William Shakespeare's repute spans the world the beauty of his language, his profound insight into human nature and the complexity and integrity of his characters, confirming him as the greatest ever playwright. In 1978, the BBC set itself the task of filming all of William Shakespeare's plays for television. The resulting productions, renowned for their loyalty to the text, utilised the best theatrical and television directors and brought acclaimed performances from some of the finest actors. This collection includes 5 of the hugely popular comedies: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING THE TAMING OF THE SHREW THE WINTER'S TALE TWELFTH NIGHT
For a limited time only, Universal Pictures are re-releasing five of their most beloved Cinema Classics in cinemas around the UK. The following films will be released: Spartacus, Blues Brothers, Scar Face, The Thing and Animal House.
Documentary telling the story of John Rendall and Ace Bourke who bought a lion cub from Harrods in 1969 before hand-rearing the animal at their club on the Kings Road in Chelsea. After the pair met Virginia McKenna of Born Free in 1971 they flew to Kenya to release the lion whom they named Christian into the wild.
An experimental film masquerading as a standard Hollywood thriller. The plot of Rope is simple and based on a successful stage play: two young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) commit murder, more or less as an intellectual exercise. They hide the body in their large apartment, then throw a dinner party. Will the body be discovered? Director Alfred Hitchcock, fascinated by the possibilities of the long-take style, decided to shoot this story as though it were happening in one long, uninterrupted shot. Since the camera can only hold one 10-minute reel at a time, Hitchcock had to be creative when it came time to change reels, disguising the switches as the camera passed behind someone's back or moved behind a lamp. In later years Hitchcock wrote off the approach as misguided, and Rope may not be one of Hitchcock's top movies, but it's still a nail-biter. They don't call him the Master of Suspense for nothing. James Stewart, as a suspicious professor, marks his first starring role for Hitchcock, a collaboration that would lead to the masterpieces Rear Window and Vertigo. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com
This 2000 television adaptation confirms Nicholas Nickleby's place among television dramatists' favourite Dickens novels. It has all the vital ingredients: a sensitive, intelligent young hero cast by circumstances in the role of everyman whose fortitude is tested at every turn; romance; danger; one of Dickens' richest braces of characters; and a sense of humanity that is, at times, overwhelming. Condensing all this into three hours is no mean achievement. Martyn Edward Hesford's screenplay maintains an impressive balance between dramatic tension and allowing the characters the space they need to reveal their essential qualities. Only in the last 30 minutes does it become something of a gallop to the finishing post. True, the horrors of the boarding school could be more horrific; the grime of Victorian London and its toothless inhabitants could be grimier and less cosmetic. But as always with a superior production of a Dickens novel, the richness and depth of the drama outweigh such minor quibbles. As for the cast, James D'Arcy's Nicholas is pitch-perfect: part cipher for the injustices and despair he encounters, part emblem for the triumph of goodness, an innocent whose eyes are quickly forced open to the darker realities of life. These darker realities are congealed in Charles Dance's relentlessly chilling, heartless Ralph Nickleby. This is a deceptively complex performance; even as we cheer the gathering forces which finally extinguish his increasingly desperate power, the awful tragedy of his end still elicits a discomforting ounce of sympathy. Gregor Fisher as the one-eyed Squeers and Pam Ferris as his fearsomely lascivious wife are outstanding in an ensemble of fine character actors. And Lee Ingleby's Smike gives our tear ducts a good workout while steering just the right side of sentimentality. On the DVD: Nicholas Nickleby is presented in widescreen format with Dolby Digital soundtrack, and has all the technical qualities you might expect from the DVD release of a modern television production. Extras include cast filmographies, a Dickens biography and a list of his work, all of which add to the disc's merits as a literary educational tool. --Piers Ford
The Abominable Dr Phibes is an unusually beautiful horror classic in which Vincent Price stars as the titular genius who specialises in organ music, theology and concocting bizarre deaths for anyone who wrongs him. Discovering why is half the fun, so for now let's just say that Phibes is a little mad and very, very angry. Aided by his assistant, the lovely, silent Vulnavia, Phibes begins cutting a gory swathe through London's medical community, with the dogged Inspector Trout hot on his tail. The film contains many pleasures--exquisite art direction and a dark sense of humour among them--but the real treat is in watching an old pro such as Price at work. Whether he's playing his organ, staring down a victim or drinking through his neck, Price is at the top of his game. He mixes dark menace with wry comic touches, revealing both Phibes' maniacal obsession and offhanded confidence in his own genius. Settle in for an evening of elegant gore--and if an attractive, mute deliverywoman comes to the door, whatever you do, don't answer! --Ali Davis
James Stewart stars with Farley Granger and John Dall in this highly charged 1948 Alfred Hitchcock thriller that has intrigued fans because of its chilling subject based on a true story and its unique 'unedited' cinematic style. Granger and Dall are two friends who strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills and then proceed to invite his family and mutual friends for dinner - with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table. Their former teacher (Stewart) suspects wrongdoing. Before the night is over he finds out how brutally his students have twisted his own academic theories.
Far more than circuses featuring impressive acrobatics, Cirque du Soleil's live and filmed shows are powerful presentations that seamlessly combine daring acrobatic feats, intense artistry, and simple, yet emotionally rich stories. Worlds Away is a stunning compilation of acts from seven Las Vegas shows: O, Kà, Mystère, Criss Angel Believe, Zumanity, Viva Elvis, and The Beatles Love. The disparate acts are woven together by a poignantly romantic story of a young woman who falls into an ethereal world searching for a man she's only glimpsed, but is destined to love. The film showcases everything from synchronised water ballet to martial arts-inspired combat, aerial silk acrobatics, contortionism, and the frightening Wheel of Death. Each impeccably choreographed presentation is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty and its seeming defiance of the laws of the human body's capabilities. Viewers will leave the film feeling awed, uplifted, and completely inspired. --Tami Horiuchi
Cliffhanger was a 1994 comeback of sorts for action hero Sylvester Stallone, this time thanks to director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) and some spectacularly rugged and vertigo-inducing, high-mountain terrain. The opening sequence alone delivers what the title promises, and there's an extraordinary airplane stunt that was later reprised, with modifications, in Air Force One. Stallone, looking as tough and craggy as the mountains themselves, is a rescue climber who finds himself going after a gang of crooks (headed by John Lithgow in his bad-guy mode) who've hijacked a US Treasury plane and crash landed in the Rockies with millions of bucks. Outrageous action-packed, snow-packed and scenery-packed chase sequences (featuring whirring helicopters, whooshing skis, popping gunfire and clanging pitons that earned the movie Oscar nominations for sound and sound editing) abound. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
This remake of Neil Simon's l970 comedy finds Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin as Ohio yokels cast adrift in Mayor Rudy Giuliani's sanitised New York City. With their son recently departed for Britain, the empty-nesters travel to the Big Apple for a job interview and are beset with all kinds of bad luck, starting with their flight being rerouted to Boston. Things only go downhill from there, of course, as they're mugged by an Andrew Lloyd Webber imposter, the high-tech multilingual navigation system on their rented Cadillac goes haywire, and their hotel reservations fall through. Although marred by some out-of-place slapstick and mawkish romance scenes, this film's not without its funny moments. The couple stumbles into a sexual-addiction encounter group and has to try to back out gracefully (not succeeding very well, of course). John Cleese is howlingly funny as he reprises his Fawlty Towers role of a cross-dressing hotelier, and Martin has a great drug-delirium scene, in which he's slipped a hit of LSD in jail (thinking it's aspirin). Just try not to think in terms of comparisons to Neil Simon's original and this remake works fairly well. --Jerry Renshaw, Amazon.com
James Stewart stars with Farley Granger and John Dall in a highly-charged thriller inspired by the real-life Leopold-Loeb murder case. Granger and Dall give riveting performances as two friends who strangle a classmate for intellectual thrills then proceed to throw a party for the victim's family and friends - with the body stuffed inside the trunk they use for a buffet table. As the killers turn the conversation to committing the 'perfect murder' their former teacher (Stewart) becomes increasingly suspicious. Before the night is over the professor will discover how brutally his students have turned his academic theories into chilling reality in Hitchcock's spellbinding excursion into the macabre. Special Features: Rope Unleashed Production Photographs Theatrical Trailer
Paul Abbott's Shameless returns to DVD for a second series. Seven months on from the first series and Manchester's favourite son Frank Gallagher is expecting another addition to the clan this time with his agoraphobic lover Sheila. On the back of a fiddled insurance claim the Gallagher children have extended their home into the house next door. Fiona and boyfriend Steve are now hopeful for a bit of privacy; but Lip Ian Debbie Carl and Liam cause havoc everywher
A collection of vignettes, loosely based on the book by Dr. David Rueben, written and directed by Woody Allen, Everything contains some very funny moments. It's easy to forget that the cerebral Allen excelled at the type of broad, Catskill, dirty jokes and visual gags that run amok here. It's also remarkable how dirty this 1972 movie really was--bestiality, exposure, perversion and S&M get their moments to shine. The Woody Allen here, who appears in many of the sketches, is a portent of the seedy old Allen of Deconstructing Harry. Although the final bit, which takes place inside a man's body during a very hot date, is hilarious, most of Everything feels like the screen adaptation of a 70's bathroom joke book. Still, a must for Allen fans. --Keith Simanton
For a limited time only, Universal Pictures are re-releasing five of their most beloved Cinema Classics in cinemas around the UK. The following films will be released: Spartacus, Blues Brothers, Scar Face, The Thing and Animal House.
LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES... YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET. Experience FORREST GUMP in stunning high definition, accompanied by over two hours of dynamic bonus features. Tom Hanks gives an astonishing performance as Forrest, an everyman whose simple innocence comes to embody a generation. Alongside his mamma (Sally Field), his best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), and his favourite girl Jenny (Robin Wright), Forrest has a ringside seat for the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Winner of six Oscars®, including Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), and Best Actor (Tom Hanks), FORREST GUMP remains one of the great movie triumphs of all time. Special Features: Commentary with Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Rick Carter Commentary with Wendy Finerman Musical Signposts to History Introduction (by Ben Fong-Torres) And much much more!
Edward Petherbridge stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in this classic adaptation of the novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. Harriet Vane is invited to return to Shrewsbury College but someone is terrorising the faculty and the students of the college by sending vicious anonymous letters.
John Cusack (The Frozen Ground 2012) is Detective Mike Fletcher a cop who is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo N.Y. Working with his partner Kelsey Walker (Jennifer Carpenter - Dexter) Mike becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the savage killer. However with no leads the case is under threat of being shut down. Mike risks being left powerless struggling to accept the killer may escape justice free to slaughter again. But when his own teenage daughter disappears he drops any professional restraint in pursuit of the killer. Just like the others Mike knows only too well that if he doesn’t find her in 48 hours he probably never will.
This seven-disc box set includes the following titles: The Trouble with Harry: the 1955 black comedy concerning a pesky corpse that becomes a problem for a quiet, Vermont neighbourhood. The Man Who Knew Too Much: the 1956 remake of Hitchcock's own 1934 spy thriller. James Stewart and Doris Day play American tourists who discover more than they wanted to know about an assassination plot. Rear Window: the 1954 film in which the story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's (Jimmy Stewart) imprisonment in his apartment. Stewart's convalescence in a wheelchair provides the revolutionary perspective from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbours. Rope: the 1948 experimental film masquerading as a Hollywood thriller, the plot is simple and based on a successful stage play: two young men commit murder as an intellectual exercise. Shadow of a Doubt: the 1943 thriller which sets a tone of menace and fear by introducing a psychotic killer into the quite suburban town of Santa Rosa, California. Hitchcock claimed it to be his personal favourite. Saboteur: the 1942 film, set during the initial stages of World War II, concerning a ring of Nazi fifth columnists who plot to weaken American military defences and cause a falsely accused man being forced on the run. Bonus disc: Psycho: the 1960 film which contains one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates (a role he could never seem to leave behind) the mama's-boy proprietor of the Bates Motel. On the DVD: with the wealth of writing and documentation surrounding the great master and his work, it would be a great loss to find this collection lacking in special features. Thankfully this box set does not disappoint. The special features are not only laid out clearly but they offer an outstanding range of information that will please any Hitchcock fan. Each disc varies in content but many include original storyboards and sketches from art directors and even, on one occasion, Hitchcock himself. They contain beautifully edited interviews or "Making Of" features, plus there's a trailer compilation with a voice-over from the great Jimmy Stewart. All discs come with a scene selection and choice of languages and subtitles. The DVD picture and sound is almost perfect, making each classic feel like new. The box set offers a small booklet with details of each film along with original poster. The Psycho bonus disc, includes cast biographies and a theatrical trailer and the lavish package design makes it a great coffee-table accessory --Nikki Disney
Titles Comprise: Curfew: After breaking her curfew yet another time a rebellious teenage girl hurries home only to find that her family have been taken hostage by two escaped convicts. Axe: They seem to have it all: fame fortune and the hottest club act across the USA. But the price of fame is about to cost them dearly.... When two members decide to quit the future of the band hangs in the balance. Emotions are running high as they are booked for a final gig into an old meat packing factory now the notorious Club 905. When the mutilated body of one of their groupies turns up in a meat locker the band start to panic. Is it possible that the envy and anger amongst the band have spawned an uncontrolled psychopath who won't be happy until he or she is playing solo? Bachelor Party Massacre: A group of friends decide to throw a bachelor party in the mountains; little do they know an escaped killer is on the loose ready to kill the party... Pieces: Thirty five years after the death of a young boy's mother mutilated corpses are discovered on a university campus. Each body forms part of a huge jigsaw puzzle that the police have to piece together. Sickle: Blood will flow... Marty Sickle was a loner who lived and worked in the old slaughterhouse where a young woman was once murdered. Marty was the prime suspect but a lack of evidence kept him free. However the girl's boyfriend and his friends broke into the old slaughterhouse and left Marty for dead. Little did they know that Marty didn't die..
McLintock: Cattle baron banker and model citizen George McLintock has the world in his hands. The only thing missing is his wife Katherine who left him two years earlier suspecting him of adultery. In an effort to get on with his life McLintock saves a beautiful but impoverished widow from resettlement and hires her as his cook welcoming both her and her two children into his home. Sparks begin to fly and McLintock's simple and serene lifestyle comes to a crashing halt
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