In the 1940s America was just emerging from The Great Depression. War engulfed half the world and the future looked uncertain. The Hollywood musical had the recipe to make things better. With the Hollywood musical people still believed that dreams really do come true. Glamour spread across the screen. In glorious colour and even in black and white the screen glittered. Join the biggest stars as we celebrate the great musicals of the 1940s when Hollywood put its best feet forw
Archer is an animated half-hour comedy set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) a spy agency where espionage and global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse undermine betray and royally screw each other. The series features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin as suave master spy Sterling Archer whose less-than-masculine code name is Duchess; Jessica Walter as his domineering mother and boss Malory; Aisha Tyler as his ex-girlfriend Agent Lana Kane; George Coe as his aging-but-loyal butler Woodhouse; Chris Parnell as ISIS comptroller and Lana's new love interest Cyril Figgis; and Judy Greer as Malory's lovesick secretary Cheryl.; and Amber Nash as Pam the director of human resources for ISIS. Episodes Comprise: 1. Mole Hunt 2. Training Day 3. Diversity Hire 4. Killing Utne 5. Honeypot 6. Skorpio 7. Skytanic 8. The Rock 9. Job Offer 10. Dial M for Mother
"The Wizard of Oz" has charmed and thrilled audiences for seven decades with its timeless music and truly heart-warming story. The unforgettable songs and characters come to life in a sing-along extravaganza that all the family can enjoy time and again.
Till the Clouds Roll By was the big MGM extravaganza of 1946, purporting to be a life of the first giant of the stage musical, Jerome Kern. Great chunks of Show Boat, Sweet Adeline and Sunny dominate while, in between excerpts, reliable Robert Walker does valiant work as Kern, lending a gentle credibility to even the most extravagant licenses taken by the writers. The liberties taken with Kern's story beggar belief, but what a fine excuse this is to sit back and enjoy a procession of gems from the great American songbook, performed by genuine legends. Judy Garland has two numbers as Marilyn Miller, both directed by husband Vincente Minnelli at the peak of their creative and personal relationships. Singing "Who?", she has to float down the proverbial staircase, obviously pregnant (Liza was born a short time later). Others to shine include Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Dinah Shore and, more bizarrely, a skinny young Sinatra drafted in at the last for a rousing "Old Man River". Most poignant of all is the presence of Lena Horne who, but for the racist values of Hollywood at the time, would have been a great film star. Ever confined to guest appearances, she here sings the songs of Show Boat's tragic half-caste Julie. When MGM filmed the musical in 1951, the same part went to Ava Gardner. On the DVD: Till the Clouds Roll By may boast digital remastering, but it could have done with a deal of restoration, too. Presented in 4:3 format, the picture quality is often pixellated and the soundtrack in "HiFi Stereo" is muffled and occasionally cracked. Considering its value as an archive of great performers, some rarely seen on film, this film deserves better DVD treatment. --Piers Ford
Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play. The classic adventure 65 million years in the making, Jurassic Park, and its blockbuster sequel, Jurassic World, come to life in stunning 3D. Come face to face with groundbreaking visual effects and relive the breathtaking story of the worlds greatest amusement park, a remote island where dinosaurs roam and guests can become prey at any moment. From Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park) and Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), experience the awe-inspiring, thrilling journey time and time again!
Matt Reeves directs this big budget action sequel to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' (2011) starring Andy Serkis, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Keri Russell. With Ceasar (Serkis), the hyper-intelligent ape produced by human experimentation, now the leader of a growing band of cognisant simians, a fragile truce prevails between the apes and humans. Many consider the outbreak of war to only be a matter of time, however, since the human population has been vastly reduced by a devastating virus and their role as the dominant species on Earth is in question. As the tension ratchets up, it may only take a single spark to trigger an explosive war that will pit the humans against the apes in an all-out battle for survival.
A fascinating and colourful screen biography of Jerome Kern (Robert Walker). It starts with the opening night of his smash hit ""showboat"" and flashes back to his beginnings as an almost penniless songwriter. The film follows his friendship with James I Hessler and journeys to England where the best songwriters are reputed to be and where he finds his early successes - and the future Mrs Kern (Dorothy Patrick). After some difficult times in the USA he collaborates with Oscar Hammerstein II; the result being the classic adaptation of Edna Ferber's ""Showboat"". The picture's grand finale features Frank Sinatra singing ""Ol' Man River"" - This is one huge and lavish theatrical feast; great entertainment.
Sterling Archer, the world's most dangerous spy, and his snarky ISIS cohorts are back for another outrageously raunchy season of international espionage and hilarious interoffice intrigue! When he's not busy foiling ecoterrorist threats, tracking down mysterious killers, or having sex in X-ray machines, the suave master-spy has his hands full with bikini-clad ninjas, Swiss nymphomaniacs and paternity suits. Archer searches for the true identity of his father, battles breast cancer and brings a sexy, ex-KGB agent home to meet his domineering mother. It's all in a day's work for this man of mystery in this uproariously edgy animated farce.Archer Season 2 delivers 13 incriminating episodes and features exclusive bonus content not seen on TV.
There are Victorian country-house shenanigans aplenty in Impromptu: novelist George Sand (Judy Davis, affected but pretty charming) has eyes for Franz Liszt's young protégé Chopin (Hugh Grant, solid as always, but burdened by a silly Polish accent and a script that never lets him stretch out), but various lovers, jealous rivals, and Chopin's own overdeveloped sense of propriety conspire to confound her. Impromptu is witty but overlong--probably 20 minutes of hijinks and repartee, not to mention several completely gratuitous and redundant characters, could have been sliced from the film. Davis plays Sand as an impetuous, overgrown tomboy, outraging her genteel hosts by wearing pants, chomping cigars, and falling off horses; her coterie of artist-friends assure us, in a series of naked plot devices, that she nonetheless has a heart of gold. It's all good silly fun, and about as feminist as your average Def Leppard video--the other two developed female characters are ugly stereotypes: a featherbrained, feckless social climber (Emma Thompson, who once again proves she's up for anything) and a spiteful, back-stabbing shrew (the ever-capable Bernadette Peters). Director James Lapine clearly belongs to the Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman school of historical accuracy, so don't expect to learn anything about the period or the artists themselves. --Miles Bethany
Judy Davis stars in Gillian Armstrong's breakthrough, a period romance as unconventional as its brash heroine. For her awardwinning breakthrough film, director Gillian Armstrong (Little Women) drew on teenage author Miles Franklin's novel, a celebrated turnofthetwentiethcentury Australian comingofage story, to brashly upend the conventions of period romance. Headstrong young Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis, in a starmaking performance), bemoans her stifling life in the backcountry, where her writerly ambitions receive little encouragement, and craves independence above all else. When a handsome landowner (Jurassic Park's Sam Neill), disarmed by her unruly charms, begins to court her, Sybylla must decide whether she can reconcile the prospect of marriage with the illustrious life's work she has imagined for herself. Suffused with generous humour and a youthful appetite for experience, My Brilliant Career is a luminous portrait of an ardently free spirit. Features: New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Gillian Armstrong, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary from 2009 featuring Armstrong New interview with Armstrong Interview from 1980 with actor Judy Davis New interview with production designer Luciana Arrighi One Hundred a Day (1973), a student short film by Armstrong Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Carrie Rickey
The 60's were the last great decade for the American movie musical but it was also probably its best. With blockbusters like The Sound of Music West Side Story My fair Lady Mary Poppins Oliver! and Funny girl the artform reached its peak. Join us on a singing and dancing tour from the Austrian Alps to the vauderville halls of Brooklyn... from dancing in the streets of Spanish Harlem to the shores of River City... from the chimneys of Old London to the sound stages of Hollywoo
Barry Munday wakes up after being attacked to realize that he's missing his family jewels. To make matters worse he learns he's facing a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman he can't remember having sex with.
Just Married: Tom's a traffic reporter with blue collar roots. Sarah's a writer whose family is as wealthy as it is snobbish. Much to her clan's and ex-boyfriend's horror Sarah (Brittany Murphy) and Tom (Ashton Kutcher) fall in love and marry. Following their wedding they set off on what they expect to be the perfect vacation but thanks to her ex-beau and relentless bad luck the happy couple experiences the honeymoon from hell! The Wedding Planner: Your wedding day
When a British government undercover agent is assassinated a radical anti-nuclear group is held responsible. SAS agent Skellen (Lewis Collins The Professionals) is called upon to infiltrate the group and put an end to their terrorist activities. He is welcomed into the group by its fanatical leader Frankie Leith (Judy Davis A Passage to India) and gets closer to uncovering her plan to attack a major political target. The group raids the American embassy and Skellen from within the residence must use all of his skill and courage to support and guide his SAS colleagues to save the lives of the high-ranking hostages being held captive. Who Dares Wins was inspired by the SAS rescue of hostages at the besieged Iranian Embassy in May 1980.
Repressed sexuality and social snobbery of the British upper-class are undone when a widow on vacation dallies with a handsome young Italian. Relatives and friends hurry from England to ""save"" her. The widow Lilia Herriton meets a young man when she visits Italy and marries him. The man is only a dentist without a good name and Lilia's relatives are clearly unhappy with her choice. Lilia dies while gving birth to a son and tow relatives travel to Italy to take care of the baby expecting no trouble from the father... Based on the novel by E.M. Forster.
Woody Allen's Celebrity--a portrait of the celebrity life as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dark) and worthy addition to the Allen pantheon. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis (both boasting American accents) star as the ex-couple, each struggling to build new, separate lives in a media-saturated, celebrity-driven world. Branagh tries his hand at celebrity profiles (while peddling a screenplay to any star that will listen) and falls into the lap of a bosomy starlet (Melanie Griffith), the first in a long line of briefly attainable women. Davis runs into a producer (Joe Mantegna) who offers her a job as a TV personality as well as a loving relationship. This seemingly simple double plot is punctuated with twists and turns in the form of flashbacks and innumerable side trips, all ravishingly photographed in black and white by the legendary Sven Nykvist, and populated by one of Allen's largest casts ever; if you blink you'll miss countless cameos by Isaac Mizrahi, Donald Trump, Hank Azaria, Leonardo DiCaprio and a host of others. While Davis is splendid as usual (aside from the requisite nervous breakdown scene she's done one too many times), somebody should have told Branagh to put a kibosh on his Woody Allen imitation. His failure in the role, however, isn't entirely his fault, as it's another in a long line of unlikable male protagonists which Allen has created, as if daring audiences to hate his main characters after loving them in such movies as Manhattan and Annie Hall. Far more enjoyable misadventures with Branagh include Charlise Theron in the film's best performance as a libidinous supermodel with a penchant for Echinacea; a stunning Famke Janssen as a successful book editor; and Winona Ryder, acting like an adult for the first time, as an aspiring actress. But they all manage to slip through Branagh's fingers by the end of the film. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com
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