Ashley, Elizabeth

The Buccaneers

Deemed nouveau riche and shunned by elitist New York society sisters Nan and Virginia St. George along with their friends Lizzy Elmsworth and Conchita Closson (Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino) try their luck in London. The girls' New World spontaneity and impertinence constitute nothing less than a social invasion of Old World society and they soon find themselves courted by a coterie of fascinated admirers. But as the old and new worlds come to clash something has to give.Running Time: 300 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794051249425 Manufacturer No: E2494

As four young American women find their way through the labyrinthine social world of 1870s England, their fortunes rise--and sometimes, with brutal abruptness, fall. Based on Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, The Buccaneers, this lavish BBC production follows Nan and Virginia St. George (Carla Gugino, Spy Kids, and Alison Elliott, The Spitfire Grill), two American sisters who follow their friend Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite), a Brazilian bad girl who marries a dissolute British lord, to England in search of aristocratic husbands--partly due to the influence of their canny governess, Laura Testvalley (Cherie Lunghi, Excalibur). The Buccaneers has a good dose of the delicious satirical wit to be found in many BBC dramas, but tempered by the presence of the naive American girls, who find themselves trapped by the very things they thought they wanted. Though mocked by some critics for its heaving bosoms and towering hairdos, the five-part series stealthily paints a sometimes devastating portrait of women's lives. When Idina Hatton (Jenny Agutter, Logan's Run), the older lover of the aimless Lord Seadown (Mark Tandy, Shackleton), learns that Seadown is going to marry the young and lovely Virginia, it's a heartbreaking moment, yet one that isn't overdone. The Buccaneers is full of such gracefulness--Wharton observes the fickle turns of life in society with a judicious eye, empathizing with the pain but never losing sight of the hard realities of money and marriage. In a strong cast, Gugino particularly shines; with her round, rosy cheeks and expressive eyes, she makes a smart yet vulnerable heroine. --Bret Fetzer

Coma

Something is awry at Boston General Hospital. Dr. Wheeler's (Genevieve Bujold) friend Nancy goes in for a routine procedure, but never comes out of the anesthesia and slips into a coma. Wheeler learns that a tissue sample from the young woman went to the lab, then soon finds out that a high number of patients have become comatose recently. She digs a little deeper and finds a conspiracy mired in hospital politics, running afoul of the head of anesthesia, Dr. George (Rip Torn) and the head of surgery, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark). Nobody believes the young MD, not even her boyfriend Dr. Bellows (Michael Douglas), but she soon uncovers a black-market trade in body parts, conducted offsite at the Jefferson Institute, a state-of-the-art coma-care facility. As a thriller, Coma certainly has its moments (the scene where a hit man is buried under a pile of frozen-stiff cadavers is an inspired touch), but it's not without its problems. Director Michael Crichton is an MD himself, and the film has a seamless, almost mechanical structure and plotline (taken from the Robin Cook novel). However, the movie's cold, detached feel works against it at times, making the suspense scenes oddly more effective but rendering the emotional content of the characters rather flat. Douglas in particular seems to not put much into his performance; Bujold, on the other hand, is strong and resourceful as the movie's protagonist. More telling, perhaps, is the way that the story shows its age in a time when medical ethics have changed and the phrase "organ harvesting" has made its way into our lexicon. --Jerry Renshaw

Before he created "ER" Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Twister) adapted and directed (his debut behind the camera) this chiller from Robin Cook's best-seller about a sinister medical conspiracy. Genevieve Bujold, Michael Douglas and Richard Widmark star as doctors caught in its web.

Dragnet

The line between parody and tribute can be hard to draw, but any marginally hip baby boomer who ever watched Jack Webb's straight-laced Detective Joe Friday caught a glimmer of the comedic vein waiting to be mined beneath Dragnet's gritty Los Angeles streets. In 1987 moviegoers had yet to be crushed under the weight of the 1990s TV remake mania, and Dragnet comes off as fresh and funny. Dan Aykroyd plays Joe Friday, the straight-arrow nephew of Webb's iconic cop. This part was made for him (in fact, he's given top writing credit), and under his steely exterior you can tell he's having a ball delivering those rapid-fire recitations of regulations and deadpan expressions of moral outrage. Tom Hanks plays Pep Streebek, the laissez-faire narco agent who is Friday's new partner. Their assignment: bust the Pagans, a wild-and-woolly gang of dope fiends, deadbeats, and beatniks behind a bewildering array of bizarre robberies. Hilarity ensues. Friday and Streebek outfox a corrupt televangelist (Christopher Plummer), bicker over chili dogs and cigarettes, alternately revile and fawn over a porn millionaire (Dabney Coleman), wrestle a 30-foot-long anaconda, and rescue the virgin Connie Swail--the only girl capable of stealing Friday's heart. --Grant Balfour

Ship of Fools

An all-star drama in the grandest of Hollywood traditions, Ship of Fools is now a glossy, Oscar®-nominated relic from a bygone era, when actors were valued more than special effects. "Prestige" is the keyword in describing this high-toned Stanley Kramer production, and the passage of time brings the pros and cons of Kramer's filmmaking into stark relief. In adapting Katherine Anne Porter's acclaimed novel set aboard a German liner sailing from Mexico to Germany, Kramer and screenwriter Abby Mann (who shifted the story from 1931 to 1933) attempted to display the oncoming horror of Nazi Germany in microcosm, as represented by the ship's colorful variety of passengers, including maritally combative artists (George Segal, Elizabeth Ashley); a has-been baseball star (Lee Marvin); a pair of illicit lovers (Oskar Werner, Simone Signoret); a despondent divorcée (Vivien Leigh, shockingly garish in her final film); and several others who play symbolic roles with varying degrees of obviousness. Porter's potent themes are somewhat deflated by Kramer's pompous, heavy-handed approach, but powerful acting remains. Having lost what relevance it had in 1965, Ship of Fools is still fascinating as a showcase for well-drawn characters (including an observant dwarf, played by the late, great Michael Dunn) whose inner lives and outward interactions reflect a turbulent world irrevocably headed for war. --Jeff Shannon

SHIP OF FOOLS is set on a German ocean liner during the Nazi regime of the 1930's. In the high class section are several well-to-do people while below deck are a horde of sugar field workers returning to Spain after a season of work in Cuba. The ship is a hot bed of disillusionment prejudice anddelusions of grandeur.System Requirements:Running Time: 149 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 043396106321 Manufacturer No: 10632

Stagecoach

The idea of remaking a John Ford classic as an all-star country-Western TV movie may seem blasphemous to Western fans, but this loose-and-lanky version of Stagecoach is surprisingly entertaining. While sticking close to the original plot (involving a cultural cross-section of passengers on a dangerous trip aboard the Overland Express stagecoach), this good-natured adaptation (from the original story by Ernest Lee Haycox and screenplay by Dudley Nichols) allows ample room for Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson to play off each other like the old friends they are. As directed by Ted Post (best known for helming Clint Eastwood's Hang 'Em High), the entire production has a light, friendly atmosphere, but the story remains earnestly well-served, and the cast (which also includes Elizabeth Ashley, Mary Crosby, Tony Franciosa, and Dukes of Hazzard alumnus John Schneider) thankfully avoids the in-joke frivolity that typically ruins all-star vanity projects like this one. It's obvious that Willie (as "Doc" Holliday) and his fellow musicians are playing thinly veiled versions of themselves, but they each bring their own legendary qualities to their roles. Gary Graver's cinematography adds to the inviting, outdoorsy warmth of the show, and with many of the cast no longer with us (including June Carter Cash in a cameo role, and Merritt Butrick from Star Trek II, who died of AIDS in 1989), this respectful rendition of Stagecoach is also a memorial to some of the most beloved talents of the 20th century. --Jeff Shannon

Country music stars Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings team up for this version of the popular Western story about a group of desparate travellers on a dangerous stagecoach ride to Arizona.

Hey Arnold - The Movie

Adapted from the popular Nickelodeon show, this feature continues the adventures of the blithely cheerful, football-headed Arnold (voice by Spencer Klein) on the big screen. When corrupt developer Schek (Paul Sorvino) threatens to buy the run-down urban neighborhood where Arnold lives, he and his best friend Gerald (Jamil Smith) rally the neighbors to keep their homes from being turned into a mega-mall. After their peaceful efforts fail, they turn to espionage in a spoof of Men in Black and other action films. Hey Arnold! suffers from the same difficulty as many theatrical features spawned from TV cartoons: the characters have to solve a problem that's too big. The James Bond-style gadgetry and car chases don't fit into the slightly skewed vision of fourth-grade life that made the series popular. The limited animation and awkward designs will work better in the video release. Rated PG for cartoon violence. --Charles Solomon

Rancho Deluxe

A quirky and sneakily funny delight from the mid-'70s, this oddball comedy stars Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston as a pair of modern cattle rustlers who have targeted a local rancher--and then steal his herd one cow at a time. The rancher (Clifton James) can't figure out who's stealing his cows, so he hires an elderly detective (Slim Pickens) to solve the mystery. Directed by Frank Perry from a deliciously dry script by Thomas McGuane, the film offers a startlingly varied cast that includes Elizabeth Ashley, Harry Dean Stanton, and Richard Bright, with an engaging soundtrack by Jimmy Buffett (who also shows up in the film). Watch it just to find out who Bob Dog is. --Marshall Fine

Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston star as an oddball team of modern-day cattle rustlers in this quirky, inventive portrait of the no longer wild West (Newsweek). If you're ready for a little not-so-innocent frontier fun, for 'some desire under the elms...some smoldering glances at the OK Corral, then head straight for Rancho Deluxe. Montana's Big Sky country is the setting for this whacked-out western that literally litters the landscape with the crazed descendants of those hardy pioneers whose covered wagons have been replaced by ubiquitous pickup trucks (LA Herald-Examiner). Among these deviated denizens are Slim Pickens as a crafty old stock detective, Harry DeanStanton and Richard Bright as a pair of clumsy cowhands and Clifton James and Elizabeth Ashley as abored couple from Schenectady who bought their ranch with the profits from a chain of beauty parlors.

Vampire's Kiss

Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast in this devious black comedy of a New York literary agent whose latest one-night stand lands him in bed with vampire Jennifer Beals, who takes a big, bloody bite out of his identity. The emotionally unstable executive develops an aversion to sunlight, a fear of crosses, and a sudden appetite for cockroaches (not to mention a sadistic pleasure in tormenting hapless secretary Maria Conchita Alonso), but is it a supernatural curse or schizophrenia? Vampire's Kiss (written by After Hours scribe Joseph Minion) walks a dangerous line between satire and psychosis, which Cage pushes to surreal levels with a manic, unhinged performance. "I'm a vampire!" he howls, shuffling down alleys and snapping his cheap plastic fangs, less a Dracula than a bug-eyed, psychotic Renfield. Both funny and unsettling, this is one of the most demented takes on the genre. --Sean Axmaker

Oscar® winner* Nicolas Cage is amazing (The New Yorker) in this outrageous, erotically charged thriller about a womanizing New York executive who becomes convinced that he's a vampire when one of his conquests bites his neck in the throes of passion. Jennifer Beals (Devil in a Blue Dress) sizzles as the femme fatale who sets Cage on his batty course in this darkly funny, lively, imaginative fantasy (Los Angeles Times)! *1995: Actor, Leaving Las Vegas

The Carpetbaggers

The Carpetbaggers is the kind of trash classic most people are too embarrassed to admit they actually enjoy. But this Harold Robbins adaptation is so cheerfully vulgar, it's hard not to have a good time--especially given the thinly veiled portrait of Howard Hughes at its center. George Peppard plays the heel-hero, who founds an airline company in the 1920s and buys a movie studio in the 1930s, crushing friends and mistresses along the way. The high cheese factor is aided by the good-time cast: Carroll Baker as Peppard's hot stepmom, Bob Cummings (quite funny) as a cynical agent, and Elizabeth Ashley, who married Peppard, in her debut--uncharacteristically, as a good girl. The sad note is Alan Ladd, looking and sounding very end-of-the-line in his final role, as a man's man cowboy star. Elmer Bernstein's swaggering score helps goose the action along, but the rest is thick melodrama indeed. --Robert Horton

Shattered Silence