A pair of society women dressed in all their finery stand in the middle of an abattoir, animal carcasses hanging behind them and blood splashed across the floor. Giggling and fidgeting, they drink their prescribed glass of ox blood. The startling, unreal image of high-society manners in the midst of gore and death pitches Jean Rollin's 1979 feature Fascination into a turn-of-the-century culture come unhinged. When a well-dressed rogue, fleeing from angry partners he double-crossed, takes refuge in a lavish, moat-protected mansion, servant girls Franca Mai and Brigitte Lahaie cajole, tease and seduce him into staying for their night-time soiree. "You have stumbled into Elizabeth and Eva's life, the universe of madness and death", mutters one of them as they await the cabal where he is the guest of honour. Shot on a starvation budget and populated with stiff performers, Rollin's direction is arch and at times sloppy and his story never more than an outline. It's the mix of dreamy and nightmarish imagery that gives Fascination its fascination: blonde Lahaie stalking victims with a scythe, the bourgeois blood cult swarming over a fresh victim like wild animals, alabaster faces streaked in blood. While it lacks the delirious spontaneity of his earlier vampire films Shiver of the Vampires and Requiem for a Vampire, the languid pace and austere beauty creates an often-mesmerising fantasy. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
Own Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning on limited edition steelbook with both the 2d and bone breaking real 3d version of the film. Action movie legends Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are back in full force, with world -renowned British martial arts star Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) in the most violent and thrilling Universal Soldier sequel yet. Forced into hiding, a rogue troop of UniSols have formed an underground militia of deadly warriors. Lead by the merciless Andrew Scott (Lundgren) and Luc Deveraux (Van Damme), their plan is to rage a war of total destruction. Only one man can stop them. Hell bent on revenge for the death of his family, John's (Adkins) on a mission to hunt down an d kill all UniSols, unless they find him first. *Please note that a 3d television is required in order to view Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning in stereoscopic 3d, and that stereoscopic 3d glasses are not included.
Brazil (Jean Claude Van Damme) is a contract killer willing to take any job if the price is right. Flint (Scott Adkins) left the assassin game when a ruthless drug dealer's brutal attack left his wife in a coma. When a contract is put out on the same cold-blooded drug dealer both Brazil and Flint want him dead - one for the money the other for revenge. With crooked Interpol agents and vicious members of the criminal underworld hot on their trail these two assassins reluctantly join forces to quickly take out their target before they themselves are terminated.
Director Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) and writer Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) adapted James M. Cain's hard-boiled novel into this wildly thrilling story of insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray), who schemes the perfect murder with the beautiful dame Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck: kill Dietrichson's husband and make off with the insurance money. But, of course, in these plots things never quite go as planned, and Barton Keyes (Edward G. Robinson) is the wily insurance investigator who must sort things out. From the opening scene you know Neff is doomed, as the story is told in flashback; yet, to the film's credit, this doesn't diminish any of the tension of the movie. This early film noir flick is wonderfully campy by today's standards, and the dialogue is snappy ("I thought you were smarter than the rest, Walter. But I was wrong. You're not smarter, just a little taller"), filled with lots of "dame"s and "baby"s. Stanwyck is the ultimate femme fatale, and MacMurray, despite a career largely defined by roles as a softy (notably in the TV series My Three Sons and the movie The Shaggy Dog), is convincingly cast against type as the hapless, love-struck sap. --Jenny Brown
INCLUDES ALL 86 EPISODES FROM SERIES 1-8 OF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FRENCH POLICE DRAMA. Powerful performances, utterly believable characters and gripping plotlines have made cult viewing of this gritty, brutal, crime drama set on the mean streets of Paris. Subtitled and known as 'Engrenages' in France. No-nonsense and doggedly determined Police Captain Laure Berthaud leads her lieutenants, Gilou and Tintin, in their investigations into serious crime. But they must also battle the investigating magistrates in their department; the cool and clinical Judge François Roban, the handsome young Deputy Prosecutor, Pierre Clément and the ambitious police-hating lawyer, Joséphine Karlsson. A thriller, this is French justice in all its cynical, corrupt, backstabbing glory, where the good guys - cops, lawyers and judges - are deeply flawed and the criminals are vicious and irredeemable. As they take on corruption, murder, sex trafficking, arms dealing, serial killers and terrorists, each episode draws you into a dark and sordid world of corruption, crime and an internecine legal system. It's a belter taut, intelligent and very adult Radio Times It just gets better and better The Observer Darker and more twisted than The Wire The Guardian BAFTA-nominated French crime drama for BBC Four, starring Caroline Proust, Philippe Duclos, Fred Bianconi, Thierry Godard, Audrey Fleurot, Louis-Do Lencquesaing, Valentin Merlet, Nicolas Briancon, Bruno Debrandt, Dominique Daguier, Tewfik Jallab and Isabel Aime Gonzalez. A Series Created By Alexandra Clert.
Step into the weird and wonderful world of Peter Strickland with this comprehensive, limited edition, 6 blu-ray disc collection boasting his complete feature filmography to date: Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric, Flux Gourmet, and Strickland's debut film, Katalin Varga, available on Blu-ray for the first time. Also included are more than a dozen short films spanning over 30 years of Strickland's filmmaking career, from his first forays into music videos to a brand-new short film exclusive to this collection. Many of these included shorts have never been seen before, and are newly restored, accompanied by a diary-like exploration featured in the editorial booklet, written by the director himself. Feature FilmsKatalin Varga (2009) Berberian Sound Studio (2012) The Duke of Burgundy (2014)In Fabric (2018) Flux Gourmet (2022)
It has not taken long for Without a Trace to emerge from the shadows of CSI and become a ratings force in its own right. Jerry Bruckheimer produced both series, and both feature the-face-is-familiar character actors with extensive and diverse resumes who have been catapulted to primetime stardom. Jack Malone, head of a crack FBI missing persons unit, is the Australian-born Anthony LaPaglia's breakout role after years of portraying enough Italian mobsters and criminals to populate a season of The Sopranos. LaPaglia was a surprise Golden Globe Award-winner for this inaugural season. Without a Trace is instantly arresting. "The clock is ticking" in each episode, as Malone and company race against time to find a missing person. "After 48 hours," Malone explains to the rookie member of the team in the series pilot, "they're gone." To solve each baffling case, Malone and fellow agents Samantha Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Vivian Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste of Secrets and Lies), Danny Taylor (Enrique Murciano), and new guy Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close), must work from the inside out. "Once we find out who she is," Malone says of one victim, "odds are we'll find out where she is." Among the inaugural season's most wrenching episodes are "Between the Cracks" and "Hang On to Me," both featuring Charles Dutton in his Emmy Award-winning performance as a father whose son has been missing for five years. The powerful season finale, "Fallout," presented in this four-disc set in a "creator's cut," concerns a man who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks. The riveting episodes mostly stand alone, but some cases do return to haunt Malone, as witness "In Extremis," a case that ends tragically and leads to an internal investigation that threatens to subvert the close-knit unit in the episode. "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?" Sharp writing, authentic procedurals, taut direction, and effective use of music make Without a Tracea series worth finding on DVD. --Donald Liebenson
Just the name "Orient Express" conjures up images of a bygone era. Add an all-star cast (including Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset and Lauren Bacall, to name a few) and Agatha Christie's delicious plot and how can you go wrong? Particularly if you add in Albert Finney as Christie's delightfully pernickety sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Someone has knocked off nasty Richard Widmark on this train trip and, to Poirot's puzzlement, everyone seems to have a motive--just the set-up for a terrific whodunit. Though it seems like an ensemble film, director Sidney Lumet gives each of his stars their own solo and each makes the most of it. Bergman went so far as to win an Oscar for her role. But the real scene-stealer is the ever-reliable Finney as the eccentric detective who never misses a trick. --Marshall Fine
Directed by Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) and featuring a powerful central performance from Moreau, Mademoiselle is a mesmerising psychological drama - an artistic and disturbing exploration of the darkest of carnal desires. A surpressed and sociopathic school teacher (Jeanne Moreau) unsuspectedly torments residents of a small French village with acts of violence and destruction. An erotic obsession with an ostracised outsider caused her behaviour to become yet more erratic but, as tensions in the community reach boiling point, will the villagers see beyond their prejudices? Special Features To Be Confirmed
A hit in Europe but a flop in the US--where it was trimmed, rescored, and given a new ending--Luc Besson's The Big Blue has endured as a minor cult classic for its gorgeous photography (both on land and underwater) and dreamy ambiance. Jean-Marc Barr is a sweet and sensitive but passive presence as Jacques, a diver with a unique connection to the sea. He has the astounding ability to slow his heartbeat and his circulation on deep dives, "a phenomenon that's only been observed in whales and dolphins until now," remarks one scientist. Kooky New York insurance adjuster Joanna (Rosanna Arquette at her most delightfully flustered and endearingly sexy best) melts after falling into his innocent baby blues, and she follows him to Italy, where he's continuing a lifelong competition with boyhood rival Enzo (Jean Reno in a performance both comic and touching). Besson's first English-language production looks more European than Hollywood, and it suffers from a tin ear for the language. At times it feels more like an IMAX undersea documentary than a drama about free divers, but the lush and lovely images create a fairy tale dimension to Jacques's story, a veritable Little Merman. More dolphin than man, he's so torn between earthly love and aquatic paradise that even his dreams call him to the sea (in a sequence more eloquent than any speech). Besson has expanded the film by 50 minutes for his director's cut, which adds little story but slows the contemplative pace until it practically floats in time, and has restored Eric Serra's synthesizer-heavy score, a slice of 1980s pop that at times borders on disco kitsch. Most importantly, he has restored his original ending, which echoes the fairy tale he tells Joanna earlier in the film and leaves the story floating in the inky blackness of ambiguity. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
A former editor of the ground-breaking magazine Cahiers du Cinema Eric Rohmer (1910-2010) became one of the leading figures of the French New Wave. Working well into his eighties his hugely influential body of work is celebrated for its originality economical visual style and witty and articulate dialogue. Rohmer's reputation was established with his ambitious 'Moral Tales' series of films five of which are presented in this box set - each based around the theme of a man's sexual temptation. Includes Suzanne's Career The Girl at the Monceau Bakery La Collectioneuse My Night at Maud's Claire's Knee. Films Comprise: Suzanne's Career The Girl at the Monceau Bakery My Night at Maud's Claire's Knee La Collectioneuse
Of all the performances to emerge from Ireland in the past decade - in rock music theatre and film - nothing has carried the energy the sensuality and the spectacle of Riverdance. See Riverdance journey from its extraordinary beginnings at the Point Theatre Dublin with original stars Michael Flatley and Jean Butler through its phenomenal success in Radio City Music Hall New York to its latest live recording in Geneva. With an international cast fea
When 19-year-old Lucy arrives in Tuscany to spend the summer with her late Mother's free spirited Bohemian friends she soon finds herself in pursuit of an unfulfilled romance. Guided by the kindness and wisdon of Max Lucy finds herself battling with her emotions in a sensual adventure that leads to the ultimate enlightenment. From the director of 'The Last Emperor' Bernardo Bertolucci 'Stealing Beauty' explores one girl's intriguing journey into womanhood in a provacative story
This 1976 adventure story set in World War II concerns a Nazi plot to kidnap Churchill from his retreat--or murder him if need be. The large, great cast and a director, John Sturges, who's been down this road of ensemble action before (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape) make this project exciting if not as memorable as Sturges' more famous works. The weak ending doesn't help. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Based on real life experiences this is the powerful story of a disparate group of women whose lives are changed forever during their capture by the Japanese after the fall of Singapore in 1941. It is now 1942 and the women have been split into two groups to march to their new camp. Speculation is rife and despite the apparent luxury that awaits them in the new camp, unimaginable hardships are not far away and only the very strongest will survive. This four disc set contains all ten episodes from Series Two of the classic BBC series. Special Features: The Tenko Story Cast Filmographies Subtitles
Although made in 1956, A Town Like Alice has remained enduringly effective and affecting. Based on Nevil Shute's novel the story revolves around a romance set against the unlikely backdrop of a forced march through the jungles of Malaysia by British prisoners--mostly women and children--captured by the invading forces of Japan. The title is a reference to the homesick yearnings of Australian soldier Joe Harman, played by Peter Finch. He forms a bond with one of the female prisoners, Jean Paget (Virginia McKenna), and their travails are depicted with a remarkable subtlety and commendable lack of corniness. It's a minor classic. On the DVD: The black-and-white picture is presented in 4:3 format, with English subtitles if required. Extra features include a 25-minute "making of" documentary, a collection of behind-the-scenes photographs, potted biographies of the cast and crew and the original trailer. --Andrew Mueller
In a rare on-screen appearance Kelly McGillis stars in her most provocative and daring role to date as a bisexual married woman drawn into a torrid lesbian love affair with a private investigator searching for the murderer of a young woman. Susie Porter last seen in Better Than Sex plays the private eye who willingly at first dives into a world of murder and manipulation only to be consumed by the ever-enthralling power of sex. Suspenseful hard-edged and entirely lustful 'The
The Libertine is a euro-cult gem, a romantic sex comedy with a light S&M twist. When Mimi (Catherine Spaak, The Cat O Nine Tails, 1971) discovers her late husband s secret bachelor pad and sordid past, she sets out on a sexual adventure all of her own. From bored housewife to daring dominatrix, through a series of bold sexual encounters, each one more thrilling than the next, Mimi finds life as a widow much more than she could have ever hoped for. But when she meets Dr. Carlo De Marchi (Jean-Louis Trintignant, The Conformist, 1970) she discovers that the road to true love lies in finding a man who will willingly let her ride him around like a horse. Spaak s third film for director Campanile is a beautiful ode to sixties pop culture, free love, and fetish. Now restored by Nucleus Films for its worldwide premiere to Blu-ray. Blu-Ray Special Features Uncensored Italian Version Alternate American Theatrical Release Italian and English Audio Options Optional Subtitles + SDH Audio Commentary with Author, Editor and Critic Kat Ellinger Trovajoli Postlude Lovey Jon on Composer Armando Trovajoli Fantasy, Futurism and Frivolity: Production Design in Pasquale Festa Campanile s The Libertine, a Visual Essay by Rachael Nisbet Outtakes and Alternate Footage Alternate English and French Credits Original Censor Cuts Extensive Image Gallery Audubon Films Poster Gallery Japanese Promo Videos American, Italian and French Theatrical Trailers
American Indians were "cool" in 1970, the year A Man Called Horse made its vigorous, feverishly real, and occasionally shocking debut alongside Little Big Man and Soldier Blue. Unlike the latter two films, however, Horse is less an allegory for Vietnam-era America and more of a vision quest for historical identity. In one of his defining roles, Richard Harris plays an English aristocrat captured by Dakota Sioux in 1825. Over time, he adopts their way of life and eventually becomes tribal leader--but not before undergoing savage initiation rituals, the most famous of which involves being suspended by blades inserted beneath Harris's pectoral muscles. Horse looks clunky, quaint, and inadvertently demeaning in some respects today, but the film's Native-American milieu is at least defined on its own terms, making no concessions to familiar Western conventions. The real draw is Harris, whose performance has a soulful integrity. --Tom Keogh
Malotru , a French intelligence officer, undercover in Syria for 6 years, is called back home. He will face the difficulty to forget his undercover identity, the disappearance of a colleague in Algeria, and the training of a young girl.
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