Felicity Seasons 1-4 DVD Box Set

The target audience for Felicity had been young audiences. The story revolves around the life of Felicity Porter, played by Keri Russell who is a high school graduate. Kelly decides to leave her Stanford scholarship behind in order to be with her crush Ben Covington, played by Scott Speedman and follows him to the University of New York.

Once she moves to the new university she quickly manages to find herself plenty of good friends. Her friends include Julie, played by Amy Jo Johnson who plays guitar, Elena, played by Tangi Miller who is a serious student and Scott Foley who plays the role of Noel who then becomes her on-off boyfriend.

When Felicity had been first released on television there already had been quite a lot of shows in the same genres on television targeting the same audiences like Ally McBeal. However, with Felicity the writers had managed to set the series apart from the rest of the shows on television by making it a light comedy with many touching scenes that managed to make the audiences feel strongly about the characters and connect with them.

The series took two seasons to grow and during the third season, in the first episode itself Felicity and Ben decide to live together. Noel decides to get married and then leave college. Through all of these serious decisions and turns of events, the series still managed to make them light. There are plenty of dramatic plot lines and stories but the tone of the series had been made in such a way that while they were dramatic, they were still light hearted.

Originally, Felicity had come across as a drama with a few comic touches. There had been plenty of serious topics that had been depicted in the first season of the show itself which made it a little serious in nature. In the first season Felicity looses her virginity while her friend Julie had been date raped. Ben too realizes that he has been addicted to gambling which made the series a little too serious. However, later on during the second and third season, the story had been shifted to a light comedy touch.

While there are quite a few touching scenes and serious issues being addressed on the show, Felicity managed to tackle them in a different light altogether so that they appeared to be light hearted rather than being serious drama.

Since its first season itself Felicity had drawn the attention of many college drawing students who were themselves seeking for answers to the problems they had been facing in life. Felicity seasons 1-4 can be found at many stores with cheapest dvd collections and it makes for an entertaining show to watch, for young viewers and also for adults.

For more information on the cheapest DVD collections [http://www.dvd-collections.net/], please visit us for more reviews on Felicity seasons 1-4 [http://www.dvd-collections.net/default/felicity-complete-seasons-1-4-23-dvd-boxset.html].

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Best 3D Movies on DVD to Play on Your Blu Ray 3D DVD Player

The coming 3D revolution will have to rely heavily on other factors than just 3D capable TV, such as transcoding the best 3D movies on DVD and of cause a Blu Ray 3D DVD player to play them on, if it is to maintain enough momentum to see it through the initial launch stages.

Though all the signs are good and the market research points to consumers having the appetite for 3D in the home, it is going to take more than a big flashy launch and some PR men telling us that this is what we need to turn this technology mainstream. What people want is content, not particularly any old animated movie getting the 3D works on it but the biggest movies, action movies, drama and period productions giving consumers the best 3D movies on DVD.

All the noise has been coming from the consumer electronics companies, talk of how great their products are, what they can deliver and when they will hit the stores but for me the big producers need to get a bit more vocal and start telling us what we are going to be able to watch on our 72 inch monster 3D enabled TV. Disney have promised a 3D version of the classic A Christmas Carol and Samsung and Dreamworks have struck a deal to replicate some content in 3D with Technicolor.

A big factor has to be if these companies can get even close to the 3D cinema experience movie goers are getting at present from the likes of Bolt an animated movie shot in 3D, Up and Avatar. A good pointer and perhaps a sign of things to come are those movies in the pipeline. Toy Story 3 and Shrek goes Forth are penciled in to be shot in three dimension and older films getting the 3D magic are Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and also Chicken Little.

These films will not be on their own as I expect more and more directors would love to join James Cameron and jump aboard as and when Hollywood commits fully to the technology. When it does you can be sure the full cinema experience will be available at home.

Other new releases that are being shot in 3D and expected for a 2010 release are Beauty and the Beast, Oobermind, Despicable Me, Tron 2 and Hubble 3D, all of which will eventually make it onto DVD. But will these make you run out and buy the latest Blu Ray DVD player after all they will be the best 3D movies on DVD available.

Noel Swinton is an internet consumer electronics reporter. With 3D TV Systems becoming a reality his 3D television review website help you make a choice on which Real 3D DVD will be appropriate for your home entertainment needs.

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24, Seasons 1-8 - Class of Their Own - Absolutely a One of a Kind Drama Masterpiece

I remember when season 5 started on FOX on Sunday, January 15, 2006. I was watching the show right before it (I want to say it was "Family Guy" but I really do not remember), and the previews for season 5 hyped up the first 10 minutes of this new season. I figured I could watch 10 minutes and see what all the fuss was about.

After 5 minutes, I was hooked.

If you want to try the show, my advice is to rent the first disc of season 4. It is my personal belief that this season has the best beginning. It is also the best indicator of what "24" is like, and if the first two hours do not get you hooked on the show, then nothing will.

If the start of season 4 does hook you (which it should), then go back to the beginning. Start with disc 1 of season 1, and enjoy. You might have to force yourself through the first couple of hours, but you will be greatly rewarded with the drama that follows throughout season 1, and every other season.

It will be difficult to stop watching season 4 after what you see, but there are things in season 4 that you will not get the full significance of if you do not go back to the beginning. Every season is very enjoyable on its own, but to get the full effect, it is best to go in order.

My father and I did this in the summer of 2006. Having seen all of these episodes myself, I know how good they are. My dad wanted to try it, and now he is hooked. As I am typing this review, he is in the process of catching up in season 5. He is watching two episodes a week, and he is constantly calling me as we talk about the show all the time. During this summer, we watched each of the first four seasons together. He would tell me when he could only watch one more episode and then had to go to bed. One episode without commercial breaks is about 40-43 minutes.

Nearly every time he would say "one more", we would watch 4 more hours because the cliffhangers were so good, he could not stop after any given hour. I was the same way during that year in college. I would say to myself "after this hour, I gotta go study" at 1 a.m. 5 episodes later, I would still be saying, "Ok ONE MORE hour, and THEN I will study". I have also done the same to a friend of mine in college. She and I watched season 4 together, and we watched the first 12 hours of that season in one night. This show is nearly impossible to get away from.

The heart-stopping action from minute to minute makes 24 by far the best show on television. Every cliffhanger drives you crazy as you do not want to wait another week to see what happens next.

The show is not flawless. On very rare occasions, part of the storyline seems a little thin, but those moments are so few and far between that you can and must overlook them because you want to see how it is going to end.

Kiefer Sutherland is the only person that could play the role of Jack Bauer. Then again, maybe it only seems that way since I have grown accustomed to seeing him in this role. With that said, he has quickly become my favorite actor.

I would say that his performance blows away everyone else in the show, but there is not one actor in the show that I have disliked. From Reiko Aylesworth and Carlos Bernard, to Dennis Haysbert and Mary Lynn Rajskub, and everyone else in between, the cast is phenomenal. As with any show involving plenty of violence, characters die. I will not say who or when or how, but there have been several amazing actors on the show, and just when you think they have killed off your favorite, someone new comes in that is just as good. You do not think that a show could constantly find such likable actors and characters, but "24" brings in the best people for every role every time.

There are people I know who have claimed that they tried the show and did not like it. Those people made a mistake. They watched an episode in the middle of the season. Because a season on this show covers one day, and every episode is one hour out of that day, you can not get much from it when you start in the middle of a season. My dad tried that in season 5, and he did not like it. Once he tried it from the start of a season, well, you already read that. He is almost more hooked than I am.

My brother did not like the show either, but his problem was that he was not interested from the start. He felt an obligation to humor me and give it a shot, but he sat through it as if he was just waiting for the show to end. He did not try to enjoy it, and he did not.

As long as you try the show from the beginning of a season, (I suggest the start of 4), and as long as you are open to the possibility of the show being enjoyable, I cannot imagine a viewer not getting hooked on "24". Some characters take time to grow on you. Others will not. Some shows take time to grow on you. This one will not. If you have not done so yet, find a friend who has the DVDs or rent them, and start catching up on, and enjoying "24", the best show on television.

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The Chorus

The Chorus [DVD] [2004]

Beautiful
This is a wonderful film. Its moving, slightly sad, and heart-warming. I watched it first at school with my GCSE standards French, in French, with French subtitles. Although I didn't understand all the details, I still enjoyed it immensely, and however you watch it, it is amazing. I had the song "Les Choristes" in my head for days.
The film begins in the future, and then is mostly a flashback. A new teacher arrives at Fond D'Etang, a school for difficult boys, to teach music, and immediately discovers the harsh discipline and the bad behaviour which forced the man he is replacing to retire. His unusual methods soon warm the boys to him, and he achieves a lot. There is some wonderful music, especially the soloist, Pierre. Pepinot, a very young boy, is adorable, and he partly gives the film its touching ending.
Whatever standard your French is, even if you watch it in English; whether you like this sort of music or not, you cannot fail to love this film. It's hard for me to put my finger on what exactly makes it appeal so much to me, but the characters are probably its best feature. They are well developed, lovable (or hatable, in the headmaster's case) and they make the film stick in your mind. Make sure you give this a try!

Wonderful!
Beautiful film. The cinematography, script and characterizations are just perfect, and the plot moves along nicely. A good, harmless film.
Don't be put off by the subtitles, the characters and plot make you forget you have to read them, even if French is not your first language.
I loved every moment of this, and watched it twice two days running. Gorgeous.

Really rather wonderful
It's easy enough to dismiss this French tale of a failed schoolteacher reforming both the pupils and staff of a boarding school for difficult boys by starting a choir as Monsieur Holland's Opus, Au Revoir Monsieur Pommes Frittes or even Societe des Poets Mort (although it is a remake of a 1945 film La Cage aux Rossingols that predates most of them), but it's done so well that it's impossible not to be won over by it. Sentimental? Sure, but its honest sentiment that doesn't overdose on artificial sweeteners. Gerard Jugnot beautifully underplays the lead, although all the cast are impressive, but the real star of the film is Bruno Coulais and Christophe Barratier's music, avoiding the dirges for some genuinely beautiful and affecting pieces that give the film wings. It's probably the kind of film its easy for some to dislike sight unseen as typical 'export cinema' (not only does it share its framing-device structure with Cinema Paradiso, but actor-producer Jacques Perrin even plays the role of the conductor returning to his hometown for a funeral!), but it's all done so very well that it's nigh-on impossible not to be won over.

The DVD offers a good 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, trailer and a good 72-minute documentary. Highly recommended.

The Chorus [DVD] [2004]
Directed by Christophe Barratier

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(500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer [DVD] [2009] review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
500 Days of Summer is like the American Apparel of movies, in that tries really hard to be hip--so hard it sometimes evokes an involuntary cringe. The perfect soundtrack (indie-pop infused with cleverly ironic 80’s hits), the smart cinematography, the occasionally broken fourth wall… It’s a natural progression from mid-00’s “youth-culture” flicks like Garden State and it does a good job rounding out the decade. Everything in this dramedy resembles a music video and the characters are twentysomethings once again not living up to their full potential. 500 Days of Summer is touted as being really unique and original--it’s not. But that’s not to say that it’s not worth watching; it is, and mostly because of the leads. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel play a couple whose relationship story is told through a series of out-of-order flashbacks. The non-linear storytelling means we hop moment to moment from sweet, romantic and fun to crushingly desperate and sad, because the ultimate point here is that even when we believe we may have found The One, said soulmate might not feel the same way.

Gordon-Levitt is an exciting actor to watch and after a succession of very serious, very troubled roles, it’s a pleasure to see him here as a mostly well-adjusted young guy whose biggest problem is that he loves someone who doesn’t love him back. He’s the hero, and as such, Deschanel’s Summer Finn becomes the bad guy a little bit. But Deschanel plays it all big-eyed, conflicted and real and so you can’t help but forgive her. The much-lauded musical scene is tremendously joyful; if it doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will. 500 Days of Summer isn’t groundbreaking, but it's an entertaining movie about hip, beautiful people whose lives you can only enjoy for about two hours before getting back to your own.--Kira Canny, Amazon.com

Stills from (500) Days of Summer (Click for larger image)

Synopsis
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel star in director Marc Webb's wry, nonlinear romantic comedy about a man who falls head over heels for a woman who doesn't believe in love. Mark (Gordon-Levitt) is an aspiring architect who currently earns his living as a greeting card writer. Upon encountering his boss' beautiful new secretary, Summer (Deschanel), Mark discovers that the pair have plenty in common despite the fact that she's seemingly out of his league; for starters, they both love the Smiths, and they're both fans of surrealist artist Magritte. Before long Mark is smitten. All he can think about is Summer. Mark believes deeply in the concept of soul mates, and he's finally found his. Unfortunately for Mark, Summer sees true love as the stuff of fairy tales, and isn't looking for romance. Undaunted and undeterred by his breezy lover's casual stance on relationships, Mark summons all of his might and courage to pursue Summer and convince her that their love is real.

(500) Days of Summer [DVD] [2009]
Directed by Marc Webb

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Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now [1979] [DVD]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it was his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz(Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving war-time action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story Heart of Darkness onto the horrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gun-ships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning". Like Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by his wife, Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

DVD Description
Francis Ford Coppola's stunning vision of man's heart of darkness revealed through the madness of the Vietnam War.

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Contact (Special Edition)

Contact (Special Edition) [1997] [DVD]

Rare treat - intellingent sci-fi!
To anyone who thinks that science fiction is about action-packed escapism, with ray guns and scary monsters, as all those who have jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon in the last 25 years would have us believe, watch this film. Science fiction can be plausible, intelligent and - shock, horror - have things to say just like any other form of drama. I have a personal fondness for this film for that reason, and therefore am prepared to forgive its occasional lapse into schmaltz. It's refreshing to see something that gives us a credible glimpse into what our first contact with an alien intelligence might actually be like, and how we might react to it.
Also this disc represents top value for a DVD:... here's what you get for your money:

*No less than THREE full-length audio commentaries - one from Jodie Foster, one from the director and producer, and one from the Special Effects men. And these are genuine commentaries too, not cobbled together from interviews - they are with you as you watch the film, commenting on everything you see as you see it. Together they are a wonderful eye-opener into how a film like this is made.
* Isolated music score - this option means that the film is silent for a lot of the time but provides a fascinating alternative way to view many scenes.
* Special effects featurette; sort of a technical showreel showing how many shots were composited -even the ones that don't look like FX shots.
* Production notes, the usual scene access & trailers

None of this is the cheap promo stuff that is thrown carelessly onto many discs; somebody cared enough about this film to make a real effort. all of this means you have to watch this film at least four times before you're exhausted all the disc has to offer.

If you haven't seen the film, watch out for spoilers in the other reviews on this page.

Finally a decent release for Contact
A review of an old fave of mine that has languished on a very poor DVD since release, and now finally displayed in all its glory on Blu ray.

Simply put, far superior to the approx 10 year old DVD as you would expect, though not perfect. However for a movie shot in 1997 it mostly holds up pretty well under the scrutiny of high def.
From a technical point of view this blu ray finally gives Contact the treatment it deserves. The majority of the movie is pin sharp, full of detail with well saturated colours. Though a couple of scenes dip below standard, one or two shots show some distracting banding in night skies, I noticed some scenes that had an uncharacteristic softness compared with the rest of movie. However the dips in quality were few and very brief, so not a problem to me.
The CGI elements hold up surprisingly well, you can tell of course that you are looking at CGI but it is not all embarrassing for a 12-13 year old movie. The beach scene where Ellie finally meets the 'alien' was intended to appear unreal due to the Vegan's creating of an artificial setting intended to make Ellie feel more secure (ie a bit of home) so it all has a strange look to it intentionally, but Ellie and her father appear to fade around the edges into the environment with a very blurred outline. No doubt showing the limitations of CGI and blue screen work 10+ years ago. However with the nature of the scene I don't find it a serious problem.
Scenes featuring the machine, again, for the majority look convincing and it is with these scenes that the sound really gets to work. On the whole Contact is a dialogue movie with few 'action' scenes to show off the sound design, but when we get to see the machine up close we really get an impressive sense of the machines enormous energy and momentum. When the rings spin beneath the launch pod the sound really conveys the weight and scale of the thing really helping to sell the completely CGI image.
All in all a fine effort in my opinion, for a movie desperately needing the hi def treatment as the original DVD release was annoyingly poor. Just compare the opening scene as we take a trip from earth to the outer reaches of the universe, very impressive on blu ray as opposed to the digitised mess on the old DVD.
Highly recommended upgrade for a fan of the movie.

Something Very Different and Unique
Contact is something completely different. It's belongs to the the ever diminishing group of sci-fi with brains. Because of this. It's very understandable that it gets negative feedback from the friends of no-brainer sci-fi. Actually i find it quite funny how many people have criticized the ending of Contact, saying that they were disappointed when they didn't see how the aliens looked like. I think that was one of the least important things in this movie. Still, i would've been disappointed if there had been some green alien with tentacles or one of those little grey Roswell aliens. Instead, they made an excellent choice and didn't show us the aliens at all. Really good and brave decision. In my opinion, if you were disappointed when you didn't see aliens, you didn't really understand this movie.

The religion vs. science setting is really interesting and realistic. It's fits extremely well to modern day life and i have never seen it done better in any film. The best thing about it is that the film doesn't take sides. It just portrays both of them and leaves the decision to the viewer.

Contact (Special Edition) [1997] [DVD] Directed by Robert Zemeckis Price: £2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 69 new or used available from £0.04 Average customer review:

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A Room With A View

A Room With A View (Special Edition) [DVD] [1985]

Amazon.co.uk Review

The prestigious film-making trio of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala had made other critically acclaimed films before A Room with a View was released in 1985, but it was this popular film that made them art-house superstars. Splendidly adapted from the novel by E.M. Forster, it's a comedy of the heart, a passionate romance and a study of repression within the class system of manners and mores. It's that system of rigid behaviour that prevents young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) from accepting the loving advances of a free-spirited suitor (Julian Sands), who fears that she will follow through with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis) whose capacity for passion is virtually non-existent. During and after a trip to Italy with her protective companion (Maggie Smith), Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun of watching A Room with a View comes from seeing how Lucy's thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. Through an abundance of humour both subtle and overt, the film rose to an unexpected level of popular appeal. The Merchant-Ivory team received eight Academy Award nominations for their efforts, and won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction and Costume Design. --Jeff Shannon

Hurray! A Digitally Remastered DVD Version At Last!
Having played my VHS tape of this wonderful film until my VHS player broke, and having followed other customers' advice about the previous, poor DVD editions, I am so glad that I am now able to watch a flawless version of this classic - the picture and sound quality is as crystal clear as is possible for a film produced 22 years ago, making visible the precious details of this meticulous production: the lacey costumes and beautiful sets, the authentic interiors and coiffures, and even minute facial expressions that I had missed so far.
Among the extras are interviews with Simon Callow and Daniel Day-Lewis. The most interesting extra for me was a 1970 BBC tribute to E. M. Forster, featuring footage, photographs and quotations of himself and interviews with some of his friends, critics and contemporaries, including Frank Kermode, Christopher Ishwerwood and George Steiner.
Priceless!

A Room With A View (Special Edition) [DVD] [1985] Directed by James Ivory Price: £4.97 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 32 new or used available from £4.04 Average customer review:

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Jacob's Ladder [Blu-ray] [1990]

Jacob's Ladder [Blu-ray] [1990] review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
In Jacob's Ladder, Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) thinks he is going insane. Or worse. When his nightmares begin spilling into his waking hours, Jacob believes he is experiencing the after-effects of a powerful drug tested on him during Vietnam. Or perhaps his post-traumatic stress disorder is worse than most. Whatever is happening to him, it's not good. Director Adrian Lyne sparks our interest and maintains high production values, but this confusing film chokes on its "surprise" ending. It owes much to Ambrose Bierce's haunting and more straightforward short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek. Written by Bruce Joel Rubin, who also explored the "other side" in Ghost and My Life, Jacob's Ladder ultimately feels like an exercise in self-indulgence. A spirited performance by Elizabeth Peña outshines Robbins, who is surprisingly lethargic. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Synopsis
Adrian Lyne's JACOB'S LADDER moves in time and space between Vietnam and New York with hallucinatory force. Something bad happened on the Mekong Delta, on October 6, 1971, and it is still affecting war veteran Jacob (Tim Robbins) in Brooklyn as he attempts to live a normal life with coworker and girlfriend Jezzie (Elizabeth Pena). Louis (Danny Aiello), an understanding chiropractor, tries to help him cope with his nightmarish visions--some of which occur at night, while others intrude into his daily life. When Jacob gets a call from Paul (Pruitt Taylor Vince), who was with him in Vietnam, it seems that Jacob is not alone in his visions. The film offers impressive and compelling performances by Pena, Aiello (no ordinary chiropractor), and Ving Rhames and Eriq La Salle (the latter of ER) as Jacob's comrades from Vietnam. Macaulay Culkin appears uncredited as Jacob's young son, Gabe. Director Lyne also guides an unerring interpretation of Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay in Robbins's powerfully restless, searingly searching performance as Jacob; brilliant editing additionally rounds out this engrossing, disturbing film. JACOB'S LADDER is a jolting experience that is not easily forgotten.

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Driving Aphrodite [DVD] [2009]

Driving Aphrodite [DVD] [2009] review

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
The combination of the appealing Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and the breathtaking location shooting in Greece make Driving Aphrodite (My Life in Ruins) the perfect film escape. The film works as a feather-light romantic comedy, with Vardalos's character, Georgia, facing burnout in her job with a cut-rate tour company in Greece. Georgia knows there's magic in the Greek countryside and history, yet the grind of her job has drained her. Happily for Georgia, her latest group of semi-challenging tourists will help her shed some of her hard-built personal armor, guiding her to cut loose as the tour progresses (a journey mirrored in Vardalos's hairstyle, which starts out prim, and ends up attractively tousled). The strong supporting cast includes Richard Dreyfus, seeming very comfortable playing an old coot, Rita Wilson, and the dreamy Greek actor Alexis Georgoulis, a bus driver with the soul of a poet. And possibly a secret crush on the oblivious Georgia. But the true star of the film is Greece itself, from the coastline to the mountains, from the Acropolis to the Parthenon. That so few American films are shot on location makes this summer treat even more appealing, as sweet as fresh baklava. --A.T. Hurley

DVD Description
Georgia (Nia Vardalos) came to Greece to follow a man. A few years later, she's been cast aside, alone and adrift in a foreign land. Eventually, her passion for history leads her to a job as a tour guide. But Georgia is bored, and has lost her 'kefi' (Greek for mojo) to boot. When taciturn sasquatch Poupi (Alexis Georgoulis) replaces the regular driver at the last minute, the frazzled tour guide thinks that her luck has just hit rock bottom. Thankfully, Georgia's latest batch of tourists is a more lively bunch than she's anticipated, and in between bouts with rival tour guide Nico (Alistair McGowan), she manages to form a genuine connection with wisecracking widower Irv (Richard Dreyfuss), a solo vacationer who maintains a jovial facade despite the fact that he misses his late wife dearly. With a little help from Irv, Georgia comes to realize that true love may be closer than she thinks, if she could just recapture her kefi and open her eyes.

Driving Aphrodite [DVD] [2009] Directed by Donald Petrie Price: £3.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 37 new or used available from £2.62 Average customer review:

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Gattaca [DVD] [1998]

Gattaca [DVD] [1998] Directed by Andrew Niccol Price: £3.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 83 new or used available from £0.01 Average customer review:

Product Description

Columbia, TriStar, Region 2 1997 106 mins

Customer Reviews

Inspired
Genetic defectives have been a staple of science fiction ever since the discovery of DNA. But until 'Gattaca', the powerful symbolism of future genetics for present day racism never made it onto the silver screen.

This is raised to an inspired level by writer/director Andrew Niccol's decision to film it as if all the flashbacks had taken place in our own past. In written SF, this could only have been achieved by a complicated alternate reality setting. But, in cinema, Niccol's careful choice of fifties clothing styles, haircuts, and black-and-white family snap-shots powerfully evokes a past for the protagonist, Vincent (Ethan Hawke), which mirrors our own past.

I had expected this film to be bleak and oppressive. The premise, and the first half-hour, create an air-tight world where Vincent is condemned to second-class servitude because his conception was natural rather than genetically screened.

But Niccol skilfully switches the 1984 style bleakness into an ultra-tech murder-thriller, with the murder of the mission-director, moments (in film time) after we learn of the meticulous plan by which Vincent will pass as genetically perfect and achieve his dream of space-travel.

Suspense builds from this point on. On the first time of watching I was convinced Vincent would be caught, right up to the final moment.

The core of this film is in Vincent's words: "There is no gene for fate", although the official tag-line was "There is no gene for the human spirit". It becomes an enormously positive affirmation that sheer guts and determination will take anyone to reach their dream.

This is an excellent film, but it will not please everyone. It is essentially a short-story created in perfect detail for cinema. SF fans will appreciate the purity of the vision. But the film lacks the epic scope which most people associate with modern science-fiction cinema. And anyone wanting a special-effects laden space-romp should look elsewhere.

But, in its own scale and its own terms, Gattaca is virtually flawless.

"Do you really want to go in there ?"
"Gattaca" is one of the better science-fiction films that I have seen in recent years. It looks stylish ,it is filmed superbly and it is well acted. It is an atmospheric and thoughtful futuristic film ,not of the high octane, pumping soundtrack variety . The premise of the film is interesting and also quite credible , namely that in the future genetically engineered human beings will be given preferential treatment in the job market and "normal" humans will be allocated menial occupations. As in the films "1984" and "Brazil" ,for example , "Gattaca" is about one man's resistance to an oppressive , stratified social system which interferes intolerably with personal liberty. It is a cautionary tale and perhaps also a parable about life in today's transnational organisations. The Gattaca Corporation , with its robotic, dehumanised compulsive achievers lined up in front of their PC's like well groomed battery chickens, mirrors the typical modern day open plan corporate office. "There is no gene for the human spirit" indeed.

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The Cabin Movie [DVD] [2005]

The Cabin Movie [DVD] [2005] review

THE CABIN MOVIE is a darkly comic look at the nature of desire, the challenge of monogamy and the definition of sexuality. Three very different couples travel to a secluded cabin in an attempt to revitalize their lives through a series of bizarre sex games. Katherine, an unemployed housewife who has not had sex in a year is intent on getting some with or without her repressed husband Marks involvement. Jason, a happy go lucky cool guy, has shown up without his long term girlfriend, but with Ginny, a party girl he met the previous weekend. Ken and Maria, a stable common law couple, are caught in the middle somewhere between discovery and sexual panic as they try to keep things on track while wrestling with issues of their own. With the sexual tension hitting boiling point by the end of the night, all their relationships will be called into question and pushed to the very limit.

THE CABIN MOVIE
The cabin movie is about would be swingers couples trying to spice up they etiher boring problematic lives or looking for new sexual experiences but not quite sure how to deal with it.It shows how this kind of sexual experiences can be sole destroying and unimaginable consequences.All of them expected to gain something but giving nothing in return,so naturally it was not working for them. I found this movie interesting with a good story,but bit slow at times. The couples involved where very ordinary people ordinary looking and very believable in they acting. What a mess of they lives they created and for it alone I give them 4 stars.Good viewing!

The Cabin Movie [DVD] [2005] Directed by Dylan Akio Smith Price: £4.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 to 11 days Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 6 new or used available from £2.65 Average customer review:

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Caligula: Uncut Edition [DVD] [1979]

Caligula: Uncut Edition [DVD] [1979]

Directed by Bob Guccione, Giancarlo Lui, Tinto Brass

Price:	£7.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details

The Most controversial film ever made as you have never seen it before.

From the moment he ascends to the throne, the Emperor Caligula enforces one of the most depraved reigns in history. Depicting his descent into madness and immorality with graphic sex and violence, this unprecedented uncut edition presents a bolder and more revealing Caligula than ever before, with a pristine new transfer from recently uncovered film.

Featuring a stellar cast including Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O Toole and John Gielgud this unflinching look at the decadence of Ancient Rome will startle and amaze like no other film before.

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Carve Her Name With Pride [1958] [DVD]

Carve Her Name With Pride [1958] [DVD]

Customer Reviews

A must for everyone
For me this is one of the very best "True War" Stories.
It proves that the women of the Second World War did more than sit at home knitting glove.balalavas and socks as so many people thought.

BE WARNED - before viewing make sure you have a box of tissues handy.
It is a real "weepy" movie but at the same time it fills you with pride
especially if you are a British woman. I am proud just to own this DVD.

A very brave young woman in WW2
I had heard of the Violette Szabo and meant to read about her for years.
This year I bought both the book Carve her Name with Pride and the dvd. I have not been able to get her story out of my head ever since. I wonder how anybody can have been so brave. How a young girl could volunteer to be parachuted or be landed by plane in occupied France knowing how the Germans were likely to treat them when and if they were captured.......is supreme courage.

The dvd is excellent as is the book. It is based on fact which makes it serious reading. There were many other young people who did what she did and I have a great admiration for them all. Thank goodness there are books to read and dvd's for the next generation to see so that they are not forgotten.

Top British war film- one for the ladies
There were a glut of these films in the 1950s. The memoirs were coming out and they were selling well. after all we had won the war. People now wanted uplifting films depicting ordinary people doing their bit.

They could be regarded as sentimental and unrealistic with posh actresses like Virginia McKenna playing working class girls who worked in Woolworth's marrying a Frenchman then volunteering to do her bit for the war effort. She loses her husband but has a daughter to bring up.

As an aside Woolworth's failed in the last few days but int he film it is shown as flourishing and she had to be careful that the supervisor did not catch her not working. It obviously didn't work s now it has gone bust.

It is in the same vein as Town Like Alice where ordinary British girls do their best against appalling odds. Another reviewer commented that Round the Horne used to parody these films which was true. At the time it was what people wanted to show how we all pulled together and bear the enemy against appalling odds.

People who lived in ordinary streets in London risked their lives by being dripped into occupied Europe. When I was younger I used to go to the pictures to watch these films and rarely did they feature women. It was usually Douglas Bader or chaps planing to escape from prisoner of war camps.


Perhaps they should show it to people today who claim that women should not being the front line. It could be a feminist tract for the promotion of equality of women.


All films are Dirty dozen you have the training phase whereby you meet the characters so that you know them all and you can identify with them. They then go into battle and the mission succeeds but has problems and maybe a few come home. Unfortunately Violette Szabo didn't come home

She could not tell her parents what she was doing and her dad Jack Warner found her wings and realised that she was not serving tea and driving lorries. That scene could make you cry as Dad and daughter were reconciled

Trivia


Michael Caine appears briefly as one of the prisoners on the train. As Violette starts to escape he leans forwards and calls out for water.

The code-poem used in the film was the real code poem used by Violette Szabo while she was sending messages back from occupied France. The poem was written by 'Leo Marks' who was a cryptographer for SOE and often used poems like this for agents to use.

The life that I have is all that I have, The life that I have is yours.

The love that I have of the life that I have Is yours and yours and yours.

A sleep I shall have, A rest I shall have Yet death will be but a pause.

For the peace of my years In the long green grass Will be yours and yours and yours

Another reviewer said they found the film slow and boring and I can see what they mean as the story unfolds and is quite wordy. After she is captured there is a bit of action but it is mainly chat and we get to the moving sight of her daughter receiving a medal from the King.

It is worth persevering with as it is a great war film and is amongst the British top 100 war films.

A must see film.

Carve Her Name With Pride [1958] [DVD] Directed by Lewis Gilbert (II) Price: £4.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 23 new or used available from £4.99 Average customer review:

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Rogue Trader [DVD] [1999]

Rogue Trader [DVD] [1999]

Customer Reviews

True Story, well paced drama
This film tells the true story of Nick Leeson, the floor trader on Simex Singaopre, who singly handedly broke Barings Bank, in the mid '90's. Of how one mans ambition was overcome by pressures, and in turn, reckless gambling.

An incredible aspect of this case was to me, how Leeson covered up for so long, and hoodwinked so many, who it seemed, according to the film, were so wrapped up in their own company rhetoric they simply wanted to believe in Leeson. The regional manager in Singapore had never even heard of the name of the brokerage house Leeson used to "invent" a trade to cover the missing and ever increasing deficit being incured in the "88888" account, a supposed customer account, but in reality, an back office error account.

The pace of the story is very well done here. My only gripe is, for a film with excellent supporting cast, why did they take so little care over the choice of the leading players? McGreggor is convincing as Leeson only when the sickly scenes with his wife are not on screen, the hoplessly miscast Lisa.

Some may find the numerous and fast financial terms not easy to follow. But a fascinating story, with great use of background music.

Corporate Complacency
As an entertaining film this one is as good as any; whether it is re-watchable is doubtful but nonetheless it is good entertainment. Ewan McGregor does the film justice but it was difficult to believe in Anna Friel's part as Lisa. It is, of course, a docudrama in style.

There is more than one theme weaving its way through this story the main one being the complacency of institutional management closely followed by incompetence of those whose responsibility is to ensure the efficiency of the organisation's operations so it is an expose of the fissures of monolithic management structures. It is the same tale as the story of the 'Million Dollar Bubble' that occurred in the US a few years ago.

The culpability for this disaster and its criminal aspect lay with Leeson's immediate supervisor and the prevailing corporate cultural attitudes and certainly not with Leeson who was used as the 'sacrificial lamb' to placate our sense of justice.

In addition to being a good story it is also a model of human vulnerabilities and in this respect it is well deserving of 5*.

I enjoyed watching the film and recommend it as worthy entertainment and may it be said, educational too.

Rogue Trader [DVD] [1999] Directed by James Dearden Price: £3.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 40 new or used available from £1.68 Average customer review:

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Villa Amalia [DVD]

Villa Amalia [DVD] review

Isabelle Huppert headlines this sumptuous, passionate tale, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Pascal Quignard (All the Mornings of the World). Huppert stars as Ann, a gifted and brilliant musician whose sense of security falls to pieces when she witnesses her husband kissing another woman. Without hesitation, she abandons him and takes a headlong rush into the arms of a new beginning, embarking on a transnational journey that ultimately takes her to an isolated villa on the secluded island of Ischia, Italy. Once settled, Ann insists on goading herself to fresh extremes, and takes it upon herself to swim out as far into the ocean as possible. Fainting under the scorching summer rays, her floating body is pulled out of the water by local woman Giulia, with whom Ann begins to explore a whole new facet of life.

Extras:

• Image Gallery
• Interview with director
• Benoit Jacquot

Villa Amalia [DVD] From Peccadillo Pictures Price: £9.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Not yet released Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk Average customer review:

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Ever After: A Cinderella Story [1998] [DVD]

Ever After: A Cinderella Story [1998] [DVD]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Take away the Fairy Godmother, and what have you got left from the Cinderella fable? The story of a girl for whom a bad stroke of luck is no match for her internal strength and purity of heart. Drew Barrymore plays Cinderella's alleged inspiration, Danielle, in this romantic drama that purports to tell the "facts" behind the Grimm brothers' story. One of three daughters of a man (Jeroen Krabbé) who dies and leaves her fate in the hands of a conniving stepmother (Anjelica Huston), Danielle is cast into the lowly role of a servant. Meanwhile, her sisters are evaluated as possible mates for a French prince (Dougray Scott), but he's far more intrigued with Danielle's intelligence and beauty--not to mention her way with a sword and fist. Directed by Andy Tennant (who directed Barrymore in TV's The Amy Fisher Story), Ever After has that rare ability to win the heart and mind of a viewer simply by being committed to its own innocence, particularly where Barrymore's luminous performance is concerned. A contemporary take on an old, virtually forgotten Hollywood convention--the costume adventure with middling artistic ambition but real audience appeal--Ever After is a surprisingly delightful film. --Tom Keogh

Special Features
2.35 Wide Screen
16:9 Wide Screen
DVD 9
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Original Theatrical Trailer
Czech\Danish\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
Danielle, orphaned by her father's death, is raised by a wicked and snotty stepmother and her two daughters. When she accidentally stumbles onto Prince Henry, the future King of France, the two inspire one another to resolve their respective troubles at home in this romantic fable.

Ever After: A Cinderella Story [1998] [DVD] Directed by Andy Tennant Price: £2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 57 new or used available from £0.96 Average customer review:

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The Shooting Party (Collectors Edition) [DVD] [1985]

The Shooting Party (Collectors Edition) [DVD] [1985] review

Synopsis
In October 1913, a group of aristocratic men and women gather for a shooting party at an estate in the heart of the English countryside. Assured and opulent, they move through the elaborate rituals of an Edwardian country house party. But times are changing and the values that have ordered their glittering world will no longer have any meaning in the new age about to dawn.

The Shooting Party (Collectors Edition) [DVD] [1985] Directed by Alan Bridges Price: £2.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 34 new or used available from £2.50 Average customer review:

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The Descent

The Descent [DVD] [2005]

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis
A group of girls seek adventure on a caving expedition. Deep inside underground caves they find themselves cut off from the world and off the map. Battling to get back to the surface they realise that they are being hunted by an unknown cannibalistic force. Now they must pull together and fight for their very survival.

The Descent [DVD] [2005] Directed by Neil Marshall Price: £3.49 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk 80 new or used available from £0.88 Average customer review:

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