"Director: Norman Jewison"

• A Soldier's Story | DVD | (17/08/2009) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-3.99 (-66.60%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Charles Fuller adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning A Soldier's Play for the big screen in 1984. The film version, A Soldier's Story is essentially a murder mystery, played out against a background of inter and intra-racial conflict at a Second World War training camp. To the consternation of his white opposite number at the camp, a black captain (Howard W Rollins) arrives to investigate the death of a black sergeant (Adolph Caesar). Suspicion immediately falls on a pair of bigoted white officers but as the tale unfolds in a series of flashbacks, it soon becomes clear that a different kind of prejudice is also at work. Assisted by some excellent performances, director Norman Jewison opens the story out from its stage roots. There's a wonderful baseball scene (filmed on location at Little Rock) in which the double standards of Dennis Lipscomb's fidgety white captain are exposed with neat irony; he'll cheer his successful black team all the way home in the name of sport. His gradual, forced liberalisation provides the film with an important comic element. A Soldier's Story wears its heart on its sleeve without being superficial in any way. It's a compelling tale, well told and often highly entertaining, in which nobody gets off lightly, least of all the good guy. On the DVD: The widescreen presentation helps give an epic feel to what could, in other hands, have been a claustrophobic production. The picture quality is fine. But the monaural sound track is often rather muffled, leaving you straining to catch some of the dialogue. This is also a shame because the blues music--an inspired job by Herbie Hancock, assisted by Patti Labelle singing her lungs out as bar owner Big Mary--is an important element of the film's underlying theme and deserves to be better heard. The extras are valuable. Norman Jewison's commentary is detailed and sensitive. As he says, the film deals with "ideas in racism never seen on screen before", and he acknowledges the strength of his actors in getting those ideas across. "March to Freedom" is an excellent short documentary which features the moving testimonies of black servicemen on the insufferable prejudices they encountered while attempting to defend their country during the Second World War; A Soldier's Story is thus put sharply into context. --Piers Ford

• The 80s Movie Club - For Working Girls - When Harry Met Sally/Working Girl/Desperately Seeking Susan/Moonstruck/Romancing The Stone | DVD | (01/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Titles Comprise: When Harry Met Sally (Dir. Rob Reiner) (1989): Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman? That's what Harry (Crystal) and Sally (Ryan) debate during their trip from Chicago to New York. And eleven years later they're sill no closer to finding the answer. Will these two best friends ever accept that they're meant for each other... or will they continue to deny the attraction that's existed since the first moment when Harry met Sally? Working Girl (Dir. Mike Nichols) (1988): For anyone who's ever won. For anyone who's ever lost. And for anyone who's still in there trying.... When a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss she seizes the opportunity to steal it back. Her boss breaks her leg in a skiing accident and the daring secretary decides to take her office her apartment and even her wardrobe! it's make or break time... Desperately Seeking Susan (Dir. Susan Siedelman) (1986): Bored New Jersey housewife Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) fills her days by reading the personal ads and following an ongoing romance between Jim (Robert Joy) and Susan (Madonna) a mysterious drifter who appears to lead the kind of free-spirited life about which Roberta can only dream. And dream she does until the day she actually shows up at the couple's pre-arranged rendezvous in New York City... and after a bump on the head a bout of amnesia turns Roberta into Susan and opens the door to intrigue laughter and love! Moonstruck (Dir. Norman Jewison) (1987): Fall under the delightful spell of Moonstruck the mesmerising romantic comedy from director Norman Jewison and Oscar Winner John Patrick Shanley Academy Award winners Cher Nicolas Cage and Olympia Dukakis excel in this explosively funny tale which also features flawless performances by Danny Aiello Vincent Gardenia and John Mahoney. Cher is devastatingly funny sinuous and beautiful as Loretta an unlucky-in-love Italian widow who finds romance through the intervention of the Manhattan moon. With her wedding to a close friend just weeks away she meets - and falls hopelessly in love with - his younger brother (Cage)! Her dilemma - and her equally passionate and hilariously eccentric family - make for an unforgettable film you'll find beguiling enchanting and irresistible. Romancing the stone (Dir. Robert Zemeckis) (1984): She's a girl from the big city. He's a reckless soldier of fortune. For a fabulous treasure they share an adventure no one could imagine. Or survive! When her sister is kidnapped by thugs searching for a priceless jewel in the Colombian jungle a romance novelist (Turner) soon finds her own life filled with cliffhangers and danger. All alone she sets out to rescue her sister and meets up with a handsome fortune seeker (Douglas) much like the charismatic hero of her books who convinces her to beat the bandits to the treasure...

• Soldier's Story, A / The Beast / Anzio | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Anzio: Robert Mitchum Peter Falk and Arthur Kennedy star in the rivetting war drama Anzio a vivid portrait of one of the bloodiest WWII battles ever fought. After landing with Allied troops at Anzio Italy in 1944 war correspondent Dick Ennis (Mitchum) and buddy Corporal Rabinoff (Falk) tell Anzio commander General Lesley (Kennedy) that the road to Rome is wide open. But instead of heading to Rome Lesley attempts to build a coastal stronghold only to discover that the Germans have outflanked them by enclosing the Anzio beachhead. Four months and over 30 000 casualties later the Allied forces smash through the German lines and victoriously march to Rome. Directed by Edward Dmytryk (The Caine Mutiny Back To Bataan) Anzio is a powerful film and a symbol of heroic tenacity. The Beast: War brings out the beast in every man. Afghanistan 1981 and the Soviet Union is locked in a futile and bloody battle with the Mujahedeen guerillas. Separated from their patrol the crew of a Russian T-62 tank engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the local insurgents led by Taj (Steven Bauer). The tyrannical tank commander Daskal (George Dzundza) wreaks havoc on a peaceful Afghani village pushing the moral boundaries of the tank driver Koverchenko (Jason Patric) to the limits. Sensing mutiny the psychotic Daskal abandons the disenchanted tanker to die in the desert at the hand of rebels only to find he's sealed his own fate. A Soldiers Story: Tensions flare in this gripping film about a murder on a black army base near the end of World War II. Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) a proud black army attorney is sent to Fort Neal Louisiana to investigate the ruthless shooting death of Sergeant Waters (Adolph Caesar). Through interviews with Waters' men Davenport learns that he was a vicious man who served the white world and despised his own roots. Was the killer a bigoted white officer? Or could he have been a black soldier embittered by Waters' constant race baiting? Directed by Norman Jewison from Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Soldier's Story is both a spellbinding mystery and a superb drama that transcends race.

• Terminator / Rollerball / Robocop | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Robocop: A sadistic crime wave is sweeping across America. In Old Detroit the situation is so bad a private corporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has assumed control of the police force. The executives at the company think they have the answer - until the enforcement droid they create kills one of their own. Then an ambitious young executive seizes the opportunity. He and his research team at Security Concepts create a law enforcement cyborg from the body of a slain officer. All goes well at first. Robocop stops every sleazeball he encounters with deadly piercing and sometimes gruesome accuracy. But there are forces on the street and within Security Concepts itself that will stop at nothing to see this super cyborg violently eliminated... Terminator: In 2029 giant super-computers dominate the planet hell-bent on exterminating the human race! And to destroy man's future by changing the past they send an indestructible cyborg - a Terminator - back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) the woman whose unborn son will become mankind's only hope. Can Sarah protect herself from this unstoppable menace to save the life of her unborn child? Or will the human race be extinguished by one mean hunk of mutant metal? Rollerball (1975): Set in 2018 Rollerball is a sensation glimpse of a future where the world is ruled by six giant corporations; a place where there is no war no poverty and no unrest but also no free will and no God. There is still a place for violence in this antiseptic world of plenty and mankind''s vicious and sadistic impulses are vented in the Rollerball arena a violent and deadly game broadcast world-wide to satisfy the bloodlust of millions. James Caan is outstanding as Jonathan E the game''s greatest player a man whose devastating talent threatens to make him a hero - and a threat to the Corporations'' grip on power. When Jonathan is asked to retire he refuses electing instead to captain his team to the world finals in an escalating spiral of carnage.

• Steve McQueen Collection - The Great Escape/The Magnificent Seven/The Thomas Crown Affair/The Sand Pebbles | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Great Escape (Dir. John Sturges 1963): One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges screenwriters James Clavell (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story this film also stars Steve McQueen James Garner Charles Bronson and James Coburn. The Thomas Crown Affair (Dir. Norman Jewson 1968): Thomas Crown (Steve McQueen) is a lone wolf in chic clothing. He's a Boston tycoon who masterminds a daring bank job even though he doesn't need the money. What he needs is the thrill of the heist the adrenaline rush of not getting caught. Catching crooks is where insurance investigator Vicky Anderson (Faye Dunaway) comes in. She always gets her man. But this time she may be too much in love to give him up. McQueen and Dunaway are lovers and adversaries in a stylish cat-and-mouse thriller written by Alan R. Trustman and directed by Norman Jewison. Jewsion makes exciting use of split screen images as the action leaps from the boardroom to the boudoir the polo field to a glider cockpit. The Oscar winning Best Song (1968) ""The Windmills of Your Mind"" sets the perfect tone for the swirl of romance and intrigue... The Magnificent Seven (Dir. John Sturges 1960): Yul Brynner stars as one of seven master gunmen who aid the helpless farmers of an isolated village pitted against an army of marauding bandits in this rousing action tale based on Akira Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai. Released in 1960 John Sturges' masterpiece garnered an Oscar nomination for Elmer Bernstein (for Best Score) and launched the film careers of Steve McQueen Charles Bronson Robert Vaughn and James Coburn. Sand Pebbles (Dir. Robert Wise 1966): It's the story of China a slumbering giant that rouses itself to the cries of its people - and of the Americans who are caught in its bloody awakening. It's the story of Frenchy (Richard Attenborough) a crewman on the USS San Pablo who kidnaps his Chinese bride from the auction block. Most of all it's the story of Jake Holman (Steve McQueen) a sailor who had given up trying to make peace with anything: including himself.

• The Fabulous Three - Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin | DVD | (21/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Tracklist: 1. Intro 2. Just in Time - Judy 3. When your Smiling - Judy 4. You do Something to Me - Judy & Frank 5. Too Marvelous for Words - Frank 6. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby - Dean 7. I See your Face Before Me - Frank 8. The Man That Got Away - Judy 9. The One I Love Belongs to Someone Else - Frank & Dean 10. I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby - Judy 11. You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You - Judy 12. You Made Me love You - Judy 13. The Trolley Song - Judy 14. Almost Like Being in Love - Dean 15. Rock-a-Bye Your Baby w/Dixie Melody - Judy 16. Swanee - Judy 17. Bye Bye Blackbird - Dean 18. I Left My Heart in San Fran - Judy 19. Returning Memories