Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) is a mild-mannered police officer who has more of a passion for cooking than he does police work. His dream is to retire from the police force and open his own restaurant but he is not yet eligible for retirement. When Henry is shot in the line of duty his dream now becomes much more possible as he can now take an early retirement. The only thing standing in his way is his boss who is scared to let Henry go as he worries that he will be investigated as a result of the shooting. In a bid to keep Henry on he refuses to give him his full retirement pension unless Henry carries out his dirty work for him, so Henry must now balance his new life as a chef at his dream restaurant and dealing with his boss’ dodgy dealings.
One of the big Elizabethan-era films of 1998, Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth serves up a brimming goblet of religious tension, political conspiracy, sex, violence and war. England in 1554 is in financial and religious turmoil as the ailing Queen "Bloody" Mary attempts to restore Catholicism as the national faith. She has no heir, and her greatest fear--that her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth will assume the throne after her death--is realised. Still, the late Queen Mary has her loyalists. The newly crowned Elizabeth finds herself knee-deep in dethroning schemes while also dodging assassination attempts. Her advisers (including Sir William Cecil, superbly played by Richard Attenborough) beg her to marry any one of her would-be suitors to stabilise England's empire. No matter that she already has a lover. The passionate Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) is married, however, and shows he cannot stand up to the growing strength of the Queen. With the help of her aide Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush), Elizabeth strikes against her enemies before they get to her first. But her rise ultimately entails rejecting love and marriage to redefine herself as the indisputable Virgin Queen. Cate Blanchett's Oscar-nominated performance as the naive and vibrant princess who becomes the stubborn and knowing queen is both severe and sympathetic. Her ethereal, pale beauty is equal parts fire and ice, her delivery of such lines as "There will be only one mistress here and no master!" expressed with command rather than hysterics. As striking as Blanchett's performance is the film's lavish and dramatic production design. The cold, dark sets paired with the lush costuming show the golden age of England's monarchy emerging from the Middle Ages. Rich velvet brushes over the dank stones while power is achieved at any price, and with such attention to physical detail, Elizabeth fully immerses you into its compelling chronicle of pioneering feminism and revisionist history. --Shannon Gee
Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal together in a film and it should be a sucker's bet as to who's going to be funnier and who's going to give the more nuanced performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of the laughs, mugging gleefully through Analyze This, a buddy action-comedy about a mob boss (De Niro, naturally) suffering from panic attacks who makes a shrink (Crystal, naturally) an offer he can't refuse--actually, it's not really an offer, it's a command. The good doctor is forced to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the brilliant TV series The Sopranos not underscored how thin and formulaic director-cowriter Harold Ramis's approach to such potentially rich material actually is, the movie--a hit in cinemas (and De Niro's biggest film ever)--would seem more fresh. De Niro is definitely a hoot as the ever milder menace and Crystal actually concentrates on giving a credible performance opposite the acting legend (alas, he doesn't turn his character's fear of his patient into inspired comedy, as Alan Arkin did in Grosse Pointe Blank). The conclusion devolves into the requisite gunplay and Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow are criminally wasted as an opposing mob boss and Crystal's fiancée, respectively, but overall, Analyze This is breezy fun. --David Kronke
When an island off the coast of Ireland is invaded by bloodsucking aliens, the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.
Robert Hammond has just died. Beloved father, husband and chairman of a lucrative trucking company, his heart failed him whilst ‘doing the nasty’ with his secretary… Eldest son Edward had just prepared to take over the business when the funeral delivered a shock. Robert had split his fortune four ways – to all three brothers and his secretary Jennifer. Edward is a chip-off-the-old-block, gruff and no nonsense. Brian is an accountancy wizard with a domineering wife. David is a “second class honours, first class layabout” arts graduate. And Jennifer has revealed the biggest secret of all – her and Robert’s love child. How will these unlikely bedfellows pull together to save the business and secure a profit? In this series mother Mary is determined to drive a wedge between the increasingly flirty Edward and Jennifer; strike action threatens the business; and the firm sinks deeper into debt.
Tom Cruise uncovers his dark side to play a contract killer who hijacks a taxi - and its driver - to take him from job to job.
Annette (Jill Damas) promises to marry her accident-prone boyfriend Gil (Jeremy Bulloch), on the condition that he keeps his hands off other women and holds down a proper job for seven days. If he breaks the bargain then he has to march up to Buckingham Palace stark naked. The trouble is, Bulloch just can't keep a job for five minutes and is continually getting into sexual misunderstandings with luscious females!
Johnny finally receives an answer to his marriage proposal from Sharon in the season opener, but is it what he had hoped? Meanwhile, Pete finally finds his calling in life by becoming a firefighter but his enthusiasm is short-lived after meeting Marti (played by Saved By The Bell's Tiffani Thiessen) who thwarts him at every turn and comes between him and best friend Berg (Ryan Reynolds). Ashley and Berg's relationship continues to be more hate/hate than love/hate, so eventually they break up leading to a very interesting turn of events during the season finale.
Three special editions of Top Gear presented by Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond and James May. In 'Polar Special' the team set out on their most ambitious and arduous challenge to date - a race starting in Canada and finishing at the North Pole. In 'US Special' with a budget of $1000 dollars each of the team have to buy a car for an epic road trip stopping along the way to compete in a series of challenges which range from driving across Alabama without getting shot to preparing and eating road kill whilst camping out for the night. Finally 'The Challenges Volume 1' features three hours of ingenious plans foolhardy ventures and fuel-injected rivalry as the presenters put themselves and their vehicles to the test for various challenges.
Episodes Comprise: 1. A Day In The Life Of 2. The Right Honourable Gentleman 3. Adam's Rib 4. Postman's Knock 5. Accident 6. Dear Diary 7. These You Have Loved 8. Away For Christmas
Playwright Skip Donahue (Wilder) and actor Harry Monroe (Pryor) are out of work and penniless. Deciding they have had enough of Broadway they set off to make their fortunes and find freedom down South. On the way their funds get so low that they have to find work; as singing dancing Woodpeckers promoting a bank. Plagued by bad luck thieves steal their costumes and rob the bank and guess who gets the blame and get put jail? Whacky laughs riotous situations thrills and spills make this one of the looniest mad-cap prison-break escapades ever!
Possibly the most alluring mysterious and powerful woman of all time Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor) changed the course of history when two of the most powerful men in Rome fell in love with her. Rex Harrison is Julius Caesar who wins the Egyptian throne for Cleopatra marries her and provides her with a child Caesarion. Upon returning to his native country Caesar is crowned Dictator of Rome but his desperate desire for even greater power causes a worried Roman Senate to fatally conspire against him on the Ides of March.
Based on ex-SAS man Chris Ryan's bestseller Strike Back is a story of deception redemption and revenge all played out in the interlinked lives of two former soldiers; Major Hugh Collinson and discharged veteran John Porter. Their paths last crossed seven years ago. Now amidst a new hostage crisis in the Middle East their lives are about to collide again. It's 1993 Basra City and Porter leads a team to rescue a kidnapped British businessman. The decisions taken on that night inexorably unite the fate of both Porter and Collinson. Porter bares the burden of guilt and the repercussions haunt him for years until an opportunity presents itself for him to return to Iraq and redeem himself.
Winning BAFTAs for Best British Screenplay and Best British Actor (Peter Sellers) I’M ALL RIGHT JACK is popularly considered to be the best of John and Roy Boulting’s social satires.Sellers plays both Sir John Kennaway and the tragic-comic trade union leader Fred Kite. The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge lampooning the then-burning issue of industrial relations. Bertram Tracepurcel (Dennis Price) plans to make a fortune from a missile contract a scheme that involves manipulating his innocent nephew Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) into acting as the catalyst in an escalating labour dispute from which the socialist Mr. Kite is only too keen to make capital. Featuring a superb supporting cast including Terry-Thomas Richard Attenborough John Le Mesurier Irene Handl and Margaret Rutherford this is an ingenious comedy about the British workplace and self-serving hypocrisy. A sequel to 1956’s A Private’s Progress the film is bought roaringly to life by Sellers’ astonishing turn as the Stalinist unionist. Bonus Features: Brand new interview with Liz Fraser The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film Cinefile: Seller’s Best
Written by David Leland and directed by Alan Clarke, Made in Britain is a slice of horrible but not inaccurate life from 1982. It holds a terrific early performance from Tim Roth as a skinhead with a swastika caste-mark tattoo, who constantly bares shark-like teeth as he spits embittered, articulate defiance at caring social workers and truncheon-wielding policemen alike. Sixteen-year-old Trevor (Roth) is remanded to an assessment centre before sentencing, but remains determined to disobey the rules imposed on him by any authority figures and spends the whole 73-minute play challenging the system to smack him back down, by vandalising the Job Centre, using his case-file as a toilet, stealing cars, victimising members of the "immigrant community" and shouting bile at people. The cycle that will lead him to an adult life in prison is explained to him with blackboard diagrams, but he believes he's better off keeping his hatred burning than toeing the line to end up as a no-hoper in a society that prizes obedience over conscience. It was originally televised as one of four Leland-filmed dramas about different aspects of the British education system, which made it seem less monomaniacal in its focus on an extreme case. There's no denying that it's an honest portrait of a monster calculated to terrify even the most concerned liberals which still manages to celebrate his self-destructive defiance. A film for television rather than a TV play, it has very strong language but the violence is all in Roth's face.On the DVD: No extra features here, but it does come with optional English sub-titles, and the theme song by the Exploited over the menu. --Kim Newman
Milagro New Mexico. Population 426. Nothing had changed here for 300 years. But there's something about this day... In Milagro a small town in the American Southwest Ladd Devine plans to build a major new resort development. While activist Ruby Archuleta and lawyer/newspaper editor Charlie Bloom realize that this will result in the eventual displacement of the local Hispanic farmers they cannot arouse much opposition because of the short term opportunities offered by constructio
From acclaimed director Frank Launder The Happiest Days Of Your Life is a precursor to the hugely successful St. Trinian's series. Nutbourn College the most established and respectable of boys' schools is run by unyielding Headmaster Wetherby Pond [Alastair Sim.] When a military mistake billets a girls' school to share the college's premises due to wartime restrictions he is outraged. However he soon discovers he has met his match when he encounters the Headmistress of the girls' school in question the formidable Muriel Whitchurch [Margaret Rutherford]. Initially the two are hostile to one another but with a staff of dazed eccentric teachers and a student body whose mischief knows no bounds they are forced to pull together. Then just when they thought the situation couldn't get any more complicated they discover they are faced with two troublesome visits on the same day; one from a group of parents who must believe the school is only for girls and one from the Ministry who must be presented with an all boys establishment! Unmissable and hilarious this is classic British comedy at its best.
Richard Johnson returns as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond in this action-packed take on the exploits of H.C. McNeile's famous fictional hero - this time with an added dose of late '60s whimsy when Drummond comes up against a gang of armed, gorgeous fembots! Some Girls Do is presented here as a new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original aspect ratio. Drummond is hot on the trail of his nemesis, the devious Carl Petersen, who is hell-bent on sabotaging the new British fighter airplane. Peterson must be stopped - whatever the cost - but this time he's protected by a bodyguard of murderous female androids! SPECIAL FEATURES: Theatrical Trailer Extensive Image gallery
Funny Bones, directed by Peter Chelsom (Hear My Song), is a weird but intriguing comedy with a particularly dark edge. Oliver Platt plays a would-be comedian, the son of a major comedy star (Jerry Lewis); dad's reputation even overshadows his son's Las Vegas debut. After that flop the son tries to go back to his roots and heads across the Atlantic for his father's launch pad in Blackpool. There, he meets his previously unknown half-brother (Lee Evans), a bizarre comedy savant who teaches him a thing or two about taking risks to get laughs, and discovers a secret about how his father got started. Platt is likably lost and Lewis is perfectly overbearing, but the real find here is Evans, making his cinematic debut as the rubber-faced, protean comic with always surprising material. --Marshall Fine
Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted. Extras: Feature-Length Storyboards Creating Earwig And The Witch Interviews With Japanese Voice Cast Japanese Trailer & TV Spot UK Theatrical Trailer
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