Set in a fictitious suburb rather like, say, Pinner (only more so), The Thin Blue Line is the wickedly funny story of a rather down-at-heel police station headed by Inspector Raymond Fowler (Rowan Atkinson), a pompous, repressed but well-intentioned anachronism who wants to do the right thing but who is constantly hampered by his own shortcomings, not to mention his blundering CID colleagues. Atkinson expertly balances his character's inflated sense of self-importance with the insight born of old-school police values, for which his galumphing, shiny-suited CID counterpart, DI Grim (David Haig) has no time at all. Strongest among the supporting cast is Sgt Pauline Dawkins (Serena Evans), who also happens to be Fowler's live-in lover--a moral dilemma that his traditional values won't allow him to resolve. He salves his conscience by avoiding sex with her whenever possible, an amusing subplot enhanced by Evans's brilliant performance--she positively vibrates with contained, ladylike lust in a manner only equalled by Penelope Keith in the classic sitcom To the Manor Born. Scripted by Ben Elton, this series manages to satirise provincialism, institutionalised pig-headedness and dated moral values in one fell swoop, while also being chock-full of quick-fire, Blackadder-esque dialogue. --Roger Thomas
Evolving over 36 hours in a troubled New York trading firm, J.C. Chandor's Margin Call--the true-ish story of the origins of the 2008 financial crisis--ranks alongside Wall Street, American Psycho and Glengarry Glen Ross in Hollywoods long-standing fascination with the corrupting logic of late capitalism. The films opening round of lay-offs, one of several, includes that of a risk analyst (Stanley Tucci) who has secretly uncovered the runaway corrosive effects of the firm's big success story (and the bête noire of recent economic history): hyper-leveraged securities backed by sub-prime lending. Sensing meltdown, his protégé (Zachary Quinto) sends a warning signal up the corporate ladder--an overnight crisis meeting is convened; a drastic plan is forged--and the firm resolves to dump the bad schemes at the cost of projected global recession. The rest, we know, is history. Like Charles Ferguson's 2010 documentary Inside Job, Margin Call is tuned in to our suspicions of post-Keynesian economics, imagining high finance as an alchemy of unreal quantities from which huge profits can be netted. But if nobody, even academia, comes out of Inside Job intact, Margin Call presents a range of ethical positions: Kevin Spacey is a believably weary sales manager for whom Wall Street status is a gilded cage, while Simon Baker and Demi Moore are superb as unreflecting high-rollers, frosted over with greed and cynicism. Neither extremes are as interesting as Paul Bettany's pragmatic rank-and-file trader with a talent for corporate survival--and Jeremy Irons towering performance as CEO John Tuld (not to be confused with former CEO of Lehman Brothers Richard Fuld, obviously) is the most primal embodiment of capitalism since Daniel Day-Lewis prospected for oil in There Will Be Blood. His verdict sounds depressingly like authentic Wall Street cant: financial crises and the misery they inflict are a necessary part of the economic cycle. --Leo Batchelor
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is an entangling Academy Award nominated thriller involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When an entry-level analyst unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral, catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Special Features: Revolving Door: Making Margin Call Deleted Scenes Deleted Scenes with Commentary Missed Calls: Moments with the Cast and Crew From the Deck: Photo Gallery
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Kevin Spacey stars as a man who moves to his family's ancestral home in Newfoundland after a tragedy. Slowly, he starts to put his life back together.
Consider Mr. Brooks. Seemingly, he's perfect. But he has a secret: he is an insatiable serial killer.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Kevin Spacey stars as a man who moves to his family's ancestral home in Newfoundland after a tragedy. Slowly, he starts to put his life back together.
Evolving over 36 hours in a troubled New York trading firm, J.C. Chandor's Margin Call--the true-ish story of the origins of the 2008 financial crisis--ranks alongside Wall Street, American Psycho and Glengarry Glen Ross in Hollywoods long-standing fascination with the corrupting logic of late capitalism. The films opening round of lay-offs, one of several, includes that of a risk analyst (Stanley Tucci) who has secretly uncovered the runaway corrosive effects of the firm's big success story (and the bête noire of recent economic history): hyper-leveraged securities backed by sub-prime lending. Sensing meltdown, his protégé (Zachary Quinto) sends a warning signal up the corporate ladder--an overnight crisis meeting is convened; a drastic plan is forged--and the firm resolves to dump the bad schemes at the cost of projected global recession. The rest, we know, is history. Like Charles Ferguson's 2010 documentary Inside Job, Margin Call is tuned in to our suspicions of post-Keynesian economics, imagining high finance as an alchemy of unreal quantities from which huge profits can be netted. But if nobody, even academia, comes out of Inside Job intact, Margin Call presents a range of ethical positions: Kevin Spacey is a believably weary sales manager for whom Wall Street status is a gilded cage, while Simon Baker and Demi Moore are superb as unreflecting high-rollers, frosted over with greed and cynicism. Neither extremes are as interesting as Paul Bettany's pragmatic rank-and-file trader with a talent for corporate survival--and Jeremy Irons towering performance as CEO John Tuld (not to be confused with former CEO of Lehman Brothers Richard Fuld, obviously) is the most primal embodiment of capitalism since Daniel Day-Lewis prospected for oil in There Will Be Blood. His verdict sounds depressingly like authentic Wall Street cant: financial crises and the misery they inflict are a necessary part of the economic cycle. --Leo Batchelor
This box set features the entire third series of the classic British Television drama Inspector Morse. Episodes comprise: 1. The Ghost In The Machine: Valuable erotic paintings are stolen from the stately home of Lord Hanbury and his disappearance is soon investigated by Morse... 2. The Last Enemy: A body is found in the canal and the only clue to its identity points to a connection with one of the Oxford colleges. When Morse discovers that intense riva
Part Seductress. Part Assassin. All Vampire! Lilith Silver should have died in 1850 the innocent victim of a pistol duel between her lover Jack Ryder and the sinister Sir Sethane Blake. Unwilling to let her die the victorious Blake grants Lilith Silver the gift of eternal life and the freedom to wander time and kill at will as a vampire. The present day sees Lilith Silver employed as a headstrong contract killer paid to assassinate the 'Illuminati' - an underground sect whose
Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling lead an all-star cast in Crazy Stupid Love. Fortysomething straight-laced Cal Weaver (Carell) is living the dream-good job nice house great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart Emily (Julianne Moore). So when Cal learns that his wife has cheated on him and wants a divorce his 'perfect' life quickly unravels. Cal who hasn't dated in decades stands out as the epitome of un-smooth so handsome player Jacob Palmer (Gosling) takes him on as wingman and protégé opening Cal's eyes to the many options before him: flirty women manly drinks and a sense of style. Despite Cal's makeover and his many new conquests the one thing that can't be made over is his heart which seems to keep leading Cal back to where he began. Brimming with inspired performances critics are calling this gem of a romantic comedy 'a movie that understands love' (Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly).
Evolving over 36 hours in a troubled New York trading firm, J.C. Chandor's Margin Call--the true-ish story of the origins of the 2008 financial crisis--ranks alongside Wall Street, American Psycho and Glengarry Glen Ross in Hollywoods long-standing fascination with the corrupting logic of late capitalism. The films opening round of lay-offs, one of several, includes that of a risk analyst (Stanley Tucci) who has secretly uncovered the runaway corrosive effects of the firm's big success story (and the bête noire of recent economic history): hyper-leveraged securities backed by sub-prime lending. Sensing meltdown, his protégé (Zachary Quinto) sends a warning signal up the corporate ladder--an overnight crisis meeting is convened; a drastic plan is forged--and the firm resolves to dump the bad schemes at the cost of projected global recession. The rest, we know, is history. Like Charles Ferguson's 2010 documentary Inside Job, Margin Call is tuned in to our suspicions of post-Keynesian economics, imagining high finance as an alchemy of unreal quantities from which huge profits can be netted. But if nobody, even academia, comes out of Inside Job intact, Margin Call presents a range of ethical positions: Kevin Spacey is a believably weary sales manager for whom Wall Street status is a gilded cage, while Simon Baker and Demi Moore are superb as unreflecting high-rollers, frosted over with greed and cynicism. Neither extremes are as interesting as Paul Bettany's pragmatic rank-and-file trader with a talent for corporate survival--and Jeremy Irons towering performance as CEO John Tuld (not to be confused with former CEO of Lehman Brothers Richard Fuld, obviously) is the most primal embodiment of capitalism since Daniel Day-Lewis prospected for oil in There Will Be Blood. His verdict sounds depressingly like authentic Wall Street cant: financial crises and the misery they inflict are a necessary part of the economic cycle. --Leo Batchelor
An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
Meet Will & Grace. Grace is a sassy and smart interior designer Will is a gorgeous and supercool lawyer. They're both looking for love and they're made for each other in every way except for one thing - Grace is straight Will is gay. Their lives are complicated even further by their outrageous friends Karen & Jack. This DVD box set comprises all the episodes from the fifth season: 1. ...And the Horse He Rode In On 2. Bacon And Eggs 3. The Kid Stays Out Of The Picture 4. Hum
Lilith Silver should have died in 1850 the innocent victim of a pistol duel between her lover Jack Ryder and the sinister Sir Sethane Blake. Unwilling to let her die the victorious Blake grants Lilith Silver the gift of eternal life and the freedom to wander time and kill at will as a vampire. The present day sees Lilith Silver employed as a head strong contract killer paid to assassinate the 'IIIuminati' - an underground sect whose power is attained through technology and supernatural powers. When Platinum - Lilith's modern day boss and lover - is kidnapped by the IIIuminati she falls into a dangerous web of conspiracy One by one their group is falling pray to the vampire killer and she must be stopped. Lilith now cornered by the police and IIIuminati responds as only the undead can by raising the body count in any way possible....
Martha Plimpton stars as an Oklahoma diner waitress who weds the born-again prison inmate (Kevin Anderson) with whom she's been corresponding but she soon finds that his ostensible piety masks a cruel domineering nature that leads inevitably to horrific violence.
Based on an idea by Gene Roddenberry Andromeda confidently wears its debt to Star Trek on its sleeve, recalling the best sci-fi of Roddenberry's heyday. The two-part premiere "Under the Night" and "An Affirming Flame" make for a terrific introduction to the lead character, Captain Dylan Hunt, played by Kevin (ex-Hercules) Sorbo. He's a sympathetically flawed idealist in command of the Andromeda Ascendant, a massive 1.4 km long starship of the now-disbanded Systems Commonwealth. The fall of civilisation has meant that although she ought to be a relic she remains the zenith of technological advancement. In the series opener we see Captain Hunt in battle against 10,000 enemy ships, winning a bout of fisticuffs with a close friend turned enemy traitor, wrestling with the shock of being frozen in time for 300 years and then diplomatically negotiating his way out of a salvage rights battle for his ship. The Andromeda Ascendant's emotionally driven, life-like computer is desired by the Eureka Maru salvage vessel, and feisty Captain Beka Valentine can barely stop her engineer Harper from drooling about tinkering with her. The Maru's shipmates are similarly driven: Rev Bem (from another sworn enemy race) has a spiritual calling, while cutesy-pie Trance Gemini's motivations are part of her winning mysteriousness. One final addition is the show's muscle, Tyr, the enemy with a conscience. But it's Dylan's show all the way, though he's no flawless hero: in "To Loose the Fateful Lightning" he makes a really stupid mistake. On the DVD: the first box set contains the show's first five episodes. From the excellently animated menus there are links to some standard fare: trailers for each of the (uncut) episodes, a Web link, biographies of the seven leading cast and a 16-picture Production Design Gallery of the Andromeda Ascendant. Much more interesting are the mini interviews with Sorbo (nine minutes) and Producer/Writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe (eight minutes), an archive of deleted scenes and audio comments by Sorbo per episode. Picture is standard TV format 4.3 and sound is plain stereo. --Paul Tonks
In a small British town Seth and Gabriel are gay in love and werewolves. While their lunar lycanthropic secret remains hidden the townspeople begin to sense that these two young men are very different in many ways indeed...
No sci-fi show can be without a trial episode accusing someone of past crimes. "Forced Perspective" sees Dylan accused of a 300-year-old war atrocity and having to argue the case from very peculiar perspectives. This episode feels like filler, but the viewer ought to pick up on two important aspects of the show happening on the periphery. What's going on between Tyr and Beka? Even more importantly, what's going on with Trance? An interesting reversal of roles is presented to Dylan when an organised group of machines offer for him to join their Consensus of Parts. Neither is fully willing to join the other however, and so "The Sum of Its Parts" turns out to be less than either hoped for. This episode was another cowritten by a noted science fiction author, and Steven Barnes injects some welcome introspection into the proceeding story arc. "Fear and Loathing in the Milky Way" is experienced by all following the return of the Eureka Maru's original commissioning lowlife, Gerentex ("Under the Night"). Trance's deft sleight of hand helps at the casino tables, while Harper's wisecracking front finally slips to reveal a man capable of action in a tight spot. We also learn exactly how Beka practices Valentineology. At long last we learn Rev's full name (Reverend Behemiel) and get a fuller explanation of his Wayist belief. "The Devil Take the Hindmost" reveals Jesus to be one of the revered Saints too. This was actually one of the first plot lines considered for the show, but caught up with its own internal story arcs, Rev's character has had to wait until now for a proper spotlight. --Paul Tonks
C.06 - Slipfighter The Dogs Of War When it becomes clear that the planet Marduk has developed a weapon which can destory stars the ANDROMEDA goes to stop them but vital to the mission is a Tyr who's lost faith in his his abilities... C.07 - The Leper's Kiss Dylan discovers he has only 72 hours to prevent the assassination of a freind and sets off with Tyr and Beka on a chase for the efficient killer. But who or where is 'The Leper'. And can he be found in time? C.08 - For Whom The Bell Tolls After a routine mission Dylan discovers that something has got aboard his ship causing disruptions power failures and even ghostly aparitions - can the ANDROMEDA ascendant really be haunted? C.09 - And Your Heart Will Fly Away When Tyr disappears and the ANDROMEDA comes under attack from a shape-changing force Dylan and friends try to link the two events discovering the story of a lost love and revenge... C.10 - The Unconquerable Man Setting things to rights may be a noble intention but the reality can be somewhat different. Dylan's old colleague Gaheris Rhade is getting a second chance at restoring order to the universe - but at what cost?
Things never go well when the Andromeda Ascendant takes on passengers. When Dylan agrees to transport the bride of an arranged wedding, "The Honey Offering" is tastes bad from the outset. Kimberly Huie gives a memorable acid-tongued performance as the lady in question. The real clue that things were doomed ought to have been Tyr's reservations over the two rival Nietzschean prides genuinely wanting to heal their breach. "Star-Crossed" is the Series One episode that caused more gossip than any other. Stargate regular Michael Shanks guest stars, falls in love with Rommie on screen (and with Lexa Doig off screen), and then suddenly quits SG-1. There's certainly a spark between them in the show to support the gossip. The secondary cause for talk was its broadcast rescheduling in sympathy with the events of September 11 since it opens with a terrorist attack. As sci-fi show producers realise, they have an ongoing franchise on their hands, one of the contemporary issues to inevitably crop up is drug addiction. Here it's Beka who loses control of her addiction to a substance called Flash, and all she can see is that "It Makes a Lovely Light". Behind this surface narrative is a continued search for Dylan's long-lost home. The point ultimately becomes that he'd rather safeguard his crew than his memories. Criticised in some places for its extreme violence, the season finale "Its Hour Come 'Round at Last" will stay with you one way or another. Maybe for the sight of an alternate Rommie turning uncharacteristically nasty on every one and seriously kicking butt. Or maybe the mind-blowing Magog Worldship, made up of 20 planets and their sun. Or maybe just the seemingly impossible scenario each major character is faced with as the show ends. --Paul Tonks
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