Starman is easily director John Carpenter's warmest and most beguiling film, and the only one that ever earned him an Oscar nomination. While most movie buffs are likely to call Halloween the best movie from Carpenter, die-hard romantics and anyone who cried while watching E.T. will vote in favour of the director's 1984 hit. Jeff Bridges is the alien visitor to Earth who is knocked off course and must take an interstate road trip to rendezvous with a mothership from his home planet. To complete this journey he assumes the physical form of the dead husband of a Wisconsin widow (Karen Allen) who responds first with fear, then sympathy, and finally love. Carpenter's graceful strategy is to switch the focus of this E.T.-like film from science fiction to a gentle road-movie love story, made believable by the memorable performances of Bridges and Allen. It's a bit heavy-handed with tenacious government agents who view the Starman as an alien threat (don't they always?), but Carpenter handles the action with intelligent flair, sensitivity and lighthearted humour. If you're not choked up during the final scene, well, you just might not be human. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com On the DVD: Starman on disc is presented in anamorphic widescreen transferred from NTSC and letterboxed at 2.35.1. The picture is clear and sharp with very little grain. The soundtrack is crisp, perfectly complementing the romantic nature of this film. The overriding reason to shell out on this special edition is the commentary from John Carpenter and Jeff Bridges, in which director and actor show a genuine affection for the film. Other extras are a featurette filmed around the original release in 1884, a music video starring Bridges and costar Karen Allen covering The Everly Brothers classic "All I Have to Do is Dream", and a trailer for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. --Kristen Bowditch
What's the worst that could happen? Probably being forced to watch What's the Worst That Could Happen? from start to finish without a pause button: it's more lame than a three-legged dog. The plot is straightforward enough: two men, each as crooked as the other, come into conflict when petty thief Kevin Caffrey (Martin Lawrence) breaks into the apparently unoccupied beach house of wealthy and unscrupulous businessman Max Fairbanks (Danny DeVito). The house turns out not to be empty: Fairbanks calls the cops, claims that Caffrey has stolen his ring and coolly claims it back in front of his uniformed audience. It's a ring that Caffrey values because it has just been given to him by his new girlfriend Amber (Carmen Ejogo). He's so desperate to get it back that he hounds Fairbanks through the rest of the film, breaking into various Fairbanks properties as he goes. Words like "zany" and "madcap" could be used in the interests of charity, but actually the film falls flat on its face. Lawrence is certainly no Eddie Murphy and the plot would need an injection of major talent to give it a chance. DeVito yet again relies on his stature to provide the laughs. John Leguizamo plays Caffrey's sidekick as best he can but the fake sheikhs-in-tea-towels scene induces more groans than laughs. This is one for diehard fans of the lead actors only. On the DVD: What's the Worst That Could Happen? comes to DVD with a choice of two spoken languages (English or French) and many subtitle options. There's also a generous selection of outtakes, an alternative ending, a music video ("Music" by Erick Sermon) and the original theatrical trailer. It's just a shame that the film itself isn't better. --Harriet Smith
The complete third series of one of Thames TV's most successful sitcoms about the ups and downs of mixed flat-sharing. Episodes comprise: 1. Cuckoo In The Nest 2. Come Into My Parlour 3. I Won't Dance Don't Ask Me 4. Of Mice And Women 5. We Shall Not Be Moved 6. Three Of A Kind
Titles Comprise: An Officer And A Gentleman: Richard Gere stars as Navy recruit Zack Mayo while the stunning Debra Winger is his love interest. Lou Gossett Jnr. won an Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of a tough drill instructor. David Keith plays Zack's struggling fellow candidate. Zack Mayo is a young loner with a bad attitude. Tempted by the glamour and admiration of the life of a Navy pilot he decides to sign up for Officer Candidate School. After thirteen tortuous weeks under Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett Jnr.) he slowly begins to learn the importance of discipline love and friendship. Foley warns Zack about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves a pilot for a husband but despite this Zack finds himself falling in love with Paula (Winger). Days Of Heaven: Terrence Malick's second film is a lyrical visual poem about life in America at the turn of the century. When a Chicago steel-mill worker is fired after a fight with his supervisor he hops aboard a train for the Great Plains with his girlfriend and his younger sister. The trio join itinerant workers following the farming season and find a place with a quiet lonely landowner. As the year passes and the harvest nears a fateful love triangle develops with fiery consequences. The performances match the moody compositions in this elegy for the pre-modern prairie which now stands firmly as one of the most beautiful motion pictures of all time. Internal Affairs: Trust Him... He's A Cop. Dennis Peck knows his way around the law. He can launder money run a scam fix a bad rap. He can even for the right price arrange a murder. Trust me he says I'm a cop. Richard Gere is Peck and Andy Garcia is Raymond Avila the investigator determined to bring Peck to justice in this supercharged police thriller. Peck isn't going down without a fight. The slick cold-blooded manipulator intends to take Avila's career his marriage and even his sanity with him in 'Internal Affairs'. A fine tight script says Gary Franklin (KABC-TV). Two thumbs up! say Siskel & Ebert - Trust them. Intersection: Make every move as if it were your last. Richard Gere portrays Vincent Eastman an award-winning architect whose personal life is on shaky ground. Separated from his beautiful but aloof wife (Sharon Stone) Vincent has an affair with a joyful and passionate writer (Lolita Davidovich) whose love promises a new beginning. But Vincent remains emotionally torn between the two women leaving his future happiness - and that of his thirteen year-old daughter - hanging in the balance. As his relationships start to crumble Vincent hurtles on a collision course toward the one fateful moment when he must confront his true feelings and cross the Intersection. Primal Fear: Arrogant brilliant and successful criminal defense attorney Martin Vail loves a good fight and the media spotlight both of which he knowingly invites when he volunteers to represent a penniless bewildered altar boy accused of murdering the local archbishop. The defendant's guilt seems as evident as the blood found splattered on his clothes. But Vail doesn't concern himself with questions of guilt or innocence. All he cares about is creating and selling his version of the truth. American Gigolo: Julian Kay is on the prowl and looking for someone to please. Boyish and sensual he speaks five or six languages and is equally comfortable as a chauffeur for a wealthy middle-aged matron and as a translator/companion for the lonely wife of an executive. He is the 'American Gigolo'. But Julian's love-for-sale lifestyle turns deadly when a client is murdered and Julian became the prime suspect.
Ever since the comedy greats stepped beyond the fringe for The Secret Policemen's Ball the annual Amnesty International concert has been one of the highlights of the comedy circuit. 2001's offering was called We Know Where You Live and let's face it, where else are you going to see the UK's top comedians and pop acts on one stage? Compeered by the "surreal stylings" of Eddie Izzard, this compilation of the night's highlights includes a new version of the classic "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch with Eddie, Harry Enfield, Vic Reeves and Alan Rickman. Rickman stubbornly sticks to the script while all around him improvise. There is also a great performance from Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse as the Self-Righteous Brothers and the Goodness Gracious Me team going out for "an English". As well as the comedy there are live performances from Tom Jones, Badly Drawn Boy and the Stereophonics, which seem rather abrupt and heavily edited. Some of the material is quite old, though--any fans of Izzard will already have seen him do the Star Trek phaser sketch where he talks about the other settings, other than stun and kill! On the DVD: What really makes this worth the price (apart from supporting a very worthwhile charity) is the extra footage. As well as some more performance stuff, including Phil impersonating Eddie Izzard which is frighteningly spot on, there is back stage material and a news report following the Amnesty bus round London. Buy it, because other wise you might get Eddie round your house! --Kristen Bowditch
Rare show from the 1970s! Cliff Richard, an international star in a cosmopolitan city together with Paul Kuhn, a world-famous Big Band-Leader! The Show Must Go On!
Made in 1970, just as he was reaching the end of a three-year exile from boxing, AKA Cassius Clay is a documentary about Muhammad Ali's life and career. Produced by Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton--who would go on to manage Mike Tyson--it includes reams of Jacobs' vast collection of fight footage, some of it familiar, some quite rare, such as flickery images of his earliest bouts. The film intersperses an account of Ali's career with good natured, if combative, sections to camera featuring Ali and future Tyson trainer Cus D'Amato, who plays devil's advocate, arguing with the ex-champ that he would never have beaten Joe Louis in his heyday, or (more dubiously) his own protégé Floyd Patterson. Watching footage of his 1967 bout against Cleveland Williams here, it's hard to believe any champion before or since could have beaten Ali at his height. Ali's familiar story is competently related here (though narrator Richard Kiley has the mildly disconcerting air of a Bond villain): his 1960 Olympic triumph; his defeat of Sonny Liston who was expected to annihilate the young 22-year-old blowhard in 1964; his conversion to the Nation of Islam; and the plainly vindictive decision on the part of the authorities to revise his draft status and call him up for service in Vietnam. Ali refused and faced the possibility of a five-year jail sentence as well as being stripped of his title. The principle pleasure of AKA Cassius Clay is watching Ali in full verbal flow. His maniacal teasing of Liston was a psychological knockout blow. "The man's too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty, like me!" On the DVD: extras comprise scene selections and the original trailer. The reproduction is visually adequate, with the sepia tones of the fight footage holding up well; but the dubbing in places is poor. --David Stubbs
Oscar Winner Lionel Barrymore, Richard Widmark and Dean Stockwell star in this bittersweet and moving story of a young boy growing up on board a 19th Century whaling ship, directed by Henry Hathaway (True Grit, Niagara). Despite his increasing age and infirmity, whaling captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) takes his beloved grandson Jed (Dean Stockwell) on one last voyage to the treacherous South Atlantic to pass on his skills and to keep the family tradition alive. On board the whaler is a new First Mate (Richard Widmark), a college-educated man whose ideas clash with the old sea captain's. As tensions rise between the two men, the ship slips deeper into some of the most dangerous sea in the world, where every frozen fog bank might conceal towering icebergs...
An anti-drug enforcer a hitman and a female FBI agent meet in a triangle of treachery. They must work together to combat a murderous gangster.
It's a western! It's a caper film! It's martial arts action! It's a farce! It is in fact 'Millionaire's Express' with Hong Kong stalwart Sammo Hung in front and behind the camera! The Shanghai Express loaded with the rich and famous is scheduled to come through town on its maiden voyage. Having recently returned to his hometown and set up business Ching Fong-Tin (Sammo Hung) plans to derail the train by blowing up the tracks and thereby entice the stranded passengers to spend th
A woman finds herself tumbling deeper in to psychosis after seeing her doppelganger drive past her home.
In an American West just coming to terms with the end of World War II Jane Fonda stars as a Colorado rancher struggling to keep her independence from ruthless local land mogul Ewing. Fonda teams up with another independent rancher and war veteran Frank and Frank's partner is killed. Frank and Ella develop a romantic relationship as they battle to save Ella's land but more than the land is at stake for Ewing. His desire to expand his ranching empire must come to terms with a force e
Yes, Elvira's back and she's fabulous! With her voluptuous milky-white cleavage, voluminous black hair and hilarious one-liners, the essence of camp oozes from her pores. Elvira's Haunted Hills culls its outrageousness from the classic Vincent Price/Edgar Allen Poe/Roger Corman films of the early 60's along with a little Rocky Horror Picture Show and Fearless Vampire Killers.The tale begins in 1851, Carpathia when Elvira and her maid ZouZou are en route to perform in the Parisian Revue Yes I Can Can but inadvertently end up at the sinister Lord Vladimere Hellsubus' medieval castle. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Vladimere's long-dead wife, Elvira learns of the Hellsubus curse and finds her life in danger. What's a girl to do? Well, break out into song and dance, of course. Continuing our saga, love-torn Vladimere chases our heroine on her high heels around the castle. Will she escape the family curse and the evil Vladimere, and can she keep her hands off the studly stable master long enough to save the day?
In the future, a nuclear war has left Earth as a desert wasteland, where the ocean has dried up. The world is now ruled by a sinister corporation known as the E-Protectorate. Beyond ruthless, they hoard water and take children from their families to train them to work for the corporation. But when a group of young rebels discover an extraterrestrial sphere with healing powers, they set out to release the planet from the clutches of the oppressors. With its dazzling visual effects and mesmerizing score, Solarbabies is pure entertainment from start to finish.
The Flock
When a couple on a sailing holiday to Honolulu capsize in a fierce storm their prayers for rescue are answered as a passing cargo ship saves them from the sea. However all is not well within the bowels of this ship and when a mysterious doctor begins roaming the decks the couple make a terrifying discovery: a giant genetically altered spider is on the loose and they're about to become lunch!
A ninja-for-hire is forced into fighting an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government. His nemesis is also the leader of a group of demons each with superhuman powers.
Richard Gere is a frantically overworked socially-in-demand gynecologist whose life is coming apart at the seams. His wife (Farrah Fawcett) has regressed into a child-like state while one daughter (Tara Reid) is raising suspicions about the relationship between his soon-to-be-married other daughter (Kate Hudson) and her maid of honor (Liv Tyler). Meanwhile just as his champagne-loving sister-in-law (Laura Dern) arrives with three nieces in tow the doctor falls for the sexy new golf pro (Helen Hunt). As complications mount the good doctor's life rapidly approaches the force of a Texas tornado!
Evil Dead 2 is a sophisticated blood and gore satire with wall-to-wall special effects that concentrates on the classic conflict between good and evil. In an apparently forsaken cottage Ash and Linda discover a tape recorder. They turn it on to hear the voice of Professor Knowby who has successfully translated 'The book of the dead.' His words awaken the spirit of evil possessing Linda. Ash begins his relentless battle against an all-powerful evil that takes many forms including the trees Linda's decapitated head and even his own hand. When evil appears to get the upper hand it is left to Ash to don a chainsaw and shotgun and rid the world of the demon spirit by dawn.
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