Actors & Directors
- Cameron Diaz
- Edward Burns
- John Mahoney
- Jennifer Aniston
- Mike McGlone
- Edward Burns
Release date: 1998-08-03 Run time: 92 min. Creator: Robert Redford RRP: £5.99 Price: £1.99
Review She's The One [1997] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:She's the One is actor-writer-director Edward Burns' second film, following the widely acclaimed The Brothers McMullen. Given a slightly larger budget to play with ($3m as against his debut project's $25,000), Burns revisits much the same territory-love and sibling rivalry within a New York Irish-American family-but rather more expansively. This time, too, he can run to a few stars-in-the-making (Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, and John Mahoney from Frasier) to jazz up his cast of relative unknowns. Burns himself plays Mickey, a cab-driver in the Big Apple, with Mike McGlone as his yuppie stockbroker brother, and Maxine Bahns as Hope, the girl Mickey falls for and impulsively marries, much to the romantic delight of Francis' neglected wife Renee (Aniston). Francis, meanwhile, is having a clandestine affair with Heather (Diaz), Mike's former girlfriend-something Mike has yet to learn. Dispensing flawed wisdom and generally muddying the waters yet further is the lads' blunt-spoken father (Mahoney). Plotwise that's about it. Burns relies on his appealing cast and some amiably barbed repartee to hold our interest in what's essentially a dialogue-driven movie. He makes shrewd and sometimes unexpected use of his New York locations, too-it's a fair bet most people's mental image of Brooklyn wouldn't include a waterfront fishing community. This is a good-natured, slightly old-fashioned movie whose benevolent view of the battle of the sexes (where the women are invariably smarter than the men) never digs too deep or hits too hard. [+]
On the DVD: She's the One is presented on disc in its original widescreen ratio (1. 85:1) and Dolby 4. 0 sound that does the movie fair justice. Along with the original trailer, we get a seven-minute "making-of" featurette and a music video of the title song "Walls" from Tom Petty, who composed the film's score. Burns provides an unpretentious voice-over commentary, dealing mainly with matters of casting and the problems of shooting on location. -Philip Kemp.
Actors & Directors
- Ann Magnuson
- Cheri Oteri
- Noah Emmerich
- Famke Janssen
- Valerie Breiman
- Jon Favreau
Release date: 2001-01-30 Run time: 82 min. Creator: Raymond Miller Price: £6.14
Review Love & Sex [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Bryan Cranston
- Jay Mohr
- Mimi Rogers
- Josh Charles
- Wallace Wolodarsky
- Helen Slater
Release date: 2005-04-01 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Alan Elliott Price: £6.40
Review Seeing Other People [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Showtime Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Dorothy Lamour
- Lon Chaney Jr.
- Peter Lorre
- Bob Hope
- Elliott Nugent
Release date: 2006-10-30 Run time: 90 min. RRP: £12.99 Price: £4.99
Review My Favourite Brunette [1947] / Quantum Leap:
Actors & Directors
- Guillaume Quatravaux
- Reine Ferrato
- Brice Cauvin
- Ilan Duran Cohen
- Jean-Philippe Sêt
- Samuel de Gunzburg
Release date: 2005-10-18 Run time: 84 min. Creator: Simon Arnal Price: £8.71
Review Grand Sons [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Strand Home Video:
Actors & Directors
- Sherilyn Fenn
- Carla Gugino
- Tushka Bergen
- Jon Tenney
- Jon Harmon Feldman
- Bruce Davison
Release date: 2005-04-05 Run time: 96 min. Creator: Adam Fields Price: £6.22
Review Lovelife [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Billy Wilder
- Walter Hampden
- Audrey Hepburn
- John Williams
- Humphrey Bogart
- William Holden
Release date: 2001-04-10 Run time: 113 min. Creator: Samuel A. Taylor Price: £25.96
Review Sabrina [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Paramount:Audrey Hepburn is the delightful, young, eponymous Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who is hopelessly in love with David Larrabee (William Holden), the playboy younger son in the rich Long Island household her father works for. In order to help her forget her woes, Sabrina is shipped off to cooking school in Paris. While there, she befriends a baron who provides a bit of culture-and the encouragement to snip off her childlike ponytail. Upon her return to New York, Sabrina is transformed into a sophisticated woman, and David is entranced by her. However, his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David's marriage to Elizabeth Tyson in order to seal a business merger and thus must steer David away from Sabrina. To do this, Linus takes on the task of wooing her for himself. Full of great dialogue ("A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven") and wonderful performances, this film is a romantic masterpiece. Also enjoyable is the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. -Jenny Brown For almost 20 years Audrey Hepburn's pixie-like features lit up Hollywood's silver screens with hit after hit and she became not only a screen icon, but also a style icon (with a little help from Givenchy), and still features high in polls of the world's most beautiful women. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that Paramount have chosen to honour her with a box set of some of her best-known films. [+]
However, this is only "some of", with the absence of her dazzling performances in Roman Holiday and My Fair Lady, leaving three out of the four films included here lacking in comparison. Breakfast at Tiffany's is the strongest and certainly the best-loved Hepburn film in this collection, offering beautifully comic performances by both Hepburn and her leading man, George Peppard. Funny Face also makes a welcome entry, if only for the wonderful performance by Fred Astaire; Hepburn, though, was not a strong enough dancer to hold her own against Astaire's brilliance. Sabrina holds its own as the Cinderella story of a chauffeur's daughter who turns into a beautiful society girl, but it was clearly a quick and easy vehicle for Paramount to produce in the wake of Hepburn's success in Roman Holiday. The mysterious entry of the collection is Paris When It Sizzles, probably one of Hepburn's least-known and most quirky films, with two parallel love stories played out on the screen. Although not an obvious hit and hard work in places it offers an interesting screwball performance by Hepburn, even if the sparks did not fly with her screen partner William Holden. On the DVD: The Audrey Hepburn Collection offers a nice clean widescreen transfer for three of its movies, but Sabrina is a full-frame transfer that lacks something in comparison. All but Breakfast at Tiffany's (which has a 5. 1 Dolby Digital soundtrack) are mono sound transfers, which is only a real disappointment in Funny Face because of George and Ira Gershwin's score. The special features are also lacking, with only a trailer offered on two of the films and a mildly interesting documentary on Sabrina. The best is the featurette on Funny Face, which charts the success of Paramount in the 1950s, but offers nothing a film fan would not have known already. All in all this is an attractive box set, but perhaps one for the die-hard Hepburn fan only. -Nikki Disney.
Actors & Directors
- Adrian Noble
- Lindsay Duncan
- Desmond Barrit
- Osheen Jones
- Finbar Lynch
- Alex Jennings
Release date: 2002-10-08 Run time: 105 min. Creator: Ian Scaife Price: £4.03
Review A Midsummer Night's Dream [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Miramax:With its clearcut "play within a play" narrative and simple contrasts between the human and spirit worlds, A Midsummer Night's Dream has long been a popular introduction to Shakespeare, and Adrian Noble's 1994 RSC production reinforces why. It's a colourful and physical presentation (the latter explains the PG rating), portraying character confrontations with often reckless abandon. The ploy of giving the whole play the appearance of a child's dream is a neat touch that doesn't quite work, as the child himself, Osheen Jones, can have only a minimal amount to do on stage. Casting the main actors in dual roles works well. Alex Jennings is secure as Theseus and Oberon, but Lindsay Duncan all but steals the show as Hippolyta and Titania; her amorous encounter with Bottom, given with gusto by Desmond Barrit, has a lewd quality that Elizabethan audiences might have appreciated. Despite his dreadful 1980s hairdo, Barry Lynch is animated as Puck, while Emily Raymond's plaintive Helena is the pick of the lovers. Howard Blake turns in a sensitive and atmospheric score. On the DVD: The 16:9 anamorphic picture reproduces excellently in the widescreen format, Dolby Surround sound vividly conveying the spatial realism of Noble's staging. No subtitles, which could be a drawback, but the 12 access points divide the 99-minute production into educational-sized chunks. Sensibly edited, and imaginatively directed, this production ought to have wide appeal. [+]
-Richard Whitehouse.
Actors & Directors
- Laura Betti
- Goldie Hawn
- Giancarlo Giannini
- Mario Monicelli
- Aurore Clément
- Claudine Auger
Release date: 2004-03-02 Run time: 120 min. Price: £0.64
Review Lovers and Liars [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Westlake Entertainment Group:
Actors & Directors
- Darío Grandinetti
- Jean Pierre Reguerraz
- Eliseo Subiela
- André Mélançon
- Sandra Ballesteros
- Nacha Guevara
Release date: 2003-01-01 Run time: 127 min. Creator: Oliverio Girondo Price: £40.99
Review El Lado Oscuro del Corazon: The Dark Side of the Heart [1992] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Facets Multimedia Inc.:
Actors & Directors
- Bruce Davison
- Jon Tenney
- Sherilyn Fenn
- Tushka Bergen
- Carla Gugino
- Jon Harmon Feldman
Release date: 2005-04-05 Run time: 96 min. Creator: Adam Fields Price: £6.22
Review Lovelife [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Austin James Peck
- Stefan Marc
- Michael Luckerman
- Rick Scarry
- Stefan Marc
- Leslie Bega
Release date: 2008-02-12 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Matthew Friedman Price: £7.78
Review Dating Games People Play [2005] (Region 1) (NTSC) / Westlake:
Actors & Directors
- Jay Mohr
- Josh Charles
- Wallace Wolodarsky
- Helen Slater
- Bryan Cranston
- Mimi Rogers
Release date: 2005-04-01 Run time: 90 min. Creator: Alan Elliott Price: £6.40
Review Seeing Other People [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Showtime Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- William Holden
- Humphrey Bogart
- Billy Wilder
- Walter Hampden
- John Williams
- Audrey Hepburn
Release date: 2001-04-10 Run time: 113 min. Creator: Samuel A. Taylor Price: £25.96
Review Sabrina [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Paramount:Audrey Hepburn is the delightful, young, eponymous Sabrina, the daughter of a chauffeur who is hopelessly in love with David Larrabee (William Holden), the playboy younger son in the rich Long Island household her father works for. In order to help her forget her woes, Sabrina is shipped off to cooking school in Paris. While there, she befriends a baron who provides a bit of culture-and the encouragement to snip off her childlike ponytail. Upon her return to New York, Sabrina is transformed into a sophisticated woman, and David is entranced by her. However, his older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) has arranged David's marriage to Elizabeth Tyson in order to seal a business merger and thus must steer David away from Sabrina. To do this, Linus takes on the task of wooing her for himself. Full of great dialogue ("A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven") and wonderful performances, this film is a romantic masterpiece. Also enjoyable is the 1995 remake, starring Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. -Jenny Brown For almost 20 years Audrey Hepburn's pixie-like features lit up Hollywood's silver screens with hit after hit and she became not only a screen icon, but also a style icon (with a little help from Givenchy), and still features high in polls of the world's most beautiful women. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that Paramount have chosen to honour her with a box set of some of her best-known films. [+]
However, this is only "some of", with the absence of her dazzling performances in Roman Holiday and My Fair Lady, leaving three out of the four films included here lacking in comparison. Breakfast at Tiffany's is the strongest and certainly the best-loved Hepburn film in this collection, offering beautifully comic performances by both Hepburn and her leading man, George Peppard. Funny Face also makes a welcome entry, if only for the wonderful performance by Fred Astaire; Hepburn, though, was not a strong enough dancer to hold her own against Astaire's brilliance. Sabrina holds its own as the Cinderella story of a chauffeur's daughter who turns into a beautiful society girl, but it was clearly a quick and easy vehicle for Paramount to produce in the wake of Hepburn's success in Roman Holiday. The mysterious entry of the collection is Paris When It Sizzles, probably one of Hepburn's least-known and most quirky films, with two parallel love stories played out on the screen. Although not an obvious hit and hard work in places it offers an interesting screwball performance by Hepburn, even if the sparks did not fly with her screen partner William Holden. On the DVD: The Audrey Hepburn Collection offers a nice clean widescreen transfer for three of its movies, but Sabrina is a full-frame transfer that lacks something in comparison. All but Breakfast at Tiffany's (which has a 5. 1 Dolby Digital soundtrack) are mono sound transfers, which is only a real disappointment in Funny Face because of George and Ira Gershwin's score. The special features are also lacking, with only a trailer offered on two of the films and a mildly interesting documentary on Sabrina. The best is the featurette on Funny Face, which charts the success of Paramount in the 1950s, but offers nothing a film fan would not have known already. All in all this is an attractive box set, but perhaps one for the die-hard Hepburn fan only. -Nikki Disney.
Actors & Directors
- William Petersen
- Mare Winningham
- Martin Davidson
- Sissy Spacek
- Jeff Perry
- Brian Kerwin
Release date: 2005-11-15 Run time: 95 min. Creator: Peter McAlevey Price: £5.75
Review Hard Promise [1992] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:
Actors & Directors
- Jesse Bradford
- Shane Edelman
- Brad Rowe
- David Krumholtz
- Adam Goldberg
- Mia Kirshner
Release date: 2004-06-15 Run time: 94 min. Creator: Mario Ohoven Price: £6.23
Review According to Spencer [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Lions Gate:
Actors & Directors
- Simon Oakland
- Larry Blyden
- Vincente Minnelli
- Yves Montand
- Bob Newhart
- Barbra Streisand
Release date: 2005-02-22 Run time: 129 min. Creator: Alan Jay Lerner Price: £5.37
Review On a Clear Day You Can See Forever [1970] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Paramount:When a psychiatrist (Yves Montand) begins talking to a young woman (Barbra Streisand), he realizes that she can recall a past life while under hypnosis. Although this brash New Yorker is thoroughly modern and somewhat abrasive, he becomes fascinated by the 19th-century English woman who speaks through her. This oddball musical flicks back and forth between period flashbacks and modern times, which may be one reason it never builds up much power in either realm. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever failed at the box office in 1970, one of a number of glossy musicals that could not find an audience in the post-Easy Rider movie world. In fact, one of the film's out-of-place costars is Jack Nicholson, a symbol of the new movies that were making old-fashioned musicals a thing of the past. It didn't help that Paramount severely cut On a Clear Day before releasing it. For all that, the picture is enjoyable and-at the end-really quite touching. Director Vincente Minnelli (Meet Me in St. Louis), then near the close of a fabulous career, maintains his usual careful eye for colour and design, and keeps Streisand relatively restrained-for Streisand, that is. -Robert Horton.
Actors & Directors
- Walter Slezak
- Sandra Dee
- Rock Hudson
- Bobby Darin
- Gina Lollobrigida
- Robert Mulligan
Release date: 2003-05-06 Run time: 112 min. Creator: Stanley Shapiro Price: £5.39
Review Come September [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Universal Studios:
Actors & Directors
- Lindsay Duncan
- Finbar Lynch
- Osheen Jones
- Desmond Barrit
- Alex Jennings
- Adrian Noble
Release date: 2002-10-08 Run time: 105 min. Creator: Ian Scaife Price: £4.03
Review A Midsummer Night's Dream [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Miramax:With its clearcut "play within a play" narrative and simple contrasts between the human and spirit worlds, A Midsummer Night's Dream has long been a popular introduction to Shakespeare, and Adrian Noble's 1994 RSC production reinforces why. It's a colourful and physical presentation (the latter explains the PG rating), portraying character confrontations with often reckless abandon. The ploy of giving the whole play the appearance of a child's dream is a neat touch that doesn't quite work, as the child himself, Osheen Jones, can have only a minimal amount to do on stage. Casting the main actors in dual roles works well. Alex Jennings is secure as Theseus and Oberon, but Lindsay Duncan all but steals the show as Hippolyta and Titania; her amorous encounter with Bottom, given with gusto by Desmond Barrit, has a lewd quality that Elizabethan audiences might have appreciated. Despite his dreadful 1980s hairdo, Barry Lynch is animated as Puck, while Emily Raymond's plaintive Helena is the pick of the lovers. Howard Blake turns in a sensitive and atmospheric score. On the DVD: The 16:9 anamorphic picture reproduces excellently in the widescreen format, Dolby Surround sound vividly conveying the spatial realism of Noble's staging. No subtitles, which could be a drawback, but the 12 access points divide the 99-minute production into educational-sized chunks. Sensibly edited, and imaginatively directed, this production ought to have wide appeal. [+]
-Richard Whitehouse.
Actors & Directors
- Frank Collison
- Minnie Driver
- Heather Graham
- Colin Firth
- Mary Steenburgen
- Mark Herman
Release date: 2004-04-06 Run time: 92 min. Creator: Charles Webb Price: £4.73
Review Hope Springs [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Walt Disney Video:
| Models & Brands: She's The One [1997], Love & Sex [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Seeing Other People [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC), My Favourite Brunette [1947], Grand Sons [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Lovelife [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Sabrina [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC), A Midsummer Night's Dream [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Lovers and Liars [1979] (REGION 1) (NTSC), El Lado Oscuro del Corazon: The Dark Side of the Heart [1992] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Lovelife [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Dating Games People Play [2005] (Region 1) (NTSC), Seeing Other People [2004] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Sabrina [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Hard Promise [1992] (REGION 1) (NTSC), According to Spencer [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever [1970] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Come September [1961] (REGION 1) (NTSC), A Midsummer Night's Dream [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Hope Springs [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC) |