The Last Detail nearly didn't get a release. Columbia, for whom it was made, was alarmed by the movie's barrage of profanity and resented the unorthodox working style of its director, Hal Ashby, who loathed producers and made no secret of it. Only when the film picked up a Best Actor Award for Jack Nicholson at Cannes did the studio reluctantly grant it a release--with minimal promotion--to widespread critical acclaim. Nicholson, in one of his best roles, plays "Bad-ass" Buddusky, a naval petty officer detailed, along with his black colleague "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young), to escort an offender from Virginia to the harsh naval prison at Portsmouth, NH. The miscreant is a naïve youngster, Meadows (Randy Quaid), who's been given eight years for stealing $40 from his CO's wife's favourite charity. The escorts, at first cynically detached, soon start feeling sorry for Meadows and decide to show him a good time in his last few days of freedom. Ashby, a true son of 60s counterculture, avidly abets the anti-authoritarian tone of Robert Towne's script. Meadows is a sad victim of the system--but so too are Buddusky and Mulhall, as they gradually come to realise. A lot of the film is very funny. Nicholson gets to do one of his classic psychotic outbursts--"I am the fucking shore patrol!"--and there are some pungent scenes of male bonding pushed to the verge of desperation. But the overall tone is melancholy, pointed up by the jaunty military marches on the soundtrack. Shot amid bleak, wintry landscapes, in buses and trains and grey urban streets, The Last Detail is a film of constant, compulsive movement going nowhere--a powerful, finely acted study of institutional claustrophobia. On the DVD: The Last Detail disc doesn't have much in the way of extras. There are abbreviated filmographies for Ashby, Nicholson and Quaid (though not for Young) and a trailer for A Few Good Men (1992). The mono sound comes up well in Dolby Digital, and the transfer preserves DoP Michael Chapman's subtle, subfusc palette and the 1.85:1 ratio of the original. --Philip Kemp
The Army Game was a sitcom giant of its time and one of ITV's most popular shows. Created by Sid Colin it pre-dated the more famous Dad's Army by a number of years. A group of men serving out time as conscripts in the army are determined to dodge duty and derive maximum fun out of a situation they'd rather not be in. Because WWII was only 12 years passed and national service was very much a reality many viewers found they could identify with the characters and the situation they found themselves in.
David Mamet's 1987 directorial debut House of Games is mesmerising study of control and seduction between two kinds of detached observers: a gambler who is also a con artist and a psychotherapist who is also an emerging pop-psych guru in the book market. The latter (played by Lindsay Crouse) meets the former (Joe Mantegna) when one of her clients is driven to despair from his debts to the card shark. Mantegna's character agrees to drop the IOUs in exchange for Crouse's attention at the seedy House of Games in Seattle, a mecca for conmen to talk shop and hustle unsuspecting customers. The shrink gets so caught up in the arcane rules and world view of her guide over subsequent days that she observes--with no false rapture--various stings in progress inside and outside the club. Mamet's story finally becomes a fascinating study of two people protecting and extending their respective cosmologies the way rival predators fight for the same piece of turf. The psychological challenge is compelling; so is the stylised dialogue, with its pattern of pauses and hiccups and humming meter. Mostly shooting at night, Mamet also gave Seattle a different look from previous filmmakers, turning its familiar puddles into concentrations of liquid neon and poisonous noir. --Tom Keogh
Woody Allen writes, directs and stars in this comedy crime thriller alongside Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman. The film follows American journalism student Sondra Pransky (Johansson), who, while taking part in a show presented by magician Sidney Waterman (Allen) in London, is visited by the ghostly apparition of the recently deceased journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) and told the identity of an alleged serial killer. As Sondra and Sidney try to uncover whether there is any truth to these claims, Sondra begins to fall in love with the suspect, British aristocrat Peter Lyman (Jackman)...
Perfect Storm: George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg lead a talented cast in this harrowing special-effects adventure that intercuts the plight of seafarers struggling to reach safe harbor with the heroics of air/sea rescue crews. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen The Perfect Storm tosses excitement your way in waves. Three Kings: The Gulf War is over. Operation Desert Storm is no more. Now three American soldiers have the opportunity of a lifetime; to become Three Kings. Amid the partying and confusion three soldiers disappear into the Iraqi desert to find millions in stolen Kuwaiti bullion and are plunged into the heart of a democratic uprising that spins the day - and their lives - out of control. Deep Blue Sea: Researchers on the undersea laboratory Aquatica have genetically altered the brains of captive sharks to develop a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease. There is one unexpected side effect. The sharks are getting smarter. Which could mean trouble for the researchers. And lunch for the sharks.
Based on the bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, this sprawling new HBO drama is set in a world where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime. From the scheming south and the savage easternlands, to the frozen north and ancient Wall that protects the realm from the mysterious darkness beyond, the powerful families of the Seven Kingdoms are locked in battle for the Iron Throne. This is a story of duplicity and treachery, nobility and honour, conquest and triumph. In the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die. Features: Making of Game of Thrones, Character Profiles Creating the Dothraki Language Inside the Night's Watch From the Book to the Screen Histories Creating the Show Open Cast Audition Dragon Eggs Anatomy of Episode 6 A Golden Crown Commentaries
Newly remastered by David Lynch himself for this 35th Anniversary release, his feature-film debut is a masterpiece of the macabre and grotesque. Eraserhead follows a sensitive young man as he struggles to cope with impending parenthood. Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) lives in a hopeless industrial landscape, lusting after the beautiful woman who lives in the apartment across the hall.Five years in the making, Eraserhead contains all of the trademark attributes of a Lynch film - haunting visuals, an ethereal score, unsettling sound design, and, most notably, a black sense of humour - creating a world onscreen that is exhilarating, terrifying, and truly unique.
Dimples: Temple stars as a young singer who entertains the New York crowds providing the window of opportunity for her pick pocket of a grand father to carry out his work. A rich lady sees the young girl peforming - and after discovering her grim existence with her grand father - offers her an opportunity to rise out of lifestyle... The Littlest Rebel: Shirley Temple's father a rebel officer sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his family and is arrested. How
Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is usually a mild-mannered, non-confrontational guy. But after an altercation aboard an airplane, he is remanded to the care of an unconventional anger management therapist, Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson).
1969. San Francisco. Sexual Anarchy! Emerging at the end of the `60s The Cockettes were a theatrical troupe of assorted hippies drag queens and gay men who embraced the new drug-fuelled anti-establishment counterculture in San Francisco. Founded by the flamboyant `Hibiscus' they started out by doing improv musicals before the midnight film at the Palace Theatre. As their popularity grew so did the number of performers and the flamboyance of the events which continued into th
Elephants tigers dancing bears and even a boxing kangaroo join the jugglers high-flying trapeze artists and fire dancers from some of Europe's top circuses. Guest ringmasters include: Tony Randall Woody Allen Merv Griffin Trini Lopez Jimmy Dean and Allen Silverman. Includes: Disc 1: 1. Host Tony Randall - Fire Dancers Tight Rope Magic Act International Dancing Polar Bears Archery 2. Host Merv Griffin - Elephants Trapeze Artists Marching Band Jugglers Gymnasts 3. Host Trini Lopez - Mattress Diver Magic Act Lion Tamer Ladder Gymnasts Comedy Act Acrobats Disc 2: 1. Host Allen Sherman - Acrobats Tiger Tamer Trapeze Artists Marching Band Comedy Act Moni the Elephant Fire Breather 2. Host Jimmy Dean - Tight Rope Clown Lion Tamer Marching Band Fire Dancing Trapeze Comedy Act 3. Host Woody Allen - Woody Boxing A Kangaroo International Dancing Extraordinary Dog Trainer Trapeze Artists Marching Band Magic Act Motorcycle Riders Disc 3: 1. Host Jack Carter - Fire Diver Swinging Acrobats Lion Tamer Balancing Gymnast Duo Indian Dancer 2. Host Bill Dana - Acrobats Bear Tamer Marching Band Contortionist Rope Climber Comedy Act 3. Host Tony Randall - Dancers Elephants Tight Rope Walkers Trapeze Artists Marching Band Magic Act High Wire Act Strong Man
An easygoing British Corporal (John Mills) in France finds himself responsible for the lives of his men when their officer is killed. He has to get them back to Britain somehow. Meanwhile British civilians are being dragged into the war with Operation Dynamo the scheme to get the French and British forces back from the Dunkirk beaches. Some come forward to help others are less willing...
Eileen is a mother of two children, who are both about to fly the nest. A new relationship suddenly comes into her life, and briefly she blooms. However Bill the new boyfriend, a pot smoking ex-cricketer has his own problems.Their fling opens the door to insecurity and paranoia for Eileen and she lapses back to her troubled past and starts to unravel.This touching film treads between darkness, humour and pathos as it follows Eileen attempts to reunite her family and get her life back on track.
On a dark, stormy night in 1770, a ship crashes on the treacherous rocks of Dead Eye. It has been lured to its doom by the deceiving light of the Wreckers of Thriabbas, who make a living from the loot of 'organised' disaster. But this time, there is a survivor: a young Persian girl who has witnessed the Wreckers' crime - and must be silenced. Only a handful of villagers, led by a retired sea captain, dare stand against the gang; they must reach the girl first, and put an end to the Wreckers' evil practice... It's high adventure all the way in this lavishly authentic drama series for children, as plots and counter-plots, double-dealing and desperate chases play out in the shadow of the gibbet. Wreckers at Dead Eye first screened in 1970 and is available here for the first time.
Lover Come Back: Jerry Webster (Hudson) and Carol Templeton (Day) are rival Madison Avenue advertising executives who each dislike each other's methods. After he steals a client out from under her cute little nose revenge prompts her to infiltrate his secret VIP campaign in order to persuade the mystery product's scientist to switch to her firm. Trouble is the product is phony and the scientist is Jerry who uses all his intelligence and charm to steal her heart! (Dir. Delbert Mann 1961) Pillow Talk: Day is an uptight interior decorator forced to share a party line with an amorous playboy who ties up the line with his exploits while she is trying to conduct business. When the two accidentally meet he's taken with her beauty and pretending to be a wealthy Texan begins to court her mercilessly. Though flattered by this stranger's attention it's not long before she discovers his true identity. Now it's her turn to have a little fun...at his expense! (Dir. Michael Gordon 1959) Send Me No Flowers: Rock is ready to make love yesterday tomorrow and especially to Day (Doris that is!) When he overhears a doctor discussing the imminent death of a patient hypochondriac George (Hudson) believes the doc is referring to him. Convinced he's living on borrowed time George enlists the aid of his best friend Arnold (Randall) to find a new husband for his soon-to-be-widowed wife Judy (Day). Already alarmed by her husband's increasingly strange behavior Judy is even more bewildered when an old flame shows up George bends over backwards to encourage his advances! (Dir. Norman Jewison 1964)
An elite covert operations unit known as the Impossible Mission Taskforce (IMF) carries out highly sensitive missions subject to official denial in the event of failure capture or death. Their mission should they choose to accept it is given by the unseen figure known only as the 'Secretary' who instructions are relaid on a tape guaranteed to self-destruct in five seconds... Episodes Comprise: 1. Pilot episode 2. Memory 3. Operation Rogosh 4. Old Man Out (Part 1) 5. Old Man Out (Part 2) 6. Odds On Evil 7. Wheels 8. The Ransom 9. A Spool There Was 10. The Carriers 11. Zubrovnik's Ghost 12. Fakeout 13. Elena 14. The Short Tail Spy 15. The Legacy 16. The Reluctant Dragon 17. The Frame 18. The Trial 19. The Diamond 20. The Legend 21. Snowball In Hell 22. The Confession 23. Action! 24. The Train 25. Shock 26. A Cube Of Sugar 27. The Traitor 28. The Psychic
A triple bill of Doris Day movies including Lover Come Back Send Me No Flowers and Pillow Talk. Lover Come Back: Jerry Webster (Hudson) and Carol Templeton (Day) are rival Madison Avenue advertising executives who each dislike each other's methods. After he steals a client out from under her cute little nose revenge prompts her to infiltrate his secret VIP campaign in order to persuade the mystery product's scientist to switch to her firm. Trouble is the product is phony and the scientist is Jerry who uses all his intelligence and charm to steal her heart! Send Me No Flowers: When he overhears a doctor discussing the imminent death of a patient hypochondriac George (Hudson) believes the doc is referring to him. Convinced he's living on borrowed time George enlists the aid of his best friend Arnold (Randall) to find a new husband for his soon-to-be-widowed wife Judy (Day). Already alarmed by her husband's increasingly strange behavior Judy is even more bewildered when an old flame shows up George bends over backwards to encourage his advances! Pillow Talk: Day is an uptight interior decorator forced to share a party line with an amorous playboy who ties up the line with his exploits while she is trying to conduct business. When the two accidentally meet he's taken with her beauty and pretending to be a wealthy Texan begins to court her mercilessly. Though flattered by this stranger's attention it's not long before she discovers his true identity. Now it's her turn to have a little fun...at his expense!
A man-about-town is implicated in the murder of a blonde from a discotheque and is forced by gangsters into posing for pornographic photographs.
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