitch of professional stock car racing, Days of Thunder explodes with some of the most spectacular racing action ever captured on film. Tom Cruise plays race car driver Cole Trickle, whose talent and ambition are surpassed only by his burning need to win. Discovered by businessman Tim Daland (Randy Quaid), Cole is teamed with legendary crew chief and car-builder Harry Hogge (Academy Award® winner Robert Duvall) to race for the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500. A fiery crash nearly ends Cole's career and he must turn to a beautiful doctor (Nicole Kidman) to regain his nerve and the true courage needed to race, to win and to live. Special Features: Filmmaker Focus: Days of Thunder Isolated Score
FINDING JACK CHARLTON is the definitive portrait of an extraordinary man; an English World Cup winning legend, who became an Irish hero. Directed by Gabriel Clarke (Bobby Robson: More Than A Manager; Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans) and Pete Thomas (Take His Legs), and shot on location in Ireland and England, the film also details Jack's previously undocumented life with dementia. The documentary features key characters from throughout Jack's career, including major figures in football, music, film, politics, and, for the first time, Jack's family. These personal perspectives, along with previously unseen archive, are an intimate window into Jack's charismatic personality, his managerial philosophy and offer a new level of understanding into FINDING JACK CHARLTON. Powerful & uplifting - Paul Doyle, The Guardian Gripping, heartbreaking, inspirational - Henry Winter, The Times Alzheimer's Society and The Alzheimer's Society of Ireland are proud official charity partners of Finding Jack Charlton. 5% of Producer s Net profit made from each product sold will be donated to Alzheimer's Society & The Alzheimer's Society of Ireland.
Anthony Quinn stars as Mexican gunfighter Dave Robles in this 1950s Western directed by Harry Horner. When out-of-towner Dan Ritchy (Barry Atwater) shows up challenging Robles, a gunslinger whose path he had crossed years before, to a duel, Ritchy pays the ultimate price for his pride as Robles defeats him without breaking a sweat. After the duel, the position of town sheriff is awarded to Robles and he sets about trying to win over the rest of the residents who are yet to warm to his hard-hitting ways. The cast also includes Katy Jurado, Peter Whitney and Douglas Fowley.
Two sets of female twins are mixed up at birth. One set becomes the chief executives of a Manhattan conglomerate while the other set succeeds at becoming poor country bumpkins. They all accidentally meet up at New York's Plaza Hotel and from then on it's chaos all the way...
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