Review, buy Romantic: Mujhse Shaadi Karoge, Klepto [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Four Weddings and a Funeral [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Pajama Party [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC), My Sex Life [1997], Formula 17 [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Love in the Time of Money [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Sleepless In Seattle [1993], Practical Magic [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Sleepless In Seattle [1993], Hollow Point [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC), James Stewart - Made For Each Other/Pot O' Gold [1939], Ride the Wild Surf [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC), 27 Dresses [Blu-ray] [2008] [US Import], I'm Reed Fish [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Singles Ward DVD (REGION 1) (NTSC), Chapter Zero [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC), French Kiss [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Animal Kingdom [1932] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Wimbledon [2004]

When it was released in 1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral quickly became a huge international success, pulling in the kind of audiences most British films only dream of. It's proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. In terms of plot, the title pretty much says it all. Revolving around… well, four weddings and a funeral (though not in that order), the film follows Hugh Grant's confirmed bachelor Charles as he falls for visiting American Carrie (Andy McDowell), whom he keeps bumping into at various functions. But with this most basic of premises, screenwriter Richard Curtis has crafted a moving and thoughtful comedy about the perils of singledom and that ever-elusive search for true love. In the wrong hands, it could have been a horribly schmaltzy affair, but Curtis' script-crammed with great one-liners and beautifully judged characterisations-keeps things sharp and snappy, harking back to the sparkling Hollywood romantic comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The supporting cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow and Rowan Atkinson (who starred in the Curtis-scripted television show Blackadder) is first rate, at times almost too good-John Hannah's rendition of WH Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" over the coffin of his lover is so moving you think the film will struggle to re-establish its ineffably buoyant mood. But it does, thanks in no small part to Hugh Grant as the bumbling Charles (whose star-making performance compensates for a less-than-dazzling Andie MacDowell). Though it's hardly the fault of Curtis and his team, the success of the Four Weddings did have its downside, triggering a rash of inferior British romantic comedies. In fact, we had to wait until 1999's Notting Hill for another UK film to match its winning charm (scripted, again, by Curtis and also starring Grant). [+]

-Edward Lawrenson.

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Review MGM / Pajama Party [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Pajama Party [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC) (MGM)

Actors & Directors

Harvey Lembeck
Jesse White
Don Weis
Annette Funicello
Elsa Lanchester
Tommy Kirk

Release date: 2000-09-05
Run time: 82 min.
Creator: Anthony Carras
Price: £25.05

Review Pajama Party [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:

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My Sex Life [1997] (Fox Lorber)

Actors & Directors

Marianne Denicourt
Thibault de Montalembert
Emmanuel Salinger
Arnaud Desplechin
Mathieu Amalric
Emmanuelle Devos

Release date: 2000-07-05
Run time: 178 min.
Creator: François Gédigier
Price: £24.73

Review My Sex Life [1997] / Fox Lorber:

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Review Strand Home Video / Formula 17 [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Formula 17 [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) (Strand Home Video)

Actors & Directors

Jimmy Yang
Tony Yang
Chin King
Yin-jung Chen
Dada Ji
Duncan Lai

Release date: 2005-11-29
Run time: 93 min.
Creator: Rady Fu
Price: £10.24

Review Formula 17 [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Strand Home Video:

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Review Miramax / Love in the Time of Money [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Love in the Time of Money [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC) (Miramax)

Actors & Directors

Peter Mattei
Malcolm Gets
Domenick Lombardozzi
Vera Farmiga
Steve Buscemi
Jill Hennessy

Release date: 2003-12-09
Run time: 90 min.
Creator: John Orlando
Price: £3.69

Review Love in the Time of Money [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Miramax:

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Review 4 Front Video / Sleepless In Seattle [1993]

Sleepless In Seattle [1993] (4 Front Video)

Actors & Directors

Rosie O'Donnell
Bill Pullman
Meg Ryan
Ross Malinger
Tom Hanks
Nora Ephron

Release date: 2002-07-01
Run time: 101 min.
Creator: Jeff Arch
RRP: ~~£5.99~~
Price: £1.20

Review Sleepless In Seattle [1993] / 4 Front Video:

The director and stars of 1998's You've Got Mail scored a breakthrough hit with this hugely popular romantic comedy from 1993, about a recently engaged woman (Meg Ryan) who hears the sad story of a grieving widower (Tom Hanks) on the radio and believes that they are destined to be together. She's single in New York, he lives in Seattle with a young son, but the cross-country attraction proves irresistible and pretty soon Meg's on a westbound flight. What happens from there is. well, you must have been living in a cave to have let this sweet-hearted comedy slip below your pop-cultural radar. There's little complexity or depth to writer-director Nora Ephron's cheesy tale of a romantic fait accompli, and more than a little contrivance to the subplots that threaten to keep Hanks and Ryan from actually meeting. But the purity of star chemistry here is hard to deny, and this may be the first film to indicate the more serious and sympathetic side of Hanks that is revealed in later roles. With its clever jokes about "chick movies" and repeated homage to the classic weeper An Affair to Remember, this may not be everybody's brand of amorous entertainment, but it's got an old-Hollywood charm that appeals to many a movie fan. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. [+]

com.

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Review Warner Home Video / Practical Magic [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Practical Magic [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC) (Warner Home Video)

Actors & Directors

Griffin Dunne
Sandra Bullock
Stockard Channing
Goran Visnjic
Nicole Kidman
Dianne Wiest

Release date: 1999-02-16
Run time: 104 min.
Price: £5.32

Review Practical Magic [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:

Actor Griffin Dunne improves a bit on his first film as a director, Addicted to Love, with this drama-comedy about a family of witches. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock play spell-casting sisters of different temperaments: the former is a high-living, free-spirited sort, while Bullock's character is a homebody who can't get around a family curse that kills the men in their lives. A widowed single mom, Bullock gets into a jam with an abusive Bulgarian (Goran Visnjic) and is helped out by her sibling, but the result brings a good-looking, warm, inquisitive cop (Aidan Quinn) into their lives. The film has a variety of tonal changes-cute, scary, glum-that Dunne can't always effectively juggle. But the female-centric, celebratory nature of the film (the fantasies, the sharing, the witchy bonds) is infectious, and supporting roles by Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing as Kidman and Bullock's magical aunts are a lot of fun. -Tom Keogh.

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Sleepless In Seattle [1993] (4 Front Video)

Actors & Directors