Based on the play by Jim Morris. Blood on the Dole follows the lives of four teenagers, two boys and two girls, struggling to cope after being thrust into the real world for the first time after leaving school. Living in deprived Merseyside, the four youths' bright-eyed optimism for their futures and new-found freedom is soon crushed by the realities of unemployment, poverty, and the brutal reality of living and trying to find work in a city in decline. They all soon find themselves in the hopeless situation of facing complete dependence on state handouts, the dole . The four teenagers instead find themselves turning to each other to find the strength to survive. An impressively fresh social commentary and portrayal of teenage love set within a disturbingly authentic account of disenfranchised youth. With austerity still very much a part of our political climate, and recent films such as I, Daniel Blake continuing to challenge such government policy, Blood on the Dole is still a hugely relevant watch today. Produced by BAFTA-winner Alan Bleasdale as a part of the Alan Bleasdale Presents series, a Channel 4 anthology showcasing and given a platform to new, up-and-coming talent young writers. After his successes in landmark dramas including Boys from the Black Stuff, The Monocled Mutineer and GBH, in 1994 Channel 4 gave Alan Bleasdale the opportunity to find and mentor new TV writers. Four big-budget, standalone films were made as a result, with top casts and experimental storylines.
Born to a weak but loving mother soon after his father dies David Copperfield is nine years old when his mother Clara marries Mr Murdstone. A cruel man who believes in extreme discipline he has no hesitation in sending David away to school. Shortly after he is sent away Clara dies and Murdstone seizes the opportunity to send him away for good this time into menial labour at a London wine merchants. It is here that David meets the genial Micawber family and his aunt Betsey arrange
This moving and powerful from the acclaimed director of 'Alice and Martin' and 'Strayed' follows the lives of a group of friends and lovers in 1980s France. Handsome young Manu (Johan Liberau) arrives in Paris where he shares a cheap hotel room with his sister (Julie Depardieu). He soon strikes up a platonic friendship with fifty something Adrien (Michel Blanc) who introduces Manu to his friends Sarah (Emmanuelle B''art) and her partner Mehdi (Sami Bouajila). Unexpectedly sparks fly between Manu and Mehdi and the two embark upon a secret and passionate affair that will ultimately change everybody's lives. Brilliantly evoking the period and featuring some exceptional performances Andr'' T''chin'''s remarkable film confirms his place as one of contemporary French cinema's finest directors.
Filmed in a mockumentary style Modern Family attempts to document the lives of three families who couldn't be more different. These bizarre broods are anything but normal as you'll discover in this hilarious look at unconventional families trying to survive in a conventional world.
The Sorceress: All the pleasures of the flesh and malevolence of black magic collide with deadly force in a suburban experiment in witchcraft. Larry Barnes (Larry Poindexter) seems to be living a charmed life. He's on the fast track to a partnership in a prestigious law firm and his beautiful and sexy wife Erica (Julie Strain) will do anything to keep her husband happy even down to eliminating those who stand in the way of success. But Erica makes a final mistake when she t
Seamlessly interweaving archival war footage and a fictional narrative Stuart Cooper's immersive account of one 20-year-old's journey from basic training to the battle front lines at D-day brings all the terrors and isolation of war to its viewers with jolting authenticity. Overlord impressionistically shot by Stanley Kubrick's longtime cinematographer John Alcott is both a document of WWII and a dreamlike meditation on man's smallness in a large incomprehensible machine.
Richard E. Grant stars as the foppish English aristocrat Sir Percy Blakeney who has a secret identity as the daring and swashbuckling Scarlet Pimpernel rescuing noblemen from the clutches of the guillotine during the height of the French Revolution...
A typically bored affluent Californian housewife's world of domestic oblivion careers off its axis when she develops a mystery illness that puts her at odds with every aspect of the world around her - cars dry cleaners hair perms and even the new couch! Gradually she develops nosebleeds vomiting and breathing problems and finally collapses. In a desperate search for what is 'safe' she opts for virtual isolation in a porcelain igloo in the Texas desert where the inhabitants drag round oxygen cylinders and the therapists act like evangelical preachers. Injected with horror comic touches and psychological suspense Safe is a visionary tale of the future. Has Carol brought her sickness upon herself or is she made vulnerable by a world that is more dangerous than we or she understands?
The complete seventh season of The Simpsons where you can finally unearth who was behind the shooting of the nefarious Mr Burns! Episodes Comprise: 1. Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part 2) 2. Radioactive Man 3. Home Sweet Home-Dum-Diddly-Doodly 4. Bart Sells His Soul 5. Lisa The Vegetarian 6. Treehouse Of Horror VI 7. King-Size Homer 8. Mother Simpson 9. Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming 10. The Simpsons' 138th Show Spectacular 11. Marge Be Not Proud 12. Team Homer 13. Two Bad Neighbours 14. Scenes From A Class Struggle In Springfield 15. Bart The Fink 16. Lisa The Iconoclast 17. Homer The Smithers 18. The Day The Violence Died 19. A Fish Called Selma 20. Bart On The Road 21. 22 Short Films About Springfield 22. Raging Abe Simpson And His Grumbling Grandson In The Curse of the Flying Hellfish 23. Much Apu About Nothing 24. Homerpalooza 25. Summer Of 4'2
Any four episodes of The Simpsons chosen at random would make perfectly acceptable entertainment, but The Simpsons Film Festival is a particularly happy selection. One of the shows many delights has always been its unending stream of movie parodies, and here we have four episodes devoted to just that. In "Beyond Blunderdome", Mel Gibson (playing himself) sends up his tough-guy persona when he hires Homer to produce his latest movie. Then in "A Star is Burns" Springfield hosts its own film festival (with acerbic guest critic Jay Sherman in attendance). The competition boils down to Barneys haunting cinema verité short about the horrors of alcohol or Mr Burns grandiose vanity project (though Homer prefers Hans Moleman being hit by a football). "22 Short Films About Springfield" is a series of parodies within a parody featuring Springfields secondary characters, including Milhouses dad and Chief Wiggum in a glorious Pulp Fiction sequence. Finally, the shows own internal parody cartoon duo hit the big screen in "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie", while Bart and Homer lock horns about going to see it. They sell Soylent Green in the future cinema foyer; and Homer loves it, of course.On the DVD: just four episodes is hardly stunning value for money, but its perhaps quality not quantity that counts here. Annoyingly there is no "Play All" facility, a serious let down in all the Simpsons DVD releases (Futurama had the same problem, too). The only extra feature of any note is a three-minute montage of Troy McClures finest moments. Sound is unexceptional Dolby Stereo and the picture is standard 4:3 ratio. --Mark Walker
Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part 1) (Season 6): Conspiracy and intrigue is rife in Springfield following the shooting of Mr Burns. With Chief Wiggum leading the investigation and a list of potential suspects it's going to take more than one episode to solve this case. Guest voice: Tito Puente. Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part 2) (Season 7): The list of suspects has been reduced with Lisa giving Chief Wiggum some valuable pointers. Unfortunately her intervention has identified Homer
Titles Comprise: Life In Danger: When a child murderer escapes from an asylum Hazel (Julie Hopkins) takes up with a casual labourer (Derren Nesbitt). The couple are trapped in a barn wrongly accused of murder. Cover-Girl Killer: Set in the sleazy world of a backstreet 50s nightclub. A serial-killer is believed to be murdering the models of glamour magazine when cover girl Gloria Starke is found dead after going on an assignment with mysterious TV producer (Harry H Corbett) Inspector Brunner (Victor Brooks) is put on the case to interview all concerned.
This ultimate collector's edition includes three of James Dean's landmark films. This box set includes Giant East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause. GiantTexan rancher Bick Benedict visits a Maryland farm to buy a prize horse. Whilst there he meets and falls in love with the owner's daughter Leslie. They are married immediately and return to his ranch. The story of their family and its rivalry with cowboy and (later oil tycoon) Jett Rinkunfolds across two generations. Special Features: Introduction by George Stevens Jr. Commentary by George Stevens Jr. Ivan Moffat and Stephen Farber George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him Rebel Without a CauseDean stars as the ultimate juvenile delinquent. A lonely misunderstood bad boy from a good family who will do anything to get his parents' attention even if it ends in tragedy. Special Features: Commentary by Douglas L. Rathgeb James Dean Rembered featurette Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents Dennis Hopper: Memories from the Warner lot Screen tests Wardrobe tests 16 deleted scenes Behind the cameras: Natalie Wood Behind the cameras: Jim Backus Behind the cameras: James Dean Theatrical trailer East of EdenTwo brothers rival for the love of their stern over-bearing widowed father. However when Cal (James Dean) the rejected 'rebel' son discovers that his mother is not dead but running a nearby brothel he decides to tell his brother. This spiteful decision soon leads to the destruction of his relationship with his brother who in a drunken frenzy runs off to enlist in an army unit being shipped overseas to the battlefields of France. Special Features: Commentary by Richards Schickel Forever James Dean (1987 Documentary) East of Eden: Art in Search of Life Screen tests 4 Wardrobe testsDeleted scenes 3/9/1955 NYC premiere Theatrical trailer Collector's Edition Includes: 6-disc Digipack Blu-ray collection featuring all 3 of James Dean's iconic movies: East of Eden Giant and Rebel Without A Cause 3 movie posters 10 photo cards 6 memos 48-page booklet
Taking the Spin-off genre to the extreme, Angel attempts to replicate the success of Buffy by taking the heartthrob as the lead. Spin-off shows rarely match the success of their parent programmes, especially in the superhero/fantasy genre (cf. The Girl From UNCLE, The Bionic Woman, The Green Hornet--Frasier being the notable exception). Characters who were perfectly useful as supporting figures dwindle when forced in the spotlight, and Angel takes a special risk by building an entire series around a character who is: (a) supposed to be a mystery man; (b) a vampire who once spent half a season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a dastardly villain who killed without remorse; and (c) played by David Boreanaz, who is well up on handsome and broody but still can't do an Irish accent to save his life and is visibly learning this acting lark as the series progresses. The premise is that Angel, the vampire with a soul, has finally admitted he'll never get it together with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), unless a reunion crossover episode or two are scheduled. He moves to Los Angeles, a city haunted not only by demons and vampires but lawyers and agents. Angel sets up as a private investigator and solves cases with a supernatural aspect, partnered with Doyle (Glenn Quinn), a half-demon with a proper Irish accent and the useful psychic ability to know when someone is in trouble (thereby predicting any given week's plot), and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), another Buffy refugee here trying to reinvent herself as a struggling big-city single girl. Far less consistent than its parent show, but also not saddled with quite so much of a continuing story arc, Angel has a very different feel, cued by its effective semi-Goth violin theme tune and lots of film noir-ish LA street scenes, with a dose of cynical inside-the-entertainment-industry stuff. It has its share of familiar ideas (such as a Fight Club episode) and simply daft premises (a demon-centred show which allegorises the debate about female circumcision , for example). Angel alienated a lot of initial fans by killing off its most appealing regular a third of the way into the run, dusting off hideous English comic stereotype Wesley the Watcher (Alex Denisof) as a replacement. However, it also comes up with some ingenious moments: in a two-parter guest-starring sometime Buffy villainess Faith (Eliza Dushku), the show finally delivers something scary and emotionally powerful as Angel proves he can solve cases his ex-girlfriend can't. Meanwhile, the last couple of episodes--which beef up a satanic law firm as regular foes and resurrect a long-dead character as a major troublemaker for the future--go from promising to delivering. --Kim NewmanOn the DVD: the DVD set is only moderately generous with features, compared to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series DVDs. There are two episodes with commentaries--creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt discussing the series' genesis and "City Of ". Added to this Jane Espenson, the resident queen of farce, talks us through the haunted apartment episode "Rm w/a Vu". Also included are four featurettes--introductions to the characters of Angel and Cordelia, a series one overview and a discussion of the show's demons--scripts for the two Faith episodes, cast biographies and a gallery of stills and blue-prints. Most importantly, given the way Angel was butchered by Channel 4 for an inappropriately early time slot, the show's violence and strong language are offered uncut. Presented in English and French Dolby Surround Sound 2.0 and with an aspect ratio of approx 1.33:1 --Roz Kaveney
Charismatic author Ayn Rand brings college students under the spell of her ideology a forceful spirit in perpetual conflict with those she thinks herself superior to. And it's a dangeorus game. In 1949 in the aftermath of the success of her most famous novel 'The Foutainhead' two students Nathaniel and Barbara great fans of her work visit Ayn Rand and her husband Frank. Their friendship develops quickly as Rand's highly intellectual temperament begins to manipulate the pair's relationship forcing the students into an akward affair and eventually marriage. As Nathaniel and Barbara's relationship is strained by the years and Rand herself struggles to complete her novel 'Atlas Shrugged' Nathaniel and Rand begin a torrid affair. Ayn attempts to justify the affair to Barbara and Frank under the growing assumption that they are superior beings deserving of special treatment. As her passion spirals out of control leaving her friends and loved ones devastated and distraught Ayn must decide whether to take the leap her spirit dictates to her and risk losing everything she once held dear.
Angela's Ashes (Dir. Alan Parker 1999): Angela's Ashes the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir comes to life in this stirring film from acclaimed director Alan Parker (Evita) starring Academy Award-nominee Emily Watson (Breaking The Waves) and Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty). Life in impoverished Depression-era Ireland holds little promise for young Frank McCourt the oldest son in a tightly knit family. Living by his wits cheered by his irrepressible spirit and sustained by his mother's fierce love Frank embarks on an inspiring journey to overcome the poverty of his childhood and reach the land of his dreams: America. Stepmom (Dir. Chris Columbus 1998): Jackie (Susan Sarandon) is a divorced mother of two. Isabel (Julia Roberts) is the career minded girlfriend of Jackie's ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris) forced into the role of unwelcome stepmother to their children. It is the universal dilemma of the 'non-traditional family' they all love the children but the complex interplay between parents step-parents step-children ex-spouses and significant others is decidedly tricky. But when Jackie discovers she is ill both women realise they must put aside their differences to find a common ground and celebrate life to the fullest while they have the chance. Billy Elliot (Dir. Stephen Daldry 1998): Starring Julie Walters and newcomer Jamie Bell the film (based on a real-life story) follows the progress of little Billy Elliot a motherless 11 year-old from a poor Durham pit village. When young Billy chooses ballet classes over boxing lessons his life is changed forever. He decides to keep the lessons secret from his father a coal miner but when his ballet instructor persuades him to try out for the Royal Ballet School in London Billy must make the choice between family responsibilities and his dreams...
After getting hurt one too many Julie a lonely hairdresser is ready to give up on romance. But when she runs into a wayward spaceship with a sexy alien captain and a lovesick crew it doesn't look like romance is ready to give up on her. After one mighty zany weekend Julie decides that maybe she should take a chance on love again.
As she celebrates her 18th birthday Rebecca meets Roman who is not only a warlock but also possesses magical powers. After he shows how her parents were killed he gives her a sacred amulet - Her birthrite. As she becomes involved in witchcraft her sister Erin sets out to save her soul from Roman's clutches....
Previous UK releases of Catchfire have listed the pseudonymous Allan Smithee as director, but this version proudly opens with "a Dennis Hopper film". Also known as Backtrack, it offers a plot that advances by illogical leaps and bounds while whole scenes seem to go astray. With prominently billed actors getting almost nothing to do while major players go un-credited, a bland music score that might have been laid in from another film entirely and an ending that makes a lot of noise without actually resolving much, the film certainly has its bad points. However, it's also one of Hopper's more eccentric films, and more fun than Colors or The Hot Spot (which he had no trouble owning up to), partly because the director also takes a quirky lead role and his own personal interests are stirred by the modern art frills of the chase plot. The film opens with LA-based conceptual artist Jodie Foster, looking chunkily terrific just before her adult career took off, suffering a minor breakdown on the freeway and happening on a gangland execution. Pint-sized mob boss Joe Pesci sets his killers on her but the crooks ineptly murder Foster's boyfriend (Charlie Sheen, taking a very early bath). Pesci calls in Hopper, a professional hitman who immerses himself in Foster's life and art in order to track her down only to develop an obsessive crush on the woman. When he finds her, he gives her the choice between getting rubbed out or becoming his property. Hopper retains the knack for finding odd-looking byways of rural America, but is uncomfortable with helicopter chases and shoot-outs. The leads, despite great chunks of missing story, are both interesting--Foster sexily vulnerable and Hopper doing a wry New York drawl as the sax-playing hit man. Catchfire also offers an amazing supporting cast of the director's friends, including Dean Stockwell, Vincent Price, Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Tony Sirico (The Sopranos), Bob Dylan (with a chainsaw), Helena Kallianotes (Five Easy Pieces), Julia Adams (The Creature from the Black Lagoon), and John Turturro.On the DVD: the film itself comes in a good-looking widescreen transfer, but the lack of special features let the disc down, with only feeble notes for three cast members (and no Smithee filmography). --Kim Newman
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy