Ayler, Ethel

The Bodyguard (Special Edition)

The Bodyguard stars Whitney Houston as a pop-music diva and Kevin Costner as the ultra-serious bodyguard assigned to protect her in teh aftermath of several death threats. Initially repelled by each other like water and oil a passion ignites between them as teh danger increases transforming them as everythign around them explodes.Running Time: 130 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085393366629 Manufacturer No: 33666

This 1992 crowd pleaser made almost as much money for Whitney Houston as its chart-busting soundtrack. A high-wattage star vehicle as only Hollywood can make, The Bodyguard stars Houston as a pop-music diva (now there's a stretch) and Kevin Costner as the stern bodyguard who is assigned to protect her after the singer receives some nasty death threats. Pop star and bodyguard don't hit it off at first, but they wear down each others' defenses, and before long Houston is baring her tonsils with a rousing rendition of the Dolly Parton chestnut "I Will Always Love You." The film, written by Lawrence Kasden, was originally intended for Steve McQueen, but the script languished for years before Houston took an interest in the project. A proposed sequel would potentially have starred Costner and Princess Diana, until Diana's tragic death precluded that possibility. --Jeff Shannon

Eve's Bayou

Actress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff Shannon

Eve's Bayou

Actress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. Barely seen during its theatrical release, this lushly photographed film deserves to be rediscovered on digital video disc. --Jeff Shannon

Fire & Ice

The Bodyguard (Full Screen Edition)

This 1992 crowd pleaser made almost as much money for Whitney Houston as its chart-busting soundtrack. A high-wattage star vehicle as only Hollywood can make, The Bodyguard stars Houston as a pop-music diva (now there's a stretch) and Kevin Costner as the stern bodyguard who is assigned to protect her after the singer receives some nasty death threats. Pop star and bodyguard don't hit it off at first, but they wear down each others' defenses, and before long Houston is baring her tonsils with a rousing rendition of the Dolly Parton chestnut "I Will Always Love You." The film, written by Lawrence Kasden, was originally intended for Steve McQueen, but the script languished for years before Houston took an interest in the project. A proposed sequel would potentially have starred Costner and Princess Diana, until Diana's tragic death precluded that possibility. --Jeff Shannon

She's safe now. Safe from hordes of screaming, grasping fans. Safe from demanding kooks who pop up unexpectedly. Safe from the unknown killer stalking her every move. She's in the arms of The Bodyguard. Starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston and featuring songs from the #1 soundtrack album (including Houton's hits "I Will Always Love You" and "I Have Nothing"), The Bodyguard has it all: Suspense. Thrills. Romance. Peril. Passion. And the shining brilliance of two great stars. In her spectacular film debut, Houston plays Rachel Marron, a music/movie superstar at her peak. Fans want to see her, hear her, touch her. But one wants to kill her - and that's where security expert Frank Farmer(Costner) comes in. Farmer is a professional who never lets his guard down. Rachel's glamorous life often puts her at risk. Each expects to be in charge. What they don't expect is to fall in love

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

Eve's Bayou

Actress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff Shannon

The First Breeze of Summer (Broadway Theatre Archive)

A complex and emotional drama, this "…touching and terrifying…wonderfully moving" play deals with the conflicts between a stern, hard-working father and his two discontented sons (New York Times). It also tells the story of the man's now-elderly mother who recalls, through flashbacks, her youthful affairs with three different men who loved and abandoned her. Stars Frances Foster (Crooklyn) and Emmy-nominee Moses Gunn (Roots, Ragtime).

To Sleep with Anger [Region 2]

Danny Glover plays the mysterious Harry Mention, a charming trickster who invades the life of a family and who claims to have (and may very well have) a connection to dark powers. In any case, his presence sows dissent among a patriarch (Paul Butler) and his offspring, the latter more interested in the legacy of mystical wisdom Harry may represent. Based on stories of superstition he heard in youth, writer-director Charles Burnett's film is a fine and funny accomplishment that intersects dream time and linear time, and it has the heart of a folk tale. Glover and Butler are very good, their characters locked in knowing rivalry. --Tom Keogh

Eve's Bayou

Actress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff Shannon

The Bodyguard [Region 2]

This 1992 crowd pleaser made almost as much money for Whitney Houston as its chart-busting soundtrack. A high-wattage star vehicle as only Hollywood can make, The Bodyguard stars Houston as a pop-music diva (now there's a stretch) and Kevin Costner as the stern bodyguard who is assigned to protect her after the singer receives some nasty death threats. Pop star and bodyguard don't hit it off at first, but they wear down each others' defenses, and before long Houston is baring her tonsils with a rousing rendition of the Dolly Parton chestnut "I Will Always Love You." The film, written by Lawrence Kasden, was originally intended for Steve McQueen, but the script languished for years before Houston took an interest in the project. A proposed sequel would potentially have starred Costner and Princess Diana, until Diana's tragic death precluded that possibility. --Jeff Shannon