Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) directs the screen adaptation of Terence McNally's play Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune, the story of a short-order cook (Al Pacino) who drives a waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) crazy with his adamant courtship and mixed messages. The film is okay and not much more than that, the major stumbling block being Marshall's failure to scrub away enough star veneer on Pacino and Pfeiffer to accept them as minimum-wage drones with nowhere to go but toward each other. Fortunately, Marshall's feel for the texture offered by supporting players--Hector Elizondo as a café owner, Nathan Lane as Pfeiffer's inevitably gay neighbour-buddy, Kate Nelligan as another lonely waitress--keeps things interesting enough. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
THE PUNISHER Special agent Frank Castle (Tom Jane) lives the good life with a devoted family and a job he loves. But his world falls apart when his last assignment pits him against ruthless businessman Howard Saint (John Travolta). Seeking the revenge of his murdered family, Castle becomes a merciless vigilante hell bent on destroying Saint and his band of underworld assassins on his mission of redemption: vindicating the common man with a brand of justice the law cannot provide. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE Waging his one-man war on the world of organised crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on over-eager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the Punisher Task Force hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished. BONUS FEATURES: THE PUNISHER Audio Commentary by Director Jonathan Hensleigh Alternate Opening Sequence War Journal Behind-the-Scenes featurette on the Making of the Movie Drawing Blood Bradstreet Style featurette Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary Step Up Music Video performed by Drowning Pool PUNISHER: WAR ZONE The Making of Punisher: War Zone featurette Training for the Punisher featurette Weapons of the Punisher featurette Meet Jigsaw featurette Creating the Look of the Punisher featurette Audio Commentary with Director Lexi Alexander and Cinematographer Steve Gainer
Decades after the first, fateful encounters between elite American forces and the extra-terrestrial Predators who hunt humans for honour and sport, Special Forces Captain Quinn McKenna (Boyd Holbrook) encounters a Predator marooned in the Mexican wilderness. But soon after the captive Predator becomes the centrepiece of a top-secret study under evolutionary biologist Casey Brackett (Olivia Munn), a deadly new breed of Predator arrives on Earth, with plans that could threaten the entire planet's future. Now Brackett, McKenna, his son, and a squad of military misfits have to band together to fend off both the alien threat and a human conspiracy - making surprising allies in the process.
Tunnel Rats
The mystical tale of a World War One veteran (Matt Damon) and championship golfer who returns to his sport with the aid of his caddy (Will Smith) who teaches him how to master any challenge in life.
A star-studded cast heads this Agatha Christie story of one man's efforts to fathom the mysterious death at a resort hotel in the Mediterranean. Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. Also stars Jane Birkin, Diana Rigg and Maggie Smith. EXTRAS: Making Of Interview with costume designer Anthony Powell Interview with writer Barry Sandler Interview with producer Richard Goodwin Behind the scenes stills gallery Costume designs stills gallery
If the concept of a TV drama set in a woman's prison was one potentially fraught with cliché, the critical and commercial success of Bad Girls is a testament to fine writing, performance and production. With no preamble or scene setting, Series 1 immediately plunges the viewer into the world of Larkhall Prison, its inmates and staff. This approach leaves the characters to reveal themselves at varying pace, with each episode bringing new details about their life on the outside. Given the nature of the setting, it is unsurprising that the show is an ensemble, female-dominated piece. Simone Lahbib, Mandana Jones and Debra Stephenson are all excellent in the three key roles, with impressive support throughout the cast. Male characters are generally relegated to the sidelines, with the exception of sleazy warden Jim Fenner (played with skin crawling accuracy by Jack Ellis). The sexual realities of the environment are handled realistically and sensitively, and not for nothing is the word "uncut" splashed across the cover: there are some quite disturbing scenes, especially in the earlier episodes. On the DVD: The DVD enhances the show's attempts to capture the atmosphere of prison, with sharp contrast between light and darkness and the constant barracking, cat-calling and snide asides sounding crisp, clear and suitably nasty. Of the impressive 70 minutes of extra features much will only be of real interest to absolute devotees. A documentary examining work on the forthcoming third series may go into admirable detail, but how much interest a costume truck can actually be is perhaps debatable. The footage itself is a little unpolished, but does provide the cast members with an opportunity to reveal themselves, as does the extensive interview section. Not only do the main actors give valuable insights into their characters, but it is also interesting to see how the process has influenced their opinions on the prison system. A feature on a book signing in London certainly puts the show into an audience context, but the collection of outtakes (presented in a, supposedly intentionally, amateurish and tacky manner by Lahbib) is at best superfluous. There is more than a hint of trying to find material to fill the space, but overall this is an impressive effort. --Phil Udell
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Anita Loos' old story from the 1920s about a pair of single women in search of husbands, gets a makeover in Howard Hawks' 1953 musical. The remake stars Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe as two friends who go to Paris looking for mates. The film is charged by Hawks's stylish snap, a famous set piece or two (Monroe descending that staircase while singing "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"), Russell's wit and songs by Leo Robin and Jule Styne. The film may largely be a fluff project best remembered as a showcase for its leading actresses, but then Monroe and Russell rarely got such extended opportunities to prove that they were more than cinematic icons.--Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
In the Watergate Building lights go on and four burglars are caught in the act. That night triggered revelations that drove a U.S. President from office. Washington reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) grabbed the story and stayed with it through doubts denials and discouragement. The entire President's Men is their story. The film also explores a working newspaper where the mission is to get the story - and to get it right.
Ice Age (Dirs.Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha 2002): A star-studded cast provides the voices for the prehistoric creatures in this computer-animated feature set 20 000 years ago as the Ice Age approaches. Seemingly anti-social Manny a woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano) acts as if he just wants to be left alone. When he meets Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo) a sloth the two become unlikely traveling companions. The plot thickens when the duo finds a human infant and decides to try to return the child to its ""herd"". Manny slowly but surely reveals his heart of gold while Sid continues to provide comic relief. Diego (voiced by Denis Leary) a saber-tooth tiger with ulterior motives soon joins them in their search for the humans. Ultimately this group of misfits becomes its own herd learning about friendship and loyalty as they brave snow ice freezing temperatures predators hail and even boiling lava pits. All the while a saber-tooth squirrel Scrat provides comic relief as he valiantly struggles with an acorn. A well-written humorous script and endearing characters mesh well with the state-of-the-art technology and effects. Other stars lending their voices to the feature include Goran Visnjic Jack Black and Jane Krakowski. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (Dir. Carlos Saldanha 2006: Manny the woolly mammoth Sid the sloth Diego the saber-toothed tiger and the hapless prehistoric squirrel/rat known as Scrat: those sub-zero heroes are back! Manny may be ready to start a family but nobody has seen another mammoth for a long time; in fact Manny thinks he may be the last one. That is until he miraculously finds Ellie (voiced by Queen Latifah) the only female mammoth left in the world. Their only problem: they can't stand each other. Oh and Ellie somehow thinks she's a possum! Ellie comes with some excess baggage in the form of her two possum ""brothers"" Crash and Eddie (voiced by Seann William Scott and Josh Peck) a couple of daredevil pranksters and cocky loud-mouthed troublemakers. Manny Sid and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: a huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So our three heroes along with Ellie Crash and Eddie form the most unlikely family as they embark on a mission across an ever-changing increasingly dangerous landscape...
Brilliant Victorian aristocrat and scientist Sir Hugo Cunningham has a morbid fascination with photographing the dead. But when his son s death in a horrific boating accident is caught on film he discovers that a mysterious creature, the Asphyx, appears at the point of death to consume the soul. Sir Hugo theorises that if he can capture the creature when it appears and lock it away he can achieve immortality. Together with his soon to be son in-law Giles, Sir Hugo embarks on a dangerous and all-consuming quest to give his family eternal life - but as his obsession takes over and his experiments start to go wrong...
Season 1 The Expanse is a thriller set two hundred years in the future, after mankind has colonised the solar system. A hardened detective (Thomas Jane) and a rogue ship's captain (Steven Strait) come together for what starts as the case of a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history. Season 2 Hundreds of years in the future, humans have colonised the Solar System. The U.N. controls Earth. Mars is an independent military power. The planets reply on the resources of the Asteroid Belt, where air and water are more previous than gold. For decades, tensions have been rising between these three places. Earth, Mars and the Belt are now on the brink of war. And all it will take is a single spark. Enjoy all 13 episodes of THE EXPANSE: Season Two back-to-back and uninterrupted. Season 3 As the war between Earth and Mars ignites across the solar system, the terrifying next phase in the evolution of the protomolecule threatens the very existence of humanity. Caught in the middle, the Rocinante crew struggles to deal with tensions amongst themselves, while striving to survive and aid those in peril.
Steve Coogan (TV's Alan Partridge) stars in this comedy about a hapless parole officer who finds himself being set up by a crooked police chief. The only way out is to set up a heist, with help from some reluctant ex-cons.
"Gigantic" is a funny, surreal love story about the anxiety that comes along when two people with crazy families collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.
Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) an overweight middle aged woman is in a rut. Her husband Ed ignores her and even his bedridden aunt throws blunt objects at her! But a chance encounter with a spry octogenarian Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy) leads to an unexpected friendship. Ninny tells Evelyn an absorbing story of two very different women who lived half a century ago in the town of Whistle Stop Alabama: the irrepressibly dare devilish tomboy Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and the demure and good-hearted Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker). Together they ran the Whistle Stop Caf'' a railside eatery serving good old southern food as well as a good helping of friendship and laughter and even an occasional murder. The events of the past inspire Evelyn to make changes in her own dowdy life - the results are often hilarious in this endearing tale of friendship and courage. Sophie's Choice Meryl Streep plays Sophie Zawistowska in this penetrating drama set in 1947 post-World War II Brooklyn. Kevin Kline plays her all consuming lover Nathan. The story revolves around Sophie's struggle as a Polish-Catholic immigrant in the United States who had survived a Nazi concentration camp. The lovers' drama unfolds through the observations of a friend and would-be writer Stingo (Peter MacNicol). As the trio grows closer Stingo discovers the hidden truths that they each harbour resulting in a narrative that is both captivating and moving... On Golden Pond Family tensions explode for a loving couple Ethel and Norman Thayer (Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda in Academy Award winning performance) at their New England summer cabin on Golden Pond. Their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) has come to visit with her new lover Bill (Dabney Coleman) and his tough young son Billy (Doug McKeon). The three generations collide. But what begins as a stubborn battle of wills between Norman and Billy slowly turns into a relationship that Chelsea always wanted with her father and Norman discovers how much he has missed by denying his daughter's love.
Serge Gainsbourg's directorial debut.
Breathless, Jim McBride's 1983 remake of Au Bout de Souffle rewrites Godard's existential hipster as a vain, style-obsessed hood and in the process loses some of the point. Godard's hero was a translation and productive misunderstanding of a quintessentially American sort of delinquent; because it is a retranslation, Gere's intelligent, nervy performance as Jesse Lujack suffers by comparison, however admirable it is taken in itself. McBride's direction strokes Gere's face and body lovingly--his every foxy smile, or glance at himself in a mirror, is played for passionate significance. This is also a good-looking film: the back alleys of LA and sunset over the Mojave desert have rarely looked as good. Valerie Kaprisky's Monica is inevitably given secondary importance; the decision to make the woman who goes along with Jesse's wild final ride on a whim an exchange student makes her at once more and less like her equivalent in the Godard--she has a touching exoticism that is at the same time somehow beside the point. The DVD includes the original theatrical trailer. --Roz Kaveney
The very first episode of Midsomer Murders is based on the award winning Inspector Barnaby novels by Caroline Graham. An old lady witnesses a shocking event but before she can tell anyone what she has seen she dies from what seems to be natural causes. Her dearest friend drags the unwilling Inspector Barnaby into the case. He soon begins to see that certain things just don't add up then a second gruesome killing confirms his suspicions.
It's tough trying to beat the 1934 version of the popular adventure-romance story, starring Leslie Howard as the 18th-century British hero who poses as a fop in London society but runs a secret mission to rescue the doomed in Robespierre's Paris. But this 1982 television version, starring Anthony Andrews (Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited) as the Pimpernel and Jane Seymour as his beloved but estranged wife, is quite a treat. Andrews and Seymour expertly capture the essence of a relationship suffering from misunderstandings and elusive passion, and there is plenty of crackle to the action sequences. Clive Donner (What's New, Pussycat?) brings some strong cinematic qualities to this television presentation. --Tom Keogh
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