In his book, Robert C. O'Brien called his brave widow mouse "Mrs. Frisby", but Disney escapee animator Don Bluth must have thought children would laugh the wrong way at that. They renamed her "Mrs. Brisby" for The Secret of NIMH. That acronym stands for the National Institute of Mental Health, and the rats that live near Mrs. Brisby came from NIMH--they have strange ways. But they're the only ones who can save her house and her children, so Brisby seeks them out with the help of a humorous crow (Dom DeLuise). The magic gets laid on a little thick but this is Don Bluth's most successful attempt to achieve a complete, sincere, animated film. It's often forgotten, but it's a true surprise and a rare treat in the vast wasteland of insubstantial children's fare. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com
High above the city of LA a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages, and declared war. But one man has managed to escape detection.. An off-duty cop. He's alone... tired... and the only chance anyone has. Bruce Willis stars as New York City Detective John McClane, newly arrived in Los Angeles to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia). But as McClane waits for his wife's office party to break-up, terrorists seize control of the building. While th...
Rock's premier metalmen Led Zeppelin whose blend of gutsy blue and scathing rock catapulted them into the music world's pantheon take you on a spellbinding journey of song and imagination. This high-impact movie captures the group's legendary 1973 Madison Square Garden concert and uncorks a freewheeling mix of scenes showing group members at home and in elaborate fantasy settings. Robert Plant's raw lead vocals Jimmy Page's explosive riffery and the sonic-boom rhythm wall of bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham all swirl clash and collide - on classic tunes like Stairway to Heaven Dazed and Confused Whole Lotta Love and many others. No one goes down heavier than Zep!
Adapted from the novel by Mary Wesley, The Camomile Lawn proved one of Channel Four's most successful dramas, telling an intricate story set during World War II and over two days in 1984. In this portrait of the Home Front in Cornwall and London in the Blitz, the titular lawn becomes a symbol for halcyon pre-war days, and also for a lost innocence on a personal level. For this is very much about growing up and sex, including rape and child abuse (both handled tactfully, mainly in dialogue), adulatory, ménage á trois, bisexuality and rampant promiscuity. The attitudes, from the war-damaged, nihilistic Oliver, (a powerfully charismatic Toby Stephens) to the mercenary Calypso (an incendiary Jennifer Ehle), and some individual scenes, shock in their very matter-of-factness. What could be salacious soap is leavened by a comic touch, intensified by tragedy and elevated to intensely moving drama during its final half hour set around a funeral in 1984. Generally excellent production values make the best of the television budget, and there are outstanding performances by a large cast including Felicity Kendal and Paul Eddington (reunited from The Good Life), Tara Fitzgerald in her first starring role, and especially Rebecca Hall as Sophy. On the DVD: The four episodes are presented on two discs, with a total running time of approximately four hours 22 minutes. There are no special features of any sort. The picture is standard television 4:3, and while marginally better than VHS has a slight softness, with occasional after-images to shots with moving lights betraying that the series was made on video rather than film. Some scenes are rather grainy and there is the occasion brief instance of MPEG artifacting. The sound is stereo and appears to have been remixed from mono, some elements such as the music remaining in mono, while some sound effects are stereo. --Gary S Dalkin
She can't (and won't) drive 55.... Stephen King's novel about the twisted love affair between a boy and his car gets transferred to the screen, courtesy of suspense master John Carpenter. Although lacking some of the more outré supernatural elements of the source material, this high-octane cinematic tune-up more than delivers the goods, horror-wise (Christine's midnight rampages will never be forgotten)--as well as being a sly exposé of the random cruelties within the high-school pecking order. Keith Gordon (who has gone on to become a stellar director in his own right, with films such as A Midnight Clear and Mother Night to his credit) gives a wonderfully controlled central performance. Carpenter's atmospheric original score is backed up by a well-chosen collection of rock classics, including George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" (the titular character's all-too-apt theme song). --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com
Clockers: Strike who is the hardest-working drug dealer on the street. Time is beginning to run out for him when a deal with an evil drug boss results in the death of a rival dealer... Jungle Fever: A black architect begins an affair with his Italian secretary which lands them both in isolation from their respective communities. Do The Right Thing: On one block in the Brooklyn district of Bedford-Stuyvesant the story follows the events which take place on one very hot summer day. Events which would normally go un-noticed but because of the fierce heat are magnified to dangerous proportions revealing the under-belly of racism.
Rock's premier metalmen Led Zeppelin whose blend of gutsy blue and scathing rock catapulted them into the music world's pantheon take you on a spellbinding journey of song and imagination. This high-impact movie captures the group's legendary 1973 Madison Square Garden concert and uncorks a freewheeling mix of scenes showing group members at home and in elaborate fantasy settings. Robert Plant's raw lead vocals Jimmy Page's explosive riffery and the sonic-boom rhythm wall of bassist John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham all swirl clash and collide - on classic tunes like Stairway to Heaven Dazed and Confused Whole Lotta Love and many others. No one goes down heavier than Zep!
From the BAFTA-winning creator of Judge John Deed G.F. Newman and former barrister Matthew Hall New Street Law is a gripping legal drama follows the exploits and cases of two rival barristers' chambers the well-to-do family enterprise run by Laurence Scammell (Paul Freeman) and the dysfunctional collective headed by Scammell's former protege Jack Roper (John Hannah)...
This movie version of Bizet's popular opera Carmen was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence that's hard to achieve in a staged performance. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes, with the opening titles superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. Elsewhere the changing of the guard, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act 2, and the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. It's an exciting Carmen, too, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, though, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress. Unlike most opera-house performances this movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives.--Joe McLellan, Amazon.com
Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain Trilogy comes to DVD in this exciting box set. The term 'Red Curtain' refers to the style of film-making devised by Luhrmann to promote audience participation featuring an emphasis on heightened worlds musical elements and comic tragedy. Romeo & Juliet: Special Edition (1996): Baz Luhrmann's dazzling and unconventional adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic love story is spellbinding. Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes portray Ro
Truman Capote's best seller, a breakthrough narrative account of real-life crime and punishment, became an equally chilling film in the hands of writer-director RICHARD BROOKS (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof). Cast for their unsettling resemblances to the killers they play, ROBERT BLAKE (Lost Highway) and SCOTT WILSON (The Great Gatsby) give authentic, unshowy performances as Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, who in 1959 murdered a family of four in Kansas during a botched robbery. Brooks brings a detached, documentary-like starkness to this uncompromising view of an American tragedy and its aftermath; at the same time, stylistically In Cold Blood is a filmmaking master class, with clinically precise editing, chiaroscuro black-and-white cinematography by the great CONRAD L. HALL (American Beauty), and a menacing jazz score by Quincy Jones. Special Features New 4K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack New interview with cinematographer John Bailey on the film's cinematography New interview with film historian Bobbie O'Steen on the film's editing New interview with film critic and jazz historian Gary Giddins on the film's music by Quincy Jones New interview with writer Douglass Daniel on director Richard Brooks Interview with Brooks from 1988 from the French television series Cinéma cinemas Interview with actor Robert Blake from 1968 from the British television series Good Evening with Jonathan King With Love from Truman, a short 1966 documentary featuring novelist Truman Capote, directed by Albert and David Maysles Two archival NBC interviews with Capote: one following the author on a 1966 visit to Holcomb, Kansas, and the other conducted by Barbara Walters in 1967 Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara
20 000 Leagues Under The Sea (Dir. Richard Fleischer 1955): An adventure based on Jules Verne's prophetic novel.... Climb aboard the Nautilus and into a strange undersea world of spellbinding adventure! Kirk Douglas Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre star as shipwrecked survivors taken captive by the mysterious Captain Nemo brilliantly portrayed by James Mason. Wavering between genius and madness Nemo has launched a deadly crusade across the seven seas. But can the captive crew expose his evil plan before he destroys the world? Disney's brilliant Academy Award-winning (1955) adaptation of Jules Verne's gripping tale makes 20 000 Leagues Under The Sea a truly mesmerizing masterpiece! Swiss Family Robinson (Dir. Ken Annakin 1960): A family fleeing from the despotic regime of Napoleon is chased off course by a band of pirates. They are then shipwrecked on a tropical island where they begin a new and adventurous life. Based on the book by Johann Wyss. One Of Our Dinosaurs (Dir. Robert Stevenson 1975): It's Nanny Hettie to the rescue when British Intelligence Agent Lord Southmere is captured by Chinese agent Hnup Wan. Hettie is the only one who knows Southmere's secret: he has stolen a piece of top-secret microfilm from a Chinese warlord and hidden it in the skeleton of a dinosaur in a London museum. Aided by a small army of fellow nannies Hettie saves the day by foiling Wan and his gang.
The West's most violent story... The West's most valiant hour! John Ford's criminally overlooked western (the first collaboration between Ford and James Stewart) finally makes its way to DVD for the first time! A group of children are held captive by the Indians. A Lieutenant enlists the help of a Texas Marshall in a rescue attempt. Based on the novel by Will Cook.
Det. Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) has been transferred to Manchester and is about to embark on one of the toughest times in her life. Initially asked to lecture school children on law and order she is soon demanding a meatier task. The murder of a drug dealer is the crime she is expected to solve but when a 14 year old boy confesses to the killing despite no evidence to connect him to the crime Tennison's instinct tells her there is a more likely prime suspect.
When the historic Theatre du Chatelet in Paris re-opened after a period of extensive refurbishment the first two productions mounted in the theatre were Gluck''s Alceste and Orph''e et Eurydice. Both operas were sung in their French versions and were mounted and designed by Robert Wilson and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. This was the first time Wilson and Gardiner had collaborated and their individual credentials combined to produce an exceptional result. American polymath Wilson was responsible for some of the most ambitious avant-garde performance projects of the 1970s and 80s.Since the mid-1980s he has increasingly brought his prodigious creativity to works fiom the standard dramatic and operatic repertoire transforming them into his own unmistakably minimalist yet grandiose visions. His styled classical interpretations of Alceste and Orph''e bear his trademarks of an uncluttered stage and the arresting use of colour and light. They are not so much timeless as in Robert Wilson''s words ''full of time''. With their minutely rehearsed gestures at once formal and poetic the singers have the grace and elegance of Balanchine or Martha Graham dancers. A key figure in the revival of Early Music John Eliot Gardiner has long been a champion of Gluck''s French operas and is a great Gluck conductor. He received enormous critical acclaim for his musical direction of both Orph''e and Alceste at the Chatelet as did his orchestras and chorus. He sought to rid the operas of any vestiges of remoteness or venerable respectability and to release the huge emotional charge that lies behind the beauty of Gluck''s classical sobriety. The stories are after all he says not only poignant and deeply moving they have an immediate and contemporary relevance: they portray two married couples striving to protect their union and their love plumbing the very depths of their emotional strength and summoning the courage to make huge personal sacrifices. ''If presented in a way that''s immediate and with tremendous intensity and truth of expression then all the dross and superficiality of the stage action falls away and you''re left with what''s actually a very visceral connection between two living people.'' Television''s top opera director Brian Large worked closely with Robert Wilson and John Eliot Gardiner to ensure that the translation of live performance to the small screen is of the highest artistic and techcal standard. John Eliot Gardiner chose Gluck''s 1776 French version of Alceste for Robert Wilson''s production conducting the piece for the first time with his period-instrument ensemble the English Baroque Soloists. The excellent Monteverdi Choir provides the chorus and unusually they sing fiom the pit with dancers taking their place on stage. They give magnificently persuasive expression to the horror and compassion demanded by the drama. The 'Greek geometric perfection of Robert Wilson''s various tableaux is beautifully realised with his eye for striking theatrical symbol creating an intriguing visual arena for one of Gluck''s most elevated and sublime works. Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter one of the finest singers of her generation takes the title role of Alceste Queen of Thessaly who offers to die at the hands of the gods in place of her husband Admete (Paul Groves) so that the people will not lose their king. To universal astonishment she is saved from the Underworld by Hercule (Dietrich Henschel) whose action is sanctioned by Apollon (Ludovic T''zier) in a dramatic deus ex machina.
Shackleton is not a biopic of the great Anglo-Irish explorer but a dramatisation of the failed trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-16. As written and directed by Charles (Longtitude) Sturridge the production, filmed on real ice floes in Greenland, stays remarkably close to the facts, capturing the look of the surviving expedition photos of Frank Hurley (collected in the book South With Endurance) with great fidelity. Kenneth Branagh makes no attempt at an authentic accent but otherwise gives a powerful impression of a most commanding personality. When the expedition ship Endurance became locked in the Antarctic ice Shackleton vowed to bring every man home alive, and against virtually impossible odds, including a 700-mile journey in an open boat through some of the worst seas in the world, he did just that. This superlative mini-series realises the story with production values and cinematography which would not disgrace a big-budget feature (Hurley's own 1919 documentary film can be seen on video in South). Intense physical drama, strong performances and Adrian Johnston's fine score combine here to deeply moving effect, marred only a little by a rushed conclusion. With Roland Huntford, author of the definitive Shackleton biography, as production advisor, this easily stands as the benchmark for all future comparable films. --Gary S Dalkin
All-American hero John Wayne takes a crew of construction workers and turns them into one of WWII's toughest fighting forces in this action-packed war classic. But first he has to convince the army brass to let his civilians bear arms and then he's got to whip them into combat shape. Now Wayne is fighting for his life on a different battlefield when he's brought up on court-martial charges for leading his troops in an all-out assault against the Japanese. It's Wayne at his best playing the kind of rough-and-tumble man of honor that made him a legend and Hollywood's biggest star. An entertaining combination of strong supporting performances by Daniel O'Keefe and ravishing about-to-be superstar Susan Hayward.
Performances: Phil Collins - Take Me Home Arrow & His Band - Hot Hot Hot Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes Jimmy Buffett - Volcano Mark Knopfler - Brothers in Arms Mark Knopfler - Money for Nothing Sting - Message in a Bottle Sting - Magic Elton John - Your Song Elton John - Live like Horses Elton John - Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me Eric Clapton - Broken Hearted Eric Clapton - Layla Eric Clapton - Same Old Blues Paul McCartney - Yesterday Paul McCartney -
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