Statesman and 'Declaration Of Independence' author Thomas Jefferson is depicted during the time he served as America's Ambassador to France. The story follows his love life and dramatises a romance (widely believed to be exaggerated) between Jefferson and one of his youthful slaves.
Even-numbered Star Trek movies tend to be better, and this one (number eight in the popular series) is no exception--an intelligently handled plot involving the galaxy-conquering Borg and their attempt to invade Earth's past, alter history, and "assimilate" the entire human race. Time travel, a dazzling new Enterprise, and capable direction by Next Generation alumnus Jonathan Frakes makes this one rank with the best of the bunch. Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his able crew travel back in time to Earth in the year 2063, where they hope to ensure that the inventor of warp drive (played by James Cromwell) will successfully carry out his pioneering warp-drive flight and precipitate Earth's "first contact" with an alien race. A seductive Borg queen (Alice Krige) holds Lt. Data (Brent Spiner) hostage in an effort to sabotage the Federation's preservation of history, and the captive android finds himself tempted by the queen's tantalising sins of the flesh. Sharply conceived to fit snugly into the burgeoning Star Trek chronology, First Contact leads to a surprise revelation that marks an important historical chapter in the ongoing mission "to boldly go where no one has gone before". --Jeff Shannon
Spider-Man: Homecoming A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a ground-breaking visual style that's the first of its kind. The Academy Award(r) Winner for Best Animated Feature Film, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask. Spider-Man: Far From Home Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) returns in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Our friendly neighbourhood Superhero decides to join his best friends Ned, MJ, and the rest of the gang on a European vacation. However, Peter's plan to leave super heroics behind for a few weeks is quickly scrapped when he begrudgingly agrees to help Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) uncover the mystery of several elemental creature attacks. Spider-Man and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) join forces to fight the havoc unleashed across the continent but all is not as it seems.
Meantime centres on a East End family the Pollacks - Mavis Frank and their sons Mark and Colin - and their experience of unemployment poverty and life in early 1980s Britain. When Colin comes under the influence of skinhead Coxy and when Mavis's better off sister Barbara offers Colin work family tensions erupt into conflict. Mike Leigh's first independent film for five years has a superb cast of rising stars including Gary Oldman Alfred Molina Tim Roth and Phil Daniels. First shown on television it is a memorable and closely observed account of life in Thatcher's Britain.
The latest in a long line of successful US police dramas, the forensic cop show Crime Scene Investigation varies the formula by focusing on a team of civilian scientists who work the night shift in Las Vegas, poring over crime scenes for fingerprints, blood spatters, DNA-laced mucus and (especially) maggots. Star William Petersen plays a variation of his role from Manhunter, the cool puzzle-solving genius who can rattle off mystifying speeches with aplomb, while his contrasting partner is Marg Helgenberger, cast as a single mother/ex-stripper who is as concerned with the emotional as well as the physical mess left by crime. While most US cop shows (witness NYPD Blue) tend towards soap, neglecting the cases in favour of personal crises, CSI gives its regulars enough life to make them human but is essentially puzzle-based, with individual episodes following two or three cases à la Homicide: Life on the Street. The occasional special focuses on a major job with the team investigating the slaughter of a whole family ("Blood Drops") or a death in first class on a plane over Vegas ("Unfriendly Skies"). A few continuing threads are laid down, with a recurrent villain who gets away, but will inevitably return, but on the whole these shows play pretty well as one-offs. Very high-tech in style, with lots of zooms into microscopic examinations of hair follicles or stomach contents and distinctive visualisations of the different stories told by witnesses and evidence, this is one of the best shows currently airing. On the DVD: CSI's first DVD box set contains the show's first 12 episodes: the pilot followed by "Cool Change", "Crate & Burial", "Pledging Mr Johnson"; "Friends and Lovers", "Who Are You?", "Blood Drops"; "Anonymous", "Unfriendly Skies", "Sex Lies and Larvae"; "The I-15 Murders" and "Fahrenheit 932". In addition to inventive menus, the three-disc set offers character profiles, a trailer, some B-roll on-set footage, a subtitle option, and snippet-like interviews with the cast and creatives. --Kim Newman
The makers of Supernova are apparently counting on the fact that generational turnover renders old formulas fresh again for new audiences. This is the only explanation for a sci-fi thriller that could charitably be called a "homage" to Ridley Scott's trend setting Alien. A medical rescue ship responds to a distress call from a mining colony and finds only one survivor: a strange young man (Peter Facinelli), who comes aboard carrying an even stranger alien artefact. But the plot of this film, which was directed and then disowned by Walter Hill, grows confused as it tries to explain the sinister force that will lead to a star transforming to supernova status, causing a universe-shattering explosion. Some nice sexual tension between James Spader (as the recovering drug-addict co-pilot) and Angela Bassett (as the ship's doctor). Notable mostly, however, for the eerie resemblance, both physical and vocal, between Facinelli and Tom Cruise. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com
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
One of the most acclaimed Wagner productions of the postwar period this electrifying revolutionary Bayreuth staging of The Flying Dutchman catapulted the German director Harry Kupfer to international fame. Kupfer's psychologically acute production presents the entire story as a hallucination in which Senta's yearning for the eternally wandering Dutchman sends her into a trance-like state. Senta is sung by Danish soprano Lisbeth Balslev the American bass-baritone Simon Estes portrays the Dutchman while the Finnish bass Matti Salminen is Daland.
Thrown together amid chaos and violence a man and a woman stumble upon unexpected passion in this fiery thriller. Russell Crowe stars as Colin the getaway driver in a bank robbery who steps in to save the life of Midori an unhappy Japanese bride who is in danger after witnessing the crime. Midori's plan to arrange her own kidnapping and be reunited with her former lover has failed so the two outcasts embark upon a bloody cross country quest for freedom which culminates in a new found love.
Great Expectations (1946) - David Lean directed this stylish film presentation of Charles Dickens' heart warming story of a young man befriending an escaped convict who becomes his unknown benefactor and of the consequences for the young man as he establishes himself in the world. A Tale Of Two Cities - Dickens' epic tale set during the French Revolution follows the fortunes of a disillusioned English lawyer Sidney Carton (Dirk Bogarde) whose solace is drink and who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young French aristocrat named Darnay. Carton defends Darnay but ends up falling in love with Darnay's fiancee Lucy. When Darnay is imprisoned by the revolutionary mob Carton is given the chance to redeem himself as he leaves for Paris for Darnay's aid. A truly gripping tale incomparably told and flawlessly performed. Oliver Twist - Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) orphaned at birth and raised in the workhouse is expelled for daring to ask the Beadle (Francis L. Sullivan) for more food. Unhappily apprenticed to an Undertaker Oliver escaped to London where he meets the cheeky Artful Dodger (Anthony Newly) the villainous Fagin (Alec Guiness) the aggressive Bill Sykes (Robert Newton) and the kindly but doomed Nancy (Kay Walsh). Torn constantly between the forces of good and evil Oliver eventually seals his fate by picking the pocket of a rich gentleman (Henry Stephenson).
A classic production of Chekhov's classic tale of boredom and frustration set on a Russian country estate in the late 19th century. Produced as part of the inaugural season at the new Chichester Festival Theatre Laurence Olivier directed the play and also performed the role of Dr Astrov.
First screened in 1993, Jimmy McGovern's Cracker was at once a variation on a familiar theme and a daring new departure from the run-of-the-mill cop show. Robbie Coltrane's Fitz is an independent criminal psychologist called in by the police to help them crack intractable cases, usually involving grisly serial murders. But like its Granada TV stablemate Prime Suspect, Cracker also delves deep into the main characters' personal lives, revealing a chaos of emotional entanglements that become increasingly inseparable from their professional duties. Robbie Coltrane's charismatic presence dominates: the contrast between Fitz's professionalism and his complete inability to diagnose his own psychological failings provides much of the show's dramatic impetus. His frequent interrogations of murder suspects are tour de force demonstrations of coolly analytical method shot through with biting humour. But his drunken, intemperate behaviour towards his wife and everyone else is a telling contrast of extremes, and one that creates dangerous resentment among his colleagues. Coltrane is supported by a strong cast that includes Barbara Flynn, Geraldine Somerville, Lorcan Cranitch (as the terrifyingly unstable DS Jimmy Beck), Christopher Eccleston, and a pre-Royle Family Ricky Tomlinson. McGovern's screenplays balance gritty, Manchester-based realism with splendidly mordant wit, making Cracker simply riveting viewing. On the DVD: This complete Cracker 10-disc box set contains all three series that ran from 1993-95. The feature-length episodes are: "The Mad Woman in the Attic", "Say I Love You", "One Day a Lemming Will Fly" (Series 1); "Be a Somebody", "The Big Crunch", "Men Should Weep" (Series 2); "Brotherly Love", "Best Boys", "True Romance" (Series 3); "White Ghost" (1996 special). --Mark Walker
Till the Clouds Roll By was the big MGM extravaganza of 1946, purporting to be a life of the first giant of the stage musical, Jerome Kern. Great chunks of Show Boat, Sweet Adeline and Sunny dominate while, in between excerpts, reliable Robert Walker does valiant work as Kern, lending a gentle credibility to even the most extravagant licenses taken by the writers. The liberties taken with Kern's story beggar belief, but what a fine excuse this is to sit back and enjoy a procession of gems from the great American songbook, performed by genuine legends. Judy Garland has two numbers as Marilyn Miller, both directed by husband Vincente Minnelli at the peak of their creative and personal relationships. Singing "Who?", she has to float down the proverbial staircase, obviously pregnant (Liza was born a short time later). Others to shine include Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Dinah Shore and, more bizarrely, a skinny young Sinatra drafted in at the last for a rousing "Old Man River". Most poignant of all is the presence of Lena Horne who, but for the racist values of Hollywood at the time, would have been a great film star. Ever confined to guest appearances, she here sings the songs of Show Boat's tragic half-caste Julie. When MGM filmed the musical in 1951, the same part went to Ava Gardner. On the DVD: Till the Clouds Roll By may boast digital remastering, but it could have done with a deal of restoration, too. Presented in 4:3 format, the picture quality is often pixellated and the soundtrack in "HiFi Stereo" is muffled and occasionally cracked. Considering its value as an archive of great performers, some rarely seen on film, this film deserves better DVD treatment. --Piers Ford
Roberto Durán is a boxing behemoth, a titanic figure straddling five epic decades as a fighter ranked as one of the most entertaining, controversial and finest of all time. This is the story of four-time World Champion Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán. A one man wrecking-ball who took on the world, transcended his sport and helped inspire a nation to rise up against its CIA funded dictator to achieve independence. From his days shining shoes on the street, to packing out arenas across the world, this is the story of modern Panama and its most celebrated child. Starring Roberto Duran, Robert De Niro, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Lennox Lewis, Marvin Hagler, Ricky Hatton and Sylvester Stallone.
Robert Beatty plays an Italian Bank clerk bullied by his wife (Jean Kent) and mother in law (Margaret Rutherford). When a gang of robbers discover that he is a perfect double for their leader they kidnap him and the two men switch places. The result is a wild confusion of mistaken identities. With original music composed by Nino Rota.
Peter Davison headlines this well-remembered BBC sitcom, starring alongside BAFTA-winning Hustle stalwart Robert Glenister in his TV debut. They play brothers Brian and Steve Webber, whose attempt to strike out in business involves a soggy narrowboat and a dubious decision to ply the Thameside tourist trade. Unfortunately, Steve is as loutish and lazy as Brian is charming and ambitious and the latter finds both his enthusiasm and his relationship with idealistic girlfriend Sonia severely hampered by his brother's persistent presence! Scripted by Alex Shearer, creator of The Two of Us, Sink or Swim is a much-sought-after comedy. This set contains all three series.
Released just a few years before a similar British film ZULU this 1962 English gladiator film depicts the tiny army of Sparta and their efforts to stave off an attack by Persian forces which greatly outnumbered the Spartans. Led by King Leonidis (Richard Egan) the Spartans army consisted primarily of a security force who guarded the palace. This rousing gladiator epic boasts an incredible cast including Diane Baker Ralph Richardson and Kieron Moore.
Cynthia McKay is Lawton Hobbs' personal bodyguard. Hobbs is being threatened by Nina Lindell a seductress who had earlier killed McKay's lover.
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.
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