Winner of four Academy Awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor and best editing, Clint Eastwood's 1992 masterpiece stands as one of the greatest and most thematically compelling Westerns ever made. "The movie summarised everything I feel about the Western," said Eastwood at the time of the film's release. "The moral is the concern with gunplay." To illustrate that theme, Eastwood stars as a retired, once-ruthless killer-turned-gentle-widower and hog farmer. He accepts one last bounty-hunter mission--to find the men who brutalised a prostitute--to help support his two motherless children. Joined by his former partner (Morgan Freeman) and a cocky greenhorn (Jaimz Woolvett), he takes on a corrupt sheriff (Oscar winner Gene Hackman) in a showdown that makes the viewer feel the full impact of violence and its corruption of the soul. Dedicated to Eastwood's mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel and featuring a colourful role for Richard Harris, Unforgiven is arguably Eastwood's crowning directorial achievement. --Jeff Shannon
Set in Wyoming in 1881 during the sunset years of the Wild West, 1992's Unforgiven was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood, and is generally considered to be the towering achievement of his twilight years. Eastwood plays William Munny, once a vicious, whisky-swilling bounty hunter, brought to heel by his marriage to a good woman. When she dies, he must raise two children and run a hog farm alone, something which we see him make a comically poor fist of doing. Then, in a twist of fate, a young outlaw called the Schofield Kid trots up to his farm and invites him to collect on a $1,000 reward raised by a group of prostitutes. However, Clint must not only face up to his own somewhat rusty skills as a gunslinger, but also to genial-but-psychopathic lawman Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman in superb form). Unforgiven ultimately conforms to the expectations of the genre, while subverting quite a few of them on the way. There's brooding on the consequences of violence ("It's a hell of a thing to kill a man"), as Munny's ineptitude with a rifle is matched by his feelings of penitence for his younger wrongdoings. Finally, however, Eastwood casts aside age and inhibition in a chillingly ruthless shootout, his powers miraculously (improbably?) restored, in what could also be seen as an assertion on the part of the ageing Eastwood of his own potency as a major player in Hollywood. On the DVD: Unforgiven is presented in this Special Edition release in a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer that gives due emphasis to what critic David Thomson described as the "drained, wintry" feel of the movie. There are numerous bonus features in addition to the original trailer. Eastwood official biographer Richard Schickel offers a particularly copious and detailed audio commentary which touches on all aspects of the film. The 64-minute 1997 documentary Clint on Clint offers a detailed if inevitably worshipful account of Eastwood's career. Finally, there's a 47-minute 1959 episode of Maverick, the old James Garner TV series, guest-starring a 29-year-old Clint, several years away from his big Hollywood break. --David Stubbs
Filmed at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1995 this rendition of Verdi's 'Otello' is beautifully crafted by leading stars Placido Domingo and Renee Fleming. This was the first major success for Fleming at the Met and as this release illustrates she tackled the character of Desdemona wonderfully.
Venice: Queen of the Adriatic! Venice is a fairy tale city rising from the sea on 119 small islands separated by the 160 canals that dominate Venetian life. Its jeweled Basilica is a blend of Byzantine splendor and Western imagination and the Piazza San Marco has been proclaimed ""the most beautiful room in Europe."" It has been half a millennium since Venice ruled the waves. Since then its magnificent churches and palaces gondolas and canals public buildings and private villas art museums and piazzas have steadily declined into a gorgeous decay. The DVD the latest release in the best-selling Museum City Series showcases the thousand years of the glorious history and heartbreaking beauty that is Venice: Queen of the Adriatic. ""Watch this DVD then rush out and book tickets"" - USA Today.
When radio reporter Martin (Reeves) falls for his sexy aunt Julia (Hershey) the station's zany soap opera writer Pedro (Falk) decides to play Cupid and broadcast the details! Courtship soon turns to chaos with Martin's love life in shambles Julia in disgrace and irate listeners rioting in the streets. Everyone will have to tune in tomorrow to discover how it all turns out!
Art lovers travel enthusiasts and history buffs will appreciate this unique view of the world's most beautiful and historic cities... their museums and art buildings and parks... the heritage and culture of the city as seen through the eyes of its artists architects and poets. This intimate exploration of the most glorious city in the world traces Paris' history and culture through its architecture monuments museums and its most notable citizens: Napoleon Charles de Gaulle Victor Hugo Eduoard Manet and Coco Chanel. Stroll through the stately Luxembourg Gardens and the Rive Gauche explore the Gothic splendor of the church of Notre Dame and marvel at the masterpieces of French Impressionism....
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