After his wife discovers a telltale diamond bracelet impresario Martin Cortland tries to show he's not chasing after showgirl Sheila Winthrop. Choreographer Robert Curtis gets caught in the middle of the boss's scheme. Army conscription offers Robert the perfect escape from his troubles - or does it?
Set in Victorian England, Robert Hamer's 1949 masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets remains the most gracefully mordant of Ealing Comedies. Dennis Price plays Louis D'Ascoyne, the would-be Duke of Chalfont whose Mother was spurned by her noble family for marrying an Italian singer for love. Louis resolves to murder the several of his relatives ahead of him in line for the Dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness, in order to avenge his Mother--for, as Louis observes, " revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold". He gets away with it, only to be arraigned for the one murder of which he is innocent. Guinness' virtuoso performances have been justly celebrated, ranging as they do from a youthful D'Ascoyne concealing his enthusiasm for public houses from his priggish wife ("she has views on such places") to a brace of doomed uncles and one aunt, ranging from the doddery to the peppery. Miles Malleson is a splendid doggerel-spouting hangman, while Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood take advantage of unusually strong female roles. But the great joy of Kind Hearts and Coronets is the way in which its appallingly black subject matter (considered beyond the pale by many critics at the time) is conveyed in such elegantly ironic turns of phrase by Dennis Price's narrator/anti-hero. Serial murder has never been conducted with such exquisite manners and discreet charm. --David Stubbs
Don't Look Now was filmed in 1973 and based around a Daphne Du Maurier novel. Directed by Nicolas Roeg, it has lost none of its chill: like Kubrick's The Shining, its dazzling use of juxtaposition, colour, sound and editing make it a seductive experience in cinematic terror, whose aftershock lingers in daydreams and nightmares, filling you with uncertainty and dread even after its horrific climax. Donald Sutherland plays John Baxter, an architect, Julie Christie his wife: a well-to-do couple whose young daughter drowns while out playing. Cut to Venice, out of season, where the couple encounter a pair of sisters, one of whom claims psychic powers and to have communicated with their dead daughter. The subsequent plot is as labyrinthine as the back streets of the city itself, down which Baxter spots a diminutive and elusive red-coated figure akin to his daughter, before being drawn into an almost unbearable finale. Don't Look Now is a Gothic masterpiece, with its melange of gore, mystery, ecstasy, the supernatural and above all grief, while the city of Venice itself--which thanks to Roeg and his team seems to breathe like a dark, sinister living organism throughout the movie--deserves a credit in its own right. Not just a magnificent drama but an advanced feat of cinema. --David Stubbs
A New York advertising exec travels to a small Southern town to collect an inheritance but finds he must create a succcesful gospel choir before he can collect. Cuba Gooding Jr and Beyonce Knowles team up for a belting musical comedy.
Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction series in television history and this fantastic box set premier's the very first three stories ever transmitted. William Hartnell stars as the first Doctor venturing through time and space thwarting evil where ever it rears its head. This release features the first 13 episodes plus the untransmitted pilot episode. Episodes comprise: 1. An Unearthly Child 2. The Cave of Skulls 3. The Forest of Fear 4. The Firemaker 5. The Dea
Joan Crawford delivers a critically acclaimed performance as Mildred Pierce a woman clawing her way to success to provide her daughter with everything she lacks. No sacrifice is too much - ending her middle class marriage climbing to the top of a male-dominated business world and marrying a man she doesn't love - but is murder a step too far? Based on a novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice Double Indemnity) Mildred Pierce is a stylish film noir which rejuvenated screen icon Joan Crawford's career and earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang entranced and thrilled children and their parents when it puttered into the cinema in 1968. More than three decades later, and despite the eventual arrival of a stage version that throws the full weight of blockbuster effects at the story, the original remains the real thing for fans of all ages. The flying car is the star and it's impossible not to feel a surge of thrilling relief as the wings kick in when she plunges over the cliff and soars off on her great adventure. The songs might not be the greatest in musical history, but they are delivered with great charm by Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts (a toned-down version of his infamous Bert in Mary Poppins), Sally Ann Howes (Truly Scrumptious) and the children. And then there is Robert Helpmann's child catcher, a terrifyingly sinister figure who exudes a pungent whiff of undiluted evil unmatched by any character since Dorothy squared up to the witch in The Wizard of Oz. Cameos from British character actors abound: Benny Hill, Lionel Jeffries, Anna Quayle, James Robertson Justice and Max Wall all put in appearances that add some fibre to the overall sweetness of the story. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the ultimate nostalgic confection for family viewing. On the DVD: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Special Edition comes to DVD in widescreen format with a Dolby soundtrack to recreate the authentic cinematic experience for everyone who remembers it from the first time round. The picture quality is robust, revealing some rather homespun aspects to the special effects. Extras are dominated by Dick Van Dyke remembering his time on the film, plus a short item on the origins of the car itself and various trailers. --Piers Ford
Starring Robert Carlyle as the Nazi dictator, Hitler: The Rise of Evil is a lavish made-for-TV two-parter that traces Adolf Hitler's early life, including his boyhood in Austria and impoverished period as a struggling artist in Vienna, culminating in 1934, by which time he had assumed the chancellorship of Germany. We bear witness to the rhetoric, ruthlessness and obsessive determination that propelled him to power, despite the best efforts of opponents like Matthew Modine's campaigning journalist. His inadequate but despotic relationships with women, such as his tragic half-niece Geli Raubal, are also examined. Carlyle fares very well in what is traditionally considered the invidious task of bringing Hitler to dramatic life, conveying him plausibly as an impenetrably evil man, complex but irredeemable. However, this drama fails to explain just how and why such a pathetic, psychotic, unattractive individual such as Hitler could make such an immediate, profound impression on, for example, Ernst Hanfstangl and his wife Nina (ER's Julianne Margulies). Disproportionate attention is paid to Hitler's relationship to this American-born couple, perhaps as a sop to US audiences. In contrast, the social, cultural and political context of inter-war Germany is skimpily depicted here, making Hitler's ascendancy seem almost absurd. On the DVD: Hitler: The Rise of Evil is, as you would expect, a decent transfer from the TV original, but there are no additional features. --David Stubbs
The final feature produced, photographed, edited and directed by Russ Meyer is a wicked take on Our Town, co-written by Meyer and Pulitzer Prize winner Roger Ebert (BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS). Russ' latter-day muse Francesca Kitten' Natividad stars along with Uschi Digard, Ann Marie, June Mack, Candy Samples and Russ himself in this unwashed look at Small Town, U.S.A., complete with faith healers, war criminals, bosom buddies, and the loin-girding quest for sexual salvation. Because the original elements for BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA-VIXENS had been stored in less-than-optimal conditions, Severin Films devoted months to the painstaking restoration of its weather-damaged negative before scanning it in 4K and compiling 2+ hours of new and archival footage, all with the blessing and cooperation of The Russ Meyer Trust.
A group of unlikely traveling companions find themselves on the same stagecoach to Cheyenne. They include a drunken doctor, a bar girl who's been thrown out of town, a professional gambler, a traveling liquor salesman, a banker who has decided to embezzle money, a gunslinger out for revenge and a young woman going to join her army captain husband. All have secrets but when they are set upon by an Indian war party and then a family of outlaws, they find they must all work together if they are to stay alive.
Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play. When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter Annie (Toni Colette) and her husband (Gabriel Byrne) and their two children begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.
""I might jump an open drawbridge Or Tarzan from a vine.'Cause I'm the unknown stuntman that makes Eastwood look so fine."" Lee Majors stars as The Fall Guy Colt Seavers a stunt man moonlighting as a bounty hunter who uses Hollywood stunt tactics to capture criminals.
He married a girl from out of town Way out of town. Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters), Kim Basinger (The Nice Guys) and Jon Lovitz (Southland Tales) star in a fish-out-of-water comedy with a sci-fi twist that questions whether a romance between two star-crossed lovers who are literally worlds apart can ever work. When widowed astronomer Steve Mills (Aykroyd) inadvertently causes a gravitational disruption in deep space, a race of hyper-advanced alien lifeforms sends one of their own to investigate, disguised in the alluring human form of Celeste (Basinger). Tasked with seducing the lovelorn Steve in a bid to gain access to his scientific research, Celeste finds herself falling for the man she's been sent to swindle. But they've reckoned without Steve's young daughter Jessie (Alyson Hannigan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who's none too thrilled by the prospect of a new mother especially not one from another planet. Funny and touching in equal measure, My Stepmother is an Alien is an offbeat and at times surprisingly risqué comedy that confirms the adage that what unites us is far greater than what divides us even if what divides us happens to be an entire galaxy. Special Edition Contents Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Brand new audio commentary by critic Bryan Reesman Cosmetic Encounters: Directing My Stepmother is An Alien, a brand new interview with director Richard Benjamin Original trailer Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch First Pressing Only: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Amanda Reyes
When two lovely hitchhikers model at a creepy old English manor house, they find themselves trapped by a witches' coven devoted to orgiastic sex, lesbian excess and bloody sacrifice! Once rejected outright by the British censors, Virgin Witch stars Vicki Michele Allo Allo!).
When people think of James Dean, they probably think first of the troubled teen from Rebel Without a Cause: nervous, volatile, soulful, a kid lost in a world that does not understand him. Made between his only other starring roles, in East of Eden and Giant, Rebel sums up the jangly, alienated image of Dean, but also happens to be one of the key films of the 1950s. Director Nicholas Ray takes a strikingly sympathetic look at the teenagers standing outside the white-picket-fence 50s dream of America: juvenile delinquent (that's what they called them then) Jim Stark (Dean), fast-girl Judy (Natalie Wood), lost-boy Plato (Sal Mineo), slick hot-rodder Buzz (Corey Allen). At the time, it was unusual for a movie to endorse the point of view of teenagers, but Ray and screenwriter Stewart Stern captured the youthful angst that was erupting at the same time in rock 'n' roll. Dean is heartbreaking, following the method-acting style of Marlon Brando but staking out a nakedly emotional honesty of his own. Going too fast, in every way, he was killed in a car crash on September 30, 1955, a month before Rebel opened. He was no longer an actor, but an icon, and Rebel is a lasting monument. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com
A gritty crime series with strong female lead characters and the career breakthrough which started Lynda La Plante on her path as one of television's highest profile writers - Widows was a smash hit for ITV and has now been adapted into a major motion picture by acclaimed director Steve McQueen. Both series of Widows are presented here as brand-new restorations from their original film materials. Also included is the sequel series made ten years later: She's Out. When their villain husbands are killed during the attempted robbery of a security van, three widows have a chance to start afresh. Then one of them finds the robbery plans and they decide to finish what their husbands started...
British ex-con Wilson (Terence Stamp) arrives in Los Angeles to investigate the mystery of his daughter's accidental death. His prime suspect, the wealthy, heavily guarded music promoter Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda), is no easy target. Propelled into an increasingly brutal search for truth, Wilson, with single-mindedness and terrifying precision, moves unstoppably toward revenge.
Director David Gordon Green ( Halloween trilogy) revisits this terrifying story that broke box office records, won 2 Academy Awards and influenced the trajectory of horror films. Leslie Odom Jr. stars in this direct sequel to the first film, alongside the original Exorcist star Ellen Burstyn reprising the role of Chris MacNeil. When a 12-year-old girl becomes possessed by a mysterious demonic entity, her father desperately searches for help, finding aid with someone whose daughter survived a similar possession in the 1970s
In Tank Girl, director Rachel Talalay's aggressively hip adaptation of the cult comic book, it is 2033 and the earth has been clobbered by a comet; civilization has been destroyed, and it hasn't rained in 11 years. Nearly all the water on the planet is controlled by the evil Water and Power Company, which is in turn controlled by the even more evil Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell). Who stands in the way? Mysterious mutants called the Rippers and, of course, Tank Girl. Lori Petty plays the eponymous, wisecracking, defiant heart of the movie as kind of an inner child gone wild. Unfortunately Petty can't quite carry a movie on her own--her zingers frequently fall flat and she seems to be continually worried that we still like her. Luckily there's Naomi Watts as Jet Girl to save the day: smart, shy and inherently way more appealing than Tank Girl. For all it lacks, Tank Girl is visually an eye-popper, worth watching for the insane set and costume designs alone. --Ali Davis, Amazon.com
College: Coming hard on the heels of Keaton's comic masterpiece 'The General' this was a relaxing romp in both setting and approach after the exacting precision of the American Civil War comic-drama. (Dir. James W. Horne 1927) Steamboat Bill Jr.: Steamboat Bill is William Canfield (Ernest Torrence) the larger-than-life owner of the stern-wheeler 'Stonewall Jackson' which he has operated for many years with his first (and only) mate played by Tom Lewis. Almost the e
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