In The Acid House director Paul McGuigan adapts three Irvine Welsh short stories. These are set in an unflinchingly depicted world of grey, breeze block tenements, wiry psychos, short leather skirts, beer, fags and drugs, kinky sex in badly wallpapered lounges, random violence, hideous-looking babies, raves, footy, discarded crisp packets and barely intelligible dialogue featuring the occasional use of non-profanity."The Granton Star Clause" tells the unhappy tale of wee, pasty-faced Boab Doyle, who in one long, unhappy sequence loses his place in the football team, his girlfriend, his job and gets kicked out of the house by his parents, before an encounter with God (here, a hard-bitten, lager-quaffing Maurice Roeves) leads to a surreal, Kafka-esque conclusion. The second tale, "A Soft Touch", is gruellingly and well portrayed but pointlessly depressing. Kevin McKidd plays Johnny, a supermarket employee with an appalling slag-hag of a girlfriend who takes up with his new, violently psychotic and parasitical neighbour Larry. Will he stand up for himself? The answer will leave you thoroughly unsatisfied. Finally, there's "The Acid House", the funniest but silliest of the three tales in which Ewan Bremner plays an obnoxiously livewire Hibs fan who takes one too many tabs and ends up being transported into the mind of stereotypically middle-class couple's--Martin Clunes and Jemma Redgrave--baby. The Acid House is compulsive but bleak, exhilarating but ambivalent. The viewer is asked to bring their own moral compass to these stylised yet non-judgemental episodes. Fans of Trainspotting, however, will certainly find much of the scintillating same here.On the DVD: disappointingly, only the trailer is featured here. However, the DVD transfer in letterbox format is impeccable, used to its best advantage in the more surreal, fast-cut music video-style sequences, while the soundtrack, featuring The Verve and Primal Scream among others, also benefits. --David Stubbs
It isn't difficult to imagine why this 1988 retelling of the Crucifixion story was picketed so vociferously on its release in the US--this Jesus bears little resemblance to the classical Christ, who was not, upon careful review of the Gospels, ever reported to have had sex with Barbara Hershey. Heavily informed by Gnostic reinterpretations of the Passion, The Last Temptation of Christ (based rather strictly on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name) is surely worth seeing for the controversy and blasphemous content alone. But the "last temptation" of the title is nothing overtly naughty--rather, it's the seduction of the commonplace; the desire to forgo following a "calling" in exchange for domestic security. Willem Dafoe interprets Jesus as spacey, indecisive and none too charismatic (though maybe that's just Dafoe himself), but his Sermon on the Mount is radiant with visionary fire; a bit less successful is method actor Harvey Keitel, who gives the internally conflicted Judas a noticeable Brooklyn accent, and doesn't bring much imagination to a role that demands a revisionist's approach. Despite director Martin Scorsese's penchant for stupid camera tricks, much of the desert footage is simply breathtaking, even on small screen. Ultimately, Last Temptation is not much more historically illuminating than Monty Python's Life of Brian, but hey, if it's authenticity you're after, try Gibbon's. --Miles Bethany
Both a road movie and a mystery, and featuring a sublime score by Ry Cooder, Wim Wenders' Cannes winner is the pinnacle of the filmmaker's career. Harry Dean Stanton plays Travis Henderson, who walks out of the desert after disappearing for four years. He is picked up by his brother Walt (Dean Stockwell), who with his wife Anne (Aurore Clément) have been looking after Travis' son Hunter (Hunter Carson). A man ill at ease in everyday life, Travis feels the need to search for his ex, Jane (Nastassja Kinski), who left him some years before. In doing so, he attempts to bring his family back together, with unexpected results. Paris, Texas is the summation of Wenders' fascination with the American West its landscape and the people who populate it. Stanton's grizzled face says more than any words could convey, his silence accentuating his feelings of dislocation from the modern world. Instead, Ry Cooder's music, heavily influenced by Blind Willie Johnson's blues standard Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground', along with Robby Müller's stunning cinematography, transpose Travis' emotional and physical journey upon the vast sights and sounds of the American landscape. The script, co-written by L.M. Kit Carson and acclaimed playwright Sam Shepard, plays with the notion of myth, country and character a place always out of reach or a relationship consigned to the past. It's a potent idea that Wenders' film brilliantly embraces.
David Lynch's 1990 Wild at Heart is an utterly random and ugly experience with pockets of startling imagery and inspired set pieces. Based on a Barry Gifford novel, the film stars Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern as lovers on the lam whose relationship is tested and who meet some truly dangerous wackos (including an almost-simian Willem Dafoe). Lynch's thoughts seem to be everywhere, and he expects the audience to keep up with a story that seems more a collection of avant-garde whims than a coherent vision with the intuitive brilliance of his Blue Velvet. Cage gives one of his more chaotic performances, but then he was just reading Lynch's signposts. --Tom Keogh
Ten-year-old Arthur in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished goes looking for some much-fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys a tiny people living in harmony with nature.
David Lynch's first film since the award-winning "Mulholland Drive" is a complex Hollywood mystery which blurs the lines between fantasy and reality.
There have been a number of notable cinematic versions of King Lear and Peter Brook's depiction of Shakespeare's epic tragedy is no exception. The majesticl Paul Scofield tackles the role of Lear with such aplomb that it is clear to see why many of his contemporaries consider him to be the finest Shakespearian actor to emerge from the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company).
Alien is the first movie of one of the most popular sagas in science fiction history, and introduces Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the iron-willed woman destined to battle the galaxy's ultimate creature. The terror begin when the crew of the spaceship Nostromo investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and makes a horrifying discovery - a life form that breeds within a human host. Now the crew must fight now only for its survival, but for the survival of all mankind.
The legend of Matilda Dixon has hung over the town of Darkness Falls for more than 150 years. The kindly old woman was unjustly accused and savagely slaughtered, and her vengeful spirit is said to be waiting to pounce on anyone who sees her in the dark...
She can't (and won't) drive 55.... Stephen King's novel about the twisted love affair between a boy and his car gets transferred to the screen, courtesy of suspense master John Carpenter. Although lacking some of the more outré supernatural elements of the source material, this high-octane cinematic tune-up more than delivers the goods, horror-wise (Christine's midnight rampages will never be forgotten)--as well as being a sly exposé of the random cruelties within the high-school pecking order. Keith Gordon (who has gone on to become a stellar director in his own right, with films such as A Midnight Clear and Mother Night to his credit) gives a wonderfully controlled central performance. Carpenter's atmospheric original score is backed up by a well-chosen collection of rock classics, including George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" (the titular character's all-too-apt theme song). --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com
Here's a film that only a Steven Seagal fan could love. Fire Down Below not nearly as good as Under Siege (the movie destined to remain Seagal's high-water mark), but not any worse than Above the Law. This time ol' Steve is an agent of the Environmental Protection Agency who's busting heads in Kentucky. He's on good terms with the local yokels (including Marg Helgenberger and Harry Dean Stanton), but locks horns with a slimy mogul (Kris Kristofferson) who's using abandoned mines to dump toxic waste. Along with an ecological message, Seagal serves up several broken limbs, cracked skulls, and bloody noses, and he even finds time to do some guitar picking with country boys such as Travis Tritt and Randy Travis. Once you've heard Seagal crooning a country tune, you'll be eager to see him go back to whuppin' the bad guys. --Jeff Shannon
Director Ridley Scott's new cut of his 1979 sci-fi classic about a lifeform that is perfectly evolved to annihilate mankind. In space no-one can hear you scream.
The Last Temptation of Christ, by Martin Scorsese is a towering achievement. Though it initially engendered enormous controversy, the film can now be viewed as the remarkable, profoundly personal work of faith that it is. This fifteenyear labour of love, an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis's landmark novel that imagines an alternate fate for Jesus Christ, features outstanding performances by Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie; bold cinematography by the great Michael Ballhaus; and a transcendent score by Peter Gabriel. Special Edition Features: Restored highdefinition digital transfer, supervised and approved by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, with a 5.1 DTSHD Master Audio soundtrack by supervising sound editor Skip Lievsay Audio commentary featuring director Martin Scorsese, actor Willem Dafoe, and writers Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks Galleries of production stills, research materials, and costume designs Location production footage shot by Scorsese Interview with composer Peter Gabriel, with a stills gallery of traditional instruments used in the score PLUS: An essay by film critic David Ehrenstein.
Using a faulty thriller for his soapbox as an outspoken critic of China, a devout follower of the Dalai Lama, and an influential supporter of Tibetan freedom, Richard Gere resorts to the equivalent of propagandistic drama to deliver a heavy-handed message. In other words, Red Corner relies on a dubious strategy to promote political awareness, but director Jon Avnet appeals to the viewer's outrage with such effective urgency that you're likely to forget you're being shamelessly manipulated. Gere plays a downtrodden TV executive who sells syndicated shows on the global market, and during a business trip to China he finds himself framed for the murder of the sexy daughter of a high Chinese official. Once trapped in a legal system in which his innocence will be all but impossible to prove, Gere must rely on a Chinese-appointed lawyer (played by Bai Ling) who first advises him to plead guilty but gradually grows convinced of foul play. Barely attempting to hide its agenda, Red Corner effectively sets the stage for abundant anti-Chinese sentiment, and to be sure, the movie gains powerful momentum with its tale of justice gone awry. It's a serious-minded, high-intensity courtroom drama with noble intentions, but one wonder if it has to be so conspicuously lacking in subtlety. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
A newly remastered Blu-rayâ¢, from a 4K film transfer supervised by director Howard Deutch, Pretty in Pink looks prettier than ever. Teen sensations Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club) and Andrew McCarthy(St. Elmo's Fire) drew rave reviews for their starring performances in this hit love story produced and written by John Hughes (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles).Andie is a high school girl from the other side of town. Blane's the wealthy heartthrob who asks her to the prom. But as fast as their romance builds, it's threatened by the painful reality of peer pressure. From its bittersweet story to its hip New Wave soundtrack, the film features great supporting performances from Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, James Spader and Annie Potts.Product Features Filmmaker focus: Director howard deutch on pretty in pink Isolated score Original Special Features The Lost Dance: The original ending Original theatrical trailer 1986
Armchair Cinema: Collection (5 Discs)
This horrible misfire from the usually reliable writer-director Andrew Bergman (The Freshman) has nothing funny, provocative, timely or interesting to say (despite being based on a novel by Carl Hiaasen) once Demi Moore gets her clothes off. Moore plays a single, unemployed mum caught up in a custody battle who elects to make some money by stripping at a club. The character's troubles don't end there, however: her ex-husband is posing a threat, and a perverted congressman (Burt Reynolds) is looking for more than a lap dance. Bergman's great wit is nowhere in sight, and the film primarily becomes another opportunity for Moore to function like a special effect. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
The Wild, Wild West just got wilder with Tom and Jerry on the ranch! This time, the rivals team up to help a cowgirl and her brother save their homestead from a greedy land-grabber, and they're going to need some help! Jerry's three precocious nephews are all ready for action, and Tom is rounding up a posse of prairie dogs. But can a ragtag band of varmints defeat a deceitful desperado determined to deceive a damsel in distress? No matter what happens, with Tom and Jerry in the saddle, it'll be a rootin'-tootin' good time!
1997. New York City is now a maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane. Manhattan Island has become a maximum-security prison for three million criminals. When the American President's plane is hijacked and crashed on the island the President is taken hostage by gangland warlord `The Duke'. Sent to the rescue is Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) a former war hero now a convicted criminal. To ensure safe return of the President the police comm
Starring Kris Kristofferson (The Last Movie) in his first leading role, and boasting an impressive supporting cast including Gene Hackman (The Conversation), Karen Black (Five Easy Pieces), Harry Dean Stanton (Christine) and Warhol superstar Viva (Necropolis) Cisco Pike follows the fortunes of a musician who turns to drug dealing to make ends meet. Extras High Definition presentation Audio commentary with writer-director Bill L Norton and film historian Elijah Drenner (2020) Cisco Pike': Then and Now (2020): documentary revisiting the film's Los Angeles locations Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography Original theatrical trailer TV spot New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Christina Newland, the original soundtrack EP liner notes, an archival interview with Kris Kristofferson, Stephen Farber's 1972 article on Cisco Pike, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies Extras subject to change
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