Featured matches include: Triple H vs Cactus Jack Chris Jericho vs Chyna Hardy Boyz vs Dudley Boyz Includes the first ever Miss Rumble Swimsuit competition!
Even in the tiny genre of films based on songs, Convoy is a strange effort--CW McCall's 1977 CB radio-themed novelty hit was just a collection of trucker slang, but here it is gussied up by Sam Peckinpah (no less) as a big rig reprise of The Wild Bunch with Kris Kristofferson as trucker outlaw hero Rubber Duck and a wonderfully oversized Ernest Borgnine as "Dirty Lyle", the "bear" who hates "breakers" and finally decides to call in the National Guard to help him enforce traffic laws with machine guns. The plot is almost invisible, as Rubber Duck and his breaker buddies just up and decide to trundle their lorries across the Western States in a dash for Mexico (no one ever mentions delivering their loads to intended destinations) and becoming such a folk hero that the creepy governor (Seymour Cassell) tries to cash in. Kristofferson and Borgnine were old Peckinpah hands, as is heroine Ali MacGraw (a characterless photographer) and sidekick Burt Young ("Love Machine" aka "Pigpen"), and there's a lot of business about cops and outlaws who mirror each other, but the main attraction is the visuals--huge trucks rolling across desert roads in clouds of dust, police cars crashing through billboards, trucks demolishing a corrupt small town. There are traces of road-movie melancholia in the depressed cafes, jails and laybys where free spirits are broken, but it's still mostly a cash-in on Smokey and the Bandit with a few rags of poetry tossed into the mix. On the DVD: A letterboxed print, enhanced for 16x9, looks pretty good, with enough widescreen to get all the trucks into the image. But otherwise this is the sort of release that passes off "chapter search" and "multilingual menus" as extras, although there are basic filmographies for the principal and a poster/photo album. The mono soundtrack comes in English, French, Spanish and Italian. --Kim Newman
The Powerpuff Girls, Cartoon Network's animated trio of butt-kicking superheroines, make their big-screen debut in a film that will please fans of the TV series and animation fans young and old. The plot begins with the girls' creation at the hands of the kindly but naive Professor Utonium, who combined "sugar, spice and all things nice" to create three perfect little girls--practical Blossom, feisty Buttercup, and wussy Bubbles. Unfortunately, his ape assistant, Jojo, broke a bottle of the mysterious Chemical X in the lab and the girls' superpowers--as well as Jojo's--were born. After wrecking Townsville during a somewhat boisterous game of Tag, the girls are treated as outcasts by their fellow citizens and determine never to use their powers in public again--until they're confronted by Jojo and the girls find themselves called upon to foil his evil schemes and "save the world before bedtime". Though it takes a while to get going, The Powerpuff Girls is exciting enough to keep younger viewers engrossed while throwing in a few--though not really enough--monkey-related in-jokes to get the adults chortling once in a while. The heavily stylised pastel colouring and frenetic pace of the animation, while distinctive, may be off-putting to people used to the more polished style of Disney, and some of the later scenes, full of screeching, sharp-toothed apes, may be upsetting to very young viewers. The film's ostensible message--"don't treat people badly just because they're different" seems to take a bit of a back seat too. Nevertheless, The Powerpuff Girls provides a solid 80 minutes of fun, despite lacking the mainstream appeal of the likes of Shrek or the Disney/Pixar movies. --Rikki Price
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
This acclaimed movie examines the explosion of the West Coast rap scene and features the very cream of the West Coast rap fraternity. Featuring never before seen live performances from the likes of Tu-Pac and Ice Cube and exclusive full-length videos from Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre. West Coast Rap has become the dominant form of music in America. It has grown from the mean streets of Compton South Central and Long Beach... to the main streets of middle America and beyond. 'Tha Westside'
1942: British soldier Jack Celliers (David Bowie) arrives at a Japanese POW camp run by the disciplinarian Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) who believes the prisoners are cowards because they have chosen to surrender instead of honourably committing seppuku (ritual suicide). When Yonoi meets Celliers he believes he is an evil spirit and a battle of wills begins between the two men.... This is not your average war movie and the performances by Bowie Sakamoto Tom Conti (who plays Mr Lawr
Killer sharks and human jellyfish and living mummies, oh my! Arrow Video is proud to present the first ever collection of works by William Wild Bill Grefé, the maverick filmmaker who braved the deep, dark depths of the Florida everglades to deliver some of the most outrageous exploitation fare ever to go-go dance its way across drive-in screens. Bringing together seven of Grefé's most outlandish films, plus a feature length documentary on the filmmaker's career, He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection packs in a macabre menagerie of demented jellyfish men (Sting of Death), zombified witch doctors (Death Curse of Tartu), homicidal hippies (The Hooked Generation) and seductive matrons (The Naked Zoo) not to mention the ubiquitous go-go dancing to create one of the most wildly entertaining box-sets of all time! Special Features Seven William Grefé films, all newly restored from the best surviving film elements: Sting of Death (1966), Death Curse of Tartu (1966), The Hooked Generation (1968), The Psychedelic Priest (1971), The Naked Zoo (1971), Mako: Jaws of Death (1976) and Whiskey Mountain (1977) Brand new, extended version of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures' definitive documentary They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations on 4 Blu-ray discs Original uncompressed mono audio for all films Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Reversible sleeves featuring newly commissioned artwork for each of the films by The Twins of Evil STING OF DEATH (1966) + DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (1966): Brand new introductions to the films by director William Grefé Archival audio commentaries for both films with William Grefé and filmmaker Frank Henenlotter Beyond the Movie: Monsters a-Go Go! a look into the history of rock 'n' roll monster movies with author/historian C. Courtney Joyner The Curious Case of Dr. Traboh: Spook Show Extraordinaire a ghoulish look into the early spook show days with monster maker Doug Hobart Original Trailers THE HOOKED GENERATION (1968) + THE PSYCHEDELIC PRIEST (1971): Brand new introductions to the films by director William Grefé Archival audio commentaries for both films with director William Grefé and filmmaker Frank Henenlotter Beyond the Movie: Thet's Drugsploitation! - a look inside the counter culture films that inspired The Hooked Generation with author/film historian Chris Poggiali Beyond the Movie: The Ultimate Road Trip - the story behind The Psychedelic Priest with Chris Poggiali The Hooked Generation behind-the-scenes footage The Hooked Generation Still Gallery THE NAKED ZOO (1971) + MAKO: JAWS OF DEATH (1976): Brand new introductions to the films by director William Grefé Brand new audio commentaries for both film with William Grefé William Grefé's original 92-minute Director's Cut of The Naked Zoo, painstakingly reassembled from various source materials Alternate version of The Naked Zoo, as reedited by its original theatrical distributor, featruring added gratuitous nudity and a performance by blues-rockers Canned Heat - 100% non-director approved! Beyond the Movie: That's Sharksploitation! - a deep dive into the history of shark films with author/film journalist Michael Gingold The Aquamaid Speaks! - a brand new audio interview with Mako actress Jenifer Bishop Sharks, Stalkers, and Sasquatch - a brand new audio interview with Mako writer Robert Morgan Mako Super-8 Digest Version Mako Original Trailers and Promos Stills Galleries WHISKEY MOUNTAIN (1977) + THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP: EXTENDED CUT (2020): Brand new extended cut of They Came from the Swamp: The Films of William Grefé Brand new introduction with William Grefé for Whiskey Mountain Brand new audio commentary for Whiskey Mountain with director William Grefé The Crown Jewels - featurette on independent film studio and distribution company Crown International Pictures William Grefé Short - Bacardi and Coke Bonanza (1981) On Location in Miami - an archival tour of filming locations with director William Grefé Whiskey Mountain Trailer and Promo Gallery They Came from the Swamp deleted scenes Bonus Exploitation Trailer Gallery
While other films directed by Nicolas Roeg have attained similar cult status (including Walkabout and Don't Look Now), none has been as hotly debated as this languid but oddly fascinating adaptation of the science fiction novel by Walter Tevis. In The Man Who Fell to Earth, David Bowie plays the alien of the title, who arrives on Earth with hopes of finding a way to save his own planet from turning into an arid wasteland. He funds this effort by capitalising on several highly lucrative inventions, and in so doing becomes the powerful leader of an international corporate conglomerate. But his success has negative consequences as well--his contact with Earth has a disintegrating effect that sends him into a tailspin of disorientation and metaphysical despair. The sexual attention of a cheerful young woman (Candy Clark) doesn't do much to change his outlook, and his introduction to liquor proves even more devastating, until, finally, it looks as though his visit to Earth may be a permanent one. The Man Who Fell to Earth is definitely not for every taste--it's a highly contemplative, primarily visual experience that Roeg directs as an abstract treatise on (among other things) the alienating effects of an over-commercialised society. Stimulating and hypnotic or frightfully dull, depending on your receptivity to its loosely knit ideas, it's at least in part about not belonging, about being disconnected from the world--about being a stranger in a strange land when there's really no place like home. --Jeff Shannon.
Before James Bond there was Dick Barton: Special Agent! Between 1946 and 1951 Dick Barton's thrilling nightly adventures on the BBC's Light Programme attracted a record-breaking 15 million listeners and enthralled an entire nation. The serial proved so popular that it spun off into three hugely successful feature films from the fledgling Hammer Films. While virtually all the original BBC radio shows have been lost these three Hammer feature films still survive and a
Available for the first time on DVD! Two totally untalented song-writers are advised by their agent to get away....as far away....as possible. Upon their arrival in Morocco they are separately recruited as spies for opposing sides of a planned revolution while simultaneously vying for the attentions of an attractive left-wing revolutionary. Based on an idea by Elaine May.
One of the most controversial movies of its time this ""thought-provoking"" (Leonard Maltin) comedy-drama from legendary director Mike Nichols is a funny yet poignant look at relationships as seen through the eyes of two friends over a 20-year period. Superbly crafted by playwright Jules Feiffer Carnal Knowledge is brimming with touching insights sexy banter and powerful performances by three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson Ann-Margaret Candice Bergen and pop music icon Arthur Gar
Sloan is back.... Sasha Mitchell triumphantly returns to the ring as David Sloan fighting not just for his survival but for his beautiful wife who has become the sexual captive of the despicable world champion Tong Po. Framed forgotten and furious Sloan has been wasting away in prison but the Feds agree to release him if he will lead them inside Tong Po's impenetrable Mexican fortress protected by its deadly guards and adorned by its sexual slaves. Sloan reluctantly teams up
A highly unusual war movie with as many detractors as fans, this first English-language feature directed by Nagisa Oshima (In the Realm of the Senses) stars David Bowie as a silent, ethereal POW in a Japanese camp. In the face of the camp's brutal conditions and treatment of prisoners, Bowie's character earns the respect of the camp commandant (played by Japanese pop star Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also wrote the score) through his own enigmatic rebellion. While the two seem locked in an unspoken, spiritual understanding, another prisoner (Tom Conti) engages in a more conventional resistance against a monstrous sergeant (Takeshi). The film has a way of evoking as many questions as certainties, and it is not always easy to understand the internal logic of the characters' actions. But that's generally true of Oshima's movies, in which the power of certain relationships is almost hallucinatory in self-referential intensity. The cast is outstanding, and Bowie is particularly fascinating in his alien way. --Tom Keogh
Lucky Dog: Stan befriends a stray dog and Oliver Hardy takes a liking to Stan's wallet. After causing so much chaos Stan's only option is to get rid of the dog. Just in time the dog comes up trumps saves the day and teaches the villain Hardy a lesson too. The Stolen Jools: A famous actress has her jewels stolen. Everyone from the police to the mob want to know the identity of the theif and almost everyone is under suspicion. A star studded cast of the most promi
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? sees a change of direction for Robert Aldrich's unofficial trilogy which all involve "ageing actresses" in macabre thrillers (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte). The busy Aldrich only produced What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, calling in TV director Lee H Katzin (a Mission: Impossible regular) to handle the megaphone. Aldrich also opted to shoot the film in pastel colours appropriate to the unusual Arizona desert setting rather than the gothic black and white of the earlier films. The film cast the less iconic Geraldine Page as the genteelly unpleasant Mrs Clare Marrable. Left apparently penniless by her departed husband, Mrs M opts to keep up appearances by hiring a succession of timid elderly housekeepers, bossing them around with well-spoken nastiness, duping them out of their life savings and, on the pretence of getting help with a midnight tree-planting program, lures them into their own graves, batters them to death and plants lovely pines over them. Page gets her own way with the meek likes of Mildred Dunnock, until the feistier, red-wigged R!uth Gordon applies for the job and gets down to amateur sleuthing. While Bette Davis and her partners went wildly over the top in previous films, Page and Gordon play more subtly, finding odd pathetic moments in between the monstrous, irony-laced horror stuff. The supporting cast of pretty or handsome young things, mostly putty in the hands of the manipulative Page, contribute striking little cameos (Rosemary Forsyth sports a pleasing 1969 hairdo as the kindly but intimidated neighbour), but the film belongs to its leading ladies, delivering a fine line in twist-packed cat-and-mouse theatrics. The video is handsomely letterboxed, as befits a film made before widescreen films were shot with all the action in the middle of the frame to facilitate television sales. --Kim Newman
Carnal Knowledge: One of the most controversial movies of its time this thought-provoking (Leonard Maltin) comedy-drama from legendary director Mike Nichols is a funny yet poignant look at relationships as seen through the eyes of two friends over a 20-year period. Superbly crafted by playwright Jules Feiffer Carnal Knowledge is brimming with touching insights sexy banter and powerful performances by three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson Ann-Margaret Candice Bergen and pop music icon Arthur Garfunkel. Jonathan (Nicholson) and Sandy (Garfunkel) are college roommates who share an endless fascination - and obsession - with women. As time goes by their relentless pursuit for the joys of the flesh becomes more competitive. And more damaging. Soon Jonathan and Sandy's lives become a vicious circle of girls booze and unfulfillment and they realize only too late that in the war of the sexes they are their own worst enemy... The Graduate: In his first major film role Dustin Hoffman plays an ultra-na''ve college graduate who's seduced by a middle-aged woman played by the scintillating Anne Bancroft and then falls in love with her daughter. With the sharpest of scripts and a perfect soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel this film was deservedly nominated for 6 Oscars and won Nichols an Academy Award for Best Director. The Elephant Man: David Lynch creator of Twin Peaks and acclaimed director of 'Eraserhead' 'Blue Velvet' and 'Wild At Heart' directs this bizarre but true story of courage and human dignity. John Hurt gives the performance of a lifetime as John Merrick the worst freak known to Victorian medical science a man whose body is hideously distorted into a grotesque parody of an elephant. Rescued from a travelling freak show by Sir Frederick Treves Merrick gradually reveals himself to be a strangely sweet and gentle man remarkably unembittered by the degradation and torment he suffered at the circus. Beautifully shot by Freddie Francis and with an excellent supporting cast including Sir John Gielgud Anne Bancroft and Dame Wendy Hiller 'The Elephant Man' is a compelling moving and enchanting story. The film was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture Best Director and Best Actor.
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