In Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg plays a Reno lounge singer who hides out as a nun when her villainous boyfriend (Harvey Keitel) goes gunning for her. Maggie Smith is the mother superior who has to cope with Whoopi's unorthodox behaviour, but the cute script turns the tables and shows the latter energising the stodgy convent with song and attitude. A real crowd-pleaser and a perfect vehicle for Goldberg, this is a happy experience all around. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com Whoopi Goldberg returns in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, a gratuitous, poorly written sequel that contrives a reason to get her character back into Maggie Smith's convent. The "socially conscious" plot finds Goldberg being asked to relate to a bunch of street kids and pull them together into a choir. Since a bad guy is needed, the script grabs that old chestnut about a rich guy (James Coburn) preparing to close down the convent's school, and runs with it. The film is slow and unconvincing from start to finish, although co-stars Mary Wickes and Kathy Najimy get some good laughs, and the music is pretty spirited. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
The Living Daylights, new boy Timothy Dalton's first Bond outing, gets off to a rocking start with a pre-credits sequence on Gibraltar, and culminates in a witty final showdown with Joe Don Baker's arms dealer, set on a model battlefield full of toy soldiers. While the Aston Martin model whizzing through the car chase has been updated for the late 1980s--including lethal lasers and other deadly gizmos--the plot is pretty standard issue, maybe a little more cluttered and unfocused than usual, involving arms, drugs and diamond smuggling. Nevertheless, the action-formula firmly in place, this one rehearses the moves with ease and throws in some fine acting. Maryam d'Abo, playing a cellist-cum-spy, is the classy main squeeze for 007 (uncharacteristically chaste for once). Dalton, with his wolfish, intelligent features, was a perfectly serviceable secret agent, but never caught on with the viewers, perhaps because everyone was hoping for a presence as charismatic as Sean Connery's in the franchise's glory days.--Leslie Felperin On the DVD: Casting the new Bond takes up much of the "making-of" documentary: first Sam Neill was in the running, but vetoed by Cubby Broccoli, who wanted Timothy Dalton and had considered him as far back as On Her Majesty's Secret Service (but Dalton felt he was just too young at the time). When Dalton proved unavailable, Pierce Brosnan was hired. Then, at the last minute, Brosnan's Remington Steele contract was renewed and he had to drop out. Dalton came back in, on the proviso that he could give Bond a harder, more realistic edge after the action-lite of the Roger Moore years. The second documentary attempts to profile the enigmatic Ian Fleming, who was apparently as mysterious and chameleon-like as his alter ego. The commentary is a miscellaneous selection of edited interviews from various members of the cast and crew. There's also Ah-Ha's "Living Daylights" video, and a "making-of" featurette about it. A brief deleted scene (comic relief--wisely dropped) and trailers complete another strong package. --Mark Walker
In nineteenth century middle-Europe orphaned teenage twins Maria and Frieda go to live with their uncle Gustav Weil who heads the Brotherhood a vigilante group trying to stamp out vampirism. But their methods are random and misplaced and the only result is a terrorised populace. The real threat lies with Count Karnstein and although the twins seem outwardly to be identical Frieda finds herself much more drawn than her sister to the Count's castle dominating the skyline.
A Celebration Of Magic Music And Adventure! Direct from the vault Disney's 6th full-length animated film Saludos Amigos is available for the first time ever! Loosely translated as Greetings Friends it features the Academy Award-nominated song of the same title and showcases the brilliance of Disney's legendary animators. A whimical blend of live action and animation Saludos Amigos is a colorful kaleidoscope of art adventure and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. Your south-of-the-border traveling companions are none other than famous funny friends Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn Ilama and El Gaucho Goofy tries on the cowboy way of life...South American-style. From high Andes peaks to Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro Saludos Amigos is a hilarious visual feast that will entertain and delight the whole family.
Timothy Dalton makes his debut as secret agent 007 in this action-packed Cold War thriller. James Bond is given an assignment to guard the life of a high-ranking Russian defector. The trouble is the defection is nothing but a scam to enable the pesky Russkie to perpetrate a perfidious arms deal. Along the way Bond hooks up with the delectable cellist Kara Malovy (Maryam D'Abo) who is not all that she seems to be...
Whoopi Goldberg returns in a gratuitous, poorly written sequel that contrives a reason to get her character back into Maggie Smith's convent. The "socially conscious" plot finds Goldberg being asked to relate to a bunch of street kids and pull them together into a choir. Since a bad guy is needed, the script grabs that old chestnut about a rich guy (James Coburn) preparing to close down the convent's school, and runs with it. The film is slow and unconvincing from start to finish, although co-stars Mary Wickes and Kathy Najimy get some good laughs, and the music is pretty spirited. --Tom Keogh
OK, let's get all the disclaimers out of the way first. Despite its colourful (if crude) animation, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is in no way meant for kids. It is chock full of profanity that might even make Quentin Tarantino blanch and has blasphemous references to God, Satan, Saddam Hussein (who's sleeping with Satan, literally) and Canada. It's rife with scatological humour, suggestive sexual situations, political incorrectness and gleeful, rampant vulgarity. And it's probably one of the most brilliant satires ever made. The plot: flatulent Canadian gross meisters Terrance and Philip hit the big screen and the South Park quartet of third graders--Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman--begin repeating their profane one-liners ad infinitum. The parents of South Park, led by Kyle's overbearing mom, form "Mothers Against Canada", blaming their neighbours to the north for their children's corruption and taking Terrance and Philip as war prisoners. It's up to the kids then to rescue their heroes from execution, not mention a brooding Satan, who's planning to take over the world. To give away any more of the plot would destroy the fun but this feature-length version of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Comedy Central hit is a dead-on and hilarious send-up of pop culture. And did we mention it's a musical? From the opening production number "Mountain Town" to the cheerful anti-profanity sing-along "It's Easy, MMM Kay" to Satan's faux-Disney ballad "Up There", Parker (who wrote or cowrote all the songs) brilliantly shoots down every earnest musical from Beauty and the Beast to Les Misérables. And in advocating free speech and satirising well-meaning but misguided parental censorship groups (with a special nod to the MPAA), Bigger, Longer & Uncut hits home against adult paranoia and hypocrisy with a vengeance. And the jokes, while indeed vulgar and gross, are hysterical; we can't repeat them here, especially the lyrics to Terrance and Philip's hit song, but you'll be rolling on the floor. Don't worry, though--to paraphrase Cartman, this movie won't warp your fragile little mind unless you have something against the First Amendment. --Mark Englehart
Sister Act: A Hilariously Divine Comedy!"" -ABC Radio Network. Relive all the fun laughter and irresistible music of Sister Act - the inspired comedy hit that packed pews everywhere! Whoopi Goldberg stars as a sassy low-rent lounge singer forced to hide out from the mob in the last place anyone would ever look for her - a convent. While she's there her irreverent behavior attracts a flock of faithful followers and turns the nuns' tone-deaf choir into a soulful chorus of swin
The stunning BBC production of Charlotte Bronte's inspiring story is available for the first time on DVD. Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) is a mistreated orphan who learns to survive by relying on her independence and intelligence. Her first job in the outside world is governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) a man of many secrets and mercurial moods. The tentative trust between them slowly develops into romance but their hopes for happiness will soon be jeopardized by a te
They've saved the best trip for last... But this time they may have gone too far. Mary Steenburgen joins the cast for this rousing conclusion to the popular series. Stranded in 1955 after a freak burst of lightning Marty must travel back to 1885 to rescue the Wild West Doc Brown from a premature end. Surviving an Indian attack and unfriendly townsfolk Marty finds Doc Brown is the local blacksmith. But with the Doc under the spell of the charming Clara Clayton it's up to Mar
Oscar® winner* Patty Duke stars in the tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller, You'll Like My Mother. When her husband is killed in Vietnam, Francesca Kinsolving (Duke) finds herself alone...and pregnant. She makes her way to Minnesota in order to meet her late husband's mother, certain that she'll be greeted with open arms. But Francesca soon discovers that there may be more to the Kinsolving family than she ever imagined...and that this simple family reunion is only the beginning of a waking nightmare. Rosemary Murphy (To Kill A Mockingbird), Richard Thomas (The Waltons), and Sian Barbara Allen (who was nominated for a Golden Globe® for her performance) also star in this intriguing, tautly directed thriller [that delivers] a high level of terror and tension (TV Guide)!
Before he grew up and started to become a serious filmmaker, Robert Zemeckis created arguably the most unashamedly entertaining film trilogy ever with his Back to the Future series. It's here that Zemeckis came closest to emulating his mentor Steven Spielberg, and here, too, that he showed his own talent for combining flashy visual effects and knock-about comedy. The vivacious screenplays, cowritten with Bob Gale, are chock full of forwards and backwards-looking jokes, 1950s nostalgia and wry nods to other movies. Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd, both alumni of successful small-screen sitcoms (Family Ties and Taxi respectively), bring a frenetic energy to their roles, but also the warmth and likability needed to carry the audience with them through time. Don't try and unravel the time-travel thread running throughout, as that way lie paradoxes: just accept its inherent absurdity and enjoy the ride. Marty McFly travels from 1985 to 1955 in a souped-up DeLorean sports car (Back to the Future), then forward in time to 2015 and back to 1955 again (Back to the Future II), before going all the way back to the Old West of 1885 (Back to the Future III). Matters become progressively more complicated as actions in the past have repercussions for the future, and vice versa. Marty learns life-lessons and Doc finds love at last; the joyful, helter-skelter pace never slackens for an instant. --Mark Walker On the DVD: Back to the Future travels through time to the DVD era with a three-disc set charting the much-loved trilogy in full, along with an abundance of special features. The real joy in this box set is the "Making of the Trilogy" featurette, which spans the three discs and offers a wealth of information on the films. The deleted scenes have not faired well with age, with the visuals and sound suffering immensely. On Disc One the anecdotes can be played along with the film as subtitles, which is more than can be said for the commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale recorded at the California University, which is simply a Q & A session--not played along with the movie--and would have been stronger as a filmed special feature. But all in all as three-disc sets go it doesn't get much better than this--and you won't need 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to enjoy it. --Nikki Disney
Perfect Storm: George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg lead a talented cast in this harrowing special-effects adventure that intercuts the plight of seafarers struggling to reach safe harbor with the heroics of air/sea rescue crews. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen The Perfect Storm tosses excitement your way in waves. Three Kings: The Gulf War is over. Operation Desert Storm is no more. Now three American soldiers have the opportunity of a lifetime; to become Three Kings. Amid the partying and confusion three soldiers disappear into the Iraqi desert to find millions in stolen Kuwaiti bullion and are plunged into the heart of a democratic uprising that spins the day - and their lives - out of control. Deep Blue Sea: Researchers on the undersea laboratory Aquatica have genetically altered the brains of captive sharks to develop a potential cure for Alzheimer's disease. There is one unexpected side effect. The sharks are getting smarter. Which could mean trouble for the researchers. And lunch for the sharks.
The emotional true story of a family's powerful love as they unite to save their eight year-old boy's life from AIDS...
Set in a Colorado mountain town that gets destroyed on a regular basis and is populated by the dumbest, most vulgar characters imaginable, South Park is an anarchic animated sitcom that owes more to the spirit of Monty Python than to its comparatively tame predecessor The Simpsons. The show's origins go back to a 1995 Christmas video "postcard" called The Spirit of Christmas that a Fox Studios executive had commissioned at the previous Sundance Film Festival for $2000 having seen the work of film-makers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal: The Musical). The adventures of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny became an instant ratings and merchandising smash and the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds have expanded to the cinema screen (Bigger, Longer and Uncut), found their way to the MTV Movie Awards and allowed the show creators/(song) writers/voice-artists to pursue equally anarchic comedy at the box office with Baseketball and Orgazmo. Constantly pursued by a censorship outcry, the series has survived several copycat cartoon threats and even the death of its lead female vocal-artist during its third season. Perhaps the show's biggest controversy has always been that--despite a disclaimer before every episode--under-aged children still see it. But lured by a universe full of Cheesy Poofs and Cookie Dings, where no-one's afraid to badmouth school bus driver Miss Crabtree and where it's OK to vomit from being in love, it's no wonder that children of all ages can't help but love it. Seriously. --Paul Tonks Season Four: Just three weeks after losing out on an Oscar for the song "Blame Canada", the show's creators aired their disgust at Phil Collins (who won for Tarzan) in the fantastic episode "Timmy! 2000". Not only did it prove how fast they can put a show together, it also reassured viewers that none of their comedic spark had been lost. More importantly we were introduced to the super-sweet wheelchair-bound child with learning difficulties. Timmy truly boosted the show's humour but also instilled some pathos to the gang's growing adventures (such as his poignant role in "Thanksgiving Special"). Proving the intention to take things in a new direction was the long-awaited move up to the "Fourth Grade". With a souped-up theme tune in an explosive new title sequence, the start of Kyle's adopted Canadian brother Ike in Kindergarten (cue super-cute baby voiceovers in a hilarious comment on the US Election farce in "Trapper Keeper") and lots more CGI inserts, this season really looks different from the others. The best two experiments were having Malcolm McDowell as "A British Person" narrating to camera for a new take on "Great Expectations" and linking all the way back to the video postcard that started it all--The Spirit of Christmas--in the downbeat finale "A Very Crappy Christmas". --Paul Tonks
Set in a Colorado mountain town that gets destroyed on a regular basis and is populated by the dumbest, most vulgar characters imaginable, South Park is an anarchic animated sitcom that owes more to the spirit of Monty Python than to its comparatively tame predecessor The Simpsons. The show's origins go back to a 1995 Christmas video "postcard" called The Spirit of Christmas that a Fox Studios executive had commissioned at the previous Sundance Film Festival for $2000 having seen the work of film-makers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal: The Musical). The adventures of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny became an instant ratings and merchandising smash and the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds have expanded to the cinema screen (Bigger, Longer and Uncut), found their way to the MTV Movie Awards and allowed the show creators/(song) writers/voice-artists to pursue equally anarchic comedy at the box office with Baseketball and Orgazmo. Constantly pursued by a censorship outcry, the series has survived several copycat cartoon threats and even the death of its lead female vocal-artist during its third season. Perhaps the show's biggest controversy has always been that--despite a disclaimer before every episode--under-aged children still see it. But lured by a universe full of Cheesy Poofs and Cookie Dings, where no-one's afraid to badmouth school bus driver Miss Crabtree and where it's OK to vomit from being in love, it's no wonder that children of all ages can't help but love it. Seriously. --Paul Tonks Series One: The animation may be old-style in the pilot show "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" but audiences hadn't seen anything like these 20 minutes of bleeped expletives, alien abduction and rear-end insertions before. It set the style most episodes would follow, with the children turning to the school Chef (voiced by Isaac Hayes) for help only to get a dirty song instead, a regular death for poor white trash Kenny and a moral lesson being learned at the end. An overnight success, the show drew in surprising cameo voiceovers: George Clooney provides dog growls for Sparky in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", "The Chick from Species" (Natasha Henstridge) is Ms Ellen in "Tom's Rhinoplasty" and The Cure's Robert Smith (Trey and Matt being big fans of the band) is himself in the Godzilla spoof "Mecha-Streisand", in which a hate campaign against Barbra Streisand was begun. Other series highlights are Chef reliving Michael Jackson's Thriller in the first Halloween special "Pink Eye", the beginnings of a TV legend in "Mr Hankey, the Christmas Poo", and the cliff-hanger finale of "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut". --Paul Tonks
Not Without My Anus: With a gossip hungry public on their hands Comedy Central were set to transmit the episode that would provide the answer to the question on the tip of everyone's tongue: 'Just who is Cartman's father?' Instead of which on April Fool's Day they broadcast 'Not Without My Anus' – a very special episode featuring Terence and Philip!! Cartman's Mom Is Still A Dirty Slut: Just as Mephesto is about to reveal the identity of Eric Cartman's father the genetic engineer is shot by a mysterious gunman. While the boys wait for Mephesto to regain consciousness a blizzard hits South Park and the citizens are stranded for hours on end without food. Chicken Lover: A series of heinous crimes involving chickens leads to a startling revelation – Officer Barbrady can't read! When Barbrady resigns and anarchy ensues the boys pitch in to help. Cartman brings his own brand of law to the streets of South Park. Ike's Wee Wee: After a mishap in the classroom during his lesson on the evils of drugs and alcohol Mr. Mackey the school counselor is fired. In an act of desperation he turns to drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile it's time for Ike's Bris and when Kyle and the boys find out what it means to be circumcised they try to save Ike from that fate. Conjoined Fetus Lady: With Pip as their star player the South Park dodgeball team is off to the championships. Back in town the local citizens declare a 'Conjoined Twin Myslexia Week' in a misguided attempt to help the school nurse deal with a strange medical disorder.
Set in a Colorado mountain town that gets destroyed on a regular basis and is populated by the dumbest, most vulgar characters imaginable, South Park is an anarchic animated sitcom that owes more to the spirit of Monty Python than to its comparatively tame predecessor The Simpsons. The show's origins go back to a 1995 Christmas video "postcard" called The Spirit of Christmas that a Fox Studios executive had commissioned at the previous Sundance Film Festival for 2000 dollars after seeing the work of filmmakers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal: The Musical). The adventures of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny became an instant ratings and merchandising smash, and the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds have expanded to the cinema screen (Bigger, Longer and Uncut), the MTV Movie Awards and allowed the show creators/(song) writers/voice-artists to pursue equally anarchic comedy at the cinema with Baseketball and Orgazmo. Constantly pursued by a censorship outcry, the series has survived several copycat cartoon threats and even the death of its lead female vocal artist during its third season. Perhaps the show's biggest controversy has always been that--despite a disclaimer before every episode--under-aged kids still see it. But lured by a universe full of Cheesy Poofs and Cookie Dings, where no-one's afraid to badmouth school bus driver Miss Crabtree, and where it's OK to vomit from being in love, it's no wonder that kids of all ages can't help but love it. Season Three We finally meet Craig, the kid who's always sat outside Counsellor (M'kay) Mackey's office this year. In "Tweek vs Craig" the series makes the most extended and surreal use of live-action scenes so far. More tinkerings with format reassure the show can still surprise such as a three-part segment mid-way which sees the events of one night from three different perspectives. Some inspired homages and spoofs make this the best year for pop-culture references: there's a great rip on the obsessive fad of Pokémon in "Chinpokomon"; Scooby Doo is fondly parodied in "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery"; eggs are thrown at The Phantom Menace for the horror of Jar-Jar Binks in "Jakovasaurs". But to balance things out there's a far kinder wink to Star Wars (and Star Trek) that showcases the creators' fascination with Chewbacca and Endor in "Starvin' Marvin in Space!" which links back to season one and takes us to planet Marklar. The year's best star cameo is Jennifer Aniston as Miss Stevens the Choir Teacher in the love/hate of Green issues in "Rainforest Schmainforest". --Paul Tonks
Set in a Colorado mountain town that gets destroyed on a regular basis and is populated by the dumbest, most vulgar characters imaginable, South Park is an anarchic animated sitcom that owes more to the spirit of Monty Python than to its comparatively tame predecessor The Simpsons. The show's origins go back to a 1995 Christmas video "postcard" called The Spirit of Christmas that a Fox Studios executive had commissioned at the previous Sundance Film Festival for $2000 having seen the work of film-makers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal: The Musical). The adventures of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny became an instant ratings and merchandising smash and the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds have expanded to the cinema screen (Bigger, Longer and Uncut), found their way to the MTV Movie Awards and allowed the show creators/(song) writers/voice-artists to pursue equally anarchic comedy at the box office with Baseketball and Orgazmo. Constantly pursued by a censorship outcry, the series has survived several copycat cartoon threats and even the death of its lead female vocal-artist during its third season. Perhaps the show's biggest controversy has always been that--despite a disclaimer before every episode--under-aged children still see it. But lured by a universe full of Cheesy Poofs and Cookie Dings, where no-one's afraid to badmouth school bus driver Miss Crabtree and where it's OK to vomit from being in love, it's no wonder that children of all ages can't help but love it. Seriously. --Paul Tonks Season Two: Parker and Stone intentionally annoyed audiences by holding back season one's cliff-hanger resolution ("Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut") where we learn the surprise truth of who Cartman's dad really is. Season two instead opens with a TV Movie-of-the-Week Special for cartoon-within-a-cartoon characters Terrance and Phillip in "Not Without My Anus". A clever sub-plot runs through the middle of the year with closet homosexual schoolteacher Mr Garrison losing his hand puppet Mr Hat and replacing him with Mr Twig. It comes to an end in the amazing "Chef Aid" with Mr Hat busting Garrison and Chef from jail to attend a concert where Elton John, Meat Loaf and Ozzy Osborne are playing (all voiced for real). We get to explore the dubious leisure activities of Jimbo and Ned on their cable access show "Huntin' and Killin'" during a ratings war with "Jesus and Pals" (Christ having chosen the town to live in--naturally) in the Jerry Springer spoof "The Mexican Staring Frog of southern Sri Lanka". The season is rounded off by visits from the Evil Eric Cartman (who's nice!) from a parallel universe in "Spooky Fish", the Booktastic Bus in "Chickenlover", the Underpants Gnomes and even Charles Manson. --Paul Tonks
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