The pretentiously titled Existence is another two-part X-Files yarn glued together to make a feature-length episode. Here the story concerns the birth of Scully's perhaps-alien-tinged child and proves the old maxim that you should stop watching any series when the characters start having babies. By now, newbie Robert Patrick is settled into the role of Agent Doggett, Scully's new partner on the X-Files, but David Duchovny's contract negotiations have enabled Fox Mulder, no longer in the FBI, to come back and hang about the delivery, clashing and then bonding with his replacement. The action content comes from a mild-mannered alien abductee transformed into an unstoppable killing machine, ripping through everything as he tries to prevent the upcoming nativity for reasons that (as ever) don't quite become clear. Also in the support cast are semi-regular Nicholas Lea as lurking plot-explaining conspirator Alex Krycek, and the more welcome Annabeth Gish, whose interestingly spiritual Agent Monica Reyes is being worked up as a replacement for Scully when Gillian Anderson gets out of her contract. Weirdly, The X-Files is in pretty good shape for a show that's been running this long--the performances and the direction are still strong, and outside the "continuing story" shows individual episodes hold up well. But this dreary muddle of running about (plus the odd decapitation) and agonised rumination (blathery philosophical musings about the miracle of life and childbirth) does not represent the series' strengths, suggesting that the best thing that could happen would be to get shot of the long-time stars and their played-out characters to make room for a revitalised show starring Patrick and Gish. On the DVD: The full-screen print, with the extra detail of the DVD image and Dolby Digital, allow you to pick up a lot more than from the murky telecasts. "Alex Krycek Revealed" Parts 1 and 2, a couple of character profiles, turn out to be very snippet-like Fox TV promo pieces, with some interview footage and behind-the-scenes stuff amid the usual teaser clips.--Kim Newman
Be Careful Who You Trust... Striving to fulfil his obsessions with power and money, criminal boss Renzo (Ving Rhames- Pulp Fiction, Mission Impossible 1-4) and his gang wreak havoc across the streets, leaving the bodies of anyone who crosses them in their stead. Hot in pursuit, and on a mission for revenge is Detective Womack (Pam Grier Jackie Brown) who will stop at nothing to bring these thugs to justice - even if it means breaking the law. But as the net closes in on Renzo, his hunger for ...
Firewall (Dir. Richard Loncraine 2006): Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is an average family man in Seattle who heads up the hi-tech security team at his local bank. But following a seemingly trivial case of identity theft Jack's life is turned upside-down when he discovers that his wife (Virginia Madsen) and two kids have been kidnapped. The ransom? A mere $100 million which the kidnappers led by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany) want Jack to obtain for them via his expert computer skills. Initially compliant Jack is soon irked by Cox and his cronies to the point where he decides to risk everything to get his family back and bring the bad guys to justice... The Fugitive (Dir. Andrew Davis 1993): Catch him if you can. The Fugitive if on the run! Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones race through the breathless manhunt movie based on the classic TV series. Ford is prison escapee Dr. Richard Kimble a Chicago surgeon falsely convicted of killing his wife and determined to prove his innocence by leading his pursuers to the one-armed man who actually committed the crime. Jones is Sam Gerard an unrelenting bloodhound of an U.S. Marshal. They are hunted and hunter. The non-stop chase has one exhilarating speed: all out.
A fascinating and colourful screen biography of Jerome Kern (Robert Walker). It starts with the opening night of his smash hit Showboat and flashes back to his beginnings as an almost penniless songwriter. The film follows his friendship with James I. Hessler and journeys to England where the best songwriters are reputed to be and where he finds his early successes - and the future Mrs Kern (Dorothy Patrick). After some difficult times in the USA he collaborates with Oscar Hammerstein; the result being the classic adaptation of Edna Ferber's Showboat. The picture's grand finale features Frank Sinatra singing Ol' Man River. This is one huge and lavish theatrical feast; great entertainment!
A 5 DVD box set containing: 'Dr Terror's House of Horrors 'The House That Dripped Blood' 'Now the Screaming Starts' 'The Beast Must Die' and 'Asylum'.
Matthew Modine (ANY GIVEN SUNDAY) stars as Joe Slovak, a brilliant first-year med student whose casual, nonconforming approach to life gets tested when he enrolls in Gross Anatomy, the toughest course in med school. Joe's freewheeling, independent style creates funny moments in the classroom, but puts him at odds with his demanding professor (Christina Lahti, HIDEAWAY), who questions whether her class "rebel" has what it takes to be a doctor. On top of that, Joe falls in love with his no-nonsense lab partner (Daphne Zuniga -- THE SURE THING, TV's MELROSE PLACE), who won't let anything, especially romance, interfere with her plans. And while Joe's never done anything by the book, he proves he does have what it takes to succeed -- without changing his ways!
In classic mystery style Broadway playwright Alex Dennison invites actors and others to a 'cold reading' of his new play. But it is really his scheme to catch the killer of his actress fiancee Monica Welles who died a year previously?
With so many promises to fulfil and questions left unanswered, the ninth and final series of The X-Files was inevitably going to short-change some of its audience. Mulder is missing, Scully is in and out with various baby concerns, Reyes frequently seems like she's only along for the ride and Doggett seems so right in the role that some fans wondered if he should have appeared sooner. Other cult cameos flitted across the screen in an attempt to keep viewers transfixed. Lucy Lawless, Cary Elwes and Robert Patrick's real-life wife were interesting diversions, but when Burt Reynolds appeared to be none other than God himself, it was apparent that nothing at all was sacred in this last year. Standalone episodes (for example, on Satanic possession and a Brady Bunch psycho) proved to be amongst the least interesting of the show's efforts. No doubt because everyone was focussing on the all-important arc story episodes. Was there more than one alien faction? Were they all in collusion? Who had control of the black oil virus? Who had been in charge of the abductions? More importantly, would Mulder and Scully finally get in bed together? Scattered through the 19 episodes (the fewest of any season), were answers to some of these points. Then as much as possible that remained was packed into the two-hour finale. After 200 episodes, it's just possible that The X-Files overstayed its welcome; nonetheless it will always be remembered for being the most influential TV product of the 1990s. And since this is science-fiction, don't assume it's completely dead either. --Paul Tonks
Agent 007 (Roger Moore in his final outing as James Bond) races against time to stop a power-mad industrialist (Christopher Walken) who plots to kill millions in order to corner the world's microchip supply. From the Eiffel Tower to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge James Bond can't be stopped.
Pool Girl' is the quirky tale of a Los Angeles pool cleaner (Alyssa Milano) who falls in love with a young man dying of Lou Gerhig's disease....
The guest cast list for The X-Files: The Truth runs almost to the first commercial break, suggesting how many plot strands this season-and-series finale needs to make room for, with many old characters (including ghostly appearances for the dead ones) popping up. Mulder (David Duchovny), teasingly absent for the final season, is suddenly back, accused of murdering a super-soldier who isn't supposed to be able to die. He faces a military tribunal, defended by AD Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), as guest stars trot out testimony that fills the double-length episode with explanations recapping nine years of confusion as creator Chris Carter tries to spatchcock his impromptu conspiracy theories into a real plot. Last-season regulars Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish are shunted aside as Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder get to dodge a last-scene explosion and wind up in a pretty silly clinch-with-philosophy in the face of vaguely imminent apocalypse. Seriously, if the franchise is to continue on the big screen, how about ditching the embarrassing alien conspiracy mess and doing a monster story? On the DVD: The X-Files: The Truth comes to disc with a lovely widescreen transfer, a 13-minute "Reflections on the Truth" featurette that, though it hits the self-congratulation button a couple too many times, has a little more meat than the puff pieces included on previous releases, and a bonus episode ("William") that is unfortunately another of the maudlin ones, this time resolving the plotline about Scully's super-baby. --Kim Newman
The fifth season of The X-Files is the one in which the ongoing alien conspiracy arc really takes over, building towards box-office glory for the inevitable cinematic leap in The X-Files Movie (1998). The series opener "Redux" begins with Mulder having been framed for everything going. Scully finally sees a UFO ("The Red and the Black") before being presented with a potential daughter (the two-part "Christmas Carol" and "Emily"). By "The End", there's an enormous tangle of threads for the big-screen adaptation to unravel (or not, as it turned out). Cigarette Smoking Man is being hunted, playing every side against the middle, as well as chasing after information on Mulder's sister. Krycek is back, too, as is an old flame for Mulder in the shape of Agent Diana Fowley. If that wasn't enough to goad viewers into the cinema, there was the Lone Gunmen's 1989-set back story ("Unusual Suspects", with Richard Belzer playing his Homicide: Life on the Streets character), a musical number in the black and white Frankenstein homage "Post Modern Prometheus", and scripts co-written by Stephen King ("Chinga"), William Gibson ("Kill Switch"), and even Darren McGavin (who had inspired the show as Kolchak: The Night Stalker) in "Travellers". On the DVD: The X-Files, Season 5 extras include Chris Carter's commentary over "Post Modern Prometheus", which reveals the decision making behind shooting in black and white as well as the problems it caused. A second commentary is from writer/coproducer John Shiban on "Pine Bluff Variant", where he openly admits the influence of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Across the six discs (only 20 episodes because of the movie of course) you get credits for every episode, their TV promo spots, deleted and international versions of several scenes (some with commentary from Carter), and a couple of TV featurettes. The best of these is "The Truth About Season 5", talking to an excited Dean Haglund (Langly) amongst other crew members.--Paul Tonks
Thrown together to join George Cowley's new CI5 organisation....Hard men no patience nor time for subtleties. Charged with combating terrorists criminals and corruption wherever they find it. Capable of using any means necessary. The only people they can trust are themselves... Features all 14 episodes from the second series broadcast in 1979 uncut and digitally remastered!
The MarineWWE Champion John Cena stars as marine John Triton. Wherever there's danger Triton is usually in the middle of it... and he doesn't play by the rules! After he's unwillingly discharged from Iraq Triton's beautiful wife Kate (Nip/Tuck's Kelly Carlson) is kidnapped by merciless jewel thieves led by a vicious killer (Robert Patrick). Now Triton must fight to save her utilising his most powerful weapon... himself! The Marine 2Action thriller sequel. While on leave Marine sniper Joe Linwood (Ted DiBiase) takes his wife Robin (Lara Cox) on holiday to a luxurious five-star resort on the South Seas. But their relaxing break comes to an abrupt end when a terrorist group seizes control of the resort and takes the billionaire owner and several guests - including Robin - hostage. Can Joe use his Marine training to free the hostages and save the day? The Marine 3WWE superstar Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin delivers a knock-out performance in the most explosive action-packed Marine adventure yet. After returning to his hometown on leave Sgt. Jake Carter learns that his sister has been abducted by a band of violent extremists. To save her Carter launches a daring one-man assault on their base of operations... only to discover the group's ruthless leader is plotting a deadly terrorist strike. With time running out Carter realises he's the only man who can stop the impending massacre - but this American hero may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save thousands of innocent lives.
Tough yet emotionally vulnerable the newly-promoted Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) returns to old territory at London's Southampton Row to work on a case involving the disappearance of a young child. The investigation leads her to Chris Hughes (Robert Glenister) a serial child sex offender who has recently been released from a custodial treatment centre. As the investigation reaches its climax a badly bungled arrest attempt results in a tense siege situation. With police marksmen in a position and concern mounting for the safety of the three hostages D.S. Tennsion moves in to take control.
Autopsy
After making a critically acclaimed debut with the low-budget independent drama Heavy, writer-director James Mangold took on this gritty crime drama, which was highly touted as Sylvester Stallone's long-awaited return to a serious dramatic role. With an illustrious cast of co-stars, including GoodFellas alumni Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta, Stallone plays Freddy Heflin, the ineffectual sheriff of a New Jersey suburb that a group of corrupt New York cops have turned into their own off-duty criminal empire. Deaf in one ear and desperate to prove his worth, the sheriff takes on the cops with standoffish assistance from an Internal Affairs cop (De Niro), resulting in an explosive climactic showdown. The stellar cast can't be beat, and Stallone is quite good as the overweight cop whose pride is on the line. Mangold's script is wildly uneven, but Cop Land still packs a white-knuckled punch. --Jeff Shannon
Harry Rule (Robert Vaughn) is an American lone wolf in London. Contessa di Contini (Nyree Dawn Porter) is a beautiful British aristo abroad. Paul Buchet (Tony Anholt) is a suave Parisian specialising in gadgetry. Together they are The Protectors - three intrepid international private detectives. Alongside other super agents from the world's best detective agencies they are organised into a global secret society their mission is to protect the innocent and apprehend the guilty. Gerry
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy