In a time when the entire world is soon to be at war, comes this action-packed drama where love sees no cultural boundaries. Set in 1914, a strong-willed woman (Hera Hilmar- Anna Karenina) leaves the United States after meeting Jude (Josh Hartnett- Lucky Number Slevin), an American doctor who runs a remote medical mission within the exotic Ottoman Empire. There, she finds her loyalty tested to both Jude and the mission's sagacious founder (Ben Kingsley- Gandhi) when she falls deeply in love with Ismail (Michiel Huisman- Age of Adaline), a Lieutenant in the Ottoman Imperial Army. Torn between the American doctor and the forbidden love for her Lieutenant, Lillie finds out that the most dangerous place to be in war is in love. From the director of Sleeping with the Enemy and featuring mesmerising performances from Michiel Huisman and rising star Hera Hilmar, this war-time story is as alluring as it is heart-breaking.
Boasting a virtuoso comic performance from Leonard Rossiter The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-79) remains one of the greatest of all television sitcoms. Writer David Nobbs combined the surrealist absurdity of Monty Python with an on-going story line that unfolded through each of the three seasons with a clear beginning, middle and end; a ground-breaking development in 70s TV comedy. The first and best season charts middle-aged, middle-management executive Reginald Perrin as he breaks-down under the stress of middle-class life until he informs the world that half the parking meters in London have Dutch Parking Meter Disease. He fakes suicide and returns to court his wife Elizabeth (Pauline Yates) in disguise, a plot development that formed the entire basis of Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Series Two is broader, the rapid-fire dialogue still razor sharp and loaded with caustic wit and ingenious silliness, as a now sane Reggie takes on the madness of the business world by opening a chain of shops selling rubbish. The third season, set in a health farm, is routine, the edge blunted by routine sitcom conventions. At its best The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is hilarious and moving, its depiction of English middle-class life spot on, its satire prophetic. Reggie's visual fantasies hark back to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Billy Liar (1963), and look forward to Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and are the icing on the cake of a fine, original and highly imaginative show. On the DVD: Reginald Perrin's discs contain one complete seven episode season. There are no extras. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 picture is generally fine, though some of the exterior shot-on-film scenes have deteriorated and there are occasional signs of minor damage to the original video masters. Even so, for a 1970s sitcom shot on video the picture is excellent and far superior to the original broadcasts. --Gary S Dalkin
Paul Newman and his Butch Cassidy director, George Roy Hill, made a very original comedy in this 1977 story of an over-the-hill player/coach (Newman) for a lousy hockey team who gets results when he teaches his players to get dirty. One of the most hilariously profane movies ever to come out of Hollywood, this is the kind of film that makes its own rules as it goes along. Newman is very good, and while Hill goes for the gusto in terms of capturing the violence of this world, his instinct for comedy has never been sharper. Great support from Strother Martin, Paul Dooley, and the rest. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Bridget Jones' Diary: In the screen adaptation of 'Bridget Jones Diary' Helen Fielding's international best-selling phenomenon documentary filmmaker Sharon Maguire has managed a rare feat: a film as captivating as the novel! Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is a pretty and neurotic thirtysomething singleton (in her vernacular) who vows to take control of her life after being humiliated by handsome standoffish barrister Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) at her parents' New Year's party. Determined to lose weight and cut back on vices like wine cigarettes and workaholic-alcoholic-misogynistic men Bridget begins a diary to chart her progress. Unfortunately the P.R. executive hits a snag when her boss gorgeous cad Daniel (Hugh Grant) instigates a sexy e-mail flirtation. Despite her tendency to bungle book launch parties and any situation involving the ever-disapproving Mark Darcy Bridget's winning combination of charm vulnerability and wit intrigues not only the seductively dangerous Daniel but also the arrogant barrister. Featuring a note-perfect performance by Zellweger a devilish one by Grant and the inspired casting of Firth (the object of Bridget's lusty fantasies in the book) 'Bridget Jones Diary' is a clever delightful romantic comedy guaranteed to please old fans and win new ones. Bridget Jones's Diary 2 - The Edge Of Reason: She's back! The perfect boyfriend the perfect life what could possibly go wrong? Four weeks into her relationship with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) is already becoming uncomfortable. With the reappearance of old flame daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) things are about to get very complicated...
John Schlesinger's solid adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel sees three rival suitors vying for the affections of the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie decked out in a variety of bonnets and frilly dresses), who has just inherited a farm. The men in her life are stout, whiskered yeoman Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), an impoverished local farmer; neurotic, repressed squire William Boldwood (Peter Finch); and handsome rascal Sgt Troy (Terrence Stamp), who dresses as if he's Flashman and breaks women's hearts for a hobby.Thanks to cameraman Nic Roeg and production designer Richard MacDonald (who also worked for Joseph Losey), 19th-century Dorset looks as pretty and as picturesque as a John Constable reproduction on top of a biscuit tin. Not that Schlesinger or screenwriter Frederic Raphael underplay the duress of rural life. We see the hardship of the farm workers' lives as the seasons turn. The film opens with a spectacular sequence in which Gabriel Oak's dog drives his flock of sheep over a cliff, thereby forcing him into penury. Whether hunger or heartbreak, every character here suffers. Bathsheba (like the model Christie plays in Darling) is a free-spirit in a society in which women's rights are severely restricted. --Geoffrey Macnab
In a strange post-apocalyptic world the city of Solis is the centre of human civilisation. But dark forces are at work in Solis. There are rumours of spies and betrayal. And the city is cut off from the solar cells it needs for power. Without power Solis is doomed. Solis' only hope lies with Maddigan's Quest; a circus troupe that travels the dangerous shifting roads of their world visiting outlying communities performing entertaining and telling stories. At the heart of the tr
Anunzio Mantovani was the most successful orchestra leader ever selling 70 million records from the 1950's to the 1970's. Known for his unmistakable cascading strings and recordings such as Charmaine Mantovani enthralled the world with his sublime arrangements. This documentary is the story of the man and his music.
They were more than mere Washington wives. They were part of the American dream known as Camelot. With strength and cunning they upheld their public image but concealing their private truths. They had no other choice. They were Kennedy women. For Joan wife of senatorial hopeful Ted Kennedy the nomination will thrust her into the spotlight. For the tenacious Ethel wife of future Attorney General Bobby Kennedy the political life is as vital to her as her own. And for John's en
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