Forever embroiled in controversy, Midnight Express divides viewers into opposing camps: those who think it's one of the most intense real-life dramas ever made, and those who abhor its manipulative tactics and alteration of facts for the exploitative purpose of achieving a desired effect. That effect is powerfully achieved, regardless of how you may feel about director Alan Parker and Oscar-winning screenwriter Oliver Stone's interpretation of the story of Billy Hayes. It was the American Hayes--played by the late Brad Davis in an unforgettable performance--who was caught smuggling 2kg of hashish while attempting to board a flight from Istanbul in 1970. He was sentenced to four years in a hellish Turkish prison on a drug possession charge, but his sentence was later extended (though not by 30 years, as the film suggests), and Hayes endured unthinkable brutality and torture before his escape in 1975. Unquestionably, this is a superbly crafted film, provoking a visceral response that's powerful enough to boil your blood. By the time Hayes erupts in an explosion of self-defensive violence, Parker and Stone have proven the power--and danger--of their skill. Their film is deeply manipulative, extremely xenophobic, and embellishes reality to heighten its calculated impact. Is that a crime? Not necessarily, and there's no doubt that Midnight Express is expertly directed and blessed with exceptional supporting performances (especially from John Hurt as a long-term prisoner). Still, it's obvious that strings are being pulled, and Parker, while applying his talent to a nefarious purpose, is a masterful puppeteer. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
In this shocking sexually charged thriller a deadly maze of desire greed and betrayal explodes when a wealthy lawyer is found shot dead and his best friend sets out to prove the dead man's conniving wife is guilty of murder.
Shrek Forever After delivers laughs, life lessons, and a striking picture of the realities of parenthood in this surprisingly good, fourth Shrek film. Like the original film, this fractured fairytale works because of the humour--it pokes fun at the whole fairytale genre on a multitude of intellectual levels while simultaneously offering visual humour that's appealing to all ages. After a frantic flip through a tongue-in-cheek fairytale book of the first three Shrek films, the scene opens on a beaming Shrek and Fiona as they awaken to a chorus of their noisy children standing at the foot of the bed, and it follows them through a typically hectic day of feeding, diapering, and caring for their children until they collapse into a satisfied heap at the end of the day. One of the funniest bits in the film, at least for adults, is how this scene repeats, faster and faster and in smaller and smaller excerpts, until Shrek's look of bliss slowly turns into a pained, midlife-crisis expression that screams "Help me, I'm trapped in this domestic purgatory and there's no escape in sight." As in any good fairytale, the protagonist's chance for escape comes in the form of a deal with the devil, in this case Rumpelstiltskin. Following in the footsteps of the classic film It's a Wonderful Life, Shrek is granted the opportunity to spend a day in an alternate reality in which he is the independent, terrifying ogre he once was. Of course, the deal carries some very serious, unintended consequences, and Shrek's day of freedom may just cost him Fiona, the children, and even his very existence. Mike Meyers and Cameron Diaz are once again stellar as the voices of Shrek and Fiona; Antonio Banderas is still all swagger despite Puss-in-Boots' now-portly figure and thoroughly domesticated ways; Eddie Murphy remains just as hilarious as in the first film as Donkey, who in this story doesn't recognize Shrek and can't fathom the possibility of a donkey and an ogre becoming friends; and Walt Dohrn is an extremely effective newcomer as the voice of Rumpelstiltskin. Other key players are the Pied Piper, with his new, tricked-out flute; a mob of broom-riding, jack-o'-lantern-throwing witches; an overgrown white goose; and a whole resistance movement of ogres under the command of a most unexpected leader. The battles are fierce and the lesson powerful: learn to appreciate what you've got. While 3-D digital is always nice, most viewers will completely forget that the film is in 3-D after the initial scene, and it will view just as well in the traditional format. --Tami Horiuchi
David Mamet's 1987 directorial debut House of Games is mesmerising study of control and seduction between two kinds of detached observers: a gambler who is also a con artist and a psychotherapist who is also an emerging pop-psych guru in the book market. The latter (played by Lindsay Crouse) meets the former (Joe Mantegna) when one of her clients is driven to despair from his debts to the card shark. Mantegna's character agrees to drop the IOUs in exchange for Crouse's attention at the seedy House of Games in Seattle, a mecca for conmen to talk shop and hustle unsuspecting customers. The shrink gets so caught up in the arcane rules and world view of her guide over subsequent days that she observes--with no false rapture--various stings in progress inside and outside the club. Mamet's story finally becomes a fascinating study of two people protecting and extending their respective cosmologies the way rival predators fight for the same piece of turf. The psychological challenge is compelling; so is the stylised dialogue, with its pattern of pauses and hiccups and humming meter. Mostly shooting at night, Mamet also gave Seattle a different look from previous filmmakers, turning its familiar puddles into concentrations of liquid neon and poisonous noir. --Tom Keogh
Directed by Academy Award-winner Fred Wolf, 'The Point' tells the story of Oblio, a round-headed boy living in the land of 'Point,' where everything and everybody has a point. Oblio, along with his trusty dog, Arrow, is banished to the Pointless Forest. The tale is narrated by Ringo Starr and includes songs written and sung by Grammy Award-winner Harry Nilsson. The definitive collector's edition. Special Features: Who Is Harry Nilsson? Pitching The Point. Making The Point. Legacy of The Point.
Snowbuddies: Get ready for nonstop adventure as five adorable talking puppies venture to the frosty arctic for a thrilling dogsled race across Alaska in Disney's Snow Buddies - a hilarious and heartwarming all-new movie. Join the Buddies - the big fella Budderball rappin' B-Dawg courageous RoseBud mellow Buddha dirty dog MudBud and their new Alaskan friend Shasta - for fun action and excitement in a wonderful family film about the power of teamwork and following your dreams. Fetch big fun for you and your family with this all-new film featuring bloopers an all-new music video and much more! Airbuddies: Air Bud is the proud father of five adorable puppies B-Dawg RoseBud Bud-Dha MudBud and Budderball. But these puppies have a secret - they can talk! And the hilarious hair-raising exploits of these barking talking ball-playing pups will have you cheering as they run off on a daring rescue mission to save their parents! Spacebuddies: Disney's irresistible talking puppies are back in an all-new movie that takes them where no Buddy has gone before - the moon! With the help of some stellar new friends this out-of-this-world adventure is one small step for dog one giant leap for dogkind. Moving at warp speed dodging asteroids and more the Buddies and their two new friends Spudnick and Gravity must summon their courage and ingenuity to launch plans for a moon landing and a rocketing trip back home. Will they have the right stuff? Overflowing with intergalactic action and heart Space Buddies is a celebration of teamwork loyalty and following your dreams that unleashes a galaxy of Buddy-loving fun your family will enjoy again and again.
Ho-ho-hold on tight for holiday hijinks in this hilarious family comedy starring WWE Superstar Mike The MizĀ Mizanin, WWE Diva Paige and AnnaLynne McCord. After losing his job, a slick-talking businessman is given the chance of a lifetime to be Santa's second-in-command. But to earn the coveted position, he'll have to wage an outrageous battle against a scheming elf who wants the gig for herself!
All 18 episodes of the fourth season of Rod Serling's classic, groundbreaking series, now presented in pristine high-definition for the first time ever, along with hours of new and exclusive bonus features not available anywhere else! Titles Comprise:In His ImageThe Thirty-Fathom GraveValley of the ShadowHe's AliveMuteDeath ShipJesse-BelleMiniaturePrinter's DevilNo Time Like The PastThe ParallelI Dream of GenieThe New ExhibitOf Late I Think of CliffordvilleThe Inredible World of Horace FordOn Thursday We Leave For HomePassage On The Lady AnneThe Bard
Visually explosive sci-fi tale of the night a monstrous creature attacks the city of New York. When five young friends get together to hold a going-away party for one of their number, their celebrations are violently curtailed by a series of huge tremors felt throughout the city. As panic begins to spread, it soon becomes apparent that New York is under attack from some huge malevolent force intent on destroying the city. Told in a jerky, documentary style, from the perspective of a hand-held camera, the film chronicles the attempts by the group to make their way, with chaos raining down, towards the destruction in order to rescue another friend.
BBC TV's legendary 1992 Halloween special caused a storm of controversy. The programme went out as a 'live' telecast about a haunted house on a London estate with Michael Parkinson as anchor man in the studio Mike Smith presenting the phone-in Sarah Greene as the reporter in the house itself and Craig Charles as the Outside Broadcast interviewer. According to the press at least in the days following transmission it caused a wave of panic among the British viewing public similar
Chicago evidence detective Wayne Dobie (De Niro) is a shy soft-spoken man who hasn't drawn his gun in fifteen years. His fellow cops have jokingly nicknamed him ""Mad Dog"" for his lack of guts. But when Dobie inadvertently saves the life of Frank Milo (Murray) a local gangster and loan shark who moonlights as a stand-up comic he becomes the unwilling recipient of an unusual thank you present: a beautiful young bartender named Glory (Thurman) for one week. Before the week is out the two have fallen deeply in love making for a potentially murderous showdown with Milo. Now Dobie must at last live up to his ""Mad Dog"" nickname or it will be ""no guts no glory"" in this unique and heartwarming comedy.
Pittsburgh (Dir. Lewis Seiler 1942): Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham rides roughshod over his friends his lovers and his ideals in his trek toward financial success in the Pittsburgh steel industry only to find himself deserted and lonely at the top. When his crash comes he finds that fate has dealt him a second chance. Dakota (Dir. Joseph Kane 1945): John Devlin helps Dakota wheat farmers save their land from swindling entrepeneurs who hope to make a fortune selling it to the railroad for its right-of-way.
Episodes include: The Man From Nowhere: A stranger enters Jean's flat and claims to be her husband... When The Spirit Moves You: Marty demonstrates how a ghost detective can sometimes do better than his mortal counterparts... Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave: Marty finds himself accusing his partner of seeing things! Could You Recognise the Man Again? Jeff and Jean are non-plussed to find a dead body in the back seat of their car...
Layer Cake: Matthew Vaughn the producer of 'Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch' steps into the director's chair for the first time with 'Layer Cake'. Based upon JJ Connelly's London crime novel 'Layer Cake' is about a successful cocaine dealer (Daniel Craig) who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business. However big boss Jimmy Price (Cranham) hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder the
In this sequel to the 2001 hit the Cortez family return, as brother & sister Carmen & Juni battle another pair of spy kids.
In the wake of the Columbine high school massacre acclaimed documentary filmmaker Michael Moore's latest film takes a critical look at America's obsessive gun culture.
They say crime doesn't pay. Private detective Phillip Marlowe knows better. The fat wad of folding money warming his breast pocket is the kind of thing that keeps him going through thick and thicker as he wades chin deep into a mystery involving a missing necklace and a missing hoodlum's moll named Velma. Sharply directed by Edward Dymytrk Murder My Sweet is film at its most noir creating a moody sense of a world that never plays on the level. Casting against type Dick Powell puts sunny crooner roles behind him dishing hardboiled patter and wearing five-going-on-six-o'clock stubble so well that source author Raymond Chandler called Powell his favorite screen Marlowe. ""I'm just a small businessman in a very messy business "" the PI observes. With wit and trendsetting style to burn it's never business as usual.
John Cusack stars in this festive comedy set in an icebound Wichita, Kansas.
First Down...And Ten Years To Go. In this rough-and-tumble yarn actually filmed on-location at the Georgia State Prison the cons are the heroes and the guards are the heavies. Eddie Albert is the sadistic warden who'll gladly make any sacrifice to push his guards' semi-pro football team to a national championship. Reynolds plays one time pro quarterback Paul Crewe now behind bars for leading State Police on a wild chase in a ""borrowed"" car. He agrees to organize a prisoners'
Once upon a time, in a childhood land of lollipops and sleepovers, Chuck and Buck were the best of friends; their days marked out with "fun, fun, fun". The trouble is that Chuck grew up and Buck did not. When the pair are reunited at a family funeral, Chuck (now a thrusting music exec with a pert girlfriend and an apartment in the Hollywood hills) finds himself bothered and bewildered by the creepy lost boy he thought he'd left behind. "I like your house," mumbles Buck, sticking out like a sore thumb at an uptight yuppie party. "It's very old person-y." Shot on a shoestring budget by Miguel Arteta, Chuck and Buck offers a uniquely rich and strange comedy of retarded childhood. Think of this as a Peter Pan for modern-day America, or the Tom Hanks film Big viewed through a glass darkly. The slender premise contains deep pockets of ambiguity. After all, who's the real victim here? The harassed Chuck (played by American Pie co-creator Chris Weitz) or the spurned, saucer-eyed Buck (Mike White, who also wrote the script)? And who is the hero: the successful, status-conscious professional or the dopey, tearful wild card? Throughout the tale, you find your sympathies swinging back and forth between them. Make no mistake, Chuck and Buck is alive with hilarious, often horrific set-pieces. Yet Arteta's direction keeps it on a tight leash, prevents it from descending to the level of a simple freak-show. Instead his film blossoms from an odd-couple farce into a drolly provocative (and oddly humane) portrait of that shadow period between infancy and adolescence. White's character comes across as a very human kind of movie monster. Resplendent in stripy T-shirt, Buck is Chuck's conscience, his id, the ghost of childhood come back to haunt him. --Xan Brooks
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