Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal together in a film and it should be a sucker's bet as to who's going to be funnier and who's going to give the more nuanced performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of the laughs, mugging gleefully through Analyze This, a buddy action-comedy about a mob boss (De Niro, naturally) suffering from panic attacks who makes a shrink (Crystal, naturally) an offer he can't refuse--actually, it's not really an offer, it's a command. The good doctor is forced to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the brilliant TV series The Sopranos not underscored how thin and formulaic director-cowriter Harold Ramis's approach to such potentially rich material actually is, the movie--a hit in cinemas (and De Niro's biggest film ever)--would seem more fresh. De Niro is definitely a hoot as the ever milder menace and Crystal actually concentrates on giving a credible performance opposite the acting legend (alas, he doesn't turn his character's fear of his patient into inspired comedy, as Alan Arkin did in Grosse Pointe Blank). The conclusion devolves into the requisite gunplay and Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow are criminally wasted as an opposing mob boss and Crystal's fiancée, respectively, but overall, Analyze This is breezy fun. --David Kronke
El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks' greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks' marvellous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time", Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humour and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton
John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer in this sequel to 1995 comedy hit.
Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome
Director Martin Scorsese reunites with members of his GoodFellas gang (writer Nicholas Pileggi; actors Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent) for a three-hour epic about the rise and fall of mobster Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro), a character based on real-life gangster Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. (It's modelled on Wiseguy and GoodFellas and Pileggi's true crime book Casino: Love and Honour in Las Vegas.) Through Rothstein, the picture tells the story of how the Mafia seized, and finally lost control of, Las Vegas gambling. The first hour plays like a fascinating documentary, intricately detailing the inner workings of Vegas casinos. Sharon Stone is the stand out among the actors; she nabbed an Oscar nomination for her role as the voracious Ginger, the glitzy call girl who becomes Rothstein's wife. The film is not as fast-paced or gripping as Scorsese's earlier gangster pictures (Mean Streets and Good Fellas) but it's still absorbing. And, hey--it's Scorsese! --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
It's a grand tour of the Nightmare legacy and the people who helped to make it real Wes Craven.Murderer. Dream Demon. The bastard son of a hundred maniacs. Any way you slice it, there can be only one man-one monster-who epitomises those words; Freddy Kruger.For Decades, he has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters and shows no signs of ever resting in peace. A Nightmare on Elm Street star Heather Langenkamp is your dream guide in this thrilling shockumentary that takes you deeper into Freddy Kruger's realm than ever before, featuring exciting clips, never-before-seen photos, behind-the-scenes footage, conceptual art, publicity materials and exclusive new interviews with over 100 key cast and crew from every Nightmare, including Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Jack Sholder, Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Chuck Russell, Jennifer Rubin, Renny Harlin, Lisa Wilcox, Tuesday Knight, Stephen Hopkins, Kelly Jo Minter, Rachel Talalay, Lisa Zane, Alice Cooper, Patrick Lussier, Miko Hughes, Monica Keena, Brendan Fletcher, Ronny Yu and many more.So get ready for Freddy, in the definitive account of modern cinema's eternal bogeyman and what has been called the most frightening and imaginative horror franchise in motion picture history.
A fantasy-adventure story based on Nordic myths of the 'Ring Of The Nibelungs' about the son of a simple swordsmith who repeatedly saves his country not knowing that he is heir to the throne... The original mythology (a heroic saga capturing all the magic passion and adventure that have thrilled readers for over 1 500 years) inspired Richard Wagner's opera 'The Ring Cycle' as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord Of The Rings'.
New York is in turmoil, the age of capitalism is drawing to a close and Eric Packer, a high finance golden boy is chauffeured across the city in his extravagant limousine to get a haircut. A visit from the President of the United States paralyses Manhattan and as the day goes by, an eruption of wild activity unfolds on the city's streets. Eric watches helplessly as his empire collapses and as his paranoia intensifies during the 24-hour period, he starts to piece together clues that lead him to a most terrifying secret: his imminent assassination.
The Twilight Saga: The Complete Collection follows the epic story of Bella (Kristin Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Experience the passion, romance, and breath-taking action that have made The Twilight Saga a global phenomenon. Twilight: The classic story of star-crossed lovers. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) meets the mysterious Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) - a boy with a dark secret: he's a vampire. The Twilight Saga: New Moon:...
Not quite ready to surrender himself to responsibility or mainstream society, a young American travels to Asia and discovers he is not alone in his feelings
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 delivers strongly for the rabid fan base who have catapulted the young adult novel series and subsequent movie adaptations to the worldwide phenomenon that it's become, but it alienates a broader audience with a lack of any real action. Similar to the tone of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, the first film of the two-part Twilight conclusion is heavy on romance, love, and turmoil but light on fight scenes and gruesome battles. The movie doesn't waste any time getting to the goods and opens with Bella and Edward's much-hyped wedding scene. It works--the vows are efficient and first-time franchise director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) moves the party along quickly and amusingly with a well-edited toast scene and some surprisingly moving moments between Bella and her father, cast standout Billy Burke. The honeymoon plays as a slightly awkward soft-focus made-for-TV movie, with a lot of long moments spent staring in the mirror and some love scenes that feel at once overly intimate and completely passionless. It's a relief when Bella retches on a bite of chicken she's cooked herself and quickly concludes she's pregnant with a potentially demonic baby. From bliss to horror, the Cullens return to Forks, where Bella spends the second half of the movie wasting away and Edward and Jacob are aligned in their anger and frustration over her decision. Throw in some over-the-top scenes with Jacob and his pack--including a strange showdown where the wolves communicate in their canine form by having a passionate nonverbal fight in their minds (a plot point that works much better in print, it's portrayed in the film via aggressive voice-over)--and the film overshoots intensity and goes straight to silly. The birth scene is horrific, but not as gruesome as in the book, and by the end, Bella has of course survived, though is much altered. The final scene features a delightfully campy Michael Sheen as Volturi leader Aro and makes it clear that the action and fun in Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is ready to start. Fans will just have to wait until Part 2 to get it. --Kira Canny
Now you can own the entire adventures of The X-Files in this bumper DVD box set. every episode from all 9 seasons of this multi-award award-winning show are available for the first time in this exclusive Collector's Edition. Don't miss the opportunity to see how the phenomenon all began back in 1993 and how it came to a close 9 years later!
The secret agent kids are back in another adventure that finds Carmen caught in a virtual reality game designed by the Toymaker (Sly Stallone), so it's up to Juni to save his sister and ultimately the world.
C.S.I. is an acclaimed edgy fast-paced drama series about a passionate team of forensic investigators (among them William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger) who work the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas Criminalistics Bureau. Their job - to find the missing pieces at the scene that will help to solve the crime and vindicate those who often cannot speak for themselves - the victims. Between the hidden clues and the buried motives lies the trail to the truth because people lie... but the evidence never does. Following on from the explosive Season 5 finale which saw the kidnap of team member Nick Stokes Season 6 sees the once fractured team reunited. With Las Vegas's bright lights and glamour as the backdrop the Clark County CSI night shift once more takes on the task of cleaning up what lies beneath the neon and the money. In this 3-disc release we learn of Warrick taking a walk down the aisle Nick tries to cope with his near death experience and Grisson will begin to open up and engage with his emotions and people. Features Part 1 of Series 6 Episodes 1 - 12
Remember Me is an unforgettable story about the power of love, the strength of family, and the importance of living passionately and treasuring every day of one's life.
Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) voyages across the Western frontier to ask the love of his life, Penelope, (Mia Wasikowska) to marry him. When he discovers she's been kidnapped, he finds himself on an unpredictable journey that raises the question: is this damsel really in distress? From award-winning directors David and Nathan Zellner, and featuring a stand-out cast, Damsel is an entertainingly original (NY Times) adventure that takes an unmissable set of twists and turns.
The Weiss family are an archetypical Hollywood dynasty - Dr Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) is a psychotherapist whose self-help books have made him a fortune. His wife Cristina (Olivia Williams) is the overbearing mom-ager of their thirteen-year old son Benjie a prodigious child star fresh out of drug rehab and their estranged daughter Agatha (Mia Wasikowska) has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital. Agatha is now back in Hollywood making friends with a wannabe actor named Jerome (Robert Pattinson) and has landed a new job as PA to one of Stafford’s clients - the neurotic and tempestuous actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) whose dream of reprising her dead mother’s starring role from the 1960s is beginning to haunt her.
Anyone who has seen and loved Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves should feel right at home in his offbeat psychological thriller In Dreams. A sexy, very adult take on "Little Red Riding Hood", Wolves unreeled as a series of surreal fairy tales interwoven within the heated dreams of a young girl verging on womanhood. The film's patron saints were Freud and Jung (as sifted through Jordan's wickedly fertile imagination), and the duo is very much aboard for In Dreams as well. Here's a film that takes place entirely in dreamtime, where the dark, violent fantasies of Claire Cooper (Annette Bening)--wife, mother and illustrator of children's books--play out unpoliced by superego, conscience or society. On the face of it, Claire's a clairvoyant whose mind becomes more and more possessed by child-killer Vivian Thompson (Robert Downey Jr.). Cops and shrinks refuse to take her seriously until she loses her own daughter and much, much more. Tapping into weird images of her soulmate's childhood, when he was abused by a hateful mother in a house now submerged in a nearby reservoir, Claire comes closer and closer to her gender-shifting bad boy (and his latest victim). From start to finish, In Dreams dwells in hyper-reality. Whether leeched of or drenched in colour, slipping eerily through an underwater world, rushing madly toward catastrophe--every hallucinatory shot is saturated with menace. It's the kind of potent, unresolved menace that haunts your waking day after a particularly unsettling nightmare. Watch this gorgeous film through Claire's mind, where she and her murderous doppelganger act out a terrible Oedipal drama driven by sex and jealousy. Bening and Downey deliver superb, risky performances, and Darius Khondji's cinematography, with almost every frame punctuated by blood-reds, is sensuously dreamlike. In Dreams is one of those great, flawed films that reaches for more than it ultimately achieves. --Kathleen Murphy, Amazon.com
Richard Brooks's In Cold Blood is a faithful 1967 screen adaptation of Truman Capote's extraordinary non-fiction book about the course of two killers in this world--their lives, their senseless slaughter of an entire family, and their executions. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are remarkable as the murderers, but what has kept this film special over the decades is Brooks's blunt, clearheaded, and non-sensational approach to the story. (The term "semi-documentary" has been applied to Brooks's style on this film, and it's an entirely fair description.) The experience of watching In Cold Blood is naturally unsettling, but the director--as with Capote--leaves final judgments about justice to the beholder. --Tom Keogh
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