That rarest of rare treasures, Monty Python's Life of Brian is both achingly funny and seriously satirical without ever allowing one to overbalance the other. There is not a single joke, sight gag or one-liner that will not forever burn itself into the viewer's memory as being just as funny as it is possible to be, but, extraordinarily, almost every line and every indestructibly hilarious scene also serves a dual purpose, making this one of the most consistently sustained film satires ever made. Like all great satire, the Pythons not only attack and vilify their targets (the bigotry and hypocrisy of organised religion and politics) supremely well, they also propose an alternative: be an individual, think for yourself, don't be led by others. "You've all got to work it out for yourselves", cries Brian in a key moment. "Yes, we've all got to work it our for ourselves", the crowd reply en masse, "Tell us more". Two thousand years later, in a world still blighted by religious zealots, Brian's is still a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Aside from being a neat spoof on the Hollywood epic, it's also almost incidentally one of the most realistic on-screen depictions of the ancient world--instead of treating their characters as posturing historical stereotypes, the Pythons realised what no sword 'n' sandal epic ever has: that people are all the same, no matter what period of history they live in. People always have and always will bicker, lie, cheat, swear, conceal cowardice with bravado (like Reg, leader of the People's Front of Judea), abuse power (like Pontius Pilate), blindly follow the latest fads and giggle at silly things ("Biggus Dickus"). In the end, Life of Brian teaches us that the only way for a despairing individual to cope in a world of idiocy and hypocrisy is to always look on the bright side of life. --Mark Walker
When John Travolta first opens his mouth during the opening credits of The General's Daughter and speaks in a terrible Southern cracker drawl, one briefly hopes the movie will turn out to be just as hilariously bad. Unfortunately, the accent is soon revealed to be part of a disguise, and the movie is just as quickly unveiled as a clumsy, run-of-the-mill potboiler, too mediocre to be truly hysterical fun. A female officer is discovered strangled and tied to the ground; she's the title character, and because of the general's political ambitions, the mystery of who did it and why has to be wrapped up in 36 hours by Travolta and fellow CID officer Madeleine Stowe (Last of the Mohicans, 12 Monkeys). Sexual violence and lurid S&M have been thrown in to shore up the incomprehensible plot, but that only adds to the queasy atmosphere. The supporting actors--an impressive collection including James Woods (Salvador), Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), and James Cromwell (Babe, L.A. Confidential)--don't embarrass themselves, but even they can't make sense of their blustering, macho dialogue. It's amazing that, screenwriter William Goldman (who wrote such great and genuinely thrilling films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man, All the President's Men and Misery) left his name attached to this script; there's no sign of his usual skill and intelligence. Madeleine Stowe, a graceful presence in any film, is equally wasted. It was directed with a lot of empty flash by Simon West (Con Air). --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com
Whoops Apocalypse: Complete Series (Dir. John Reardon): Whoops Apocalypse was a comedy series from the 1980's which depicted the frightening and fantastic decisions made by politicians and world leaders as the the end of the world approached. Anarchic alternative and inspired Whoops Apocalypse was a sitcom ahead of it's time and boasted a cast including John Cleese Jeffrey Palmer Rick Mayall and Alexi Sayle. Episodes Comprise: 1. Road To Jerusalem 2. Autumn Cannibalism 3. How To Get Rid Of It 4. Lucifer And The Lord 5. The Violet Hour 6. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Whoops Apocalypse (Dir. Tom Bussmann 1986): What do you get if you mix warped British humour with political intrigue Royal kidnaps hostile invasions nuclear bombs British Task Forces mad international terrorists and the SAS? Total mayhem!
In 19th Century England, Dr Victor Frankenstein, bitter over his brother's death, voices his wish that men could have power over life and death. Following a chance encounter with Dr Henry Clerval, a surgeon experimenting in this very field, they begin to work together. Victor achieves the impossible, the creation of life, but with it comes unforeseen and unimaginable terror. Frankenstein, The True Story is one of the most acclaimed versions of Mary Shelley's masterpiece. Featuring an all-star cast led by James Mason, Leonard Whiting, David McCallum, Jane Seymour, Michael Sarrazin, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Tom Baker. Now presented for the first time in high definition and featuring some incredible bonus material and stunning new artwork by Graham Humphreys. Product Features Film Introduction from James Mason Off with Her Head - An Interview with Jane Seymour Victor's Story- An Interview with Actor Leonard Whiting Frankenstein's Diary - A Conversation with Writer Don Bachardy A Double-Sided Fold Out Poster of the All New Graham Humphreys Artwork
The chilling classic that birthed a new direction in horror, based on the bestseller by Ira Levin (THE STEPFORD WIVES) and produced by William Castle (THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL). Newlywed Rosemary (Mia Farrow) has no idea that her wedded bliss is about to come to a horrific end. After she becomes pregnant, her husband becomes odd, her neighbours (Sidney Blackmer and Oscar® winner* Ruth Gordon) border on obsessive, and her normal life turns into a surreal nightmare. Slowly, she begins to realise that a seed of evil has been plantedand she is its host.This collector's edition includes the following:¢ Rigid Slipcase ¢ Digipack ¢ Original Theatrical Poster¢ 6 Art Cards ¢ Reproduction Production Notes from 1968 ¢ All Of Them Witches Collectible Board¢ Button Badge StickerSpecial Features:-Rosemary's Baby A Retrospective-Mia and Roman-50th Anniversary Redband Trailer-Theatrical Trailer
BBC police drama that follows the personal and professional lives of a group of detectives.
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.
Attila the Hun. Ivan the Terrible. Al Capone. They were all seven once. Ben Healy (John Ritter) adopts Junior (Michael Oliver) a kid who's so bad that even the nuns want to kick him out of the orphanage in this hilarious heart-warming family comedy. When Ben and his infertile wife Flo (Amy Yasbeck) want a child right away Mr. Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried) cons them into taking little Junior but they have no idea what they're getting into! Before you can say ""bad seed "" Junior is setting his room on fire tormenting the cat and jeopardizing the mayoral campaign of Ben's father sporting goods king Big Ben (Jack Warden). But both Junior and his new father will learn what it really means to be a family in this comedy smash hit!
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.
Grace of My Heart is a 1996 film written and directed by Allison Anders, set in the music world, starting in New York's Brill Building early 1960's era, weaving through the California Sound of the mid '60s and culminating with the adult-contemporary scene of the early 1970's . The story follows the life and career trajectory of it's protagonist, Denise Waverly. The soundtrack features songs by artists Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and Jill Sobule, replicating the musical style that emerged from the Brill Building, New York's music factory in the heyday of girl groups and 'pre-fab' acts like The Monkees. Loosely based on the early career of the great singer-songwriter Carole King Released for the very first time on DVD in the UK.
If the idea of an Oprah Winfrey-produced film detailing the last days of a dying man and his inspirational effect on those left behind sounds a little cloying, Tuesdays with Morrie will be a rather pleasant surprise. While the presentation of this true story is certainly very American in tone, and it was obviously made for television (the points where it faded to commercial breaks are clear), it's still a surprisingly satisfying piece of work. The credit for that can firmly be laid at the door of Jack Lemmon, appearing in what was to be his last film. He excels as the terminally ill college professor Morrie Schwartz, determined to use his passing as a medium for teaching others about life. Still showing signs of the spark that made the movies of his heyday so memorable, Lemmon is also capable of bringing a magnificent pathos to the role. Co-star Hank Azaria is a more-than-equal foil, instilling his character with a growing awareness of self that blossoms before the viewer. Yes, at times it is a little too schmaltzy for its own good, but Tuesdays with Morrie is a film capable of visiting emotional extremes with ease. On the DVD: A very scanty package, with the usual scene access and Dolby Digital stereo accompanied by a text-only resume of the movie and the briefest of biographies of its cast--in Lemmon's case a massively ineffectual effort.--Phil Udell
An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.
Created by the Belgian writer and illustrator Georges Rmi (better known to the world at large as Herg a name he adopted after the French pronunciation of his initials `R.G.') Tintin and his faithful wire-haired fox terrier companion Snowy first appeared in 1929 in Le Petit Vingtieme the weekly children's supplement to Brussels-based newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle. The following year the pair appeared in their first comic book Tintin Reporter In The Land Of The Soviets and hav
Henry Fonda is the strict new commander of a frontier fort (Henry Fonda) who soon clashes with his more experienced second in command (John Wayne), jepordising the fragile peace with the native americans.
CHURCHILL follows Britain's iconic Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the days before the infamous D-Day landings in June 1944. As allied forces stand on the south coast of Britain, poised to invade Nazi-occupied Europe, they await Churchill's decision on whether the invasion will actually move ahead. Fearful of repeating his mistakes from World War I on the beaches of Gallipoli, exhausted by years of war, plagued by depression and obsessed with fulfilling historical greatness, Churchill is also faced with constant criticism from his political opponents; General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery. Only the unflinching support of Churchill's brilliant, unflappable wife Clementine can halt the Prime Minister's physical and mental collapse and help lead him to greatness. CHURCHILL is directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man, Marcella) from an original screenplay by British historian Alex von Tunzelmann (Medici: Masters of Florence) in her feature debut. Starring Brian Cox (War & Peace, Coriolanus) as the legendary Winston Churchill, Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter, The Crying Game) as the Prime Minister's wife and confident Clemmie, John Slattery (Spotlight, Mad Men) as General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied D-Day operations, and Julian Wadham (The Iron Lady, War Horse) as British military commander Field Marshal Montgomery.
Starring Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses), Clive Francis and Michael Percival, The Piglet Files is the sitcom that truly lifts the lid on the shadowy world of espionage during the early nineties with quite startling results. Coerced into working for M15 only to find his spymasters are a collection of misinformed, bungling incompetents, electronics lecturer Peter Chapman is hapless gadgets expert Piglet Puma and Panther being already in use and he s feeling the pressure. This series finds the unlikely agent attempting to steal a former agent's memoirs, searching for a mole near the top of MI5... and falling headlong into a KGB honey trap!
Those six pandemonium-mad Pythons are back with their craziest adventure ever! Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin have returned to explain The Meaning of Life. The gang offers the usual tasteful sketches involving favourite body parts and bodily functions, the wonders of war, the miracle of birth and a special preview of what's waiting for us in Heaven. You'll never look at life in quite the same way again! Hailed as an exhilarating experience (Time) and pronounced the best movie from England's satirical sextet. (Newsweek)The Meaning Of Monty Python: 30th Anniversary Reunion. Product Features Sing-along Version Prologue With Eric Idle The Meaning Of Making The Meaning Of Life Feature Commentary With Terry Jones And Terry Gilliam Soundtrack For The Lonely Snipped Bits Un Film De John Cleese Education Tips Song And Dance Songs Unsung And Much More!
This mini-series based on Joanna Trollope's novel explores the internal politics and scandals of a British cathedral choir school. It features the singing voice of first-time actor and boy treble soloist Anthony Way a real-life student at the St. Paul's Cathedral Choral School in London.
Walt Disney's 25th full-length animated classic The Black Cauldron is a spectacular fantasy adventure to leave your whole family spellbound. In the mystical land of Prydrain a young boy named Taran undertakes a heroic task. With a magic sword at his side Taran must prevent the evil Horned King from unleashing the supernatural powers of a mysterious black cauldron! Helped by the beautiful Princess Eilonwy a funny and furry creature named Gurgi and an adorable clairvoyant pig Taran
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