Hideously plausible when first broadcast in 1984, this BBC TV docu-drama now seems like a terrifying might-have-been, although a great deal of what it says about the probable aftermath of a nuclear attack remains horribly pertinent. Scripted by Barry Hines (author of the novel on which Ken Loach's Kes was based) and directed by Mick Jackson (who later went to Hollywood with The Bodyguard and Volcano), at the time Threads seemed like a response to the American TV movie The Day After although it stands nobly on its own. Showing the after-effects of World War III on the United Kingdom by concentrating on two Sheffield families linked by an unplanned pregnancy, it illustrates the scientific, political, medical and social consequences of the severing of the many vital connective "threads" that support a Western society. Grim in a particularly 1980s way, this is a compulsive if uncomfortable watch and accomplishes a great deal without the distraction of spectacle, picking through all the melted milk bottles and firing squad traffic wardens to find the human horror at the heart of it all. --Kim Newman
Gemma Jones stars as Louisa Trotter a cook for the upperclass at a fancy hotel. Very similar in style to 'Upstairs Downstairs' this classic British TV series first aired in 1976.
Terry and June Medford are both middle aged and beginning to find the trials of life are more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives with Terry's pigheaded childishness causing no end of problems usually thwarting June's attempts at leading a cosy life!
In this powerful adaptation of the Henry James classic, valued possessions become playing pieces in a terrible battle of wills that can only end badly for all concerned; and one woman’s decision to play by the rules may risk losing the game altogether. Adele Gereth has taken the young, attractive, sensitive and tasteful Fleda Vetch under her wing. Adele is intensely houseproud, particularly of the possessions she has gathered over the years, objects of beauty, paintings and furnishing all of which reside in Poynton, the family home. Adele’s son, Owen, is dangerously close to marrying Mona Brigstock, a woman lacking entirely in class or any respectable sensibility. In young Fleda, Adele sees a potentially more suitable future mistress of the house and inheritor of her life’s work. Mona however, while lacking in character, is far from lacking in backbone. Fleda soon finds herself buffeted by every wind that blows in Poynton, and subject to almost every kind of attention both good and bad. What the future holds is in the lap of the Gods – and they will play perilous games with The Spoils of Poynton. Special Features: Cast Filmographies Henry James Biography Picture Gallery Subtitles
Absolutely Fabulous was first broadcast in 1992 and became an instant hit. Originally a sketch on the French and Saunders Show, Jennifer Saunders saw its potential and created one of the most ground-breaking and debauched comedies on British TV. Centred around the hip London fashion scene the series follows Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley), two women who refuse to grow up and are constantly on a mission to lose weight, gorging themselves with cocaine and/or champagne, endlessly throwing parties (or throwing up at parties), and sporting outrageous outfits, which were the height of fashion at the time--honestly sweetie! The superb comic performances reinvented the careers of Joanna Lumley and June Whitfield. Saunders meanwhile secured her status as one of Britain's top female comedians. Although its consciously chic clothing looks a little dated now, its mad characterisations endure and the jokes remain as hilariously slick and apt as ever. On the DVD: Absolutely Fabulous DVD box set comes beautifully packaged in mock velvet, with each series individually packaged inside. The original sketch from the French and Saunders Show and the pilot episode, "Mirrorball", offers all you need to understand the show's origins The commentary with Jennifer Saunders and John Ploughman on Series 4 is refreshing, owning up to the mistakes they made and the jokes that didn't work. The outtakes are funnier than the usual Hollywood blips. The 4:3 transfer is standard for a television comedy. --Nikki Disney
Episodes Comprise: Bruce Bunny Baby Bunny (Song) Leader of the Pack Flower Power Looney Tunes Zoo (Song) Lightning Bugs Flush House Paws and Feathers (Song) I Strain The Sandman is Coming Ten Loonies in a Bed Some Assembly Required
After his business goes bankrupt, 30 something Kyung-Min (Oh Jung-Se) kills his wife impulsively. Hiding his anger, he seeks out his former middle school classmate Jong-Suk (Yang Ik-June). For the first time in 15 years they meet and hiding, their own current situations, they talk about their school days. At school, they were classified by their wealth and grades. Kyung-Min and Jong-Suk were at the bottom and were the 'pigs'. They were bullied by a ruling class of 'dogs'. This bullying led to a harrowing incident 15 years ago at the school, and they return to the site where the most shocking truth of what happened there is finally revealed.
Carry On Girls was the last really successful instalment of the epic series of British film comedies. It's studded with gems of cameo performances and a tremendously innuendo-laden Talbot Rothwell script that is easily the equal of any of its predecessors. The setting, a beauty contest to raise the profile of the dismal resort Fircombe-on-Sea, is ripe for politically incorrect activity of the sort that could only be conducted by Sid James at the height of his lecherous powers. Enter Bernard Bresslaw in a corset, Wendy Richard as Ida Downs, Barbara Windsor as Miss Easy Rider and a host of other semi-clad lovelies and watch as the whole thing rises to a slapstick climax of frisky old colonels, bikinis, bosoms and itching powder. In the smaller roles, Joan Hickson (BBC television's Miss Marple) is hilarious as an elderly woman who believes she is a man-magnet and the always under-used Patsy Rowlands excels as the downtrodden mayor's wife, a worm who finally turns. But in many ways this is June Whitfield's film. As the terrifying reactionary councillor Mrs Prodworthy, with a butch lesbian sidekick, she plots the downfall of her male colleagues with classic lines. "Rosemary, get the candle", she orders as Patsy Rowlands requests initiation into the cause. Margaret Thatcher never sounded so ominous. On the DVD: Like most of the other DVD Carry On releases, this one is presented in 4:3 format with a mono soundtrack. All right, you don't really need anything more sophisticated to recreate the cosy ritual of Carry On watching in your living room. And the print is good and sharp. But apart from the usual scene index, the lack of extras reflects a disappointingly unimaginative approach to celebrating a genre of film comedy that, for all its low budget reputation, provided a showcase for the cream of a whole generation of British comic actors. They deserve better.--Piers Ford
Terry and June Medford are both middle aged and beginning to find the trials of life are more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives with Terry's pigheaded childishness causing no end of problems usually thwarting June's attempts at leading a cosy life! Episodes Comprise: 1. No Councillor 2. Swingtime 3. Noise Abatement 4. Eyeball Eyeball 5. Playing Pool 6. Bingo
In this pseudo autobiography of the Village People Jack Morell (a thinly disguised character of the group's founder Jacques Morali) is a struggling composer desperate to gain fame with his songs but all he needs is a group to sing them. With the help of his roommate Samantha and a lawyer named Ron Jack forms a group of six ""macho men"" from his Greenwich Village neighborhood and the rest of the film details their rise to fame from New York City to a climatic concert in San Francis
Bel canto can be translated as "pretty singing", and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. For its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian Empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video recording of Semiramide in the foreseeable future. June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it near perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com
The wonderful Judy Garland stars in this charming musical as Esther Smith whose father comes home and announces he is going to uproot his whole family to New York on the very eve of the 1903 St. Louis World Fair. Brilliantly directed by Vincente Minnelli and full of wonderful songs - 'Trolley Song' 'Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas'.
Director Elia Kazan and producer Darryl F. Zanuck caused a sensation with ""the most spellbinding story ever put on celluloid"" (Hollywood Reporter) recipient of three Academy Awards including Best Picture. One of the first films to directly tackle racial prejudice this acclaimed adaptation of Laura Z. Hobson's bestseller stars Gregory Peck as a journalist assigned to write a series of articles on anti-semitism. Searching for an angle he finally decides to pose as a Jew - and soon
Terry And June: Series 9
As life is being wasted all around him, Captain La Roche (Warner Baxter) becomes more and more sombre. He gives each fresh wave of replacements the same hollow speech about the proud traditions of the regiment, then sends them out to be slaughtered by the Germans. He lives almost exclusively on a diet of cognac and aspirin. His love rival for the affections of a pretty nurse is the idealistic and carefree junior officer (Fredric March). Into the regiment comes Private Moran, a grizzled army.
Terry and June Medford live an ordinary pleasant middle-aged life in a typically middle-class suburb on the outskirts of London. Happily married they are perfect foils for one another. Terry is full of schemes which have a habit of going horribly wrong when put into practice - not to mention his knack of innocently causing confusion. June is a charming lady who takes the consequences with patience and remarkable good humour often managing to rescue the situation from utter chaos.
Jim and Connie's postwar New York building troubles keep Jim from working on his novel. Ex-WAC from Jim's army days the beautiful Roberta (Monroe) moves in to further upset Connie...
British pop icon Tommy Steele stars in a wonderfully exuberant musical comedy as a Cockney who wins the heart of a princess when he poses as an aristocrat! Featuring songs written by Lionel Bart, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) star Mike Pratt and Steele himself, The Duke Wore Jeans' soundtrack album scored a number one hit in 1958. The film is presented here as a High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. When the son of an impoverished aristocrat is manoeuvred into a potential arranged marriage under guise of selling access to their famous prize bull, he finds salvation in a chance meeting with a chirpy Cockney lad who happens to be his exact likeness... Special Features: Theatrical trailer Image gallery PDF material
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