When a man doesn't return home one night his daughter Carol and her boyfriend Mike go out to search for him. On finding Carol's father's wrecked car by a cave they decide to investigate further. Before they know it the kids have been enmeshed in a giant spider's web woven of course by a giant spider! After finally escaping the eight legged beast's clutches and raising the alarm the spider is seemingly killed and brought back to town. However.... is the spider really dead?
Theres little doubt that much of what we now take for granted about cinema owes much to the vision of director D W Griffith. Monumental Epics collects five of his most influential silent masterpieces. The Birth of a Nation (1915) is also the birth of the epic film. Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War this provocative film unflinchingly shows the humiliation of Southern culture, the "heroism" of the Ku Klux Klan, and links the Union and Confederacy by a common Aryan birthright. All of which has to be viewed in its period context if it is to be viewed at all. Intolerance (1916) is film-making of epic complexity. Human intolerance is related through a modern tale of wrongful conviction, intercut by three stories from Babylonian, Judean, and French history to point up the issue through the ages. The intricacy of the intercutting is breathtaking even now, but those as confused as the first audiences evidently were can opt to see each story separately. Sensitively tinted, this is Griffith's finest three hours. Broken Blossoms (1919) has Griffith venturing into domestic melodrama. Although there's a clear moral to be drawn from this tale of compassion in the face of ignorance and brutality, neither the over-acting of Lillian Gish and Donald Crisp, nor the vein of sentimentality that creeps into their characters' relationship allow the viewer to forget the period-piece nature of the film. Here an appropriately expressive musical score helps keep viewing at an attentive level. Way Down East (1920) shows Griffith moving from the epic to the personal, though still on a large scale. The combining of old-style melodrama with latter-day female emancipation is tellingly brought off, and Lillian Gish excels as the country girl used and abused by male society, until "rescued" by a farmer of true moral scruples. Unconvinced? Then go straight to the climactic snowstorm and ice floe sequences--Eisenstein et al are inconceivable without this as trailblazer. Abraham Lincoln (1930) marked Griffith's entry into the talkie era. Tautly directed, it offers a historically accurate account of the 16th US President's rise to power and his visionary outlook on American society. Civil War scenes are implied rather than enacted, and its Walter Huston's robust yet understated acting that carries the day, with sterling support from Una Merkel as Ann Rutledge and Hobart Bosworth as General Lee. On the DVD: Stylishly packaged, restoration and digital remastering has been carried out to Eureka's usual high standard, and the 4:3 aspect ratio has commendable clarity. Birth of a Nation has Joseph Carl Breil's original orchestral score and a pithy "making of" film by Russell Merritt. Intolerance contains a useful rolling commentary and a great wurlitzer soundtrack too. Way Down East includes a commentary. Abraham Lincoln also has a commentary, though Hugo Riesenfeld's score often verges on the mawkish. Overall this set is a must for anyone remotely interested in film as a living medium.--Richard Whitehouse
The Net (Dir. Irwin Winkler 1995): Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is a freelance computer analyst who spends her days tracking down computer viruses and her nights at home 'chatting' to other Internet users. She is content with her reclusive existence until her life is turned upside down when she is sent a top-secret disc. Caught up in a murderous web of corruption and conspiracy and pursued by a force that will stop at nothing including deleting all traces of her existenc
Jay Mallory (Donald Sutherland - The Italian Job). is a man with no past and dubious future. He is an assassin murdering for money no question asked. But when Mallory accept a 'hit' that proves to be more dangerous than he anticipates. The tables are turned. His wife disappears and as Mallory is drawn in further he realises that there could be more than an ironic link between the new target and the disappearance of his wife. A tense intelligent and disturbingly dark thriller.
The Net:Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is a freelance computer analyst who spends her days tracking down computer viruses and her nights at home 'chatting' to other Internet users. She is content with her reclusive existence until her life is turned upside down when she is sent a top-secret disc. Caught up in a murderous web of corruption and conspiracy and pursued by a force that will stop at nothing including deleting all traces of her existence Angela is forced to flee for her life... 28 Days:From director Betty Thomas (Dr. Dolittle Private Parts) comes 28 Days the story of Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) a successful New York writer living in the fast lane and everyone's favorite party girl - until she gets drunk with boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) borrows her sister's (Elizabeth Perkins) wedding limo and earns herself a stay in court-ordered rehab. There Gwen comes face to face with a unique set of rules and rituals embraced by an assortment of interesting characters - Counselor Cornell (Steve Buscemi) and fellow re-habbers Eddie (Viggo Mortensen) Gerhardt (Alan Tudyk) Oliver (Mike O'Malley) Andrea (Azura Skye) Roshanda (Oscar-nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste) and Bobbie Jean (Oscar nominee Diane Ladd). Forces Of Nature:It's only two days before his wedding when Ben's (Ben Affleck) plane skids out of control leaving him stranded in New York with no way home to his nervous fianc''e in Savannah. Against his better judgment the reliable groom-to-be hitches a ride with free spirited traveler Sarah (Sandra Bullock) - setting off the year's most riotous road trip. At first these two opposites attract nothing but trouble in a sidesplitting series of comic mishap as and unnatural disasters. But an irresistible attraction and the forces of nature threaten to detour them forever in this sexy whirlwind adventure Jeffrey Lyons (WNBC-TV) declared 'a fun hip ride' - one you'll never forget.
Haunting Of The Beacon
Share in the adventure of seeing the world for the first time and fall in love with life all over again. Val Kilmer and Oscar winner Mira Sorvino have a sweet and sexy chemistry in this moving film based on a true story from the writer of Awakenings. When stresses-out Amy seeks relaxation at a spa she falls madly in love with Virgil a handsome masseur . Compassionate and Insightful Virgil has a unique way of seeing the world...he's blind. When a miraculous operation promises to restore his sight both Amy and Virgil discover that even the most wonderful of life's gifts can come at a price.
Dr. Harry Wolper is a character. First he steals Boris a new student assistant by promising him a co-ed's phone number. Then he hijacks new high tech equipment for his own research confusing the other university researchers who can't see ""the big picture."" Harry has a plan he wants to clone his dead wife but first he needs an egg and a host. He mounts his search by stapling notices to every telephone pole in town from his bike which is how he meets Mili. As the year progresses he sees Boris' romance follow the same pattern as his own twenty-five years ago.
Six friends have carried out an audacious plan to ambush an armoured car. Now they must trust each other with the secret information of the remote location they have chosen to hide the loot. Many months later the gang return to the secret location at Raven’s Ridge. But locating the exact spot where the money is buried does not prove easy as things have mysteriously changed. Suspicions start to arise and the gang begins to turn against each other. An evil presence descends upon
""A Miracle of a Film"" - Steven Spielberg This remarkable film follows the struggles of T.E. Lawrence (played by Peter O'Toole - My Favourite Year The Last Emperor) in uniting the hostile Arab factions during the First World War and leading them to victory over the ruling Turkish Empire. The film was released originally in 1962 to huge critical acclaim winning 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean.
Director David Lean follows the heroic true-life odyssey of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) in this magnificent portrait of the famed British officer's journey to the Middle East. Assigned to Arabia during World War I Lawrence courageously unites the warring Arab factions into a strong guerrilla front. He leads them into brilliant victories in treacherous desert battlefields where they eventually defeat the ruling Turkish Empire. Restored to its full glory in 1989.
Mae West's reputation for tweaking the noses of film censors was well-established by the time she made I'm No Angel generally considered her most successful picture. The frank-speaking blonde bombshell delivered some of her most classic double entendres in this 1933 film her second consecutive outing opposite the luminous Cary Grant. The two had made She Done Him Wrong earlier that year and in I'm No Angel West does Grant wrong again to hilarious effect. West
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