Richard Gere plays an enrollee at a Naval officers candidate school and Debra Winger is the woman who wants him.That's pretty much it, story-wise, in this romantic drama, which is more effective in a moment-to-moment, scene-by-scene way, where the two stars and Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr.--as Gere's tough-as-nails drill instructor--are fun to watch. Sexy, syrupy, with occasional pitches of high drama (Gere having a near-breakdown during training is pretty strong), An Officer and a Gentleman proves to be a no-brainer date movie. --Tom Keogh
An obvious attempt to cash in on the success of Jaws, this 1977 thriller was also based on a best-seller by Peter Benchley, and it features a memorable performance by Robert Shaw (the doomed shark hunter in Jaws) in one of the last roles of his career. Looking very tanned and healthy, Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset play a young couple enjoying a tropical vacation who discover a glass ampoule while scuba diving off the coast of Bermuda. It takes a seasoned treasure hunter (Shaw) to identify the ampoule as part of a valuable shipment of World War II morphine lost at sea, coincidentally, atop the even greater treasure of a sunken Spanish galleon. Thus begins a race for drugs and treasure pitting Nolte, Bisset and Shaw against a ruthless drug lord (Louis Gossett Jr) who will do anything--even resort to Haitian voodoo--to get what he wants. It's all rather contrived and exploitative (after all, the movie's best known for Bisset's wet T-shirt scuba-dive), but as escapist entertainment goes it's got some exciting highlights including a moray eel that attacks on cue and... well, uh, Jacqueline Bisset in a wet T-shirt. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
The Net, the first of Hollywood's big cyber-thrillers of the mid-1990s, was also the most successful, thanks in large part to the natural appeal of star Sandra Bullock. Still riding high from Speed and While You Were Sleeping, Bullock plays a computer expert victimised by sinister cyber-forces who steal her identity for reasons unknown. It's a clever combination of high-tech paranoia and Hitchcockian references (including Jeremy Northam as a romantic stranger named Devlin, after Cary Grant in Notorious). Film historians may look back someday on films like this--Roger Ebert calls them "hacksploitation"--to see what they reveal about our society's reaction to the increasing role of technology in our lives, just as we now study the fears of Communism and the atom bomb reflected in films of the 1950s. Dennis Miller and Diane Baker co-star. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) and his 10 year old son Grant (Spencer Treat Clark) are both trying to come to terms with the loss two years earlier of Michael's wife Grant's mother. When they befriend a family from across the road things seem to get a little better for them. However as the families become closer Michael starts having misgivings about Oliver and Cheryl Lang (Tim Robbins Joan Cusack) and begins investigating them. He soon realises that the Langs are definitely no
For a while The Net looked like it was going to be quickly outdated by the technology it showcased. But now we know that anyone can personalise their systems and Internet search engines, so the colourful displays endlessly intercut on Sandra Bullock's screens look perfectly contemporary. As a movie, the concept was already outdated by the time of its 1995 release, however. The plot takes pains to emulate the style and formula of a Hitchcock chase thriller. There's a computer disc "McGuffin" being sought after by conspiratorial baddies; while the lonely hero on the run is eminently sympathetic yet attractively flawed. Bullock, though, was perfectly cast at a point well before her star status took over. Although some of the suspense contrivances may seem simplistically predictable, there's an undeniable fascination in the theme of losing one's identity. Everywhere Bullock turns she's faced with either a bald reflection or mirroring metaphor of how the computer age strips us of individuality. And, indeed, privacy. Sooner or later, the technology will become outdated of course. Until then, be careful how you surf. On the DVD: The Net comes to disc in Dolby 5.1 sound and widescreen 1.85:1. It's hard to choose between the two commentaries included. Both the Writer's and the joint talk from the Director and Producer are crammed with anecdotal reference (with a little overlap). Then there are two documentaries of about 20 minutes each, but here the newest is by far the most interesting. Trailers and filmographies fill out the package. --Paul Tonks
Based on Alex Haley's bestseller, the 1977 TV mini-series Roots told the harrowing story of one man's ancestors, commencing with African warrior Kunta Kinte, captured, transported to America, stripped of his dignity, his rights, and even his name. He tries but fails to escape before accepting he can never return to Africa. He marries and bears a daughter, Kizzy, who is callously sold, then raped by her new "master". However, her son, Chicken George, a resourceful dab hand with gamecocks, lives long enough to see his own children attain a liberty of sorts following the Civil War. Roots is told in the same, accessible televisual language as The Waltons or Bonanza, yet it is never bland or evasive. It leaves no doubt as to the torment and abuse suffered by blacks, and although the series' conclusion is fictionally satisfying, for many of the black characters their only hope lies in generations yet unborn. It is sturdy enough drama but its greatest, most revolutionary effects were social. It persuaded American audiences to regard their history from a black perspective, and to see how--against odds far more desperate than those the pilgrims faced--Africans laid claim to their status as free African-Americans. Roots was massively popular, triggering a craze for genealogy and paving the way for series like 1979's Holocaust, which similarly raised the public's awareness of the slaughter of the Jews under Hitler. Most importantly, Roots changed forever the way black people were depicted on American TV. On the DVD: Roots is presented in 1:33:1 format and is visually extremely well-preserved. Extra features include a "Roots Family Tree", a copious, informative audio commentary featuring members of cast and crew, and a documentary, "Remembering Roots". Although this consists only of interviews, these convey the extraordinary emotional grip this project had on those who took part in it.--David Stubbs
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 Zacks 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
An offbeat personality a tough-as-nails approach and a track record as one of the country's leading investigators--these are just a few of the traits exhibited by television's next great detective Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson played by three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Kyra Sedgwick in ""The Closer."" In her first lead role in a dramatic series Sedgwick plays a tough CIA-trained detective with Southern charm who has been brought from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up the Priority Murder Squad a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive high-profile murder cases. ""The Closer"" is executive produced by the team behind ""Nip/Tuck."" Episode List: 1. Pilot 2. About Face 3. The Big Picture 4. Show Yourself 5. Flashpoint 6. Fantasy Date 7. You Are Here 8. Batter Up 9. Good Housekeeping 10. The Butler Did It 11. L.A. Woman 12. Fatal Retraction 13. Standards And Practices
It's easy to understand why Arlington Road sat on the studio shelf for nearly a year. No, the film isn't awful; rather, it's an extremely edgy and ultimately bleak thriller that offers no clear-cut heroes or villains. In other words, Hollywood had no idea how to sell it. Director Mark Pellington's underrated directorial debut, Going All the Way, suffered the same fate, essentially because the film-maker's presentation of suburban America often shifts dramatically within the same film. Characters are usually miserable and bordering on meltdown, no situation is straightforward and things usually end badly. Arlington Road begins as an astute study of suburban paranoia. Michael Faraday (a face-pinched Jeff Bridges, who spends most of the film on the brink of tears) is a college professor who teaches American history courses on terrorism. He's been a conspiracy freak since his wife, an FBI agent, was killed during a botched raid that feels like a thinly fictionalised reference to the Waco tragedy. After saving the life of his next-door neighbour's child, he initially befriends the family (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack), but soon believes the husband is a terrorist. The first half of the film mocks Faraday: he has no real evidence and is not the most stable of protagonists. Despite the fact that it was government paranoia that got his wife killed, Faraday repeats the same type of behaviour. Pellington shifts gears in the second half, however, and for a while, it seems that the film has simultaneously sunk into a cheap, high-octane brand of Hollywood entertainment and undermined its own point. But Arlington Road possesses a stunning ending that's a real gut punch, one that may leave you needing a second viewing to catch all of its smartly executed setup. --Dave McCoy
The mining colony on 'Titus 4' is violently torn apart when a group of highly advanced Androids take control. Under the command of Reiger an elite attack team is sent down to 'Titus 4' in an attempt to eliminate the Android leader. The mission is complicated by the deceit and betrayal of the evil head of the Rydell Mining Corporation.
Casey. Arrow. Jackson. They've been buddies since they were kids. They're the rave crowd who can get any illicit drug for the right price. No way these guys could get played right? Wrong. When their latest deal goes south their entire world may go up in smoke. They're up against the wall and they're running out of options. In the tradition of Go and Pulp Fiction Devious Beings is a wild ride you'll never forget.
This lavish suspense-filled film was made from Peter (Jaws) Benchley's best-selling novel. Gail Berke (Bisset) and David Sanders (Nolte) are on a romantic holiday in Bermuda when they come upon the sunken wreck of a WWII freighter. Near it they find an ampule of morphine one of tens of thousands still aboard the wrecked ship. Their discovery leads them to a Haitian drug dealer Henri Cloche (Gossett Jr.) and an old treasure hunter Romer Treece (Shaw). With Cloche in pursuit Gail David and Treece try to recover the sunken treasure...
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