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Review MGM Entertainment / Jack And Sarah [VHS] [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Tim Sullivan
  • Eileen Atkins
  • Richard E. Grant
  • Judi Dench
  • Samantha Mathis
  • Cherie Lunghi
Release date: 2001-01-29
Run time: 105 min.
Creator: Steve Morrison
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.99

Review Jack And Sarah [VHS] [1995] / MGM Entertainment:

The story of a father and baby daughter, 1995's Jack and Sarah is the best cinematic depiction of what came to be known as "the 90s man". No matter how bad things get we know Richard E Grant will eventually learn to get in touch with his feelings and express his emotions. Grant plays Jack, whose reaction to the loss of his wife during childbirth is initially complete rejection followed by an alcoholic binge. Jack's family coax fatherhood from him easily enough however and this is where the film's heart lies. Brushing away the bitter beginning, Grant's comedic performance in juggling life around newborn baby Sarah is often hilarious: the image of the child in a sock hat being carried in a padded envelope is priceless. Bouncing off Grant's acting are some terrific cameos from Judi Dench as his stuffy mum and Sir Ian McKellen as a convincingly inebriated butler. Samantha Mathis plays an American waitress who provides a twist to the tale. There's genuine chemistry between her and Grant, specifically when they are both around the outrageously cute baby Sarah. Written and directed by Tim Sullivan, this is clearly a very personal expression of the meaning of family. Although backed by lots of Simply Red songs, it hopefully won't be one that's too quickly outdated. [+]
On the DVD: The ratio is confusingly stated as "Widescreen 4:3". Effectively it's an anamorphic 1:66:1 presentation giving a tad more edge than its video predecessor. Sound is in Dolby surround. The minimal extras are four repetitive TV spots and two theatrical trailers. -Paul Tonks.

Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / It Could Happen To You [DVD] [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • Isaac Hayes
  • Andrew Bergman
  • Rosie Perez
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Wendell Pierce
  • Bridget Fonda
Release date: 1999-10-11
Run time: 97 min.
Creator: Jane Anderson
RRP: £19.99
Price: £5.89

Review It Could Happen To You [DVD] [1994] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

Inspired by an actual incident, this unassuming, wonderfully good-natured romantic comedy tells the story of a New York City street cop named Charlie (Nicolas Cage) who makes a promise to a coffee-shop waitress named Yvonne (Bridget Fonda) that will change both their lives. One day after coffee, Charlie is embarrassed to discover he doesn't have money for a tip, so he tells Yvonne that he'll share half of his winnings if the lottery ticket he's holding comes up a winner. Sure enough, he wins the jackpot-a whopping US$4 million payoff-and Charlie's wife, Muriel (Rosie Perez), goes ballistic when he tells her about his deal with Yvonne. From this point, It Could Happen to You follows Charlie's dilemma as he is forced to decide the proper course of action, and director Andrew Bergman smoothly incorporates a gentle love story into this amusing crisis of conscience. Fonda and Cage have an easygoing chemistry that adds a pleasant touch to the movie's fairy-tale plot, and It Could Happen to You's kindhearted sentiment is never so thick that it becomes sticky-sweet or artificial. As feel-good comedies go, this one's a class act. -Jeff Shannon.

Review MGM Home Entertainment / Tortilla Soup [DVD] [2002]
Actors & Directors
  • María Ripoll
  • Hector Elizondo|Jacqueline Obradors|Tamara Mello
Release date: 2003-06-23
Run time: 100 min.
Creator: Hector Elizondo|Jacqueline Obradors|Tamara Mello
RRP: £15.99
Price: £2.62

Review Tortilla Soup [DVD] [2002] / MGM Home Entertainment:

Food, life and love share a common lineage going back to antiquity, and Tortilla Soup remakes the connection with pathos and humour. The scenario of three daughters trying to make the break with their domineering father might sound heavy-going, but Hector Elizondo is wonderfully understated as Martin-the patriarchal father who conveys his love through the opulent Mexican lunches he prepares for his daughters each Sunday. The daughters are full of character and are a well-contrasted trio: Leticia (Elizabeth Peña), school-teacher and devout Christian whose life is transformed by the love letters she starts receiving; Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors), business graduate and rising executive whose real goal is to convince her father of her culinary prowess; and Maribel (Tamara Mello), keen to put college on hold and see the world with her new boyfriend. The interaction between them has a theatrical immediacy, and there are excellent contributions from Nikolai Kinsky as Brazilian free-spirit Andy, Paul Rodriquez as gauche baseball coach Orlando and Raquel Welch as the cringingly over-the-top Hortensia. Director María Ripoli gets some persuasive ensemble acting-making the most of a witty and touching script—-along with Mexican cuisine prepared under the supervision of specialist chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. As a movie about growing-up and taking control, Tortilla Soup is as irresistible as the food you'll see on screen-and equally worth savouring. -Richard Whitehouse.

Review Columbia TriStar / Wish Upon a Star [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Katherine Heigl
  • Scott Wilkinson
  • Blair Treu
  • Danielle Harris
  • Mary Parker Williams
  • Don Jeffcoat
Release date: 2001-08-21
Run time: 90 min.
Creator: Jessica Barondes

Review Wish Upon a Star [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Columbia TriStar:


Review Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / Doctor T. And The Women [DVD] [2001]
Actors & Directors
  • Shelley Long
  • Laura Dern
  • Robert Altman
  • Helen Hunt
  • Richard Gere
  • Farrah Fawcett
Release date: 2002-01-07
Run time: 116 min.
Creator: Anne Rapp
RRP: £19.99
Price: £2.79

Review Doctor T. And The Women [DVD] [2001] / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:

The contrary streak in Robert Altman's work is particularly evident in Dr T & the Women, which casts Richard Gere as a smooth, upper-crust Dallas gynaecologist surrounded by dotty women. Surprisingly Gere does not play the sensitive seducer but a genuine admirer of women who is nevertheless progressively bewildered by the sheer number of neurotic females within his life. Dr Sullivan Travis (Gere) tries to cope with a wife (Farrah Fawcett) who reverts to childhood thanks to a rare psychological syndrome brought on by being loved and cared for too much, a sister-in-law (Laura Dern) who tipples and talks constantly as she tries to run the household, one daughter (Kate Hudson) who is about to have an elaborate wedding even though she is actually in love with a college friend (Liv Tyler) and another daughter (Tara Reid) who works in the local assassination conspiracy tourist industry, not to mention a nurse (Shelley Long) who is blindly in love with him and a deceptively sensible golf pro (Helen Hunt) who isn't. Unlike Gosford Park, this isn't major Altman-it draws a little too much on some of his earlier hits and sometimes twitters too close to low comedy-but it has many of his unique virtues: a sort of cynical warmth in entering an enclosed, oddball world (here, a side of Texas rarely seen on screen) and an uncanny ability to draw the best out of an apparently randomly assembled ensemble cast. On the DVD: A flawless 1:2. 35 letterboxed print, enhanced for 16x9. Otherwise, it's a very nice package. A commentary track assembles thoughts from Altman, screenwriter Anne Rapp and a large amount of the cast, all offering insight into the unusual way that Altman puts a film together and often throwing in surprising bits of information (that Farrah Fawcett was offered Basic Instinct but turned it down because of the nudity, though she has a tasteful clothes-off scene here). Also, a standard making-of short with more soundbites, the theatrical trailer, a few filmographies and a 15-minute to-camera interview with Altman. -Kim Newman.

Review Warner Home Video / David Copperfield [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Gene Burdette
  • Freddie Bartholomew
  • Hugh Harman
  • George Cukor
  • Frank Lawton
  • Elizabeth Allan
  • Edna May Oliver
  • Jessie Ralph
Release date: 2006-10-10
Run time: 131 min.
Creator: Howard Estabrook
Price: £8.36

Review David Copperfield [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Warner Home Video:


Review Mei Ah / The Story of Qiu Ju [DVD] [1992] [US Import]
Actors & Directors
  • Zhang Yimou
  • Ge Zhijun
  • Gong Li
  • Lin Zi
  • Liu Peiqi
  • Lei Lao-Sheng
Release date: 2008-07-01
Run time: 100 min.
Creator: Zhao Jiping
Price: £2.54

Review The Story of Qiu Ju [DVD] [1992] [US Import] / Mei Ah:


Review 20th Century Fox / Imagine Me & You [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Matthew Goode
  • Lena Headey
  • Anthony Head
  • Celia Imrie
  • Piper Perabo
  • Ol Parker
Release date: 2006-06-27
Run time: 94 min.
Creator: Jamie Laurenson
Price: £5.72

Review Imagine Me & You [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / 20th Century Fox:


Review MCA Home Video / Something New [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Katharine Towne
  • Sanaa Hamri
  • Simon Baker
  • Sanaa Lathan
  • Golden Brooks
  • Fuzzy Fantabulous
Release date: 2006-05-16
Run time: 99 min.
Creator: Kriss Turner
Price: £5.47

Review Something New [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / MCA Home Video:


Review ITV DVD / Meantime / Made In Britain [DVD] [1984]
Actors & Directors
  • Tim Roth
  • Pam Ferris
  • Phil Daniels
  • Jeff Robert
  • Marion Bailey
  • Mike Leigh
  • Alan Clarke
Release date: 2003-03-17
Run time: 174 min.
Creator: David Leland
RRP: £12.99
Price: £29.99

Review Meantime / Made In Britain [DVD] [1984] / ITV DVD:


Review Columbia TriStar / Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Paul Blackthorne
  • Rachel Shelley
  • Ashutosh Gowariker
  • Gracy Singh
  • Suhasini Mulay
  • Aamir Khan
Release date: 2002-01-22
Run time: 224 min.
Creator: Sanjay Dayma
Price: £27.39

Review Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Columbia TriStar:

Lagaan is a must-see movie for anyone with an interest in Indian cinema or cinema beyond Hollywood. Although very much within the mainstream Hindi cinema of Bombay/Mumbai in terms of its stars, use of song and dance and its length, Lagaan took a gamble with the domestic Indian audience. It breaks all contemporary conventions of Hindi film by being set in an Indian village during the British Raj, far away from the more usual modern metropolitan cities and exotic foreign locations. It also seemed destined to fail internationally, given that it features a cricket match lasting longer than the average Hollywood film and avoids the melodramatic kitsch, camp style that is celebrated in the West as "Bollywood". Yet Lagaan was not only a huge hit domestically but was also only the third Indian film to ever be nominated for an Oscar in the foreign-language category, thanks to its outstanding performances, music and narrative. On the DVD: Lagaan on DVD is presented with good picture and sound, but otherwise has little more to offer, despite being a two-disc package. The features are less than exciting, comprising 17 minutes of deleted footage with no explanation, the theatrical trailers for two other films rather than for this film and a list of films in which several key participants have worked with no clips. Most DVDs of Indian films have an extra menu for song selections but here one has to move through the scene menu. There are subtitles in several languages. -Rachel Dwyer.

Review Laserlight / Charlie Chaplin Marathon - Vol. 2 - A Dog's Life / The Kid / Behind The Screen [DVD] [1918]
Actors & Directors
  • Charles Chaplin
  • Syd Chaplin
  • Henry Bergman
  • Edna Purviance
  • Jackie Coogan
  • Charles Chaplin
Release date: 2001-02-12
Run time: 125 min.
Creator: Vincent Bryan
RRP: £9.99
Price: £5.95

Review Charlie Chaplin Marathon - Vol. 2 - A Dog's Life / The Kid / Behind The Screen [DVD] [1918] / Laserlight:


Review Warner Home Video / City of Angels [DVD] [1998] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Dennis Franz
  • Meg Ryan
  • Andre Braugher
  • Brad Silberling
  • Colm Feore
Release date: 1998-09-29
Run time: 114 min.
Creator: Meg Ryan
Price: £4.49

Review City of Angels [DVD] [1998] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Warner Home Video:

Some critics complained that City of Angels could never compare to Wim Wenders's exquisite German film Wings of Desire, which served as the later film's primary inspiration. The better argument to make is that any such comparisons are beside the point, because Wings of Desire was a much more deeply poetic, artfully contemplative film, whereas City of Angels is an enchanting product of mainstream Hollywood. Meg Ryan stars as Dr Maggie Rice, a heart surgeon who is grieving over a lost patient when an angel named Seth (Nicolas Cage) appears to comfort her. She can see him despite the "rule" that angels are invisible and Seth's love for Maggie forces him to choose between angelic immortality and a normal human existence on earth with her. Featuring heavenly roles for TV veterans Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz, the film liberally borrows imagery from Wings of Desire, but it also creates its own charming identity. Cage and Ryan give fine performances as lovers convinced they are soul mates, and although the plot relies on a last-minute twist that doesn't quite work, this earnest love story struck a chord with audiences and proved to be one of the surprise hits of 1998. -Jeff Shannon.

Review Legend Films / My Man Godfrey [DVD] [1936] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • William Powell
  • Gregory La Cava
  • Carole Lombard
  • Eugene Pallette
  • Alice Brady
  • Gail Patrick
Release date: 2006-11-01
Run time: 94 min.
Creator: Morrie Ryskind
Price: £3.53

Review My Man Godfrey [DVD] [1936] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Legend Films:


Review Lions Gate / The Tyler Perry Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Lynn Whitfield
  • Boris Kodjoe
  • Blair Underwood
  • Lisa Arrindell Anderson
  • Tyler Perry
  • Tyler Perry
Release date: 2005-09-06
Run time: 540 min.
Creator: Roger M. Bobb
Price: £22.21

Review The Tyler Perry Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Lions Gate:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Alfie Box Set (1965 & 2004) [DVD]
Actors & Directors
  • Michael Caine
  • Jude Law
Release date: 2005-02-21
Creator: Michael Caine
RRP: £22.99
Price: £2.99

Review Alfie Box Set (1965 & 2004) [DVD] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review First Look Pictures / Sex and Breakfast [DVD] [2007] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Joanna Miles
  • Eric Lively
  • Eliza Dushku
  • Miles Brandman
  • Tracie Thoms
  • Macaulay Culkin
Release date: 2008-01-22
Run time: 82 min.
Creator: Dana Shockley
Price: £6.13

Review Sex and Breakfast [DVD] [2007] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / First Look Pictures:


Review Orbit Media Ltd. / The Seven Little Foys [1955] [DVD]
Actors & Directors
  • Angela Clarke
  • Melville Shavelson
  • Herbert Heyes
  • George Tobias
  • Bob Hope
  • Milly Vitale
Release date: 2004-04-12
Run time: 93 min.
Creator: Jack Rose
RRP: £15.99
Price: £10.59

Review The Seven Little Foys [1955] [DVD] / Orbit Media Ltd.:


Review The Right Stuff / Movies That Matter - The Write Stuff [DVD]
Actors & Directors
  • Bruce Willis
  • Tom Hanks
  • Dustin Hoffman
  • Lawrence Kasdan
  • Alan J. Pakula
  • Melanie Griffith
  • Robert Redford
  • Brian De Palma
Release date: 2008-10-06
Run time: 368 min.
Creator: Dustin Hoffman
RRP: £15.99
Price: £6.69

Review Movies That Matter - The Write Stuff [DVD] / The Right Stuff:


Review Warner Home Video / G Men [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
Actors & Directors
  • Margaret Lindsay
  • Jack Carr
  • James Cagney
  • Ann Dvorak
  • George Marshall
  • Lloyd French
  • Billy Bletcher
  • William Keighley
  • Jack King
Release date: 2006-07-18
Run time: 86 min.
Creator: Hal B. Wallis
Price: £8.52

Review G Men [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] / Warner Home Video:


Models & Brands:
Jack And Sarah [VHS] [1995], It Could Happen To You [DVD] [1994], Tortilla Soup [DVD] [2002], Wish Upon a Star [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], Doctor T. And The Women [DVD] [2001], David Copperfield [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], The Story of Qiu Ju [DVD] [1992] [US Import], Imagine Me & You [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], Something New [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], Meantime / Made In Britain [DVD] [1984], Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], Charlie Chaplin Marathon - Vol. 2 - A Dog's Life / The Kid / Behind The Screen [DVD] [1918], City of Angels [DVD] [1998] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], My Man Godfrey [DVD] [1936] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], The Tyler Perry Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], Alfie Box Set (1965 & 2004) [DVD], Sex and Breakfast [DVD] [2007] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC], The Seven Little Foys [1955] [DVD], Movies That Matter - The Write Stuff [DVD], G Men [DVD] [1935] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

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