When his absent-minded father gives young Billy Pelzer (Zach Galligan) a new pet, he warns him to abide by three rules. The rules get broken, of course, and the pet--a cute Mogwai named Gizmo--unwittingly gives birth to the vicious Gremlins who proceed to terrorise the town. Although the long shadow of Producer Steven Spielberg hangs over Joe Dante's 1984 comedy Gremlins almost as much as it did over Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist (1982), Dante doesn't allow it to overwhelm his own quirky style too much. Glimpses of Robbie the Robot and The Time Machine (which promptly disappears) at an inventors' convention reveal his passion for old-movie references (which culminated with Matinee, 1993). Aided and abetted by Spielberg's guidance and a script by Chris Columbus (who would go on to direct and produce the Home Alone franchise) and a music score by Jerry Goldsmith, Dante had all the help he needed to make the biggest hit of his career. Much of the humour derives from Dante's playful handling of the setting in Smallsville, USA, whose inhabitants are as much the target of his satire as they are of the Gremlins' unwanted solicitations. The xenophobic neighbour who warns prophetically of "gremlins" in foreign cars and machinery provides a subtext for the attack on homely American values, as does showing Invasion of the Body Snatchers on TV while the wicked Gremlins hatch. The sight of the little tykes cavorting in a bar, getting drunk and even dancing in pink leggings looks suspiciously like a satirical dig at the whole 1980's culture of selfishness: with their destructive impulses and overindulgences the Gremlins are the ultimate egotistical yuppies. As with many Spielberg projects, the bland hero saves the day for nostalgic, old-fashioned values, but there are plenty of laughs along the way--for example in the now-classic scene when the hero's mother fights off Gremlins in the kitchen by stuffing them in the blender and microwave. Dante's 1990 sequel is even more satirically pointed, and he effectively remade the original with Small Soldiers (1998), replacing Gremlins with toys. On the DVD: Disappointingly, there are no extra features at all here, aside from subtitles and "interactive menus"--which simply means there is an onscreen menu and it works. --Mark Walker
Academy Award Winners Joel and Ethan Coen have been writing directing editing and producing some of the most original films to come out of Hollywood. This box set contains six of their most unique and imaginative classics including their most recent hit A Serious Man. Titles Comprise: A Serious Man: Larry Nidus is a good man. He is a loving husband a committed father and a dedicated professor who always does the fair and just thing in the face of daily temptations. But one day everything starts to go wrong. His wife leaves him for reasons she can't explain and her smug new lover manages to convince Larry that he should be the one to move out of the house and into a cheap motel - all for the children's benefit of course. Burn After Reading: An outrageous spy comedy about murder blackmail sex addiction and physical fitness! When a disc filled with some of the CIA's most irrelevant secrets gets in the hands of two determined but dim-witted gym employees the duo are intent on exploiting their find. But since blackmail is a trade better left for the experts events soon spiral out of everyone's and anyone's control resulting in a non-stop series of hilarious encounters! The Big Lebowski: It takes guys as simple as the Dude and Walter to make a story this complicated... and they'd really rather be bowling. 'The Dude' Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is unemployed and laid-back. That is until he becomes a victim of mistaken identity two thugs breaking into his apartment in the errant belief that they are accosting Jeff Lebowski the Pasadena millionaire. In hope of getting a replacement for his soiled carpet 'the Dude' visits his wealthy namesake and with buddy ex `Nam' vet. Walter Sobchak he is swept into a labyrinthine comedy/thriller of extortion embezzlement sex dope German Nihilists White Russians mysterious cowboys Shomer Shabbos bowling and sever The Hudsucker Proxy: Hudsucker Industries is flourishing. Profits are stupendous and stock is at an all-time high. So when their founder Waring Hudsucker leaps to his death from the 44th floor his board of directors is thrown into panic. Hudsucker has not left a will and his majority shareholding in the company must therefore soon be offered for sale to the public. But scheming Vice President Sidney J. Mussburger has a plan. He'll install a complete imbecile as Chairman and devalue the stock to a level where the rest of the board can acquire controlling interests for themselves. Barton Fink: Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood! John Turturro shines in the lead role in Barton Fink the Coen Brothers' hilarious satire set in the 1940s Hollywood. Fink is a New York playwright who reluctantly relocates to Hollywood to write screenplays. Ordered to write a low budget screenplay about wrestling Fink manages to type one sentence and then...nothing! Although his chatty insurance salesman neighbour Charlie helps out by teaching Fink about wrestling the clock ticks the temperature rises and Fink's life spins more and more out of control. Intolerable Cruelty: From the Coen brothers comes this witty sharp comedy about a man who wins in court and courts to win! Divorce attorney Miles Massey has got it all. Serial gold-digger Marilyn Rexroth wants it all. A hilarious battle of deceit and cunning ensues when Miles falls for Marilyn with each one trying to outsmart the other. Underhand tactics deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marilyn and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes...
Based on Stephen Leather's best-selling book, Tango One starring Vincent Regan (300, Top Dog), Brad Moore (North v South) and Sean Blowers (We Still Kill the Old Way) is a fast-paced thriller about the redemption of a dangerous career criminal who is faced with the collapse of his empire and saving his daughter's life. The dangerous mission begins when three recruits are assigned to a team of undercover detectives on their first day of training with the London Metropolitan Police. Their assignment is to take down one of the world's most notorious drug dealers, Den Donovan, alias ˜Tango One'. As the undercover recruits inch closer to their target, they each are drawn in by the charismatic criminal leader, too close, perhaps, to remember the rules. No stranger to the gritty British crime thriller, Vincent Regan gives a career-defining performance that reaffirms his mark as one of the finest gangster actors of our time. Bonus features include interviews from the cast.
Titles Comprise: Hudsucker Proxy: Hudsucker Industries is flourishing. Profits are stupendous and stock is at an all-time high. So when their founder Waring Hudsucker leaps to his death from the 44th floor his board of directors is thrown into panic. Hudsucker has not left a will and his majority shareholding in the company must therefore soon be offered for sale to the public. But scheming Vice President Sidney J. Mussburger (Paul Newman) has a plan. He'll install a complete imbecile as Chairman and devalue the stock to a level where the rest of the board can acquire controlling interests for themselves. The Big Lebowski: 'The Dude' Jeff Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is unemployed and laid-back. That is until he becomes a victim of mistaken identity two thugs breaking into his apartment in the errant belief that they are accosting Jeff Lebowski the Pasadena millionaire. In hope of getting a replacement for his soiled carpet 'the Dude' visits his wealthy namesake and with buddy ex 'Nam' vet. Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) he is swept into a labyrinthine comedy/thriller of extortion embezzlement sex dope German Nihilists White Russians mysterious cowboys Shomer Shabbos bowling and severed toes... Barton Fink: John Turturro shines in the lead role in Barton Fink the Coen Brothers' (Miller's Crossing Fargo) hilarious satire set in the 1940s Hollywood. Fink is a New York playwright who reluctantly relocates to Hollywood to write screenplays. Ordered to write a low budget screenplay about wrestling Fink manages to type one sentence and then...nothing! Although his chatty insurance salesman neighbour Charlie (John Goodman) helps out by teaching Fink about wrestling the clock ticks the temperature rises and Fink's life spins more and more out of control. Intolerable Cruelty: Divorce attorney Miles Massey has got it all. Serial gold-digger Marilyn Rexroth wants it all. A hilarious battle of deceit and cunning ensues when Miles falls for Marilyn with each one trying to outsmart the other. Underhand tactics deceptions and an undeniable attraction escalate as Marilyn and Miles square off in this classic battle of the sexes... Blood Simple: Deep in the heart of Texas a jealous bar owner hires a private eye to kill his wife and her lover. The sleazy hitman double-crosses the husband killing him instead and pocketing the cash. The perfect crime or so it seems but disposing of the corpse is not so simple. Blood Simple uncoils its film noir plot with audacious style dense atmosphere and blood-curdling twists. Burn After Reading: When a disc filled with some of the CIA's most irrelevant secrets gets in the hands of two determined but dim-witted gym employees the duo are intent on exploiting their find. But since blackmail is a trade better left for the experts events soon spiral out of everyone's and anyone's control resulting in a non-stop series of hilarious encounters! From Joel and Ethan Coen the Academy Award winning directors of No Country For Old Men and The Big Lebowski comes this brilliantly clever and endlessly entertaining movie that critics are calling smart funny and original. A Serious Man: Larry Nidus is a good man. He is a loving husband a committed father and a dedicated professor who always does the fair and just thing in the face of daily temptations. But one day everything starts to go wrong. Academy Award winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen bring their famously wicked sense of humor to this every day tale about a moral man who sees the world inexplicably turn against him in this darkest of comedies.
Doug was an amazing fighter, a less amazing businessman. Saddled with a gym in debt with a market more interested in virtual boxing than the real thing, he is drowning on the contents of a poisoned chalice. Now he has to try to save his beloved gym from being turned into a modern chain-gym with Yoga and Zumba by training a gentle giant for a bare-knuckle fight that has a purse big enough to solve all his problems, and then some.
Revered director John Ford's fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case...
Quite simply the mother of all surfing films!
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