![Review Cinema Club / Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - Problem At Sea / The Incredible Theft [1989]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PRF9D8BNL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2002-07-08
Run time: 101 min.
Creator: Nick Elliott
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.98
Review Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - Problem At Sea / The Incredible Theft [1989] / Cinema Club:
![Review Castle Home Video / A Hazard Of Hearts [1987]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417K2C9454L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Fiona Fullerton
- Diana Rigg
- Edward Fox
- John Hough
- Helena Bonham Carter
- Neil Dickson
Run time: 89 min.
Creator: Terence Feely
RRP: £2.99
Price: £12.95
Review A Hazard Of Hearts [1987] / Castle Home Video:A Hazard of Hearts, dramatised for television in 1987, could hardly be a better demonstration of Barbara Cartland's unique status as the most critically reviled, yet widely read, romantic novelist. The qualities which feed both points of view are present in abundance. There are the certainties of a wafer-thin plot: vulnerable but plucky young heiress falls on hard and tragic times, sails through mortal danger and escapes the clutches of lecherous older man, chastity intact, before claiming enigmatic and devastatingly handsome Lord for her own at the last minute. There are the pantomime characters, atrocious dialogue-by-numbers, set-piece scenes involving duels and smugglers, tight breeches and heaving bosoms. Produced by Lew Grade and the team behind The New Avengers and The Professionals, this is 90 minutes of camp hokum crammed to bursting point with stars clearly having the time of their lives. Helena Bonham Carter, her face like an earnest, worried raisin, is the heroine Serena, with Marcus Gilbert as her paramour. But Diana Rigg's evil Lady Harriet steals the show. To be watched without shame. On the DVD: A Hazard of Hearts is presented in 4:3 video format with a Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack which is splendid for Laurence Johnson's florid themes. The transfer has the appropriately soft-focus look and feel of a 1980s miniseries. [+]The stately home settings certainly provide a sense of quality, but the disc has no extras. -Piers Ford.
![Review Vision Video Ltd. / The Laramie Project [2001]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512SSBAXEML._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Christina Ricci
- Janeane Garafalo
- Steve Buscemi
- Peter Fonda
- Laura Linney
Run time: 91 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £12.92
Review The Laramie Project [2001] / Vision Video Ltd.:Even though The Laramie Project has been edited down from almost three hours (the original length of the play) to a lean 96 minutes, the harrowing nature of the subject matter-the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard-and the clarity of the voices of the inhabitants of Laramie, Wyoming, give this film a remarkable emotional power. The Laramie Project was created from over 200 interviews conducted with Laramie residents before, during, and after the trials of the two boys who killed Shepard; the interviews create an amazing cross-section of American views on homosexuality, religion, class, privacy, and so much more besides. Even though it features an all-star cast-Steve Buscemi, Janeane Garofalo, Christina Ricci, Peter Fonda, and Laura Linney are only a few of the recognisable faces-the material has not been glamorised and the performances are both honest and intimate. Even abbreviated, it's a remarkable piece of work. -Bret Fetzer.
![Review Cinema Club / Zero Effect [1998]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ZX7S19F2L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Bill Pullman
- Jake Kasdan
- Ryan O'Neal
- Angela Featherstone
- Ben Stiller
- Kim Dickens
Run time: 111 min.
Price: £5.99
Review Zero Effect [1998] / Cinema Club:
Actors & Directors
- Jeremy Irons
- Samuel Irons
- Jimmy Nail
- Cyril Cusack
- Robbie Coltrane
- Gavin Millar
Review Danny The Champion Of The World (1989) / BMG:Classic children's film based on Roald Dahl's best-selling story. Nine year-old Danny Smith (Samuel Irons) lives an idyllic life in a gypsy caravan at the back of his Dad (Jeremy Irons - The Mission, Reversal Of Fortune, Kingdom Of Heaven) 's garage but all this looks set to change when evil landowner Victor Hazell (Robbie Coltrane (Mona Lisa, The Pope Must Die, Tv's - Cracker) wants their land regardless of whether they want to sell, and will do anything to get it. With no hope in sight it's up to Danny to come up with a brilliant plan and become The Champion Of The World. Very much a family affair since it also co-stars Samuel Irons grandfather, Cyril Cusack (Day Of The Jackal) it also boasts a very impressive supporting cast including, Jimmy Nail (Tv's- Auf Wiedersehen Pet), Ronald Pickup (Tv's- Foyle's War) & Jean Marsh (The Eagle Has Landed, Tv's - Upstairs Downstairs).
Actors & Directors
- Robert Patrick
- Gillian Anderson
- Tom Braidwood
- David Duchovny
- Mitch Pileggi
Run time: 45 min.
Creator: Chris Carter
RRP: £79.99
Price: £7.49
Review The X Files : Season 5 - Box Set / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:The fifth season of The X-Files is the one in which the ongoing alien conspiracy arc really takes over, building towards box-office glory for the inevitable cinematic leap in The X-Files Movie (1998). The series opener "Redux" begins with Mulder having been framed for everything going. Scully finally sees a UFO ("The Red and the Black") before being presented with a potential daughter (the two-part "Christmas Carol" and "Emily"). By "The End", there's an enormous tangle of threads for the big-screen adaptation to unravel (or not, as it turned out). Cigarette Smoking Man is being hunted, playing every side against the middle, as well as chasing after information on Mulder's sister. Krycek is back, too, as is an old flame for Mulder in the shape of Agent Diana Fowley. If that wasn't enough to goad viewers into the cinema, there was the Lone Gunmen's 1989-set back story ("Unusual Suspects", with Richard Belzer playing his Homicide: Life on the Streets character), a musical number in the black and white Frankenstein homage "Post Modern Prometheus", and scripts co-written by Stephen King ("Chinga"), William Gibson ("Kill Switch"), and even Darren McGavin (who had inspired the show as Kolchak: The Night Stalker) in "Travellers". On the DVD: The X-Files, Season 5 extras include Chris Carter's commentary over "Post Modern Prometheus", which reveals the decision making behind shooting in black and white as well as the problems it caused. A second commentary is from writer/coproducer John Shiban on "Pine Bluff Variant", where he openly admits the influence of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Across the six discs (only 20 episodes because of the movie of course) you get credits for every episode, their TV promo spots, deleted and international versions of several scenes (some with commentary from Carter), and a couple of TV featurettes. [+]The best of these is "The Truth About Season 5", talking to an excited Dean Haglund (Langly) amongst other crew members. -Paul Tonks.
![Review Tartan Video / The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg [1996]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/411V4WA69ML._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Nino Castelnuovo
- Jacques Demy
- Ellen Farner
- Anne Vernon
- Marc Michel
- Catherine Deneuve
Run time: 87 min.
Creator: Mag Bodard
RRP: £12.99
Price: £19.94
Review The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg [1996] / Tartan Video:Jacques Demy's haunting romantic musical is an enchanting, one-of-a-kind musical experience. It's basically a movie operetta, in which the characters sing all the dialogue (or, rather, lyrics-by director Demy) to Michel Legrand's lovely score. The story spans five years (1957-1962) in the life of Geneviéve (the ethereally beautiful Catherine Deneuve in the role that launched her to international stardom), the teenage daughter of a woman who owns a Cherbourg umbrella shop. After Geneviéve's boyfriend Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) is drafted and sent off to Algeria, she discovers she's pregnant and complications ensue. With its dazzling candy-coloured palette, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg looks sweet and dreamy. Restored and re-released in 1995 to rapturous acclaim and the renewed delight of all who got the chance to see it. The video release is taken from the restored version. -Jim Emerson, Amazon. com.
![Review Acorn Media / Midsomer Murders - Dead Man's Eleven [1997]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41GCP91J2YL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- John Nettles
- Daniel Casey
- Jane Wymark
- Jeremy Silberston
- Robert Hardy
- Laura Howard
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £9.99
Review Midsomer Murders - Dead Man's Eleven [1997] / Acorn Media:Based on Caroline Graham's novels and featuring the stolid crime-solving skills of Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, Midsomer Murders made their television debut in 1997 and continue to keep viewers happy with that potent whodunnit ingredient: spectacularly bloody murders in the most tranquil rural settings the Shires have to offer. Midsomer is a vaguely defined area of villages and hamlets with charming names like Badger's Drift and Goodman's Land. It also has the highest number of violent deaths per capita outside the average war zone. Serial killings abound to test the nerve of Barnaby (John Nettles) and his sidekick Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), a dullard easily perplexed by a world which refuses to stick to his black and white view of things. Nettles is excellent; there's a hint of Bergerac still, now heavier of jowl and broader of beam, though the chasing is necessarily limited and the DCI enjoys the home comforts of an understanding wife and a spirited daughter. "Every time I go into any Midsomer village, it's always the same thing", he huffs. "Blackmail, sexual deviancy, suicide and murder. " Ain't it the truth? The murders are astonishing. Family feuds, jealousy, incest, industrial espionage, all erupt at regular intervals leaving a trail of bodies with throats slashed, limbs dismembered and blood absolutely everywhere. Rivers of sheer nastiness run deep beneath the superficially pastoral perfection of Midsomer. [+]Thank goodness there are still men like dependable Barnaby to get to the bottom of things. Eventually. Sure of Barnaby's eventual success, Midsomer Murders make for a cosy, even comforting, couple of hours curled up in front of the television. And they make a great showcase for star turns from the great stable of British character actors, too, from Celia Imrie and Elizabeth Spriggs to Imelda Staunton and Duncan Preston, who invariably turn this whimsical stuff into the tastiest possible ham. -Piers Ford.
Actors & Directors
- E.G. Marshall
- Jack Klugman
- Henry Fonda
- John Fiedler
- Lee J. Cobb
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £4.75
Review 12 Angry Men (1957) / MGM Entertainment:Sidney Lumet's directorial debut remains a tense, atmospheric (though slightly manipulative and stagy) courtroom thriller, in which the viewer never sees a trial and the only action is verbal. As he does in his later corruption commentaries such as Serpico or Q & A, Lumet focuses on the lonely one-man battles of a protagonist whose ethics alienate him from the rest of jaded society. As the film opens, the seemingly open-and-shut trial of a young Puerto Rican accused of murdering his father with a knife has just concluded and the 12-man jury retires to their microscopic, sweltering quarters to decide the verdict. When the votes are counted, 11 men rule guilty, while one-played by Henry Fonda, again typecast as another liberal, truth-seeking hero-doubts the obvious. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt," Fonda slowly chips away at the jury, who represent a microcosm of white, male society-exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. The tight script by Reginald Rose (based on his own teleplay) presents each juror vividly using detailed soliloquies, all which are expertly performed by the film's flawless cast. Still, it's Lumet's claustrophobic direction-all sweaty close-ups and cramped compositions within a one-room setting-that really transforms this contrived story into an explosive and compelling nail-biter. -Dave McCoy, Amazon. com.
![Review 4 Front Video / An American Tail [1987]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51X36G7FXSL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Erica Yohn
- Nehemiah Persoff
- Amy Green
- Dom DeLuise
- Christopher Plummer
- Don Bluth
Run time: 77 min.
Creator: Tony Geiss
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.95
Review An American Tail [1987] / 4 Front Video:
![Review MGM Entertainment / Big Parade [1927]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EAG59CNCL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- King Vidor|John Gilbert|Renée Adorée|Hobart Bosworth
Run time: 137 min.
Price: £14.99
Review Big Parade [1927] / MGM Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- George Kaczender
- JoBeth Williams
- Chris Burke
- Dana Barron
- Mason Adams
Run time: 93 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £16.95
Review Jonathan - The Boy Nobody Wanted / Odyssey Video:
![Review Universal Pictures UK / The Saint - Vendetta For The Saint [1969]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y42EYPXGL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Rosemary Dexter
- George Pastell
- Roger Moore
- Ian Hendry
- Aimi MacDonald
- Jim O'Connolly
Run time: 94 min.
Creator: Leslie Charteris
Price: £9.99
Review The Saint - Vendetta For The Saint [1969] / Universal Pictures UK:
![Review 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Cleopatra [1963]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T4QZKGCXL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Richard Burton
- Rex Harrison
- George Cole
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Rouben Mamoulian
- Pamela Brown
- Darryl F. Zanuck
Run time: 248 min.
Creator: Plutarch
RRP: £5.99
Price: £10.99
Review Cleopatra [1963] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:Still the most expensive movie ever made, Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. It also scandalised the world with the very public affair of its two major stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. But Joseph L Mankiewicz's 1963 epic deserves to be remembered for more than its off-screen troubles. An extravagantly elaborate production, the sets and costumes alone are awe-inspiring; Mankiewicz's own literate screenplay draws heavily on the classics and Shakespeare; while the supporting cast, led by Rex Harrison as Caesar and Roddy McDowall as his nephew (and future emperor) Octavian, are all first-rate thespians and generally put in more convincing performances than either of the two leads. Mankiewicz's original intention was to make two three-hour films: the first being Caesar and Cleopatra, the second Antony and Cleopatra. But before the film's completion, and following a boardroom coup worthy of Ancient Rome itself, legendary mogul Darryl F Zanuck took back control of Fox and insisted that Cleopatra be cut to a more economical length. A heartbroken Mankiewicz was forced to trim his six-hour vision down to four. This was the "roadshow" version shown at the film's premiere and now restored here for the first time. Then following adverse criticism and pressure from cinema chains Zanuck demanded more cuts, and the final released version ran a mere three hours-half the original length. Capitalising on the feverish publicity surrounding Burton and Taylor, the shortened version played up both their on- and off-screen romance. [+]This longer four-hour roadshow version allows for a broader view of the film, adding some depth to the politics and manipulation of the characters. But the director's original six-hour edit has been lost. Perhaps one day it will be rediscovered in the vaults and Mankiewicz's much-maligned movie will finally be seen the way it was meant to be. Until then, Cleopatra remains an epic curiosity rather than the complete spectacle it should be. On the DVD: this handsome three-disc set spreads the restored four-hour print of the movie across two discs. The anamorphic widescreen print looks quite magnificent and Alex North's wondrous score comes up like new in Dolby 5. 1 sound. There's a patchy and only intermittently revealing commentary from Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky. Much better is the comprehensive two-hour documentary that occupies disc three, which tells in hair-raising detail the extraordinary story of a film production that became totally out of control. This is accompanied by some short archival material, but the documentary alone is a compelling reason to acquire this set. -Mark Walker.
Price: £9.95
Review a touch of frost volume 3 - conclusions:david jason,george anton,sue johnston. another mystery adventure for FROST.
![Review ITV DVD / Soldier Soldier - The Paddy And Tucker Story [1996]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VQ428YTML._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Rosie Rowell
- Holly Aird
- Robson Green
- Jerome Flynn
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £5.14
Review Soldier Soldier - The Paddy And Tucker Story [1996] / ITV DVD:
![Review British Home Entertainment / The Hollow Crown - The Royal Shakespeare Company [1964]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41X1TFSDVGL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- John Barton
- Dorothy Tutin
- Paul Hardwick
- Max Adrian
Price: £12.99
Review The Hollow Crown - The Royal Shakespeare Company [1964] / British Home Entertainment:
![Review Fabulous Films Ltd. / Blake's 7 - Warlord / Blake - Episodes 51 And 52 [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BE6KE7VTL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Brian Lighthill
- Vivienne Cozens
- Viktors Ritelis
Run time: 99 min.
Creator: Terry Nation
Price: £10.99
Review Blake's 7 - Warlord / Blake - Episodes 51 And 52 [1978] / Fabulous Films Ltd.:
Actors & Directors
- Kate Hardie
- Charles Sturridge
- Eileen O'Brien
- James Fox
- Jane Asher
- Ruti Simon
Run time: 102 min.
Creator: Stephen Poliakoff
Price: £10.99
Review Runners [1983] / Braveworld Ltd. (Defunct):
Actors & Directors
- Joanne Whalley-Kilmer
- Joss Ackland
- Agnieszka Holland
- Christopher Lambert
- Cherie Lunghi
- Ed Harris
Run time: 112 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £24.99
Review To Kill A Priest [1988] / Columbia Tri-Star Home Video:
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Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - Problem At Sea / The Incredible Theft [1989], A Hazard Of Hearts [1987], The Laramie Project [2001], Zero Effect [1998], Danny The Champion Of The World (1989), The X Files : Season 5 - Box Set, The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg [1996], Midsomer Murders - Dead Man's Eleven [1997], 12 Angry Men (1957), An American Tail [1987], Big Parade [1927], Jonathan - The Boy Nobody Wanted, The Saint - Vendetta For The Saint [1969], Cleopatra [1963], a touch of frost volume 3 - conclusions, Soldier Soldier - The Paddy And Tucker Story [1996], The Hollow Crown - The Royal Shakespeare Company [1964], Blake's 7 - Warlord / Blake - Episodes 51 And 52 [1978], Runners [1983], To Kill A Priest [1988] |
