A fascinating 5 disc set of half hour profiles spotlighting the personal lives and extraordinary careers of 50 legendary Hollywood leading men.Dashing Errol Flynn! Handsome Paul Newman! Versatile Jack Nicholson! are just a few of the great movie actors featured in this definitive collection.From the early classic era of John Barrymore James Cagney and Cary Grant to more contemporary heart throbs such as Warren Beatty Mel Gibson and John Travolta 'Hollywood Biographies: The Leading Men' tells their amazing stories through rare film clips television appearances photographs and interviews. Over 20 hours of footage on 5 DVD 9s all packaged in space saving slimpac boxes with an overall box width for the entire collection of just 4cms.
The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch. The Academy Awards saw it the same way, giving Forster the film's only nomination. The film is more "rum" than "punch" and will certainly disappoint those who are looking for Tarantino's trademark style. This movie is a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend--a loose term with Ordell--Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Fed Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40-ish flight-attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. The end result is rarely in doubt, and what is left is two hours of Tarantino's expert dialogue as he moves his characters around town. Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows Tarantino to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for. He said this film is for an older audience although the language and drug use may put them off. The film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the musical score. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. --Doug Thomas
A feature-length documentary about Roger Corman's life, career and remarkable influence on modern moviemaking.Blue jeans, sock-hops and drive-in movies: the Fifties were America's age of innocence. But stalking the depths of its post-nuclear bliss, mass paranoia became fuel for Joseph McCarthy's brand of Red Scare terror propaganda. Bomb shelters were a deluxe feature in every American home, government-sponsored educational reels promised an imminent nuclear threat from across the Atlantic, and Hollywood, Babylon of the western world, hung on the brink of collapse. It was here, in the last-ditch machinations of a dying juggernaut, that a mild-mannered, civil engineer's son would become the most influential force in modern moviemaking. Corman's World tracks the triumphant rise of Hollywood's most prolific writer-director-producer, the true godfather of independent filmmaking.
An epic tale of crime and obsession and two men on opposite sides of the law. When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro square off Heat sizzles. Written and Directed by Michael Mann Heat includes dazzling set pieces and a bank heist that USA Today's Mike Clark calls ""the greatest action scene of recent times"". It also offers ""the most impressive collection of actors in one movie this year"" (Newsweek). Val Kilmer Jon Voight Tom Sizemore and Ashley Judd are among the memorable supporting players in this tale of a brilliant LA cop (Pacino) following the trail from a deadly armed robbery to a crew headed by an equally brilliant master thief (De Niro). Heat goes way beyond the expectations of the cops-and-criminals genre - and into the realm of movie masterpieces.
THE BIG WEDDING is an uproarious romantic comedy about a charmingly modern family trying to survive a weekend wedding celebration that has the potential to become a full blown family fiasco.
Titles Comprise:Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: It is the late 18th Century. After the death of his beloved mother, young Victor Frankenstein leaves his father and Elizabeth, the adopted sister he passionately loves, to attend university. Here he becomes obsessed with the teachings of Professor Walman who believes that living creatures can actually be created from dead matter.One electrifying night, Frankenstein's efforts are rewarded as his Creature struggles to life. Alone, despised and driven by a rage of emotional agony, it sets off to find its maker. And so begins the nightmare that will engulf Victor Frankenstein...The Raven: In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who's using Poe's own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper--part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe's writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author's help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer's next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it's too late.Bram Stoker's Dracula: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins star in director Francis Ford Coppola's visually stunning, passionately seductive version of the classic Dracula legend. In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Coppola returns to the original source of the Dracula myth, and from that gothic romance, he creates a modern masterpiece.Gary Oldman's metamorphosis as Dracula who grows from old to young, from man to beast is nothing short of amazing. Winona Ryder brings equal intensity to the role of a young beauty who becomes the object of Dracula's devastating desire. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as the famed doctor who dares to believe in Dracula, and then dares to confront him. Opulent, dazzling and utterly irresistible, this is Dracula as you've never seen him. And once you've seen Bram Stoker's Dracula, you'll never forget it.
When a couple bring their dead child back to life through an experimental cloning process, they're not prepared for their new, much altered son. Chilling horror starring Robert De Niro, Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.
Robert De Niro stars in this his second film for director Brian De Palma. 'Greetings' is a satirical comedy focusing on the lives of three New Yorkers each with his own personal fixation ranging from sex and voyeurism to Kennedy assassination theories. Their common interest is discussing the ways to dodge the draft board. De Palma's originalty captures perfectly the spirit of late sixties America. And De Niro even in this early performance displays all the hallmarks that has e
Four Italian-Americans from New York's lower East Side hang around at a local bar. Charlie (Harvey Keitel), the most responsible of the group, tries to protect his girlfriend's cousin Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) from the local debt collectors, but his young charge seems determined to live fast and die young. Heavily influenced by the French New Wave, 'Mean Streets' provided the first high-profile success for director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro.
Once Upon a Time in America has a chequered history, having been chopped from its original 229-minute director's cut to 139 minutes for its theatrical release. The longer edition presented here benefits from having the complete story (the short version has huge gaps) about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants in America finding their way into lives of crime, as told in flashback by an ageing Jewish gangster named Noodles (Robert De Niro). On the other hand, it's almost four hours long, and this sometimes-indulgent Sergio Leone film is no Godfather. Still, it is notable for the contrast between Leone's elegiac take on the gangster film and his occasional explosive action, as well as for the mix of the stoic, inexpressive De Niro and the hyperactive James Woods as his lifelong friend and rival. --Marshall Fine
Scarface (Dir. Brian De Palma 1983): In the spring of 1980 the port at Mariel Harbour was opened and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami... wealth power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name - Scarface! Al Pacino gives an unforgettable performance as Tony Montana one of the most ruthless gangsters ever d
Sleepers (1996): To four boys growing up on the streets in the mid 1960s Hell's Kitchen was a place of innocence ruled by corruption. The infamous New York City neighbourhood that stretched north from 34th to 56th Street and pushed west from the 8th Avenue to the Hudson River was guided by both priest and gangsters. The children who grew up there shared joyful times but subscribed to a sacred social code-crimes against the neighbourhood were not permitted and when they did occur punishment was severe. Four friends made a mistake that changed their lives forever... Meet Joe Black (1998): Bill Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) has it all success wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger Joe Black (Brad Pitt) who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani)? Twelve Monkeys (1995): A lone time traveller from the year 2035 must solve a riddle that may save his people... but it may also take him to the brink of madness. Bruce Willis Madeline Stowe and Brad Pitt star in this brilliant sci-fi masterpiece from Terry Gilliam. After the world's population is devastated by a killer virus survivors must live in dark underground communities. Cole (Willis) ""volunteers"" to travel into the past to obtain a pure virus sample thereby helping scientists develop a cure. Along the way he crosses paths with a beautiful psychiatrist (Stowe) and a one-card-short-of-a-full-deck mental patient (Pitt). But the race is on as Cole searches for The Army of the 12 Monkeys a radical group linked to the deadly disease. With unforgettable performances and imaginative special effects 12 Monkeys is a modern-day classic laced with Gilliam's trademark wit and dazzling visual style.
Under the visionary direction of Brian De Palma and with an adapted screenplay by David Mamet, THE UNTOUCHABLES is a must-see masterpiece a glorious, fierce, larger-than-life depiction of good versus evil on the streets of Prohibition-era Chicago, with unforgettable performances by Robert De Niro as mob warlord Al Capone and Kevin Costner as law enforcer Eliot Ness. The big-screen blockbuster hit earned Sean Connery an Oscar®* for his portrayal of veteran officer Jimmy Malone, and the excellent supporting cast includes Patricia Clarkson, Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith. This special collector's edition includes a double sided poster, 6 art cards and 2 business cards. Bonus Features The Script, The Cast Production Stories Re-inventing The Genre The Classic Original Featurette: The Men
The Blu-ray Mastered in 4K collection will set a new standard for Blu-ray HD picture and sound creating the ultimate 1080p home entertainment experience. Created from the highest quality 4K source materials with new expanded colour consumers can enjoy a brilliant picture with exquisite detail using their existing Blu-ray player or PlayStation 3. The Blu-ray Mastered in 4K collection is optimized so that 4K Ultra HD TV owners can take full advantage of the new 4K upscaling technology delivering an outstanding near-4K experience. Mastered in 4K Blu-rays also work with all 1080p HDTVs for spectacular high definition picture and sound. Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival (1976) and nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture (1976) Taxi Driver stars Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's classic film of a psychotic New York cabby driven to violence by loneliness and desperation. Co-starring Jodie Foster Albert Brooks Harvey Keitel Peter Boyle and Cybill Shepherd the film is presented on Blu-ray for the first time following an extensive 4K digital restoration and remastering under the guidance of cinematographer Michael Chapman and director Martin Scorsese.
Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and Oscar nominee Edward Norton deliver powerful performances as a seasoned corrections official and a scheming inmate whose lives become dangerously intertwined in Stone. As parole officer Jack Mabry (De Niro) counts the days toward a quiet retirement he is asked to review the case of Gerald Stone Creeson (Norton) in prison for covering up the murder of his grandparents with a fire. Now eligible for early release Stone needs to convince Jack he has reformed but his attempts to influence the older man's decision have profound and unexpected effects on them both. Also starring Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) and Golden Globe winner Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under). Directed by John Curran (The Painted Veil We Don't Live Here Anymore) and written by Angus McLachlan (Junebug).
From Nicholas Pileggi’s true-life bestseller Wiseguy GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie. Directed and co-written by Martin Scorsese it was judged 1990's Best Picture by the New York Los Angeles and National Societies of Film Critics and named to the American Film Institute's Top-100 American Films List. Electrifying performances abound and from a standout cast that includes Robert De Niro Ray Liotta Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. It bristles with passion wit and style and endures as an American classic (Peter Travers Rolling Stone).
Titles Comprise: How much does life weigh? A freak accident brings together a terminally ill mathematician (Penn) a grieving mother (Watts) and a born-again ex-con (Del Toro) in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's fantastic multi-layered follow up to his debut 'Amores Perros' a gripping story that takes them to the heights of passion the depths of obsession and sees the promise of revenge... Ronin: In a world where loyalty is earned and betrayal is a way of life a new and deadlier terrorist threat has emerged - the freelance killer! Staring Robert De Niro Jean Reno Natascha McElhone Stellan Skarsgard Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce written by J.D. Zeik and Richard Weisz and directed by John Frankeheimer the master of intelligent thrillers Ronin is a gritty international film packed with high-octane action. The Cold War may be over but at the forefront of the New World is a group of covert mercenaries whose skills in surveillance reconnaissance and attack are for sale to the highest bidder. A mysterious client for a dangerous mission assembles five of these operatives known as 'Ronin' in Paris: steal a top-secret briefcase. Featuring some of the most exciting stomach-churning car chases ever committed to film Ronin is a tough uncompromising thriller that will leave you breathless. The Usual Suspects: Winner of two 1995 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay this masterful atmospheric film noir enraptured audiences with its complex and riveting storyline gritty tour-de-force performances (including an Oscar-winning turn by Kevin Spacey) and a climax that is truly deserving of the word stunning. This thoroughly engrossing film (HBO) is so gripping and diabolically clever (The Wall Street Journal) that it becomes a maze you'll be happy to get lost in (Los Angeles Times)! Held in an L.A. interrogation room Verbal Kint (Spacey) attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord not only exists but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor - leaving few survivors. But as Kint lures his interrogators into the incredible story of this crime lord's almost supernatural prowess so too will you be mesmerized by a lore that is completely captivating from beginning to end!
Easy Rider (Dir. Dennis Hopper 1969): Originally released in 1969 Easy Rider is widely regarded as the original ""road movie"" and based on the cult following it developed it was soon copied by other Hollywood studios. Written by Dennis Hopper Peter Fonda and Terry Southern (Dr Strangelove) Fonda produced the low-budget production whilst Hopper took on directing duties receiving an award at Cannes for his first work. Since its release Easy Rider has been regarded as a symbol of free-spirited reaction against society and even for those too young to remember its original release it maintains its status as a classic film which characterises the attitude of a decade. Now after 30 years Easy Rider has been remastered and is presented here in High Definition with both clearer picture and sound quality. Taxi Driver (Dir. Martin Scorsese 1976): 'Taxi Driver' provoked fierce controversy when it was released running into censorship problems in America as some of the scenes of violence were described to be 'as gory as Clockwork Orange and Straw Dogs' (Evening News '76). In addition there was outcry at a 13-year-old schoolgirl actress (Jodie Foster) co-starring as a prostitute. It won Best Picture at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival and received Academy Award nominations for Best Film Best Actor (Robert De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster). Considered to be one of the most powerful films in motion picture history 'Taxi Driver' is a film which is '...a savage piece of work - and hellishly brilliant' (Evening News '76).
The first thing you need to know about Sleepers is that it's based on a novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra that was allegedly based on a true story. The movie repeats this bogus claim, which was attacked and determined by a wide majority to be misleading. Knowing this, Sleepers becomes problematic because it's too neat, too clean, too manipulative in terms of legal justice and dramatic impact to be truly convincing. And yet, with its stellar cast directed by Barry Levinson, it succeeds as gripping entertainment, and its tale of complex morality--despite a dubious emphasis on homophobic revenge--is sufficiently provocative. It's about four boys in New York's Hell's Kitchen district who are sent to reform school, where they must endure routine sexual assaults by the sadistic guards. Years after their release, the opportunity for revenge proves irresistible for two of the young men, who must then rely on the other pair of friends (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), a loyal priest (Robert De Niro), and a shabby lawyer (Dustin Hoffman) to defend them in court. Despite the compelling ambiguities of the story, there's never any doubt about how we're supposed to feel, and the screenplay glosses over the story's most difficult moral dilemmas. At its best, Sleepers grabs your attention and pulls you into its intense story of friendship and the price of loyalty under extreme conditions. The movie's New York settings are vividly authentic, and Minnie Driver makes a strong impression as a long-time friend of the loyal group of guys. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
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