There are Victorian country-house shenanigans aplenty in Impromptu: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. --Miles Bethany
Few 1950s creature features deliver in the way Fiend Without a Face does. The first hour is all build-up as tension grows between an Air Force research base and a small Canadian town (this is one of those British B films that pretends to be set overseas) as a series of mystery deaths are blamed by the superstitious on weird military experiments. It's not a spoiler to give away the big revelation, since every item of publicity material, including the DVD cover, blows the surprise: the initially invisible culprits turn out to be a killer swarm of disembodied brains with eyes on stalks and inchworm-like spinal cord tails. These creatures have a nasty habit of latching onto victims and sucking out their grey matter. The finale is a siege of a house by the fiends, which swarm en masse making unsettling brain-sucking sounds, and are bloodily done away with by the heroes. Using excellent stop-motion animation, this climax goes beyond silliness and manages to be genuinely nightmarish. The orgy of splattering brains stands proud among the cinema's first attempts at genuine horror-comic glee, setting a precedent for everything from The Evil Dead to Peter Jackson's Braindead. Marshall Thompson is a bland, stolid uniformed hero and most of the rest of the cast struggle with "anadian" accents, but Kynaston Reeves is fun as the decrepit lone researcher whose fault it all is. On the DVD: Fiend Without a Face on disc comes with a montage of scenes from other films in this batch of releases (The Day of the Triffids, The Stars Look Down) that plays automatically when the disc is inserted, but otherwise not even a trailer, much less the commentary track and other material found on the pricey but luxurious US Region 1 Criterion release. The print has nice contrasts but is pretty grainy. --Kim Newman
The second series of investigations featuring the gruff detective. Episodes comprise: 'A Minority Of One' 'Widows And Orphans' 'Nothing To Hide' and 'Stranger In The House'.
Don Henley helped define the 70's as a member of the enormously successful rock band the Eagles before launching an impressive solo career that includes such hits as 'Dirty Laundry' 'The Boys Of Summer' and 'All She Wants To Do Is Dance'. On May 25 2000 he returned to his Texas roots for a remarkable concert recorded before an enthusiastic audience at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas. This rock legend's live performance captures all the passion satire and originality that fans around the world most treasure in his influential music. Tracklist: 'Dirty Laundry' 'Sunset Grill' 'Workin' It' 'Taking You Home' 'The Boys Of Summer' 'Lilah' 'Everything Is Different Now' 'The End Of Innocence' 'All She Wants To Do Is Dance' 'New York Minute' 'Talking To The Moon' 'They're Not Here They're Not Coming' 'The Heart Of The Matter' 'Desperado' 'The Long Run' 'My Thanksgiving' and 'Hotel California'.
One of the BBC's flagship dramas Casualty depicts the lives of the patients doctors nurses and paramedics attending the frantically busy accident and emergency department of Holby General Hospital. Now approaching its twentieth year on television this is where it all started: the hard-hitting politicised storylines; the accurate portrayal of life in the casualty department; and that theme tune. At a time when medical dramas produced in the UK were thin-on-the groun
Hooray for Captain Spaulding! 'Animal Crackers' is a classic of screen history and it's as uproariously funny today as it was 50 years ago. This film introduced Groucho's most famous character Captain Spaulding whose song became the theme of his 'You Bet Your Life' TV program. Highlights include Groucho's African lecture (""One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I don't know."") and the card game which Harpo and Chico play with the wealthy society
David Jason is the gritty and dogged Detective Inspector Jack Frost a man who has little time for paperwork or the orthodox approach. This release features all the episodes from Series Five of A Touch of Frost. Episode titles: Penny For The Guy House Calls True Confessions No Other Love.
Love Actually: (Dir. Richard Curtis) (2003): The story of a group of people who find themselves surrounded by love... There's the new Prime Minister who falls for his personal assistant the Prime Minister's sister Karan who realises that her husband is attracted to his secretary. Author Jamie who flees England to escape his unfaithful girlfriend and then falls for his housekeeper. Movie stand-ins John and Judy who become attracted to each other on the film set. Recently widowed Daniel who helps his stepson who is smitten with one of his class-mates and Billy Mack an ageing rock star who discovers that love can be found in the most unlikely of places... About A Boy (Dir. Paul Weitz Chris Weitz) (2002): Growing up has nothing to do with age... Will (Grant) is a 38-year old Londoner living a bachelor lifestyle on the back of royalties earned from a Christmas song penned by his father some years previously. A serial womaniser Will comes up with the idea of attending a single parents group as a new way to pick up women. Inventing a two-year old son for himself he meets lonely bullied schoolboy Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) and his depressed music therapist mother (Toni Collette). The intelligent Marcus soon learns Will's secret and so blackmails him into letting him hang out at his place and watch afternoon telly. However what starts out as an uneasy quiz show watching alliance turns into an unlikely friendship... Notting Hill (Dir. Roger Michell) (1999): A famous actress in disguise (Julia Roberts) in London runs into a divorced bookstore owner (Hugh Grant). They strike up a friendship with each other as they each find something that was previously missing from their own lives...
An ensemble comedy from the makers of "Notting Hill" following a whole host of separate but intertwining stories of love in London.
The Transporter Ex-Special Forces operator Frank Martin lives what seems to be a quiet life along the French Mediterranean hiring himself out as a mercenary transporter who moves goods - human or otherwise - from one place to another. No questions asked. Carrying out mysterious and sometimes dangerous tasks in his tricked-out BMW Martin finds his latest assignment could well be his last after his package is revealed to be a beautiful woman (Shu Qi) at the centre of a human trafficking ring... Broken Arrow Two military pilots (Travolta and Slater) engage in a no-holds-barred battle against time and each other in a race to recover two stolen nuclear warheads. When a Stealth Bomber crashes in the Utah desert during a top-secret test run the military quickly moves in to retrieve its two broken arrows. But the situation spins wildly out of control after one of the pilots reveals the crash to be part of an incredible nuclear extortion plot. A supersonic hit from renowned action director John Woo Broken Arrow is a breathless non-stop joyride. --Dennis Cunningham WCBS-TV. Point Break Keanu Reeves stars as Johnny Utah a clean-cut FBI rookie assigned to track down a gang of bank robbers operating in Southern California. Since his partner (Gary Busey) is convinced that the robbers are surfers Johnny decides to go undercover in the maverick world of surfing. He soon meets Bohdi (Patrick Swayze) a charismatic adrenaline junkie who'll do anything for a thrill..perhaps even rob banks. As the two become friends Johnny falls under the dangerous influence of Bohdi. He becomes addicted to the endless days of surfing and reckless nights of partying and even gets involved with Bohdi's ex-girlfriend (Lori Petty). As Johnny gets closer to cracking the case he learns the truth of Bohdi's most important lesson - if you want the ultimate thrill you have to pay the ultimate price.
A Collection featuring films from the X&Y generation - Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, Hoopa and the Clash of Ages & Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel. Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction In the underground Diamond Domain, where many Carbink live, the Mythical Pokémon Diancie serves as ruler. The Heart Diamond that sustains the land is beginning to fall apart, and Diancie is not yet strong enough to create a new one. While seeking help from the Legendary Pokémon Xerneas, Diancie encounters a group of thieves who want to take control of its diamond-producing power and who awaken the Legendary Pokémon Yveltal from its cocoon in the process! Can Ash and his friends help Diancie discover its true power, stop Yveltal s rampage, and save the Diamond Domain? Hoopa and the Clash of Ages In a desert city by the sea, Ash, Pikachu, and their friends meet the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa, who can summon all sorts of things including people and Pokémon through its magic rings. The little Mischief Pokémon likes to use this talent to play harmless tricks on people...but when its true power is released, it loses control and becomes the towering and terrifying Hoopa Unbound! Long ago, a brave hero stopped its rampage by confining its power in a special bottle. Now that the bottle has been rediscovered, Hoopa must confront its greatest fear! Can Ash help his new friend overcome the darkness within or will this dangerous struggle erupt into a clash of legends? Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel In this latest cinematic adventure, Ash meets the Mythical Pokémon Volcanion when it crashes down from the sky, creating a cloud of dust and a mysterious force binds the two of them together! Volcanion despises humans and tries to get away, but it s forced to drag Ash along as it continues its rescue mission. They arrive in a city of cogs and gears, where a corrupt minister has stolen the ultimate invention: the Artificial Pokémon Magearna, created 500 years ago. He plans to use its mysterious power to take control of this mechanical kingdom! Can Ash and Volcanion work together to rescue Magearna? One of the greatest battles in Pokémon history is about to unfold!
Graham Vick s acclaimed production of Eugene Onegin for Glyndebourne Festival Opera was premiered and recorded in the first season of Glyndebourne s new opera house in 1994. Pushkin s tale of doomed love tragedy and rejection is set against an acutely observed backdrop of Russian society with spectacular choruses and dances yet in a staging of breathtaking simplicity. The star of this production is undoubtedly Russian soprano Elena Prokina an enthralling singing actress whose shy
Escape is not freedom. Welcome back to Westworld, the Emmy®-winning drama series that follows the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. In Season Three, the real gods are coming... and they are very angry. Born into a world of pain, Westworld's android hosts were never allowed to go or see one place: our world. But now, at the end of the game, they're here. Bonus Features Escape from Westworld Creating Westworld's Reality Exploring Warworld We Live in a Technocracy A Vision for the Future RICO Westworld on Location Welcome to Westworld
Well, the gang's all here, but Carry On Cruising isn't one of the classics of the series. This may be partly due to the film's well-intentioned stab at some sort of authenticity, being set as it is on a genuine cruise liner rather than in a studio full of cheap sets. It swiftly becomes apparent that the cramped environment isn't well suited to the kind of slapstick which is usually a key ingredient in any Carry On film. Veteran couch spuds will recall that the TV series Triangle was similarly disadvantaged, except that it wasn't supposed to be funny. As ever, though, the brilliant cast-in-residence manage to make the most of the situation. The plot, such as it is, deals with the tribulations which beset a world-weary captain (James) when he realises he's been saddled with a crew of misfits and incompetents (practically everybody else) on a cruise which is of course supposed to offer its passengers every comfort and convenience. If there's a single outstanding performance it has to be that of Lance Percival's chef, whose cheeriness as he presides over his various culinary experiments is extremely funny in a menacing sort of way. On the DVD: The DVD issue has no additional features. --Roger Thomas
In Men in Black 3, Agents J [Will Smith] and K [Tommy Lee Jones] are back... in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K [Josh Brolin] to save his partner, the agency and the future of humankind. Special Features: Partners In Time: The Making of MIB3 The Evolution of Cool: MIB 1960s Vs. Today Keeping It Surreal: The Visual FX of MIB3 Gag Reel Scene Investigations Progression Reels Music Video Spot The Alien Game
High-school senior Alvin Johnson (Nick Cannon) a brilliant but likable outcast has come to regret the years of intellectual endeavors that prevented him and his un-hip friends from socializing getting girlfriends and hanging out with the super-cool 'Elite' kids. When queen of the 'Elite' crew Paris Morgan (Christina Milian) wrecks her mother's car Alvin steps in and mortgages his future to help her out. The catch: in exchange for $1500 in car parts and Alvin's automotive expertise
Leaving their hometown of Fulchester in the North of England Sandra and Tracey head for the bright lights of London shagging and boozing their way to fame and fortune. Sean Cooley an internationally renowned billionaire suffers a blow to the head rendering him temporarily insane on the day the Fat Slags arrive in London. Spotting them on a popular daytime TV chat show he falls in love with their larger than life look and approach! Determined to make them stars he forces fashio
For the very first time Noo-noo stars in his very own DVD! Watch as he stretches Po's blanket and cleans up Twinky Winky's Tubby toast.
Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she's needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter of the hilarious and heartwarming fable that has enchanted children around the world.
Baby's Day out The Cotwell family arrange a family portrait only to discover that the photographers are kidnappers! Dunston Checks In An orangutan called Dunston checks into a hotel which he proceeds to turn upside down. The manager's son Kyle is determined to help Dunston escape to a new life...
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