The latest entry in the Harry Potter saga could be retitled Fast Times at Hogwarts, where finding a date to the winter ball is nearly as terrifying as worrying about Lord Voldemort's return. Thus, the young wizards' entry into puberty (and discovery of the opposite sex) opens up a rich mining field to balance out the dark content in the fourth movie (and the stories are only going to get darker). Mike Newell handily takes the directing reins and eases his young cast through awkward growth spurts into true young actors. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, more sure of himself) has his first girl crush on fellow student Cho Chang, and has his first big fight with best bud Ron. Meanwhile, Ron's underlying romantic tension with Hermione comes to a head over the winter ball, and when she makes one of those girl-into-woman Cinderella entrances, the boys' reactions indicate they've all crossed a threshold. But don't worry, there's plenty of wizardry and action in Goblet of Fire. When the deadly Tri-Wizard Tournament is hosted by Hogwarts, Harry finds his name mysteriously submitted (and chosen) to compete against wizards from two neighboring academies, as well as another Hogwarts student. The competition scenes are magnificently shot, with much-improved CGI effects (particularly the underwater challenge). And the climactic confrontation with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, in a brilliant bit of casting) is the most thrilling yet. Goblet, the first installment to get a PG-13 rating, contains some violence as well as disturbing images for kids and some barely shrouded references at sexual awakening (Harry's bath scene in particular). The 2 1/2-hour film, lean considering it came from a 734-page book, trims out subplots about house elves (they're not missed) and gives little screen time to the standard crew of the other Potter films, but adds in more of Britain's finest actors to the cast, such as Brendan Gleeson as Mad Eye Moody and Miranda Richardson as Rita Skeeter. Michael Gambon, in his second round as Professor Dumbledore, still hasn't brought audiences around to his interpretation of the role he took over after Richard Harris died, but it's a small smudge in an otherwise spotless adaptation.--Ellen A. Kim, Amazon.com
The Samuel L. Jackson Collection. Shaft: With Samuel L. Jackson in the starring role and John Singleton directing ""Shaft"" is a new approach to one of the great film icons of the 1970s. He's tough he's smart he's cool - just what you'd expect from a man whose uncle and mentor is John Shaft who now as then is played by Richard Roundtree. Also starring in the Paramount Pictures presentation are Vanessa Williams Jeffrey Wright Christian Bale Dan Hedaya Busta Rhymes and
It begins with a death… or is it a murder? A woman runs in front of a car but the D.A. in charge of the case suspects there is more to the story than meet the eye… The investigation leads him to the woman’s husband who, he discovers, has experienced violent separation from all of his previous lovers. Finding one of his first girlfriends, the D.A. convinces her to testify against him; doing so will open up the depths of her soul and form a powerful and dark relationship between them.
The Little Mermaid: All the music fun and excitement under the sea resurface in this magical special edition of Disney's 28th animated masterpiece. Awash with breathtaking animation unforgettably colourful characters and two Academy Awards for score and song Under The Sea The Little Mermaid is one of Disney's most cherished films. Ariel the fun-loving and mischievous mermaid is enchanted with all things human. Disregarding her father's order to stay away from the world above the sea she swims to the surface and in a raging storm rescues the prince of her dreams. Determined to be human she strikes a bargain with the devious sea witch Ursula and trades her fins and beautiful voice for legs. With her best friend the adorable and chatty Flounder and her reluctant chaperone Sebastian the hilarious reggae-singing Caribbean crab at her side Ariel must win the prince's love and save her father's kingdom -- all in a heart-pounding race against time! The Little Mermaid 2 - Return To The Sea: After rejoicing over the birth of their daughter Melody Ariel and Eric must face a new threat from Ursula's revengeful sister Morgana - a threat that forces them to hide Melody's true mermaid heritage. Melody a young princess curious about her roots ultimately ventures into the sea against her parents' wishes. There she meets new friends and in her dreams to be a mermaid becomes a pawn in Morgana's plot to gain control of the Seven Seas. Ariel must reunite with her childhood friends Sebastian Flounder and Scuttle to rescue her daughter and restore harmony to the family. The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Beginning: Imagine a time long before Ariel met Prince Eric and walked on land a time when music was banned from the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. Torn between family duty and her love of music Ariel must make the most difficult choice of her life. With the help of her friends Sebastian and Flounder and her six amusing sisters will the young mermaid be able to restore music friendship and love to the kingdom?
Two (fictional) producers dream up the idea of placing six disabled people on a deserted island in a misguided hunger for good telly ratings. The series as such takes the form of a faux documentary; six hours six characters - each episode will focus on one. As the Cast Offs struggle to overcome the challenges presented by living on the island so we learn who they are through 'flashbacks' to the year leading up to the marooning during which time in the fictional reality presented by the series the six Cast Offs were followed by documentary crews. The stories will always be darkly comic poignant and sometimes surreal but also give us opportunity to address some of the many misconceptions about disabled people.
What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? sees a change of direction for Robert Aldrich's unofficial trilogy which all involve "ageing actresses" in macabre thrillers (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte). The busy Aldrich only produced What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?, calling in TV director Lee H Katzin (a Mission: Impossible regular) to handle the megaphone. Aldrich also opted to shoot the film in pastel colours appropriate to the unusual Arizona desert setting rather than the gothic black and white of the earlier films. The film cast the less iconic Geraldine Page as the genteelly unpleasant Mrs Clare Marrable. Left apparently penniless by her departed husband, Mrs M opts to keep up appearances by hiring a succession of timid elderly housekeepers, bossing them around with well-spoken nastiness, duping them out of their life savings and, on the pretence of getting help with a midnight tree-planting program, lures them into their own graves, batters them to death and plants lovely pines over them. Page gets her own way with the meek likes of Mildred Dunnock, until the feistier, red-wigged R!uth Gordon applies for the job and gets down to amateur sleuthing. While Bette Davis and her partners went wildly over the top in previous films, Page and Gordon play more subtly, finding odd pathetic moments in between the monstrous, irony-laced horror stuff. The supporting cast of pretty or handsome young things, mostly putty in the hands of the manipulative Page, contribute striking little cameos (Rosemary Forsyth sports a pleasing 1969 hairdo as the kindly but intimidated neighbour), but the film belongs to its leading ladies, delivering a fine line in twist-packed cat-and-mouse theatrics. The video is handsomely letterboxed, as befits a film made before widescreen films were shot with all the action in the middle of the frame to facilitate television sales. --Kim Newman
One hot summer's day an ingenious and highly organised gunman goes on a shooting rampage. As he moves from one killing zone to another regardless of sex race age and creed he leaves a trail of death and misery in his wake quickly bringing the city to a standstill. Are his targets random? Is he simply a madman? Who can stop him?
There is a place... a place called Grockleton wherein high on a hill-top stands the lonely Beesley's Manor governed by the villainous 'Landlord' and his lowly male counterparts (Pooch Pike and the diesel-swilling Dobbin). Always on the look-out for new female company to help carry on the Beesley name the Landlord keeps a watchful eye over Grockleton and anyone who dares to enter his land. When three improbable heroes stumble unsuspectingly into the Beesley's realm they are cruelly snared into a menacing hunt and an unstoppable frenzy of heart racing mayhem! Will the Landlord triumph and collect his 'trophies' (and maybe even a future bride?) or can the unlikely trio be victorious against him in his own game?
The Bogey Man had been banned since 1982. The Bogey Man is the chilling story of concentrated evil and its gruesome effect on a small American farming community. The evil is so great that even exorcism cannot stop the blood-bath. As a young girl Lucy witnessed her brother murder her mother's lover. In an attempt to recover her psychological turmoil she later visits the house and finds the demons have not left.
Life. Love. And a little payback! It's New Years Eve and poor Jimmy Zoole is having a day from hell. His all puppet Shakespeare play is a flop his beautiful girlfriend has just dumped him his beloved cat is in hospital and his flat has been broken into almost daily. But Jimmy takes the world by the throat when he captures a burglar in the act and decides to change from victim to boss! Actor Steve Guttenberg's directorial debut of comic misadventures is a hilarious pitch
Inspired by actual events and featuring superb performances from Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek David Strathairn and Arliss Howard 'Beyond The Call' is a riveting drama that takes a no-holds-barred look at the effect of Death Row both on the condemned and on those closest to them. Although happily married to Keith and the mother of two children Pam O'Brien cannot forget Russell Cates a childhood sweetheart now on Death Row for the murder of a cop. Despite Keith's misgivings she makes contact with Cates and starts to visit him on Death Row re-establishing a close rapport. But this growing relationship begins to put a strain on her marriage. For Keith like Cates is a veteran of Vietnam and returned home profoundly damaged by his experiences. But unlike Cates he has suppressed a memory that only a man with Cates's experience can help him to confront.
When a drug deal goes sour and accidently leaves a cool $6 million worth of cocaine in the hands of five friends they each see something different. What none of them see is that one of the dealers is still alive and he needs his coke back before his impatient Mexican supplier sets a lethal lady assassin on his trail...
Quentin Tarantino came out of nowhere (i.e. a video store in Manhattan Beach, California) and turned Hollywood on its ear in 1992 with his explosive first feature, Reservoir Dogs. Like Tarantino's mainstream breakthrough Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs has an unconventional structure, cleverly shuffling back and forth in time to reveal details about the characters, experienced criminals who know next to nothing about each other. Joe (Lawrence Tierney) has assembled them to pull off a simple heist, and has gruffly assigned them colour-coded aliases (Mr Orange, Mr Pink, Mr White) to conceal their identities even from each other. But something has gone wrong, and the plan has blown up in their faces. One by one, the surviving robbers find their way back to their prearranged warehouse hideout. There, they try to piece together the chronology of this bloody fiasco--and to identify the traitor among them who tipped off the police. Pressure mounts, blood flows, accusations and bullets fly. In the combustible atmosphere these men are forced to confront life-and-death questions of trust, loyalty, professionalism, deception and betrayal.As many critics have observed, it is a movie about "honor among thieves" (just as Pulp Fiction is about redemption, and Jackie Brown is about survival). Along with everything else, the movie provides a showcase for a terrific ensemble of actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Christopher Penn and Tarantino himself, offering a fervent dissection of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" over breakfast. Reservoir Dogs is violent (though the violence is implied rather than explicit), clever, gabby, harrowing, funny, suspenseful and even--in the end--unexpectedly moving. (Don't forget that "Super Sounds of the Seventies" soundtrack, either.) Reservoir Dogs deserves just as much acclaim and attention as its follow-up, Pulp Fiction, would receive two years later. --Jim Emerson
Chief Inspector Jane Tennison investigates the discovery of a male prostitute's charred body in the burnt-out flat of a trans-sexual...
If falsely accused ex-cop Bud McCall didn't have enough problems after being sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit he does now. The sadistic crime lord responsible for for putting him behind bars has taken his girlfriend hostage but Bud is not about to take things lying down. If he testifies to the FBI he could really get even... or get killed.
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