Its easy to forget that before fronting the British war effort through most of World War II, Winston Churchill had spent the previous decade isolated in Parliament and in internal opposition to the Conservative party. Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years dramatises this period in which the growing menace of Nazism in Germany was met with indifference, even fear by governments of the day who were more concerned with their survival than in serving those who had elected them. Churchill is perceptively played by Robert Hardy, confirming the image without falling into caricature. Visionary and obstinate by turns, he galvanises his supporters and enrages his enemies with a passion borne of conviction. A seasoned British cast includes Peter Barkworth as the amiable but ineffectual Stanley Baldwin, Eric Porter as the truly "out of time" Neville Chamberlain, Edward Woodward as the scheming Samuel Hoare and Nigel Havers as the tragically flawed Randolph Churchill. Martin Gilbert has done a persuasive job transforming his novel into a TV script, the scenes in the House of Commons having a gritty reality that makes compulsive viewing. On the DVD: its a pity that the Southern Pictures production, first screened in 1981, has emerged so dimly in this incarnation. Has the master tape eroded so badly, or was it simply not available? However, its worth putting up with the technical defects to enjoy this historically informed and grippingly dramatic serial. --Richard Whitehouse
China Moon (1991) is a pleasing entertainment that assembles the dependable elements of film noir in the tradition of Body Heat (1981), The Last Seduction (1994) and, of course, the mother of all such films, Double Indemnity (1944). There's a femme fatale (the beautiful and talented Madeleine Stowe) and an honest cop (reliable Ed Harris) who soon becomes smitten. Her husband (Charles Dance) is a brute who beats her, so she murders him and inveigles Harris into helping her dispose of the body. That's when the complications begin, and Harris starts to sweat when his fellow cop keeps asking awkward questions. The acting is uniformly good, with Harris' partner played by Benicio Del Toro (Traffic) offering an excellent performance. Harris and Stowe strike sparks off each other, to the point where you almost believe he is being sucked into her schemes. On the DVD: The disc contains a theatrical trailer and several TV ads, with scroll-down filmographies of the major talents involved which are incomplete for some unknown reason. There's a brief and unenlightening five-minute documentary, with the principal cast plus the director, John Bailey, commenting on the film. Both image and sound are excellent quality, sound in Dolby Digital, picture in anamorphic widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 --Ed Buscombe
I'm No Angel (Dir. Wesley Ruggles 1933): Mae West's reputation for tweaking the noses of film censors was well-established by the time she made I'm No Angel generally considered her most successful picture. The frank-speaking blonde bombshell delivered some of her most classic double entendres in this 1933 film her second consecutive outing opposite the luminous Cary Grant. The two had made She Done Him Wrong earlier that year and in I'm No Angel West does Grant wrong again to hilarious effect. West plays her typical floozy a carnival dancer who escapes a murder charge and cozies her way into high society where she famously tells her maid: ""Beulah peel me a grape."" Eventually she wins Grant then drops him and sues him for breach of contract. Rarely has a more intelligent sexually powerful and dominant female figure been seen on screen and West is at her sizzling comic peak. Already a major entertainment figure West rode the popularity of I'm No Angel to greater notoriety but she never again teamed up with a male superstar so successfully. West's movies were among those most responsible for bringing a new era of censorship after the early 1930s. Klondike Annie (Dir. Raoul Walsh 1936): Mae West stars as beautiful Rose Carlton a kept woman who escapes to Alaska and the Gold Rush of the 1890s after commiting a murder in self-defense. There she is redeemed by becoming a missionary saving souls in her own risque style.
Tora! Tora! Tora! Is the Japanese signal to attack - and this movie meticulously recreates the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it. Opening scenes contrast the American and Japanese positions. Japanese imperialists decide to stage the attack. Top U.S. brass ignore its possibility. Intercepted Japanese messages warn of it - but never reach F.D.R.'s desk. Radar warnings are disregarded. Even the entrapment of a Japanese submarine in Pearl Harbor before the attack goes unreported. Ultimately the Day of Infamy arrives - in the most spectacular gut-wrenching cavalcade of action.
Bastian Balthazar Bux (Mark Rendall) is an average twelve year old boy whose life revolves around going to school watching TV and playing video games. That is until he discovers a magical book `The Neverending Story' in a fascinating curiosity shop owned by the mysterious Carl Coreander (John Dunn Hill). Bastian's imagination is inspired by the book's tale of an enchanted world called Fantasia; a world ruled by the Childlike Empress (Audrey Gardiner) and inhabited by an assortment o
When oh when will scientists learn to stop playing with radiation? Island of Terror takes place on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. No phones no regular transport to and from the mainland but there is a well-equipped cancer research center where the well intentioned - but foolish! - scientists are irradiating lumps of tissue. The local constable finds a body with no bones in it ('No bones?' 'No bones!') and soon a team from London led by the ever-game Peter Cushing arri
Its easy to forget that before fronting the British war effort through most of World War II, Winston Churchill had spent the previous decade isolated in Parliament and in internal opposition to the Conservative party. Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years dramatises this period in which the growing menace of Nazism in Germany was met with indifference, even fear by governments of the day who were more concerned with their survival than in serving those who had elected them. Churchill is perceptively played by Robert Hardy, confirming the image without falling into caricature. Visionary and obstinate by turns, he galvanises his supporters and enrages his enemies with a passion borne of conviction. A seasoned British cast includes Peter Barkworth as the amiable but ineffectual Stanley Baldwin, Eric Porter as the truly "out of time" Neville Chamberlain, Edward Woodward as the scheming Samuel Hoare and Nigel Havers as the tragically flawed Randolph Churchill. Martin Gilbert has done a persuasive job transforming his novel into a TV script, the scenes in the House of Commons having a gritty reality that makes compulsive viewing. On the DVD: its a pity that the Southern Pictures production, first screened in 1981, has emerged so dimly in this incarnation. Has the master tape eroded so badly, or was it simply not available? However, its worth putting up with the technical defects to enjoy this historically informed and grippingly dramatic serial. --Richard Whitehouse
Joanna Ferrone and Susan Rose's Angela Anaconda is one of the most inventive and acute animated shows on children's television. Its gawky heroine Angela has a bad attitude to authority and a vivid fantasy-life that makes up for the humiliations of the everyday--her rivalry with the endlessly pretentious Nanette Manoir and the more-or-less intense dislike of her form teacher Mrs Brinks. We have a profound sense that what we are getting is Angela's side of all this but the transformations and endless sufferings through which she puts the targets of her scorn are entertaining enough to make us entirely complicit. The animation technique, combining poster paint backgrounds with almost hyper-real monochrome faces, provides an almost seamless segue from the mundane to the imagined; these six episodes take us to the Moon, the Amazon and the French Revolution while plausibly reminding us at every turn that these are children, in a classroom. --Roz Kaveney
Includes Annie Matilda and Fly Away Home. Annie: The irresistable orphan of comic-strip and box office fame comes to life in this acclaimed musical production. In her search for her true parents Annie has many adventures and encounters a number of colourful characters. Matilda: The hilarious story of Matilda based on the book by Roald Dahl. Once upon a time there lived a quite extraordinary little girl named Matilda but unfortunately her parents were so obsessed with their own lives they never noticed Matilda. They send her to Crunchem Hall a horrible boarding school run by a bossy headmistress Miss Trunchbull. There Matilda discovers remarkable skills which allow her to turn the tables on the wicked grown-ups in her world. Fly Away Home: Young Amy (Anna Paquin) is reunited with her father (Jeff Daniels) after a nine-year separation. One day Amy discovers a nest of orphaned goose eggs and decides to take them home and nurture them until they hatch. When the newly hatched goslings adopt her as their Mother Goose Amy and her father become airborne adventurers battling against bad weather and a host of other pitfalls in their efforts to teach the geese to fly...
The Illustrious Client: Holmes is the victim of a murderous attack after he investigates a certain Baron Gruner who to the horror of a family friend has swept Violet Merville off her feet. The Creeping Man: A professor's daughter Edith sees a stange figure at her bedroom window but her father dismisses it as merely a bad dream...
Inspired by a real life account of the violence and brutality behind the bars of one of the world's most notorious prisons Stoic tells the story of the bloody aftermath of a shockingly violent death at the hands of three infamous hooligans. Shifting between the police interrogation and flashbacks leading up to the event itself the shocking truth behind what three brutal criminals are capable of is eventually revealed. Starring Edward Furlong (American History X Terminator 2) Stoic is a gripping visceral and distressing tale of hard men trapped in an even harder place that will stay with you long after the doors slam shut...
When an elderly rich curmudgeon dies he postpones the reading of his will until twenty years to the hour after his death. He believes all of his potential heirs are no good leeches with a predilection for insanity. In order to collect the inheritance his nervous family must spend the night in an old dark house. As the family retire for the evening a psychiatrist arrives to alert them of an escaped killer. Naturally no one gets much sleep and some won't make it through the nig
In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem if no one else can help and if you can find them maybe you can hire the A-Team! Episodes comprise: 1. Mexican Slayride (Part 1) 2. Mexican Slayride (Part 2) 3. Children Of Jamestown 4. Pros And Cons 5. A Small And Deadly War 6. Black Day At Bad Rock 7. The Rabbit Who Ate Las Vegas 8. The Out-Of-Towners 9. Holiday In The Hills
Introduced in "A Magnum for Schneider", the hour-long 1967 Armchair Theatre episode written by James Mitchell about a disillusioned British secret agent Callan (Edward Woodward), went on to offer four popular (if downbeat) series, a spin-off movie remaking the original story and a some-years-later wrap-up play "Wet Job". Remembered for its very distinctive opening titles, with a swinging broken light bulb and a memorable theme tune, the series adopted a Deighton-LeCarré approach to the grim, treacherous, grubby business of Cold War espionage and made a TV star of the intense Woodward as the sweaty, sometimes conscience-stricken, sometimes robotic Callan. Even in the 21st century this still seems a strong show, its complex stories and impressive performances outweighing a low-budget mix of video and film in the production that makes it seem less "professional" than other shows of the time. In a dramatic device that has long since fallen out of fashion in television, Callan episodes tend to wind up by leaving the audience to work out all the connections of the plot while Callan himself sits gloomily and ponders the wretchedness of his squalid world. --Kim Newman
Evita (Dir. Alan Parker 1996): Eva Peron (Madonna) was born the illegitimate daughter of a penniless farmer. Determined to make it to the top Eva attaches herself to a poplar tango singer (Jimmy Nail) in the big city. Eva becomes a radio and film actress moving in influential circles within Buenos Aires society. When she becomes involved with rising politician Juan Peron (Jonathan Pryce) the establishment disapproves and he is arrested. Eva fights on the freedom both for her husband and the oppressed masses. Peron is freed by the people the couple marries and Peron is elected president. But Eva's greatest battle is yet to come. Les Miserables (Dir. Bille August 1998): Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel this is an epic tale of love honour and obsession against the dramatic background of the French Revolution. Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson) lives a life on the run for stealing a loaf of bread. Settling in a remote town he devotes himself to the care of the poor including the beautiful young and poverty stricken Fantine (Uma Thurman). When Fantine dies she leaves a daughter Cosette (Claire Danes) who Valjean raises. But they are haunted by Javert (Geoffrey Rush) a policeman whose lifelong search for Valjean has become an obsession. A hunt begins that will come to a final confrontation on the revolution torn streets of Paris. Gyspy (Dir. Emile Ardolino 1993): It's Emmy Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Bette Midler in the role she was born to play. The superstar of Beaches Ruthless People Down & Out in Beverly Hills and For the Boys delivers a standing room only performance as Mama Rose the ultimate vaudeville stage mother. Rose's blind ambition for her two daughters forces one to desert her and the other to emerge as the world's most famous striptease artist - Gypsy Rose Lee. Based on the actual memoirs of Ms. Lee and directed by the late Emile Ardolino (Sister Act Dirty Dancing) this musical motion picture extravaganza is true to the original Broadway production... including the glorious Jerome Robbins choreography and the memorable Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim score. The classics are all here - from Everything's Coming Up Roses to Let Me Entertain You and as a special bonus the complete version of Gypsy's classic overture. Spectacular performances by Ms. Midler and her supporting cast - Peter Riegert Cynthia Gibb (as the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee) and Ed Asner - will leave you asking for an encore!
Its easy to forget that before fronting the British war effort through most of World War II, Winston Churchill had spent the previous decade isolated in Parliament and in internal opposition to the Conservative party. Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years dramatises this period in which the growing menace of Nazism in Germany was met with indifference, even fear by governments of the day who were more concerned with their survival than in serving those who had elected them. Churchill is perceptively played by Robert Hardy, confirming the image without falling into caricature. Visionary and obstinate by turns, he galvanises his supporters and enrages his enemies with a passion borne of conviction. A seasoned British cast includes Peter Barkworth as the amiable but ineffectual Stanley Baldwin, Eric Porter as the truly "out of time" Neville Chamberlain, Edward Woodward as the scheming Samuel Hoare and Nigel Havers as the tragically flawed Randolph Churchill. Martin Gilbert has done a persuasive job transforming his novel into a TV script, the scenes in the House of Commons having a gritty reality that makes compulsive viewing. On the DVD: its a pity that the Southern Pictures production, first screened in 1981, has emerged so dimly in this incarnation. Has the master tape eroded so badly, or was it simply not available? However, its worth putting up with the technical defects to enjoy this historically informed and grippingly dramatic serial. --Richard Whitehouse
Leave it to Czech director Milos Forman (One Flew Over to Cuckoo's Nest) to make the most entertaining and offbeat celebration of the American Constitution ever filmed. You think the First Amendment was designed to protect Americans from offensive speech? Think again. The real glory of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights--as brought to life in this splendidly quirky and alternately reverent and irreverent comedy--is that it ensures everyone's freedom by protecting a whole range of expression, from the banal to the outrageous. Scripted by the writers of Ed Wood (another affectionately twisted biography of a disreputably eccentric entertainment figure), The People vs. Larry Flynt applies a similar sort of exaggerated and telescoped editorial-cartoon sensibility to the wild life and times of Hustler skin-magazine publisher Larry Flynt. It's the great (and fictionalised-but-true) American story of how smut-peddler Flynt--the poor man's redneck Hugh Hefner--ended up appealing a libel case (brought by televangelist Jerry Falwell) to the Supreme Court and winning a major legal victory that affects all Americans. Terrific performances by Woody Harrelson as Flynt, grunge-star-turned-glamour-puss Courtney Love as his wife Althea, and Edward Norton as their lawyer (a composite character). --Jim Emerson
This comedy stars Rob Schneider ("Deuce Bigalow")as a police cadet who, after nearly dying in a car accident while driving through a remote area, is rescued by a strange beast who performs surgery on him in a barn, using animal parts as transplants.
Jeremy Dilke (Horton) is a meek mild-mannered businessman who allows everyone to use him for a doormat. While looking into his mirror Dilke is confronted by his brusque assertive alter ego who declares I am the man you have always longed to be. Armed with his newfound confidence Dilke becomes a go-getting dynamo much to the delight of heroine Helen (Genevieve Tobin) who knew he had it in him all along. Moon-faced Alastair Sim plays a wonderful cameo as a foreign interpreter.
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