Michael Caine and the knockout Julie Walters deliver a pair of wonderful performances in this endearingly bittersweet tale of a boozily burnt-out professor's tutoring of (and subsequent tutoring by) a free-spirited hairdresser determined to improve her lot in life. The basic plot won't exactly surprise anyone who's ever seen a movie before but the ace cast (particularly Caine, who's rarely this subtle) continually finds new directions to spin off from the rather rote path. Although the end result is perhaps just a little too convinced of its own adorability to attain classic status, this remains a rarity in the genre--a feel-good film that earns its emotions honestly. A nice change of pace for director Lewis Gilbert, who is perhaps better known for his contributions to the James Bond series. --Andrew Wright
Audrey Hepburn is the delightful, young, eponymous Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who is hopelessly in love with David Larrabee (William Holden), the playboy younger son in the rich Long Island household her father works for. In order to help her forget her woes, Sabrina is shipped off to cooking school in Paris. While there, she befriends a baron who provides a bit of culture--and the encouragement to snip off her childlike ponytail. Upon her return to New York, Sabrina is transformed into a sophisticated woman, and David is entranced by her. However, his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David's marriage to Elizabeth Tyson in order to seal a business merger and thus must steer David away from Sabrina. To do this, Linus takes on the task of wooing her for himself. Full of great dialogue ("A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven") and wonderful performances, this film is a romantic masterpiece. Also enjoyable is the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. --Jenny Brown
Audrey Hepburn is the delightful, young, eponymous Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who is hopelessly in love with David Larrabee (William Holden), the playboy younger son in the rich Long Island household her father works for. In order to help her forget her woes, Sabrina is shipped off to cooking school in Paris. While there, she befriends a baron who provides a bit of culture--and the encouragement to snip off her childlike ponytail. Upon her return to New York, Sabrina is transformed into a sophisticated woman, and David is entranced by her. However, his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David's marriage to Elizabeth Tyson in order to seal a business merger and thus must steer David away from Sabrina. To do this, Linus takes on the task of wooing her for himself. Full of great dialogue ("A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven") and wonderful performances, this film is a romantic masterpiece. Also enjoyable is the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. --Jenny Brown
This Box Set includes: Educating Rita (Dir. Lewis Gilbert) (1983): Rita a hairdresser with a sharp wit is married to Danny and at 26 doesn't want a baby. She wants to discover herself - so she joins the Open University. Dr Frank Bryant is a disillusioned university professor of literature. His marriage has failed his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whiskey. He refers to himself as an appalling teacher of appalling students. What Frank needs is a challenge - and along comes Rita. In this hilarious and often moving drama the story tells how two people find a new lease of life through each other. The Fourth Protocol (Dir. John Mackenzie) (1987): On July 1 1968 America Britain and Russia signed a treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The powers then added four extra clauses. The most secret of them was and remains the final. One winter the Chairman of the KGB hatches a plan to breach this Fourth Protocol and destroy NATO. He sends an agent Major Petrofsky to assemble the operation. It is now up to MI6 agent John Preston who now must race against an unknown deadline to stop him and his devasting mission. The Eagle Has Landed (Dir. John Sturges) (1977): A Nazi Strike Force plots to assassinate Winston Churchill while he is resting in a desolate Norfolk Village. Colonel Radl masterminds the plot which if successful would change the outcome of the war. He enlists the help of Colonel Steiner and Liam Devlin. Disguised as Polish airmen German paratroopers land in England. Radl's plan appear to be going smoothly until an unforeseeable incident exposed the Germans. But the kidnap continues and Steiner Luger in hand approaches the unmistakable figure of Churchill... The Ipcress File (Dir. Sidney J. Furie) (1965): The tense spy thriller by Len Deighton that turned Michael Caine into a superstar. Cynical and rebellious ex-army sergeant Harry Palmer has been blackmailed into working for Britain's security service. Hot on the trail of a kidnapped scientist Palmer finds himself enmeshed in a sinister conspiracy involving horrifying brainwashing techniques murder and treachery that reaches up to the highest levels of the security service itself... Without A Clue (Dir. Thom Eberhardt) (1988): A madcap comedy which takes a fresh look at the classic Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson escapades. Holmes is actually a figment of Dr. Watson's own success in crime detection a character who Watson uses when he writes in `The Strand' magazine. But when the printing plates for five pound notes are stolen Queen Victoria calls for the country's greatest detective.
Humphrey Bogart William Holden and Audrey Hepburn star in a Cinderella story directed by renowned filmmaker Billy Wilder. Bogie and Holden are the mega-rich Larrabee brothers of Long Island. Bogie's all work Holden's all playboy. But when Sabrina daughter of the family's chauffeur returns from Paris all grown up and glamorous the stage is set for some family fireworks as the brothers fall under the spell of Hepburn's delightful charms.
In this delightful period farce set in Russia in the 1800's Danny Kaye plays and illiterate buffoon who is mistaken by the villagers for their feared Inspector General. Hilarious situations ensue as Danny is caught up in court intrigue without having a clue of what is going on.
Burt Lancaster's one and only feature as star and director, The Kentuckian, has a bedrock American folk tale at its core, but scarcely a clue how to tell it. For all his balletic control as an actor-athlete, Lancaster shows no sense of how a film should move and breathe over an hour and a half, or how to make the characters' growth or changes of mind credible. It's the early 18th century--Monroe is president--and buckskin-clad Lancaster and his son (Donald MacDonald) are lighting out for Texas. "It ain't we don't like people--we like room more." They plan briefly to visit Lancaster's tobacco-dealer brother (John McIntire) in the river town of Humility, and then move on. But there are complications from a long-running feud, and some nasty baiting from a whip-cracking storekeeper (Walter Matthau in his film debut); the need to replace their "Texas money" after buying freedom for a bondservant (Dianne Foster); also the matter of deciding who's prettier, her or the local schoolmarm (Diana Lynn). Lancaster aims for some quaint Americana--a sing-along to the tinkling of a pianoforte, a jaw-dropping riverside production number--and there's one nifty bit of action based on how long it took to reload a flintlock rifle. But mostly this film just lies there in overlit CinemaScope. --Richard T Jameson
The Ipcress File - The tense spy thriller by Len Deighton that turned Michael Caine into a superstar. Cynical and rebellious ex-army sergeant Harry Palmer has been blackmailed into working for Britain's security service. Hot on the trail of a kidnapped scientist Palmer finds himself enmeshed in a sinister conspiracy involving horrifying brainwashing techniques murder and treachery that reaches up to the highest levels of the security service itself... Kidnapped - When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance his relative first tries to murder him and then has him shipped off to be sold as a slave in the colonies. Fortunately for David he strikes up a friendship with Alan Breck (Michael Caine) and together they manage to escape. On arriving back in England they set out for Edinburgh dodging the ruthless Redcoats to claim David's rightful inheritance. Educating Rita - Rita a hairdresser with a sharp wit is married to Danny and at 26 doesn't want a baby. She wants to discover herself - so she joins the Open University. Dr Frank Bryant is a disillusioned university professor of literature. His marriage has failed his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whiskey. He refers to himself as an appalling teacher of appalling students. What Frank needs is a challenge - and along comes Rita. In this hilarious and often moving drama the story tells how two people find a new lease of life through each other. The Fouth Protocol - On July 1 1968 America Britain and Russia signed a treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The powers then added four extra clauses. The most secret of them was and remains the final. On winter the Chairman of the KGB hatches a plan to breach this Fourth Protocol and destroy NATO. He sends an agent Major Petrofsky (Pierece Brosnan) to assemble the operation. It is now up to MI6 agent John Preston (Michael Caine) who now must race against an unknown deadline to stop him and his devasting mission.
When hunter Ben (Andrews) happens upon a fugitive (Brennan) and his daughter (Baxter) living in a Georgia swamp he falls in love with the girl. However for them to be together he must first somehow pursuade the fugitive to return to town... A little seen wartime gem from French maestro Jean Renoir.
On January 15th 1995 Annabel Chong a twenty two year old undergraduate embarked on a marathon crusade to secure fame fortune and notoriety. Her quest: to have sex with as many men as possible in one day. She went on to have sex with 251 men in one ten hour session setting a world record and becoming known around the globe as the girl who engaged in the world's largest gang bang. Explicit candid and provocative 'Sex' combines graphic footage of the feat and behind the scenes insights into Annabel her family and her motives.
Robin And Marian (Dir. Richard Lester 1976): Robin Hood (Connery) is an old man when he returns with his best friend Little John to England after the Crusades. Maid Marian (Hepburn) has entered a nunnery King Richard is a raving lunatic his Brother John a moron and the age of great adventure has seemed to have passed Robin by. But when The Sheriff of Nottingham (Shaw) once again threatens Sherwood Robin gathers his faithful men and band of peasants to fight oppression in
The horrendous true story of a cat-and-mouse game between an FBI agent and a devious kidnapper who targets the children of rich families in Los Angeles.
Almost universally derided on its first release as the worst of the Star Trek movies to date, The Final Frontier might just have been the victim of bad press. Following in the wake of the massively successful fourth instalment The Voyage Home didn't help matters (notoriously, even-numbered entries are better), nor did having novice director and shameless egomaniac William Shatner at the helm. But if the story, conceived and cowritten by Shatner, teeters dangerously on the verge of being corny, it redeems itself with enough thought-provoking scenes in the best tradition of the series, and a surprisingly original finale. Granted there are a few too many yawning plot holes along the way, and the general tone is over-earnest (despite some painfully slapstick comedy moments), but the interaction of the central trio (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) is often funny and genuinely insightful; while Laurence Luckinbill is a charismatic adversary as the renegade Vulcan Sybok. The rest of the cast scarcely get a look in, and the special effects betray serious budgetary restrictions, but with a standout score from Jerry Goldsmith and a meaty philosophical premise to play around with, Star Trek V looks a lot more substantial in retrospect. Certainly it's no worse than either Generations or Insurrection, the next "odd-numbered" entries in the series. --Mark Walker
So Solid Crew's Asher D leads this gritty drama set in the tough streets of East London.
Breakfast At Tiffany's:The names Audrey Hepburn and Holly Golightly have become synonymous since this dazzling romantic comedy was translated to the screen from Truman Capote's best-selling novella. Holly is a deliciously eccentric New York City playgirl, determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. George Peppard plays her next-door neighbour, a writer who is 'sponsored' by a wealthy Patricia Neal. Guessing who's the right man for Holly is easy. Seeing just how that romance blossoms is one of the enduring delights of this gem-like treat set to Henry Mancini's Oscar-winning score and the Oscar-winning Mancini-Johnny Mercer song, 'Moon River'.Paris When It Sizzles:William Holden portrays a screenwriter with a script deadline in three days. When he asks secretary Audrey Hepburn to help concoct ideas, she acts out a potpourri of preposterous plots. Beautifully shot on location in Paris by famed cinematographer Claude Renoir.Funny Face:Paris, the City of Light, shines even brighter when Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire team up for the only time and bring their luminous starpower to this exquisite musical featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin. This dazzling romp - filmed on location in Paris - garnered four Academy Award nominations. In the role of a bookstore clerk transformed into a modelling sensation, Hepburn showcases singing and dancing skills she had honed on the London stage, performing How Long Has This Been Going On?, a Basal Metabolism dance in a cool-cat bistro and more. Astaire, as the fashion photographer who discovers her, conjures up his inimitable magic for sequences that include Let's Kiss And Make Up matador diversion, a heavenly dance with Hepburn to He Loves And She Loves and, again with Hepburn, the title-tune enchantment, I Love Your Funny Face. Now and Forever, so do we.Also includes the following films:Sabrina and Roman Holiday
Meet Elliot Sherman a conservative risk-averse guy played by Michael Showalter. In this charming romantic comedy Elliot is more anxious than ever before his wedding to Caroline (Elizabeth Banks) the girl of his dreams and the arrival of Caroline's hunky ex-boyfriend (Justin Theroux) does nothing to ease his fears. But this time Elliot meets someone who can help: His eccentric temp who's wild at heart and full of romantic advice (Michele Williams). Along with the help of his friend Ed (Michael Ian Black) maybe Elliot will finally avoid being The Baxter and get himself a bride.
At the height of urban paranoia and the birth of survivalist movement in the 1980s, director Michael Ritchie decided to team Robin Williams and Walter Matthau in The Survivors. Talk about an odd couple; yet it actually might have worked, with Matthau's hang-dog deadpan and Williams' manic energy, were it not for a limp script by Michael Leeson. Williams and Matthau play two victims of Reaganomics, unemployed acquaintances who witness a robbery and identify one of the participants to the police, an act that turns them into targets for the robber in question who comes looking for them. Williams' response: become a one-man arsenal and join a training camp for militant survivalists. But the comedy is neither sharp enough nor sufficiently smart to pull it off; Matthau is the calm centre while Williams' comedy rockets all around him, to surprisingly little effect. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com
Alistair a hair tonic salesman is not very happy about welcoming back a father who twenty-three years earlier went out to fetch some cigarettes. He decides to spy on his father and discovers that he is still the drunken disgrace that he used to be. Alistair decides that drastic action must be taken to stop this awful man....the outcome is outrageous!
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