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Review Columbia TriStar / Tess [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Nastassja Kinski
  • Roman Polanski
  • Peter Firth
  • Rosemary Martin
  • Leigh Lawson
  • John Collin
Release date: 2004-09-28
Run time: 172 min.
Price: £5.46

Review Tess [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Columbia TriStar:

Roman Polanski adapted Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles and came up with this moody, haunting film starring Nastassia Kinski as the farm girl who is misused by the aristocrat for whom she works and who is then caught in a marriage where her initial happiness soon turns to grief. Fans of the novel may feel unpersuaded by Polanski's effort to marry Hardy's Dorset vision with his own fascination with psychosexual impulses toward survival, but the film is an often stunning thing to see, and Kinski's sensitive, intelligent performance lingers in the memory. -Tom Keogh.

Review MGM / Angels and Insects [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Jeremy Kemp
  • Douglas Henshall
  • Kristin Scott Thomas
  • Mark Rylance
  • Philip Haas
  • Patsy Kensit
Release date: 2002-03-19
Run time: 116 min.
Creator: A.S. Byatt
Price: £28.00

Review Angels and Insects [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:

Angels and Insects-an ambitious costume drama-tells the tale of William Adamson (Mark Rylance), a buttoned-down Victorian explorer who returns to England penniless and dependent on the kindness of his sponsor, Sir Harald Alabaster (Jeremy Kemp). Adamson's intelligence and lower social standing endear him to the old man, but Sir Harald's son, Edgar, seems annoyed by his presence. Nevertheless, Adamson falls in love with Sir Harald's daughter, a shy sex kitten (Patsy Kensit), and offers to marry her. As the web of sexual politics, true love, and class struggles develop; the explorer begins an intriguing study of a nearby ant colony. With encouragement from a dirt-poor Alabaster cousin (Kristin Scott Thomas), Adamson begins to write about the insects, never realising the parallels with his own life. The film, too, is a puzzle for the audience to solve while savouring the beauty of flesh and outlandish, vibrant costumes. Rylance is a perfect hero to root for, with his impeccable manners and soothing Scottish tones. All in all it's another curious winner from filmmakers Philip and Belinda Haas (The Music of Chance). -Doug Thomas, Amazon. com.

Review Hallmark / Rose Hill [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Jennifer Garner
  • Jeffrey D. Sams
  • Christopher Cain
  • Justin Chambers
  • Zak Orth
  • Tristan Tait
Release date: 2002-09-24
Run time: 99 min.
Creator: Julie Garwood
Price: £28.95

Review Rose Hill [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Hallmark:


Review Criterion / Hamlet [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Eileen Herlie
  • Felix Aylmer
  • Peter Cushing
  • John Gielgud
  • Stanley Holloway
Release date: 2000-09-19
Run time: 153 min.
Creator: William Walton
Price: £13.17

Review Hamlet [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Criterion:

In the opening scene of Hamlet, Laurence Olivier describes the play in a voice-over as "the tragedy of a man who couldn't make up his mind". But Olivier's screen adaptation is considerably more thoughtful and complex than this thesis would suggest. The contradictions and ambiguities of the title character, who prowls cavernous sets filled with vast, ancient corridors and winding staircases, emerge as if from a dream. The plethora of tracking shots-precise enough to impress Stanley Kubrick-encircle Olivier and his tightly constructed geometry of demise. Drawing on his experience playing the Prince on stage at Elsinore in 1937, the legendary thesp provides the film with the patina of greatness and shows how the constitution of the formerly cheerful Prince weakens increasingly under the burden of his own thoughts and inability to accept his mother's o'er-hasty marriage to uncle Claudius (Basil Sydney). Indeed, if emotions could possess ghosts, Olivier's Hamlet shows how they would manifest themselves. There is even a dollop of Freud, suggesting that Queen Gertrude (Eileen Herlie) has perhaps loved her offspring too closely-thus providing the fuel for Hamlet's actions. As Ophelia, Jeans Simmons captures the character's early spirit better than her gradual disintegration (Helena Bonham Carter fares better in Franco Zeffirelli's fine 1990 remake). Purists may bemoan the loss of Fortinbras, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but these choices allow Olivier to focus more squarely on Hamlet's plight. His monologues, many held in secret enclaves, glow with the dramatic markedness of a Dostoevski novel, with all of the master's irony, allusions and witticisms in place. [+]
The winner of four Oscars (Best Picture, Actor, Art Direction, and Costumes), this is a Hamlet for the ages. The rest is silence. -Kevin Mulhall.

Review Kino / Anna Boleyn [1920] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Aud Egede Nissen
  • Henny Porten
  • Ludwig Hartau
  • Emil Jannings
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Paul Hartmann
Release date: 2006-12-05
Run time: 133 min.
Creator: Norbert Falk
Price: £12.01

Review Anna Boleyn [1920] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Kino:


Review Miramax / Velvet Goldmine [1998] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Eddie Izzard
  • Jonathan Rhys Meyers
  • Ewan McGregor
  • Todd Haynes
  • Toni Collette
  • Christian Bale
Release date: 1999-05-18
Run time: 119 min.
Price: £5.02

Review Velvet Goldmine [1998] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Miramax:

Somewhat misleadingly described by many as a mock-biopic based on the life of David Bowie, Velvet Goldmine is so much more than that. Journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) who sets out to discover whatever happened to Ziggy Stardust-like Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), the famous bisexual glam star who crashed and burned spectacularly, but in the process helped Arthur awaken his own sexuality. It's an insane homage to 1970s glam rock in the UK as only American, who knew the movement from a distance, would make; it's a tribute to film director Nicolas Roeg's best work, particularly Performance and the Bowie-vehicle The Man Who Fell to Earth; it's a sci-fi movie about an alternative reality (the film's "present" is a 1984 that never existed and frustratingly never clearly explained); it's a queer Citizen Kane with lashings of eye-glitter, a complete mess, an absolute delight and a chance to see Ewan McGregor naked in case you didn't catch him in The Pillow Book as the Iggy Pop-like Curt Wild, Slade's lover/protégé. Director Todd Haynes, who made the incredibly spare Safe and a biopic about Karen Carpenter with Barbie dolls, crams in everything-including the kitchen sink, all the washing-up and half the larder-as if terrified he'll never get another chance to shoot even a commercial again. The pacing drags like catwalk-queen's glittery taffeta train at times, but then glorious swooping musical numbers and clever bits of allusive business arrive that will brighten the day of many a pop-fan and film-buff. Never anything less than ruthlessly inventive and demanding of patience and an open mind, it's one for connoisseurs. Viewers who prefer easy-viewing eye candy are well advised to stick with fluff like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. -Leslie Felperin.

Review Acorn Media / By The Sword Divided - Part 1
Actors & Directors
  • Malcolm Stoddard
  • Julian Glover
Release date: 2004-09-13
Run time: 250 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £16.40

Review By The Sword Divided - Part 1 / Acorn Media:


Review Seville Canada / Partition [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Vic Sarin
  • Jimi Mistry
  • John Light
  • Madhur Jaffrey
  • Neve Campbell
  • Irfan Khan
Release date: 2007-06-26
Run time: 116 min.
Creator: Reginald Harkema
Price: £42.00

Review Partition [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Seville Canada:


Review Columbia TriStar / Bon Voyage [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Virginie Ledoyen
  • Jean-Paul Rappeneau
  • Isabelle Adjani
  • Yvan Attal
  • Grégori Derangère
  • Gérard Depardieu
Release date: 2004-08-17
Run time: 114 min.
Creator: Patrick Modiano
Price: £18.99

Review Bon Voyage [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Columbia TriStar:


Review Kino / Kimstim Collection: Emigrant [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Sayed Abdel-Kerim
  • Youssef Chahine
  • Michel Piccoli
  • Seif Abdel-Rahman
  • Amr Abdel-Guelil
  • Yousra
Release date: 2005-05-10
Run time: 123 min.
Creator: Mohamed Nouh
Price: £12.11

Review Kimstim Collection: Emigrant [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Kino:


Review Acorn Media / Tom Brown's Schooldays [1971]
Actors & Directors
  • Gareth Davies
  • Anthony Murphy
  • Simon Turner
  • Iain Cuthbertson
  • Richard Morant
Release date: 2005-02-07
Run time: 219 min.
Price: £19.99

Review Tom Brown's Schooldays [1971] / Acorn Media:


Review Weinstein Company / Mrs. Henderson Presents [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Christopher Guest
  • Judi Dench
  • Will Young
  • Kelly Reilly
  • Stephen Frears
  • Bob Hoskins
Release date: 2006-04-18
Run time: 103 min.
Creator: Martin Sherman
Price: £8.52

Review Mrs. Henderson Presents [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Weinstein Company:


Actors & Directors
  • Haluk Bilginer
  • Lucia Bosé
  • Malick Bowens
  • Alex Descas
  • Valeria Golino
Release date: 2007-10-25
Creator: Pivio De Scalzi
Price: £32.05

Review Harem Suare [1998] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Tva Films:


Review MGM / Heart of Dixie [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Treat Williams
  • Virginia Madsen
  • Ally Sheedy
  • Don Michael Paul
  • Martin Davidson
  • Phoebe Cates
Release date: 2001-10-02
Run time: 95 min.
Creator: Anne Rivers Siddons
Price: £3.48

Review Heart of Dixie [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:


Review 2 Entertain Video / I Claudius [1976]
Actors & Directors
  • Derek Jacobi
  • Brian Blessed
  • George Baker
  • John Hurt
  • Siân Phillips
Release date: 2002-03-03
Run time: 648 min.
Creator: Robert Graves
RRP: £34.99
Price: £15.37

Review I Claudius [1976] / 2 Entertain Video:

A truly epic saga of dynastic conflict at the heart of Imperial Rome, I Claudius was the landmark BBC drama series of the 1970s. Originally transmitted as 13 50-minute episodes, it is now available as two double video packs. After chronicling the foundations of the British Empire in Elizabeth R (1971), the BBC chose to dramatise the human face of ancient Rome as interpreted by Robert Graves in his two enormously complex novels, I Claudius and Claudius The God. Derek Jacobi gives one of the greatest television performances ever as Claudius, the appalled chronicler of the decadence, corruption, intrigue and carnage which comes with absolute power of his ruling family. Augustus (Brian Blessed) is Emperor and Sian Phillips, Livia, his scheming, ambitious wife, Claudius' aunt. By virtue of his stammer and uncontrollable twitches, Claudius passes for a fool, thus escaping the poisonous machinations of Livia, all the while recording the comings and goings of the Imperial household. Inevitably lacking the visual scale of cinematic features Ben-Hur (1959) and Spartacus (1960), and today looking more studio-bound than ever, I Claudius remains a television masterpiece of intelligently written and rivetingly intense character drama. The saga ends with I Claudius - Part 2. -Gary S. Dalkin A truly epic saga of dynastic conflict at the heart of Imperial Rome, I Claudius was the landmark BBC drama series of the 1970s. [+]
Originally transmitted as 13 50-minute episodes, the series dramatises the human face of ancient Rome as interpreted by Robert Graves in his two enormously complex novels, I, Claudius and Claudius The God. Derek Jacobi gives one of the greatest television performances ever as Claudius, the appalled chronicler of the decadence, corruption, intrigue and carnage which comes with the absolute power of his ruling family. Augustus (Brian Blessed) is Emperor and Livia (Sian Phillips) his scheming, ambitious wife, Claudius' aunt. By virtue of his stammer and uncontrollable twitches, Claudius passes for a fool, thus escaping the poisonous machinations of Livia, all the while recording the comings and goings of the Imperial household. Events become increasingly frenzied as Caligula (John Hurt playing the tyrant with psychotic fury) bloodily slaughters his way to power, making a senator of his favourite horse along the way. Claudius eventually becomes Emperor himself, and Jacobi is simply magnificent in the intensely moving finale, which is not to overlook the rest of a fine cast, including George Baker, Ian Ogilvy, Christopher Guard, Stratford Johns, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hepton and Patrick Stewart as the murderous Praetorian Guard Captain Sejanus. Inevitably lacking the visual scale of cinematic features such as Ben-Hur, and today looking more studio-bound than ever, I, Claudius remains a television masterpiece of intelligently written and rivetingly intense character drama. -Gary S. Dalkin.

Review Columbia TriStar / Goya in Bordeaux [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Dafne Fernández
  • José Coronado
  • Francisco Rabal
  • Maribel Verdú
  • Carlos Saura
  • Eulalia Ramón
Release date: 2001-01-30
Run time: 106 min.
Creator: Luigi Scattini
Price: £62.95

Review Goya in Bordeaux [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Columbia TriStar:


Review Lolafilms Home Ent / The Good Life (La Buena Vida) [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Vicky Pena
  • David Trueba
  • Lucia Jimenez
  • Luis Cuenca
  • Jordi Bosch
  • Muntsa Alcañiz
Release date: 2005-08-23
Run time: 108 min.
Creator: Angel Hernandez Zoido
Price: £19.94

Review The Good Life (La Buena Vida) [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lolafilms Home Ent:


Review Kino / Sumurun [1921] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Paul Wegener
  • Aud Egede Nissen
  • Jenny Hasselqvist
  • Ernst Lubitsch
  • Pola Negri
Release date: 2006-12-05
Run time: 85 min.
Creator: Richard Rieß
Price: £11.74

Review Sumurun [1921] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Kino:


Review Lolafilms Home Ent / Deseo [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Leonardo Sbaraglia
  • Rosa María Sardà
  • Cecilia Roth
  • Gerardo Vera
  • Emilio Gutiérrez Caba
  • Norma Aleandro
Release date: 2005-07-19
Run time: 106 min.
Creator: Stephen Warbeck
Price: £9.34

Review Deseo [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lolafilms Home Ent:


Review Quantum Leap / Othello
Actors & Directors
  • Franklin Melton|William Marshall|Ron Moody|Jenny Agutter
Release date: 2001-09-24
Run time: 195 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £14.99

Review Othello / Quantum Leap:


Models & Brands:
Tess [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Angels and Insects [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Rose Hill [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Hamlet [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Anna Boleyn [1920] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Velvet Goldmine [1998] (REGION 1) (NTSC), By The Sword Divided - Part 1, Partition [2007] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Bon Voyage [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Kimstim Collection: Emigrant [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Tom Brown's Schooldays [1971], Mrs. Henderson Presents [2005] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Harem Suare [1998] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Heart of Dixie [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC), I Claudius [1976], Goya in Bordeaux [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Good Life (La Buena Vida) [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Sumurun [1921] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Deseo [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Othello

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