Will & Grace debuted with a controversial splash because one of its two lead characters is gay--but smart writing and topnotch performances, not politics, have made the show a hit. Two neurotic and sharp-tongued urbanites--gay lawyer Will (Eric McCormack) and straight interior designer Grace (Debra Messing)--delight in their volatile but enduring friendship as they share a sumptuous New York apartment. Sweeping into the mix are Will's unapologetically queeny friend Jack (Sean Hayes) and Grace's wildly eccentric assistant Karen (Megan Mullally). Much like Seinfeld, the humour on Will & Grace springs from self-obsession, petty jealousy, and compulsive interfering in each other's lives--basically, the building blocks of human nature. The show's writers apparently feel compelled to keep the lead characters warm and likeable in the usual sitcom mode (which hardly seems necessary, as McCormack and Messing are naturally engaging). As a result, it's Jack and Karen who get free reign to be truly obnoxious and ridiculous--which, of course, makes them incredibly funny and charismatic. Hayes and Mullally rise to the occasion, ripping through absurd situations and arias of narcissistic wit with dazzling panache. Will & Grace's plots routinely center around scenarios that could feature a married couple or two same-sex roommates: Will and Grace bicker over buying a dog, find their relationship tested by apartment renovations, or discover they're both pursuing the same guy--standard sitcom material that the gay factor gives a clever spin. Though their relationship gets in the way of their sex lives, the two take so much pleasure in each other's company that they can't help but stick together--a surprisingly chaste theme for such a culturally groundbreaking show, but one that Will & Grace's addicted audience undoubtedly appreciates. --Bret Fetzer
This collection celebrates the inimitable directorial style of Quentin Tarantino with five of his greatest films all on Blu-ray.Reservoir Dogs: Reservoir Dogs concerns a group of criminals who carry out a jewel heist which results in a battle with the police to secure an escape. Suspicions are aroused at the readiness of the police and an informer is sought.Pulp Fiction:Pulp Fiction is a breathtaking tribute to old dime store novels about small time hoods and dangerous criminals. It features deftly woven plotlines, creating a mythic Los Angeles underworld of drug dealers, molls, affable hitmen, restaurant-robbing lovers, and a boxer out to scam the mob on his last professional bout.Jackie Brown: Jackie Brown is an air hostess who supplements her income by carrying large amounts of cash between Mexico and the US for a gun dealer. After being arrested at the airport she can only gain her freedom by shopping the gun dealer, knowing that if she does he will kill her.Kill Bill Volume 1: Kill Bill Volume 1 follows the story of 'the Bride'. Once part of a group of top female assassins called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, she realises that she's pregnant and decides to leave, assume a new identity and get married. This does not sit well with Bill, her former boss who tracks her down on her wedding day.Kill Bill Volume 2: Kill Bill Volume 2 continues the Bride's path of vengeance begun in the first volume. Now she hunts down Elle Driver (aka 'California Mountain Snake'), Budd (aka 'Sidewinder') and their leader Bill (aka 'Snake Charmer').
First broadcast in 1983 with its second series airing in 1986, Auf Wiedersehen Pet was an unlikely comedy hit about a group of British labourers forced to work in Germany during the recession. Scripted by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, (previously responsible for Porridge and The Likely Lads) its main players are likable stereotypes from all over England: Barry (Timothy Spall), the bumbling, haplessly pretentious Brummie; gentle West Country giant Bomber (Pat Roach); amiable scouse Moxey (Christopher Fairbank); and the three Geordies, nervous Neville (Kevin Whately), loudmouth xenophobic lummox Oz (Jimmy Nail) and put-upon Dennis (Tim Healy), the reluctant gaffer of the mob. The second series saw the lads reunited to work for a dubious entrepreneur called Ally Fraser to whom Dennis owes money, and the location varying from Spain to Derbyshire. Gary Holton (cheeky cockney Wayne) died during the making of the series and Clement and La Frenais farmed out several episodes to other writers, such as Stan Hey, but the characters were well established by this point and the comedy held up. An episode in which the gang upset the locals of a stuffy country pub with their very presence is particularly memorable. A belated third series followed in 2002. --David Stubbs
One of the most popular Disney films ever The Jungle Book is a song-filled celebration of friendship fun and adventure set in a lush and colourful world. Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's""Mowgli"" stories Disney's 19th animated masterpiece was the last animated feature that had Walt Disney's personal touch. The jubilant adventure begins when Mowgli a little boy raised by wolves is urged by his friend Bagheera a wise old panther to seek safety in the man-village. Feeling very much at home in the jungle Mowgli resists and runs off. Much to Bagherra's dismay Mowgli meets a new friend with a happy-go-lucky- philosophy of life- Baloo the bear a lovable "" jungle bum."" Together the three buddies find the journey back to civilization anything but civilized! They encounter a crazy orangutan the hypnotic and sly snake Kaa and the menacing Shere Khan!
Ever wondered what would happen if the cream of British comedy got together to star in their own show writing and performing their own comedy sketches alongside a pool of the best writing talent available? The answer is 'Monkey Trousers'. This highly anticipated comedy extravaganza debuted on ITV1 in May and the DVD will include all six episodes plus a plethora of bonus goodies. 'Monkey Trousers' is the first co-production by Pett Productions (Vic Reeves/Bob Mortimer) and Baby Cow
Contains By The Sword Divided - parts one and two. This classic BBC period drama series follows the fortunes of the aristocratic Lacey family living peacefully in their Arnescote castle until the onset of the English Civil War in 1640. The head of the family Sir Martin Lacey is unswervingly loyal to the King. However the family is torn apart when his eldest daughter Anne weds John Fletcher son of a merchant family who support the forces of Cromwell. Episodes comprise: Gathe
Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 2" picks up as Andy heads off to Cowboy Camp, leaving his toys to their own devices. Things shift into high gear when an obsessive toy collector named Al McWhiggin, owner of Al's Toy Barn, kidnaps Woody.
Tim and Eric are loaned a billion dollars by a sinister corporation to make a movie, but squander it all. With their lives at stake, they quickly skip town in search of a fast way to pay the money back.
Terry and June Medford are both middle-aged and beginning to find the trials of life are more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives. The couple have just moved to Purley south-east London... Aunt Lucy and the mynah bird had disappeared as had the occasionally visiting daughters. Terry and June now mixed with a friendly next door neighbour Beattie; Terry's chatty work colleague Malcolm; and their gruff boss Sir Dennis Hodge. Otherwise things were much as before w
Episodes include: 'The Return Of The Seven (Part 1)' 'The Return Of The Seven (Part 2)' and 'A Law For The Rich'.
It's easy to understand why Arlington Road sat on the studio shelf for nearly a year. No, the film isn't awful; rather, it's an extremely edgy and ultimately bleak thriller that offers no clear-cut heroes or villains. In other words, Hollywood had no idea how to sell it. Director Mark Pellington's underrated directorial debut, Going All the Way, suffered the same fate, essentially because the film-maker's presentation of suburban America often shifts dramatically within the same film. Characters are usually miserable and bordering on meltdown, no situation is straightforward and things usually end badly. Arlington Road begins as an astute study of suburban paranoia. Michael Faraday (a face-pinched Jeff Bridges, who spends most of the film on the brink of tears) is a college professor who teaches American history courses on terrorism. He's been a conspiracy freak since his wife, an FBI agent, was killed during a botched raid that feels like a thinly fictionalised reference to the Waco tragedy. After saving the life of his next-door neighbour's child, he initially befriends the family (Tim Robbins and Joan Cusack), but soon believes the husband is a terrorist. The first half of the film mocks Faraday: he has no real evidence and is not the most stable of protagonists. Despite the fact that it was government paranoia that got his wife killed, Faraday repeats the same type of behaviour. Pellington shifts gears in the second half, however, and for a while, it seems that the film has simultaneously sunk into a cheap, high-octane brand of Hollywood entertainment and undermined its own point. But Arlington Road possesses a stunning ending that's a real gut punch, one that may leave you needing a second viewing to catch all of its smartly executed setup. --Dave McCoy
Written and directed by actor Tim Robbins (who also plays the title role), this 1992 mock documentary about an upstart candidate for the U.S. Senate is smart, funny, and scarily prescient in its foreshadowing of the Republican revolution of 1994. Bob Roberts is a folksinger with a difference: He offers tunes that protest welfare chiselers, liberal whining, and the like. As the filmmakers follow his campaign, Robbins gives needle-sharp insight into the way candidates manipulate the media. While the film follows Roberts's campaign, it also covers a fringe journalist (Giancarlo Esposito), who may have dug up the kind of dirt to push Roberts's campaign off the rails. Robbins captures the chilly insincerity of this right-wing populist and fills his cast with terrific supporting players, including Alan Rickman as the campaign's shadowy financier and Susan Sarandon and Peter Gallagher as a pair of airhead TV news anchors. --Marshall Fine
Terry and June Medford are both middle-aged and beginning to find the trials of life are more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives. The couple have just moved to Purley south-east London... Aunt Lucy and the mynah bird had disappeared as had the occasionally visiting daughters. Terry and June now mixed with a friendly next door neighbour Beattie; Terry's chatty work colleague Malcolm; and their gruff boss Sir Dennis Hodge. Otherwise things were much as before w
Top Gun A look at the danger and excitement that awaits every pilot at the Navy's prestigious fighter weapons school: Tom Cruise is superb as Maverick Mitchell a daring young fighter who's out to become the best and Kelly McGillis sizzles as the civilian instructor who teaches Maverick a few things you can't learn in a classroom... Days Of Thunder Tom Cruise plays race car driver Cole Trickle whose talent and ambition are surpassed only by his burning need to win. Discovered by businessman Tim Daland (Randy Quaid) Cole is teamed with legendary crew chief and car-builder Harry Hogge (Academy Award-winner Robert Duvall) to race for the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500. A fiery crash nearly ends race car driver Cole Trickle's career until he turns to a beautiful doctor (Nicole Kidman) to regain his nerve and true courage needed to race to win and to live.
This riveting fact-based drama concentrates on the transformation of Vernon Howell into the self-made cult leader David Koresh. Failing as a musician Howell turns back to his strictly religious upbringing and uses his predatory charm to organise churches under his own leadership. But his ministry is tainted with both his obsession with rock-and-roll and his driven sexual appetites. This corrupt prophet eventually accumulates 19 wives in a frenzy of misguided devotion and a calculatingly cruel madness that eventually results in tragedy.
Home Alone-Eight-year-old Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) has become the man of the house overnight! Accidentally left behind when his family rushes off on a Christmas vacation Kevin gets busy decorating the house for the holidays. But he's not decking the halls with tinsel and holly. Two bumbling burglars are trying to break in and Kevin's rigging a bewildering battery of booby traps to welcome them! Written and produced by John Hughes (101 Dalmatians) this madcap slapstick adventure features an all-star supporting cast including Catherine O'Hara and John Heard as Kevin's parents Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the burglars and John Candy (Planes Trains and Automobiles) as the 'Polka King of the Midwest.'Home Alone 2 - Lost In New York -Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is back! But this time he's in New York City - with enough cash and credit cards to turn the big apple into his own playground! But Kevin won't be alone for long. The notorious Wet Bandits Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) Still smarting from their last encounter with Kevin are bound for New York too plotting a huge holiday heist. Kevin's ready to welcome them with a battery of booby traps the bumbling bandits will never forget! Home Alone 3 -The US Air Force has a new secret weapon - and he's only eight years old! From comedy legend John Hughes comes this hilarious action packed hit. A band of international crooks has hidden a military computer chip inside a toy car but an airport mix-up lands it in the hands of whiz-kid Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz) who's home alone with the chicken pox in a quiet Chicago suburb. When the criminals zero in on Alex's house with their high-tech gadgetry madness and mayhem kick into high gear as the pint-sized hero defends himself against the bumbling bad guys - armed with an outrageous array of ambushes and booby traps!
When two enemy pilots shoot each other down over Ireland they are both captured as prisoners of war. During World War II Neutral Ireland interned all soldiers sailors and airmen regardless of their nationality captured on Irish soil. What they failed to mention was that they would put them all in the same camp... Our pilots (Bill Campbell) and Rudi (Angus MacFayden) are astonished to come face to face with each other at the entrance of the interment camp. Further surprises are in
Taken from a long-running DC Comics strip, Wonder Woman was made into a popular television series between 1978 and 1981, starring former Miss America Lynda Carter. Capturing the hearts of TV audiences with her sexy outfit as much as her superheroine abilities, Wonder Woman quickly became a kitsch icon, battling the forces of evil with the unforgettably camp "garb of justice", including bullet-proof bangles, a golden lasso and the belt of strength built into her corset. She had an invisible plane, too. Originally Princess Diana of Paradise Island (an uncharted land of Amazon women in the Bermuda Triangle), Wonder Woman is sent as an emissary to the outside world to protect the human race from the forces of evil. And so she becomes Diana Prince, the geeky, bespectacled assistant to Steve Trevor of the Inter Agency Defense Command in Washington, whose father she assisted against the Nazis in the 1940s. In the 70-minute pilot, "The Return of Wonder Woman", our gal is sent in to prevent the nefarious Dr Solano from capturing a nuclear generating plant the Americans are flying into Latin America as a new source of energy. In "Anschluss 77", Steve and Diana are sent to investigate a former Gestapo agent now living in Latin America and have to battle a Nazi force that includes a cloned Adolf Hitler. Finally, in "The Man Who Could Move the World", Wonder Woman's adversary is a Japanese ex-intern from World War II who has developed telekinetic powers. Carter plays the role commendably straight, but just one listen to the theme tune ("in your satin tights, fighting for our rights") makes it clear this isn't meant to be taken seriously. Who else could save us from evil so stylishly? On the DVD: Wonder Woman, Volume 1 includes a gallery of memorabilia, a pretty extensive biography of Lynda Carter and the rest of the cast, and finally a short photo gallery for all you die-hard Wonder Woman fetishists. --Laura Bushell
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