George Lucas's fascinating, almost art-house, film just took a quantum leap into the digital future. Never has the world of THX 1138 looked as bright, clear, and antiseptic as it does on this remastered version. It is equally impressive how far Lucas and the camera crew push the widescreen 2.35 aspect ratio, particularly on a film that emphasizes minimalism. For those that fault the film as being "soundless," prepare yourself for a shock. The new "THX enhanced" THX 1138 sports a newly remastered DTS audio track that enhances every wonderfully subtle, ambient sound of Lalo Schifrin's soundscape. Complaints are likely to be aimed at the restoration. As many assumed, the newly restored (and retitled) THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut underwent a few CGI alterations. In one aspect, the computer graphics are stunning, they're not excessive, and they don't take anything away from the film's storyline. In some aspects the CGI scenes bridge some empty gaps. However, the modern effects do look a little out of place in comparison with the rest of the film. Though a futuristic sci-fi film, THX 1138 is still very '70s in its look and feel. When the newly added scenes appear, it is pretty obvious what has been added. Yes, the purists will cry "Blasphemy!" but in all honesty those new to the film may not notice the differences, and most viewers will probably not care. THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut DVD set contains pretty much everything you could ever want with regard to the film. It includes the new documentary Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 (30 minutes) as well as the original production featurette Bald (8 minutes). There is also the excellent 63-minute documentary A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope, featuring Zoetrope founder Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, John Milius, and Walter Murch. The DVD's informative and entertaining commentary is a combination of separate tracks by George Lucas and co-writer/sound designer Walter Murch. Though not an action-packed thrill ride, THX 1138 is nonetheless a very interesting, meditative film that hits a lot closer to our home than a galaxy far, far away. --Rob Bracco
When Tom Good a 40-year old draughtsman and his wife Barbara drop out of the rat race and become self-sufficient they change their lives forever. To the horror of their neighbours Jerry and Margo Leadbetter the Goods turn their lovely Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm complete with vegetable patches a goat pigs and a multitude of hens. This DVD features the entire second series of the classic BBC comedy. Episodes comprise: Just My Bill The Guru of Surbiton Mr. Fix-
Captain Kirk and the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise set sail for their final season of mind-blowing small screen adventures. The final mission of the original Starship Enterprise is one no science fiction fan can afford to be without. Episodes Comprise: 1. Spock's Brain 2. The Enterprise Incident 3. The Paradise Syndrome 4. And the Children Shall Lead 5. Is There In Truth No Beauty? 6. Spectre Of The Gun 7. Day Of The Dove 8. For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky 9. The Tholian Web 10. Plato's Stepchildren 11. Wink Of An Eye 12. The Empath 13. Elaan Of Troyius 14. Whom Gods Destroy 15. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield 16. The Mark Of Gideon 17. That Which Survives 18. The Lights Of Zetar 19. Requiem For Methuselah 20. The Way To Eden 21. The Cloudminders 22. The Savage Curtain 23. All Our Yesterdays 24. Turnabout Intruder
Robert Duvall is THX-1138 a humble worker in a soulless sprawling subterranean society where each person has a number not a name sex is outlawed and laws are enforced by constant surveillance and sinister silver faced androids. His discovery that there is more to life than the state-required drug stupor and the loss of his mate to a sinister technician finally gives him the courage to recover from his nightmare world. Using strong visuals and astonishing sound effects to heighten the gripping story George Lucas gave the world advance notice of his formidable talent with his classic debut feature THX-1138 adapted from his award-winning short film with the encouragement of none other than Francis Ford Coppola. Made in 1971 THX-1138 marked the stunning debut of one of the screen's most innovative filmmakers and was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and his revolutionary American Zoetrope studios at the height of the American independent movement.
The visionary first film from George Lucas in a director's cut A chilling exploration of the future is also a compelling examination of the present in George Lucas's THX 1138, starring Robert Duvall as a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government. THX makes a harrowing attempt to escape from a world where thoughts are controlled, freedom is an impossibility and love is the ultimate crime. The real excitement of THX 1138 is not really the message but the medium the use of film not to tell a story so much as to convey an experience. Stunning dazzling chilling and terribly powerful (Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times). SPECIAL FEATURES Commentary by George Lucas and Walter Murch Theatre of Noise Experience: Isolated Sound Effects Track Master Sessions: Docupod Gallery Showcasing Murch's Pioneering Work 2 Documentaries: A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope and Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB: Lucas' Original Student Film Vintage Production Featurette Bald Theatrical Trailers
The first of Alfred Hitchcock's World War II features, Foreign Correspondent was completed in 1940, as the European war was only beginning to erupt across national borders. Its titular hero, Johnny Jones (Joel McCrea), is an American crime reporter dispatched by his New York publisher to put a fresh spin on the drowsy dispatches emanating from overseas, his nose for a good story (and, of course, some fortuitous timing) promptly leading him to the "crime" of fascism and Nazi Germany's designs on European conquest. In attempting to learn more about a seemingly noble peace effort, Jones (who's been saddled with the dubious nom de plume Hadley Haverstock) walks into the middle of an assassination, uncovers a spy ring, and, not entirely coincidentally, falls in love--a pattern familiar to admirers of Hitchcock's espionage thrillers, of which this is a thoroughly entertaining example. McCrea's hardy Yankee charms are neatly contrasted with the droll English charm of colleague George Sanders; Herbert Marshall provides a plummy variation on the requisite, ambiguous "good-or-is-he-really-bad" guy; Laraine Day affords a lovely heroine; and Robert Benchley (who contributed to the script) pops up, albeit too briefly, for comic relief. As good as the cast is, however, it's Hitchcock's staging of key action sequences that makes Foreign Correspondent a textbook example of the director's visual energy: an assassin's escape through a rain-soaked crowd is registered by rippling umbrellas, a nest of spies is detected by the improbable direction of a windmill's spinning sails and Jones's nocturnal flight across a pitched city rooftop produces its own contextual comment when broken neon tubes convert the Hotel Europe into "Hot Europe". --Sam Sutherland
Vincent Price and Nancy Kovack star in this horror directed by Reginald Le Borg. After the funeral of French magistrate Simon Cordier (Price), his secret diary is read out to a select few people including his servants and the local police captain. The diary contains descriptions of a malevolent entity Cordier refers to as an horla that is capable of complete mind control. As the story develops Cordier's acquaintances learn of his horrific final days and begin to wonder how he actually died...
This Hitchcock thriller is mainly famous for its climax, which finds the villain (Norman Lloyd) hanging by his sleeve from the torch on the Statue of Liberty as the seam begins to unravel. Otherwise, it's not one of the director's great pictures, though it's still worth a look. Set during the initial stages of World War II, the story concerns a ring of Nazi fifth columnists who plot to weaken American military defences by blowing up a munitions factory, a dam and a battleship. In an early example of Hitchcock's celebrated "wrong man" theme, the hero Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) gets falsely accused of sabotage and becomes a fugitive, hunted from coast to coast. Eventually, he hooks up with the heroine Pat Martin (Priscilla Lane), a super-patriot who takes some convincing of his innocence and plans to turn him in--until the inevitable chemical reaction occurs. It's a highly episodic tale that may put you in mind of Hitchcock's previous The 39 Steps (1935) and his later North by Northwest (1959).The miscellaneous incidents (a shoot-out at a cinema, a bizarre encounter with the freaks in a circus troupe) are often exciting in themselves. The trouble is they just sort of lie there like so-many scattered marbles, never building into a coherent and satisfying whole. The bland dialogue supplied by novice screenwriter Peter Viertel doesn't help matters much. Neither does the casting of the two stars, square, wholesome types, entirely lacking in the perversity and eccentricity one associates with the Hitchcock universe. (It's tedious to hear Lane endlessly mouthing off about the American way, while Cummings must be counted one of the dullest leading men in Hollywood history.) Still, this half-hearted effort by the pot-bellied master of suspense would probably make the reputation of a dozen lesser directors. --Peter Matthews
Starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel this musical showcase of spectacular love songs and dazzling dance numbers garnered a 1954 Academy Award for Best Score (Musical) and received four additional nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Featuring such memorable tunes as ""Bless Yore Beautiful Hide"" and ""Goin' Co'tin "" When rugged frontiersman Adam (Keel) sweeps local beauty Milly (Powell) off her feet the whole town is turned upside-down. But no one's more shocked than Milly who discovers that she's now expected to cook and clean not only for Adam but for his six rowdy brothers too! Well Milly's no pushover and soon she has those boisterous boys whipped into ""groomhood"" and dancing for joy over six brides of their own!
In a race against (and through) time Timecop Ryan Chang (Jason Scott Lee) must track down a deranged criminal in a chase that leads him to the American Wild West and Nazi Germany in order to save the future...
The early 1900's with its Mann-Act (disallowing women to be transported across State lines for immoral reasons) brings a married man to devise a scheme for taking his upper-class girlfriend away with him... he simply has her marry his unmarried buddy. However, it doesn't take very long before both men start laying claim to her affection... until, that is, she's about to be cut out of her parent's fortune. So, a new scheme is devised, which only adds to their problems...
Starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel this musical showcase of spectacular love songs and dazzling dance numbers garnered a 1954 Academy Award for Best Score (Musical) and received four additional nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. Featuring such memorable tunes as ""Bless Yore Beautiful Hide"" and ""Goin' Co'tin "" Seven Brides For Seven Brothers is ""an unending source of enjoyment - the best in every way "" --Los Angeles Times! When rugged frontiersman Adam (Keel)
Saved from the brink of cancellation by its loyal fanbase, Star Trek's third and final season rewarded them with a number of memorable episodes. Tight budgets and slipping creative control, however, made it the most uneven, though it did have some of the coolest episode titles ("For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", "Is There in Truth No Beauty", "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"). Some of the best moments involved a gunfight at the OK Corral ("Spectre of the Gun"), a knock-down drag-out sword battle with the Klingons aboard the Enterprise ("Day of the Dove"), the ship getting caught in an ever-tightening spacial net ("The Tholian Web"), TV's first interracial kiss ("Plato's Stepchildren"), Sulu taking command ("The Savage Curtain"), and Kirk's switching bodies with an ex-love interest ("Turnabout Intruder"). Also appearing in the set as a coda are two versions of the series pilot, "The Cage", a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Starring Jeffery Hunter as Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy as a relatively emotional Spock, and Majel Barrett (the future Nurse Chapel and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) as a frosty Number One, this pilot was rejected, but a second was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", now considered the "official" beginning of the series. But "The Cage" is very recognizably Star Trek with its far-out concepts (telepathic aliens collecting species samples), sexy humanoid women, character development, and of course cheesy costumes and special effects. Footage was later reused in the season 1 two-parter, "The Menagerie". The best of the 63 minutes of bonus material focuses on three of the actors: Walter Koenig, George Takei, and James Doohan. Koenig discusses how he was cast and shows off his various collections, one consisting of Chekov figurines. Takei speaks movingly about the Japanese American internment and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, Doohan, slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. The Easter eggs are amusingly called "Red Shirt Files" in tribute to those poor saps who everyone knew were only in the landing party so they could die. --David Horiuchi
A young man is on trial for a wealthy widow's murder after he suspiciously profits from her will. His only hope for aquital is his wife's testimony but his airtight alibi shatters when she reveals some shocking secrets of her own...
A beautiful woman and her gang of criminals attempt to match their wits with Sherlock Holmes in this murder/mystery set in Dartmoor and London's antique auction rooms. Rathbone and Bruce gave the screen's greatest interpretation of the legendary detective duo created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Secret Weapon (Dir. Roy William Neill 1942): The inventor of a secret weapon and its prototype are abducted leaving the wartime Allies in dire need of assistance. Sherlock Holmes is called and begins to do battle with Professor Moriarty who will later become his arch-enemy... Dressed To Kill (Dir. Roy William Neill 1946): A beautiful woman and her gang of criminals attempt to match their wits with Sherlock Holmes in this murder/mystery set in Dartmoor and London
Following on from the first hugely successful Hardcore Homecoming show Philadelphia was again rocked once more as the Worlds Most Famous Bingo Hall played host to another of the biggest wrestling reunions ever seen. HARDCORE HOMECOMING: NOVEMBER REIGN was universally hailed by fans and critics alike as the ultimate trip down Hardcore's memory lane. This was a show that finally settled longstanding feuds in front of one of the most rabid crowds in wrestling history! Includes a 'Triple-Man-Event' featuring: AXL Rotten vs. Ian Rotten in a 'Taipei Death Match' with taped fists covered in broken glass; Shane Douglas (w/Francine) vs. Pitbull Gary Wolfe in a 'Dog Collar Chain Match' with opponents linked by a 10-foot chain; 'Steel Cage Bout' with Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn.
Dressed To KillDressed to Kill is the last of the fourteen Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The story revolves around three music boxes that contain printing plates for counterfeiting money and the race between Holmes and the criminals who want these plates. It has all the atmosphere and banter between Holmes and Watson that we love to see again and again. There is also a beautiful woman and all the other plot twists we expect from a Sherlock Holm
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