Much like the novels of Fanny Burney or Jane Austen 200 years before, Sex and the City tackles that perennial female conundrum, how to maintain independence from men (intellectual, sexual, financial) while seeking the ideal life-partner for whom that much-cherished independence can safely be sacrificed. So it is that Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha prowl relentlessly the canyons of Manhattan in search of mates, all of whom fall woefully short of their needs in one crucial way or another. Yet, with biological clocks ticking and suppressed nesting instincts fighting back, the foursome occasionally find themselves dangerously close to despair. The dating game can be deadly serious sometimes. Which is why Sex and the City is not just good TV, it's great TV: for all its refreshingly cynical wit and superficial vivaciousness, the show has at its heart a streak of pathos and painful truth that resonates deeply with its audience. In the show's second season, the scrutiny falls more on the women than their succession of useless dates. Carrie has to learn the painful truth about Big all over again; Miranda has panic attacks about being alone for the rest of her life; Sam is humiliated by the ladies who lunch into confessing that she's a whore; and Charlotte is reduced to trading kinky foot massages for free shoes. Savage love, indeed. On the DVD: Sex and the City, Season 2 has all 18 episodes on three discs. Frustratingly, the menus have no "Play All" facility so you can't just sit back and enjoy--each episode requires navigation from the main menu to an episode list to a redundant preview screen before the play selection is offered. There are mini trailers for each episode and a short (eight-minute) promo featurette. The picture is a little fuzzy in places, doubtless the result of transfer from NTSC format, but is still an improvement over the first season. --Mark Walker
Build your own Doctor Who archive with this collectors' set. Destiny Of The Daleks City Of Death The Creature From The Pit Nightmare Of Eden The Horns Of Nimon Shada With all episodes newly remastered from the best available sources, this Blu-ray box set also includes extensive and exclusive Special Features including: Brand New Documentaries: Including a Making-Of documentary for Destiny Of The Daleks, and new featurette for The Creature From The Pit. Tom Talks: A candid interview with Tom Baker as he gives us his unique take on life, the universe and everything. Douglas Adams Tribute: Friends and colleagues remember the Doctor Who writer/script editor and creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. In Conversation: Matthew Sweet chats to Bob Baker, writer of Nightmare Of Eden, co-creator of K9 and one of the creative forces behind Wallace & Gromit. Behind The Sofa: New episodes with actors Colin Baker, Katy Manning, Matthew Waterhouse, Nicola Bryant, June Hudson, Graeme Harper & Mat Irvine Lalla Ward Interview: An extensive interview discussing her first year on the programme Updated Special Effects: View Nightmare Of Eden with optional new effects Shada: An updated version of the lost' story, completed with enhanced animation and presented in six episodes for the very first time, alongside the original 1992 VHS and 2017 versions Exclusive New Audio Commentaries: With Tom Baker on episodes of Destiny Of The Daleks and City Of Death, and Lalla Ward & Catherine Schell on City Of Death Extended Episode: An early cut of The Creature From The Pit Part Three Blu-ray Trailer: A familiar face returns in a brand new mini-episode of classic Doctor Who Immersive 5.1 Surround Sound: On Destiny Of The Daleks and Shada Rare Gems From The Archives: BBC archive material covering the promotion of this season Convention Footage: A triumphant 1997 appearance from Tom Baker HD Photo Galleries: Including many previously unseen images Production Subtitles: Behind-the-scenes information and trivia on every episode Scripts, Costume Designs, Rare BBC Production Files And Other Rarities From Our PDF Archive And Lots More! The seven-disc box set also includes hours of special features previously released on DVD.
Southern Comfort is more than merely Deliverance in the Louisiana Bayou. Walter Hill's taut little tale of weekend warrior National Guardsman on swamp exercises reverberates with echoes of Vietnam. Powers Booth brings a hard pragmatism to the "new guy" in the unit, a Texas transplant less than thrilled with his new unit. "They're just Louisiana versions of the same rednecks I served with in El Paso", he tells level-headed Keith Carradine. The barely functional unit of city boys and macho rednecks invade the environs of the local Cajun trappers and poachers, "borrowing" the locals' boats and sending bursts of blank rounds over their heads in a show of contempt. Before they know it the dysfunctional strangers in a strange land are on the losing end of guerrilla war. The swamp rats kill their commanding officer (Peter Coyote) and terrorise the bickering bunch as they flee blindly through the jungle without a map, a compass, or a leader to speak of. Hill directs with a clean simplicity, creating tension as much from the primal landscape and the Cajuns' unsettling reign of terror as from the dynamics of a platoon of battle virgins tearing itself apart from rage and fear. Ry Cooder's eerie and haunting score and the primal, claustrophobic landscape only intensifies the paranoia as the city boys splinter with infighting (sparked by a bullying Fred Ward), blunder through booby traps and ambushes, and finally turn just as savage as their pursuers in their drive to survive. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com
And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python's first feature, is a reworking of their best skits from the first two seasons of the TV series. Originally made for the US market (where the show had yet to be aired), it was shot on film outside the usual studio sets ("Nudge Nudge", for example, is set in a tavern filled with passers-by). The writing and performances are fine and the film is packed with some of their best bits: "How to Avoid Being Seen", " Hell's Grannies", "Blackmail", "The Lumberjack Song" and "The Upper Class Twit of the Year", among others. Many of the sketches have been shortened, however, and the loss of the overly bright video sheen (the film has a muddy, dull look to it) and the invigorating presence of a live audience leaves the film sluggish at times. They're still feeling out the possibilities of the feature length, which they conquered with their next movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974). --Sean Axmaker
A theatre director, facing up to a midlife crisis, is torn every which way by the nine, titular women in his life in Rob Marshall's eagerly awaited musical.
Heartburn is an autobiographical tale based on the marriage of high-flying journalists Carl Bernstein (who helped uncover the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post) and Nora Ephron. When the two meet at a friends wedding they fall in love and subsequently marry. Living in different cities the relationship begins to unravel as the pair slowly drift apart and infidelities eventually wreck the marriage. Focusing on social events like weddings parties and birthdays the film exp
Danny Boyle directs this story about saints, miracles and the way a child's imagination can help sort out the mysteries of life.
James Cameron wrote the script for this not-so-futuristic science fiction tale about a former vice cop (Ralph Fiennes) who now sells addicting, virtual reality clips that allow a user to experience the recorded sensations of others. He becomes embroiled in a murder conspiracy, tries to save a former girlfriend (Juliette Lewis), and has a romance with his chauffeur and bodyguard (Angela Bassett). Cameron's ex-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break), brought the whole, busy, violent enterprise to the screen, and while the film's socially relevant heart is in the right place, its excesses wear one out. Some of the casting doesn't quite click either: Fiennes isn't really right for his nervous role, and Lewis is annoying (and unbelievable as the hero's much-yearned-for former squeeze). Expect some ugly if daring moments with the virtual reality stuff. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Recreated With Stunning Special Effects And The Second Collaboration Between Tom Hanks And Steven Spielberg, The SeriesIs Both A Profound And Captivating Look At The Reality Of War.
The Phantom of the Open tells the remarkable true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator and optimistic dreamer from Barrow-in-Furness who, with the support of his family and friends, managed to gain entry to the 1976 British Open qualifying, despite never playing a round of golf before. With pluckiness and unwavering self-belief, Maurice pulls off a series of stunning, hilarious and heartwarming attempts to compete at the highest level of professional golf, drawing the ire of the golfing elite but becoming a British folk hero in the process.
The world of high finance is explored, as leading hedge-fund manager Bobby Axe' Axelrod exacts revenge on U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades through his extensive resources. Axe's actions send Chuck into a tailspin, as he finds himself under investigation and desperately attempting to hang on to his office, and to his family.
Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) directs the screen adaptation of Terence McNally's play Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune, the story of a short-order cook (Al Pacino) who drives a waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer) crazy with his adamant courtship and mixed messages. The film is okay and not much more than that, the major stumbling block being Marshall's failure to scrub away enough star veneer on Pacino and Pfeiffer to accept them as minimum-wage drones with nowhere to go but toward each other. Fortunately, Marshall's feel for the texture offered by supporting players--Hector Elizondo as a café owner, Nathan Lane as Pfeiffer's inevitably gay neighbour-buddy, Kate Nelligan as another lonely waitress--keeps things interesting enough. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Cape Fear (1991): The film stars Oscar winner Robert De Niro (Casino Heat) as Max Cady a psychopath who has recently been released from prison. He is out seeking revenge on his lawyer Sam Bowden played by Nick Nolte (48 Hours Thin Red Line) who he believes deliberately withheld information about his case at trial which could have kept him out of jail. He embarks on a mission to terrorise Bowden his wife played by Oscar-winner Jessica Lange (Blue Sky Rob Roy) and their 15 year old daughter played by Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers). A remake of the 1962 classic film this has guest appearances from the stars of the original film Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck. The film is directed by one of the leading filmmakers of his generation Oscar-nominated Martin Scorcese. Cape Fear (1962): The original version of this masterpiece of psychological terror and revenge stars Oscar-winner Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mocking Bird Moby Dick) in the role of Sam Bowden and Robert Mitchum (The Big Sleep The Last Tycoon) as psychotic killer Max Cady. The film also stars Polly Bergen (Cry Baby Move Over Darling) and was directed by highly acclaimed British director J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone MacKennas Gold).
At War With The Army
Year 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - The magical adventure begins when Harry Potter is to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Year 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Cars fly, trees attack and a mysterious house-elf warns Harry of great danger as he returns for his second year. Year 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Harry must confront soul-sucking Dementors, outsmart a werewolf and learn the truth about the escaped prisoner of Azkaban - Sirius Black. Year 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Harry must overcome a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named. Year 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - When few believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, Harry must secretly train his friends for the wizarding war ahead. Year 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - As Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on both Muggle and wizarding worlds, Harry and Dumbledore work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses. Year 7 - Part 1: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 - Harry, Ron and Hermione set out to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort's power - the Horcruxes. On their own and on the run, the three must rely on one another more than ever...but Dark Forces threaten to tear them apart. Year 7 - Part 2: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 - In the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world escalates into all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.
From the creators of Pulp Fiction and Desperado comes From Dusk Till Dawn a wild and wicked action thriller. A deranged convict along with his fast-talking brother kidnap a preacher and his two kids and flee for the safety of a remote nightclub in Mexico. But once they arrive they discover that the club is anything but a safe haven for criminals. Its bloodthirsty clientele forces the brothers to team up with their hostages in order to escape alive. Hilarious dialogue and outrageous plot twists make From Dusk Till Dawn a wildly entertaining thrill ride for audiences everywhere.
A couple find themselves lured into a Russian oligarch's plans to defect and are soon positioned between the Russian Mafia and the British Secret Service, neither of whom they can trust.
From a match made in heaven comes a movie spawned in hell! From Dusk Till Dawn sees young hotshot director Robert Rodriquez (El Mariachi, Desperado) team up with Pulp Fiction auteur Quentin Tarantino (offering his services as writer and costar) to make this outrageous, no-holds-barred hybrid of high-octane crime and gruesome horror. Tarantino plays Richard Gecko, a borderline psychopath who breaks his career-criminal brother, Seth (George Clooney), out of prison, after which they rob a bank and leave a trail of dead and wounded in their bloody wake. Then they hijack a mobile home driven by a former Baptist minister (Harvey Keitel) who quit the church after his wife's death and hit the road with his two children (played by Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu). Heading to Mexico with their hostages, the infamous Gecko brothers arrive at the Titty Twister bar to rendezvous for a money drop, but they don't realise that they've just entered the nocturnal lair of a bloodthirsty gang of vampires! With not-so-subtle aplomb, Rodriguez and Tarantino shift into high gear with a non-stop parade of gore, gunfire and pointy-fanged mayhem featuring Salma Hayek as a snake-charming dancer whose bite is much worse than her bark. If you're a fan of Tarantino's lyrical dialogue and pop-cultural wit, you'll have fun with the road-film half of this supernatural horror-comedy, but if your taste runs more to exploding heads and eyeballs, sloppy entrails and morphing monsters, the second half provides a connoisseur's feast of gross-out excess. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.comOn the DVD: the DVDs lavish features on us. The outtakes and deleted scenes are more of the same--exploding bellies, pus, blood and naked women with large teeth. The documentary "Full Tilt Boogie" is entertaining enough; the row with the unions, which it faithfully records, raises real issues about independent filmmakers and their work force. There are two music videos, a stills gallery, a reasonably acute commentary by Rodriguez and Tarantino and material about the art direction. The film is presented in Dolby Digital and a widescreen ratio of 1.85:1 as well as an ordinary one of1.33.1. --Roz Kaveney
Stressed out police officer Shane Cooper (True Blood star Ryan Kwanten) relocates to the dusty farming village of Red Hill with his pregnant wife Alice to start a family. But when news of a prison break sends the local law enforcement officers into a panic Shane's first day on duty rapidly turns into a nightmare. For Jimmy Conway a convicted murderer serving life imprisonment busts out of jail and heads to the sleepy settlement seeking bloody revenge. Caught in the middle of the terrifying confrontation Shane is forced to take the law into his own hands in order to survive. A taut horror western which unfolds over the course of a single day and night and told with explosive action and chilling violence director Patrick Hughes' highly satisfying shocker is a heady combo of No Country for Old Men Assault on Precinct 13 and Dead Man's Shoes.
When Dr. Henry Jekyll attempts to find an elixir of life he accidentally stumbles upon a formula which transforms him into a gorgeous but evil woman who calls herself the widowed Mrs Hyde. Somewhat disdained by the female transformation but aroused by the power it brings, Jekyll can't but help to continue his experiments. As the evil Hyde starts brutally murdering women to get the female hormones she needs Jekyll's alter ego soon grows too powerful. As the fight is on to discover who is behind the Whitechapel murders which of Jekyll's alter-egos will end up on top? EXTRAS: NEW FEATURETTE - Ladykiller: Inside Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde ORIGINAL TRAILER
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