Assemble a collection of cons, arm them heavily and drop them on the enemyinfused island of Corto Maltese. If anyone's laying down bets, the smart money is against themall of them.
Bean: The Ultimate Disaster MovieLondon's National Art Gallery sends Whistler's Mother to the Los Angeles gallery that has just purchased it. Accompanying the masterpiece is none other than the British gallery's shiftless employee Mr. Bean who the board members eager to be rid of him pass off as an esteemed art expert. The charade doesn't exactly go without a hitch. Initially flattered to have the newly dubbed Dr. Bean staying at his home Grierson Gallery curator David Langley ultimately loses his family and a good chunk of his mind when his guest's antics culminate in the devastating destruction of one of the most recognizable works in American art history. Mr Bean's HolidayYet another feature length episode of Chaplinesque silent silliness from Rowan Atkinson's top-earning character. Mr Bean has won a church fete raffle's top prize consisting of a trip to France. A hopeful and starry-eyed Bean boards the Eurostar and hits 'Gay Paree' like a ton of rubble. The language barrier predictably causes our hero no end of grief until he meets Emil a Russian director on his way to judge at Cannes. Emil agrees to film Bean climbing aboard his train to the south and his dream vacation - a move that causes Emil to miss the train himself. Bean comforts Stephan Emil's son who DID make it aboard by trying to entertain him. Little does Bean know he's accompanying a child that's been reported kidnapped and that he himself fits the description of the prime suspect! Bean eventually must go to Cannes himself to try and sort out the mess but he's only gone and left his wallet and travel documents behind! Mr. Bean - Live ActionMr. Bean - Live Action features Rowan Atkinson as the lovable Mr Bean. Mr. Bean - The Animated SeriesFeaturing all six volumes of Mr. Bean Animated. Watch all your favourite episodes in this super six disc special full of amazing adventures.
Cast Away reunites star Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis in their first collaboration since the heavy-handed sentimentality of Forrest Gump. Thankfully, this time their film's life-affirming message is delivered with more subtlety, attributable both to an extraordinarily committed, physically demanding central performance from Hanks and to Zemeckis' technically masterful but carefully understated direction. It's also a film with three distinct "acts" or, to be old-fashioned about it, a proper beginning, middle and end. The story follows schedule-obsessed but fulfilled FedEx supervisor Chuck Noland (Act 1) on a personal journey into the bleakest, most solitary despair (Act 2), before Helen Hunt, in the thankless role of ex-girlfriend, unwittingly allows him to glimpse an optimistic future full of untapped possibilities (Act 3). Hanks' sojourn on the island is the centrepiece, but this is no tropical island idyll: following a terrifying plane crash (the one sequence in the film where Zemeckis shows off his uncanny ability to choreograph action), life on the island is seen to be a depressing and bitter experience filled with disappointment, danger and suicidal despair. Having lost all hope of rescue, ultimately Noland's greatest test is not to survive, but to find a reason to survive. He has no Man Friday for company, just a volleyball named "Wilson" that is both a narrative device allowing Hanks to deliver dialogue and an intriguingly pagan personification of the island's spirit under whose protection Noland is finally able to summon fire (significantly, and heartbreakingly, Wilson leaves him as he regains contact with the world). In an era of MTV-style film editing, Zemeckis and Hanks fearlessly take their time establishing with total conviction the grim realities of Noland's situation, his devastating loss of hope and the means by which he achieves his escape. Like Contact before it, Cast Away is a refreshingly thoughtful piece of mainstream cinema that explores weighty existential issues but retains a warm human intimacy. On the DVD: The luminous anamorphic print with vivid Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is accompanied on the first disc by a technical commentary from Zemeckis and key crew personnel. It's plenty insightful for budding filmmakers, although for pure listening pleasure one might have preferred a more relaxed piece with just the director and Tom Hanks. The second disc includes a 30-minute making-of documentary in which the director sums up the moral of the movie--"Surviving is easy but living is difficult". This draws on material from the three other mini-documentaries about survival skills, Wilson the volleyball and the Fijian island location of Monu Riki respectively. There's also a section on the sometimes surprising use of CGI effects and a storyboard-to-film comparison sequence. Tom Hanks chats with American TV host Charlie Rose about this movie and his career in the extensive 50-minute interview. Trailers, artwork and stills round out a valuable two-disc set. --Mark Walker
Patrick Troughton stars in this recreation of a lost classic from 1966. The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Polly and Ben to a colony on the swamp planet of Vulcan. Soon after arriving, the Doctor witnesses a brutal murder. Meanwhile, in another part of the colony an ancient crashed space capsule has been discovered in the swamps. The colony's misguided chief scientist opens the capsule and discovers a group of strange metal 'creatures' inside. The creatures appear to be long dead. The Doctor calls the metal creatures 'Daleks' and claims that they are incredibly dangerous. 'Power of the Daleks' was the first Doctor Who story to star Patrick Troughton as the Doctor - broadcast between November and December 1966. Sadly, none of the six original broadcast episodes of 'Power of the Daleks' any longer exist in the BBC Film Archives. However, complete audio recordings of the lost episodes have survived in the hands of private collectors. And it is these audio recordings that are used as the basis for this special animated production of the programme. Now in a brand new edition and brought to you in glorious black and white... Includes exciting new special features: Two new documentaries about Power of the Daleks 1993 BBC audio version of The Power of the Daleks narrated by Tom Baker Raw incidental music Photogrammetry Featurette Whicker's World - I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes Daleks - The Early Years: A 1992 documentary presented by Peter Davison Robin Hood - 1953 Episode: Patrick Troughton's earliest surviving TV appearance BBC archive footage from BBC regional news, BBC Breakfast, Blue Peter and Newsnight Previously unreleased animation trailers and animatics Additional bonus material: Audio commentaries by Anneke Wills on each episode Animation test footage Photo Gallery, including previously unreleased and rediscovered full colour on-set photos from 1966. Servants & Masters - The Making of The Power of the Daleks Doctor Who The Highlanders
Peter Kay is back with this DVD featuring his final performance at the Manchester Arena to a 9 000 sell out crowd on the 'Mum Wants A Bungalow Tour'. Also included on the DVD is a previously unseen and exclusive 47-minute documentary - 'One Hundred And Eighty - The Tour Documentary' a hilarious fly on the wall look at life backstage for Peter Kay as he travels around the UK on his jam-packed stand-up tour. Furthermore the DVD incorporates the chart topping video and the biggest se
Take The Full Monty, add a sharper emotional edge and replace the strutting strippers with a dignified British band. That's the essence of Brassed Off, a bittersweet gem released in 1996, a year before its more popular (and Oscar-nominated) counterpart. In the Yorkshire town of Grimley, there has always been a coal mine, just as for the last 111 years there has been a brass band and it seems that Danny (the wondrous Pete Postlethwaite) has been the director for every one of those years. Tory economic policies, however, are closing coal mines around the country in favour of nuclear power and Grimley appears to be next on the list. Danny is unfazed by the threat, claiming, "It's music that matters." But some of the men are about to quit the band until the appearance of Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald at her most radiant), who dazzles the all-male group (including old flame Andy, played by Ewan McGregor) first with her beauty, then with her flügelhorn playing. The new member gives the band a boost as they continue to perform and compete but closure remains very real, as director Mark Herman (Little Voice) accompanies the band's performances (played with gusto by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band) with scenes of angry labour-management confrontations and family strife. In this context, some of the characters claim that the music is an irresponsible form of escapism. It becomes clear, however, from a touching performance of "Danny Boy" to the stirring conclusion at Royal Albert Hall, that music is an expression of the human spirit, a bit of beauty and sanity in a harsh world. With defiance, the band can play "Land of Hope and Glory" even when the land offers them neither. --David Horiuchi
Screenwriter William Goldman's novel The Princess Bride earned its own loyal audience on the strength of its narrative voice and its gently satirical, hyperbolic spin on swashbuckled adventure that seemed almost purely literary. For all its derring-do and vivid over-the-top characters, the book's joy was dictated as much by the deadpan tone of its narrator and a winking acknowledgement of the clichés being sent up. Miraculously, director Rob Reiner and Goldman himself managed to visualize this romantic fable while keeping that external voice largely intact: using a storytelling framework, avuncular Grandpa (Peter Falk) gradually seduces his sceptical grandson (Fred Savage) into the absurd, irresistible melodrama of the title story. And what a story: a lowly stable boy, Westley (Cary Elwes), pledges his love to the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright), only to be abducted and reportedly killed by pirates while Buttercup is betrothed to the evil Prince Humperdinck. Even as Buttercup herself is kidnapped by a giant, a scheming criminal mastermind, and a master Spanish swordsman, a mysterious masked pirate (could it be Westley?) follows in pursuit. As they sail toward the Cliffs of Insanity... The wild and woolly arcs of the story, the sudden twists of fate, and, above all, the cartoon-scaled characters all work because of Goldman's very funny script, Reiner's confident direction, and a terrific cast. Elwes and Wright, both sporting their best English accents, juggle romantic fervor and physical slapstick effortlessly, while supporting roles boast Mandy Patinkin (the swordsman Inigo Montoya), Wallace Shawn (the incredulous schemer Vizzini), and Christopher Guest (evil Count Rugen) with brief but funny cameos from Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, and Peter Cook. --Sam Sutherland
The classic children's TV cartoon show about a cowardly dog and his mystery investigating pals comes to the big screen in a live action version, complete with a computer generated Scooby!
Assemble a collection of cons, arm them heavily and drop them on the enemyinfused island of Corto Maltese. If anyone's laying down bets, the smart money is against themall of them.
Director Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride is a gently amusing, affectionate pastiche of a medieval fairytale adventure, offering a similar blend of warm, literate humour as his Stand By Me (1985) and When Harry Met Sally (1989). Adapted from his own novel, William Goldman's script plays with the conventions of such 1980s fantasies as Ladyhawke and Legend (both 1985), and with the budget never allowing for spectacle, sensibly concentrates on creating a gallery of memorable characters. Robin Wright makes a delightful Princess Buttercup, Cary Elwes is splendid as Westley and "Dread Pirate Roberts", while Mandy Patinkin makes fine Spanish avenger. With winning support from Mel Smith, Peter Cook, Billy Crystal and Carol Kane there is sometimes a Terry Gilliam/Monty Python feel to the proceedings, and the whole film is beautifully shot, with a memorably romantic main theme by Mark Knopfler. Occasionally interrupted by Peter Falk as a grandfather reading the story to his grandson, The Princess Bride is an elegant post-modern family fable about storytelling itself; a theme found in other 1980s films The Neverending Story (1984) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988). A modest, small-scale work that manages to be both cynically modern and genuinely romantic all at once. As charming as you wish. On the DVD: The 1.77:1 anamorphic transfer is strong, if not quite as detailed as it might be. Colours lack just a little solidity and some scenes evidence a fair amount of grain. Released theatrically in Dolby stereo, the Dolby Digital 5.1 remix spreads the sound effectively across the front speakers but makes very little use of the rear channels indeed. Extras are limited to filmographies of five of the leading actors, and a 4:3 presentation of the theatrical trailer, which gives far too many of the film's surprises away.--Gary S Dalkin
Viggo Mortensen stars in this stylized thriller from director David Cronenberg.
Following the closure of a gypsum mine in the Nevada town she calls home, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road in this exquisite film (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal). Exploring an unconventional life as a modernday nomad, Fern discovers a resilience and resourcefulness unlike any she's known before. Along the way, she meets other nomads who become mentors in the vast landscape of the American West. From Searchlight Pictures, written for the screen and directed by Chloé Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder, the film also stars David Strathairn and features real-life nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells. Special Features: The Forgotten America Telluride Premiere Q&A Deleted Scenes
From the director of "Forrest Gump" comes a contemporary drama about a man in isolation who is forced to transform himself both physically and emotionally in order to survive.
Gentleman Jack brings all the warmth, wit, and complexity of the writing of Sally Wainwright (BAFTA award-winning writer of Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax) to the remarkable true story of Anne Lister). With a spectacular cast including the BAFTA Award-Winning Suranne Jones as lesbian landowner Anne Lister. Halifax, Yorkshire, 1832. Charismatic, swashbuckling Anne Lister (determines to transform the fate of her ancestral home Shibden Hall. To do this, she must re-open her coal mines and marry well. But Anne has no intention of marrying a man. True to her own nature she plans to marry a woman and embarks on an epic, unconventional love story.
The Innocents tells of an impressionable and repressed governess Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr) who agrees to tutor two orphaned children Miles (Martin Stephens) and Flora (Pamela Franklin). On arrival at Bly House she becomes convinced that the children are possessed by the perverse spirits of former governess Miss Jessel (Clytie Jessop) and her Heathcliffe-like lover Quint (Peter Wyngarde) who both met with mysterious deaths. Based on the novel The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James.
This box set features the entire second series of the classic British Television drama Inspector Morse. Episodes comprise: 1. The Wolvercote Tongue: Morse is called to investigate the suspicious death of a wealthy American tourist Laura Poindexter. She was on a cultural tour of Britain with her husband and their visit to Oxford had a special significance for them. Laura had inherited a precious jewel known as 'The Wolvercote Tongue' and had announced her intention t
A Christmas Story takes us back to the innocent days of 1940s American,a time when all a young boy wants for Christmas is a BB gun. Young Ralphie has his heart set on getting one and he sets out on a full scale offensive to make sure his wish comes true. Product Features 4K: Commentary by Bob Clark and Peter Billingsley Blu-ray: Commentary by Bob Clark and Peter Billingsley A Christmas Story Featurette A History Deleted Scene Get a leg up The leg lamp spot Jean Shepherd original radio reading Theatrical trailer
Yorkshire, 1834. All eyes are on Anne Lister and Ann Walker as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, determined to combine their estates and become a powerful couple. Anne's entrepreneurial spirit frightens the locals as much as her unconventional love life and, with Halifax on the brink of revolution, her refusal to keep a low profile becomes provocative and dangerous.
The third series of Red Dwarf introduced some radical changes--all of them for the better--but the scripts remained as sharp and character-focussed as ever, making this a firm candidate for the show's best year. Gone were the dull metallic grey sets and costumes, gone too was Norman Lovett's lugubrious Holly, replaced now by comedienne Hattie Hayridge, who had previously played Hilly in the Series 2 episode "Parallel Universe". New this year were custom-made costumes, more elaborate sets, the zippy pea-green Starbug, bigger special effects and the wholly admirable Robert Llewellyn as Kryten. The benefits of the show's changes are apparent from the outset, with the mind-bending hilarity of "Backwards", in which Kryten and Rimmer establish themselves as a forwards-talking double-act on a reverse Earth. After a modest two-hander that sees Rimmer and Lister "Marooned", comes one of the Dwarf's most beloved episodes, "Polymorph". Here is the ensemble working at its best, as each character unwittingly has their strongest emotion sucked out of them. Lister loses his fear; Cat his vanity; Kryten his reserve; and Rimmer his anger ("Chameleonic Life-Forms. No Thanks"). "Body Swap" sees Lister and Rimmer involved in a bizarre attempt to prevent the ship from self-destructing. "Timeslides" delves deep into Rimmer's psyche as the boys journey haphazardly through history. Finally, "The Last Day" shows how completely Kryten has been adopted as a crewmember, when his replacement Hudzen unexpectedly shows up. On the DVD: Red Dwarf, Series 3 two-disc set maintains the high standard of presentation and wealth of extra material established by its predecessors. Among other delights there are the usual "Smeg Ups" and deleted scenes, plus another fun commentary with the cast. There's a lengthy documentary, "All Change", specifically about Series 3, a tribute to costume designer Mel Bibby, Hattie Hayridge's convention video diary, and--most fascinating--the opportunity to watch "Backwards" played forwards, so you can finally understand what Arthur Smith's backwards-talking pub manager actually says to Rimmer and Kryten in the dressing room. --Mark Walker
In one of his most finely tuned performances, PETER SELLERS (The Pink Panther) plays the pure-hearted Chance, a gardener forced out of moneyed seclusion and into the urban wilds of Washington, D.C., after the death of his employer. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn't respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles haplessly into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Oscar winner MELVYN DOUGLAS), who mistakes his new protégé's mumbling about horticulture for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (The Apartment's SHIRLEY MACLAINE) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by JERZY KOSINSKI, this hilarious, deeply melancholy satire marks the culmination a remarkable string of films by HAL ASHBY (Harold and Maude) in the 1970s, and serves as a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fuelled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade. Special Edition Features New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team Excerpts from a 1980 American Film Institute seminar with director Hal Ashby Author Jerzy Kosinksi in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show Appearances from 1980 by actor Peter Sellers on NBC's Today and The Don Lane Show Promo reel featuring Sellers and Ashby Trailer and TV spots Deleted scene, outtakes, and an alternate ending PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris
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