This gently satirical British comedy chronicles the quixotic reunion of a late, arguably not-so-great and unlamented 70s rock band, Strange Fruit, with a winning mix of humour and poignancy. The "Fruits", as the survivors call themselves without irony, had disbanded after the tragic loss of one member, the mysterious disappearance of another and the aftershocks of internal rivalries, but 20 years later they warily reassemble for a Dutch club tour, a warm-up for a proposed festival appearance. Between that seemingly hare-brained proposal and the fateful festival, director Brian Gibson, working from a sharp script by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, captures the absurdities of middle-aged rockers trying to recapture that lost cockiness.Breathing life into the band is a terrific cast, including Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy, each managing to juggle deft archetype with believable character traits: Spall's cheerfully crass, flatulent drummer and Nighy's preening, slow-witted lead singer exemplify the approach, grabbing chuckles yet making you actually care about them. Equally impressive is Billy Connolly as the wily roadie, Hughie, at once pragmatic and devoted to his charges. All are well-served by production details and script points that get the group's lost world of late 60s and early 70s rock exactly right, from costuming and stage moves to the long-forgotten bands they name-check--Blodwyn Pig, anybody?The band's music likewise benefits from inspired insiders, cowriters Mick Jones (Spooky Tooth, Foreigner) and Chris Difford (Squeeze), who hit a nifty combination of bombast (for the silly scenes) and earnestness. When Gibson and his cast risk the story's amiable glow on a darker, more dramatic final act, the music rises to the challenge and the whole project, like its fictional subject, achieves an unexpectedly touching victory. --Sam Sutherland
Friendship and compassion provide a memorable Easter celebration in Springtime with Roo. Roo's excitement on Easter morning is boundless, but when he, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore arrive at Rabbit's door for the big Easter egg hunt, Rabbit seems to have forgotten Easter and proclaims it "Spring Cleaning Day" instead. A dispirited Pooh and his gang quickly rally and decide to surprise Rabbit by putting up his Easter decorations. Rabbit is not at all happy with their efforts and furiously declares that Easter is cancelled. It turns out that everyone involved has been selfish in some degree by failing to consider the feelings and desires of one another. Can a little mutual understanding and caring salvage Easter for Roo, Rabbit, and the rest of the gang? --Tami Horiuchi
As seen on the BBC this is the concluding part of the last series made by the greatest steeplejack of our time. Fred Dibnah travels through Britain on his restored traction engine in search of engineering and mechanical skills of the past - an age when Britain was the 'workshop of the world'.
The 1976 Oscar winner for Best Picture, John G Avildsen's Rocky is the story of a down-and-out club fighter who gets his million-to-one shot at a world championship title. In the title role, Sylvester Stallone (who also penned the screenplay) draws a carefully etched portrait of a loser who, in Brando-esque fashion, "coulda been a contender". Rocky then becomes one thanks to a publicity stunt engineered by current champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), while finding love courtesy of timid wallflower Adrienne (Talia Shire) along the way. Burgess Meredith revives the spirit of 1940's genre pictures through his scenery-chewing performance as Rocky's trainer. An enormous entertainment, Rocky is irresistible in its depiction of an underachiever who has the courage to start all over again--a description that could have been applied to Stallone's own life at the time. --Kevin Mulhall
This is the special extended edition DVD release of Long Way Round. This 3 disc set compiles all 10 of the extended series episodes and contains a number of never before seen extras. One of the successes of 2004 Long Way Round tells the story of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's extraordinary journey around the world the ""Long Way Round"". Departing from London on 14th April 2004 the pair travelled through Europe Ukraine Russia Kazakhstan Mongolia Siberia Alaska C
Sienna Miller stars as '60s icon Edie Sedgwick in this Bohemian biopic.
The creator of Hamilton and the director of Crazy Rich Asians invite you to a cinematic event, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big. Lights up on Washington Heights. The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tightknit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life. In the Heights fuses LinManuel Miranda's kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu's lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.
Volumne seven of the british Transport Films includes such classics as The Finishing Line The Stone Carriers Inter-City 125 and Discover Britain by Train as well as rare gems such as Centenary Express and Old Sam the Signalman.
Lauded as the best show at the time, L.A. Law was created by Steven Bochco and David Kelly (Hill St Blues, NYPD Blue, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal) and starred Jimmy Smits and Harry Hamlin.Winner of 6 Emmy Awards, 5 Golden Globes and 7 People's Choice Awards. Nominated for over 100 other entertainment awards.LA Law was one of the first courtroom dramas to deal with the social and cultural issues of the day (such as racism, gay rights, AIDS and domestic violence) whilst combining the tense dramatic qualities with an off-the-wall humour.
Upon his release from prison for a burglary conviction Max Washington returns to his old haunt The Hoofer Club - an old tap dancing joint. His ex-girlfriend Amy is now working at the club as an instructor and is less than thrilled to see her old flame return. However Amy's father is delighted that one of his star pupils has re-emerged and convinces Max to get involved with his latest show. Unfortunately Max's old friends also want to hire him but for something strictly less th
From the irreverent minds of Mike Judge (Office Space, Beavis and Butt-Head) and Alec Berg (Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm) comes this satirical HBO® comedy that takes viewers inside the world of tech start-ups and the socially awkward misfits trying to navigate their lucrative potential. Featuring a talented ensemble of young comic actors, including Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr, Silicon Valley® charts the rising fortunes of Richard, an introverted computer programmer stuck working parttime at a large tech company called Hooli. But when a mid-level Hooli executive is apprised of Richard's novel compression algorithm, Richard finds himself caught in the middle of an extreme bidding war between Hooli founder Gavin Belson and independent billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory. Commentaries on Select Episodes Three Behind-the-Scenes and Making-of Featurettes Tour of the Hacker Hostel Deleted Scenes
Jimmy Jones: A Cultural Night Out
Kevin Costner's 1990 epic won a bundle of Oscars for a moving, engrossing story of a white soldier (Costner) who singlehandedly mans a post in the 1870 Dakotas, and becomes a part of the Lakota Sioux community who live nearby. The film may not be a masterpiece, but it is far more than the sum of good intentions. The characters are strong, the development of relationships is both ambitious and careful, the love story between Costner and Mary McDonnell's character is captivating. Only the third-act portrait of white intruders as morons feels overbearing, but even that leads to a terribly moving conclusion. Costner's direction is assured, the balance of action and intimacy is perfect--what more could anyone want outside of an unqualified masterpiece? --Tom Keogh
Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter and caring for his ailing father, Officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves. THE STORY AND THE GENRE The filmmakers behind The Wolf of Snow Hollow celebrate the complex themes at the heart of the film as they look to expand the boundaries of the thriller genre.
Winner of numerous awards the comedian returns with his deadpan wit and wisdom in his sixth live stand up DVD.
The Eric Sykes Collection
From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, the directors of Meru, comes Free Solo a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world s most famous rock...the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park...without a rope. Celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, Honnold s climb set the ultimate standard: perfection or death. Succeeding in this challenge places his story in the annals of human achievement. Free Solo is an edge-of-your seat thriller and an inspiring portrait of an athlete who challenges both his body and his beliefs on a quest to triumph over the impossible, revealing the personal toll of excellence. As the climber begins his training, the armor of invincibility he s built up over decades unexpectedly breaks apart when Honnold begins to fall in love, threatening his focus and giving way to injury and setbacks. Vasarhelyi and Chin succeed in beautifully capturing deeply human moments with Honnold as well as the death-defying climb with exquisite artistry and masterful, vertigo-inducing camerawork. The result is a triumph of the human spirit that represents what The New York Times calls a miraculous opportunity for the rest of us to experience the human sublime.
After the poor reception given to George Lazenby in Her Majesty's Secret Service, Sean Connery was no doubt lured back to the series with a gadget-stuffed briefcase full of cash (most of which he allegedly gave to charity) for this wry, snappily made seventh instalment in the series. Some of its secret weapons include a smart script, a Las Vegas setting providing plenty of neon reflections on windscreens for a memorable car chase through the Strip, and the comely Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, a diamond cut-above most of the preceding Bond girls. (Apart from Diana Rigg in Her Majesty's Secret Service, that is). Blofeld and his fluffy white cat are on hand to menace 007--it's the Nehru jackets and steely surface-look of this one in particular that the Austin Powers spoofs are sending up. Blofeld's initial cover as a reclusive Howard Hughes-like millionaire points to how the series was catching up with more contemporary figures and issues. Other highlights include two truly ferocious, karate-kicking female assassins and a sizzling moon-buggy chase across the dunes. --Leslie FelperinOn the DVD: The mind boggling possibility of casting Adam West (TV's Batman) as Bond was seriously mooted because the suits at United Artists wanted to Americanise the franchise, th e documentary reveals. Sean Connery was eventually persuaded to return but demanded a record fee to reprise his role, and then donated all the cash to his charitable foundation, the Scottish International Education Trust. The rags to riches story of larger-than-life producer Albert R Broccoli is told in the second documentary. The commentary is another in the series of edited selections from interviews with cast and crew, which are exhaustive in the wealth of detail offered but a little exhausting to sit through. Sundry trailers, radio and TV spots plus a few deleted scenes complete the comprehensive selection. --Mark Walker
In this ground-breaking new series from Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue Hill Street Blues) Over There takes you to the front lines of battle and explores the effects of war on a U.S. Army unit sent to Iraq on their first tour of duty as well as the equally powerful effects felt at home by their families and loved ones. Over There is the first ever scripted television series set in a current ongoing war involving the United States. Featuring all 13 episodes fr
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy