Limited edition 6 film box set
The fifth season was the last series of Ally McBeal, and probably the least satisfying. While always at least slightly entertaining, it was troubled by two conflicting imperatives: first, to steer its neurotic characters and multiplicity of sub-plots towards a coherent and credible resolution; second, to sustain another series of a programme which had, by now, exhausted all the plot possibilities that were remotely believable. The result is a bemusing onslaught of new characters (Ally's Mini-Me Jenny and a barely distinguishable phalanx of lantern-jawed male leads), celebrity cameos (Edna Everage, Christina Ricci, Barry White, Matthew Perry, Jon Bon Jovi), several storylines that would test the credulity of any of the curiously indulgent judges before whom Ally's firm practises (notably the arrival of a 10-year-old daughter that Ally didn't know she had) and one misbegotten attempt to anchor the programme to the real world (the "Nine One One" episode, an unwatchably mawkish allegory about the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States). Granted that Ally McBeal was never intended to be realistic drama, but when the programme spirals entirely off into the realms of the surreal, any possibility of the sort of identification with the characters on which the programme once relied is lost. Though not without its moments, the sudden redemption of Fish, always the best-written character, is deftly handled. Series Five will be of chief interest to adherents who stuck with it through the first four and so wanted to see how it all ends; in keeping with the central character's defining motifs of solipsism and self-pity, it does so with a whimper. On the DVD: Ally McBeal has episode selector on each disc, and a scene selector within each of those. The final disc contains two short and desultory documentaries on the series billed, somewhat hopefully, as "Special Features". A French audio soundtrack is available, as are subtitles in English, French and Dutch. -Andrew Mueller
Don Birnam long-time alcoholic has been ""on the wagon"" for ten days and seems to be over the worst; but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother Wick and girlfriend Helen he begins a four-day bender. In flashbacks we see past events all gone wrong because of the bottle. But this bout looks like being his last...one way or the other. Winner of 4 Oscars including Best Actor Best Screenplay Best Director and Best Film.
Two of the worlds finest actors Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep are brought together again in this touching romance about two people who are quite simply falling in love. Set against the backdrop of Manhattan New York City Frank and Molly are two commuters who literally bump into each other in a busy book store during the Christmas rush. Their parcels are sent scattering over the floor. Giggling they collect themselves and their shopping bags and reluctantly head their sep
Based on Neil Simon's own play, 1967's Barefoot in the Park is a perennially joyous film starring carefree Jane Fonda and staid lawyer Robert Redford as young newlyweds setting up home in Greenwich Village. Although the opening credits are fragrantly idyllic (aided by Neal Hefti's soundtrack, you can almost smell the blossom in Central Park), the film doesn't idealise apartment living in New York, à la Friends, far from it: Fonda and Redford's apartment is up several flights of stairs; there's a hole in the skylight and the bedroom is the size of a cupboard. All of this puts some strain on the marriage. When Fonda introduces fellow free spirit and ageing, behind-on-the-rent Lothario (Charles Boyer) to her somewhat inhibited mother (Mildred Natwick), the hapless Redford in particular is forced to come to terms with his own inhibitions. Although the second half of the film moves at a less cracking pace than the first, Barefoot in the Park is as exhilarating as a romantic weekend city break. Directo r Gene Saks, scriptwriter Neil Simon and composer Hefti would regroup in 1968 to make the similarly wonderful The Odd Couple. On the DVD: With the aid of filtering, the DVD recaptures the almost unreal colour quality common to films of this period, while the sound is faithful to the nuances of Hefti's soundtrack. The special features are miserly--subtitles, a choice of languages and the original trailer, though this at least conveys the engaging naiveté of the period--("The rarest, unsquarest, happiest motion picture in many a year!"). --David Stubbs
Like Merry Xmas and Happy New Year...They belong together! The Wild West has never been wilder - or funnier - than in this classic six-shootin' farce which introduced the Academy Award winning song ""Buttons and Bows."" In one of his most popular roles Bob Hope plays ""Painless"" Peter Potter a timid correspondence school dentist earninga shaky living in the lawless West. When ""Painless"" is seduced into agreeing to a quickie marriage by the voluptuous Jane Russell he thinks h
""Being a teenage girl is tough. Being an uncool 15 year old lesbian who's completely infatuated with the most outrageous and popular girl in school is downright unfair!"" - Maria Sweet Sugar Rush explores the world of Kim and her earth-shattering lust for the gorgeous and sassy Maria Sweet otherwise known as Sugar. And if Sugar wasn't enough to blow Kim's mind there's also her dysfunctional embarrassing family; a mini-freak for a brother an obsessively house-proud dad and a mum who's behaving as if she's the one who's 15 years old. 18 months on and Kim's now 17 out proud and living life to the full on the Brighton lesbian scene... in her dreams. In truth she's holed up in her bedroom with only her A-Level revision and an electric toothbrush for company. Her best friend Sugar isn't getting any action either but she's got a good excuse: she's serving time in a Young Offenders Institute!
Robbie The Reindeer Trilogy: The Whole Herd
Dark Passions explode in this steamy sinister love story starring Rachel Ward and Jeff Bridges. Terry Brogan (Bridges) a cynical ex-football star is hired to find Jessie Wyler (Ward) the runaway mistress of a ruthless LA nightclub owner Jake Wise (James Woods). According to Jake Jessie had stabbed him and vanishes with $50 000. But Terry's mission is soon forgotten when he tracks down and falls in love with the beautiful Jessie on a Mexican Island. Trouble brews however when Jake dispatches his henchman Hank Sully (Alex Karras) to bring the lovers back. Driven by passion for the mysterious young woman. Terry quickly finds himself trapped in a complex web of corruption betrayal and murder. Packed with riveting excitement and vivid sensuality. Against All Odds grabs you and never lets go.
Meet Frankenstein: The world of freight handlers Wilbur Grey and Chick Young is turned upside down when the remains of Frankenstein's monster and Dracula arrive from Europe to be used in a house of horrors. Dracula awakens and escapes with the weakened monster who he plans to re-energize with a new brain. Larry Talbot (the Wolfman) arrives from London in an attempt to thwart Dracula. Dracula's reluctant aide is the beautiful Dr. Sandra Mornay. Her reluctance is dispatched by Dracula's bite. Dracula and Sandra abduct Wilbur for his brain and recharge the monster in preparation for the operation. Chick and Talbot attempt to find and free Wilbur but when the full moon rises all hell breaks loose with the Wolfman Dracula and Frankenstein all running rampant. Meet The Mummy: In Egypt Peter and Freddie find the archaeologist Dr. Zoomer murdered before they can return to America. A medallion leads them to a crypt where a revived mummy provides the terror.
Emmy'' Award-winner Kelsey Grammer is Frasier - the hilarious psychiatrist first seen on TV's Cheers and subsequently the star of this smash-hit comedy series. In Season 8 wedding bells chime a sour note when Daphne (Jane Leeves) flees her marriage ceremony to run off with Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and the two lovebirds - as well as a hapless Frasier - ultimately find themselves embroiled in a lawsuit as a result of the marital mayhem! Frasier also seeks the wisdom and advice of an old college professor whom Frasier drafts as his professional mentor. And new-puppy training quickly goes to the dogs when Roz (Peri Gilpin) brings home a new Dalmatian and Martin (John Mahoney) takes command as the puppy's official trainer. It's 22 cupfuls of Seattle's funniest most flavorful blend - Frasier: The Complete Eighth Season!
A collection of the festive episodes featuring Emmy Award-winner Kelsey Grammer as Frasier - the hilarious psychiatrist first seen on TV's Cheers and subsequently the star of this smash-hit comedy series.
June Barry, Patricia Routledge, John Barrie and Michael Caine (on the cusp of stardom with Zulu and Alfie) star in this acclaimed adaptation of Harold Brighouse s celebrated play, originally screened as part of the prestigious Play of the Week strand in 1962. Maggie Hobson decides to marry Willie Mossop, the gifted but underpaid boot-maker in her father s shop. Despite Willie s objections, they marry and set up for themselves and, within just one year, take almost all of Henry Hobson s trade. Hobson a heavy drinker is told by his doctor that one of his daughters must return home to look after him but they all refuse apart from Maggie who, seeing her chance, agrees to help but on one condition: Willie is to take over the business, with Hobson relegated to the position of a sleeping partner with no say in the running of the shop....
The infant daughter of Jack the Ripper is witness to the brutal murder of her mother by her father's hand. Later as a troubled young woman she is seemingly possessed by the spirit of her father and while in a trance she continues his murderous killing spree but has no recollection of the events afterwards. A sympathetic psychiatrist takes her in and is convinced he can cure her condition. Soon however he regrets his decision...
The most popular movie in the "classic Trek" series of feature films, Star Trek IV was a box-office smash that satisfied mainstream audiences and hardcore fans alike. The Voyage Home returns to one of the favourite themes of the original TV series--time travel--to bring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov from the 23rd century to present-day (ie, mid-1980s) San Francisco. In their own time, the Starfleet heroes encounter an alien probe emitting a mysterious message--a message delivered in the song of the now-extinct Earth species of humpback whales. Failure to respond to the probe will result in Earth's destruction, so Kirk and company time-travel to 20th-century Earth--in their captured Klingon starship--to transport a humpback whale to the future in an effort to communicate peacefully with the alien probe. The plot sounds somewhat absurd in description, but as executed by returning director Leonard Nimoy, this turned out to be a crowd-pleasing adventure, filled with a great deal of humour derived from the clash of future heroes and contemporary urban realities, and much lively interaction among the favourite Trek characters. Catherine Hicks plays the 20th-century whale expert who is finally convinced of Kirk's and Spock's benevolent intentions. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Nowadays, the word "event" is thrown around all too often when describing television programmes, but back in 1983 the debut of V: The Mini Series was a television event in the truest sense. The appearance of gigantic flying saucers over the world's largest cities heralds the arrival of aliens from a distant galaxy who look human and act benevolently. Of course, things aren't exactly what they seem, and when some suspicious humans start to question the visitors' intentions they uncover a vast alien conspiracy, along with some unusual culinary habits. Soon, the visitors have enslaved the Earth under their fascist rule, and small groups of human rebels are forced underground to fight for the freedom of their entire species. But with the future of the planet still in question the epic story comes to an abrupt end, forcing the viewer to wait for the resolution in V: The Final Battle and the on-going series. That's not to say that the original V isn't worth the price of admission: in over three hours, it manages to capture the spirit of the great classic science fiction of the 1950s and 60s. The feeling of paranoia and insecurity that runs throughout the whole thing makes it feel, at times, like an expanded episode of The Twilight Zone, only shinier (hey, it was the 1980s). The special effects were impressive for their day, inspiring similarly themed films in the 90s (the gigantic flying saucers were seen again in Independence Day, and the storage area of the mothership turns up in The X Files Movie and The Matrix). What does irritate, however, is the utter lack of subtlety in the allegorical storyline. In fact, it could only have been made more obvious by demanding that the entire cast wear "This is how it was in 1930s' Germany" t-shirts. But if V occasionally doesn't live up to its own high standards, it's still a remarkably high-quality slice of epic television drama. On the DVD: The picture is an impressive widescreen 1.85:1 ratio and the soundtrack is adequate Dolby stereo. The DVD boasts a feature-length commentary by writer and director Kenneth Johnson, as well as a 25-minute "Behind the Scenes" documentary. --Robert Burrow
In 1979 The China Syndrome was the movie everyone was talking about thanks to the enormous publicity generated by the real-life Three Mile Island accident that not only mirrored the events depicted in the film but occurred just twelve days after the movie's release. Nominated for four Academy Awards - Best Actor (Lemmon) Best Actress (Fonda) Best Original Screenplay Best Art Direction The CHina Syndrome remains ""as explosive as the metaphor of its title"" (Los Angeles Herald Exa
Queen Latifah plays a shy cookware salesperson who throws caution to the wind when she learns her days are numbered.
Emmy Award-winner Kelsey Grammer is Frasier - the hilarious psychiatrist first seen on TV's Cheers and subsequently the star of this smash-hit comedy series. In Season 8 wedding bells chime a sour note when Daphne (Jane Leeves) flees her marriage ceremony to run off with Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and the two lovebirds - as well as a hapless Frasier - ultimately find themselves embroiled in a lawsuit as a result of the marital mayhem! Frasier also seeks the wisdom and advice of an old college professor whom Frasier drafts as his ""professional mentor."" And new-puppy training quickly goes to the dogs when Roz (Peri Gilpin) brings home a new Dalmatian and Martin (John Mahoney) takes command as the puppy's official trainer. It's 22 cupfuls of Seattle's funniest most flavorful blend - Frasier: The Complete Eighth Season!
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