A Fish Called Wanda was the blockbuster which proved that John Cleese could be a movie star in his own right. Directed by the Veteran Charles Crichton, who made the 1951 Ealing Comedies classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Wanda combined Ealing-comedy capers and Basil Fawlty-esque farce with contemporary big-screen swearing and black comedy. The plot develops in classic film noir style as Cleese's lawyer, Archie Leech, gets sucked into the double-crossing aftermath of a London diamond heist. For sound box-office reasons, British comedies often sport an American star and here Cleese delivers not only Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth operating femme fatale, but Kevin Kline as her idiotic, and insanely jealous lover (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Pushing the limits of bad taste is Michael Palin's animal-loving Ken, who in the film's best running gag attempts to murder an old lady, only to slay her beloved pet dogs. Other highlights include Palin as a man with two chips up his nose and Cleese showing the world a different sort of "Full Monty". One of the funniest British films ever made, A Fish Called Wanda was followed by Fierce Creatures (1997), which reunited the lead cast and claimed to be an "equal" not a "sequel", but sadly wasn't. --Gary S Dalkin
BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) - famous for portraying an iconic superhero - as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family his career and himself
In 1987, almost 100 years after its first production, the romantic story of Cyrano de Bergerac found new life in a winsome film written by Steve Martin. Roxanne updates the tale with a smart 80s' spin, yet writer-star Martin stays close to the old-fashioned heart of the matter. He plays a small-town fireman named CD Bales, whose otherwise unremarkable existence is crowned by an amazingly long nose. He falls for the world's most beautiful astronomer (Daryl Hannah), but he is embarrassed by the size of his proboscis and prefers to stay on the sidelines. Like Cyrano, the shy CD instead helps a handsome friend (Rick Rossovich) woo the fair lady by providing flowery sentiments and soulful poetry. Not only does the story still work, but director Fred Schepisi captures a dreamy grace in his visual design for the film (some of which will be lost without the widescreen format). Set in Washington State, but filmed in the hilly ski resort of Nelson, British Columbia, the location seems like a fairy-tale town, nearly as unreal as Steve Martin's nose. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com
Kyle a talented high-school basketball player has a dream to play for the National Association. Shep a security guard at his school befriends Kyle guiding him down the road to success: a road that seems far too long when Kyle is offered a short cut by teaming up with local gangster Birdie. Blinded by his desire to get out of the ""hood"" Kyle is pulled into a web of crime and deceit...
Directed and written by legendary rock promoter Simon Napier-Bell, manager of The Yardbirds, T Rex and George Michael, and created to coincide with the 50 anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, this is an engaging journey through the subsequent years of how those changes affected LGBT lives. It features interview with leading activists and cultural commentators including Ian McKellen, Elton John, Matt Lucas, Derek Jacobi and Simon Callow.
The thrillers of Edgar Wallace one of the twentieth century s most successful crime novelists have been widely adapted for film and television, with the most memorable adaptation being the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series made at Merton Park Studios during the first half of the 1960s. A noir-esque series, it updates some of the author s stories to more contemporary settings, blending classic B-movie elements with a distinctly British feel. Transferred from the original film elements, all 47 films are included in this anthology set alongside a wealth of special features. SPECIAL FEATURES Urge to Kill a non-Wallace story that was included in syndication packages as an Edgar Wallace Mystery Seven films made by Independent Artists Ltd during the same period as the Merton Park films two of which were from Wallace stories Exclusive booklet by author and critic Kim Newman Image galleries PDF material
Richard Vernon and Michael Aldridge star as Home Office-appointed criminologists in this clever, humorous and highly original Granada series. Devised and co-written by the award-winning Robin Chapman - the creator of the series' famous prequel The Man in Room 17 and a veteran screenwriter and novelist whose credits also include the highly controversial Big Breadwinner Hog - The Fellows charts the continuing work and often strained relationship of Room 17's former occupants Oldenshaw and Dimmock. Now appointed to the Peel Research Fellowship at All Saints' College, Cambridge, they no longer simply solve crimes, trap spies and hunt traitors; their new brief is to investigate the changing nature of crime, ultimately advising the police, legislature and government. But the familiar cat-and-mouse game with the criminal fraternity isn't over yet, and and their ingeniously unorthodox tactics help to ensnare several lynchpins of organised crime - including infamous gangland boss Spindoe, who would take centre-stage in the eponymous cult spin-off series of 1968.
In this suspense-filled remake of Henry Hathaway''s 1947 noir thriller a parolee is lured into one last heist to help a friend. When things go awry a sadistic detective coerces him into reentering the underworld to get the goods on a psychotic mobster. Caruso and a pumped-up supremely menacing Cage highlight a spectacular cast that also features Samuel L. Jackson as a cop and Stanley Tucci as a Machiavellian district attorney. Novelist Richard Price supplies the screenplay and di
KING OF THIEVES is the incredible true story of the spectacular Hatton Garden diamond heist, the biggest and most daring in British history, humorously told through career best performances from a stellar cast; Sir Michael Caine (DUNKIRK, KINGSMAN), Jim Broadbent (SENSE OF AN ENDING, MOULIN ROUGE), Ray Winstone (THE DEPARTED, COLD MOUNTAIN), Michael Gambon (KING'S SPEECH, HARRY POTTER), Tom Courtenay (GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY, GAMBIT) and Charlie Cox (THEORY OF EVERYTHING, STARDUST). KING OF THIEVES is written by Joe Penhall (THE ROAD, MINDHUNTER), directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (MAN ON WIRE, THEORY OF EVERYTHING) and produced by BAFTA winning and Academy Award nominees Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (THEORY OF EVERYTHING, LES MISERABLES), alongside Ali Jaafar (THE IDOL) and Michelle Wright (7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE).
A two-part US TV miniseries here edited into a 122-minute feature, Asteroid was originally rushed onto (television) screens in 1996, well before the one-two big screen punch of Deep Impact and Armageddon. Single mum-cum-astronomy boffin Dr Lily McKee (Annabella Sciorra) works out that a comet is about to divert a meteor shower towards Earth ("at its present rate, Helios would hit with the force of a thousand Hiroshimas and the heat of the Sun") and spends the first half of the film alerting the authorities to the danger, and the second half helping rugged rescue guy Jack Wallach (Michael Biehn) haul survivors out from under the rubble caused when a bunch of minor asteroids collide with the planet (well, America); all while as the usual shenanigans go on to cope with the big, preventable chunk. The script explains everything in children's science lecture terms ("Mom, are we going to die like the dinosaurs?" "I don't think so, honey, we're much smarter than the dinosaurs") and is written in pure comforting cliché-speak ("I'm sure she's serious, but is she for real?"). With its hymn to the quick-thinking authorities and intently cooperating heroes, this may be the most pro-Establishment disaster film ever made: only a few panicky civilians cause any trouble, and we need plot contrivances to get made-for-TV he-man Biehn into danger as he outruns a flood in Kansas City or searches for the heroine's missing kid (Zachary B Charles) in the burning wreckage of Dallas. A large supporting cast of no-name labcoats, uniforms and victims clutter up the screen between the effects. Of course, this can't compete with its big-screen counterparts, but it did get there first, coopting the CGI and modelwork techniques of Independence Day to the rock-from-space sub-genre (cf: Meteor) as cities are smashed, crowds submerged, the planet battered and multitudes saved to order. --Kim Newman
A Bridge Too Far, Official UK region B release, includes trailers, 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, widescreen 2:35:1
From the acclaimed director of Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage To India was Sir David Lean's last ever feature film and a winner of two Oscars®.
Ultimate Avengers (Dir. Bob Richardson) (2006): Steve Rogers also known as Captain America returns to the world after being frozen in ice for 60 years. It's a different world. A world that needs heroes. With Iron Man Thor Wasp Giant Man and others he forms a team to preserve justice in our chaotic times. Together they are The Avengers. Ultimate Avengers 2 (Dir. Will Meugniot / Dick Sebast / Bob Richardson) (2006): Mysterious Wakanda. An isolated land hidden behind closed borders fiercely protected by its young king - the Black Panther. But when brutal alien invaders attack that leaves the Black Panther no option but to go against the sacred decrees of his people and ask for help from outsiders. And so he turns to the Avengers... The Invincible Iron Man (Dir. Patrick Archibald / Jay Oliva / Frank Paur) (2007): When billionaire inventor Tony Stark uses break-through technology to physically raise a forgotten city he awakens an unspeakable evil giving life to the most vile of all emperors - the Mandarin. Only one man can stop this newly re-emerged force of evil. One who will don a powerful suit of armour forged from iron and advanced technology. To take on the mystical underworld forces of ancient China he must become The Invincible Iron Man. Doctor Strange (Dir. Jay Oliva ; Frank Paur) (2007): Dr. Stephen Strange embarks on a wondrous journey to the heights of a Tibetan mountain where he seeks healing at the feet of the mysterious Ancient One. But before his wounds can mend Strange must first let go of his painful past and awaken a gift granted to very few. The gift of magic. Empowered as the new Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange now tests his limits rising up against monsters that push at the gates facing the most terrifying entity humankind has ever known.
Ole Bornedal's thriller about a young law student who takes a job as a night watchman in a creepy morgue is long on style but comes up a little short on quality of storytelling. Bornedal sets things up in high style as Martin Bells (Ewan McGregor doing an American accent) makes his rounds in the middle of the night, with only corpses and his own paranoia for company. When bodies start coming in, the prostitute victims of a grisly serial killer, the imposing detective on the case (a hulking Nick Nolte) begins to suspect that Bells is the killer, as all clues start pointing to him. Coscripted by Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight) and adapted from Bornedal's 1994 Danish thriller, Nightwatch forsakes out-and-out thrills for a more moody approach with flickering lights, menacing shadows and echoing footsteps down long hallways. If only there was a little more energy before the highly effective denouement, which does get scares, even after the killer is revealed. Still, McGregor is supported by a stronger than average cast: in addition to Nolte, Josh Brolin does an amusing turn as McGregor's out-of-control best friend, Patricia Arquette fares well in the standard girlfriend role and the always creepy Brad Dourif makes the most of a sinister and funny bit part as the on-call doctor. You won't jump out of your seat but by the end of Nightwatch you will find yourself remarkably tense. --Mark Englehart
Academy Award winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen bring their famously wicked sense of humour to this every day tale about a moral man who sees the world inexplicably turn against him in this darkest of comedies.
Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson (David Soul) are plainclothes cops patrolling the streets of an unnamed American city (portrayed by Los Angeles) in a 1973 red Grand Torino. Dark-haired Starsky, who has an unflagging appetite and a quick quip for any situation, and tall, blond, Hutch, who is more soulful and serious, are not just partners on the job, they are also close friends. But their unorthodox methods are endlessly frustrating for their boss, Captain Dobey (Bernie Hamilton). The duo has a powerful ally on the street, however, in Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas), a shady character who proves Starsky and Hutch with plenty of inside information.
Ronny Yu (The Bride with the White Hair) is doing what he does best here, delivering a breath-taking, action-packed, fist-flying tale of vengeance which stars Brandon Lee. Hardworking Brandon Ma (Lee) is loving life with his girlfriend May (Regina Kent) but his drug dealing best friend Michael (Michael Wong) has sights on May and sets Brandon up for murder. Soon Brandon is on the hunt to save his girl and exact brutal revenge in this stylish flick which is packed with stunning fight choreography and cool dialogue.
A group of yuppies charter a plane for a camping getaway only to find themselves making an emergency landing on an isolated island. They are taken in for the night by the only inhabitants the rabidly-religious ""Ma & Pa"" who seem trapped in a Rockwellian time-warp. This proves to be every bit as unpleasant as it seems.
Ronald Neame directs this perceptive comic study of the struggle of artistic creation, based on the novel by Joyce Cary. Starring Alec Guinness, who also wrote the screenplay, the film tells the story of Gulley Jimson (Guinness), an ageing and impoverished London painter who is rude, uncouth, eccentric and obsessed with his work to the point where nothing and nobody can come between him and his artistic passion.
This direct-to-video feature, which serves as a lead-in to the Disney animated TV series, continues the adventures of Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story films--and introduces the new supporting cast. Buzz battles the evil Emperor Zurg, who steals the "Unimind", a device that enables three-eyed aliens to function as a single intellect. The aliens, referred to as "LGMs" (little green men), form the support crew that keep Star Command running, but as individual thinkers, they're inept. During the course of this tongue-in-cheek adventure, Buzz acquires the sidekicks who form Team Lightyear: Booster, an oversized, overeager alien; XR (short for "Experimental Ranger"), one of the aliens' less successful robot inventions; and the inevitable spunky girl, Princess Mira Nova of the planet Tangeah. The two-dimensional, hand-drawn figure of the three-dimensional, computer-generated Buzz recalls the animated versions of live performers who populated Saturday morning TV during the 1980s. This adventure is typical of current kidvid: it has more special effects and sight gags than the cartoons of 20 years ago did, but the violence-free battles feel very tame. Buzz Lightyear may engage kids who play with the toys, but it won't appeal to the adults who flocked to the brilliant Toy Story features. --Charles Solomon, Amazon.com
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