A successful talk show host leaves Los Angeles to reunite with his family in the Deep South.
A team of scientists eager to discover a new recording medium take over a brooding gothic mansion recently bought and renovated by their employers Ryan Electrics. On moving in however they find that one vital room remains unfinished and that the builders refuse to work there. Claims of strange noises and feelings of unease are dismissed as nonsense by all except the psychically sensitive Jill (Jane Asher). However the scientists soon discover that the renovation work on the mansio
Adapted from the acclaimed 1997 production by the Royal National Theatre Ian Holm stars as the tragic monarch King Lear; wise headstrong but blind to his weaknesses. Proposing to divide his kingdom between his three daughters Gonreil Regan and Cornelia Lear devises a test for his offspring to convince him of their suitability and compassion for rule. As the scheme unfolds Gonreil and Regan's true colours emerge uncovering a vast conspiracy of greed lust for power and cruelty
The Cradle Will Fall
A thought provoking drama about racism.
Marking the final adventure of Peter Davison's Doctor, The Caves of Androzani saw the BBC pull out all stops to give him an unforgettable farewell. Deep within the titular caves the disfigured, masked antihero Sharez Jek (Christopher Gable) and his regiment of androids are locked in conflict with an army unit and a group of smugglers. At stake is control of the life-extending Spectrox, with plenty of subplots involving espionage, betrayal and revenge as well as big-business corruption, political assassination and silly looking reptilian monsters. When the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) enter this labyrinth they immediately become victims of deadly Spectrox poisoning. The first episode has one of the best cliffhangers ever: our heroes are executed by a firing squad armed with submachine guns. Freely borrowing from The Phantom of the Opera and Dune (David Lynch's film adaptation was made the same year) Robert Holmes' script shares concerns with his more satirical Doctor Who story, "The Sun Makers". This time everything is concentrated on delivering a breathlessly paced action thriller, the relentless death and destruction unfolding more like a PG-rated Sam Peckinpah film than BBC family drama, making Davison's heroic pacifism all the more effective. On the DVD: The disc is packed with features, from an eight-minute look at the creation of Sharez Jek narrated by Christopher Gable, to seven minutes of raw camera footage from Peter Davison's Doctor's transformation into Colin Baker's timelord. There are three BBC TV news reports on Davison's decision to leave the programme, and a BBC trailer for the first episode. In addition to a photo gallery, the entire first episode is included twice, as originally transmitted, and in a version with improved special effects. There are subtitles offering behind-the-scenes information and two additional audio options. The isolated musical score by Roger Limb may only interest the most hardcore fans, but the three-way commentary track with Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and director Graeme Harper provides plenty of nostalgic reminiscences. Limited by the fact that the programme was shot on (professional) video, the DVD has picture quality no better than a good VHS tape, while the audio is clear, undistorted mono.--Gary S Dalkin
This animated feature-length life of Jesus boasts a stellar pedigree. Originally a BBC Wales production, it showcases the voices of some of Britain's finest actors in any medium: Ralph Fiennes as a brooding and humble Jesus, Miranda Richardson as Mary Magdalene, Richard E. Grant as John the Baptist and David Thewlis as Judas. The lovely, flute-heavy score is by Oscar-winner Anne Dudley (The Full Monty). And clearly a lot of expense has gone into the Claymation-like animation. But while it's hard to find fault with the rendering of this familiar story--it is respectful and definitely done, you might say, by the Book--it would have been nice if there had been a tad more joy, if it walked a bit lighter in its sandals. As it is, all the characters seem consistently subdued, whether they are expressing angst, rage, terror or bliss--none of which is helped by the figures' blank-eyed stares (if animators are becoming ever more sophisticated, why can't they get rid of those creepy blank gazes once and for all?). Still, the weight of having such formidable actors play these familiar roles lends the production a certain credibility, and parents looking for good religious videos that won't insult their kids' intelligence will be thrilled. --Anne Hurley
Johnson High School will never forget the day when ex-student Jason Copeland (Rick Schroder) decided to inflict a devastating revenge on the system that had rejected him. Armed and dangerous he marched into the school and started to fire indiscriminately at both students and staff then took dozens of terrified students hostage barricaded himself into a classroom and began a bloody reign of terror. But from this murderous mayhem an unlikely hero emerged: Deputy Skip Fine (Henry Winkler). Ignoring the mockery of both his colleagues and the FBI Fine took on the role of go-between- knowing that only his courage and negotiating skills could prevent even more bloodshed.
A celebration of Britain's most famous and enduring television programme Coronation Street features 80 landmark episodes 8 from each year of the decade from the 1970s in a 10-disc box set. With 8 outstanding episodes from each year this box set represents the very best of 'Coronation Street' in the decade that established it as a staple part of British TV culture. With many episodes unseen since their original broadcast the release is an opportunity to revisit old friends and
It Came from Beneath the Sea appeared two years after Ray Harryhausen unleashed The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms upon New York City. This time the master special-effects creator turned loose a giant (albeit six-armed) octopus on San Francisco, and the result is another enjoyable atom-age adventure that should please fans of vintage science fiction. Kenneth Tobey, who battled The Thing (From Another World) in 1951, stars as a Navy captain pursuing a monstrous octopoid (sextapoid?) after it attacks his atomic sub. After it wreaks havoc with shipping lanes, he tracks the creature to San Francisco for a final showdown. Scripting by George Worthing Yates (Them) and Hal Smith and direction by Robert Gordon are perfunctory at best, which gives the always-reliable Tobey and costar Faith Domergue little to do, but this is Harryhausen's show, and his monster, though the budget was restrained, is still impressive. Younger audiences weaned on digital FX may find this creaky, but nostalgic viewers will enjoy its simple thrills. --Paul Gaita
The story of ""Demon"" continues as a birthday party in a high-security apartment building (with bullet-proof windows) is interrupted when the birthday girl is transformed by a horror movie on TV into a demon. All hell breaks loose as the residents unable to escape the building are forced to battle the zombie-demon neighbors
The Bone Collector: He takes his victims' lives and leaves behind mysterious pieces of a bizarre puzzle. And the only person who may be able to make sense of the serial killer's deranged plan is Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) a one-time top homicide investigator. After a tragic accident changes his life forever Rhyme can only watch as other cops bungle the case...until he teams up with a young rookie Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) who bravely becomes his eyes and ears and searches out the clues that help them solve the case. But as the killer senses the cops closing in Rhyme realizes that he and his partner are on the trail of a vicious sadistic murderer who will stop at nothing on his deadly mission. At any moment Rhyme and Amelia could become his next targets - and their first case could become their last. (Dir. Phillip Noyce 1999) The Skeleton Key: It can open any door. From the writer of The Ring (Ehren Kruger) and the director of K-PAX (Iain Softley) comes the supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key. Set largely in the dark atmospheric backwoods just outside of New Orleans The Skeleton Key stars Kate Hudson as Caroline a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman's (Rowlands) ailing husband (Hurt) in their home... a foreboding and decrepit mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple their mysterious secretive ways and their rambling old house Caroline begins to explore the mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door in the house she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret. (Dir. Iain Softley 2005) Panic Room: It was supposed to be the safest room in the house. Meg Altman is at a crossroads. Suffering through a painful divorce from her husband pharmaceuticals millionaire Stephen Altman Meg moves from their suburban home in Greenwich New York and buys an Upper West Side Manhattan townhouse for herself and her eleven-year-old daughter Sarah. She intends to go back to school raise her child and start a new life. But the panic she feels at starting over pales in comparison to her fear and desperation when intruders break into her new home. (Dir. David Fincher 2002)
A horror classic finally remastered in HD! Tower of Evil is set in a deserted lighthouse on fog-shrouded Snape Island. A nude crazed woman slaughters a sailor and when she is found to possess an ancient relic an expedition is mounted to solve a series of psycho-sexual murders. Stars Jill Haworth Bryant Haliday Dennis Price and George Coulouris.
Phillip Filmore is a naive 15-year-old predictably preoccupied with sex who develops a crush on Nicole Mallow (Kristel) the new thirtysomething French housekeeper employed to look after him while Phillip's father is away for the summer. Later faking her own death as part of Phillip's chauffeur's nefarious blackmail plot all is going to plan until the two start to fall in love...
Universal Soldier Luc Deveraux is back. Jean-Claude Van Damme gallantly attempts to resurrect interest in his tepid career with this action-riddled roller-coaster ride. Set in the not-too-distant future, Deveraux has been employed by the government to oversee the new UniSol project. What is UniSol? It's a military plan to turn dead soldiers into invincible fighting machines (see the first Univeral Soldier for more details). It's also the scheme that went horribly wrong when the soldiers turned psycho, killing the scientists who created them. Not deterred by this early setback, the government replicates the project. This time they work out that they can control the soldiers through a supercomputer called SETH (kind of like HAL in 2001, but smarter). But, as we all know, machines frequently break down. Pretty soon the computer comes to the conclusion that it's superior to humans and therefore it must destroy them. Uh oh.Van Damme to the rescue. The muscles from Brussels heroically leap into action confronting the dangerous soldiers led by Bill (WCW) Goldberg and Michael Jai White (last seen in Spawn). The action is impressive and the stunts are engrossing. Goldberg is charismatic as the cartoonish villain who sneers and snouts while muttering macho things like, "I'm gonna kill that guy." Van Damme looks more at home in a production that he is not directing, and for once he lets his fists do the talking. Ironically, the movie is missing the gloss and big-budget pathos of its predecessor (created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich), making the original decidedly better. -- Jeremy Storey, Amazon.com
Made in 1989, Roger and Me is a loose, smart-alecky documentary directed and narrated by Michael Moore. Here for the first time, the man who won unexpected Oscar glory with Bowling for Columbine exposed audiences to his devastating wit and a working-class pose. When his hometown is devastated by the plant closure of an American corporate giant (making record profits, one should note), the hell-raising political commentator with a prankster streak tries to turn his camera on General Motors Chairman Roger B Smith, the elusive Roger of the title, and the film is loosely structured around Moore's odyssey to track down the bigwig for an interview. While Moore ambushes his corporate subjects like a blue-collar Geraldo Rivera, a guerrilla interviewer who treasures his comic rebuffs as much as his interviews, his portraits of the colourful characters he meets along the way can be patronising. The famous come off as absurdly out of touch (Anita Bryant appears for some can-do cheerleading, and hometown celebrity Bob Eubanks tells some boorish jokes), and the disenfranchised poor (notably an unemployed woman who sells rabbit meat to make ends meet) all too often appear as buffoons or hicks. But behind his loose play with the facts and snarky attitude is a devastating look at the victims of downsizing in the midst of the 1980s economic boom. This portrait of Reagan's America and the tarnish on the American dream comes down to a simple question: what is corporate America's responsibility to the country's citizens? That's a question no-one at GM wants to answer. --Sean Axmaker
A horror classic finally remastered in HD! Tower of Evil is set in a deserted lighthouse on fog-shrouded Snape Island. A nude crazed woman slaughters a sailor and when she is found to possess an ancient relic an expedition is mounted to solve a series of psycho-sexual murders. Stars Jill Haworth Bryant Haliday Dennis Price and George Coulouris.
Welcome to Death Row tells the unauthorised history of the most notorious rap label ever. And what a story it is, with enough blood and betrayal to satiate the Borgias and machinations that would make Machiavelli proud. The rise and fall of Death Row and its power-hungry CEO, Marion "Suge" Knight, makes The Godfather look like a bedtime story. The film centres on the testimony of Michael Harris--also known as "Harry O", as in octopus, because he had his business fingers in so many pies--who provided Suge Knight with the seed money to set up Death Row, and assigned his lawyer David Kenner to oversee the label's business affairs. The film traces the entire controversial history of the label, which at its height was turning over $500 million a year, and the impact it had on not only the music industry but American culture. "It was like working in a prison", says Doug Young, the label's record promoter, of Suge Knight's predilection for hiring gangsters and ex-felons. The film also details the relationship between Death Row and its biggest star, Tupac Shakur, and the effect that Shakur's sudden death in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting had on the label's fortunes (a story told in greater depth in Savidge's film Thug Immortal).Although none of the major players in this drama are represented on tape--Dr Dre and Interscope Records heads Jimmy Iovine and Ted Fields are as conspicuous by their absence as lawyer David Kenner and Suge Knight, the villains of the piece--the producers have unearthed an alarming number of believable behind-the-scenes sources including record promoters, managers, private investigators and former associates and employees of the label. Director Savidge wisely uses talking heads to tell his story, weaving into it a wealth of archive material and previously unseen home-video footage. The epic narrative is split into discrete chapters but, with so much information and opinion flying about, at times the chronology of events becomes confused. Yet this does little to spoil a documentary that goes a long way to revealing the intimate connection between the music industry and organised crime, and the desire for power and glory that drives them both.On the DVD: As if there wasn't enough information to digest in the documentary (which is presented in a clean 1:85.1 anamorphic format), the extra features on the DVD provide even more supplementary evidence. There are outtakes from the interviews used in the main feature, as well as additional interview footage of Snoop Dogg and Harry O. There is uncensored security camera footage of a fight in the lobby of the MGM Grand involving the Death Row entourage that preceded the death of Tupac Shakur by minutes, a music video for "Deep Cover" (the song that launched Snoop Dogg) and a fascinating audio commentary by director Savidge and producers Jeff Scheftel and Stephen A Housden, in which they relate the difficulties encountered in obtaining the trust of those they interviewed and the factors they took into consideration when constructing the film. Savidge recalls that the model they had in mind was the fractured, multi-perspective narrative of Kurosawa's Rashomon. --Chris Campion
The amazing story of Bruce Lee, one of the most iconic human beings ever to enter the public consciousness. The film is a compelling and visually stunning uncovering of Bruce's life, his enormous impact, and his ever-expanding legacy in the world of martial arts, entertainment, and beyond-despite his tragic and sudden death at the age of 32.Featuring interviews with people who knew Bruce intimately, along with a broad array of international icons from the entertainment and athletic fields including basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, acclaimed actors Mickey Rourke and Ed O'Neill, world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, Taboo of pop music supergroup Black Eyed Peas, and UFC's Dana White and world champion Jon Jones. The interviews will be combined with rarely seen archival footage, classic photos, and cutting edge visuals and graphics to tell Bruce Lee's story in a way never seen before.
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