The original and hippest version of Shaft cruised onto cinema screens in 1971. John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is an African-American private eye who has a rocky relationship with cops, an even rockier one with Harlem gangsters, and a healthy sex life. The script finds Shaft tracking down the kidnapped daughter of a black mobster, but the pleasure of the film is the sum of its attitude, Roundtree's uncompromising performance, and the thrilling, Oscar-winning score by Isaac Hayes. Director Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree) seems fond of certain detective genre clichés (e.g., the hero walking into his low-rent office and finding a hood waiting to talk with him), but he and Roundtree make those moments their own. Shaft produced a couple of sequels, a follow-up television series, and a remake starring Samuel L. Jackson, but none had the impact this movie did. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com Shaft's Big Score is the first sequel to the super-hip 1971 original. When a pal of detective John Shaft is murdered in a bombing, New York's coolest private eye finds himself caught in the middle of a power struggle between black and white gangsters over the numbers racket in Queens. Directed by Gordon Parks (who does a brief cameo as a croupier in an illegal casino) and written by Ernest Tidyman (both of whom made the original Shaft), this film lacks the pacing of its progenitor. Roundtree is at his best when he's questioning a woman he's just met about a suspect while at the same time beguiling her into the sack (ah, those lazy, crazy days of the sexual revolution). The finale--a shootout in a cemetery, followed by a car-boat-helicopter chase through Queens and up the Harlem River--is preposterously drawn-out: Shaft, impervious to machine-gun fire, winds up tripping, spraining his ankle, and limping while running from the chopper; two shots later, he's sprinting like a halfback. Look for late Muhammad Ali trainer Drew Bundini Brown as a wise-cracking mobster. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.comShaft in Africa, the second sequel to the original hit, foreshadows itself early on when Shaft, asked to go undercover in Africa to halt a modern-day slave trade, claims that he's not James Bond but strictly Sam Spade. Bond, however, is the operative model here, with John Shaft masquerading as an Ethiopian to infiltrate the slave business and bring it down. Yet everyone he encounters seems to know who he is and wants to kill him--but the string of dead bodies he leaves in his wake across two continents proves that no one is able to stop everyone's favourite hip private eye. Written by Stirling Silliphant, the film is long on action set pieces that are filmed with more energy than the previous movie, Shaft's Big Score. Given contemporary practices involving smugglers of illegal Chinese and Mexican immigrants, the plot isn't all that far-fetched. Roundtree, as usual, is the picture of unflappable cool--but don't get him mad. --Marshall Fine, Amazon.com
In delivering non-18-rated excitement, Alien vs. Predator is an acceptably average science-fiction action thriller with some noteworthy highlights, even if it squanders its opportunity to intelligently combine two popular franchises. Rabid fans can justifiably ask: "Is that all there is?" after a decade of development hell and eager anticipation, but we're compensated by reasonably logical connections to the Alien legacy and the still-kicking Predator franchise (which hinted at AVP rivalry at the end of Predator 2); some cleverly claustrophobic sets, tense atmosphere and impressive digital effects; and a climactic AVP smackdown that's not half bad. This disposable junk should've been better, but nobody who's seen Mortal Kombat or Resident Evil should be surprised by writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson's lack of imagination. As a brisk, 90-minute exercise in generic thrills, however, Anderson's work is occasionally impressive... right ! up to his shameless opening for yet another sequel.--Jeff Shannon
Angels In The Outfield: Roger who has lost his mother is living separated from his father. As he and his friend J.P. are two of the biggest fans of the Los Angeles baseball team he has got only two dreams: Living together with a real family and LA winning the championship. As he is praying for these two things to happen some angels show up in order to help him - but he is the only one to see them and believe in them. Fortunately the coach of the baseball team sees his abiliti
Jurassic Park (Dir. Steven Spielberg 1993): Director Steven Spielberg presents a masterpiece of imagination suspense science and cinematic magic that quickly became one the most successful film in worldwide box-office history. On a remote island a wealthy entrepreneur (Richard Attenborough) secretly creates a theme park featuring live dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric D.N.A. Before opening it to the public he invites a top palaeontologist (Sam Neill) and his paleobotanist girl friend (Laura Dern) a renowned mathematician (Jeff Goldblum) and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park - and help calm anxious investors. But their visit is anything but tranquil as the prehistoric predators break out and begin stalking the island's human inhabitants. Based on Michael Crichton's best-selling novel Jurassic Park is a breathtaking adventure you'll want to experience again and again... The Lost World (Dir. Steven Spielberg 1997): Director Steven Spielberg takes us back to the scene of Jurassic Park in The Lost World the blockbuster sequel with even more dinosaurs more action and more breathtaking visual effects than its record-breaking predecessor. This DVD edition contains exclusive interviews and rare behind-the-scenes footage. The Lost World remains among the most successful films of all time and features an all-star cast including Jeff Goldblum Julianne Moore and Pete Postlethwaite. It has been four years since the disaster at Jurassic Park and two groups are in a race against time that will determine the fate of the remote island's prehistoric inhabitants. Jurassic Park 3 (Dir. Joe Johnston 2001): Adventure runs wild when renowned palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) agrees to accompany a wealthy adventurer (William H. Macy) and his wife (Tea Leoni) on an aerial tour of Isla Sorna InGen's former breeding ground for prehistoric creatures. But when they're terrifyingly stranded Dr. Grant discovers that his hosts are not what they seem and the island's native inhabitants are smarter faster and fiercer than he ever imagined in this heart-stomping thriller.
High Lonesome (1995) is a made-for-TV movie, otherwise known as A Father for Charlie. It's set in the American South in the Depression and tells of the friendship between Walter, a black sharecropper (Louis Gossett Jr) and Charlie, a small white boy. Though the film's motives are honourable in its attempt at dealing with white racism, the story is implausible in its assumptions (would a black man have been allowed to foster a white boy at that time?) and deeply sentimental, not least in the last-minute conversion of the virulently racist local sheriff. On the DVD: The quality of the sound and image is adequate, but there are no extras apart from trailers. --Ed Buscombe
Simply one of the cheesiest films ever made with a group of space travellers transported back to the earth when dinosaurs roamed. Nil special effects plastic dinosaurs and a hilarious commentary track from the director who should have known better.
Box Set Comprises:Braquo: Season 1: A dark realistic cop series from world-famous filmmaker and former police office Olivier Marchal. Braquo (slang for Heist) follows a squad of Paris cops who exist in the blurred boundaries at the very edge of the law, often using violence and intimidation to get the job done. The lives of these officers change radically when their squad leader, falsely accused of corruption, commits suicide.Determined to clear his name they start an investigation of their own, only to find that the police department itself stands in their way.Driven by adrenaline and a thirst for justice, they must turn their backs on the laws they're sworn to enforce if they are to uncover the truth. Facing constant danger from all sides - and with the two most likely outcomes being imprisonment or death - the stakes couldn't be higher, but that merely serves to crank up the tension in this acclaimed series.Braquo: Season 2: The incendiary series 2 of Braquo. Rejected by their peers and superiors alike, Eddy and his renegade team suffer the shame and disgrace of going from hunters to the hunted. Caught in the crossfire of a gang war, the road to redemption will be long and difficult, and they can no longer rely on themselves alone to avoid a total fall from grace.
Fu Manchu and his army of henchmen are kidnapping the daughters of prominent scientists and taking them to his remote island headquarters. Instead of asking for ransom Fu demands that the fathers help him to build a death ray which he intends to use to take over the world. But Fu's archenemy Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard is determined not to let that happen...
Ed (Craig McLachlan) is a helicopter pilot daredevil climber and a martial arts expert. Ros (Jaye Griffiths) is as at home behind the wheel of a skidding car in a high speed chase as in front of a computer screen and Beckett(Jesse Birdsall) is always risking his life; imprisoned in a flooded submarine defeating high tech defence systems and defusing time bombs with seconds on the clock. Episodes: Blaze Of Glory / The Revenge Effect / The Price Of Peace / Hollow Man / Nuclear Fami
A slasher-horror film with enough campy humor to entertain most genre fans. Four friends go on a camping trip in the woods at a site the locals have dubbed Camp Blood. It isn't long before a maniac shows up donning a clown mask and ready for a killing spree.
Based on actual events. When the commander of the crew of a B17 Flying Fortress bomber is killed in action in a raid over Sicily in 1943, his replacement, a young naive pilot struggles to be accepted by the plane's already tight-knit Irish American crew.
Shadowboxer is an emotionally-charged full-throttle thriller which delves deep into the harsh underworld of organized crime and uncovers the complex lives of trained assassins Mikey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Rose (Helen Mirren). But when a brutal crime boss wants his wife dead Rose has a change of heart when they find her pregnant. And so the three begin a harrowing life on the run. Driven by fierce love Rose and Mickey protect their adopted family from present danger - looking to redeem their tragic past.
All the episodes from the multi-award winning comedy series about human existence as seen through the eyes of four aliens visiting Earth whose mission is to sample life on this planet.
A pre-code film that sneaked onto screens just as the censorious Hays Office began cracking down on Hollywood's racier propositions, Cleopatra is a libertine paean to decadence and depravity that can still send a viewer's mind reeling and pulse thumping - all courtesy of the Golden Age's swampiest psychosexual auteur, Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments; The Greatest Show on Earth; The King of Kings).Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night; The Palm Beach Story; Drums Along the Mohawk) presides over the most outrageous spectacle this side of The Scarlet Empress as the eponymous pharaoh queen who speeds from Julius Caesar (Warren William) to Marc Antony (Henry Wilcoxon), from Egypt to Rome, from war-room to bedroom... The whiff of incense permeates every scene, with each connected to the next in a veritable matrix of whips, blindfolds, and bindings - the crazed arrangement laying bare all the fetish inklings of the moving-picture dream.Lavishly produced with some of the most inspired waxing-moon photography and unwholesome set-design to come out of the studio system, DeMille's film is an erotic tour-de-force that obliges us to re-examine the appeal of this most popular of Hollywood directors. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Cleopatra on DVD.
Lester Long never forgets a friend... He has a firm handshake a ready smile and some strange ideas about friendship. His name is Lester Long and when the bodies start piling up he generously decides to share the blame. Now the F.B.I. has got the whole town under observation and Lester has put his new friend Clay over a barrel. The only way for Clay to set things straight is to beat one twisted individual at his own game of deceit and double-crossing!
A Night of living terror led to a Dawn of false hope, but nothing before will prepare you for the darkest Day the world has known! Below ground in a fortified installation, scientists conduct experiments to understand the virus that has turned humanity into flesh-hungry zombies. Isolated and deprived of natural light, the researchers begin clashing with their military protectors and it soon becomes apparent that their co-dwellers are just as dangerous and unpredictable as the zombies gathering to enter their safe haven... Director George A. Romero follows Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead with this stark, unflinching sequel that stands as the series' most gritty and astoundingly gory installment. Special Features:Also includes Audio commentary with the special effects team, Joe of the dead featurette and travelogue and also a booklet by For Every Dawn There is a Day Collector's Booklet!
Verdi's Aida is one of the most dazzling operas ever written. An epic work it explores the devastating consequences of a classic love triangle between Aida the Ethiopian slave girl the King's daughter Amneris and Captain of the Guard Radames. This intense drama gave Verdi the perfect opportunity to compose some of his most poignant arias and powerful music which convey tragedy and passion and transform the intricate love story into an emotional journey for the spectator. This staging of the classic masterpiece comes from distinguished director Stephen Medcalf and acclaimed costume designer Isabella Bywater. International opera singer Claire Rutter is joined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Andrew Greenwood. Filmed live at the majestic Royal Albert Hall in London this programme offers a unique opportunity to see this beautiful production.
Jaws 2: Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is walking his beach beat a few years on from the horrible shark attacks on Amity Island. A missing diver's camera shows what looks like a shark fin but Amitys cowardly Mayor (Murray Hamilton) plays down the incident. Brody raises a panicky false alarm from his observation tower and is fired for it. Suddenly the new killer shark attacks a group of small boats manned by teenagers which include his own sons... (Dir. Jeannot Szwarc 1978) Jaws 3: The brand new Sea World complex in Florida offers visitors the chance to view the undersea kingdom from the safety of glass tunnels on the sea-bed. All seems well until a thirty-five foot Great White shark appears on the scene..... (Dir. Joe Alves 1982) Jaws 4: Lorraine Gary repeats her role of Ellen Brody widow of Chief Martin Brody in this suspenseful sequel starring Oscar-winner Michael Caine. After Deputy Sean Brody is killed by a shark off Amity Island she joins her other son Michael a marine biologist his wife Carla and their daughter Thea in the Bahamas. There she falls for Hoagie a carefree pilot and starts putting her life back together - until a Great White threatens Thea and Ellen knows she has no choice but to face her fear in a final fatal showdown... (Dir. Jospeh Sargent 1987)
Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) are glamorous twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Returning to a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria after their expensive English education the two women make very different choices. Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover the 'revolutionary professor' Odenigbo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his devoted houseboy Ugwu (John Boyega) in the dusty university town of Nsukka; Kainene turns out to be a fiercely successful businesswoman when she takes over the family interests and surprises herself when she falls in love with Richard (Joseph Mawle) an English writer. Preoccupied by their romantic entanglements and a betrayal between the sisters the events of their life loom larger than politics. However they become caught up in the events of the Nigerian civil war in which the lgbo people fought an impassioned struggle to establish Biafra as an independent republic ending in chilling violence which shocked the entire country and the world. Based on the award-winning best seller by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Half of a Yellow Sun is the feature film debut from London based Nigerian playwright novelist and screenwriter Biyi Bandele. Starring Oscar-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) BAFTA-winner Thandie Newton (Crash) BAFTA-nominee Joseph Mawle (Birdsong) Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) and John Boyega (Attack the Block) Half of a Yellow Sun is an epic love-story weaving together the lives of four people swept up in the turbulence of war produced by Andrea Calderwood of Slate Films (The Last King of Scotland).
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