A story of feminism in 19th Century Salford Hobson's Choice deals with the empowering of female characters. Henry Hobson is a widower with a weakness for the pub and the owner of a successful bootmakers. In order to save his finances he denies his three daughters the right to marry. So in rebellion against her father eldest daughter Maggie starts up a relationship and rival bootmakers with Henry's star employee Will.
Based on the best-selling novel, this adaptation about an Australian who has a baby with her aristocratic cad of a boyfriend is written and directed by newcomer Sara Suggarman, who has injected her own particular style into the film.
Set in exotic locations in Central America the internationally renowned Herbie everyone's favourite ""love bug"" demonstrates his special brand of car-isma and high-octane humour in this action-packed stunt-filled comedy outing. The fun begins when Herbie sets sail for Rio de Janeiro's Grande Premio racing competition with his two new owners. En route they get sidetracked by a smuggling syndicate pestered by a pint-sized pickpocket and bullied by a raging bull. Laughter shifts in
Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford
An awkward family man struggles to take care of his two daughters while his wife is fighting in Iraq. When tragedy strikes the family, he attempts to bond with his children and find the courage to tell them about their mother.
An action drama set in the year 2009. A race car driver who is about to die in a crash in 1991 suddenly finds himself alive and transported to the future. But his troubles aren't over: a wealthy man on the verge of death needs the driver's body to stay alive and he'll stop at nothing to get it...
After Germany invades Poland in 1939 the Nazis decree that 350 000 Warsaw Jews be forcibly moved into an area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Idealistic teacher Mordechai (Hank Azaria) decides the Jews must rise up against the Nazis and creates the Jewish Fighting Organisation (JFO). Determined to mobilise a resistance against the Nazis Mordechai recruits his friends (David Schwimmer Sadie Frost Donald Sutherland) who are determined to live with honour die with honour and provide hop
John Nettles stars as Chief Inspector Barnaby in this feature-length episode of the acclaimed crime series. When a portrait of Jonathan Lowrie a wealthy royalist who was killed by a Roundhead musketeer is slashed at the Aspern Tallow museum Barnaby and Sergeant Troy are called in to investigate. A series of strange events follows and soon the detectives are investigating much more than an act of vandalism.
Frustrated with the stuffy Midwest four college girls go on the road to seek fun in the sun of Fort Lauderdale during their spring vacation. But can they find happiness and romance while avoiding the pitfalls that await young ladies travelling alone?
In the sequel to the 2015 global smash, father Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and stepfather Brad (Will Ferrell) have joined forces to provide their kids with the perfect Christmas. Their newfound partnership is put to the test when Dusty's old-school, macho Dad (Mel Gibson) and Brad's gentle Dad (John Lithgow) arrive just in time to turn the holidays upside down.
Lucky for Eddie Murphy he got hold of the rights to this 1963 Jerry Lewis classic before Jim Carrey did. Murphy had a comeback of sorts with his Jeckyll-and-Hyde-derived fable of awkward chemistry professor Sherman Klump (Murphy), who discovers a potion that transforms him into the suave, cocky lady-killer Buddy Love (also Murphy). The big difference between the two versions is that Murphy's Sherman is not only a nerdy intellectual but is also grossly obese, which provides the opportunity for some hilarious digital transformation effects, as well as some gentle satire of our culture's attitudes toward fat people. As he did in the hit Coming to America, Murphy plays multiple roles, and the scenes at the Klump family dinner table, in which he plays everybody, are brilliantly funny. (Murphy won the National Society of Film Critics' award for best actor of 1996 for these performances.) Lewis based his Buddy Love on the 1960s ideal of cool exemplified by Sinatra and the Rat Pack; Murphy stumbles a bit by playing up the oily phoniness of his latter-day Love a little too soon, but for the most part The Nutty Professor represents a welcome return to form for Eddie Murphy. --Jim Emerson
Face/Off (1997): Oscar-winning superstar Nicolas Cage and screen icon John Travolta battle head to head in 'Face/Off' the ultimate cat and mouse thriller directed by the world's most acclaimed action film director John Woo. To avenge the senseless murder of his son FBI agent Sean Archer undergoes a radical new surgery allowing him to switch faces with the comatose terrorist Castor Troy and assumes Sean's identity the real Sean is thrust into an unimaginable nightmare fig
Gone In 60 Seconds: Remake of the 1974 classic car-chase movie. Nicolas Cage is Randall 'Memphis' Raines a legendary car thief. When he retired car crimes fell by almost 50% but he is being forced out to retirement to save his brother Kip from an evil mobster Raymond Calitri. Kip has to find 50 cars by Friday or he will be killed. Randall gets his old team back (including Robert Duvall and Vinnie Jones) to save his brother's life. With the police on his case and Calitri threatening to kill him and Kip time is soon running out... The Rock (2-Disc Set): Academy Award winners Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage star in the action-adventure blockbuster. Millions of lives hang in the balance after a military madman (Ed Harris) seizes control of the island prison Alcatraz and threatens to launch deadly poison gas missiles at San Francisco. With time ticking away a chemical weapons expert (Cage) and a cunning federal prisoner (Connery) - who happens to be the only man to have broken out of Alcatraz - must now break in and disarm the missiles! Face Off: Oscar-winning superstar Nicolas Cage and screen icon John Travolta battle head to head in 'Face/Off' the ultimate cat and mouse thriller directed by the world's most acclaimed action film director John Woo! To avenge the senseless murder of his son FBI agent Sean Archer (Travolta) undergoes radical new surgery allowing him to switch faces with the comatose terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) and assume his identity. But when Castor awakes and assumes Sean's identity the real Sean is thrust into an unimaginable nightmare fighting not only for his life but also those of his wife (Joan Allen) and daughter!
The immortal Peter Sellers is hilarious as a pompous retired general who still has a taste for the ladies in French playwright Jean Anouilh's philosophical farce. A lusty comedy of manners 'Waltz of the Toreadors' tempers its treatment of an old rake's delusions with generous dollops of wit and compassion.
One night in l963, two plainclothes LAPD officers were abducted by armed, small-time criminals after a routine traffic stop, then driven to a remote area where one was brutally executed. The other officer managed to escape and the perpetrators were captured and brought to trial. Despite overwhelming evidence, the slayers managed to drag the justice process on for years through appeals and delaying tactics, one of them making use of the prison law library to become a "jailhouse lawyer". Taken from the Joseph Wambaugh book, The Onion Field is a true story about a case that changed LAPD policies forever. More than a simple police procedural, though, the film is a character study that follows the aftermath of the murder for all involved. John Savage, as the surviving officer, is called on over and over to re-enact the event in court, chided by his superiors and eventually fired from the force, with redemption a long way off. He does a great job in a harrowing role as frustration, guilt and depression cause his life and career to disintegrate over time. There are impressive early performances by Ted Danson and James Woods (setting the tone for countless raw-nerve, psycho-lowlife roles that Woods would take on in the future). The compelling script, written by ex-cop Wambaugh (with no studio interference), is a reminder of why he's one of novelist James Ellroy's favourite writers. It's a story of tragedy and hope, dignity and pain, with a potent emotional payoff. --Jerry Renshaw
Before The Twilight Zone there was One Step Beyond. Here are twenty eerie episodes on five devilish DVDs showcasing the very best of this landmark look at the paranormal; featuring such up and coming stars as Charles Bronson Robert Blake and Suzanne Pleshette. Classic cult TV and a must for all sci-fi fans.
In a storm of desire deception and murder... four people are about to be swept away. There's no turning back tonight. Academy Award-winner Faye Dunaway Daniel J. Travanti John Laughlin (Crimes Of Passion) Kim Cattrall (Mannequin) and Ned Beatty (The Fourth Protocol) star in a twisted suspense thriller of murder lust and greed. For Jeff Schubb inheriting his father's sloop and charter business in the Florida Keys was a dream come true. When his wife's employer Morely Barton suggests the two couples cruise to the Bahamas Jeff sees his financial worries drift away. Once at sea Morely provides a new destination an island off Cuba where he stashed his fortune before Castro's regime. He offers Jeff half to help retrieve his treasure. But all is not smooth sailing as the past encroaches on the present and too many deceits connect the foursome in a deadly game of intrigue.
Contains all twelve episodes from this crown jewel of British comedy. This exclusive collector's edition featuring a Corgi model of Basil's Austin 1300 and a hand painted figurine of Basil would be a great gift! Episode titles: A Touch of Class The Builders The Wedding Party The Hotel Inspectors Gourmet Night The Germans Communication Problems The Psychiatrist Waldorf Salad The Kipper and the Corpse The Anniversary Basil the Rat.
America's leading ballet soloists display highlights from their repertoire.
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