A harrowing tale of drug addiction and lost dreams, set in 1978 New York.
Although best known as the ground-breaking author of Albert Angelo, The Unfortunates and Christy Malry's Own Double-Entry, B S Johnson was also the director of a number of extraordinary and daring films. This extensive collection brings his experimental shorts, humorous animation, provocative agitprop and uniquely personal documentary films together for the very first time. Episode Comprise: You're Human Like the Rest of Them (1967) Paradigm (1968) The Unfortunates (1969, DVD only) The Evacuees (1969, DVD only) Up Yours Too Guillaume Apollinaire! (1969) Unfair! (1970, black and white) March! (1970, colour) Poem (1971) B. S. Johnson on Dr. Samuel Johnson (1972) Not Counting the Savages (Mike Newell, 1972, DVD only) Fat Man on a Beach (Michael Bakewell, 1974) Special Features: The Johnson Papers (2013): a look at the B S Johnson Archive of the British Library; Extensive booklet with new contributions from Jonathan Coe, David Quantick, Bruce Beresford, Michael Bakewell, Dr Julia Jordan and Dan Fox (Frieze)
Directed by Alfred Cheung and starring the legendary Yuen Biao (THE PRODIGAL SON, RIGHTING WRONGS), noir crime drama ON THE RUN remains a classic staple of the thriller genre from Hong Kong. In the aftermath of his wife's brutal murder, struggling cop Heung Ming (Yuen Biao) is forced to go into hiding after discovering corruption in the ranks. His only ally is a deadly assassin Chui (Pat Ha) as they each try to avoid arrest, and even death. Product Features BRAND NEW 2K transfer from the Original Negatives High Definition Blu-ray⢠(1080p) Presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio LPCM 2.0 Cantonese Mono Newly remastered English subtitles Audio Commentary with Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto [new] Running Away - An Interview with Alfred Cheung [new] Predicting the Future - An Interview with David West Alternate Ending Hong Kong Trailer Reversible sleeve with original Hong Kong poster artwork
Both Jane Fonda and Jon Voight won Oscars for their performances in Coming Home, a profoundly moving 1978 flick dealing with the aftereffects of the Vietnam War. Fonda, feeling isolated while her hawkish husband (Bruce Dern) is away in Vietnam, follows a friend's example and volunteers at a veteran's hospital. There she is reacquainted with Voight, an old friend who has returned from the war as a paraplegic. Lonely and disconnected from her husband, Fonda finds love--and fulfilling sex--with Voight. The sex scenes, very steamy for the time, are still provocative. This mature love story is about expanding your horizons, and is both moving and thoughtful. Director Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude) does succumb to melodrama on occasion, but these are forgivable slips. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com
Often overlooked amongst director Ernst Lubitsch's comedies and musicals, Broken Lullaby is a riveting and brilliant romantic drama from the pre-Code era, starring Lionel Barrymore (It's a Wonderful Life), Nancy Carroll (The Kiss Before the Mirror), and Phillips Holmes (The Criminal Code). Musician Paul Renard is haunted by the memory of Walter, a German soldier he killed during the First World War. He travels to Walter's home town, and, passing himself off as a friend of the deceased, is taken in by his grieving family. But when he finds himself falling in love with Elsa, Walter's fiancée, he becomes worried that the truth will emerge... With a screenplay by regular Lubitsch collaborator Samson Raphaelson (The Shop Around the Corner, Heaven Can Wait), Broken Lullaby was rapturously received by critics at the time, with one describing it as the most unusual and dramatic situation the screen has presented'. Product Features 2K restoration Original mono audio Audio commentary with author and film historian Joseph McBride (2021) The Films of Ernst Lubitsch (2001): archival audio recording of a presentation by Scott Eyman, author of Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise, presented as part the British Film Institute's 2001 Lubitsch retrospective at the National Film Theatre, London The Men I Killed (2023): video essay on Broken Lullaby and François Ozon's 2016 film Frantz, comparing their different cinematic approaches to adapting Maurice Rostand's 1930 play, L'Homme que j'ai tué, and its 1931 English-language translation, The Man I Killed, by Reginald Berkeley Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Christina Newland, archival profiles of director Ernst Lubtisch, star Lionel Barrymore and screenwriter Samuel Raphaelson, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits UK premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies All extras subject to change
In Jean Becker's Conversations With My Gardner a middle-aged landscape painter played by Daniel Auteuil recently separated who has lived for many years in Paris returns to the house in the country where he grew up and which he's inherited from his mother. He hires a local gardener Jean-Pierre Darroussin and soon discovers they were best friends at school together. Based on a book by Henri Cueco this is mainly a two-hander for the talents of Auteuil and Darroussin. As two old friends they spend a lot of time talking philosophizing and reminiscing. This relaxed and in some ways quintessentially French film is appealing simply because it is content to explore in a gentle way a long-standing friendship. As the seasons change eternal truths come into perspective.
With The Man Who Wasn't There the Coen brothers--those ironic geniuses of left-field bizarre--have pulled off another side-swerve into the unexpected. A movie "about a hairdresser who wants to become a dry-cleaner" as the brothers gleefully claim to have pitched it, it's set in 1949 in the small Northern California town of Santa Rosa (venue for Hitchcock's 1943 classic Shadow of a Doubt) and filmed in lustrous, deep-shadowy black-and-white--an affectionate, though never slavish, tribute to the great era of film noir. Not only in its austere monochrome but in its tone, it comes as a total contrast to the Coens' previous film, the cheerfully picaresque O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Though they toss in plenty of surreal gags, including a whole running thread about flying saucers (this is Roswell-era America, after all), the overall mood is quiet, reflective and even--something quite new for the Coens--compassionate. Their protagonist, barber Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton, proving himself one of the great chameleon actors of our time), is a man trapped by his own impassivity--inside him, a seething mass of emotion that he's utterly unable to express. In true Coen style, his frustration leads him into a fatal move that spirals disastrously out of control. Thornton is ably supported by a whole gallery of Coen regulars--Frances McDormand, Jon Polito, Tony Shalhoub--plus James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and an amazingly assured turn from Scarlett Johansson (Ghost World). The dialogue, as you'd expect, is masterly, while the brothers' regular collaborators Director of Photography Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner work wonders of period evocation, and Carter Burwell contributes a haunting score. On the DVD: The Man Who Wasn't There comes to DVD in a sharp, clean 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer that captures all the depth and subtlety of Deakins' superb photography, impeccably matched by the crystal-clear Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. A lavish helping of extras includes a trailer and two TV spots, stills photo gallery, filmographies, a 16-minute "making of" featurette, an overlong (47 minutes) interview with Deakins, a batch of deleted scenes, and best of all, the voice-over commentary. This gives us not just Joel and Ethan, but Billy Bob as well, chatting and chortling and clearly enjoying every second of the movie they've made. Their enthusiasm is irresistible. -Philip Kemp
At 10 Fanny Price goes to live at Mansfield Park the estate of her aunt's husband Sir Thomas. Clever studious and a writer with an ironic imagination and fine moral compass she becomes especially close to her cousin Edmund Thomas's younger son. Fanny is soon possessed of beauty as well as a keen mind and comes to the attention of a neighbor Henry Crawford. Thomas promotes this match but to his displeasure Fanny has a mind of her own asking Henry to prove himself worthy. As Edmund courts Henry's sister and as light shines on the link between Thomas's fortunes and New World slavery Fanny must assess Henry's character and assert her heart as well as her wit.
From acclaimed filmmaker Andrew Haigh comes a deeply moving story told through the unique prism of one boy s connection to a very special racehorse. 15-year-old Charley (Charlie Plummer) arrives in Portland, Oregon, with his single father Ray (Travis Fimmel), both eager for a fresh start after a series of hard knocks. While Ray descends into personal turmoil, Charley finds camaraderie at a local racetrack where he lands a job caring for an ageing quarter horse named Lean On Pete. The horse s gruff owner Del (Steve Buscemi) and his seasoned jockey Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny) help Charley fill the void of his father s absence until he discovers that Pete is bound for slaughter, prompting him to take extreme measures to spare his new friend s life. Charley and Pete head out into the great unknown, embarking on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a loving aunt Charley hasn t seen in years. They experience adventure and heartbreak in equal measure, but never lose their irrepressible hope and resiliency as they pursue their dream of finding a place they can call home. Featuring an award-winning performance by Plummer, Lean on Pete is a compassionate and heartrending look at the desire for love, family and acceptance.
Maverick filmmaker Robert Altman continued a stunning run of celebrated work that included McCabe and Mrs Miller The Long Goodbye and Nashville with 3 Women a dreamy masterpiece that would fend off the titanic Star Wars as Roger Ebert’s best film of 1977. In a California resort town shy and impressionable Pinky (Sissy Spacey Badlands Carrie) strikes up a friendship with her fellow nurse ‘Thoroughly Modern’ Millie (Shelley Duvall Nashville Thieves Like Us). As the two spend more time together Pinky becomes dependent on Millie adopting aspects of her personality and appearance things take an unusual and darker turn as Pinky discovers Millie with a man a local bar owner whose wife forms the third of the title’s three women. Based on a series of dreams and influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s Persona Robert Altman famously cut the deal for 3 Women with 20th Century Fox in a matter of minutes and the remarkable faith of the studio would produce one of the most striking works of the period. Bonus Features: High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original uncompressed PCM mono audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing New video interview with David Thompson editor of 'Altman on Altman' and producer of the BBC’s 'Robert Altman in England' Archive interview with Shelley Duvall from the Cannes Film Festival - The actress describes working with Altman his methods and how she started acting Galleries featuring behind-the-scenes photos the Cannes Film Festival press conference and promotional images Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh Booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic David Jenkins and excerpts from Altman on Altman illustrated with original stills
The tumultuous early history of the Central Intelligence Agency is viewed through the prism of one man's life.
Episodes Comprise: 1: The Town of No Return 2: The Gravediggers 3: The Cybernauts 4: Death at Bargain Prices 5: Castle De'ath 6: The Master Minds 7: The Murder Market 8: A Surfeit of H2O 9: The Hour That Never Was 10: Dial a Deadly Number 11: Man-Eater of Surrey Green 12: Two's a Crowd 13: Too Many Christmas Trees 14: Silent Dust 15: Room Without a View 16: Small Game for Big Hunters 17: The Girl from Auntie 18: The Thirteenth Hole 19: Quick-Quick Slow Death 20: The Danger Makers 21: A Touch of Brimstone 22: What the Butler Saw 23: The House That Jack Built 24: A Sense of History 25: How to Succeed.... at Murder 26: Honey for the Prince
Kevin Whately returns as Lewis in the second series of the hit detective drama - always sure to deliver plenty of intriguing murder mystery. Partnering once more with his trusty sidekick D.S. Hathway expect absorbing plots intelligently built tension and a fine performance by Whately all set in the idyllic surroundings of Oxford and its University campus.
The long front lawns of summer afternoons, the flicker of sunlight as it sprays through tree branches, the volcanic surge of the Earth's interior as the planet heaves itself into being--you certainly can't say Terrence Malick lacks for visual expressiveness. The Tree of Life is Malick's long-cherished project, a film that centres on a family in 1950s Waco, Texas, yet also reaches for cosmic significance in the creation of the universe itself. The Texas memories belong to Jack (Sean Penn), a modern man seemingly ground down by the soulless glass-and-metal corporate world that surrounds him. We learn early in the film of a family loss that happened at a later time, but the flashbacks concern only the dark Eden of Jack's childhood: his games with his two younger brothers, his frustrated, bullying father (Brad Pitt), his one-dimensionally radiant mother (Jessica Chastain). None of which unfolds in anything like a conventional narrative, but in a series of disconnected scenes that conjure, with poetry and specificity, a particular childhood realm. The contributions of cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and production designer Jack Fisk cannot be underestimated in that regard, and it should be noted that Brad Pitt contributes his best performance: strong yet haunted. And how does the Big Bang material (especially a long, trippy sequence in the film's first hour) tie into this material? Yes, well, the answer to that question will determine whether you find Malick's film a profound exploration of existence or crazy-ambitious failure full of beautiful things. Malick's sincerity is winning (and so is his exceptional touch with the child actors), yet many of the movie's touches are simultaneously gaseous (amongst the bits of whispered narration is the war between nature and grace, roles assigned to mother and father) and all-too-literal (a dinosaur retreats from nearly killing a fellow creature--the first moments of species kindness, or anthropomorphic poppycock?). The Tree of Life premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Palme d'Or there after receiving boos at its press screening. The debate continues, unabated, from that point. --Robert Horton
Boyz N The Hood is the critically acclaimed story of three friends growing up in a South Central Los Angeles neighborhood. It is a place where harmony co-exists with adversity especially for three young men growing up there: Doughboy (Ice Cube) an unambitious drug dealer; his brother Ricky (Morris Chestnut) a college-bound teenage father; and Ricky's best friend Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who aspires to a brighter future beyond The Hood. In a world where a trip to the store can end in death the friends have diverse reactions to their bleak surroundings. Tre's resolve is strengthened by a strong father (Larry Fishburne) who keeps him on the right track. But the lessons Tre learns are put to the ultimate test when tragedy strikes close to home and violence seems the only recourse.
When a girl has a heart of stone there is only one way to melt it... just add Ice. Bad boy Vanilla Ice leader of a tough motor cycle gang rides into town and woos the sweet natured Catherine. Trouble soon rears its ugly head when it transpires that her parents who have been long term witness protection programme have been found by the criminals they put behind bars.
Gracefully adapted from Dava Sobel's extraordinary bestseller, the four-part TV production of Longitude combines drama, history and science into a stimulating, painstakingly authentic account of personal triumph and joyous discovery. Equally impressive is the way writer-director Charles Sturridge has crafted parallel stories that complement each other with enriching perspective. The first story involves the successful 40-year effort of 18th-century clockmaker John Harrison (Michael Gambon) to solve the elusive problem of measuring longitude at sea. In 1714 the British Parliament had offered a generous reward to anyone who solved the problem, and Harrison devoted his life to that solution. The second story, some 200 years later, involves the effort of shell-shocked British Navy veteran Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) to restore the glorious clocks that Harrison had built. Like Harrison, Gould is the most admirable type of obsessive, but, also like Harrison, he risks his marriage to accomplish his difficult task. Thousands of sailors perished at sea before Harrison's triumph changed history, but Longitude demonstrates that Harrison's glory was slow to arrive--and his prize money even slower. A fascinating study of 18th-century British politics and clashing egos in the arena of science, the film is both epic and intimate in consequence , and Sturridge's magnificent script inspires Gambon and Irons to do some of the best work of their outstanding careers . The ever-reliable Ian Hart appears in Part 3 as Harrison's now-adult son and apprentice, and Longitude approaches its dramatic climax with the exhilarating tension of a first-rate thriller. Rallying after sickness to prove the integrity of their marvellous seafaring chronometers, the Harrisons still had to fight for official recognition, and Gould's restoration of the Harrison clockworks provides a fitting coda to this exceptional story about the thrill of discovery and the tenacity of remarkable men. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
From acclaimed filmmaker Gus Van Sant comes the moving story of a violent incident that rocks the students and faculty at a high school in Portland, Oregon.
New York City's infamous summer of 1977 was a scene of disco divas and the culture clash between fashionable patrons of Studio 54 and the new wave of punk rockers who invaded Manhattan.
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