Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck: kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
In this psychological thriller from Blumhouse Productions and legendary screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Panic Room), Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried star as a couple seeking a restful vacation in a remote home in the Welsh countryside. What at first seems like a perfect retreat distorts into a terrifying nightmare when Theo's (Bacon) grasp on reality begins to unravel, and he suspects that a sinister force within the house demands a reckoning for secrets of the past.
No film better utilises Audrey Hepburn's flighty charm and svelte beauty than this romantic adaptation of Truman Capote's novella. Hepburn's urban sophisticate Holly Golightly, an enchanting neurotic living off the gifts of gentlemen, is a bewitching figure in designer dresses and costume jewellery. George Peppard is her upstairs neighbour, a struggling writer and "kept" man financed by a steely older woman (Patricia Neal). His growing friendship with the lonely Holly soon turns to love and threatens the delicate balance of both of their compromised lives. Taking liberties with Capote's bittersweet story, director Blake Edwards and screenwriter George Axelrod turn New York into a city of lovers and create a poignant portrait of Holly, a frustrated romantic with a secret past and a hidden vulnerability. Composer Henry Mancini earned Oscars for the hit song "Moon River" and his tastefully romantic score. The only sour note in the whole film is Mickey Rooney's demeaning performance as the apartment's Japanese manager, an offensively overdone stereotype even in 1961. The rest of the film has weathered the decades well. Edwards's elegant yet light touch, Axelrod's generous screenplay and Hepburn's mix of knowing experience and naivety combine to create one of the great screen romances and a refined slice of high-society bohemian chic. --Sean Axmaker
After terrorizing a convenience store salesgirl with tomatoes three lowlifes on a crime spree hide out at an isolated farmhouse occupied only by teenage Lisa and her paralyzed grandpa. Bad move for while Lisa looks innocent enough she's actually a ticking-time-bomb-of-psychotic-aggression who spends her days killing chickens feeding raw eggs to her granddad and hallucinating blood on a mirror. So when the three numbskulls add Lisa to their list of people to abuse she promptly puts an end to their antisocial activities with the help of her two best friends a straight-edge razor and her handy Axe. Directed by Frederick R Friedel and produced by the legendary Harry Novak Axe is a dark morbid surprisingly disturbing foray into the underbelly of rural gothic horror.
Best known for making movies about men and violence, director Walter Hill scored a misfire with this ambitious but ultimately dreary remake of Akira Kurosawa's samurai classic Yojimbo. The story's essentially the same but the setting has been switched to a dusty, almost ghostly Texas town in the 1930s, where two rival Chicago gangs are locked in an uneasy truce. Bruce Willis plays the lone drifter who allies himself with both gangs to his own advantage, working both sides against each other according to his own hidden agenda. The violence escalates to a bloody climax, of course, with Christopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly and Michael Imperioli as trigger-happy lieutenants in a lonely, desolate war. Fans of gangster movies will want to see this, and, if nothing else, Hill has brought his polished style to a vaguely mythic story. It's far from being a classic, however, and although its action is at times masterfully choreographed, the movie's humourless attitude is unexpectedly oppressive. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
A bumper box set of classic films featuring 'The Queen' Barbara Stanwyck! Double Indemnity (Dir. Billy Wilder 1944): Director Billy Wilder and writer Raymond Chandler ('The Big Sleep') adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But of cou
On January 15th 1995 Annabel Chong a twenty two year old undergraduate embarked on a marathon crusade to secure fame fortune and notoriety. Her quest: to have sex with as many men as possible in one day. She went on to have sex with 251 men in one ten hour session setting a world record and becoming known around the globe as the girl who engaged in the world's largest gang bang. Explicit candid and provocative 'Sex' combines graphic footage of the feat and behind the scenes insights into Annabel her family and her motives.
A collection of Nick Cave And The Bad Seed's promotional videos. The tracklist features 'Stagger Lee' 'Where The Wild Roses Grow (featuring Kylie Minogue)' 'Into My Arms' '(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?' 'Henry Lee (featuring PJ Harvey)' 'Red Right Hand Man' 'Loverman' 'Do You Love Me?' 'Deanna' 'The Ship Song' 'Tupelo' 'In The Ghetto' 'Jack The Ripper' 'What A Wonderful World (featuring Shane MacGowan)' 'Straight To You' 'The Mercy Seat' 'The Weeping Son
Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck: kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
Has dialogue ever been more perfectly hard-boiled? Has a femme fatale ever been as deliciously evil as BARBARA STANWYCK (The Lady Eve)? And has 1940s Los Angeles ever looked so seductively sordid? Working with cowriter RAYMOND CHANDLER, director BILLY WILDER (Ace in the Hole) launched himself onto the Hollywood A-list with this paragon of film-noir fatalism from JAMES M. CAIN's pulp novel. When slick salesman Walter Neff (The Caine Mutiny's FRED MACMURRAY) walks into the swank home of dissatisfied housewife Phyllis Dietrichson (Stanwyck), he intends to sell her insurance, but he winds up becoming entangled with her in a far more sinister way. Featuring scene-stealing supporting work from EDWARD G. ROBINSON and the chiaroscuro of cinematographer JOHN F. SEITZ (Sunset Blvd.), Double Indemnity is one of the most wickedly perverse stories ever told and the cynical standard by which all noir must be measured. Product Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary featuring film critic Richard Schickel New interview with film scholar Noah Isenberg, editor of Billy Wilder on Assignment New conversation between film historians Eddie Muller and Imogen Sara Smith Billy, How Did You Do It?, a 1992 film by Volker Schlöndorff and Gisela Grischow featuring interviews with director Billy Wilder Shadows of Suspense, a 2006 documentary on the making of Double Indemnity Audio excerpts from 1971 and 1972 interviews with cinematographer John F. Seitz Radio adaptations from 1945 and 1950 Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
A group of friends decide to throw a bachelor party in the mountains; little do they know an escaped killer is on the loose ready to kill the party...
The Iron Horse was John Ford's 50th film and remains his most celebrated of the silent era. Its theme of enterprise and achievement its open-air locations and setting in a vigorous and pioneering past proved just the subject to stimulate the young director's talent. The sheer scale of the film surpassed all other Westerns of the silent era and established Ford as one of the leading directors in the industry. The film combines a conventional tale of double-dealing vengeance and romance with a poetic sense of history and an epic theme - uniting a nation by building a transcontinental railroad and a great man's dream realised by the courage skill and labour of ordinary folk. This restored version features a new score composed and conducted by John Lanchbery performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic.
When James Cagney starred in the movie adaptation of The Time of Your Life in 1948, it was hotly been debated whether William Saroyans stage play was really filmable at all. Because of its small cast, because all the action takes place on a single claustrophobic set, because the "plot" consists entirely of sub-plots, and because Saroyans "dirty sentimentality" isnt to everyones taste, such doubts are still understandable today. However, accept the movie for what it is--a play in a box--and youll be captivated. The story revolves around a slightly down-at-heel bar-restaurant, where a group of disparate characters come and go as their stories gradually unfold. They include an ex-prostitute desperately seeking a new life, a dancer looking for a break into showbusiness, a down-and-out who discovers a vocation as a pianist, a beer-sodden cowboy and a villainous "stoolie" who, needless to say, gets his comeuppance. This gaggle of misfits is presided over by an enigmatic, champagne-drinking philanthropist (brilliantly played by Cagney) who gently nudges them towards their goals while indulging his own fascination with the minutiae of daily life. Throughout this quietly delightful picture the audience are not told why hes this way, but it is possible to make an educated guess. On the DVD: The Time of Your Life might be a classic, but it apparently warrants no extra features. The black and white picture is 4:3. --Roger Thomas
Axe
They seem to have it all: fame fortune and the hottest club act across the USA. But the price of fame is about to cost them dearly.... When two members decide to quit the future of the band hangs in the balance. Emotions are running high as they are booked for a final gig into an old meat packing factory now the notorious Club 905. When the mutilated body of one of their groupies turns up in a meat locker the band start to panic. Is it possible that the envy and anger amongst the band have spawned an uncontrolled psychopath who won't be happy until he or she is playing solo?
Director Billy Wilder and writer Raymond Chandler adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy, is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown, Amazon.com
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