Give credit to director Betty Thomas for making the notorious Howard Stern, self-proclaimed "king of all media", into a nerdish but appealing media rebel who loves his wife and family. Even if you hate Stern's rude radio show, you may discover that the underdog charm of this warm, whimsical film (based on Stern's autobiography) turns you into a fan--for the length of the film at least. Stern delivers a winning performance as the clumsy college kid and aspiring disc-jockey-turned-demon-shock-jock, who becomes an unlikely hero as he battles station managers, network executives and conservative "arbiters of decency" in the name of unfettered bad taste. Mary McCormack is fine as his understanding wife, Alison, and long-time Stern sidekicks Robin Quivers and Fred Norris acquit themselves nicely appearing as themselves. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
A SIMPLE FAVOUR, a stylish post-modern film noir directed by Paul Feig, centres around Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a mommy blogger who seeks to uncover the truth behind her best friend Emily's (Blake Lively) sudden disappearance from their small town. Stephanie is joined by Emily's husband Sean (Henry Golding) in this thriller filled with twists and betrayals, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge.
Ealing Comedy--cosy, gentle and whimsical, right? In this case, think again. Alexander Mackendrick was always the most politically aware of the Ealing directors, and in The Man in the White Suit he takes the studio's favourite theme of the little man up against the system and gives it a sharp satirical twist. Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness at his most unworldly), a maverick scientist working in a Northern textile mill, invents a fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. He's hailed as a genius--until management and unions alike realise what his brainwave implies. Mackendrick's humour is exact and pointed, and the satire turns savage as a lynch mob of bosses and workers hunt Sidney down through dark narrow streets. Mackendrick's disenchanted view of hidebound, class-ridden British society still rings horribly true, and he draws note-perfect performances from the cream of British character actors: Cecil Parker as the liberal mill-owner (based it's said, on Ealing boss Michael Balcon); Ernest Thesiger as the evil old godfather of the industry; and, wittily sensual as Sidney's confidante, the ever-wonderful Joan Greenwood. Plus, listen out for the "voice" of Sidney's bizarre apparatus, the funniest and most unforgettable sound effect ever devised. --Philip Kemp
Jonathan Rhys Meyers Henry Cavill and special guest Joely Richardson star in the thrilling final season of The Tudors the epic drama about the life loves and lusts of England's most notorious King. King Henry VIII marries his fifth wife seventeen-year-old Catherine Howard a mischievous beauty who ignites the passion of both the King and his chamber groom setting up a deadly love triangle. Spun into a midlife crisis Henry remarries and embarks on a war with France to capture Boulogne and symbolically recapture his youth. At home the battle between Catholics and Protestants escalates when Henry's beloved sixth wife is charged with heresy. Now Henry in his growing madness must determine her fate while securing the legacy of his magnificent reign.
Classic Hitchcock movie starring Henry Fonda & Vera Miles. Manny Ballestero is an honest hardworking musician at New York's Stork Club. When his wife needs money for dental treatment, Manny goes to the local insurance office to borrow on her policy. Employees at the office mistake him for a hold-up man who robbed them the year before and the police are called. The film tells the true story of what happened to Manny and his family.
Based on Peter Barnes' hit play this caustic hilarious and irreverent black comedy has rightly become a cult classic. The House of Gurney has a family problem - namely the 14th Earl of Gurney (Peter O' Toole) who thinks he is Jesus Christ and when restored to `normalcy' turns into Jack the Ripper. Unfortunately the young earl is also the sole heir to the family fortune so his relatives go to great lengths to trick him into siring a new heir. Then they can institutionalise him and
A woman escaping an unhappy marriage takes refuge with a friend's family on holiday, where events force her to confront the reality of never having her own children.
The writer of The Usual Suspects makes his directorial debut with this violent and bleak tale of the kidnapping of a pregnant young woman.
"Waist Deep" takes audiences on a ride through contemporary Los Angeles - where a sexy 21st-century Bonnie and Clyde hit the streets.
Two years before stars KATHARINE HEPBURN (The African Queen) and CARY GRANT (North by Northwest) and director GEORGE CUKOR (My Fair Lady) would collaborate on The Philadelphia Story, they brought their timeless talents to this delectable slice of 1930s romantic-comedy perfection, the second film adaptation of a hit 1928 play by PHILIP BARRY. Grant is at his charismatic best as the acrobatically inclined free spirit who, following a whirlwind engagement, literally tumbles into the lives of his fiancée's aristocratic familysetting up a clash of values with her staid father while firing the rebellious imagination of her brash, black-sheep sister (Hepburn). With a sparkling surface and an undercurrent of melancholy, Holiday is an enchanting ode to nonconformists and pie-in-the-sky dreamers everywhere, as well as a thoughtful reflection on what it truly means to live well. Special Edition Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Holiday (1930), a previous adaptation of Philip Barry's play, directed by Edward H. Griffith New conversation between filmmaker and distributor Michael Schlesinger and film critic Michael Sragow Audio excerpts from an American Film Institute oral history with director George Cukor, recorded in 1970 and '71 Costume gallery PLUS: An essay by critic Dana Stevens
A music teacher battles the system in underprivileged Harlem... The uplifting true story of violin teacher Roberta Guaspari (Streep) a woman who battled insurmountable odds to teach underprivileged children in East Harlem the gift of music. As Roberta struggles to convince a sceptical school board--as well as sceptical parents--that this music will help the children immensely she must conquer seemingly insurmountable odds to do just that. Eventually she does. Based on the documentary Small Wonders Music Of The Heart proves that Craven is more than just a horror director.
Moomintroll, Snufkin, Little My and all the family are back! The much-loved Moomin family star in a new animated family drama, Moominvalley based on the hugely popular work of Tove Jansson. The 13-part series follows the curious and idealistic Moomintroll with his extraordinary family and whimsical friends, as they take us on an adventure into the magical world of Moominvalley, where we can learn more about our own humanity, relationships and emotions and especially about love. This fantasy drama series is full of life and laughter for lifelong Moomin fans, and complete newcomers alike. Featuring the voice talents of Taron Egerton, Matt Berry, Rosamund Pike, Kate Winslet, Will Self, Warwick Davis, Richard Ayoade, Akiya Henry, Jennifer Saunders & many more. Includes subtitles for the Hard Of Hearing
Alastair Sim stars as the eccentric and irreverent Inspector Cockrill of the Kent County Police alongside Trevor Howard and Rosamund John in this truly classic and suspenseful murder mystery from the acclaimed film-making partnership of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. August 1944. German flying bombs are raining down on London. Directly under their flight path is a small cottage hospital. Inside the tension is almost unbearable for the dedicated team of surgeons and nurses - and no
Angelina Jolie brings the famous computer game archaeologist & adventurer to life in this action packed blockbuster.
Alfred Hitchcock considered this 1943 thriller to be his personal favourite among his own films, and although it's not as popular as some of Hitchcock's later work, it's certainly worthy of the master's admiration. Scripted by playwright Thornton Wilder and inspired by the actual case of a 1920s serial killer known as "The Merry Widow Murderer," Shadow of a Doubt sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the small-town comforts of Santa Rosa, California. That's where young Charlie (Teresa Wright) lives with her parents and two younger siblings, and where murder is little more than a topic of morbid conversation for their mystery-buff neighbour (Hume Cronyn). Charlie was named after her favourite uncle, who has just arrived for an extended visit, and at first Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) gets along famously with his admiring niece. But the film's chilling prologue has already revealed Uncle Charlie's true identity as the notorious Merry Widow Murderer, and the suspense grows almost unbearable when young Charlie's trust gives way to gradual dread and suspicion. Through narrow escapes and a climactic scene aboard a speeding train, this witty thriller strips away the fa ade of small-town tranquillity to reveal evil where it's least expected. And, of course, it's all done in pure Hitchcockian style. --Jeff Shannon
Stephen Fry's directorial debut about the young, wild, party-loving creatures of the 1930s. Sex, scandal, celebrity... Some things never change...
March of the Wooden Soldiers: The film s story takes place in Toyland which is inhabited by Mother Goose and other well known fairy tale characters. Stannie Dum and Ollie Dee (played by Laurel and Hardy) live in a shoe which is owned by the villainous Silas Barnaby who is looking to marry Bo Peep. Our heroes try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on the shoe and to keep Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stannie Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland. Stan and Ollie run and hide in the toy shop where they discover a box of darts to battle the Bogeymen. They empty the darts into a cannon but decide instead to unleash the toy soldiers on their enemy. Utopia: Heading for a newly inherited island, the boys are shipwrecked and marooned on an atoll which has just emerged from the sea. Along with their cook, a stowaway and a girl who is fleeing her fiancé, they set up their own government on the atoll. All goes well until the singer s fiancee arrives to reveal that the new island is rich with uranium deposits. People from all over the world flock to the island, but soon the situation turns chaotic when a revolt seeks to overthrow and execute the island s original inhabitants. Before the execution, however, another storm strikes and submerges the island. Laurel and Hardy are rescued and finally arrive at the island Laurel inherited, only to have their land and supplies impounded for failure to pay back taxes! Flying Deuces: Stan and Ollie are holidaying in Paris. Ollie intends to remain in France to marry Georgette (Jean Parker), the innkeeper s daughter, but is heartbroken when he finds that she s fallen in love with and has married dashing Foreign Legion officer Francois (Reginald Gardiner). Ollie decides instead to jump into the Seine, along with Stan, but they are talked out of it by François who suggests they join the Legion. When they try to leave after Ollie has recovered from being jilted they are charged with desertion and sentenced to a firing squad. They manage to escape in a stolen airplane but crash after a wild ride. Only Stan survives - but an earlier musing on reincarnation produces a bizarre postscript. Hustling for Health: Our down at heel hero Stan is befriended by a stranger at a train depot and brought back to the family home where his wife is having a suffragette meeting. None too pleased they cause mayhem dragging the neighbours into the argument as Stan throws rubbish into their award winning garden. Stan falls foul of them again when he steals their food to give to his new friends and is finally left outside in the yard mooning over the neighbours daughter in a downpour. One Too Many: This zippy and fun short from 1916 - the time when Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle were the big names in comedy - features the young Oliver Hardy as a ne er-do-well who has to quickly impress his wealthy uncle by producing a wife and baby for his visit. Of course this does not go smoothly and soon there are rather more wives and babies than he can cope with; plus the mandatory chases and misunderstandings that are the hallmark of early movie slapstick. The Lucky Dog: The Lucky Dog is the first film to include both Laurel & Hardy although they play independently of each other and not as the famous duo they would later become. Stan plays the hapless hero, who after being thrown out onto the street for not paying his rent, is befriended by a stray dog.
Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Actor, and Screenplay, Kramer vs. Kramer remains as powerfully moving today as it was when released in 1979, simply because its drama will remain relevant for couples of any generation. Adapted by director Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, this is perhaps the finest, most evenly balanced film ever made about the failure of marriage and the tumultuous shift of parental roles. It begins when Joanna Kramer (Meryl Streep) bluntly informs her husband Ted (Dustin Hoffman) that she's leaving him, just as his advertising career is advancing and demanding most of his waking hours. Self-involvement is just one of the film's underlying themes, along with the search for identity that prompts Joanna to leave Ted with their first-grade son (Justin Henry), who now finds himself living with a workaholic parent he barely knows. Juggling his domestic challenge with professional deadlines, Ted is further pressured when his wife files for custody of their son. This legal battle forms the dramatic spine of the film, but its power is derived from Benton's flawlessly observant script and the superlative performances of his entire cast. Because Benton refuses to assign blame and deals fairly with both sides of a devastating dilemma, the film arrives at equal levels of pain, growth, and integrity under emotionally stressful circumstances. That gives virtually every scene the unmistakable ring of truth--a quality of dramatic honestly that makes Kramer vs. Kramer not merely a classic tearjerker, but one of the finest American dramas of its decade. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
This dramatic story of the life of composer Edward Grieg set in his native Norway includes abridged versions of his best music and highlights of his personal life.
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