An irresistible, comic drama from director Alan Parker (Evita, Mississippi Burning), overflowing and alive with passion, humor and music, The Commitments showcases some old R&B standards in a new light. A headstrong, fast-talking, ambitious young Dubliner (Robert Arkins) fancies himself a promoter of talent, and sets about assembling and packaging a local Irish R&B band. His group of self-absorbed, backbiting, but stunningly talented individuals begin to succeed beyond his wildest dreams, until petty jealousies and recrimination threaten to scuttle the whole deal. A moody, vivid and soulful exploration of the Dublin club scene as well as a showcase for some wonderful unknown actors, the film (and its wonderful soundtrack) also features the actual band covering classic soul tunes from the likes of Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. It's that combination of soul and soul music that makes The Commitments a special little film. --Robert Lane, Amazon.com --This text refers to the VHS edition of this video
Rupert Everett and Colin Firth star in this adaptation of the classic Oscar Wilde play as two men in 1890s London who happily bend the truth in order to escape the dullness of their lives.
Thomas Hardy's powerful tale of a rich and respectable man who drunkenly auctions his wife and child at a West Country fair. The remorse of the Mayor of Casterbridge finally destroys him. The script was penned by Dennis Potter.
Legendary director Powell and Pressburger at their most imaginative - and controversial - with a film about a pilot who suffers strange hallucinations after surviving being shot down over the English Channel.
After King David sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing from the palace roof, he enters into an adulterous affair which has tragic consequences for his family and Israel
A piercing new 4K restoration of Michael Powell's iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive. An influential cinematic masterpiece written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York). Now regarded as a ground-breaking masterpiece of the British horror movement, on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist. The second film from visionary director Michael Powell, following his run of 1940s and 50s classics collaborating with screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, Peeping Tom left Powell's career in tatters and the film was made unavailable for many years. Peeping Tom has since become recognized as a watershed in genre cinema, its themes of voyeurism and psychopathy proving hugely influential on the evolution of the slasher movie. Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent. By night he is a sadistic killer, stalking his victims with his camera forever in his hand trying to capture the look of genuine, unadulterated fear - an obsession that stems from his disturbing and terrifying childhood at the hands of his scientist father. Mark slowly becomes enamoured with Helen (Anna Massey), who lives with her blind mother (Maxine Audley) in the flat downstairs, but how long before he turns the deadly gaze of his camera towards her?
This collection features three of Anthony Trollope's highly regarded works brilliantly adapted for the small screen. With over 15 hours of timeless film from one of the nineteenth-century's greatest writers visit the fascinating world of Victorian England as the prolific and respected novelist illustrates the penetrating conflicts of the day. He Knew He Was Right: Louis Trevelyan's refusal to believe in his wife Emily's fidelity destroys a perfect marriage and drives him literally insane. Suspicious beyond reason that she is having an affair with Colonel Osbourne a man of dubious reputation he forces his wife out of their house hires the seedy private detective Bozzle to spy on her and organises the kidnapping of their son with devastating consequences. Throughout Emily's protestation of her innocence and the couple's enduring love for each other despite their estrangement render the story moving and tragic. The Way We Live Now: Set in the railway boom of the 1870s Anthony Trollope's epic tale of Victorian power and corruption captures the turmoil as the old order is swept aside by the brash new forces of business and finance. It is packed with the trials and tribulations of young love the enduring values of honourable men the raw energy of one of the most powerful cities in the world and the greed and corruption that lay below its glittering surface. The Barchester Chronicles: The acclaimed 1982 BBC adaptation of Anthony Trollope's novels. The community of Barchester is shaken from its cosy complacency when a newspaper's crusade against the Church of England's practice of self-enrichment misfires. Overnight Rev. Harding (Donald Pleasence) becomes a pawn in a battle between his younger daughter's beau John Bold (David Gwillim) and his older daughter's husband. Little do they realise that the worst is yet to come until a regime change delivers Barchester into the hands of a most unholy trinity: the weak-willed Bishop Proudie (Clive Swift) the domineering Mrs. Proudie (Geraldine McEwan) and the insufferable Rev. Obadiah Slope (Alan Rickman).
A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family.
True virtue triumphs over superficiality in this distinguished BBC production of Jane Austen's celebrated novel Mansfield Park.Mansfield Park is the magnificent country residence of Sir Thomas Bertram and his family. It is here that their poor relation Fanny Price is brought up. Never allowed to forget her good fortune, Fanny is ignored by her cousins, with the exception of Edmund, who alone treats her with care and affection. But will she ever be able to win a valued place in the household and the heart of the man of her dreams?
John Waters (Hairspray) made bad taste perversely transcendent with the forever shocking counterculture sensation Pink Flamingos, his most infamous and daring cinematic transgression. Outré diva Divine (Female Trouble) is iconic as the wanted criminal hiding out with her family of degenerates in a trailer outside Baltimore while reveling in her tabloid notoriety as the Filthiest Person Alive. When a pair of sociopaths (Mink Stole and David Lochary) with a habit of kidnapping women in order to impregnate them attempt to challenge her title, Divine resolves to show them and the world the true meaning of the word filthy. Incest, cannibalism, shrimping, and film history's most legendary gross-out endingWaters and his merry band of Dreamlanders leave no taboo unsmashed in this gleefully subversive ode to outsiderhood, in which camp spectacle and pitch-black satire are wielded in an all-out assault on respectability. Product Features New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director John Waters, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Two audio commentaries featuring Waters, from the 1997 Criterion laserdisc and the 2001 DVD release New conversation between Waters and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch Tour of the film's Baltimore locations, led by Waters Deleted scenes, alternate takes, and on-set footage Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing And more! PLUS: An essay by critic Howard Hampton and a piece by actor and author Cookie Mueller about the making of the film, from her 1990 book Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
This box set features a collection of Powell And Pressburger finest films. Includes: 1. The Tales of Hoffman (1951) 2. Black Narcisus (1946) 3. A Matter of Life & Death (1946) 4. The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) 5. A Canterbury Tale (1944) 6. I Know Where I am Going (1945) 7. 49th Parallel (1941) 8. The Battle of the River Plate (1956) 9. Ill Met By Moonlight (1957) 10. They're A Weird Mob (1966) 11. The Red Shoes (1948)
Bernard, Harry and Alfie are three charming but unsuccessful crooks who smash and grab tactics rarely come off. On their way for another stint behind bars they see the traffic part for an on call fire engine and hatch a new plan. Upon their release they set out to acquire a fire engine to use as the perfect getaway vehicle on a jewelry robbery. But when they are mistaken for real firemen their plan slowly begins to unravel. When Harry gets scared by the appearance of the police he accidentally runs into a dress salons changing room. He meets the beautiful Chantal who might just hold the key to finally pulling off a successful heist.
In a shabby apartment in Moscow an American journalist questions a retired spy about his betrayal of his native England and his subsequent defection to the USSR. The answers take them back to 1932 where in the closed atmosphere of a British boy's school young Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) realizes that his attraction to his classmates is more than a passing phase. There in an environment permeated by desire and denial in the wake of a gay classmate's suicide Bennett falls desperately in love with a younger student James Harcourt (Cary Elwes) and is introduced to Marxism by Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) his most loyal friend.
A piercing new 4K restoration of Michael Powell's iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive. An influential cinematic masterpiece written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York). Now regarded as a ground-breaking masterpiece of the British horror movement, on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist. The second film from visionary director Michael Powell, following his run of 1940s and 50s classics collaborating with screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, Peeping Tom left Powell's career in tatters and the film was made unavailable for many years. Peeping Tom has since become recognized as a watershed in genre cinema, its themes of voyeurism and psychopathy proving hugely influential on the evolution of the slasher movie. Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent. By night he is a sadistic killer, stalking his victims with his camera forever in his hand trying to capture the look of genuine, unadulterated fear - an obsession that stems from his disturbing and terrifying childhood at the hands of his scientist father. Mark slowly becomes enamoured with Helen (Anna Massey), who lives with her blind mother (Maxine Audley) in the flat downstairs, but how long before he turns the deadly gaze of his camera towards her?
Hollywood journeyman par excellence Michael Curtiz directs this historical Western which tells the stories of confederate soldier Jeb Stuart (Errol Flynn) and General George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan) as they fight abolitionist John Brown (Raymond Massey).
Theresa Russell and Art Garfunkel bring a fearless intensity to their roles in this dark psycho-sexual drama from multi-award-winning director Nicolas Roeg. Unflinchingly tracing the volatile relationship between two young Americans in late ’70s Vienna Bad Timing proved highly controversial on its release in 1980 and remains one of Roeg’s most divisive films. It is presented here in a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Vienna-based psychoanalyst Alex Linden is involved in a passionate affair with Milena Flaherty a hedonistic sexually impulsive and clearly troubled young woman. When Milena is brought into a hospital emergency room after apparently overdosing detectives investigate the possibility of foul play on Alex’s part. As he recounts the events to the investigating officer Alex is forced to confront his own motives and detectives must decide whether her condition is the result of a suicide attempt or something more sinister... Special Features: Original theatrical and teaser trailer Deleted scenes Image gallery Promotional material PDF
A future history as scripted by the visionary writer H.G. Wells, Things To Come set a high benchmark for science fiction with its fantastic design, gigantic sets and spectacular special effects. Acknowledged as a landmark within the genre, Oscar-winning William Cameron Menzies creates an astounding vision of post-war desolation and utopian futurism. Starring Oscar-nominated Raymond Massey as John Cabal and his descendants and the award-winning Ralph Richardson as The Boss, Things To Come showcases a gorgeous, and instantly recognisable, score by Arthur Bliss. Presented for the first time in High Definition, this version of Things To Come has been painstakingly restored from the remaining film elements and represents the most complete version known to exist.It's Christmas 1940 and the people of Everytown, unprepared and ill-equipped, find themselves at war against an enemy who has been planning such a conflict for years. The land is devastated by the horrors of aerial bombardment as the war drags on for thirty years, causing a period of despair, with feudal tyrants ruling a downtrodden populace suffering famine and pestilence. Can the human race rise above its desperate circumstances and build a scientific utopia?
Hotel du Lac is an impeccably produced BBC television adaptation of Anita Brookner's Booker Prize-winning novel. Middle-aged writer Edith Hope has fled London and romantic disappointment to find sanctuary at a luxury hotel on a Swiss Lake, but finding no escape from her loneliness must eventually face her past. Edith is played with compassion by Anna Massey, her intellect and wit acting as a defence against her own failings, and support comes from a superb cast including Denholm Elliott, Googie Withers, Julia McKenzie, Patricia Hodge, Irene Handl and Barry Foster. Brookner's apparently slight but multi-layered tale is skilfully crafted by writer Christopher Hampton, who has with such films as Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and The Quiet American (2002) become a master of literary adaptation. Giles Foster's direction focuses on bringing the best from his cast, rather than attempting any sort of cinematic sweep, and Carl Davis' eloquent theme music makes the introspection all the more touching. Ultimately, though, it is Anna Massey's insightful central performance which makes Hotel du Lac such a memorable slice of television. On the DVD: Hotel du Lac is presented in the original TV broadcast 4:3 ratio with a very poor, extremely grainy and soft picture. The sound is reasonable mono, clear and free from distortion though lacking in dynamic range. The only extra, though one well worth having, is a serious and highly informative commentary from Giles, Hampton and producer Sue Birtwistle. --Gary S Dalkin
By the time Alfred Hitchcock's second-to-last picture came out in 1972, the censorship restrictions under which he had laboured during his long career had eased up. Now he could give full sway to his lurid fantasies, and that may explain why Frenzy is the director's most violent movie by far--outstripping even Psycho for sheer brutality. Adapted by playwright Anthony Shaffer, the story concerns a series of rape-murders committed by suave fruit-merchant Bob Rusk (Barry Foster), who gets his kicks from throttling women with a necktie. This being a Hitchcock thriller, suspicion naturally falls on the wrong man--ill-tempered publican Richard Blaney (Jon Finch). Enter Inspector Oxford from New Scotland Yard (Alex McCowan), who thrashes out the finer points of the case with his wife (Vivian Merchant), whose tireless enthusiasm for indigestible delicacies like quail with grapes supplies a classic running gag.Frenzy was the first film Hitchcock had shot entirely in his native Britain since Jamaica Inn (1939), and many contemporary critics used that fact to account for what seemed to them a glorious return to form after a string of Hollywood duds (Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz). Hitchcock specialists are often less wild about it, judging the detective plot mechanical and the oh-so-English tone insufferable. But at least three sequences rank among the most skin-crawling the maestro ever put on celluloid. There is an astonishing moment when the camera backs away from a room in which a murder is occurring, down the stairs, through the front door and then across the street to join the crowd milling indifferently on the pavement. There is also the killer's nerve-wracking attempt to retrieve his tiepin from a corpse stuffed into a sack of potatoes. Finally, there is one act of strangulation so prolonged and gruesome it verges on the pornographic. Was the veteran film-maker a rampant misogynist as feminist observers have frequently charged? Sit through this appalling scene if you dare and decide for yourself. --Peter Matthews
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