Tootsie inevitably looks dated in some respects now, but it's still fabulous in others--the sexual politics look distinctly faded in their sniggering approach to sexual ambiguities, while the sardonic portrayal of a showbiz that loathes perfectionism is still both timely and hysterically funny. Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Michael Dorsey is a memorable self-caricature--the man is so obsessed with the craft of acting that he refuses to sit down when playing a tomato in a commercial, and so producers run away rather than work with him. By playing Dorothy Michaels playing her soap character, Dorsey gives himself the freedom to be a bad and popular actor. He is so busy with the surface of being a woman--the voice, the hair, the frocks--and with all the bad faith of his and Dorothy's emotional lives, that he learns to relax into the pleasure of performance. This aspect of the film is far more interesting, ironic and funny than the corny New Man moralising about sexual roles that goes with it. Jessica Lange got, and earned, an Oscar for her sensitive straight woman performance as the colleague Michael falls for, and Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Geena Davis (momentarily) and Charles Durning all turn in reliable supporting roles. Sydney Pollack directs efficiently rather than inspiredly--oddly, he earns almost more credit for his well-observed performance as Michael's world-weary agent. On the DVD: The DVD is presented in crisp Dolby Digital sound and with the original theatrical visual ratio of 2.35:1; enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions. It is dubbed into French, German, Italian and Spanish and has subtitles in most European languages as well as Arabic, Hindi and Hebrew. The only special features are the theatrical trailer and filmographies for the leading performers and director. --Roz Kaveney
From humble immigrant beginnings producer Samuel Goldwyn's tenacity and drive eventually yielded over 103 completed pictures with over 100 Academy Award nominations between them. Though he remained independent never working for a studio during his entire career Goldwyn's pictures frequently surpassed the quality and the talent of the major studios. Given unparalleled access to the Goldwyn archives Peter Jones and A. Scott Berg's celebrated Goldwyn biography - creates a vivid por
Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson star in this beguiling romance as two strangers meet in London and change one another's lives forever
The publication of a book accusing him of murder leads schlock television producer Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) to reflect on his tumultuous life--from his troubled first marriage to his best friend sleeping with his second wife to his one true loveĀ and how he destroyed the happiest time in his life. By turns comic and self-lacerating, Panofsky is a richly drawn character given vivid life by Giamatti, who's built a remarkable career on prickly people (Sideways, American Splendor, John Adams). Regrettably, the women in his life aren't as fully realized, but the strong performances from the actresses playing them (Rachelle Lefevre, Minnie Driver, and Rosamund Pike) do a lot to make up for the thinness of how they're written. Rounding out the cast is Dustin Hoffman as Panofsky's father, a crude but vigorous ex-cop who loves his son unreservedly. Adapted from an award-winning Canadian book, Barney's Version feels, in the best sense, like a novel; small details and incidents build up to the picture of a man's life. The movie depicts that life without judgment, never manipulating the audience for cheap laughs or sentiment--and yet it is by turns wildly funny and achingly sad, largely due to Giamatti. He holds the viewer's attention effortlessly, quietly, never showboating his emotions or flaunting his intelligence. He's simply a superb actor, and this is a superb performance. --Bret Fetzer
Runaway Away Jury: The stakes are extremely high in an explosive trial when the widow of a gun massacre victim represented by attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) sues the gun's powerful manufacturer. Now with millions of dollars in the balance 12 jurors must decide if the gun maker was negligent. However unscrupulous jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) believes the verdict is too important to be left in the hands of a jury and will spare no expense to ensure the chosen jury remain sympathetic to his client. Tension mounts and tables are turned as it comes to light that the jury is being manipulated by one of its own Nicholas Easter (John Cusack) with the aid of a beautiful woman (Rachel Weisz) on the outside to swing the verdict in the direction of the highest bidder... Class Action: Lawyer Jebediah Ward devoted to defending victims of large corporations and the State is fighting for compensation for the victims of automobile accidents involving defective cars. However it turns out that the manufacturer in his latest case is being defended by none other than Ward's daughter... Family Business: Connery Hoffman and Broderick star as three generations of a family formerly linked to organized crime. Grandfather Jesse has been in and out of jail and his son Vito has decided to leave a life of crime in order to become a respectable family man but when grandson Adam comes up with a can't-miss heist plan the intergenerational sparks begin to fly.
An IRS Agent's world is turned upside-down when he begins to hear his life being chronicled by a narrator only he can hear.
Available for the first time on DVD! Two totally untalented song-writers are advised by their agent to get away....as far away....as possible. Upon their arrival in Morocco they are separately recruited as spies for opposing sides of a planned revolution while simultaneously vying for the attentions of an attractive left-wing revolutionary. Based on an idea by Elaine May.
The first thing you need to know about Sleepers is that it's based on a novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra that was allegedly based on a true story. The movie repeats this bogus claim, which was attacked and determined by a wide majority to be misleading. Knowing this, Sleepers becomes problematic because it's too neat, too clean, too manipulative in terms of legal justice and dramatic impact to be truly convincing. And yet, with its stellar cast directed by Barry Levinson, it succeeds as gripping entertainment, and its tale of complex morality--despite a dubious emphasis on homophobic revenge--is sufficiently provocative. It's about four boys in New York's Hell's Kitchen district who are sent to reform school, where they must endure routine sexual assaults by the sadistic guards. Years after their release, the opportunity for revenge proves irresistible for two of the young men, who must then rely on the other pair of friends (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric), a loyal priest (Robert De Niro), and a shabby lawyer (Dustin Hoffman) to defend them in court. Despite the compelling ambiguities of the story, there's never any doubt about how we're supposed to feel, and the screenplay glosses over the story's most difficult moral dilemmas. At its best, Sleepers grabs your attention and pulls you into its intense story of friendship and the price of loyalty under extreme conditions. The movie's New York settings are vividly authentic, and Minnie Driver makes a strong impression as a long-time friend of the loyal group of guys. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Titles Comprise: Accidental Tourist: After the death of his son Macon Leary a travel writer seems to be sleep walking through life. Macon's wife seems to be having trouble too and thinks it would be best if the two would just split up. After the break up Macon meets a strange outgoing woman who seems to bring him back down to earth. After starting a relationship with the outgoing woman Macon's wife seems to think that their marriage is still worth a try. Macon is then forced to deal many decisions. All The President's Men: In the Watergate Building lights go on and four burglars are caught in the act. That night triggered revelations that drove a U.S. President from office. Washington reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) grabbed the story and stayed with it through doubts denials and discouragement. The entire President's Men is their story. The film also explores a working newspaper where the mission is to get the story - and to get it right. Bonfire of the Vanities: Sherman McCoy was Wall Street's Master of the Universe - and everything in his life was right. Then one night he was in the wrong place with the wrong woman. And nothing as gone right since. Tom hanks as McCoy Bruce Willis as jaded Journalist Melanie Griffith as McCoy's self-centred mistress and Morgan Freeman as an outspoken judge ignite The Bonfire Of The Vanities the quintessential story of the go-for-it 80's. Based on the novel by Tom Wolfe.
Titles Comprise: Monsters Vs Aliens Over the Hedge Kung Fu Panda Bee Movie Flushed Away Madagascar Madagascar 2 Shrek Shrek 2 Shrek 3
Mad City is an earnest effort at media criticism that's never convincing enough to stir a viewer's outrage in the way filmmaker Costa-Gavras (Music Box) might have intended. John Travolta plays a barely educated museum guard who is laid off from his job and ends up holding his former boss (Blythe Danner) and a bunch of schoolchildren hostage. Dustin Hoffman is a former television-network journalist making a grab at the limelight again by pushing and controlling press coverage of the story. What follows is by the numbers and not nearly as enlightening or enthralling as other films (such as Dog Day Afternoon or Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole) about simple events manipulated into a media circus. Despite Travolta's tragic performance and Hoffman's impassioned one, the film breaks up over efforts to blame electronic voyeurism for social chaos. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Po the Panda is the laziest animal in all of the Valley of Peace, but unwittingly becomes the chosen one when enemies threaten their way of life.
Leave nothing to chance. HBO presents this provocative original series set in the worlds of horseracing and gambling. Created and executive produced by David Milch (Deadwood), legendary director Michael Mann (Heat, Public Enemies) and Carolyn Strauss, this one-hour drama series centers on Chester 'Ace' Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), an intuitive tough guy with a long history in dirty pool. Recently released after three years in prison, Ace and his longtime chauffeur (Dennis Farina) craft a complex plan to reverse the sagging fortunes of a California racetrack. Meanwhile, four dissolute gamblers at the track pool their resources in an effort to win an elusive Pick Six bet while a weathered trainer (Nick Nolte) sees a second chance in an untested thoroughbred. The stellar cast also includes: John Ortiz, Richard Kind, Kevin Dunn, Jason Gedrick, Ritchie Coster, Ian Hart, Tom Payne, Kerry Condon and Jill Hennessy.
In 1429, a teenage girl from a remote village stood before the world and announced she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country.
Set in the early 1970's, this is the tale of a young man whose fiancee has been killed, but who finds himself falling for another woman even while he is still living with his fiancee's grieving parents.
This multi-Academy Award winning film masterpiece stars Jon Voight as Joe Buck a charming but hopelessly naive Texas ""cowboy "" who dreams of making his fortune servicing wealthy women in the Big Apple. Instead he's conned into partnering up with small-time hustler Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman). Living together on the tattered edges of society these two outcasts develop an unlikely bond that helps them transcend their cruel existence in this timeless cinema classic directed by the legendary John Schlesinger.
Tootsie: Sydney Pollack directs this touching gender-bending farce in which Dustin Hoffman plays actor Michael Dorsey. Dorsey who is fine actor but an irreproachable perfectionist can hardly make ends meet; the best he can do for his wallet is take on a couple of jobs as a part-time drama coach and a part-time waiter. But when with the help of a few accessories (including rouge and a padded bra) he transforms himself into Dorothy Michaels everything changes. Dorothy lands a hot job on a soap opera monopolizes the covers of glossy magazines and wins thousands of adoring fans. But when he falls head-over-heels for his co-star Julie (Jessica Lange) he's got a real problem: How can he tell Julie he loves her when she thinks he's a she? Michael desperate to relinquish his disguise proceeds as a she and endures a battle with his agent played by Pollack who refuses to end his contract with the soap; a fight with his best friend who is a woman; unwanted sexual advances from a fellow soap actor; and sweet affections from Julie's father. (Dir. Sydney Pollack 1982) Too Wong Foo Thanks For Everything Julia Newmar: En route from New York City to Hollywood for a drag queen beauty pagent Noxeema Vida and Chi Chi are forced to take an unwelcome detour when their 1967 Cadillac convertible breaks down. Stranded in the tiny midwestern town of Snydersville the three try to make the best of their unfortunate circumstance. And when their glitz and glamour wake up the sleepy local citizens the stage is set for an outrageously funny weekend... (Dir. Beeban Kidron 1995) Connie And Carla: Struggling Chicago dinner theater performers Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Collette) accidentally witness a mafia hit...and who subsequently hit the road running for their lives. Assuming the killers will never look for them in a place devoid of culture the pair head to Los Angeles where they assume new identities and find their middling talent at song and dance perfectly suited to new careers; as drag queens! Much to their surprise they inadvertently become the toast of the cabaret circuit. As their ruse becomes increasingly difficult to maintain they discover that it is indeed lonely at the top especially after Connie meets Jeff (Duchovny) a guy she'd really like to be a real girl with... With the mafia zeroing in and the line separating their onstage/offstage personas blurring beyond the point of recognition Connie and Carla soon discover the power of not compromising to pursue your dreams fighting the good fight and never ever underestimating the transformative power of cosmetics. (Dir. Michael Lembeck 2004)
In his first major film role Dustin Hoffman plays an ultra-na''ve college graduate who's seduced by a middle-aged woman played by the scintillating Anne Bancroft and then falls in love with her daughter. With the sharpest of scripts and a perfect soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel this film was deservedly nominated for 6 Oscars and won Nichols an Academy Award for Best Director.
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